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The hilly area of red soil in the central subtropical region of China has a long history of severe soil erosion due to its abundance of water, heat, and intense agricultural and forestry activities. The Sandshale red soil area is hot and rainy, the local land utilization rate and replanting index are high, and the soil easily weathers and erodes, resulting in infertile and sandy soils, extensive soil erosion and large erosion, with far-reaching impacts. In this study, the stability of soil aggregates was studied by the wet sieving method and Le Bissonais (LB) method in six land use patterns in the Sandshale red soil area, including natural forest (NF), Pinus massoniana (PM), Eucalyptus urophylla × E. grandis (EU), orchard (OR), wasteland (WL) and arable land (AL). The transport damage characteristics of the soil aggregates under concentrated water flow were analyzed by using the soil aggregates to simulate the soil surface roughness in the field using a steel scouring flume with a variable slope. The results showed that: (1) the total soil porosity of the natural forest was the highest, with 56.51% in A layer, which was 4.99% higher than the B layer, and the organic matter content ranged from 10.69 to 29.94 g.kg−1 and was highest in NF and lowest in AL; (2) the maximum mean weight diameter (MWD) obtained by the wet sieving method was 4.81 mm for natural forest, and the MWD was the lowest in OR and AL at 2.45–2.77 mm. The MWD measured by the LB method was also highest in NF and lowest in AL. The contents of Fed and Ald have a strong correlation with the stability parameters of soil aggregates; (3) the Wr/Wi results for the six land use patterns were NF>PM>EU> WL>OR>AL; the NF had the strongest soil aggregate stability, followed by WL, PM and EU, and AL and OR had the weakest; the stability of soil aggregates gradually weakened as the soil depth increased. Comprehensive analysis shows that forest land has high soil stability and obvious advantages in soil erosion resistance. Strengthening the construction of artificial forests can be an important means to reduce soil erosion in red soil hilly region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Woody oil plants are important economic trees which are widely cultivated and distributed throughout China. Surveys conducted during 2020 and 2021 on several woody oil plantations from five regions of Sichuan Province, China, revealed a high diversity of Botryosphaerialean fungi. The identification of 50 botryosphaeriaceous isolates was carried out based on both morphology and multi-gene phylogenetic analysis of internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), translation elongation factor 1-alpha gene (tef1) and ß-tubulin gene (tub2). This allowed the identification of twelve previously known Botryosphaeriales species: Aplosporella prunicola, A. ginkgonis, Barriopsis tectonae, Botryosphaeria dothidea, Bo. fabicerciana, Diplodia mutila, Di. seriata, Dothiorella sarmentorum, Neofusicoccum parvum, Sardiniella guizhouensis, Sphaeropsis citrigena, and Sp. guizhouensis, and four novel species belonging to the genera Diplodia and Dothiorella, viz. Di. acerigena, Di. pistaciicola, Do. camelliae and Do. zanthoxyli. The dominant species isolated across the surveyed regions were Botryosphaeria dothidea, Sardiniella guizhouensis and Diplodia mutila, representing 20%, 14% and 12% of the total isolates, respectively. In addition, most isolates were obtained from Pistacia chinensis (14 isolates), followed by Camellia oleifera (10 isolates). The present study enhances the understanding of Botryosphaeriales species diversity on woody oil plants in Sichuan Province, China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wide dissemination of plasmids carrying antibiotic resistance determinants among bacteria is a severe threat to global public health. Here, we characterized an extensively drug-resistant (XDR) Klebsiella pneumoniae NTU107224 by whole genome sequencing (WGS) in combination with phenotypic tests. Broth dilution method was used to determine the minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of NTU107224 to 24 antibiotics. The whole genome sequence of NTU107224 was determined by Nanopore/Illumina hybrid genome sequencing. Conjugation assay was performed to determine the transferability of plasmids in NTU107224 to recipient K. pneumoniae 1706. Larvae infection model was used to determine the effect(s) of conjugative plasmid pNTU107224–1 on bacterial virulence. Among the 24 antibiotics tested, XDR K. pneumoniae NTU107224 had low MICs only for amikacin (≤1 μg/mL), polymyxin B (0.25 μg/mL), colistin (0.25 μg/mL), eravacycline (0.25 μg/mL), cefepime/zidebactam (1 μg/mL), omadacycline (4 μg/mL), and tigecycline (0.5 μg/mL). Whole genome sequencing showed that the closed NTU107224 genome comprises a 5,076,795-bp chromosome, a 301,404-bp plasmid named pNTU107224–1, and a 78,479-bp plasmid named pNTU107224–2. IncHI1B plasmid pNTU107224–1 contained three class 1 integrons accumulated various antimicrobial resistance genes (including carbapenemase genes bla VIM-1 , bla IMP-23 , and truncated bla OXA-256) and the blast results suggested the dissemination of IncHI1B plasmids in China. By day 7 after infection, larvae infected with K. pneumoniae 1706 and transconjugant had 70% and 15% survival rates, respectively. We found that the conjugative plasmid pNTU107224–1 is closely related to IncHI1B plasmids disseminated in China and contributes to the virulence and antibiotic resistance of pathogens. • IncHI1B plasmid pNTU107224–1 carrys bla VIM-1 , bla IMP-23 , and truncated bla OXA-256. • Conjugative plasmid pNTU107224–1 contributes to the virulence of K. pneumoniae. • Plasmids closely related to pNTU107224–1 are widely spread in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To examine the role of supplier development and its related elements in the context of purchasing performance from a buying firm’s perspective, a survey was conducted of companies in the electronics industry in Hong Kong. Using factor analysis, seven factors were identified relevant to supplier development activities. These elements include: long-term strategic goals, effective communications, partnership strategy, top management support, supplier evaluation, direct supplier development and perception of supplier’s strategic objective. Spearman correlation analysis indicated that all the supplier development elements are positively and significantly correlated to the perceived purchasing performance. From the results of regression analysis, two factors, direct supplier development and supplier’s strategic objectives proved to be significant predictors of purchasing performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Loss of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons is attributable to the proapoptotic signaling induced by nerve growth factor receptor (NGFR) and may link to Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk. Only one study has investigated the association between NGFR polymorphisms and the risk of AD in an Italian population. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) may modify this association based on previous animal and epidemiologic studies., Methods: This was a case-control study in a Chinese population. A total of 264 AD patients were recruited from three teaching hospitals between 2007 to 2010; 389 controls were recruited from elderly health checkup and volunteers of the hospital during the same period of time. Five common (frequency≥5%) haplotype-tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms (htSNPs) were selected from NGFR to test the association between NGFR htSNPs and the risk of AD., Results: Variant NGFR rs734194 was significantly associated with a decreased risk of AD [GG vs. TT copies: adjusted odds ratio (OR) = 0.43, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.20-0.95]. Seven common haplotypes were identified. Minor haplotype GCGCG was significantly associated with a decreased risk of AD (2 vs. 0 copies: adjusted OR = 0.39, 95% CI = 0.17-0.91). Type 2 DM significantly modified the association between rs2072446, rs741072, and haplotype GCTTG and GTTCG on the risk of AD among ApoE ε4 non-carriers (P(interaction) < 0.05)., Conclusion: Inherited polymorphisms of NGFR were associated with the risk of AD; results were not significant after correction for multiple tests. This association was further modified by the status of type 2 DM.