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Escherichia coli is one of the important reservoirs of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARG), which often causes food-borne diseases and clinical infections. Contamination with E. coli carrying clinically important antimicrobial resistance genes in retail meat products can be transmitted to humans through the food chain, posing a serious threat to public health. In this study, a total of 330 E. coli strains were isolated from 464 fresh meat samples from 17 food markets in China, two of which were identified as enterotoxigenic and enteropathogenic E. coli. Whole genome sequencing revealed the presence of 146 different sequence types (STs) including 20 new STs, and 315 different clones based on the phylogenetic analysis, indicating the high genetic diversity of E. coli from retail meat products. Antimicrobial resistance profiles showed that 82.42 % E. coli were multidrug-resistant strains. A total of 89 antimicrobial resistance genes were detected and 12 E. coli strains carried clinically important antimicrobial resistance genes bla NDM-1 , bla NDM-5 , mcr-1 , mcr-10 and tet (X4), respectively. Nanopore sequencing revealed that these resistance genes are located on different plasmids with the ability of horizontal transfer, and their genetic structure and environment are closely related to plasmids isolated from humans. Importantly, we reported for the first time the presence of plasmid-mediated mcr-10 in E. coli from retail meat. This study revealed the high genetic diversity of food-borne E. coli in retail meat and emphasized their risk of spreading clinically important antimicrobial resistance genes. • A total of 330 E. coli strains were isolated from retail meat in 17 food markets in China. • WGS revealed that there were 146 different STs including 20 novel STs, with high genetic diversity. • A total of 89 antimicrobial resistance genes were detected, including bla NDM , mcr and tet (X4). • Ten plasmids carrying clinically important antimicrobial resistance genes were characterized. • It is the first time to report plasmid-mediated mcr-10 in E. coli from retail meat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cephalosporins are beta-lactam antibiotics that are widely used in clinics in China. However, information on their toxicity to zebrafish is limited. This study reports that the toxicity effects of cephalosporins containing an N-methyltetrazolthio ring at the C-3 position (CNMTs) exposure on zebrafish were comparable to those predicted by in silico analysis. The effects of CNMTs on the mortality and malformation rate of zebrafish were concentration-dependent. The transcriptional levels of the has1 and cnnm2a genes, which are related to embryo development and absorption of Mg2+ in vivo, significantly changed. Several pathways that were enriched by differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, and the most significantly co-enriched pathways were related to neuroactive ligand-receptor interactions, cardiac muscle contraction, and vascular smooth muscle contraction. In sum, the C-3 substituent in the nucleus 7-aminocephalosporanic acid (7-ACA) of CNMTs is responsible for the observed toxicity at higher concentrations, and the C-7 substituent plays an important role in toxicity at lower concentrations. Our results show that zebrafish embryos and transcriptomics may be useful for determining target organ toxicity, assessing the structure and toxicity relationship of chemicals, and improving drug safety assessments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technological innovation and low-carbon economy are significant for the high-quality development of China's industrial sectors. However, few scholars combine the two stages closely and discuss their coordinated development. This paper establishes an evaluation index system of technological innovation and low-carbon economy in China's industrial sectors. The technological innovation efficiency, low-carbon economy efficiency, and comprehensive efficiency of technological innovation and low-carbon economy are dynamically investigated by the two-stage data envelopment analysis (DEA) model and the DEA window analysis with 35 subsectors panel data during 1996–2018. The inter-industrial differences in the technological innovation efficiency and low-carbon economy efficiency are considered, and the influencing factors of the comprehensive efficiency of technological innovation and low-carbon economy are studied by the bootstrap truncation regression. The results show that: (1) The development of the technological innovation and low-carbon economy is uncoordinated, and the low-carbon economy efficiency needs improvement; (2) There is heterogeneous of the technological innovation efficiency and low-carbon economy efficiency in the 35 subsectors; (3) The density of science and technology institutions, and the average enterprises scale are positive to the comprehensive efficiency of technological innovation and low-carbon economy, while excessive reliance on technology introduction has a negative impaction. The corresponding suggestions are provided for promoting technological innovation efficiency and low-carbon economy efficiency of industrial sectors. • Establishing an evaluation index system of technological innovation and low-carbon economy in China's industrial sectors. • The coordinated development of technological innovation and low-carbon economy is noticeable. • The affecting factors of comprehensive efficiency of technological innovation and low-carbon economy are studied. • Exploring the win-win path of industrial growth and energy conservation and emission reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a