ObjectivesThe aim of the present study was to evaluate modified glomerular filtration rate (GFR) prediction formulae in an elderly Chinese population with chronic kidney disease (CKD).MethodsA total of 378 elderly Chinese patients with CKD were enrolled. The GFR was estimated with six modified GFR prediction formulae. The performances of the estimated GFRs were compared with those of the standard GFRs measured by technetium-99m diethyl-enetraminepentaacetic acid.ResultsBiases were similar for Chinese formula 1, the Asian formula, and Chinese formula 2 (median difference, 2.22 mL/min/1.73 m2 and 2.59 mL/min/1.73 m2 for Chinese formula 1 and the Asian formula, respectively, versus (vs) 3.69 mL/min/1.73 m2 for Chinese formula 2 [P = 0.298 and P = 0.913, respectively]). Precision was improved with the Japanese formula (interquartile range of the difference, 3.14 mL/min/1.73 m2 of the Japanese formula versus 15.53–23.06 mL/min/1.73 m2 of the other formulae). The accuracy of Chinese formula 2 was the highest (30% accuracy, 59.3% vs range 37.8–54.0% [P < 0.05 for all comparisons]). However, none of the modified formulae surpassed the acceptable tolerance (>70%), and the GFR category misclassification rates for all the formulae exceeded 50%.ConclusionOur findings suggest that all six modified formulae developed in Asian populations may show great bias in elderly Chinese patients with CKD. Also, our study suggests the need for uniform measures for the assessment of CKD in the elderly to guarantee better sensitivity and specificity.

Unbalanced regional development is often accompanied by a heterogeneity in regional transportation. The relationship between the interrelation of regional transportation and economic connections among cities remains unclear. This study attempts to explicate the structural characteristics of the spatial interrelation network of road transportation in Guangdong province. This study analyzes road traffic data in Guangdong province from 2015 to 2020 using a gravity model, social network analysis, and the quadratic assignment procedure (QAP). The results indicate that the spatial network of road transportation interrelations in Guangdong province have obvious core–periphery features. The intercity transportation interrelation in Guangdong province is significantly correlated with the differences in population density, vehicle population, and tourism resources, as well as the distance between cities; however, the effects of these factors vary across different regions. To promote balanced regional development, Guangdong province should strengthen the transportation interrelation between peripheral cities and other cities to raise the position of peripheral cities in the network. Introducing the required personnel and developing tourism resources with regional features would help develop peripheral cities that have a low population density and abundant tourism resources. This provincial transportation development strategy should consider balancing the development of mega metropolitan areas and non-coastal, small- and medium-sized cities to balance regional development.

As the world’s largest energy consumer, China is facing multiple pressures to conserve energy, mitigate pollution and reduce carbon emissions. An objective and scientific assessment of green total factor energy efficiency (GTFEE) is an important prerequisite for achieving energy conservation, emission reduction and low carbon development. In this research, a non-radial data envelopment analysis (DEA) is conducted to assess the GTFEE in China, while the issue of climate and air pollution from energy use is considered in the assessment system. We use different indicators to refer to air pollutants, which provides a reference for related research in indicator selection. The results show that different indicators have different inefficiency values, but changes in the indicators have a minimal effect on the inefficiency values of the other constant indicators. We also assess the GTFEE for the last three five-year plan periods to inform future policy development. The results show that China’s average annual GTFEE exhibits a unique trend in each five-year plan period, with an overall “v” shaped trend. The annual average GTFEE of different regions also varies. The other changes in the rankings of the provinces are mainly concentrated in the 11th to 12th Five-Year Plan period.

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Uncertain structures may exhibit fuzzy uncertainty involving imprecise membership function (FuIMF). In this study, the uncertain parameters in FuIMF case are characterized as fuzzy variables, whereas the key parameters of their membership functions are treated as interval variables rather than exact values. Two ideas are put forward to handle FuIMF variables. First, the interval-boundary interval method (IBIM) is derived to conduct uncertainty propagation analysis, in which the [Formula: see text]-cut of FuIMF variables are considered as interval-boundary intervals. Second, the [Formula: see text]-cut of FuIMF variables are presented by the conservative and radical approximations, and the conservative and radical approximations method I (CRAM I) is proposed to conduct uncertainty propagation analysis. To further promote the computational efficiency, the conservative and radical approximations method II (CRAM II) is developed. Afterwards, a reference method based on Monte Carlo simulation is presented to verify the proposed methods. Finally, the effectiveness of proposed methods is demonstrated by numerical examples.