Chinese visitors at Australia wineries: Preferences, motivations, and barriers

China has become Australia’s most important source market and there are growing number of visitors participated in wine tourism. Using in-depth interviews, the study looked into Chinese tourists’ preferences, motivations and barriers to participate in wineries tours in Australia. The study enriched to literature on wine tourism. It offered practical implications for wineries and destinations to better understand and accommodate Chinese wine tourists’ needs and preferences

Long-term water use efficiency and non-structural carbohydrates of dominant tree species in response to nitrogen and water additions in a warm temperate forest

Nitrogen (N) deposition tends to accompany precipitation in temperate forests, and vegetation productivity is mostly controlled by water and N availability. Many studies showed that tree species response to precipitation or N deposition alone influences, while the N deposition and precipitation interactive effects on the traits of tree physiology, especially in non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs) and long-term water use efficiency (WUE), are still unclear. In this study, we measured carbon stable isotope (delta C-13), total soluble sugar and starch content, total phenols, and other physiological traits (e.g., leaf C:N:P stoichiometry, lignin, and cellulose content) of two dominant tree species (Quercus variabilis Blume and Liquidambar formosana Hance) under canopy-simulated N deposition and precipitation addition to analyze the changes of long-term WUE and NSC contents and to explain the response strategies of dominant trees to abiotic environmental changes. This study showed that N deposition decreased the root NSC concentrations of L. formosana and the leaf lignin content of Q. variabilis. The increased precipitation showed a negative effect on specific leaf area (SLA) and a positive effect on leaf WUE of Q. variabilis, while it increased the leaf C and N content and decreased the leaf cellulose content of L. formosana. The nitrogen-water interaction reduced the leaf lignin and total phenol content of Q. variabilis and decreased the leaf total phenol content of L. formosana, but it increased the leaf C and N content of L. formosana. Moreover, the response of L. formosana to the nitrogen-water interaction was greater than that of Q. variabilis, highlighting the differences between the two dominant tree species. The results showed that N deposition and precipitation obviously affected the tree growth strategies by affecting the NSC contents and long-term WUE. Canopy-simulated N deposition and precipitation provide a new insight into the effect of the nitrogen-water interaction on tree growth traits in a temperate forest ecosystem, enabling a better prediction of the response of dominant tree species to global change

Mediating effect of successful aging on the relationship between psychological resilience and death anxiety among middle-aged and older adults with hypertension

ObjectiveThe aging trend of China's population is severe and successful aging (SA) is imminent. Aging can lead to various chronic diseases, with hypertension being the most common. Due to this lifelong disease, patients suffer from many anxieties, as death anxiety (DA) can be the most prevalent. Studies have exhibited that middle-aged adults approaching the transition to an older state show more pronounced DA than the more senior. It has been suggested that psychological resilience (PR) can reduce DA. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the mediating effect of SA between PR and DA in middle-aged and older adults with hypertension.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was designed. From August to December 2021, 298 middle-aged and older adults with hypertension were selected by multistage cluster random sampling in three districts (Ling he District, Gu ta District, and Tai He District) of Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province. They were surveyed using the demographic questionnaires, the Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale, the Successful Aging Inventory, and the Chinese version of a Likert-type Templer-Death Anxiety Scale. Descriptive analyses, independent sample T-test, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to describe demographic characteristics among hypertensive patients with different characteristics, respectively. Statistics were considered significant when P < 0.05. Pearson correlation coefficients describe the relationship between PR, SA, and DA. The research model was shaped through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). SPSS PROCESS macro was used to verify the mediation model. A binary logistic regression model was used with DA as the dependent variable.ResultsThe scores for PR, SA, and DA in hypertensive patients are (49.52 ± 14.38) points, (51.22 ± 7.63) points, and (46.67 ± 9.03) points. PR was negatively correlated with DA (r = −0.307, P < 0.01). Moreover, incorporating SA as a mediating variable in PR and DA, SA was positively correlated with PR (r = 0.335, P < 0.01) and DA (r = 0.085, P > 0.05). The direct effect is opposite to the sign of the indirect effect. There is a suppression between PR and DA with a percentage of 20.7%. Good self-assessed health status [0.057 (0.018, 0.183)] may be a protective factor for DA.ConclusionHealthcare providers should improve the PR of middle-aged and older adults with hypertension through interventions that reduce DA and increase the likelihood of SA