practice of campaign-style pollution control, the central environmental inspection has great guiding significance for China's environmental management system reform. This paper analyzes the operational mechanism of central environmental protection inspection from the perspective of multi-governance and tests its effectiveness from both theory and empirical evidence. We find that the central environmental protection inspection can improve environmental quality. However, the air quality improvement of non-key cities of environmental protection is better than that of key cities of environmental protection. Besides, the effectiveness of the central environmental protection inspection is unsustainable. The results show that the direct intervention of the power of the Party Central Committee and the central government is a significant driving force to realize the improvement of the environmental quality by playing the role of the multi-governance model in the environment. The continuous environmental participation of the Party Central Committee and the central government is the guarantee for achieving the continuous operation of the multi-government model and maintaining the effect of environmental quality improvement. • We analyze the operating mechanism of the CEPI from the perspective of multi-governance. • A differential game is constructed to explain why the CEPI can reduce pollution. • The CEPI can improve air quality, but its effectiveness is unsustainable. • The air quality improvement of non-key cities is better than that of key cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The direct rebound effect offsets part of energy savings brought about by energy efficiency, causing academics and governments to re-examine the relationship between energy efficiency and conservation. Although suppressing the rebound effect contributes to energy conservation, how to implement it is debatable. This paper puts forward a framework to character the direct rebound effect, and develops non-linear models to explore the impacts of urbanization on the direct rebound effect based on a panel dataset of 30 Chinese provinces. The results show that, first, the magnitude of the direct rebound effect is much smaller in urban areas than that in rural areas. Second, urbanization could restrain the direct rebound effect in urban areas, where employment and environmental consciousness play important roles while the impact of agglomeration is relatively weak. The impacts of urbanization on direct rebound effect are not substantial in rural areas. In addition, our findings reject the saturation effect caused by income. Income promotes the direct rebound effect in rural areas while it could not restrain the direct rebound effect in urban areas. Therefore, the reason that the average direct rebound effect tends to decline with income growth seems to be the urbanization rather than the saturation effect. • This paper puts forward a framework to character the RE and explore its evolution. • A new urbanization that looks at its quality rather than its growth is conducted in this paper. • The relationship between income and the RE is re-examined and it has the urban-rural heterogeneity. • The RE of urban areas decreases with urbanization mainly in the employment and environment dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, ski resorts have been growing explosively in China and various issues have emerged regarding their sustainability. To improve the sustainable development of ski tourism, the main objective of this study is to systematically explore the coordinated relationships and mechanisms of the economic development, ecological environment and the tourism industry (EET) in ski resorts. The entropy weighting method and the weighted TOPSIS method were used to construct a coordinated evaluation system of the EET of ski resorts. The comprehensive evaluation indices and coupling coordination degree (CCD) of four typical ski resorts from 2012 to 2020 were calculated, and the factors acting as obstacles were unearthed by applying the obstacle model. At the destination level, the comprehensive evaluation indices of four places are steadily rising, but with varying levels of development and different increases. At the level of chronological evolutionary trends, the dominant trends are the two major shifts from ecological environment lag to economic development lag, and from relative disorder to relative harmony. At the obstacle level, the main obstacles vary somewhat among the resorts in terms of system type, temporal distribution and the magnitude of the obstacles, but ski resource endowment is the main factor. This article introduces the coupling coordination theory, and puts forward policy suggestions to enhance its CCD through the evaluation and comparison of regional coupling status. This approach is used to seek the sustainable and high-quality development of ski resorts in China. • The dominant trend in the coordinated development of ski resorts is ecological environment lag to economic development lag. • The coupling coordination degree and sustainability of ski resorts still need to be enhanced. • The tourism industry is the biggest obstacle to coupling coordination in the development of ski resorts. • Ski resource endowment is fundamental to the coordinated development of ski resorts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing dietary diversity while avoiding additional stress on water resources remains a critical challenge for sustainability. However, the precise understanding of the physical water consumption and virtual water flows associated with diversified diets remains unclear. This study estimated the dietary water footprints (WFs), interprovincial