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Occurrence and distribution of 15 antibiotics belonging to families of sulfonamides, fluoroquinolones, tetracyclines and chloramphenicols were investigated in water and sediment in Gaoqiao mangrove area, China, using LC-MS-MS. The influence of tidal level and mangrove vegetation on antibiotic residues were examined. The levels of antibiotics were found to be ranged from 0.15 to 198 ng L −1 in water and from 0.08 to 849 μg kg −1 in sediment. No significant difference in concentrations of 15 different antibiotics from water and sediment samples was observed among the high, middle and low intertidal channel. The residues of SMZ, SMTZ, OFL, NOR, ENR, OXY and FLO were significantly higher in Aegiceras corniculatum assemblage than in Avicennia marina assemblage. Although no significant difference in tested antibiotics was found between the surface and bottom sediment, mangrove vegetation can to some extent reduce the accumulation for SMZ, SMTZ, OFL, NOR, CIP, OXY and TET in sediments relative to corresponding bare mudflats, implying that the environmental pollution from antibiotics may be mitigated by mangrove vegetation. Principal components analysis revealed that the terrestrial input and different habitats directly influenced the occurrence and distribution of antibiotics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context.--Cardiac troponins have become the gold standard for diagnosing acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the general population; however, their diagnostic accuracy for hemodialysis (HD) patients presenting with chest pain or dyspnea is uncertain. Objective.--To examine the diagnostic accuracy of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) assay for AMI in HD patients. Design.--In this prospective study, we enrolled 670 consecutive stable HD patients presenting with chest pain or dyspnea on routine predialysis therapy in the nephrology department. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to examine the diagnostic accuracy of hs-cTnT levels at enrollment in HD patients presenting with chest pain or dyspnea, and the dynamic change in these levels after 3 hours. Results.--Acute myocardial infarction was the adjudicated final diagnosis in 12% of HD patients. Among patients with a final diagnosis other than AMI, 97% had a plasma hs-cTnT concentration above the 99th percentile. At the time of enrollment, the area under the ROC curve of hs-cTnT levels for diagnosis of AMI was 0.68 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.62-0.74; P < .001) with a cutoff value of 107.7 ng/L; the relative change after 3 hours was 0.90 (95% CI, 0.82-0.96, P < .001) with a cutoff value of 24%, and the absolute change was 0.88 (95% CI, 0.82-0.94, P < .001) with a cutoff value of 32.6 ng/L. The prognostic value for 40-day mortality varied with the magnitude of elevation in hs-cTnT levels. Conclusions.--Tracking the dynamic change in hs-cTnT levels during the short term significantly increased this measure's diagnostic accuracy for AMI in HD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Investigation of drought structure in terms of drought onset, termination, and their transition periods as well as drought duration helps to gain a better understanding of drought regime and to establish a reliable drought early warning system. In this study, a Nonparametric Multivariate Standardized Drought Index (NMSDI) combining the information of precipitation and streamflow was introduced to investigate the spatial and temporal characteristics of drought structure in the Yellow River basin (YRB). Furthermore, the correlations between the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events and NMSDI variations were explored using the cross wavelet technique. The results showed that (1) The variations of NMSDI were consistent with those of 6-month SPI (Standardized Precipitation Index) and SSFI (Standardized Streamflow Index), indicating that the proposed nonparametric multivariate drought index was reliable and effective in characterizing droughts. (2) The preferred seasons of drought onset were spring and summer, and winter was the preferred season of drought recovery in the YRB. The long-term average drought duration in the whole basin was nearly 5.8 months, which was clearly longer than the average drought onset and termination transition periods. (3) Overall, the drought structure in terms of drought duration, onset and termination transition periods in the YRB remained stable, and no appreciable change trend was found. (4) ENSO events exhibited a statistically negative correlation with NMSDI variations, suggesting that they showed strong impacts on drought evolutions in the YRB. Although the YRB was selected as a case study in this paper, the approach/indicator can be applied in