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Renicoris gen. nov. and its type species Renicoris robustus sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae: Harpactorinae) from Yunnan, China, are described and illustrated. A key to separate the new genus and its closely related genera is provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new species of the thread-legged bug genus Ademula McAtee & Malloch, 1926 (Hemiptera: Reduviidae: Emesinae: Emesini, formerly Ploiariolini) from China, A. callipennis, new species, and A. corniculata, new species, are described and illustrated in the present paper. COI barcodes of these two new species and an updated key to the Oriental species of Ademula are provided. The distribution of Ademula in East and Southeast Asia is briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: This study aimed to evaluate the potential applicability of Anabaena variabilis SCAU30 as a biofertilizer and biopesticide in rice fields. Methods: The effects of A. variabilis SCAU30 inoculation on disease severity, plant growth, rice yield, and soil nutrients were investigated by microchamber, micro-area, and field experiments. The nitrogen fixation ability was estimated by acetylene reduction activity. Hormones were analyzed using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Results: In microchamber experiments, the control efficacies of A. variabilis SCAU30 against rice sheath blight and bacterial blight were 62.3 ± 8.9% and 45.3 ± 5.6%, respectively. The cell extracts of A. variabilis SCAU30 exhibited high antagonistic effects on corresponding pathogens, whereas volatile compounds only showed inhibition on Xanthomonas oryzae. The results of pond experiments showed that inoculation with A. variabilis SCAU30 could promote the growth of rice plants, increase yield, control diseases, and decrease chemical nitrogen fertilizer input. Moreover, in field experiments, the combined treatment of A. variabilis SCAU30 and 50% topdressing fertilizer increased rice yields by 13.9%–22% compared with the conventional fertilizer treatment. This potentially represents economic gains of 26,753 ~ 38,987 Chinese Yuan ha−1 season−1 if sold as a green food. Conclusions: The present study suggests that A. variabilis SCAU30 may act as a fertilizer and pesticide in developing green rice in South China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chenicoris dilatatus gen. n. & sp. n. from southern China is described and placed in the largest assassin bug subfa mily Harpactorinae (Hemiptera: Heteroptera: Reduviidae). The new species is similar to members of Isyndus Stål, 1859 in general habitus, but can be distinguished from the latter by the unarmed anterior pronotal lobe, the laterally dilated lobe-like abdominal segment V and several features of its genitalia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of carbon neutrality provides a new opportunity for the development of renewable energy, especially for wind power. In this paper, 11 regional climate models (RCMs) including CORDEX-EA and PRECIS at two different resolutions are used to evaluate the performance in simulating the spatio-temporal characteristics for wind speed and energy potential from 1981 to 2005. The results show that most models can reproduce the spatio-temporal patterns, and the simulation of the eastern region is better than that of the western region. Besides, most of the higher-resolution models had better simulation performance for spatial-temporal patterns and inter-annual variation. Then, the weighted multi-model ensemble is used to project the changes of the wind speed and the wind power density over China's mainland during the mid-21st century under the RCP8.5 scenario. In future, a decrease in wind speed is projected by most RCMs over China, although some regions, such as the southern parts of China, are projected to have more wind energy potential. The percentage variation of annual mean wind speed will remain in the range of ±4%. The wind power density will decrease in the north and the largest decrease will be found in the northwest. However, the annual mean wind power density in the southeast China will have an increase of 2.21% in the middle of this century. The inter-annual variation of the wind power density in most regions will increase by more than 20%. However, intra-annual variation in the wind power density is likely to decrease in most regions of China, ranging from about −20% to −50%. • A weighted multi-model ensemble was used to project the changes of wind power density over China. • The changes of annual mean wind power density vary in different sub-regions of China, ranging from −3.21% to 2.21%. • The inter-annual variation of the WPD in most regions will increase by more than 20%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To explore the short‐ and long‐term outcomes in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)‐detected residual disease at 3 months post‐treatment who received intervention either promptly (0 month) or following observation (after an additional 3 months). Methods: A total of 272 patients with residual disease at 3 months post‐treatment (observation [observation for additional 3 months]: 122, intervention [prompt intervention]: 150) were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to examine the survival. Adverse events were analyzed in all patients. Results: Patients in the observation group had a lower 3‐year overall survival (77.1% vs. 85.2%), progression‐free survival (10.2% vs. 18.1%), and locoregional relapse‐free survival (10.2% vs. 20.6%) (all p <.05), but not distant metastasis‐free survival (83.8% vs. 78.4%, p =.189), whereas patients in the intervention group achieved higher