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"Exercise is the best medicine" is well known, but the optimal dose of physical activity (PA) for males and females across different age groups is still unknown. This study, using data from the four waves of CHARLS, aimed to determine the optimal PA dose that reduces frailty risks among older adults across various age groups and both sexes. We created a frailty index score using 63 health-related variables and used 0.21 as the frailty cut point. Binary logistic regression was used to compare the effect of vigorous, moderate, and light intensity PA under IPAQ criteria on frailty risk. The study found that regardless of whether males or females, the optimal effect of vigorous-intensity PA in reducing the risk of frailty is consistently observed throughout the entire old age career. Moreover, the age groups at which moderate-intensity PA reduces the risk of frailty were from age 70 for males and from age 80 for females. And light-intensity PA had no effect on reducing the risk of frailty. Moderate and vigorous intensity of PA in older adults should be promoted, but guidelines and recommendations must account for optimal associations with PA dose across genders and age groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Symbiotic bacteria affect physiology and ecology of insect hosts. The Sitobion miscanthi L type symbiont (SMLS) is a recently discovered and widely distributed secondary symbiont in the grain aphid Sitobion miscanthi Takahashi in China. Results: In this study, SMLS‐infected (SI) and SMLS‐uninfected (SU) aphid strains were obtained from field population. The artificially SMLS‐re‐infected (SRI) strain was established by injecting SU aphids with the SI strain hemolymph containing SMLS. The SRI and SU strains had identical genetic backgrounds and similar microbial community structures. Compared with the SU strain, adult longevity, survival rate, and fecundity were significantly greater in the SRI strain (biological fitness of 1.48). Moreover, the SRI strain spent more time ingesting phloem than the SU strain. A comparative transcriptome analysis indicated that reproduction‐ and longevity‐related genes were more highly expressed in the SRI strain than in the SU strain. Conclusion: The findings indicated that the infection with SMLS enhanced the Sitobion miscanthi fitness and feeding behavior. The beneficial effect of the SMLS on hosts could explain why it frequently infects the field populations in the grain aphid Sitobion miscanthi Takahashi in China. © 2022 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Pest control mainly relies on the use of chemical insecticides, whereas insecticide resistance is problematic for the effective management of insect pests. Sulfoxaflor is a new sulfoximine insecticide. The wheat aphid Sitobion miscanthi is one of the most important pests adversely affecting wheat cultivation. We obtained an S. miscanthi field population highly resistant to sulfoxaflor, despite this insecticide not having been widely and continuously used for control of wheat aphids in China. The understanding of the cross-resistance or multi-resistance spectrum and fitness cost caused by insecticide resistance is important for selecting suitable insecticides to integratively manage insecticide resistance. Our findings suggest that the S. miscanthi population that is highly resistant to sulfoxaflor had moderate resistance to two pyrethroid insecticides, which was accompanied by severely adverse biological fitness. The study provides valuable information regarding the rational use of pesticides and may be relevant for exploring new mechanisms of insecticide resistance. Sulfoxaflor belongs to a new class of insecticides that is effective against many sap-feeding pests. In this study on Sitobion miscanthi (Takahashi) (i.e., the predominant wheat pest), a highly sulfoxaflor-resistant (SulR) population was obtained from a field. Its resistance to the other seven insecticides and its biological fitness were analyzed using a leaf-dip method and a two-sex life table approach, respectively. Compared with the relatively susceptible (SS) population, the SulR population was highly resistant to sulfoxaflor, with a relative insecticide resistance ratio (RR) of 199.8 and was moderately resistant to beta-cypermethrin (RR = 14.5) and bifenthrin (RR = 42.1) but exhibited low resistance to chlorpyrifos (RR = 5.7). Additionally, the SulR population had a relative fitness of 0.73, with a significantly prolonged developmental period as well as a lower survival rate and poorer reproductive performance than the SS population. In conclusion, our results suggest that S. miscanthi populations that are highly resistant to sulfoxaflor exist in the field. The possibility that insects may develop multi-resistance between sulfoxaflor and pyrethroids is a concern. Furthermore, the high sulfoxaflor resistance of S. miscanthi was accompanied by a considerable fitness cost. The study data may be useful for improving the rational use of insecticides and for exploring novel insecticide resistance mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electroencephalography (EEG) microstate has recently emerged as a new whole-brain mapping tool for studying the temporal dynamics of the human brain. Meanwhile, the neuromodulation effect of external stimulation on the human brain is of increasing interest to neuroscientists. Acupuncture, which originated in ancient China, is recognized as an external neuromodulation method with therapeutic effects. Effective acupuncture could elicit the deqi effect, which is a combination of multiple sensations. However, whether the EEG microstate could be used to reveal the neuromodulation effect of acupuncture with deqi remains largely unclear. In this study, multichannel EEG data were recorded from 16 healthy subjects during acupuncture manipulation, as well as during pre- and post-manipulation tactile controls and pre- and post-acupuncture rest controls. As the basic acupuncture unit for regulating the central nervous system, the Hegu acupoint was used in this study, and each subject's acupuncture deqi behavior scores were collected. To reveal the neuroimaging evidence of acupuncture with deqi , EEG microstate analysis was conducted to obtain the microstate maps and microstate parameters for different conditions. Furthermore, Pearson's correlation was analyzed to investigate the correlation relationship between microstate parameters and deqi behavioral scores. Results showed that: (1) compared with tactile controls, acupuncture manipulation caused significantly increased deqi behavioral scores. (2) Acupuncture manipulation significantly increased the duration, occurrence, and contribution parameters of microstate C, whereas it decreased those parameters of microstate D. (3) Microstate C's duration parameter showed a significantly positive correlation with acupuncture deqi behavior scores. (4) Acupuncture manipulation significantly increased the transition probabilities with microstate C as node, whereas it reduced the transition probabilities with microstate D as node. (5) Microstate B→C's transition probability also showed a significantly positive correlation with acupuncture deqi behavior scores. Taken together, the temporal dynamic feature of EEG microstate could be used as objective neuroimaging evidence to reveal the neuromodulation effect of acupuncture with deqi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Wuda coal mining area in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, is one of the largest coal fire areas world-wide. At the same time it is also one of the most extensively researched ones. The sub-surface coal fires raging in the underground coal seams of the syncline are located directly west of the town of Wuda. The fires have been mapped in situ, based on remote sensing data, as well as based on geo-physical survey all throughout the years 2001 to 2005. Numerous publications depict the situation during that time. In the present study we assess the current situation in Wuda coal field five years after the last field campaigns, under nowadays on-going and accelerating extinguishing activities. We present the results of coal fire dynamics assessment based on in situ mappings between 2004 and 2010, the analyses of changes in mining infrastructure between 2005 and 2012, as well as land cover change in the area from 2005 to 2012. Newest high resolution multispectral and panchromatic Quickbird data, as well as time series of Quickbird data supported this endeavor. We furthermore present the result of semi-structured interviews undertaken with members of the local mine directorate of the Wuda syncline. All jointly analyzed data indicate that the Wuda coal fires tend to move eastwards within the syncline, meaning that they move along the dip of the coal seams to greater depths. Furthermore, mining related infrastructure is clearly moving from the West to the East as well. Despite large funds spent on fire extinguishing, only few fires remain permanently extinct, while other fire areas increase in size. The former land cover structure in the arid syncline does not exist anymore — extinguishing activities have led to a complete ‘turn-over’ of all material in the region. The coal fire problem in Wuda area remains a pressing one. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this study, COI and 16S rRNA genes were used to molecularly identify dried seahorse and pipefish sold on the Chinese market. One hundred and ninety-eight products, including 168 seahorse and 30 pipefish, were collected from dried seafood sellers in Zhanjiang (Guangdong province, China) and analyzed. Overall, the study identified 5 different species: Hippocampus trimaculatus , H. spinosissimus and H. kelloggi in seahorse products and Solegnathus hardwickii and S. spinosissimus in pipefish products. All the aforesaid species were randomly sold under the generic umbrella term of Hai ma (海马) (seahorse) and of Hai long (海龙) (pipefish) irrespectively of the price. The present study supports the main pathways of seahorse and pipefish exploitation already described in the literature and confirms previous concerns about the impact that illegal and not regulated trade could have on syngnathids. In particular, the huge economic value of dried products seems to represent the strongest incentive to fishing despite the presence of a legislative framework aimed at managing the wild population of seahorse and pipefish. A proper description on the label, comprising at least the scientific denomination and a "recognizable" Chinese commercial name, is needed to avoid deception of consumers and bypassing of official controls. • Molecular identification of dried seahorse and pipefish products has been performed • Three species of seahorse and two species of pipefish have been identified • All the products were sold under the generic term of Hai ma (海马) and of Hai long (海龙) - Illegal and not regulated trade still affect syngnathids species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dried oyster, clam and mussel products have been commonly recommended and consumed in Asia over many centuries. However, the true species of the shellfish species in the trade is unknown. It is difficult to identify the shellfish species