other regions as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is of importance to investigate the response of agricultural drought to meteorological drought and its influencing factors, which could help better understand drought evolution mechanisms and facilitate agricultural drought monitoring and predictions. As a case study in the Wei River Basin (WRB), China, the heuristic segmentation method was first applied to identify change points of long-term hydrological and metrological conditions for the period of 1960–2007. Then the cross wavelet analysis was utilized to reveal the detailed links between agricultural drought (based on Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI)) and meteorological drought (based on Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI)) at the seasonal time scale. The controlling factors governing the agricultural response were then explored through quantitatively examining the corresponding large-scale atmospheric conditions and local-scale land surface characteristics. Results indicate that: (1) the variations of the lag time of agricultural drought in response to meteorological drought is large at the seasonal scale, characterized by fast response in summer and relatively slow response in autumn, and the contrasting response in the time lag is mainly due to the buffering effects of soils; (2) the variations of Arctic Oscillation (AO) was found to have large effects on the lag time, with both positive and negative effects; (3) a negative correlation between the lag time and the parameter w in the Fu’ equation within the Budyko framework was found, implying the potential effects of vegetation cover on the drought propagation from meteorological drought to agricultural drought in the WRB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of severe cases of human influenza A (H7N9) viral infection in China in the spring of 2003 resulted in a global effort to rapidly develop an effective candidate vaccine. In this study, a cold-adapted (ca), live attenuated monovalent reassortant influenza H7N9 virus (Ah01/AA ca) was generated using reverse genetics that contained hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes from a 2013 pandemic A H7N9 isolate, A/Anhui/01/2013 virus (Ah01/H7N9); the remaining six backbone genes derived from the cold-adapted influenza H2N2 A/Ann Arbor/6/60 virus (AA virus). Ah01/AA ca virus exhibited temperature sensitivity (ts), ca, and attenuation (att) phenotypes. Intranasal immunization of female BALB/c mice with Ah01/AA ca twice at a 2-week interval induced robust humoral, mucosal, and cell-mediated immune responses in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the candidate Ah01/AA ca virus was immunogenic and offered partial or complete protection of mice against a lethal challenge by the live 2013 influenza A H7N9 (A/Anhui/01/2013). Protection was demonstrated by the inhibition of viral replication and the attenuation of histopathological changes in the challenged mouse lung. Taken together, these data support the further evaluation of this Ah01/AA ca candidate vaccine in primates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In early spring 2013, the emergence of the influenza A (H7N9) virus in humans in Eastern China raised concerns of a new influenza pandemic. Development of a safe and effective H7N9 influenza vaccine is urgently needed. To this end, we first synthesized the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes of the influenza A (H7N9) virus A/AnHui/1/2013. Using reverse genetics, we rescued a reassortant virus (H7N9/PR8) that contained the HA and NA genes from wild-type H7N9 and six genes encoding internal proteins from the A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (PR8) virus. Next, the pathogenicity of the reassortant virus was evaluated both in vivo and in vitro. We found that the virus was non-pathogenic in mice and was stable after serial passaging in eggs. Furthermore, we found that a monovalent influenza A (H7N9) split vaccine prepared from the virus was immunogenic in mice and ferrets. When given intramuscularly, the vaccine (two doses of at least 15-µg) completely protected mice from normally lethal wild-type H7N9 virus challenge. In summary, our H7N9 vaccine, developed over a short time, is a potential candidate for further clinical evaluation and human use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zhou 8425B, possessing the leaf rust resistance gene LrZH84, is an elite wheat (Triticum aestivum) parental line in the Yellow-Huai Valley region of China. In the present study, 2,086 F2 plants derived from Zhou 8425B/Chinese Spring were used for fine mapping of LrZH84 with expressed sequence tag (EST) and sequence-tagged site (STS) markers Seventy inter-simple sequence repeat EST and STS markers on 1BL were used to screen the