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Background: Hundreds of millions of tons coal fly ash are produced annually to support economic development and industrial production. However, directly applying coal fly ash to agricultural production can decrease the land productivity and pose a threat to the ecosystem due to the poor physicochemical properties and seriously heavy metal pollution. Methods: In this study, a field experiment to investigate the effects of coal fly ash as a soil amendment was conducted in Hebei province, China. The coal fly ash (CFA) soil field was mixed with the carrier soil (CS, without containing coal fly ash) at different rates (0–40% mass content) in the 0–20 cm layer of top soil and then mixed with a rotovator. The soil was then amended with 0.45–1.80 kg·m− 2 of G1 soil amendment for planting corn. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the response mechanism of soil microbial community activities, and soil physicochemical properties to soil amendment and carrier soil in coal fly ash soil. Key results: The study found that the G1 amendment, which consisted of humic acid, polyacrylamide, zeolite powder, and FeSO4·7H2O, improved the soil chemical properties and physical structure by increasing soil bulk density and macroaggregates. The highest corn yield was observed in B5 (20% CS and 1.3500 kg·m− 2 G1). Meanwhile, the abundance of microorganisms that facilitate the circulation of soil nutrients such as Acidobacteria (77.05%), Sphingomonas (25.60%), Nitrospira (20.78%), Streptomyces (11.32%), and Gaiella (10.20%) was increased. Conclusions: Overall, our results indicate that the use of coal fly ash soil as a amendment can enhance soil sustainability by improving soil microbial functions. These findings provide a reference for the development and application of coal fly ash soil amendments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how technologically sophisticated firms respond to different types of standard setting in an emerging economy. Considering the heterogeneous institutional logics that are embedded in a hybrid-mode standard-setting system, we distinguish between market- and government-led standard setting. Using data of 8,519 artificial intelligence–active firms engaging in Chinese artificial intelligence standard setting from 2010 to 2020, we demonstrate that firms with superior technological capability are more likely to engage in market-led versus government-led standard setting. This is due to divergent goals and norms in different types of standard setting. We also find that subfield technological diversity intensifies market competition, thereby improving the incentive of firms with superior technological capability to engage in market-led standard setting with the aim of shaping future technological trajectories. Additionally, government ownership relieves goal misalignment and mitigates firms' concerns about technology expropriation, thus promoting firms' engagement in government-led standard setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is well under way. Meanwhile, a deglobalization trend is growing, and major-countries’ competition is intensifying. In this context, there has come a debate on whether technological innovation (“key & core technology”) or business model innovation (“soft model”) should be prioritized in development. Key & core technology and soft model differ in terms of driving forces, goal orientation, nature of knowledge, imitability, and return cycles. They both are interdependent, mutually reinforcing, and evolve together. Business models are an important form of technological innovation, and technological innovation drives business model innovation, while business models support, guide, promote, and incubate technological innovation. In the field of digital economy, business model innovation occurs more frequent, intense, widespread, and disruptive, but it also brings forth new challenges. In addressing these challenges for both business model innovation and technological innovation, China should follow the principles of “guidance without participation, inclusion with regulation” and “encouragement without compulsion.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the popularization and high-intensity utilization of greenhouse cultivation for crops growth, the pollution of greenhouse soils has been of concern. Therefore, a national-scale survey was conducted to investigate the contamination status, sources, influence factors and the risks of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD) in greenhouse and nearby open-field soils. Contents of PCBs ranged from 10−6). This study provided a full insight on the contamination status and risks of PCBs and HCBD when guiding greenhouse agriculture activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The avulsion and overflow of river courses during floods, a result of channel siltation above the alluvial plain, is a cause of major natural disasters, including huge property damage and destruction of farmlands. The most sensitive to such risks is the very densely populated area of the Yellow River lower reaches, one of China's most important grain‐producing regions. Problems caused by excessive siltation are a critical issue that should be addressed with full knowledge of sediment‐generation processes, and provenance studies are essential to provide fundamental information for effective environmental management. The Sanmen Gorge is the key region where the great sediment mass produced upstream is conveyed from the middle reaches of the Yellow River to its lower reaches. This study of the terrace sequence exposed along the Sanmen Gorge combines geomorphological observations and provenance analysis based on U‐Pb zircon geochronology and heavy minerals to provide a history of sediment transport through time. The combination of previous research and the outcome of the present study demonstrate that before the Yellow River was formed as an integrated sediment‐routing system, sediments fed into the North China Plain were largely derived from local sources. Instead, after the formation of the Sanmen Gorge, huge quantities of sediment, also derived from the Qinling mountains and stored in the Fenwei basin, were flushed into the North China lowlands by the Yellow River. Such an event took place at 1.2 Ma and has since then impacted severely on floodplain landscape and eventually profoundly affected human activities in the region. Plain Language Summary: Alluvial plains with their fertile lands and plenty of water have served as the birthplace of civilization. However, the same rivers are also a cause of harm and destruction impacting agricultural civilizations during floods. The Chinese civilization originated in the lower Yellow River alluvial plain, which has long been a very important area of food production and population growth. Yellow River is one of Earth's largest rivers and has one of the highest sediment concentrations, fueled by very rapid erosion of fine‐grained sediment stored in the Chinese Loess Plateau and the Fenwei basin. After flowing rapidly through the Sanmen Gorge, the Yellow River slows down and deposits part of its huge sediment mass, causing extremely rapid accumulation in the lower reaches, where the river bed is raised well above the adjacent lowlands, thus representing a perilous threat to surrounding farmlands and urban centers. By investigating the composition and provenance of sediments of the terrace sequences exposed along the Sanmen Gorge, we can reconstruct the evolution of the Yellow River through time. Understanding river behavior and how sediment is generated and transported from the mountain region to the alluvial plain provides the knowledge necessary for more effective environmental management. Key Points: The Sanmen Gorge formed between 3.7 and 1.2 million years agoSediment provenance shows major changes after the integration of Yellow River drainageModern sediment transport is affected by reservoir construction and human activities [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spatial patterns of leaf carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) stoichiometry play a pivotal role in the comprehension of terrestrial ecosystem dynamics, nutrient cycling, in responses to contemporary global climate change, and the evolutionary trajectories of leaf morphology and function. These patterns are not only solely shaped by plant and community composition, but also are profoundly influenced by environmental factors. Therefore, there is a compelling need for an in-depth investigation into individual species to discern the intricate impacts of soil and climate on leaf stoichiometry. In this study, we assessed the C, N, and P concentrations of mature leaves from 20 Phyllostachys propinqua populations in the urban forest across northern China covering a substantial latitudinal gradient. Our findings revealed that the average leaf concentrations of C, N, and P in P. propinqua were recorded at 0.46 g g−1, 23.19 mg g−1, and 1.40 mg g−1, respectively. Notably, we observed that leaf C and P concentrations, as well as the C:N ratios, exhibited significant increases with rising latitude. Conversely, leaf N concentrations and N:P ratios exhibited a marked decline with increasing latitude. These patterns were primarily driven by climate factors such as mean annual temperature (MAT) and lowest temperature (LT). In contrast, we found that only leaf C concentrations were correlated with soil N levels. These results underscored the differential spatial distribution of leaf C, N, and P stoichiometry in urban forest across northern China, predominantly instigated by climatic factors, particularly in regions characterized by lower temperatures. Our findings further suggest that P. propinqua enhances its adaptability to low-temperature environments by elevating leaf C and P concentrations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sleep is instrumental for growth and development in children, making it critical to establish healthy sleep habits from the earliest years of life. Many kindergarteners (3–6 years) in China have inadequate and poor sleep, necessitating targeted interventions. This research protocol details the "Healthy Sleep" intervention that was designed to promote healthy sleep among kindergarteners in China. Methods: The "Healthy Sleep" intervention will be family-based and will support parents as change agents. The development of the intervention is based on evidence regarding correlates of sleep in young children and guided by Bandura's social cognitive theory. A 12-month randomised controlled trial will be conducted to examine the efficacy of the intervention for promoting healthy sleep in Chinese kindergarteners and the intervention's effects on child development outcomes. A targeted sample of 160 kindergarteners and their parents will be recruited through social media. The intervention group (n = 80) will receive monthly webinars for one year that include multiple intervention components – including educational training, goal setting and planning, as well as follow-up support sessions. The control group (n = 80) will receive videos of the recorded educational sessions after the study end. For primary outcomes, child sleep behaviours will be examined using the Child Sleep Health Questionnaire. For secondary outcomes, communication, fine motor, gross motor, personal-social, and problem-solving development will be examined using the Ages and Stages Questionnaire; executive functions will be examined using the Head, Toes, Knees, and Shoulders Revised tasks. Potential intervention mediators and covariates will be measured using a parental questionnaire. Mixed models will be conducted. Discussion: This intervention targets sleep behaviours among kindergarteners in China. It has the potential to inform programs to support parents in helping their child establish healthy sleep habits from the earliest years of life. The study will provide high-quality experimental evidence on sleep behaviours in relation to development outcomes in kindergarteners. This evidence will inform family-based strategies to optimise early childhood development and inform national and international updates of the sleep recommendations for young children. Trial registration: The trial was registered prospectively at Chinese Clinical Trial Registry (ID: ChiCTR2300072105) on 2 June 2023. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promotion of educational equity and improvement of educational quality in China are contextualised in tenets of Confucianism and policy directives, inspiring educational research and practice. In this paper, we first explore the historical and cultural roots of educational equity and quality through Confucianism and elaborate on the current policy priority that aims to address educational equity and quality. We then present an overview of research on equity and quality in Chinese education. Informed by Confucianism, policy, and research, we pose a framework to structure our investigation and analysis of three illustrative examples, namely the Special Post Teacher Plan, amalgamation of rural schools, and schooling of floating children. Drawing insights from Confucianism, policy, research, and practice, we conclude that the promotion of educational equity through high quality provision of education for disadvantaged groups can help to narrow the gap in educational quality currently existing in China.

Background: Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae infections have caused major concern and posed a global threat to public health. As blaKPC-2 and blaNDM-1 genes are the most widely reported carbapenem resistant genes in K. pneumonia, it is crucial to study the prevalence and geographical distribution of these two genes for further understanding of their transmission mode and mechanism. Purpose: Here, we investigated the prevalence and distribution of blaKPC-2 and blaNDM-1 genes in carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae strains from a tertiary hospital and from 1579 genomes available in the NCBI database, and further analyzed the possible core structure of blaKPC-2 or blaNDM-1 genes among global genome data. Materials and Methods: K. pneumoniae strains from a tertiary hospital in China during 2013– 2018 were collected and their antimicrobial susceptibility testing for 28 antibiotics was determined. Whole-genome sequencing of carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae strains was used to investigate the genetic characterization. The phylogenetic relationships of these strains were investigated through pan-genome analysis. The epidemiology and distribution of blaKPC-2 and blaNDM-1 genes in K. pneumoniae based on 1579 global genomes and carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae strains from hospital were analyzed using bioinformatics. The possible core structure carrying blaKPC-2 or blaNDM-1 genes was investigated among global data. Results: A total of 19 carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae were isolated in a tertiary hospital. All isolates had a multi-resistant pattern and eight kinds of resistance genes. The phylogenetic analysis showed all isolates in the hospital were dominated by two lineages composed of ST11 and ST25, respectively. ST11 and ST25 were the major ST type carrying blaKPC-2 and blaNDM-1 genes, respectively. Among 1579 global genomes data, 147 known ST types (1195 genomes) have been identified, while ST258 (23.6%) and ST11 (22.1%) were the globally prevalent clones among the known ST types. Genetic environment analysis showed that the ISKpn7-dnaA/ISKpn27 -blaKPC-2-ISkpn6 and blaNDM-1-ble-trpf-nagA may be the core structure in the horizontal transfer of blaKPC-2 and blaNDM-1, respectively. In addition, DNA transferase (hin) may be involved in the horizontal transfer or the expression of blaNDM-1. Conclusion: There was clonal transmission of carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae in the tertiary hospital in China. The prevalence and distribution of blaKPC-2 and blaNDM-1 varied by countries and were driven by different transposons carrying the core structure. This study shed light on the genetic environment of blaKPC-2 and blaNDM-1 and offered basic information about the mechanism of carbapenem-resistant K. pneumoniae dissemination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pinellia ternata is a perennial traditional Chinese medicinal plant that undergoes different phenological patterns of dormancy depending on where it is growing. Plants grown in central and southern China typically display two growth cycles every year before and after hot summer days, exhibiting a summer dormancy. However, germplasms from these areas do not go into a dormancy phase in northern China where the summer monthly average temperatures range from 29–31°C. The northern China herbal growers prefer plant stocks from central China due to their longer growing quality and better tuber harvests. Here, we introduced a heat responsive receptor-like kinase ERECTA (ER) gene into P. ternata to explore changes in the growth cycle which were aimed at disrupting the summer dormancy. The 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR) gene was also co-transformed with ER to improve the commercial trait. For the thermo-tolerance evaluation, all plants were treated with high temperatures (35°C/40°C) in a growth chamber or grown in natural field temperature in an isolated field before measurement of different agricultural, biochemical and physiological traits. The transgenics showed significantly (P < 0.05) higher heat tolerance, maintaining healthy vegetative growth unlike the empty vector (EV) harboring controls that became chlorotic and necrotic. Better performance in some of the monitored physiological traits was evident for overexpression lines exposed to the heat stress. In open isolated field trials, the transgenic genotypes did not show a summer dormancy but had a survival rate of 84–95%. The tuber biomasses were also significantly (P < 0.05) higher for the transgenic lines as compared to the EV controls, except for line ER118. Metabolites analysis indicated that the HMGR overexpressing lines (HMGR or HMGR + ER) exhibited significantly higher amounts of bioactive compounds including aromadendrene-4, 10-diol and 4, 8, 13-cyclotetradecatriene-1, 3-diol, 1, 5, 9-trimethyl-12-(1-methylethyl). Our findings show that the summer dormancy of P. ternata which is a naturally evolved trait, can be removed by a single heat responsive gene. The study contributes to generating heat tolerant new Pinellia varieties with enhanced commercially valuable chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A prevalent PEDV strain, designated FJLY06, was isolated from Fujian, China. The four of structural genes sequences of PEDV obtained were analyzed to determine their phylogenetic relationships and homology respectively, revealing that FJLY06 was highly homologous to virulent PEDV strains. The four structural genes all differed genetically from the vaccine strain CV777. The sequence alignment results further showed that N, M and E genes of Chinese PEDV strains is highly conserved. Compared with the vaccine strain CV777, 8 mutations were detected in COE of FJLY06 S gene. The recombination analysis revealed FJLY06 is similar to other pandemic strains in China with a variant S gene, and maybe a reason for recent vaccination failures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sequence type (ST) 398 is the most prevalent clone of livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). To evaluate the molecular characteristics and phylogeny of Chinese ST398 isolates, 4 MRSA ST398 strains and 4 methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) ST398 strains were collected from patients with bacteremia at 6 teaching hospitals in China between 1999 and 2016. Moreover, 689 ST398 genome sequences were downloaded from the GenBank database for comparison. The 4 MRSA ST398 strains were resistant to β-lactam antibiotics, and 2 strains were also resistant to erythromycin. Among the 4 MSSA ST398 strains, 2 strains displayed multidrug resistance (MDR) and were resistant to penicillin, erythromycin, tetracycline, and gentamicin. The accessory genome of MSSA ST398 was more diverse than that of MRSA ST398. All 4 MRSA ST398 strains carried type V staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec elements; however, MSSA ST398 carried more resistance genes than MRSA ST398. These 4 MRSA ST398 strains carried hemolysin, along with virulence genes associated with immune invasion and protease. Phylogenic analysis showed that the 4 MRSA ST398 strains clustered in 1 clade. The global ST398 phylogeny showed that ST398 was divided into an animal clade and a human clade, and the ST398 strains of this study clustered in the human clade. A small number of human strains were also present in the animal clade and vice versa, suggesting transmission of ST398 between animals and humans. In conclusion, livestock-associated MRSA ST398 has caused severe infections in Chinese hospitals, and it should therefore be paid more attention to and monitored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Leaves of the medicinal plant Ampelopsis grossedentata, which is commonly known as vine tea, are used widely in the traditional Chinese beverage in southwest China. The leaves contain a large amount of dihydromyricetin, a compound with various biological activities. However, the transcript profiles involved in its biosynthetic pathway in this plant are unknown. Results: We conducted a transcriptome analysis of both young and old leaves of the vine tea plant using Illumina sequencing. Of the transcriptome datasets, a total of 52.47 million and 47.25 million clean reads were obtained from young and old leaves, respectively. Among 471,658 transcripts and 177,422 genes generated, 7768 differentially expressed genes were identified in leaves at these two stages of development. The phenylpropanoid biosynthetic pathway of vine tea was investigated according to the transcriptome profiling analysis. Most of the genes encoding phenylpropanoid biosynthesis enzymes were identified and found to be differentially expressed in different tissues and leaf stages of vine tea and also greatly contributed to the biosynthesis of dihydromyricetin in vine tea. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first formal study to explore the transcriptome of A. grossedentata. The study provides an insight into the expression patterns and differential distribution of genes related to dihydromyricetin biosynthesis in vine tea. The information may pave the way to metabolically engineering plants with higher flavonoid content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radix astragali and puerarin are always used together for cardiovascular disease in China clinics. This study investigates the effects of astragaloside IV (AS-IV, the main components of radix astragali) on the pharmacokinetics of puerarin in rats. The pharmacokinetics of orally administered puerarin (50 mg/kg) with or without AS-IV pretreatment (100 mg/kg/day for seven days) were investigated. The plasma concentration of puerarin was determined using LC–MS/MS method, and the pharmacokinetics profiles were calculated and compared. Caco-2 cell transwell model was also used to investigate the effects of AS-IV on the transport pf puerarin. The results showed that when the rats were pretreated with AS-IV, the maximum concentration (Cmax) of puerarin decreased from 760 to 467 ng/mL (p <.05, n = 6, 90% CI, 293 ± 61.28), and the area under the concentration-time curve from zero to infinity (AUC0–inf) also decreased from 4097 to 2330 μg·h/L (p <.05, n = 6). The oral clearance of puerarin increased significantly from 11.9 to 22.4 L/h/kg (p <.05, n = 6). The Caco-2 cell transwell experiments indicated that AS-IV could increase the efflux ratio of puerarin from 1.81 to 2.79 through inducing the activity of P-gp. In conclusion, these results indicated that AS-IV could affect the pharmacokinetics of puerarin, possibly by decreasing the systemic exposure of puerarin by inducing the activity of P-gp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:A large proportion of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in China do not respond to entecavir (ETV) treatment. It remains unclear whether the Killer immunoglobulin-like receptor (KIR) genotypes and haplotypes were associated with the advantage of seroconversion in phepatitis B e-Antigen (HBeAg) positive CHB patients treated with ETV. Methods: Polymerase chain reaction with sequence-specific primers (PCR-SSP) was used to analyze KIR genes in a Chinese Han population of 198 ETV-treated HBeAg-positive CHB patients and 200 healthy controls. Of the 198 patients, 59 were complete response group (CRG) and 139 were null or partial response group (NPRG) to the treatment with ETV. Results: The frequencies of KIR genotype M, and haplotype 8 were significantly higher(P = 0.017, OR = 2.497，95%CI = 5.39–1.16 and P = 0.034, OR = 1.905，95%CI = 3.48–1.04, respectively), while the frequencies of genotype AH and haplotype 5 were significantly lower (P = 0.039, OR = 0.504, 95%CI = 0.97–0.26 and P = 0.031, OR = 0.601, 95%CI = 0.96–0.38, respectively) in HBeAg-positive CHB patient group than those in healthy group. Of note, the frequencies of KIR genotype AF and haplotype 1 were significantly higher (P = 0.022, OR = 2.860, 95%CI = 7.24–1.13 and P = 0.001, OR = 3.261, 95%CI = 6.47–1.64, respectively), while the frequencies of genotype AH and haplotype 5 were significantly lower (P = 0.038, OR = 0.338, 95%CI = 0.98–0.12 and P = 0.004, OR = 0.354, 95%CI = 0.73–0.17, respectively) in NPRG than those in CRG. Conclusions: The patients with KIR genotype AF and haplotype 1 might be negative, while genotype AH and haplotype 5 might be of advantage to the therapy with ETV, which are useful for improving novel personalized precise therapy strategy in HBeAg-positive CHB patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China and the eu are important economies and among the greatest green-house gas emitters in the world. Therefore, strengthening cooperation between the eu and China in the renewable field is vital to prevent the earth from getting any warmer. However, the renewable field which include energy equipment, products manufacturing, and operating systems, is a huge market that is worth billions of dollars. Because of their different economic interest, a trade war (anti-dumping and countervailing investigation) broke out between China and eu in the pv industry which includes solar panels, solar glass and solar-grade polysilicon. Could there be cooperation between China and eu Member States in the photovoltaic fields instead of conflict? This paper illustrates the development of pv solar energy and the conflict between eu and China, discusses the main support policies in both the eu and China and their influence on cooperation and conflict, and compares the differences in strengths and weaknesses between the eu and China. This paper draws the conclusion that cooperation between China and the eu in the pv industry could be achieved, and industrial policies should be adjusted in order to avoid or alleviate the conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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• Pretreatment combined algorithms combining multiple mathematical transformations and dimensionality reduction algorithms to comprehensively process raw spectral data. • The advantage of this method is high accuracy". • A method for selecting the optimal Pretreatment combined algorithm is proposed and can accurately predict the accuracy of skarn-type iron ore. Iron ore grade determination is a key step in mining production, and its efficiency has a significant impact on mining efficiency and profitability. At present, the most commonly used method for ore grade determination is chemical analysis, which not only is expensive but also has a long assay cycle and lag effect relative to the ore allocation process and cannot effectively reduce the loss depletion rate of ore mining. Therefore, in situ iron ore grade data determination technology based on visible and near-infrared hyperspectral data analysis is an effective way to solve the above problems, but the poor quality of raw hyperspectral data and low accuracy of the ore grade inversion model are still one of the bottlenecks in the application of this technology. In this paper, 225 ore samples were collected from Hongling skarn-type iron ore in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China. The visible and near-infrared hyperspectral data of the sample set and the grade data obtained from chemical analysis were used as data sources. The raw spectral data were first smoothed, and then the smoothed spectral data were processed using two algorithms, continuum removal (CR) and standard normal variate transform (SNV). Then, two dimensionality reduction algorithms, principal component analysis (PCA) and genetic algorithm (GA), were used to reduce the dimensionality of the spectral data before and after preprocessing, and the data sources were obtained after the four different preprocessing combination algorithms were processed. Finally, several quantitative inversion models were established based on the random forest algorithm and the backpropagation neural network (BPNN) algorithm. The stability, accuracy and credibility of the models were evaluated by four metrics: the coefficient of determination (R2), root mean square error (RMSE), residual prediction deviation(RPD) and mean relative error (MRE). The results showed that the quantitative inversion model (SNV-PCA-BPNN) established based on the BP neural network algorithm using the data processed by SNV and PCA for dimensionality reduction was the best, with an R2 of 0.99, an RMSE of 0.0048, an MRE of 1.10% and a RPD of 37.70, providing an effective method for the high-precision inversion of iron ore grades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The invasive red swamp crayfish ( Procambarus clarkii) provides a valuable opportunity for studying the population genetics of invasive species that disperse rapidly. We analyzed the population genetic structure among 12 populations of the crayfish in China based on the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region. The ITS1 of 815 bp aligned across 34 haplotypes; the average GC content was 53.9%. AMOVA showed that intrapopulation variation (95.26%) was much higher than interpopulation variation (4.74%). Genetic differentiation between the Taiwan and mainland populations ( Fst = 0.160) was moderate, but the Chinese population (Taiwan and the mainland combined) and an American population were highly differentiated (0.682 and 0.977, respectively). Gene flow between the Chinese and American populations ( Nm = 0.006 and 0.117, respectively) was lower than that between Taiwan and the mainland (1.536). Phylogenetic trees showed that three major genealogical clusters matched the sample locations well, suggesting that genetic differentiation is created largely by geographic isolation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The promotion of educational equity and improvement of educational quality in China are contextualised in tenets of Confucianism and policy directives, inspiring educational research and practice. In this paper, we first explore the historical and cultural roots of educational equity and quality through Confucianism and elaborate on the current policy priority that aims to address educational equity and quality. We then present an overview of research on equity and quality in Chinese education. Informed by Confucianism, policy, and research, we pose a framework to structure our investigation and analysis of three illustrative examples, namely the Special Post Teacher Plan, amalgamation of rural schools, and schooling of floating children. Drawing insights from Confucianism, policy, research, and practice, we conclude that the promotion of educational equity through high quality provision of education for disadvantaged groups can help to narrow the gap in educational quality currently existing in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: After normal colonoscopy, the 5-year risk of colorectal neoplasia is sufficiently low for asymptomatic people over 50 years of age. In China, the incidence of colorectal carcinoma of Mongolian people is higher than that of Han people. The aim of this study was to assess the 5-year risk of colorectal neoplasia after normal colonoscopy in asymptomatic Chinese Mongolian population. Patients and methods: A cohort of asymptomatic Chinese Mongolian people (≥50 years old) were recruited and followed up with colonoscopy 5 years after colonoscopy. Baseline colonoscopy and follow-up colonoscopy findings were categorized based on the most advanced lesions: no adenoma, nonadvanced adenoma, and advanced adenoma. Five-year risk of colorectal neoplasia in these people was assessed according to the rates of no baseline adenoma and advanced adenoma at the end of 5 years. Results: A total of 480 of the 538 recruited people underwent follow-up colonoscopy at the end of 5 years. In people with no baseline adenoma, 27.3 % (82/301) was found to have any adenoma, and 1.7 % had advanced adenoma at follow-up colonoscopy. The risk of an advanced adenoma did not differ significantly between people with no adenoma at baseline and those with nonadvanced adenoma (relative risk (RR), 1.06; 95 % confidence interval (CI), 0.19-6.07). Advanced adenoma at baseline colonoscopy was the independent risk factor for advanced adenoma recurrence, compared with no adenoma at baseline (RR, 8.25; 95 % CI, 1.90-35.77). Conclusion: The risk of advanced adenoma is low 5 years after the normal baseline colonoscopy, even in asymptomatic Chinese Mongolian population over 50 years of age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical regions in Yunnan Province are endowed with abundant biodiversity resources, and the number and application range of plants are increasing gradually with local development Based on the field investigation, laboratory specimen identification, establishment of voucher specimen and relevant documents, tropical plant resources in Yunnan Province were analyzed systematically. Tropical plant resources in Yunnan have great social and economic benefits, so we should explore reasonable development and sustainable utilization of local resources. Further exploration of the status of tropical plant resources in Yunnan, the risk factors and conservation measures were important. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is the world's largest swine producer and consumer of pork. The large amount of veterinary antibiotics used in swine production poses a significant environmental risk, and many wastewater treatment and manure application measures are taken to control the spread of antibiotic pollution from swine feedlots. However, the effectiveness of these measures in antibiotic and antibiotic resistance genes removal remains unclear. This study evaluated the fate of antibiotics and related resistance genes around 10 swine farms throughout China. A conventional wastewater treatment facility had limited ability to remove antibiotics and related resistance genes in effluent. Manure application increased the antibiotic concentration and related resistance genes abundance in agricultural soil, and simultaneously enhanced the correlation between class I integron and antibiotic resistance genes. Furthermore, the results revealed some factors such as heavy metals, dissolved oxygen and nutrients might play important roles in aggravating the antimicrobial resistance. The relevance network revealed that copper and zinc were significantly correlated with antibiotic resistance genes and class I/II integrons in manured soil and effluents from an anaerobic digester and membrane bioreactor, suggesting that excessive heavy metals could trigger co-selection and transfer of antibiotic resistance genes. Overall, the study revealed the risk of antibiotic residual and resistance gene pollution in swine wastewater treatment and manure application, highlighting the importance in the source control of antibiotic and heavy metal uses as well as the necessity to optimize wastewater treatment technology for resistance removal. • Current wastewater treatment inadequately removes antibiotic resistance genes. • Manure application to soil facilitates the spread of ARGs. • Heavy metals, dissolved oxygen and nutrients may influence ARG spread. • Cu and Zn can co-select ARGs as well as enhance the activity of integrons. • Source control of antibiotic and metal usage in animal feed needs to be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urban soils are of increasing concern because of their potential toxicity and persistence. However, there is limited information about PAHs in Tianjin coastal new region, although it is an important economic and industrial center in Northern China. Here we determined the concentrations of PAHs in 210 surface soil samples collected from this region according to administrative divisions covering Han'gu district, Tanggu district, and Dagang district, to evaluate their contamination and potential cancer risks. The concentrations of 16 PAHs ranged from 58.2 to 9160 ng g−1, and the highest concentration was found in Han'gu district. According to the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) model, the soils from Han'gu district and Dagang district posed a moderate carcinogenic risk to residents, and dermal contact was the main exposure pathway. Besides, ILCRs for children through ingestion were comparable to those for adults but apparently higher than adolescents, while ILCRs of dermal contact for adults were higher than children and adolescents. Comparisons between the layout of industrial zones and the distributions of PAHs as well as ILCRs indicate that PAHs accumulating in soils and then incurring risk areas is partly controlled by the economic and industrial structure. Image 1 • PAH concentrations in soils are comparable between 2001 and 2018 in Tianjin. • Dermal contact is the chief exposure pathway for cancer risk to residents. • Children and adults are sensitive subpopulation through ingestion and dermal contact respectively. • Distributions of PAHs and cancer risk areas are closely related to the industrial structure. The distributions of PAHs and incurred cancer risk areas are closely related to the economic and industrial structure. Dermal contact is the chief exposure pathway for cancer risk to residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: People undergoing mass home- and community-based quarantine are vulnerable to mental health disorders during outbreaks of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), but few studies have evaluated the associated psychosocial factors.Objective: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms and identify associated demographic and psychosocial factors in the general Chinese population during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine period.Methods: Participants aged 18 years or above were recruited in a cross-sectional online survey using snowball sampling from February 26-29, 2020. The survey included questions on demographics, family relationships, chronic diseases, quarantine conditions, lifestyle, COVID-19 infection, and anxiety and depressive symptoms. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify factors associated with elevated anxiety or depressive symptoms.Results: Out of 2331 participants, 762 (32.7%) experienced elevated anxiety or depressive symptoms. Nine risk factors associated with anxiety or depressive symptoms included younger age, reduced income, having cancer or other chronic diseases, having family members living with cancer, concerns related to COVID-19 infection for themselves or family members, living alone, having family conflicts, having <3 or >8 hours of sedentary time per day, and worsened sleep quality.Conclusions: The findings highlight an urgent need for psychological support for populations at high risk for elevated anxiety or depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To realize semantic interoperability for Primary Health Information System (PHIS), this study analyzes and applies existing health information data standards in China. This research aims to establish a Primary Health Information Standard System (PHISS), and achieve the semantic level interoperability and application of primary health information.Methods: First, the PHISS in accordance with the structural standards of national information standards system in China was constructed. Second, application of semantic interoperability level with reference to the interoperability model was standardized. Thirdly, referring to the data element model, PHIS data element dictionary with good interoperability is developed by standardizing data element attributes of identifiers, names, definitions and permissible value. Fourthly, based on PHIS data element dictionary, PHIS dataset is developed following the relevant rules for health information datasets.Results: PHISS is composed of basic class standards, data class standards, technical class standards, security and privacy class standards, management class standards. In this study, we reorganized the data class standards that meet the requirements of PHIS, also develops and adds PHIS data element, PHIS data element dictionary and PHIS dataset. PHIS data element dictionary includes 16 parts and PHIS dataset includes 22 parts, which satisfies the data standardization requirements of PHIS.Conclusions: The establishment of the PHISS can meet the needs for the interconnection of the residents' basic health service information and realize the semantic level interoperability of various information services. The key steps of this method are based on semantic interoperability. Relevant data elements and datasets with semantic interoperability are selected. Moreover, an information standard system is constructed, and the information standardization requirements of the PHIS are met. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-alcohol fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most prevalent hepatopathy in China, with few effective cures currently. This work aimed to confirm the effect of DHM in vivo /vitro and explore the potential mechanism based on a network pharmacology-based approach. The rats were fed using a high-fat diet (HFD) to accumulate lipid. DHM at different concentrations was used to treat the HFD rats. The serum total cholesterol (TC), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were detected using ELISA kits. The target genes of DHM against NAFLD were screened by online databases. Then, the cytotoxicity of DHM in primary hepatocytes and HepG2 cells was determined by MTT reagent. qRT-PCR was used to quantify the expression level of PPAGR and CASP3 mRNA. Cell apoptosis and intracellular triglyceride (TG) were detected. HFD diet increased rat liver weight/body weight ratio, serum TC, ALT, and AST. But DHM treatment can reduce these elevated indicators. DHM targeted 14 potential genes in NAFLD. PPARG and CASP3 were two hub genes for DHM against NAFLD, with score factor coefficients of −7.1 and −6.8 kcal/mol. DHM reduced the increased PPARG mRNA level and intracellular TG induced by palmitic acid. DHM can reduce the increased CASP3 mRNA level and cell apoptosis induced by palmitic acid. This work demonstrates a mechanism of DHM that alleviates lipid metabolism disorder and cell apoptosis for the treatment of NAFLD, evidencing the potential application of DHM in NAFLD. • DHM can alleviate dyslipidemia induced by high-fat diet in rats. • DHM may inhibit PA-induced lipid accumulation via PPARG in HepG2 cells. • DHM may inhibit primary hepatocytes and HepG2 cell apoptosis via CASP3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The production of novel solid fuel (bio-coal) with its physicochemical quality similar to coal was investigated in the vacuum distillation of pyrolysis bio-oil from agricultural waste like straw as the raw material. The effect of distillation temperature and pressure on the yield of bio-coal and distillates during the vacuum distillation process was focused, as well as the elemental analysis, microscopic morphology, calorific value and combustion performance of bio-coal samples. The yield of bio-coal was up to 45.01 wt% in the vacuum distillation. The carbon content in bio-coal reached 70.93% with its fuel ratio of 1.14, and calorific value of 29.05 MJ/kg. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed that the initiation temperature of the bio-coal obtained at higher distillation temperature and lower distillation pressure was significantly lower, and they presented better overall combustion effects with higher combustibility index and complete combustion characteristics index. Taking the available waste straw each year as the raw material, the total output of bio-coal in the vacuum distillation process is comparable to 330 million tons of standard coal, accounting for 11.67% of China's annual coal consumption. This study proposes a novel way for optimizing China's present energy structure, reducing agricultural waste pollution, and finally achieving energy sustainability. [Display omitted] • Bio-coal is prepared by vacuum distillation of biomass pyrolysis oil. • Bio-coal presented a higher carbon content of 70% and a high calorific value of 29.05 MJ/kg. • The physicochemical properties of bio-coal are close to anthracite. • The increase in temperature facilitates the extraction of phenolics from bio-oil. • Equivalent of 330 million tons of standard coal can be produced in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continental-scale drainage reorganization is generally understood to result from landform evolution forced by the coupling between tectonic activity and climate change, attracting worldwide attention. Planation surfaces and river terraces constitute the most direct geomorphological archives for integrating the history of river systems and for reconstructing processes of drainage reorganization based on provenance analysis of the fluvial sediments. The Middle Yellow River has incised into the Ordos Block, which was previously levelled by a planation surface, creating the Jinshaan Gorge and linking the Hetao Basin to the north and the Fenwei Basin to the south. Multiple lines of evidence, from terraces correlation, sedimentary characteristics, and fluvial provenance, suggest that the Middle Yellow River catchment was occupied by fluvio-lacustrine systems before drainage integration, accumulating a sedimentary sequence derived from surrounding Red Clay and bedrocks during the period between 8.3 and 3.7 Ma. The planation surface was uplifted subsequently, forcing reorganization of the fluvio-lacustrine systems. Their integration resulted in the formation of the Jinshaan Gorge prior to 1.2 Ma. Numerous terraces were created during incision by the Middle Yellow River from north to south along the gorge. Our data, obtained from zircon U Pb dating and lithological composition of fluvial gravels, further points to a remarkable discrepancy in provenance between the fluvio-lacustrine systems overlying the planation surface and the terraces sequence formed by the integrated Middle Yellow River, confirming the drainage reorganization process constrained by the geomorphic records. • Fluvio-lacustrine systems occupied the Middle Yellow River before integration. • Yellow River terraces are different from fluvio-lacustrine systems in provenance. • The Middle Yellow River has been excavated and integrated during Plio–Pleistocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization-related human activities, such as population aggregation, rapid industrial expansion, and intensified traffic, are key factors that impact local polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon emissions and their associated health risks. Consequently, regions with varying degrees of urbanization within a megacity may exhibit diverse spatiotemporal patterns in the presence and distribution of soil polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, resulting in different levels of ecological risks for local inhabitants following the same period of development. In this study, we measured the concentrations of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil samples collected from industrial district and rural district in Tianjin (China) in 2018, and compared with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon data in 2001 from a previous study to characterize these regional variations in occurrence, source, and human risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons induced by urbanization with time and space. The results indicate the 20-year rapid urbanization and industrialization has differentially affected the composition, distribution and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils from different economic functional zones in Tianjin. Additionally, its impact on health risks in rural district appeared to be more significant than that in industrial district. • Urbanization had different effects on industrial and rural soil PAHs. • Regional socioeconomic patterns and residential behaviors influenced local PAH source profiles. • Risk regions and affected population were estimated quantitatively. • Urbanization-related impact on cancer risks in rural district seemed more notable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite being a first-line clinical drug, thienopyridines have many unsatisfactory aspects, including the low bioavailability of clopidogrel(CLP) and the high bleeding risk of prasugrel. We synthesized deuterium clopidogrel(D-CL, patented in China) to alleviate the deficiency of CLP in clinical, such as a slow onset, a greater influence of gene polymorphism, and a high frequency of drug-drug interaction. Molecular docking was used to analyze the affinity between D-CL and the P2Y 12 receptor. The levels of active metabolites of D-CL were detected using HPLC/MS-MS and the activities of main metabolic enzymes were analyzed; Subsequently, platelet aggregation function, thrombus model were used to evaluate the pharmacodynamics of D-CL. Finally, the safety of D-CL were evaluated through examination of blood routine, PT, APTT, bleeding time, serological tests, liver pathological biopsy, liver cell apoptosis and detection of apoptosis-related proteins. The introduction of deuterium made the binding of CLP to P2Y 12 receptor more stable, improved the concentration of active metabolites, and substantially reduced the inhibition of major metabolic enzymes, including CYP2B6, CYP2C9, and CYP2C19, thereby, exerting better antiplatelet effects without increasing the risk of bleeding, along with a concomitant decrease in the apoptosis of hepatocytes. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objective: The goal of this study was to investigate the prevalence of delayed-onset hearing loss in preschool children who previously passed newborn hearing screening in Shanghai, China. Methods: Between October 2009 and September 2010, 21,427 preschool children were enrolled from five areas of Shanghai, who had passed newborn hearing screening. Children were screened for delayed-onset hearing loss with pediatric audiometers. Children with positive results in initial and re-screening tests were assessed audiologically and for risk indicators according to the Year 2007 Statement of the American Joint Committee on Infant Hearing (JCIH). Results: During the study period, 445 children (2.08%) were referred for audiologic assessment; 16 (0.75/1000, 95% CI 0.38–1.12) had permanent delayed-onset hearing loss. Of these, five (0.23/1000) had bilateral moderate hearing loss; seven (0.33/1000) had mild bilateral hearing loss; and four (0.19/1000) had unilateral moderate or mild hearing loss. JCIH risk indicators were established for six children (6/16, 37.5%), including parental concern regarding speech and language developmental delay, neonatal intensive care unit with assisted ventilation or hyperbilirubinemia, recurrent otitis media with effusion, craniofacial malformation, and family history (n =1 for each). The remaining ten (62.5%) had no related risk factors. Conclusions: A significant proportion of preschool children have undiagnosed delayed-onset hearing loss. Hearing screening in preschool is recommended for an early detection. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The impacts of biomass burning have not been adequately studied in China. In this work, chemical compositions of volatile organic compounds and particulate organic matters were measured in August 2005 in Beijing and in October 2004 in Guangzhou city. The performance of several possible tracers for biomass burning is compared by using acetonitrile as a reference compound. The correlations between the possible tracers and acetonitrile show that the use of K+ as a tracer could result in bias because of the existence of other K+ sources in urban areas, while chloromethane is not reliable due to its wide use as industrial chemical. The impact of biomass burning on air quality is estimated using acetonitrile and levoglucosan as tracers. The results show that the impact of biomass burning is ubiquitous in both suburban and urban Guangzhou, and the frequencies of air pollution episodes significantly influenced by biomass burning were 100% for Xinken and 58% for downtown Guangzhou city. Fortunately, the air quality in only 2 out of 22 days was partly impacted by biomass burning in August in Beijing, the month that 2008 Olympic games will take place. The quantitative contribution of biomass burning to ambient PM2.5 concentrations in Guangzhou city was also estimated by the ratio of levoglocusan to PM2.5 in both the ambient air and biomass burning plumes. The results show that biomass burning contributes 3.0–16.8% and 4.0–19.0% of PM2.5 concentrations in Xinken and Guangzhou downtown, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As the major public health problem among under-5 children in the world, neonatal asphyxia (NA) contributes to 24% of the main causes of neonatal death. The effects of NA is not only limited to death but also has a long-term brain injury with lifelong adverse effects. Therefore, the goal of this study was to identify determinants of NA among newborns in the tropical province of China to guide early interventions and improve the survival and quality of life of these infants. A case control study was conducted at Hainan Women and Children's Medical Center from January 1 to December 31, 2021. A total of 255 newborns (85 cases and 170 controls, 1:2 case to control ratio) were enrolled in the study. A systematic random sampling approach was adopted based on hospital delivery registration. Structured questionnaires were used to collected data. The data was entered into statistical software SPSS version 20.0 for analysis. In the bivariable analysis, variables with P values less than .1 were entered into multivariable logistic regression analysis. At a P value of .05, a statistically significant level was reported. Amniotic fluid stained by meconium/blood (AOR = 3.19, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.47-6.95), primiparity, fetal presentation of malpresentation (AOR = 3.89, 95% CI: 1.25-12.09), and low birth weight (AOR = 10.51, 95% CI: 3.02-36.55) were to be significantly associated with NA. This study identified that amniotic fluid stained by meconium/blood, primiparity, low birth weight were determinants of NA. Thus, preventive solutions such as close monitoring of fetus presentation, meliorating the obstetric care setup during antenatal care consultations should be stressed in China., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2023 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Objectives: The role of induction chemotherapy (IC) remains ambiguous in a patient with T3-4N0-1 nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) according to data from the endemic area of China. Here, we conducted a multicenter retrospective study to investigate the value of adding IC to concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) for T3-4N0-1 NPC from Northwest China., Methods: Data were extracted in 3 hospitals from Northwest China between May 1, 2010 and August 30, 2018. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to estimate the endpoints. Survival curves were compared using the log-rank test. Initial propensity matching was conducted with a 1:1 match of IC + CCRT to CCRT. The primary endpoint of this study was overall survival (OS)., Results: A total of 108 patients with staging T3-4N0-1 were included in this study. The median follow-up time was 50 months (range: 6 to 118 months). IC followed by CCRT did not significantly improve OS compared with CCRT in the whole cohort (89.5% vs 77.6%, hazard ratio: 0.41, 95% CI: 0.16-1.04, P = 0.100). But significantly better OS was found when a well-balanced propensity score-matched cohort was analyzed. Adjusted 4-year OS was 89.5% for IC followed by CCRT versus 71.1% for CCRT (hazard ratio: 0.30, 95% CI: 0.11-0.80, P = 0.027). No significant differences were detected in side effects between the two groups., Conclusion: This study suggested IC followed by CCRT had the potential to further improve OS in patients with T3-4N0-1M0 NPC from Northwest China compared with CCRT. However, prospective studies with a large sample are warranted to confirm the results., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Induced (natural) mixing proposed by our teams can solve a big problem of low-energy water situation improvement of stratified reservoirs by minimizing operating periods of water-lifting aerators (WLAs) to advance a complete natural mixing. Here, the mechanisms influencing water situation via induced mixing were systematically explored using a combination of multi-water-environment assessment methods including trophic level index (TLI), water quality index (WQI), and minimum WQI (WQI min ) based on long-term field data (i.e., non-operational and operational years of WLAs). The results showed that induced mixing after WLA deactivation improved the levels of eutrophication and water quality (into "light-eutrophic" and "good" status) with a decrease in TLI values (56.0-56.2) and increase in WQI (79.0-79.9) and WQI min (81.5-89.3) values, compared to mixing of the non-operational year (TLI: 69.6, WQI: 73.4, WQI min : 76.1). Induced mixing was launched by deactivating the WLAs in cooling seasons (i.e., in late September within a subtropical monsoon climate zone), which advanced and prolonged the periods of naturally complete mixing by 2-3 months. Water temperature (WT), Dissolved oxygen (DO), relative water column stability (RWCS) and inflow were primary drivers for the water situation succession in the study years. Induced mixing extended the well-oxygenated and mixed conditions (temperature difference <1.0 °C, DO > 8.5 mg/L, RWCS< 20) following artificial mixing to improve the water status from single index level (improvement of 18.8%-73.7% than mixing before the operational years) to integrated evaluation results by changing WT, DO, and RWCS. This study presents a successful case for energy-saving pollution control using mixing systems., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Heavy metal pollution in soil has received much attention in recent decades. Many studies have analyzed the interaction between specific soil quality and soil heavy metal pollution. However, there is little information about the pollution status, spatial distribution and pollution sources of heavy metals in the province of Tianjin. In this paper, the distribution characteristics and pollution sources of heavy metals in soil were studied by means of the surface soil of Tianjin, as the study area and object, conducted in combination with land use types, using multiple data analysis and multivariate statistics, while the pollution levels were evaluated by various indices. The results showed the mean contents of the seven heavy metals of the studied elements followed an increasing order of Cd (0.15 mg/kg) < As (11.9 mg/kg) < Cu (24.3 mg/kg) = Pb (24.3 mg/kg) < Ni (27.9 mg/kg) < Cr (70.7 mg/kg) < Zn (79.1 mg/kg). The median values of Cr and Ni were lower than the background values and did not exceed the screening values at the points, and the median values of Cu, Zn and Pb were close to the background values, while the median contents of As and Cd were higher than the background values. The highest accumulation of heavy metals was found in grassland, and the coefficient of variation of heavy metal contents were higher in garden land, industrial and mining storage land, residential land and transportation land, indicating that the soil heavy metal contents under these land use types were more significantly disturbed by human factors. The evaluation results of the ground accumulation index method showed that the soil in Tianjin was free of pollution, except for Cd, which was at the non-polluted to moderately polluted level. The Nemero integrated pollution index evaluation method and the pollution load index evaluation method together showed that the integrated pollution levels of heavy metals in Tianjin soils were both at no pollution level/safety level. Apart from Cd and As, which were not correlated, the other heavy metals were correlated with each other two by two. Cd, Pb and Zn were the main pollution contributors from traffic, industry and other anthropogenic factors, while Cr and Ni were the main pollution contributors from soil parent material, and Cu was the main pollution contributor from mining and metal smelting. In addition, As was presumed to be the main source of pollution contribution from agriculture and surface runoff.