virtual water flows, followed by assessing the unsustainable blue WF and water scarcity footprint (WSF) in China over 2015–2019. Rural and urban food intake, waste, and differences between eating at home and out were considered. The findings reveal that China's dietary patterns have gradually strayed from recommended guidelines, with an overconsumption of cereals and inadequate intake of dairy products and potatoes. Despite a decrease, both unsustainable blue WF and WSF remained significant, measuring 249.61 Gm3 and 807.77 Gm3 H2O-eq, respectively, in 2019. Notably, water-scarce regions still accounted for a substantial portion of unsustainable virtual blue water exports. The diet related virtual water reallocation can offset the water savings on the crop production side. [Display omitted] • Diets of urban and rural residents in China are deviating from the diet guidelines. • The diet driven unsustainable virtual water flows and water scarce footprints decreased. • Water-scarce regions still incurred a large share of unsustainable virtual blue water exports. • Diet diversity offsets the water savings in crop production side. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fatty liver disease associated with metabolic dysfunction is of increasing concern in mainland China, the world's most populous country. The incidence of fatty liver disease is highest in China, surpassing the incidence in European countries and the USA. An international consensus panel recently published an influential report recommending a novel definition of fatty liver disease associated with metabolic dysfunction. This recommendation includes a switch in name from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) to metabolic (dysfunction)-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and adoption of a set of positive criteria for disease diagnosis that are independent of alcohol intake or other liver diseases. Given the unique importance of this proposal, the Chinese Society of Hepatology (CSH) invited leading hepatologists and gastroenterologists representing their respective provinces and cities to reach consensus on alternative definitions for fatty liver disease from a national perspective. The CSH endorses the proposed change from NAFLD to MAFLD (supported by 95.45% of participants). We expect that the new definition will result in substantial improvements in health care for patients and advance disease awareness, public health policy, and political, scientific and funding outcomes for MAFLD in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This is a first-in-human phase I study investigating the safety and efficacy of toripalimab, a humanized monoclonal antibody against the programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) receptor, in Chinese patients with advanced or recurrent malignant tumor refractory to standard treatment. During dose escalation, patients received a single-dose intravenous infusion of toripalimab for 56 days followed by multidose infusions every two weeks. The planned dosing groups were 1, 3 and 10 mg/kg. During dose expansion, patients received toripalimab every two weeks. Clinical response was evaluated by investigators every 6 weeks. Thirty-three patients were enrolled, including 12 patients with alveolar soft part sarcoma (ASPS), seven with non–small-cell lung cancer and 11 with lymphoma. Patients were heavily pretreated with a median of 3 prior lines of systemic treatments. Toripalimab was well tolerated without dose-limiting toxicity. All patients experienced treatment-related adverse events. Grade 3 and above treatment-related adverse events occurred in six (18.2%) patients. Among 22 solid tumors, the objective response rate (ORR) was 22.7% per RECIST v1.1. The ORR was 90.9% in 11 lymphoma patients per IWG 2007. The median duration of response was 21.5 months. The median progression-free survival was 5.7 months for solid tumors and 8.3 months for lymphomas. The median OS was not reached for all patients and the lymphoma subgroups. The median OS was 34.7 months for patients with ASPS. Toripalimab was well tolerated up to 10 mg/kg Q2W without dose-limiting toxicity and showed promising and durable antitumour activities in patients with ASPS and lymphoma, who were heavily pretreated. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02836834. • First-in-human Phase I study of toripalimab in patients with advanced malignant tumor. • Toripalimab was well tolerated up to 10mg/kg Q2W without DLT. • 25.0% (3/12) ORR and 91.7% (11/12) DCR in alveolar soft part sarcoma patients. • 90.9% (10/11) ORR and 90.9% (10/11) DCR in lymphoma patients. • Median DOR 21.5 months for all responding patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China, a big paper-making country, produced hundreds of millions of tons of waste paper which contain a lot of fiber every year. Cellulose nanocrystals were extracted from recycled waste paper which can be a high value utilization of secondary fiber. In this paper, cellulose nanocrystals were successfully extracted from waste paper fibers via two different systems, sulfuric acid hydrolysis (SCNCs) and one-step ammonium persulfate (APS) oxidation (OCNCs). This not only broadened the methods of extracting CNCs from waste paper, but also improved the dispersion and reactivity of CNCs. The CNCs products were investigated by FT-IR spectroscopy for functional group structure, X-ray diffraction for crystal structure, TG-DTG for thermal stability and scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope for morphology. The results showed that both OCNCs and SCNCs were a rod-like structure. The crystallinity of OCNCs and SCNCs increased to 72.45 and 77.56, but with a low yield of 22.42% and 