two parents and resistant and susceptible bulks; those polymorphic were used to analyze the entire F2 population. Three EST markers (BF474863, BE497107, and CD373538) were closely linked to LrZH84, with genetic distances of 0.7, 0.7, and 1.7 cM, respectively. STS marker Hbsf-I was developed from the sequences of polymerase chain reaction fragments amplified from EST marker BF474863. LrZH84 was 8.19 cM proximal to Lr44, but may be allelic to LrXi and LrG98 although they showed different reactions with some Puccinia triticina pathotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon metabolism of a chemical industrial park remains scarce in literature, due to overwhelming data collection workload and intricate interfirm flow examination. Based on five year intensive data collection and verification, this research presents the findings of one-year static carbon metabolism in a typical Chinese fine chemical industrial park. As to the total direct carbon input (0.38 million tons), 32% concern chemicals production, while the remaining 68% are related to energy conversion. Three common metrics, carbon efficiency, C factor, and E factor are applied to assess the performance of carbon flows. Based on an analysis of 380 raw chemicals and 130 chemical products, performance of the three kinds of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, dyes, and other line chemicals, and the chemical industrial park as a whole are considered and compared with similar industrial area, respectively. The carbon efficiency of chemicals production is 69%, while the other 31% ends up in waste. The interfirm carbon flow accounts for 3.4% of the carbon inputs in raw chemicals. Pursuing local environmental goals (i.e., abatement of odor, chemical oxygen demand, and solid waste) results in greater CO2 emissions, which runs against protection of the global environment. Options to improve carbon efficiency were also discussed from three aspects. This study lays groundwork for quantifying greenhouse gas emissions, benchmarking carbon efficiency, and conducting life cycle assessment on the park level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land Use/Land Cover change (LUCC) is a key aspect of global environmental change, which has a significant impact on climate change. In the background of increasing global warming resulting from greenhouse effect, to understand the impact of land use change on climate change is necessary and meaningful. In this study, we choose China as the study area and explore the possible land use change trends based on the AgLU module and ERB module of global change assessment model (GCAM model and Global Change Assessment Model). We design three scenarios based on socioeconomic development and simulated the corresponding structure change of land use according to the three scenarios with different parameters. Then we simulate the different emission of CO2 under different scenarios based on the simulation results of structure change of land use. At last, we choose the most suitable scenario that could control the emission of CO2 best and obtain the relatively better land use structure change for adaption of climate change. Through this research we can provide a theoretical basis for the future land use planning to adapt to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal iron status is thought to be related to postpartum depressive symptoms. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relationship between pre- and postnatal maternal iron status and depressive symptoms in pilot (n = 137) and confirmatory (n = 567) samples of Chinese women. Iron status was evaluated at mid- and late pregnancy and 3 days postpartum. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was used to assess maternal postpartum depression 24-48 hours after delivery and 6 weeks later. In the pilot sample, correlations between early- and late-pregnancy maternal Hb and EPDS scores at 6 weeks were r = 0.07 and -0.01, respectively (nonsignificant). In the confirmatory sample, the correlations between maternal iron measures (Hb, MCV, ZPP, ferritin, sTfR, and sTfR Index) in mid- or late pregnancy or 3 days postpartum and EPDS scores shortly after delivery or at 6 weeks were also low (r values < 0.10). EPDS scores in anemic and nonanemic mothers did not differ, regardless of sample or timing of maternal iron status assessment. In addition, women with or without possible PPD were similar in iron status in both samples. Thus, there was no relationship between maternal iron status and postpartum depression in these samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Drug safety and postmarketing surveillance have become important public health issues in China. This study reviews the relatively new drug safety surveillance system in China and compares it with the systems in the United