complete remission (CR) rates (43.3% vs. 21.2%, p =.003). Patients who achieved CR after prompt intervention had a better survival rate than those who achieved observation‐CR or non‐CR (p <.001). Multivariate analyses revealed that a wait‐and‐see policy was an independent prognostic factor for impaired survival (p <.001). No significant differences of acute or late toxicities were observed between the two groups. Conclusions: Patients with NPC with MRI‐detected residual disease 3 months post‐radiotherapy should be encouraged to undergo prompt intervention rather than adopting a passive wait‐and‐see policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ferris and colleagues defined political skill in organizations as "the ability to effectively understand others at work and to use such knowledge to influence others to act in ways that enhance one's personal and/or organizational objectives." In this study, the psychometric properties of a Chinese translation of the Political Skill inventory were investigated, supporting construct, convergent, discriminant, and criterion validities. The results suggested that the Chinese translation retained a four-factor structure. Political skill was positively correlated with self-monitoring, conscientiousness, political savvy, emotional intelligence, extra-version, agreeableness, and proactive personality, and was negatively correlated with trait anxiety and external locus of control. After controlling for age, sex, and job tenure, political skill was predictive of task performance, work contribution, and interpersonal help. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An agricultural production function is estimated using a Chinese county-level dataset along with associated geographic information. County-specific output-input elasticities are computed using the geographically weighted regression (GWR) and mapped with the geographical information system (GIS). A comparison of the ordinary least squares and GWR estimates confirms that allowing spatial variation in the parameters improves model fit of the agricultural production function, and provides valuable insights into the relative importance of inputs in different regions. Moran's indices reveal the spatial dependence of output per unit of land, and four inputs across regions. Mappings of GWR estimates help to detect a few clusters of high output-input elasticities: for labour in the Northeast, North, Southwest and Northwest China, for land in the Central and Southwest, for mechanical power in the North, Northwest and coastal area of the East and South and for fertiliser in the East. The county-specific scale elasticities suggest constant return to scale is likely to hold in the Central, East, Southwest and South. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because effective control measures are lacking, tea leaf spot caused by Didymella segeticola results in huge tea (Camellia sinensis) production losses on tea plantations in Guizhou Province, southwestern China. Screening for natural antimicrobial agents with higher control effects against this pathogen and studying their modes of action may contribute to disease management. Here, Penicillium griseofulvum-derived antimicrobial griseofulvin (GSF) can inhibit the hyphal growth of D. segeticola strain GZSQ-4, with a half-maximal effective concentration of 0.37 μg/ml in vitro and a higher curative efficacy at a lower dose of 25 μg/ml for detached tea twigs. GSF induces deformed and slightly curly hyphae with enlarged ends, with protoplasts agglutinated in the hyphae, and higher numbers of hyphal protuberances. GSF alters hyphal morphology and the subcellular structure's order. The integrated transcriptome and proteome data revealed that the transport of materials in cells, cellular movement, and mitosis were modulated by GSF. Molecular docking indicated that beta-tubulin was the most potent target of GSF, with a binding free energy of −13.59 kcal/mol, and microscale thermophoresis indicated that the dissociation constant (Kd) value of GSF binding to beta-tubulin 1, compared with beta-tubulin 2, was significantly lower. Thus, GSF potentially targets beta-tubulin 1 to disturb the chromosomal separation and fungal mitosis, thereby inhibiting hyphal growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A letter to the editor is presented which discusses a research regarding the relationship between vascular dementia (VaD) and Alzheimer's disease in Chinese population.

Few studies have evaluated the long-term relationship between diet quality and cardiometabolic risk factor clustering among children. The moderating effect of socio-economic status (SES) is of interest. To investigate the association between diet quality with cardiometabolic risk among Chinese children and to explore the moderating effect of SES. In this cohort study, 5 waves (1997-2009) of the China Health and Nutrition Survey were used. Diet quality was measured by a modified version of the Chinese Children Dietary Index (mCCDI) based on Dietary Guidelines for Chinese. Children between the ages of 7 and 17 (n = 2903) who completed at least 2 surveys were included. Those who missed measures or had hypertension or diabetes at baseline were excluded. The fasting blood samples were collected in 2009. Waist circumference (WC) and blood pressure (BP) were measured in each survey. A continuous cardiometabolic risk score (MetScore) was derived by a confirmatory factor analysis of 5 components: WC, BP, glucose, triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Considering the latency period of the effect of behaviors, the mCCDI was lagged by the period between surveys. Linear regression was used to analyze the association of mCCDI with MetScore