A study on the reasonable dietary trajectory of elderly people in the community and its correlation with body mass index

ObjectiveTo explore the reasonable dietary trajectory of elderly people in the community and to test the correlation between different dietary trajectories and body mass index (BMI) of the elderly people in the community to provide a reference for these individuals to formulate scientific interventions and cultivate healthy living habits.MethodsThe data of The Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) from 2011 to 2018 were used to evaluate the dietary status of elderly people in the community according to their diet, and body mass index was calculated according to height and weight. The latent variable growth mixed (LGMM) model was used to analyze the development trajectory of diet in elderly people, and the multivariate logistic regression model was used to test the relationship between different dietary development trajectories and BMI changes as well as to test the correlation between different dietary trajectories and BMI of the elderly people in the community.ResultsThe LGMM fit four dietary trajectories of elderly individuals: the continuous reasonable diet group (37.81%), the dietary behavior decline group (28.84%), the continuous unreasonable diet group (20.16%), and the dietary behavior improvement group (13.19%). The results showed that factors including male sex, rural setting, being spouseless, nonformal education status, not being wealthy, living alone, and having tooth loss were more likely to be classified as the “persistently unreasonable diet group” (p < 0.05). The logistic regression results showed that the “continuous reasonable diet group” and the “dietary behavior improvement group” were significantly correlated with the development of obesity to a normal BMI.ConclusionThe dietary behavior of the elderly was significantly correlated with BMI value, and improving the reasonable dietary behavior of the elderly could reduce the high BMI to the normal range, but could not restore the low BMI to the normal range, indicating that reasonable dietary behavior is an important measure to prevent and improve overweight or obesity in the elderly. There is significant heterogeneity in the dietary behavior of the elderly, and community medical staff should identify the risk factors of various dietary behaviors of other groups as soon as possible, and provide corresponding intervention strategies to help them change their poor dietary behaviors and improve their nutritional status

Manganese oxide electrode with excellent electrochemical performance for sodium ion batteries by pre-intercalation of K and Na ions

Materials with a layered structure have attracted tremendous attention because of their unique properties. The ultrathin nanosheet structure can result in extremely rapid intercalation/de-intercalation of Na ions in the charge-discharge progress. Herein, we report a manganese oxide with pre-intercalated K and Na ions and having flower-like ultrathin layered structure, which was synthesized by a facile but efficient hydrothermal method under mild condition. The pre-intercalation of Na and K ions facilitates the access of electrolyte ions and shortens the ion diffusion pathways. The layered manganese oxide shows ultrahigh specific capacity when it is used as cathode material for sodium-ion batteries. It also exhibits excellent stability and reversibility. It was found that the amount of intercalated Na ions is approximately 71% of the total charge. The prominent electrochemical performance of the manganese oxide demonstrates the importance of design and synthesis of pre-intercalated ultrathin layered materials

Knowledge Graphs Evolution and Preservation -- A Technical Report from ISWS 2019

One of the grand challenges discussed during the Dagstuhl Seminar "Knowledge Graphs: New Directions for Knowledge Representation on the Semantic Web" and described in its report is that of a: "Public FAIR Knowledge Graph of Everything: We increasingly see the creation of knowledge graphs that capture information about the entirety of a class of entities. [...] This grand challenge extends this further by asking if we can create a knowledge graph of "everything" ranging from common sense concepts to location based entities. This knowledge graph should be "open to the public" in a FAIR manner democratizing this mass amount of knowledge." Although linked open data (LOD) is one knowledge graph, it is the closest realisation (and probably the only one) to a public FAIR Knowledge Graph (KG) of everything. Surely, LOD provides a unique testbed for experimenting and evaluating research hypotheses on open and FAIR KG. One of the most neglected FAIR issues about KGs is their ongoing evolution and long term preservation. We want to investigate this problem, that is to understand what preserving and supporting the evolution of KGs means and how these problems can be addressed. Clearly, the problem can be approached from different perspectives and may require the development of different approaches, including new theories, ontologies, metrics, strategies, procedures, etc. This document reports a collaborative effort performed by 9 teams of students, each guided by a senior researcher as their mentor, attending the International Semantic Web Research School (ISWS 2019). Each team provides a different perspective to the problem of knowledge graph evolution substantiated by a set of research questions as the main subject of their investigation. In addition, they provide their working definition for KG preservation and evolution

