Progress and prospects for research on Martian topographic features and typical landform identification

The study of Martian surface topography is important for understanding the geological evolution of Mars and revealing the spatial differentiation of the Martian landscape. Identifying typical landform units is a fundamental task when studying the origin and evolution of Mars and provides important information for landing on and exploring Mars, as well as estimating the age of the Martian surface and inferring the evolution of the Earth’s environment. In this paper, we first investigate Mars exploration, data acquisition and mapping, and the classification methods of Martian landforms. Then, the identification of several typical Martian landform types, such as aeolian landforms, fluvial landforms, and impact landforms, is shown in detail. Finally, the prospects of Mars data acquisition, landform mapping, and the construction and identification of the Martian landform classification system are presented. The construction of the Martian landform classification system and the identification of typical Martian landforms using deep learning are important development directions in planetary science

Measuring sustainability:Development and application of the Inclusive Wealth Index in China

It is increasingly common to use the Inclusive Wealth Index (IWI) to evaluate national sustainability; however, IWI's highly aggregated components and limited regional cases restrict its further application in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study extends the traditional three-component IWI framework into six disaggregated components, namely male/female human capital, advanced/ordinary produced capital, and renewable/non-renewable natural capital. We apply the modified framework to China and evaluate the sustainability performance at the provincial level. The results show that China continues to develop with an annual IWI per capita increase rate of 2.3%. Gender inequality is found to hinder the growth of IWI, whereas advanced product features benefit the growth of IWI. The results also suggest significant heterogeneity in provincial IWI primarily due to differences in economic development stages, geographic locations, and uneven IWI growth. IWI growth is largely driven by wealth accumulation resulting from human capital and advanced produced capital. In contrast, insufficient IWI growth is caused by a substantial amount of ordinary produced capital or a continued decline in natural capital. The study provides a basis for tracking progress toward the SDGs and measuring the heterogeneity of regional socio-economic development in China

Projecting future carbon emissions from cement production in developing countries

Achieving low-carbon development of the cement industry in the developing countries is fundamental to global emissions abatement, considering the local construction industry’s rapid growth. However, there is currently a lack of systematic and accurate accounting and projection of cement emissions in developing countries, which are characterized with lower basic economic country condition. Here, we provide bottom-up quantifications of emissions from global cement production and reveal a regional shift in the main contributors to global cement CO2 emissions. The study further explores cement emissions over 2020-2050 that correspond to different housing and infrastructure conditions and emissions mitigation options for all developing countries except China. We find that cement emissions in developing countries except China will reach 1.4-3.8 Gt in 2050 (depending on different industrialization trajectories), compared to their annual emissions of 0.7 Gt in 2018. The optimal combination of low-carbon measures could contribute to reducing annual emissions by around 65% in 2050 and cumulative emissions by around 48% over 2020-2050. The efficient technological paths towards a low carbon future of cement industry vary among the countries and infrastructure scenarios. Our results are essential to understanding future emissions patterns of the cement industry in the developing countries and can inform policies in the cement sector that contribute to meeting the climate targets set out in the Paris Agreement

Projecting future carbon emissions from cement production in developing countries

Achieving low-carbon development of the cement industry in the developing countries is fundamental to global emissions abatement, considering the local construction industry’s rapid growth. However, there is currently a lack of systematic and accurate accounting and projection of cement emissions in developing countries, which are characterized with lower basic economic country condition. Here, we provide bottom-up quantifications of emissions from global cement production and reveal a regional shift in the main contributors to global cement CO2 emissions. The study further explores cement emissions over 2020-2050 that correspond to different housing and infrastructure conditions and emissions mitigation options for all developing countries except China. We find that cement emissions in developing countries except China will reach 1.4-3.8 Gt in 2050 (depending on different industrialization trajectories), compared to their annual emissions of 0.7 Gt in 2018. The optimal combination of low-carbon measures could contribute to reducing annual emissions by around 65% in 2050 and cumulative emissions by around 48% over 2020-2050. The efficient technological paths towards a low carbon future of cement industry vary among the countries and infrastructure scenarios. Our results are essential to understanding future emissions patterns of the cement industry in the developing countries and can inform policies in the cement sector that contribute to meeting the climate targets set out in the Paris Agreement

