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Background: Adolescents' psychological stress has become an important problem. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) are proven to be effective in school settings in the Western world, and so expanding MBIs further is a particularly important consideration. Objective: This study addresses the effectiveness of MBI in reducing psychological stress in Chinese school settings and the mediating role of resilience between trait mindfulness and psychological stress. Methods: This study conducts a cluster randomized controlled trial. Ninety-two middle school students in the experimental group received 10 weeks of MBI, with 10 sessions of a mindfulness course, while 97 students in the control group followed their regular school program without intervention. Results: Psychological stress, trait mindfulness, and psychological resilience were measured by the Psycho-Somatic-Tension-Relaxation Inventory (PSTRI), Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ), and Resilience Scale for Chinese Adolescents (RSCA). The results showed that (1) compared with the pretest scores of the experimental group, and the pre- and post-test scores of the control group, the post-test scores of trait mindfulness and psychological resilience in the experimental group were significantly increased, while psychological stress was significantly decreased. (2) Trait mindfulness was positively associated with psychological resilience. Trait mindfulness and psychological resilience were negatively associated with psychological stress. (3) The mediating effect of psychological resilience accounted for 43.58% of the overall effect of trait mindfulness on psychological stress. Conclusions: These findings provide encouraging evidence for MBI's effectiveness in reducing adolescents' psychological stress and the possible mediating role of psychological resilience; thus, MBI is worthy of expanding to Chinese school settings.

Cadmium pollution turns out to be a global environmental problem. This study conducted a quantitative and qualitative bibliometric analysis based on 9188 research items from the Web of Science Core Collection published in the last 20 years (2000–2020), presenting an in-depth statistical investigation of global freshwater cadmium research progress and developing trend. Our results demonstrated that the researchers from China, the USA, and India contribute the most to this field. The primary sources of cadmium are mining, industry, wastewater, sedimentation, and agricultural activities. In developing countries, cadmium exposure occurs mainly through the air, freshwater, and food. Fish and vegetables are the main food sources of cadmium for humans because of their high accumulation capability. Source evaluation, detection, and remediation represent the main technologies used to clean up cadmium-contaminated sites. To mitigate the risk of cadmium contamination in freshwater, biomarker-based cadmium monitoring methods and integrated policies/strategies to reduce cadmium exposure merit further concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

College students are most susceptible to highest-risk of health risk behaviors (HRBs) in China. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have shown significant benefit in specific HRB; however, evidence of its effectiveness in multiple HRBs in college students is limited. The current study aimed to address the effectiveness of the Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) on trait mindfulness and multiple HRBs among general Chinese undergraduates, and the relationship between trait mindfulness and HRBs. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted in a Chinese university from April to June 2016. A total of 164 enrolled participants were randomized to no intervention (n = 82), or MBCT (n = 82). The outcomes were measured by the Adolescent Health Related Risky Behavior Inventory (AHRBI) and the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Data were analyzed with intent-to-treat analysis and per-protocol analysis.The results yielded significant group by pre-post interaction terms for the trait mindfulness facets (P < 0.01) and the HRBs (P < 0.05), the MBCT group changed more than the control group. The five types of HRB measures had significant inverse correlation with the five facets of the trait mindfulness measures (r = −0.50 ~ −0.16, P < 0.05). The structural model of the intervention effect of MBCT on HRBs mediated by trait mindfulness was well-fitted (P < 0.01).The findings suggests that MBI has beneficial effects in both improving trait mindfulness and reducing multiple HRBs, and the improvement of trait mindfulness can effectively decreases the risks of HRBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene-based membranes