States and Europe. Methods: An extensive literature review was conducted in the following four areas: 1) the organizational structure of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) in China; 2) the development of an adverse drug reaction (ADR) monitoring system in China; 3) regulatory issues related to drug safety in China; and 4) similarities and differences between drug safety surveillance in China and surveillance in the United States and Europe. Results: The SFDA oversees an extensive network of drug safety “watchdogs,” including the China National Center for ADR Monitoring and 32 regional centers throughout China. China's system has faced a number of recent challenges. It has had to respond quickly to the withdrawal of various high-profile drugs like Vioxx (rofecoxib) and Baycol (cerivastatin) from other markets. Together with China's Ministry of Health, the SFDA has faced several unique drug safety events. Three of those events, involving the injectable form of the heartleaf houttuyinia herb (Yu Xing Cao), Armillarisni A injections, and clindamycin glucose infusions (Xinfu), are discussed. The rapid development of drug safety surveillance in China is manifested in extensive organizational structure, development of large databases, and laws and regulations supporting drug safety. The two major laws are the China Drug Administration Law issued in February 2001 and the Regulation for the Administration of ADR Reporting and Monitoring issued in March 2004. The study also discusses and compares recent developments in drug safety surveillance in the United States and the European Union. These developments will most likely have implications for the Chinese system in the near future. Conclusions: While postmarketing surveillance guidelines are not yet available in China, we fully expect their eventual issuance after adaptation to the particular culture and clinical practices in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  In the present study, samples of Oesophagostomum spp. collected from pigs from different geographical localities in mainland China were characterized genetically by polymerase chain reaction-linked single-strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) techniques using genetic markers in the internal transcribed spacers (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA). The second internal transcribed spacer (ITS-2) was amplified from 51 individual nodule worms by PCR, and the amplicons were analyzed by SSCP. With the exception of slight microheterogeneity, SSCP analyses displayed two distinct banding profiles that allowed the identification of all Oesophagostomum spp. samples examined into two groups, the first one represented O. dentatum, and the second one may represent O. quadrispinulatum. Then, the entire ITS was amplified from individual samples, and the amplicons were digested with restriction endonuclease Pst I. The results of RFLP analyses were consistent with that of SSCP. Sequence analysis of ITS rDNA supported the identification and differentiation of Chinese Oesophagostomum spp. samples into two species, namely, O. dentatum and O. quadrispinulatum. These PCR-based approaches provide useful complementary tools to traditional methods for the accurate identification of Oesophagostomum spp. (irrespective of developmental stage) and have implications for studying the ecology and population genetic structures of these parasites and for the prevention and control of the diseases they cause. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With rapid improvements in industrialization and urbanization, antibiotics are now extensively used to prevent and treat human and animal diseases and husbandry and aquaculture. Some research has been conducted to assess the environmental distribution and risk level of antibiotics, but their distribution remains largely uncharacterized. Thus, this study investigated the distribution and abundance of 39 antibiotics belonging to five groups, and their associated risks in surface water around Luoma Lake in the north of Jiangsu province, China. Nineteen antibiotics were detected, at a detection frequency (DF) ranging from 2.27% to 100%. The total antibiotics (ΣABs) concentrations ranged from 34.91 to 825.93 ng/L, with a median concentration of 195.45 ng/L. Among these antibiotics, chlortetracycline (DF: 100%; median: 172.02 ng/L) was the dominant antibiotic, accounting for a median percentage of 91.0% of ΣABs concentrations. Spearman rank correlation method found a significant correlation between clindamycin (DF: 72.7%; median: 2.01 ng/L) and lincomycin (DF: 79.5%; median: 4.58 ng/L). The ecological risk quotient (RQ) values for two out of 44 sampling sites were higher than 1, indicating a high risk; 11.4% of the RQ values fell between 0.1 and 1, indicating a medium risk. Moreover, roxithromycin