Inclusive wealth index measuring sustainable development potentials for Chinese cities

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future. To achieve the goal, tracking progress — not just on a national level, but locally — is crucial to guide future policy development. While sustainability assessment at the national evel is quite advanced in China, similar assessments focusing at the regional or even at the city-level are currently lacking. Here, we advanced the Inclusive Wealth Index (IWI) framework, which is firstly proposed by the United Nations Development Programme, through taking water wealth into account and adjusting the variable based on data availability. Then we investigate the sustainability performance of 210 cities in China in 2016 via the advanced version of the IWI framework. The analysis makes a holistic assessment based on produced, human, and natural capital, as well as considering heterogeneities in economy, social, and environmental conditions across these cities. We find that cities clustered in the eastern parts of China are characterized by high levels of sustainability performance and increasing capacities for sustainability, largely driven by their high quality and quantity of human capital. In comparison, the western cities have a large amount of low-skilled human capital and low levels of produced capital, which determines their low sustainability performance. Cities clustered in the north are heavily dependent on low value-added products and resource-intensive industries. Furthermore, we make projections of the IWI and its three components for different cities from 2020 to 2030, referring to the index systems presented in city planning which describe the development speed of income, education, fixed asset investment, forests etc. In the future, cities in central and western clusters show considerable potential for increasing IWI per capita, whereas cities with a dominant energy sector in the north would face declining capacity for sustainability due to the exhaustion of fossil fuels and raw materials. By fully taking account of and adapting to local circumstances, we tailor-design pathways for different types of cities to grow their sustainability potentials. Those resources-dependent cities in the north could avoid the impending decline by gradually developing their human and produced capital while abandoning their resource dependency. Our study contributes to city-level sustainable development in China through the lens of per capita IWI and the potential future dynamics of changing compositions in their capital

Online Focus Group Discussions to Engage Stigmatized Populations in Qualitative Health Research: Lessons Learned

Community participation in research involving stigmatized populations has been sub-optimal, and digital tools could potentially increase participation in qualitative research. This study aims to describe the implementation of an online chat-based FGD (Focus Group Discussion) with men who have sex with men (MSM) in China as part of formative research for the PIONEER project, determine the advantages and limitations associated with the approach, and assess the feasibility of deepening community participation in STI research. Participants were involved in four days of asynchronous FGDs on sexually transmitted diseases and answered questions about the online FGD method. Online FGDs allowed us to deepen participant engagement through bidirectional communication channels. Data from online FGDs directly informed recruitment strategies and community participation for a clinical trial. Overall, 63% (29/46) of men who had never participated in offline LGBTQ + activities joined online FGDs. Many participants (89%, 41/46) noted that online FGDs were more convenient, less socially awkward, and more anonymous than in-person qualitative research. We highlighted potential risks as well as mitigation strategies when using online FGDs. Online FGDs were feasible among this group of sexual minorities and may be particularly useful in many cities where stigma limits in-person research participation

Associations between gut microbiota and adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study

Gut microbiota are associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants; however, the precise causal relationship remains unclear. In this study, we conducted a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis to comprehensively study the relationship between gut microbiota and adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants and identify specific causal bacteria that may be associated with the occurrence and development of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants. The genome-wide association analysis (GWAS) of the MiBioGen biogroup was used as the exposure data. The GWAS of six common adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in premature infants from the FinnGen consortium R9 was used as the outcome data. Genetic variations, namely, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) below the locus-wide significance level (1 × 10−5) and genome-wide statistical significance threshold (5 × 10−8) were selected as instrumental variables (IVs). MR studies use inverse variance weighting (IVW) as the main method. To supplement this, we also applied three additional MR methods: MR-Egger, weighted median, and weighted mode. In addition, the Cochrane’s Q test, MR-Egger intercept test, Mendelian randomization pleiotropy residual sum and outlier (MR-PRESSO), and leave-one-out methods were used for sensitivity analysis. Our study shows a causal relationship between specific gut microbiota and neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants. These findings provide new insights into the mechanism by which gut microbiota may mediate adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants