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Simple Summary: Yak is the dominant animal species in China's plateau regions. The development of the yak industry is conducive to protecting the ecosystem of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau and promoting local economic development. However, the slow growth and development of yak have seriously affected the development of the yak industry. Structural variation (SV) has been widely applied in livestock breeding for growth traits. Therefore, it is of great significance to use SV to improve yak growth traits in yak breeding. Meanwhile, the GHR gene plays an important role in the formation and normal development of bones. This study associated the correlation between the yak GHR SV gene and growth traits and confirmed that GHR-SV can be used as a molecular marker for the early reproduction of yaks. This study provides a theoretical basis for the early growth and development of yaks. The growth hormone receptor (GHR) is a member of the cytokine/hematopoietic factor receptor superfamily, which plays an important role in the growth and development, immunity, and metabolism of animals. This study identified a 246 bp deletion variant in the intronic region of the GHR gene, and three genotypes, including type II, type ID, and type DD, were observed. Genotype analysis of structural variation (SV) was performed on 585 individuals from 14 yak breeds, and it was found that 246 bp deletion was present in each breed. The II genotype was dominant in all yak breeds except for SB yak. The association analysis of gene polymorphisms and growth traits in the ASD yak population showed that the 246 bp SV was significantly associated with body length at 6 months (p < 0.05). GHR messenger RNA (mRNA) was expressed in all the tested tissues, with significantly higher levels in the liver, muscle, and fat than in other organs. The results of transcription activity showed that the luciferase activity of the pGL4.10-DD vector was significantly higher than that of the pGL4.10-II vector (p < 0.05). Additionally, the transcription-factor binding prediction results showed that the SV in the runt-related transcription factor 1 (Runx1) transcription-factor binding site may affect the transcriptional activity of the GHR gene, regulating yak growth and development. This study showed that the novel SV of the GHR gene could be used as a candidate molecular marker for the selection of the early growth trait in ASD yak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Polar Silk Road (PSR) will open up China's maritime trade route through the Arctic to Northwest Europe and affect the freight function structure of China's coastal ports. This study evaluates ports' freight capacity and predicts the freight function structure of China's coastal ports under the PSR from four dimensions, namely, comprehensive/professional, function status, function scale and function hierarchy. The freight function structure is also compared with the current one. Results show that the ports in the Bohai Rim and Yangtze River Delta will have more diversified development and become the main force of the port system under the PSR. Coal will have an important position in most ports' cargo transportation under the PSR. The PSR will bring great economic development opportunities to the northern ports because of the influence of the sea route distance. The port function hierarchy is more obvious under the PSR, and the medium-sized ports are most affected by the PSR. We classify coastal portsaccording to the freight scale and freight function. An adaptive proposal for the government's port function planning is proposed in the conclusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine plastic pollution is emerging as a potential hazard to global ecosystems and human health. Micro-fibers derived from synthetic textiles contribute a considerable proportion of plastic debris. Bio-polymers/bio-plastics have been proposed for the application of apparel products, yet their degradability, fate, durability and related environmental parameters are still elusive and need further exploration. Herein, we report the degradation behavior of poly(lactide acid)/poly(hydroxybutyrate) (PLA/PHB) fabrics, made from PLA/PHB multi-filament yarns, in subtropics marine seawater. The degradation experiments were performed under various parallel conditions including static seawater, aerobic seawater in dark box, aerobic seawater under sunlight, static seawater under ultra-violet light and aerobic seawater under ultra-violet light. Continuous mass loss of PLA/PHB fabrics as the immersion time in the seawater increased was confirmed. The hydrolysis rate of PLA/PHB fabrics accelerated in the presence of UV light and dissolved oxygen in the seawater. Moreover, the tensile strength of the PLA/PHB yarns dropped rapidly by 38.54–68.70% in spite of the mass loss percentage being from 9.57% to 14.48% after 2 weeks' immersion. All the PLA/PHB fabrics after two weeks' immersion