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This study offers additional evidence on the self-employment of rural-to-urban migrants from the perspective of cultural barriers in China. By employing seven waves of the China Migrants Dynamic Survey data from 2010 to 2016, we find that cultural distance has a negative and significant effect on the self-employment of rural-to-urban migrants in eight subdivision industries. In particular, such negative effect is greater in the service sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Glycyrrhiza is one of the most widely used traditional Chinese medicines in China. Its main bioactive ingredient glycyrrhizic acid (GA) has the potential to be used as a treatment for atopic dermatitis (AD) because it has similar actions to steroids, but with relatively few side effects. Aims: The objective of this study was to explore the potential mechanisms of GA on AD mice model. Methods: Calcipotriol, a vitamin D3 analogue (MC903) was applied topically to establish AD mouse model. Mice were intraperitoneally administrated with 2 mg/kg dexamethasone (DEX), 25 or 50 mg/kg GA for 15 days. After mice were executed, skin tissues were collected and detected the expression levels of IL‐4, IFN‐γ, TNF‐α and thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP). The percentages of Th1, Th2, Th17, langerhans cells (LCs) in draining lymph nodes (dLNs) were measured by flow cytometry. Results: Our data demonstrated that GA improved the symptoms of AD by exerting anti‐inflammatory and anti‐allergic functions in vivo. We found that GA treatment decreased the level of total IgE in serum, suppressed ear swelling, reduced the infiltration of mast cells in skin lesions and decreased expressions of IL‐4, IFN‐γ, TNF‐α and TSLP in skin lesions. Furthermore, our experimental results demonstrated that GA suppressed the Th1/Th2/Th17‐immune responses in the dLNs, inhibited the migration of LCs in dLNs. Conclusions: In conclusion, our findings suggested potential therapeutic effects of GA against MC903‐induced AD‐like skin lesions in mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining the results of morphological identification and molecular species delimitation (ABGD), with newly sequenced 23 COI fragments from three new species and seven known species of Rhabdoblatta, we describe three species of Rhabdoblatta, namely Rhabdoblatta maculosa Guo et Che, sp. n., Rhabdoblatta equalisinensis Guo et Che, sp. n. and Rhabdoblatta cavicola Guo et Che, sp. n. Their morphological and the Rhabdoblatta maculosa Guo et Che, sp. n. habitat photographs are also included. There is also a checklist of Chinese Rhabdoblatta species.

Eleven new highly oxygenated eremophilane-type sesquiterpenoids were isolated from the whole plant of Synotis solidaginea, including two pairs of C-8 S/R epimers. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated on the basis of detailed spectroscopic analysis and the absolute configurations of 1 and 9 were confirmed by single-crystal X-ray crystallography using Cu Kα radiation. All the isolates were tested for the inhibition of LPS-stimulated NO production in macrophage-like mouse monocytic leukemia RAW264.7 cells. Compound 1 exhibited weak inhibitory effects with an IC 50 of 71.2 μM., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no competing financial interest in this article., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

During the investigations of macrofungi resources in Zhejiang Province, China, an interesting wood rot fungus was collected. Based on morphological and molecular phylogenetic studies, it is described as a new species, Anthracophyllum sinense. A. sinense is characterized by its sessile, charcoal black and pleurotoid pileus, sparse lamellae occasionally branching, clavate basidia with long sterigmata [(3-)6-7(-8) μm], and non-heteromorphous cystidia. A. sinense establishes a separate lineage close to A. archeri and A. lateritium in the phylogenetic tree., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Background: Infertility, an important source of stress, could affect sexual life. Extensive studies suggest that the incidence of sexual dysfunction is highly prevalent in infertile women. As the duration of infertility increases, the level of stress is also likely to increase even further, and this could aggravate psychological pain and cause sexual dysfunction. However, the effect of infertility duration on sexual health is unclear., Methods: We conducted a case-control study in which 715 patients participated between September 1,2020 and December 25, 2020. We included patients diagnosed with infertility (aged between 20 to 45), who were divided into four groups according to their infertility durations: ≤ 2 years (Group I, n = 262), > 2 years but ≤ 5 years (Group II, n = 282), > 5 years but ≤ 8 years (Group III, n = 97), and > 8 years (Group IV, n = 74). A questionnaire survey on female sexual functions and psychological depression was administered to participants, and their female sexual functions and depression status were measured using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), respectively., Results: As the number of years of infertility increased, the PHQ-9 score as well as the incidence of psychological depression increased significantly (p < 0.05), but the total score of FSFI and those of its six domains/sub-scales were not significantly different among the four groups. An analysis of the relevant factors affecting sexual functions, using the multivariable logistic regression model, revealed that when the infertility duration was greater than 8 years, there was a significant increase in the incidence of sexual dysfunction [adjusted odds ratios (AOR) = 5.158, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.935-13.746, P = 0.001], arousal disorder (AOR = 2.955, 95% CI: 1.194-7.314, P = 0.019), coital pain (AOR = 3.811, 95% CI: 1.045-13.897, P = 0.043), and lubrication disorder (AOR = 5.077, 95% CI: 1.340-19.244, P = 0.017)., Conclusions: An increasing infertility duration is a risk factor for the occurrence of sexual dysfunction. Hence, as the infertility duration increases, the incidence of female sexual dysfunction and psychological distress could also increase, especially when the infertility duration is more than 8 years., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Objective: This study aimed to assess the association between emergency-room visits for respiratory tract infection (RTI) with diurnal temperature range (DTR), a weather parameter closely associated with urbanization and global climate change., Methods: We conducted a semiparametric time-series analysis to estimate the percentage increase in emergency-room visits for RTI associated with changes in DTR after adjustment for daily weather conditions (temperature and relative humidity) and outdoor air pollution., Results: DTR was significantly associated with daily emergency-room visits for RTI. An increase of 1 °C in the current-day (L0) and in the 2-day moving average (L01) DTR corresponded to a 0.94% [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.34%-1.55%] and 2.08% (95% CI, 1.24%-2.93%) increase in emergency-room visits for RTI, respectively., Conclusion: DTR was associated with increased risk of RTI. More studies are needed to understand the impact of DTR on respiratory health., (Copyright © 2013 The Editorial Board of Biomedical and Environmental Sciences. Published by China CDC. All rights reserved.)