have unique nanochannels and can offer advantageous properties for the water desalination process. Although tremendous efforts have been devoted to heightening membrane performance and broadening their application, there is still lack of a systematic literature review on the development and future directions of graphene-based membranes for desalination. In this mini-review, literature published between 2011 and 2022 were analyzed by using the bibliometric method. We found that the major contributors to these publications and the highest citations were from China and the USA. Nearly 80% of author keywords in this analysis were used less than twice, showing the broad interest and great dispersion in this field. The recent advances, remaining gaps, and strategies for future research, were discussed. The development of new multifunctional nanocomposite materials, heat-driven/solar-driven seawater desalination, and large-scale industrial applications, will be important research directions in the future. This literature analysis summarized the recent development of the graphene-based membranes for desalination application, and will be useful for researchers in gaining new insights into this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How best to support mental health of young people is an important public health challenge. More empirical researches are need to examine the relationship between mindfulness-based interventions and mental health in China. The present study reports results from a quasi-experiment following a one-group repeated-measures design which investigated the impact of a standard 8-week mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) program in 81 Chinese undergraduates (14 males, 67 females, age 20.35 ± 1.35 years). Data was collected using the Symptom Check List 90 (SCL90) at baseline, week 3, week 6 and week 8 in order to examine the trajectory of mental health changes during the MBCT training. The repeated measures analysis of variance showed that the decrease was significant in the scores of somatization (F = 13.432, P < 0.01), obsessive–compulsive symptoms (F = 43.954, P < 0.01), interpersonal sensitivity (F = 36.196, P < 0.01), depression (F = 25.914, P < 0.01), anxiety (F = 26.547, P < 0.01), hostility (F = 19.707, P < 0.01), phobic anxiety (F = 21.145, P < 0.01), paranoid ideation (F = 19.857, P < 0.01) and psychoticism (F = 32.833, P < 0.01). The findings from the present study show that a standard MBCT program may have positive impact on reduction in mental health problems in Chinese undergraduates. Further controlled studies with randomized designs are needed to investigate these promising results in more depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's coastal environment has been heavily affected by the loading of terrestrial pollutants in recent decades, and quantitative risk assessment is urgently needed to assess the ecological risks of China's coastal environment. We assessed the ecological risks induced by five heavy metals (including Cu, Zn, Pb, Hg and As) in China's coastal waters for three groups of marine organisms (including crustacean, fish and mollusc) based on data obtained from a nationwide unified coastal environment monitoring program consisting of 301 sampling sites. The results show that higher heavy metal concentrations occurred more frequently in the Bohai Sea and in the estuaries of major sea-going rivers. The ecological risks decreased in the following order: Bohai Sea > Yellow Sea > South China Sea > East China Sea. There was generally low ecological risk, but certain hotspots existed near Tianjin and Jinzhou, which had relatively high ecological risks caused by Cu and Zn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of ten marine yeast strains isolated from Bohai Sea, Northern China were identified to be members of three genera Rhodosporidium, Rhodotorula, and Cryptococcus. Two representative strains Rhodosporidium TJUWZ4 and Cryptococcus TJUWZA11 with high lipid content based on Nile red staining method were further characterized. A wide range of culture conditions (C and N sources, pH, temperature, salinity and C/N ratio) were tested to characterize the biomass and lipid production (yield and productivity) of these strains. Results indicated that Rhodosporidium TJUWZ4 was capable of achieving lipid yield up to 44% and 0.09 g/l-h productivity on glucose and peptone medium at pH 4, 20 °C, 30% salinity, and C/N 80. Three fatty acids, namely oleic acid (18:1), palmitic acid (C16:0) and linoleic acid (18:2) were the major intracellular fatty acids, which accounted for 90% of total lipids. With promising features for intracellular lipid accumulation, Rhodosporidium TJUWZ4 is a robust strain with great potentials for application in biodiesel production from renewable feedstocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Overgenerality and delay of the retrieval of autobiographical memory ( AM) are well documented in a range of clinical conditions, particularly in patients with emotional disorder. The present study extended the investigation to chronic pain, attempting to identify whether the retrieval of AM in patients with chronic pain tends to be overgeneral or delayed. Design With an observational cross-sectional design, we evaluated the AM both in patients with chronic pain and healthy controls by Autobiographical Memory Test. Pain conditions were assessed using the pain diagnostic protocol, the short-form Mc Gill Pain Questionnaire ( SF-MPQ), and the Pain Self- Efficacy Questionnaire ( PSEQ). Emotion was assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory- II ( BDI- II) and the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Subjects and Settings Subjects included 176 outpatients with chronic pain lasting for at least 6 months and 170 healthy controls. Results 1) Compared with the healthy group, the chronic pain group had more overgeneral memories ( OGMs) ( F = 29.061, P < 0.01) and longer latency ( F = 13.602, P < 0.01). 2) In the chronic pain group, the stepwise multiple regression models for variables predicting OGM were significant ( P < 0.01). Specifically, the variance in OGM scores could be predicted by the BDI score (9.7%), pain chronicity (4.3%), PSEQ score (7.1%), and Affective Index (of SF-MPQ) score (2.7%). 3) In the chronic pain group, the stepwise multiple regression models for variables predicting latency were significant ( P < 0.05). Specifically, the variance in latency could be predicted by age (3.1%), pain chronicity (2.7%), pain duration (4.3%), and PSEQ score (2.0%). Conclusions The retrieval of AM in patients with chronic pain tends to be overgeneral and delayed, and the retrieval style of AM may be contributed to negative emotions and chronic pain conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on monthly monitoring data of unfiltered water, the nutrient discharges of the eight main rivers flowing into the coastal waters of China were calculated from 2006 to 2012. In 2012, the total load of NH3-N (calculated in nitrogen), total nitrogen (TN, calculated in nitrogen) and total phosphorus (TP, calculated in phosphorus) was 5.1 × 105, 3.1 × 106 and 2.8 × 105 tons, respectively, while in 2006, the nutrient load was 7.4 × 105, 2.2 × 106 and 1.6 × 105 tons, respectively. The nutrient loading from the eight major rivers into the coastal waters peaked in summer and autumn, probably due to the large water discharge in the wet season. The Yangtze River was the largest riverine nutrient source for the coastal waters, contributing 48% of the NH3-N discharges, 66% of the TN discharges and 84% of the TP discharges of the eight major rivers in 2012. The East China Sea received the majority of the nutrient discharges, i.e. 50% of NH3-N (2.7 × 105 tons), 70% of TN (2.2 × 106 tons) and 87% of TP (2.5 × 105 tons) in 2012. The riverine discharge of TN into the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea was lower than that from the direct atmospheric deposition, while for the East China Sea, the riverine TN input was larger. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Gram-stain-negative, motile, aerobic and heterotrophic bacterium, designated as GYS&#95;M3H T , was isolated from marine coastal sediment sampled at Xiamen Island. Cells were rod-shaped with one polar flagellum and weakly positive for oxidase and catalase. Growth of the strain occurred at pH 6-9 (optimum, pH 7-8), at 15-37 °C (optimum, 28 °C) and with NaCl concentrations of 1.0-6.0 % (optimum, 2.0 %). It had highest 16S rRNA similarity (97.7 %) to Ketobacter alkanivorans GI5 T , followed by the members of the genus Alcanivorax (lower than 91.2 %). The results of phylogenetic analysis indicated that it belonged to the genus Ketobacter within the family Alcanivoracaceae . In addition, the average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain GYS&#95;M3H T and K. alkanivorans GI5 T were 71.4 and 19.7 %, respectively, indicating that strain GYS&#95;M3H T belonged to a novel species. Its genome consisted of 5 318 758 bp, with a genomic DNA G+C content of 50.0 mol%. The respiratory quinone was Q-8 and the dominant fatty acids were identified as iso-C 15 : 0 (25.4 %), C 16 : 1   ω6c/C 16 : 1   ω7 c (14.4 %) and iso-C 13 : 0 (7.2 %). The main polar lipids were phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol. Therefore, based on phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic results, strain GYS&#95;M3H T represents a novel species within the genus Ketobacter , for which the name Ketobacter nezhaii sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain GYS&#95;M3H T (=MCCC 1A13808 T =KCTC 72247 T ).