Description: The aim of the present study was to obtain the prevalence of malocclusions in preschool children in Shanghai, China. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 2335 children aged 3–5 years from kindergartens. Several occlusal parameters were clinically assessed, including second deciduous molar terminal plane, canine relationship, degree of overjet and overbite, anterior and posterior crossbite, and the presence or absence of physiologic spaces and crowding. All parents of subjects were asked to fill in the oral health knowledge questionnaires. The prevalence of malocclusion in primary dentition in Shanghai was 83.9%, and no significant differences were found in genders. Data showed that the prevalence of deep overbite (63.7%) was the highest in children with malocclusion, followed by deep overjet (33.9%), midline deviation (26.6%), anterior crossbite (8.0%) and anterior crowding (6.5%). The results revealed a high prevalence of malocclusion in primary dentition in children aged 3–5 years old of Shanghai, especially in vertical anomalies. The need for preventive orthodontic therapy is extremely desired and oral health education about malocclusion should be strengthened.

Description: Sustainability, Vol. 9, Pages 1853: Analysis of the Driving Forces in Vegetation Variation in the Grain for Green Program Region, China Sustainability doi: 10.3390/su9101853 Authors: Wang Hao Liu Guohua Li Zongshan Ye Xin Fu Bojie Lü Yihe The Chinese government introduced six ecological restoration programs to improve its natural environment. Although these programs have proven successful in improving local environmental conditions, some studies have questioned their effectiveness when regions suffer from extreme weather conditions. Using the Grain for Green Program (GGP) region as a study area, we estimated vegetation activities in the GGP region from 2000 to 2010 to clarify the trends in vegetation growth and their driving forces. The results showed that: (1) vegetation activities improved in the GGP region during 2000-2010, with 58.94% of the area showing an increased trend in the NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index); (2) 26.33% of the increased vegetation was caused by human interference, and 11.61% by climate variation, human activity was the dominant cause, and resulted in 54.68% of the degradation compared to 4.74% from climate change; and, (3) the contribution of different land use types to the NDVI interannual variations showed that high contribution regions were focused in the arid and semiarid areas, where the vegetation growth is associated with variations in recipitation and temperature. However, conversions between farmland and grassland or forest had a significant effect on the change in the NDVI trend. Therefore, although climate conditions can affect vegetation growth, human activities are more important in vegetation changes, and appropriate human activities would contribute to its continual improvement. Hence, we recommend establishing an assessment and scientific management mechanism for eco-risks in the design and management of ecosystem restoration programs.

Description: Hydrogen band electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves have received much attention recently because they are found to frequently span larger spatial areas than the other band EMIC waves. Using test particle simulations, we study the nonlinear effects of hydrogen band EMIC waves on ring current H + ions. A dimensionless parameter R is used to characterize the competition between wave-induced and adiabatic motions. The results indicate that there are three regimes of wave-particle interactions for typical 35 keV H + ions at L =5: diffusive (quasi-linear) behavior when α eq ≤ 35° ( R ≥ 2.45), the nonlinear phase trapping when 35° 〈 α eq 〈 50° (0.75 〈 R 〈 2.45), and both the nonlinear phase bunching and phase trapping when α eq ≥ 50° ( R ≤ 0.75). The phase trapping can transport H + ions towards large pitch angle, while the phase bunching has the opposite effect. The phase trapped H + ions can be significantly accelerated (from 35 keV to over 500 keV) in about 4 minutes, and thus contribute to the formation of high energy components of ring current ions. The results suggest that the effect of hydrogen band EMIC waves is not ignorable in the nonlinear acceleration and resonance scattering of ring current H + ions.

Description: Energies, Vol. 11, Pages 318: Icing Condition Assessment of In-Service Glass Insulators Based on Graphical Shed Spacing and Graphical Shed Overhang Energies doi: 10.3390/en11020318 Authors: Yanpeng Hao Jie Wei Xiaolan Jiang Lin Yang Licheng Li Junke Wang Hao Li Ruihai Li Icing on transmission lines might lead to ice flashovers of insulators, collapse of towers, tripping faults of transmission lines, and other accidents. Shed spacing and shed overhang of insulators are clues for evaluating the probability of ice flashover. This paper researches image-processing methods for the natural icing of in-service glass insulators. Calculation methods of graphical shed spacing and graphical shed overhang are proposed via recognizing the convexity defects of the contours of an icing insulator string based on the GrabCut segmentation algorithm. The experiments are carried out with image data from our climatic chamber and the China Southern Power Grid Disaster (Icing) Warning System of Transmission Lines. The results show that the graphical shed overhang of insulators show evident change due to icing. This method can recognize the most serious icing conditions where the insulator sheds are completely bridged. Also, it can detect bridging positions including the left side, right side, or both sides of the insulator strings in the images.

Description: Energy & Fuels DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.7b01426

Description: IJERPH, Vol. 15, Pages 487: A National County-Level Assessment of U.S. Nursing Facility Characteristics Associated with Long-Term Exposure to Traffic Pollution in Older Adults International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health doi: 10.3390/ijerph15030487 Authors: Yi Wang Hao Fan Rudy Banerjee Anne Weaver Michael Weiner Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution increases disease risk in older adults. Nursing facilities located near major roadways potentially expose older adults to traffic pollution. No studies, however, have described the association between nursing facilities and traffic pollution. We obtained data on facility- and census-tract-level characteristics of 15,706 U.S. facilities from the Medicare Nursing Home Compare datasets. We calculated distance to major roadways and traffic density for each facility. In the contiguous U.S. (as of 2014), 345,792 older adults, about 27% of residents in non-hospital facilities, lived within 150 m major roadways (A1 or A2) in 3876 (28% of sampled) facilities. Nationally, for-profit facilities, high-occupancy facilities, and facilities in census tracts with higher percentages of minorities were more likely to have higher exposure to traffic. Counties in Virginia, New York City, and Rhode Island have the highest percent of residents and facilities near major roads. Nationally, over one-quarter of sampled facilities are located near major roadways. Attributes potentially associated with higher exposure to traffic included “for-profit” and “higher minority census tract”. Proximity to major roadways may be an important factor to consider in siting nursing facilities. Our results inform potential intervention strategy at both county and facility level.