Experimental Study on the Oxidation Reaction of Coal-Pyrite and Mineral-Pyrite with the Participation of Fe(III) and Bacteria under Acidic Conditions

As one of the crucial factors contributing to coal spontaneous combustion, the oxidation of pyrite is a complex process involving multiple reactions, particularly in the presence of oxidants (Fe3+ and O2) and bacteria. However, experimental results based on mineral-pyrite are not entirely applicable to coal-pyrite due to their differences in formation environments and compositions. This study selected two types of coal-pyrite and one type of mineral-pyrite as research to conduct oxidation experiments with the participation of oxidant (Fe3+) and bacteria (Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans), respectively, to obtain the following conclusions. Under natural conditions, the chemical oxidation rate of pyrite is slow, but the addition of oxidant Fe3+ and bacteria can significantly accelerate the oxidation rate. The promotion effect of oxidant Fe3+ on the oxidation reaction is stronger than that of bacteria. Under the same conditions, the oxidation rate of coal-pyrite samples is slightly higher than that of mineral-pyrite, due to the relatively higher impurities content, poorer crystal structure, and humic acid in the coal seams. Additionally, different compositions of coal-pyrite samples can lead to various oxidation degrees under different conditions. Therefore, the oxidation process and mechanism of pyrite in coal seams are complex and affected by many factors, which need further study to prevent coal spontaneous combustion accurately and effectively

Coal Gangue-sludge-based Activated Carbon-mediated Enhanced Anaerobic Digestion of Sewage

Coal gangue and waste sludge were used as raw materials for the preparation of composite-based activated carbon. The composition and structural characteristics before and after activation were studied by using experimental devices such as C elemental analyzer, Fourier infrared spectrometer, and scanning electron microscope. The prepared composite-based activated carbon was used in anaerobic digestion process to explore the effect of activated carbon structure on chemical oxygen demand (COD) changes, gas production, and volatile fatty acids(VFAs). The results show that the C contents of sludge and coal gangue were 21.32% and 37.54%, respectively, implying their considerable potential utilization. After activation, rich porous structure was formed on the surface of the composite-based activated carbon, along with increased functional groups, which can significantly increase the cumulative gas production during the anaerobic reaction process and significantly optimize the gas composition. From the change in VFAs and the scanning electron microscopy observations, it was found that the composite-based activated carbon could weaken the instantaneous adsorption of organic matter by activated sludge, but does not affect the degradation pathway of organic matter. It can also effectively slow down the acid stress inside the reactor, and enhance the anaerobic digestion system stability

Effect of Microwave-coupled Fe0/H2O2 on Excess Sludge Dewaterability

The effects of initial pH, microwave power, reaction time, H2O2 dosage, and Fe0 dosage in microwave-coupled Fe0/H2O2 (MW-Fe0/H2O2) Fenton-like process on sludge dewaterability were systematically investigated by the specific resistance to filtration (SRF), water content of sludge cake, and capillary suction time (CST). And the mechanism of MW-Fe0/H2O2 improving sludge dewaterability was analyzed by analogy experiment. Results show that the reduction of SRF, water content of sludge cake, and CST were 90.5%, 15.5%, and 63.3%, respectively, at initial pH of 3, microwave power of 400 W, reaction time of 150 s, H2O2 dosage of 90 mg/g, and Fe0 dosage of 60 mg/g. The analysis of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) components indicates that the reduction of protein and polysaccharide in TB-EPS was positively related to the improvement of sludge dewaterability. Three-dimensional fluorescence spectrometry (3D-EEM) analysis demonstrates that soluble microbial byproduct and tryptophan protein in TB-EPS were oxidatively degraded, thus improving the sludge dewaterability