just based on their morphological characters of dried muscle and visceral mass without shells. In this study, 300 dried oyster ( shenghao ), clam ( geli ) and mussel ( dancai ) products commercialized in the markets of ten Chinese coastal cities were analyzed in order to authenticate species. Direct sequencing method based on fragments of the COI gene was carried out and results showed that 81% shenghao were extracted from Crassostrea angulata (Portuguese oyster), 19% shenghao were Crassostrea gigas (Pacific cupped oyster), 58% geli were extracted from Mactra chinensis (sunray surf clam), 42% geli were Ruditapes philippinarum (Manila clam) and all (100%) dancai were extracted from Mytilus galloprovincialis (Mediterranean mussel). Therefore, this work facilitates the identification of dried shellfish products in the market, support of food control and protection of consumers’ rights. Moreover, the result showed that Portuguese oyster, sunray surf clam, Manila clam and Mediterranean mussel have distributed (naturally distributed or cultured) to most coastal provinces of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seven rare oxylipins, siegesbeckins A-G (1-7) representing further bioactive constituents different from the general terpenyl compounds found in Siegesbeckia species, have been obtained from the aerial parts of Siegesbeckia glabrescens. These isolates were identified to be a series of methyl 4-methylpentanoates incorporating fatty acid moieties of different chain lengths, based on spectroscopic techniques, and their absolute configurations were determined via chemical degradation and comparison of experimental and theoretically calculated ECD spectra. With respect to bioactivity, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic properties of selected compounds were evaluated. Compounds 1 and 5 showed moderate antibacterial activity against two Gram-positive bacteria with MIC values of 4.3 μg/mL, while 3 showed no pronounced activity in these assays., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest There are no conflicts of interest to declare., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Objective: We studied the changes in soil bacterial communities induced by ground mulch managements at different apple growth periods., Methods: We adopted the denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) with PCR-amplified 16S rRNA fragments to determine soil bacterial community structure and diversity., Results: Soil bacterial community structure with different ground mulch managements were significantly different. Both the mulch management strategies and apple growth periods affected the predominant groups and their abundance in soil bacterial communities. Grass mulch and cornstalk mulch treatments had higher bacterial diversity and richness than the control at young fruit period and fruit expanding period, whereas film mulch treatment had no significant difference compared with the control. During mature period, bacterial diversity in the control reached its maximum, which may be ascribed to the rapid growth and reproduction of the r-selection bacteria. The clustering and detrended correspondence analysis revealed that differences in soil bacterial communities were closely correlated to apple growth periods and ground mulch managements. Soil samples from the grass mulch and cornstalk mulch treatments clustered together while those mulched with plastic film treatment were similar to the control. The most abundant phylum in soil bacterial community was Proteobacteria followed by Bacteroidetes. Some other phyla were also detected, such as Acidobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Chloroflexi., Conclusion: Mulching with plant (Grass/Cornstalk) had great effects on soil bacterial community structure and enhanced the diversity while film mulch management had no significant effects.

Most of our limited knowledge of microbes in corals comes from stony and soft corals; the microbial diversity of black corals is still poorly understood. Microbial diversity of the South China Sea black coral Antipathes dichotoma was investigated using a culture-dependent method followed by analysis of bacterial 16S rRNA gene and fungal internal transcribed spacer sequences. A total of 36 bacterial and 24 fungal isolates were recovered and identified, belonging to three bacterial phyla (Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria) and four fungal orders (Eurotiales, Hypocreales, Pleosporales and Botryosphaeriales). The high level microbial diversity of A. dichotoma is in accordance with previous studies on those of some stony and soft corals. However, the lack of bacterial Gammaproteobacteria phylum in A. dichotoma is in sharp contrast to the stony and soft corals, in which the Gammaproteobacteria phylum is relatively common and abundant. Antimicrobial activities of 21 bacterial and 10 fungal representative isolates (belonging to 21 different bacterial and 10 different fungal species, respectively) were tested against two marine pathogenic bacteria and two marine coral pathogenic fungi. A relatively high proportion (51.6%) of microbial isolates displayed distinct antibacterial and antifungal activities, suggesting that the black coral-associated microorganisms may aid their host in protection against marine pathogens. This is the first report on the diversity of culturable microorganisms associated with black coral. It contributes to our knowledge of black coral-associated microorganisms and further increases the pool of microorganisms available for natural bioactive product screening., (© 2012 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.)