Description: Water, Vol. 10, Pages 326: Multi-Objective Assessment of the Ecological Flow Requirement in the Upper Yangtze National Nature Reserve in China Using PHABSIM Water doi: 10.3390/w10030326 Authors: Huan Wang Hao Wang Zhenchun Hao Xu Wang Meng Liu Yali Wang Many dams have been constructed or are planned all around China. These dams significantly change the hydrological regime and sand concentration downstream, and subsequently affect the river habitat and riverbed substances. Therefore, a good understanding of the river habitat is urgently required to undertake efficient measures for fish diversity conservation. A multi-objective assessment method based on the Physical Habitat Simulation system (PHABSIM) was utilized to calculate the ecological river flow demand using maximum weighted usable area (WUA) and minimum river discharge as the main objectives. The study employed this method to assess ecological water flow demand in the National Nature Reserve for Rare and Endemic Fish in the Upper Reaches of the Yangtze River in China. Multiple factors such as the degree of endangerment, fish value (ecological value, economic value and scientific research value), data acquisition difficulty, and species representativeness were taken into consideration during selection of indicator fish for coupled habitat analysis. Requirements for both growth and breeding during the study period were considered. Ten species of fishes were chosen as indicator fishes, including floating egg and sinking egg fishes. Additionally, we applied the principle of “minimization of habitat demand and maximization of ecological demand” to include the needs of all indicator fishes. Further, this method comprehensively considered requirements for ecological flow and economic development. The results highlighted that an optimal ecological river flow demand of 2395 m3/s was needed to satisfy the needs for habitat protection and 1890 m3/s was required to meet the needs of social and economic development. The methods used in this study and results obtained, provide a valuable reference for water resources planning and ecosystem protection in other rivers and lakes.

Description: Understanding the magnitude of intra-Asian crustal shortening and the collision age of Lhasa–Qiangtang terranes requires quantitative constraints on the crustal motion. The key to this is defining the palaeogeography of the Tibetan Plateau, which constitutes a poorly known factor over the entire convergence history. New detrital zircon U–Pb geochronological and palaeomagnetic data from the terrestrial Abushan Formation in the Qiangtang terrane demonstrate that central Tibet was located at 27.5 ± 3.0°N during the time interval of ~111–83 Ma. Our results suggest 7.5 ± 2.9° continental shortening has occurred between central Qiangtang and Mongolia during the India–Asia convergence. Declination anomaly indicates the central Qiangtang terrane has experienced significant clockwise rotation (57.3 ± 3.9°) relative to stable Eurasia. The compilation of palaeomagnetic results since the Cretaceous reveals ~8.5° northward drift of the Lhasa terrane from 123 ± 9 to 97 ± 7 Ma and the palaeolatitudinal overlap between the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes after ~111–103 Ma. Together with the onset age of the terrestrial Abushan Formation, our results provide the youngest timing ( ca. ~111–103 Ma) for the closure of the Bangong Meso-Tethys Ocean, as well as for the final collision of the Lhasa and Qiangtang terranes.

Description: A novel method is developed to realize a III-V/Si dual-junction photovoltaic cell by combining epitaxial lift-off (ELO) and print-transfer-assisted bonding methods. The adoption of ELO enables III-V wafers to be recycled and reused, which can further lower the cost of III-V/Si photovoltaic panels. For demonstration, high crystal quality, micrometer-thick, GaAs/AlGaAs/GaAs films are lifted off, transferred, and directly bonded onto Si wafer without the use of any adhesive or bonding agents. The bonding interface is optically transparent and conductive both thermally and electrically. Prototype AlGaAs/Si dual-junction tandem solar cells have been fabricated and exhibit decent performance. A novel method is developed to realize an III-V/Si multijunction photovoltaic device by combining the epitaxial lift-off (ELO) and print-transfer-assisted bonding methods. The adoption of ELO enables III-V wafers to be recycled and reused, which is promising to further lower the cost of III-V/Si photovoltaic panels.

Description: How the materials derived from the stagnant Pacific slab contributed to the mantle sources of the mafic rocks in east China is still in hot debate. In this work, δ 18 O (V-SMOW) values of clinopyroxene phenocrysts in the OIB type mafic rocks from 106 Ma to 60 Ma in the east North China Craton (NCC) were measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Our data show that for all of the samples, the δ 18 O cpx are dominantly higher than that of the cpx from N-MORB (5.4 ~ 5.8‰), which confirms the role of recycled oceanic crust (ROC) in their mantle sources. Combining the δ 18 O data of basalts and the lithospheric mantle in the literature, we found that in the southeast NCC, upper and lower ROC components alternately appeared in the mantle sources of basalts, but these ROC components are consistently different from that in the lithospheric mantle, while in the northern NCC, the recycled components in the sources seem to be persistently from upper ROC. These observations suggest that 1) these mafic OIB-type rocks are most likely derived from the convective asthenosphere and 2) the contribution of components from the Pacific oceanic slab into the NCC upper mantle was dynamic, without a simple temporal trend. This new knowledge calls for the reconsideration of the existing models of the thinning process of the NCC lithospheric mantle, and it warns against simply using the chemical composition of basalts to infer the evolution of lithosphere.