and its components. Mixed effect linear regression and lagged mCCDI were used for WC and BP models. Higher mCCDI was independently associated with a lower MetScore at follow-up (β: −.11; 95% CI: −.18 to −.04). Higher lagged mCCDI over time was associated with a lower WC z score overall (β: −.05; 95% CI: −.08 to −.01) and among children in the low SES group (β: −.09; 95% CI: −.14 to −.04) but not those in the high SES group. When examining the 15 mCDDI components separately, scores for 5 components: more grains, vegetables, soybeans and its products; less sugar-sweetened beverages; and more diet variety were significantly associated with a lower MetScore. Among Chinese children, higher diet quality measured by mCCDI was independently associated with a lower MetScore at follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lasiodiplodia theobromae is a phytopathogenic fungus, which can cause many different diseases on different crops. The pathogen can cause leaf spot on tea plants (Camellia sinensis), which negatively affects the productivity and quality of tea leaves in tea plantations in Guizhou Province, China. Although the genome sequence of L. theobromae has been published, no data on the transcriptome or small RNA sequences of L. theobromae under in vitro conditions and the course of infection of tea leaf are available. Here, we report the high-quality transcriptome and small RNA sequences of L. theobromae in vitro conditions and the course of infection of tea leaf using the platform of Illumina HiSeq. This comprehensive expression profiling of the fungal pathogen will provide a valuable resource for future research on trait-specific genes of the pathogen, host-pathogen interactions, and disease resistance in the host. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The karyotype is highly important for diagnosis and prognosis in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). The objective of the present study was to investigate the cytogenetic characteristics of patients with MDS in China. The karyotypes of 665 Chinese patients with MDS were analyzed, and it was identified that 298 cases (298/665, 44.8%) had abnormal karyotypes. Among the 298 patients with abnormal karyotypes, the 75 patients with trisomy 8 (+8) constituted the most common subset (75/298, 25.2%). The incidence of abnormal karyotypes was significantly higher in patients who were ≥51 years old compared with those <51 years old, (54.8 vs. 34.7%, respectively; P<0.05). Based on World Health Organization (WHO) classification-based Prognostic Scoring System (WPSS) criteria, the incidence of poor-prognosis karyotypes was significantly higher (17.4 vs. 5.4%; P<0.05) in the older patient group, and based on the Revised International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS-R) criteria, the incidence of poor-/very poor-prognosis karyotypes was also significantly higher (17.4 vs. 6.6%; P<0.05) in patients ≥51 years old compared with younger ones. Based on the WHO classification of MDS subtypes, the incidence of abnormal karyotypes in patients with high percentages of bone marrow (BM) blasts [excess blasts (EB)-I + EB-II, ≥5% blasts] was significantly higher than that in patients with low percentages of BM blasts (those with single lineage dysplasia + multilineage dysplasia, <5% blasts) (62.5 vs. 36.0%; P<0.05). The incidence of poor-prognosis karyotypes based on WPSS criteria was significantly higher in patients with high percentages of BM blasts than those with low percentages (22.0 vs. 6.9%, respectively; P<0.05), and the incidence of poor-/very poor-prognosis karyotypes based on IPSS-R criteria was also significantly higher (23.0 vs. 7.4%, respectively; P<0.05). These results demonstrate that +8 is the most common abnormal karyotype in Chinese patients with MDS. Age and the percentage of BM blasts are associated with the incidence of both abnormal karyotypes and karyotypes with poor prognosis. The results of cytogenetic abnormalities in this study will supplement the data on patients of MDS in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five Curvularia strains isolated from diseased leaves of lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) in Guangxi Province, China, were examined. NCBI-Blast searches of ITS sequences suggested a high degree of similarity (99-100%) to Curvularia akaii, C. akaiiensis, C. bothriochloae, C. heteropogonis and C. sichuanensis. To accurately identify these strains, we further analysed their morphology and phylogenetic relationships based on combinations of ITS, GAPDH, and tef1 gene sequences. Morphological observations indicated that the key character differing from similar species was conidial size, whereas phylogenetic analyses indicated that the five strains represent one species that is also distinct from C. akaii, C. akaiiensis and C. bothriochloae by conidial size and conidiophore length. Thus, the strains examined are found to represent a new species described herein as Curvularia nanningensis. The pathogenicity test on the host and detached leaves confirmed the new species to be pathogenic on Cymbopogon citratus leaves. Standardised requirements for reliable identification of Curvularia pathogens are also proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fungal pathogen Didymella segeticola (basionym Phoma segeticola) causes leaf spot on tea (Camellia sinensis), which leads to a loss in tea leaf production in Guizhou Province, China. D. segeticola isolate GZSQ-4 was sequenced using lllumina HiSeq and Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) RS technologies, and then assembled to approximately 33.4 Mbp with a scaffold N50 value of approximately 2.3 Mbp. In total, 10,893 genes were predicted using