41.22%, respectively. The result also suggested H 2 O 2 formed by decomposition of APS, selectively oxidized the hydroxyl on the C 6 in cellulose to carboxyl, introduced 0.57 mmol/g carboxyl. Successful preparation of CNCs extracted from waste paper can effectively utilize the fiber resources in waste paper, thus transforming into higher economic benefits. • CNCs was successfully extracted from waste paper fibers via different systems. • No ink-towing or bleaching treatment was carried out during the preparation of CNC. • The structure of CNCs prepared via different systems was compared differences completely and systematically [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel hybrid modeling method for interval time prediction was proposed. • The analytical model for calculation of the interval time was proposed. • An improved brain storm optimization algorithm was proposed in this paper. • An error compensation model was built based on IBSO-KELM method. • The effectiveness of the proposed model was verified by actual production data. In actual oilfield production, the intermittent pumping well's interval time is mainly determined by the production experience of managers, which makes it hard for the oil well to reach the best production efficiency with stable production and lower energy consumption. To solve this problem, a hybrid model based on kernel extreme learning machine optimized by an improved brain storm optimization (IBSO-KELM) method is presented in this paper. The analytical model is first built to get the experiential interval time using experiential values of many production parameters; then, the IBSO-KELM model is used to compensate the calculation error of the analytical model. In the KELM model, the values of two model parameters are optimally selected by IBSO algorithm which has a self-adaptive ability between the global searching and the local searching and also has lower computation complexity. Two evaluation indexes are used to improve the predictive performance of the IBSO-KELM model, in which, the compensation evaluation index is used to start the error compensation calculation for the experiential time and the model evaluation index is used to judge whether the established off-line model is suitable to the current working condition. Case studies using production data of one oil well in China are conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porcine circovirus 4 (PCV4) is a recently discovered circovirus that was first reported in 2019 in several pigs with severe clinical disease in Hunan province of China, and also identified in pigs infected with porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV). To further investigate the epidemic profile and genetic characteristics of the two viruses, 150 clinical samples were collected from 9 swine farms in Shaanxi and Henan provinces of China, and a SYBR Green I-based duplex quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was developed for detecting PCV4 and PRRSV simultaneously. The results showed the limits of detection were 41.1 copies/μL and 81.5 copies/μL for PCV4 and PRRSV, respectively. The detection rates of PCV4 and PRRSV were 8.00% (12/150) and 12.00% (18/150) respectively, and a case of co-infection with PCV4 and PRRSV was found in the lung tissue of a suckling pig with respiratory symptom. Subsequently, the complete genomic sequences of five PCV4 strains were obtained, of which one PCV4 strain (SX-ZX) was from Shaanxi province, and these strains were 1770 nucleotides in length and had 97.7%−99.4% genomic identity with 59 PCV4 reference strains. The genome characteristic of the SX-ZX strain was evaluated from three aspects, a "stem-loop" structure, ORF1 and ORF2. As essential elements for the replication, the 17-bp iterative sequence was predicted as the stem structure, in which three non-tandem hexamers were found at downstream with H1/H2 (12-CGGCACACTTCGGCAC-27) as the minimal binding site. Three of the five PCV4 strains were clustered into PCV4b, which was composed of Suidae, fox, dairy cow, dog and raccoon dog. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that seven PRRSV strains from the present study were clustered into the PRRSV-2 genotype. Collectively, these data extend our understanding of the genome characteristic of PCV4 as well as the molecular epidemiology and the genetic profile of PCV4 and PRRSV. • A duplex qPCR assay was developed for the simultaneous detection of PCV4 and PRRSV. • Limits of detection were 41.1 copies/μL and 81.5 copies/μL for PCV4 and PRRSV, respectively. • A case of co-infection with PCV4 and PRRSV was found in lung tissue of a suckling pig with respiratory symptom. • The 17-bp iterative sequence was predicted as the stem structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chronic methamphetamine (MA) use is associated with psychiatric symptoms. This study explored pattern of co-occurring psychiatric symptoms in MA users and their relationship to duration of MA use. A cross-sectional study was conducted among MA users at the Shenzhen Compulsory Drug Detoxification Center from April 2012 to October 2015. The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Scale, and Beck Depression Inventory were used to assess psychiatric symptoms. Among 1277 MA users, 57.6% participants had any type of psychiatric symptoms including depressive, anxiety and psychotic symptoms. A dose-response relationship was found between duration of MA use and risk of psychiatric symptoms. The odds ratios (OR) of depressive symptoms increased with the duration of MA use (1–5 years vs. < 1 year: 1.74 [95% CI, 1.24–2.42]; ≥ 5 years vs. < 1 year: 2.07 [1.19–3.61]), so did the ORs of co-occurring anxiety and depressive symptoms (1–5 years: 1.74 [1.20–2.51]; ≥ 5 years: 3.09 [1.76–5.40]). Methamphetamine-dependent individuals were four-times more likely to experience any type of psychiatric symptoms than non-dependent users. The prevalence of psychiatric symptoms was high in chronic MA users and increased with MA use duration. Early prevention and treatment strategies targeting both MA use and associated psychiatric symptoms are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing awareness of climate change and food security has spawned an interest in low-carbon agriculture, an important aspect of which is the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. As the largest source of agricultural emissions is fertilizer application, using a different type of fertilizer may help to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture systems. The objectives of this study were to report a basic estimate of agricultural inputs and greenhouse gas emissions of crop production using national statistical data available for the period of 1993–2007, to compare the quantities of greenhouse gas emissions from different fertilizer types (per unit of N, P 2 O 5 , and K 2 O), to identify fertilizer types with the lowest emissions and the lowest costs, and to quantify the emissions gap between the lowest and actual emission scenarios, which will provide critical information for pursuing low-carbon agriculture in the future. According to available data, the use of all agricultural inputs increased during 1993–2012, resulting in an increase in not only yield but also in total greenhouse gas emissions from crop production. Not considering direct N 2 O emissions from the field, fertilizer-induced emissions accounted for up to 47.71% of the total greenhouse gas emissions from crop production. Therefore, lowering fertilizer-induced emissions is a priority measure that will result in low-carbon agriculture. Furthermore, ammonium bicarbonate, calcium superphosphate, and potassium chloride were found to be fertilizers with the lowest greenhouse gas emissions, and adoption of these fertilizers would result in a 49.15% reduction in fertilizer-induced emissions. This finding indicates that the judicious choice of fertilizer type would contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in intensive production systems in China. Accordingly, utilizing ammonium bicarbonate, calcium superphosphate, and potassium chloride would be beneficial for greenhouse gas emission reduction and could be adopted as a good practice of low-carbon agriculture in China. This study highlights that changing to an appropriate fertilizer type could be an efficient option for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions in crop production in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Aims: In 1999, the International Autoimmune Hepatitis Group (IAIHG) revised the diagnostic criteria for autoimmune hepatitis (AIH). It subsequently developed the simplified criteria in 2008 to enhance clinical applicability and practicability. In this study, we validated the simplified diagnostic criteria in Chinese patients with AIH or other chronic liver diseases in comparison with the revised original criteria. Methods: Diagnostic scores were determined using the revised original criteria and the simplified criteria in 405 patients with diverse liver diseases. The sample included 127 patients with AIH type I diagnosed by the descriptive criteria, 77 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), 6 patients with AIH–PBC overlap syndrome, 47 patients with drug-induced liver injury (DILI), 36 patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), 82 patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB), and 30 patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). The simplified criteria were compared to the revised original criteria based on sensitivity, specificity, and predictability for the pre-treatment diagnosis of AIH. Results: The simplified criteria had sensitivity and specificity of 90% and 95%, respectively, for the diagnosis of probable AIH in the Chinese patients. This compares well with the more rigorous revised original criteria, which had sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 93%, respectively, for probable AIH. On definite AIH, the simplified criteria had sensitivity and specificity of 62% and 99%, respectively, compared to 64% and 100% for definite AIH by the revised original criteria. In addition, the predictabilities of the revised original criteria and simplified criteria were 96% and 94% for probable AIH, and 88% and 87% for definite AIH, respectively, in our groups. Using the revised original criteria, 84 patients were diagnosed with definite AIH. On the other hand, among these 84 patients, the simplified criteria diagnosed only 61 patients with definite AIH (accordant diagnosis) and provided the 23 other patients with downgraded diagnosis. Comparison of the clinical and laboratory features of these two groups (accordant diagnosis vs. downgraded/excluded diagnosis) showed that the patients with downgraded diagnosis had significantly higher histological scores than the patients with accordant diagnosis. Conclusions: The simplified criteria are comparable to the revised original criteria and have high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of AIH in Chinese patients. Liver histology is critical for the diagnosis of AIH especially when using the simplified criteria. Further study or prospective evaluation is needed to confirm these observations, however, due to the small group of CHC patients as well as the absence of primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) patients in our study. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]