exhibited similar ATR-IR spectra. Therefore, the degradability of PLA/PHB fabrics, in the marine surface water under the synergistic destructive effect of seawater, UV and dissolved oxygen, provides a pathway for more sustainable textile fibers and apparel products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Simple Summary: Given the fact that sheep serve as an increased meat product consumption in China, as well as a suitable model for fat deposition, their digestive tract microbiota has drawn growing attention. Our study depicted the gut microbiota community composition and diversity of sheep with varied genotypes but shared geography, with different sampling intestinal sites and probiotics supplementation time. The results indicated the great difference of the gut microbiota in samples from different sheep breeds, various intestinal sites, and different probiotics feeding times. Additionally, all results implied the dominance of the host factor in shaping unique microbiota under a certain environment, the greatest similarity of colonic and fecal microbiota, and the oral probiotic effectiveness for a given period of time for sheep. Three sampling strategies with a 16s rRNA high-throughput sequencing and gene expression assay (by RT-PCR) were designed, to better understand the host and probiotics effect on gut microbiota in sheep. Sampling: (1) colon contents and back-fat tissues from small-tailed Han sheep (SHS), big-tailed Hulun Buir sheep (BHBS), and short-tailed Steppe sheep (SHBS) (n = 12, 14, 12); (2) jejunum, cecum and colon contents, and feces from Tan sheep (TS, n = 6); (3) feces from TS at 4 time points (nonfeeding, 30 and 60 feeding days, and stop feeding 30 days) with probiotics supplementation (n = 7). The results indicated SHS had the highest Firmicutes abundance, the thinnest back-fat, and the lowest expression of C/EBPβ, C/EBPδ, ATGL, CFD, and SREBP1. Some bacteria orders and families could be potential biomarkers for sheep breeds with a distinct distribution of bacterial abundance, implying the host genotype is predominant in shaping unique microbiota under a shared environment. The microbiota diversity and Bifidobacterial populations significantly changed after 60 days of feeding but restored to its initial state, with mostly colonies, after 30 days ceased. The microbiota composition was greatly different between the small and large intestines, but somewhat different between the large intestine and feces; feces may be reliable for studying large intestinal microbiota in ruminants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In July 2017, Russia formally offered an invitation to build the Polar Silk Road (PSR) to China. Then, the White Paper of China's Arctic Policy was officially published in January 2018. It proposes the joint construction of the PSR to promote sustainable economic and social development in the Arctic region. Notably, the PSR aims to open up China's maritime trade route through the Arctic to Northwest Europe and influence the container hinterland pattern of China's coastal ports. This study assumes three scenarios to analyse and predict the evolution of the hinterlands of Chinese ports exporting to Europe under the PSR. The discrete selection model based on random utility is constructed to divide the dominant hinterland, probabilistic hinterland and major competitive hinterland of ports. The research shows that the cost and time, container throughput and risk have negative effects on a shipper's choice of port, whereas the sailing frequency has a positive effect. In general, the hinterlands of northern ports continue to expand under the PSR. Meanwhile, the hinterlands of the middle ports decrease first and then increase, and those of the southern ports contract. Overall, the northern ports are the most vulnerable to the changes of PSR attributes. [Display omitted] • Shippers' choice of port focus on transport cost, time, risk and sailing frequency. • The northern ports are the most vulnerable to the changes of PSR attributes. • The port hinterland's overall change is most vulnerable to the PSR navigation risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To study the development of surgical robots at home and abroad in recent years., Methods: Through a large number of literature review and analysis, the qualification approval and technical function characteristics of domestic and foreign surgical robots from January 2019 to July 2022 were analyzed., Results: The related situations of 39 surgical robots were analyzed and reported, and the shortcomings and future development direction of the current surgical robots were summarized., Conclusions: The development of surgical robots in China is now in a rapid development stage. At present, surgical robots generally have the disadvantages of high cost, lack of tactile feedback (force feedback), large size, large space occupation and difficult to move. In the future, it will develop towards intelligent, miniaturized, remote, open and low-cost.