Background: Cumulative evidence suggests that the risk of eye tumors varies among different age groups and populations. The purpose of the present study was to assess the age distribution of eye tumors in China., Methods: In this retrospective study, the age distribution of various types of eye tumors was analyzed on surgically excised and histologically confirmed specimens obtained from 4492 patients (4526 eyes), collected between 2001 and 2017., Results: Of the 4526 specimens, 3156 eyes (69.7%) had benign eye tumors, while 1370 eyes (30.3%) had malignant tumors. The age-specific incidence of eye tumors was characterized by a bimodal distribution, one peak occurred at age 0-9 years (19.7%) and the other at 50-59 years (14.7%) of age. Malignant eyelid tumors were very rare under the age of 20 years, but increased to 78% of all eyelid tumors by the age of 70 years. Children aged 0-9 years old were 6.5 times as likely to have a malignant eye tumor (95% CI, 4.1-10.4) as those aged 10-19 years. The age-related variation of eye tumors was also observed in the top ten categories of both benign ( p < 0.001) and malignant types ( p = 0.001)., Conclusions: These results showed that age is a major factor determining the type of eye tumor, confirmed by histopathological analysis., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2022 The Author(s). Published by IMR Press.)

Background: Acute kidney injury (AKI) and coagulation disorders are common complications of sepsis that affect its prognosis. However, the relationship between coagulation function and the prognosis of septic AKI has not been fully elucidated., Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study, clinical data from patients with septic AKI admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University from June 2016 to March 2019 were analyzed. Based on clinical outcomes within 60 days, septic AKI patients were divided into a survival and non-survival group, and the survivors were divided into a recovered and non-recovered group depending on renal function., Results: A total of 338 septic AKI patients were enrolled and followed up; 86 patients died, and 124 patients' renal function did not recover. The all-cause mortality rate in the septic AKI group was higher than in the non-AKI group by 1 : 1 propensity score matching (25.4 vs. 18.9%). The recovery rate for renal function was 50.8% (128/252), and 228 patients (67.5%) had at least one abnormal coagulation index. Logistic analysis indicated that male sex, advanced age, multiple organ dysfunction syndrome, thrombocytopenia, and an increased international standardized ratio (INR) were independent risk factors for all-cause mortality in septic AKI. Concomitant heart disease and prolonged activated partial thrombin time (APTT) were independent risk factors for renal function non-recovery among survivors. Kaplan-Meier curves showed that the cumulative survival rate was lower, and the mean survival time was shorter, in the abnormal coagulation parameter group compared to the normal coagulation parameter group (all p < 0.05)., Conclusion: Many patients with septic AKI have a poor prognosis. Coagulation disorders, including thrombocytopenia, increased INR, and prolonged APTT might predict poor clinical outcomes in patients with septic AKI.

Heavy metal (HM) pollution of farmland is a serious problem worldwide and consumption of HM-contaminated food products poses significant public health risks. Phytoexclusion using low HM accumulating cultivars (LACs) is a promising and practical technology to mitigate the risk of HM contamination of agricultural products grown in polluted soils, and does not alter cultivation practices, is easy to apply, and is economical. This review provides an overview of the major scientific advances accomplished in the field of LACs worldwide. The LACs concept and identification criteria are presented, and the known LACs among currently cultivated grain crops and vegetables are re-evaluated. The low HM accumulation by LACs is affected by crop ecophysiological features and soil physicochemical characteristics. Taking low Cd accumulating cultivars as an example, it is known that they can efficiently exclude Cd from entering their edible parts in three ways: 1) decrease in root Cd uptake by reducing organic acids secretion in the rhizosphere and transport protein production; 2) restriction of Cd translocation from roots to shoots via enhanced Cd retention in the cell wall and Cd sequestration in vacuoles; and 3) reduction in Cd translocation from shoots to grains by limiting Cd redirection and remobilization mediated through nodes. We propose an LAC application strategy focused on LACs and optimized to work with other agronomic measures according to the classification of HM risk level for LACs, providing a cost-effective and practical solution for safe utilization of large areas of farmland polluted with low to moderate levels of HMs., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Eight members of a big family with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 pneumonia were admitted to First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China, from 28 January to 5 February 2020. The clinical records, laboratory results, and chest computed tomography (CT) scans were retrospectively reviewed. Throat swab samples were positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, confirmed by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of Changchun. All eight patients had fever of different degrees; and 6, 3, and 2 had cough; diarrhea; and sore throat. With disease progression, the percentage of lymphocytes in older patients increased, CT images worsened, and the ratio of lymphocytes increased when images revealed inflammation absorption. Although the CT images showed ground-glass opacities in the youngest patient, his lymphocyte count did not decrease with mild clinical symptoms, and the images showed that inflammation was quickly absorbed. Only the oldest patient developed critical illness. The C reaction protein (CRP) levels of Patient 5 increased significantly, and the rate of decline was the slowest, while his condition was the most severe. The clinical manifestations of COVID-19 in this family cluster varied with contact, age, and underlying disease. Lymphocyte count and quality of chest CT images appeared inversely associated with disease severity. CRP changes may be an indicator of disease severity and prognosis.

Since its outbreak in Wuhan, Hubei Province China, 2019-coronavirus infected disease (COVID-19) had been widely spread all over the world, the control of which calls for a better understanding of its epidemiology and clinical characteristics. We included 12 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in First Affiliated Hospital of Jilin University from 23 January 2020 to 11 February 2020, which were retrospectively analyzed for epidemiological, demographic, clinical, laboratory, and radiological features. All the patients were confirmed by nucleic acid detection, the average age of whom was 45.25 years (range, 23-79 years). Most patients had a history of Wuhan traveling or had contact with Wuhan travelers or infected cases. Obvious family cluster was observed. Clinical manifestations included fever (12/12), fatigue (10/12), cough (6/12), sore throat (4/12), headache (3/12), and diarrhea (2/12). Only three out of eight patients had pneumonia manifestation on radiography. Most patients had a normal white blood cell (WBC) count and normal or reduced lymphocyte (LY) count. Pneumonia changes were observed in all the four patients who underwent a chest CT scan. Only one elderly patient developed severe pneumonia, while all the rest were mild disease and had a self-limiting course.

Cyanobacterial blooms are a worldwide environmental problem, which is partly attributed to their access to excessive nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). Preventing the blooms by reducing N and P from internal inputs is viewed as a challenge. To evaluate the effects of dredging on cyanobacterial abundances and bacterioplankton communities, water and sediment samples were collected from eutrophic Lake Nanhu (Wuhan, China) before dredging (2017) and after dredging (2018). After dredging, significant decreases were observed for sediment nutrients (e.g., C, N, and P sources); C-, N-, P-, and S-cycling-related enzyme activity; N- and P-cycling-related gene abundance; microbial abundance; and dramatic changes were observed in the composition of the sediment microbial community. The release rates of nutrient including nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic matter decreased after dredging, and sediment biogeochemistry was closely correlated to nutrient release rates. Additionally, our observations and analyses indicated that the abundance and diversity of the bacterioplankton community decreased significantly, the composition and interaction of the bacterioplankton community dramatically changed, and the bacterioplankton community function (e.g., N, P-cycling-related enzymes and proteins) down regulated after dredging. Water and sediment physicochemical factors explained 72.28% variation in bacterioplankton community composition, and these physicochemical factors were significantly correlated with diversity, composition, and function of bacterioplankton community. Our findings emphasized that cyanobacterial blooms in freshwater ecosystems were closely correlated with noncyanobacterial bacterioplankton that were largely conserved at the phylum level, with Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Bacteroidetes as the main taxa. To our knowledge, this is the first report clarifying the mechanism of cyanobacterial blooms mitigation by dredging, via changing the association between the bacterioplankton community and sediment biogeochemistry. Our findings are of significance and indicate that dredging is effective for mitigating cyanobacterial blooms., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: The aim of the present study was to explore the genetic association of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in interleukin-16 ( IL-16 ) gene with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) susceptibility in a Chinese Han population. Methods: In total, 133 T2DM patients and 127 healthy controls matched by age and gender were recruited in the case-control study. IL-16 gene rs4778889 and rs11556218 polymorphisms were genotyped in the two groups via polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Differences in genotype and allele distributions between groups were compared by the χ 2 test. All the comparisons were adjusted for age, gender, and body mass index (BMI) by logistic regression. The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to evaluate the association strength between IL-16 gene polymorphism and T2DM risk. Results: The TG genotype and G allele frequencies of rs11556218 increased remarkably in the case group than that in controls (45.86 vs 33.86%; 29.70 vs 20.87%), and the differences reached a significant level ( P <0.05). After adjusting for age, gender, and BMI, the differences still reached a significant level ( P <0.05). Rs11556218 TG genotype carriers had a 1.769-fold increased risk of developing T2DM (OR = 1.769, 95% CI = 1.045-2.994), and G allele was also associated with an increased risk of T2DM (OR = 1.639, 95% CI = 1.087-2.471). IL-16 rs4778889 polymorphism showed no significant association with T2DM risk. Conclusion: IL-16 gene rs11556218 polymorphism was significantly associated with T2DM susceptibility in the Chinese Han population, while rs4778889 was not., (© 2019 The Author(s).)