was found to be the dominant contributor to the ecological risk, accounting for a median of 79.7% of ΣABs. However, the total non-carcinogenic (<6.54 × 10−4) and carcinogenic risks (<1.64 × 10−7) of ΣABs were negligible at the detected concentrations. Image 1 • Concentrations and distributions of 39 antibiotics around Luoma Lake were revealed. • Chlortetracyclin was found to be the dominant antibiotic, with a median of 172.02 ng/L. • Ecological risks of antibiotics were at medium level (11.4%) or slightly high level (4.6%). • Non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks of antibiotics were low at the detected concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Landscape adjacency is a key mechanism of impact of urban expansion on natural areas. • A novel index (Eco-erosion index, EEI) was proposed based on landscape adjacency. • EEI is a useful indicators to assess ecological stress at different scales. • The Yangtze River Delta showed an increasing ecological stress from 1990 to 2010. Urban agglomeration (the spread of cities into large agglomerations) has become the main form of urbanization in China, and natural ecosystems surrounding the urban areas are becoming degraded and fragmented as a result. Although ecological indicators have been widely used to assess the regional ecological stress resulting from urbanization, few of them consider spatial adjacency relationships between urban and natural landscapes. From this perspective a novel ecological indicator, the Eco-Erosion Index (EEI), was developed and applied to assess the regional ecological stress caused by urban agglomeration development across 26 cities in the Yangtze River Delta, China (YRD). We analyzed: i) temporal change in land use and land cover (LULC) and ecosystem services value (ESV) in YRD from 1990 to 2010, ii) spatiotemporal dynamics of EEI of YRD at different scales: provincial, municipal, and 5 km-grid, iii) inter-relationships between EEI and LULC and ESV to explore its effectiveness as an indicator. The results showed that urban agglomeration in YRD has led to increasing regional ecological stress from 1990 to 2010. EEI values increased from 0.197 in 1990 to 0.321 in 2010. The closer to Shanghai City, the greater the EEI values of the cities become. EEI is highly related with LULC and ESV but integrates these two variables as it represents both the spatial occupation and landscape adjacency effects. The EEI values demonstrate some scale effects, and EEI at fine scale provides useful information to guide sustainable urban landscape management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water vapor has been proposed to amplify the severe haze pollution in China by enhancing the aerosol-radiation feedback (ARF). Observations have revealed that the near-surface PM2.5 concentrations ([PM2.5]) generally exhibits an increasing trend with the relative humidity (RH) in North China Plain (NCP) during 2015 wintertime, indicating that the aerosol liquid water (ALW) caused by hygroscopic growth might play an important role in the PM2.5 formation and accumulation. Simulations during a persistent and heavy haze pollution episode from 05 December 2015 to 04 January 2016 in NCP have been performed using the WRF-CHEM model to comprehensively quantify contributions of the ALW effect to near-surface [PM2.5]. The WRF-CHEM model generally performs reasonably in simulating the temporal variations of RH against measurements in NCP. The factor separation approach (FSA) is used to evaluate the contribution of the ALW effect on the ARF, photochemistry, and heterogeneous reactions to [PM2.5]. The ALW not only augments particle sizes to enhance aerosol backward scattering, but also increases effective radius to favor aerosol forward scattering. Therefore, the contribution of the ALW effect on the ARF and photochemistry to near [PM2.5] is not significant, generally within 1.0 μg m-3 on average in NCP during the episode. Serving as an excellent substrate for heterogeneous reactions, the ALW substantially enhances the secondary aerosol (SA) formation, with an average contribution of 71%, 10%, 26%, and 48% to near-surface sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, and secondary organic aerosol concentrations. Nevertheless, the SA enhancement due to the ALW decreases the aerosol optical depth and increases effective radius to weaken the ARF, reducing near-surface primary aerosols. The contribution of the ALW total effect to near-surface [PM2.5] is 17.5% on average, which is overwhelmingly dominated by enhanced SA. Model sensitivities also show that when the RH is less than 80%, the ALW progressively increases near-surface [PM2.5], but commences to decrease with the RH exceeding 80% due to the high occurrence frequencies of precipitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]