Background: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is the main cause of end-stage kidney disease and has become a heavy economic and social burden due to its high prevalence and morbidity. The most effective strategy is that patients with DKD should be diagnosed and treated early. Preliminary studies showed that the Chinese herbal Tangshen Formula (TSF) may delay the progression of DKD, reducing microalbuminuria and macroalbuminuria and improving renal function. We designed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of TSF in patients with DKD., Methods/design: This trial is a 13-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. A total of 632 participants will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to an experiment group (TSF plus losartan) and a control group (placebo plus losartan). The trial cycle will last 24 weeks. The primary outcome will be the change in the urine microalbumin-creatinine ratio from baseline to week 24. The secondary outcome will be the change in the rate of progression to the clinical proteinuria period after intervention, the rate of urine microalbumin negative conversion, the rate of normal urinary microalbumin, the doubling rate of the baseline creatinine value and the glomerular filtration rate between the two groups. Safety in medication will also be evaluated., Discussion: We hypothesize that patients with type 2 diabetes in the early stage of DKD will benefit from TSF. If successful, this study will provide evidence-based recommendations for clinicians., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03009864. Registered January 2017.

A total of 514 consecutive clinical Escherichia coli isolates, irrespective of resistance background, were collected in the period 2002-2008 in Wenzhou, southern China, to investigate the prevalence of plasmid-mediated quinolone resistance (PMQR). The dominant PMQR gene was aac(6')-Ib-cr, followed by qnr, whereas qepA was absent. A total of 253 (49.2%) of these isolates were aac(6')-Ib-positive. Subsequently, 134 of these isolates were sequenced and 42 (31.3%) found to harbor aac(6')-Ib-cr, 18 to harbor new aac(6')-Ib mutants, and 74 to harbor wild-type aac(6')-Ib. The genes qnrA, qnrB, and qnrS were found in 2 (0.4%), 6 (1.2%), and 14 (2.7%) of 514 isolates, respectively, with 2 isolates co-harboring qnrB and qnrS genes. Sequencing allowed us to identify qnrA1, qnrB4, qnrB6, and qnrS1 in 20 qnr-positive isolates, with qnrS1 being the most prevalent allele. The genes qnrC and qnrD were not found in any isolates. Interestingly, 35% of qnr-positive isolates and 16.7% of aac(6')-Ib-cr-positive isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin. PMQR genes are therefore present in both quinolone-resistant and -susceptible isolates and can also be transferred by conjugation experiments, thus suggesting a likely future increase in quinolone resistance.

Objective: To establish suitable predictive equations of lung function for occupational population in North China., Methods: A total of 5 002 on the job or retired healthy adults from five enterprises in North China with category of mild or moderate work intensity underwent spirometry using a Chest HI-198 spirometer and the procedures recommended by the American Thoracic Society, were a sample., Results: The data of 3 913 subjects were used. A normal distribution of our data was shown using the normality test and distribution curve. Univariate analysis showed that both age and height were significantly correlated with FVC, FEV(1), FEV(1)/FVC (%) and MMF. Further multiple linear stepwise regression analysis indicated that the levels of FVC, FEV(1), FEV(1)/FVC (%) and MMF were highly influenced by age, height, and weight rather than chest circumference. Thus, only age, height, and weight were introduced into our regression equations. Data from the studied subjects and other source were utilised to examine the validity of the equations and a high accordance rate (> 90%) was obtained. No significant difference (P > 0.05) was found in the predictive values between the simplified equations and equations in which more variables were included., Conclusion: The studied predictive equations for male non-smokers, female non-smokers, and male smokers were established based on data from a large occupational population. These equations should be more applicable for evaluating lung ventilatory function of occupational populations in North China.