the Nonredundant, Gene Ontology, Clusters of Orthologous Groups, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, and SWISS-PROT databases. The whole-genome sequence of D. segeticola will provide a resource for future research on host-pathogen interactions, determination of trait-specific genes, pathogen evolution, and plant-host adaptation mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outbreaks of the southern rice black-streaked dwarf virus (SRBSDV) have caused significant crop losses in southern China in recent years, especially in 2010. There are no effective, quick and practicable methods for the diagnosis of rice dwarf disease that can be used in the field. Traditional reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) methodology is accurate but requires expensive reagents and instruments, as well as complex procedures that limit its applicability for field tests. To develop a sensitive and reliable assay for routine laboratory diagnosis, a rapid dot enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (dot-ELISA) method was developed for testing rice plants infected by SRBSDV. Based on anti-SRBSDV rabbit antiserum, this new dot-ELISA was highly reliable, sensitive and specific toward SRBSDV. The accuracy of two blotting media, polyvinylidene fluoride membrane (PVDF membrane) and nitrocellulose filter membrane (NC membrane), was compared. In order to facilitate the on-site diagnosis, three county laboratories were established in Shidian (Yunnan province), Jianghua (Hunan Province) and Libo (Guizhou province). Suspected rice cases from Shidian, Yuanjiang and Malipo in Yunnan province were tested and some determined to be positive for SRBSDV by the dot-ELISA and confirmed by the One Step RT-PCR method. To date, hundreds of suspected rice samples collected from 61 districts in southwestern China have been tested, among which 55 districts were found to have rice crops infected by SRBSDV. Furthermore, the test results in the county laboratories showed that Libo, Dehong (suspected samples were sent to Shidian) and Jianghua were experiencing a current SRBSDV outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estrogen was considered to be an important protective factor for cardiovascular diseases in women. Genetic association studies suggested that variations of ESR1and ESR2 genes might have a potential role in lipid profile. Our study aimed to investigate the association of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of ESR1 and ESR2 with hyperlipidemia in Chinese Han postmenopausal women. A total of 443 postmenopausal women aged between 55 and 71 years were recruited from Shanghai, China for a case–control study (154 women with hyperlipidemia and 289 controls). We measured plasma estradiol concentration, glucose and lipid profile levels, evaluated their lifestyle and sequenced four SNPs, namely PvuII (rs2234693) and XbaI (rs9340799) of ESR1 and 1082A>G (rs1256049) and 1730A>G (rs4986938) of ESR2. PvuII (rs2234693) and XbaI (rs9340799) showed significantly different distributions between cases and controls (P=0.002 and P=0.023, respectively). In addition, haplotypes constructed from PvuII–XbaI were also associated with hyperlipidemia (global P=0.012). Haplotypes T–A (P=0.005, odds ratio (OR) 1.52, 95% confidence interval (95% CI): 1.13–2.05) and C–G (P=0.010, OR 0.62, 95% CI: 0.43–0.89) had susceptible and protective effects, respectively. 1082A>G (rs1256049) and 1730A>G (rs4986938) showed no statistical association with hyperlipidemia. In conclusion, our results suggested that ESR1 might have a potential role in hyperlipidemia risk, independent of age, estradiol level, body mass index and lifestyle in Chinese Han postmenopausal women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bipolar disorder is a widespread and severe brain disorder that is strongly affected by genetic factors. The PDZ and LIM domain 5 (PDLIM5) gene encodes a protein as an Enigma homologue LIM domain protein, which has been widely reported as being expressed in various brain regions. The analysis of DNA microarrays in the frontal lobes of patients with bipolar disorder has indicated changes in the expression level of PDLIM5, and subsequent studies have suggested that PDLIM5 might play a role in susceptibility to bipolar disorder. We sought to examine the association between PDLIM5 and bipolar disorder. Methods: We recruited 502 patients with bipolar disorder and 507 controls from Anhui Province, China. We conducted a case-control study of 4 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of PDLIM5 that have been reported to be significantly associated with bipolar disorder in the Japanese and Chinese population: rs10008257, rs2433320, rs2433322 and rs2438146. Results: We found that rs2433322 showed significantly different frequencies between patients and controls (p = 0.002). Three of the SNPs, rs10008257, rs2433320 and rs2438146, showed no statistical association with bipolar disorder; however, haplotypes constructed from 3 SNPs, rs2433320, rs2433322 and rs2438146, were significantly associated with bipolar disorder (global p = 0.004 after Bonferroni correction). Limitations: Our genetic association study only offered evidence for susceptibility of PDLIM5 to bipolar disorder, but the positive SNP rs2433322 could not indicate a direct cause of this complicated brain disorder. In addition, the 4 tagged SNPs that we selected could not cover the whole region of PDLIM5, thus additional reproducible studies of more SNPS in large non-Asian populations are needed. Conclusion: Our results suggest that PDLIM5 might play a role in susceptibility to bipolar disorder among the Chinese Han population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]