A survey was conducted in regions of North China to better understand the effect of antibiotic residue pollution from swine feedlots to nearby groundwater environment. A total of nine experimental sites located in the regions of Beijing, Hebei, and Tianjin were selected to analyze the presence of residues of 11 most commonly used antibiotics, including tetracyclines (TCs), fluoroquinolones (FQNs), sulfonamides (SAs), macrolides, and fenicols, by using liquid chromatography spectrometry. The three most common antibiotics were TCs, FQNs, and SAs, with mean concentrations of 416.4, 228.8, and 442.4 μg L -1 in wastewater samples; 19.9, 11.8, and 0.3 μg L -1 in groundwater samples from swine feedlots; and 29.7, 14.0, and 0 μg L -1 in groundwater samples from villages. Ordination analysis revealed that the composition and distribution of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (AGRs) were similar in groundwater samples from swine feedlots and villages. FQNs and TCs occurred along the path from wastewater to groundwater at high concentrations and showed correlations with ARGs, with a strong correlation between FQN resistance gene (qnrA) copy number. FQN concentration was also found (P < 0.01) in wastewater and groundwater in villages (P < 0.01). Therefore, antibiotics discharged from swine feedlots through wastewater could disseminate into surrounding groundwater environments together with ARG occurrence (i.e., qnrA, sulI, sulII, tetG, tetM, and tetO). Overall, this study suggests that the spread of veterinary antibiotics from swine feedlots to groundwater environments should be highly attended and controlled by restricting excess antibiotic usage or improving the technology of manure management.

Waardenburg syndrome (WS) characterized by sensorineural hearing loss and pigmentary abnormalities is genetically heterogeneous and phenotypically variable. This study investigated the molecular etiology and genotype-phenotype correlation of WS in 36 Chinese Han deaf probands and 16 additional family members that were clinically diagnosed with WS type I (WS1, n = 8) and type II (WS2, n = 42). Mutation screening of six WS-associated genes detected PAX3 mutations in 6 (86%) of the 7 WS1 probands. Among the 29 WS2 probands, 13 (45%) and 10 (34%) were identified with SOX10 and MITF mutations, respectively. Nineteen of the 26 detected mutations were novel. In WS2 probands whose parental DNA samples were available, de novo mutations were frequently seen for SOX10 mutations (7/8) but not for MITF mutations (0/5, P = 0.005). Excessive freckle, a common feature of WS2 in Chinese Hans, was frequent in WS2 probands with MITF mutations (7/10) but not in those with SOX10 mutations (0/13, P = 4.9 × 10 -4 ). Our results showed that mutations in SOX10 and MITF are two major causes for deafness associated with WS2. These two subtypes of WS2 can be distinguished by the high de novo rate of the SOX10 mutations and the excessive freckle phenotype exclusively associated with the MITF mutations.

A Gram-positive, motile, endospore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium, designated RP-207(T), was isolated from the nodules of Robinia pseudoacacia L. plants planted in Enshi District, Hubei, PR China. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that the novel strain was affiliated to the genus Paenibacillus, with its closest relatives being Paenibacillus xylanilyticus XIL14(T) (95.6%), Paenibacillus peoriae DSM8320(T) (95.3%) and Paenibacillus polymyxa DSM 36(T) (95.3%). The DNA G+C content was 47.0 mol%. DNA-DNA hybridization value between strain RP-207(T) and P. xylanilyticus XIL14(T) was 40.1%. The diamino acid found in the cell wall peptidoglycan was meso-diaminopimelic. The major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, an unidentified amino-phospholipid and an unknown phospholipid. The predominant menaquinone was menaquinone-7 (MK-7), and the major fatty acid was anteiso-C15:0 and C16:0. On the basis of its physiological and biochemical characteristics and the level of DNA-DNA hybridization, strain RP-207(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Paenibacillus, for which the name Paenibacillus enshidis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is RP-207(T) (=CCTCC AB 2013275(T) = KCTC 33519(T)).

Purpose: To analyze the age distribution of corneal disease in China by histopathological examination., Methods: A retrospective histopathological analysis of the prevalence and age distribution of corneal disease was performed on corneal specimens from 3112 patients who underwent corneal surgery between 2001 and 2012 in the Henan Eye Institute., Results: Infectious keratitis (2212 specimens, 71.08%) was the most common corneal disease. The distribution of age groups was significantly higher after age 30 (16.29%), reaching a peak by age 40 (22.04%) and remaining high until age 59 (21.05%, P < 0.01). The highest age-specific percentage of corneal infection was between the ages of 50 and 59 (83.21%, P < 0.01). Noninfectious corneal diseases occurred mainly in the age range of 10 to 19 years (42.47%) and 20 to 29 years (40.78%). Between the ages of 10 and 19, the leading pathologic diagnosis was keratoconus, accounting for 21.29% of cases. In patients aged 80 and older, the most common noninfectious corneal diseases were Terrien-marginal degeneration (8.33%) and Mooren's ulcer (4.17%). The highest incidence of corneal tumor was seen between the ages of 0 and 9 years (65.83%) and age 80 and older (45.86%; P < 0.01)., Conclusions: The age distribution of corneal diseases in the Chinese population is distinct from other countries. The corneal diseases tend to increase in prevalence in middle age, especially for infectious corneal disease. The prevalence of corneal tumor is high in early and late life. Corneal degenerative disease occurs predominately in seniors.

Pressure ulcers are very common in hospital patients. Though many studies have been reported in many countries, the large-scale benchmarking prevalence of pressure ulcers in China is not available. The aim of this study is to quantify the prevalence of pressure ulcers and the incidence of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers and analyze risk factors in hospitalized patients in China. A multi-central cross-sectional survey was conducted in one university hospital and 11 general hospitals in China. The Minimum Data Set (MDS) recommended by European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EUPAP) was used to collect information of inpatients. All patients stayed in hospital more than 24 hours and older than 18 years signed consent form and were included. Data from 39952 out of 40415 (98.85%) inpatients were analyzed. Of the 39952 patients, 631 patients (including 1024 locations) had pressure ulcers. The prevalence rate of pressure ulcers in 12 hospitals was 1.58% (0.94-2.97%). The incidence of hospital-acquired pressure ulcers (HAPU) was 0.63% (0.20-1.20%). The most common locations developed pressure ulcers were sacrum, heels, and iliac crests. The common stages of pressure ulcers were stage I and II. Patients in Intensive Care Unit, Geriatric and Neurological Department were easier to develop pressure ulcers. The prevalence and incidence of pressure ulcers in China was lower than that reported in European and other countries. The stages of pressure ulcers in China were different than that reported in European countries. Our study provides with a baseline value for intensive research on pressure ulcer in China.