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Cisplatin (Cis) is considered to be one of the most effective drugs for killing cancer cells and remains a first-line chemotherapeutic agent. However, Cis's multiple toxicities (especially nephrotoxicity) have limited its clinical use. Marsdenia tenacissima (Roxb.) Wight et Arn. (MT), a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) employed extensively in China, not only enhances the antitumor effect in combination with Cis, but is also used for its detoxifying effect, as it reduces the toxic side effects of chemotherapy drugs. The aim of this study was to explore the therapeutic effect of MT on Cis-induced nephrotoxicity, along with its underlying mechanisms. In this study, liquid–mass spectrometry was performed to identify the complex composition of the extracts of MT. In addition, we measured the renal function, antioxidant enzymes, and inflammatory cytokines in mice with Cis-induced nephrotoxicity and conducted renal histology evaluations to assess renal injury. The expressions of the proteins related to antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and apoptotic markers in renal tissues was detected by Western blotting (WB). MT treatment improved the renal function, decreased the mRNA expression of the inflammatory factors, and increased the antioxidant enzyme activity in mice. A better renal histology was observed after MT treatment. Further, MT inhibited the expression of the phospho-NFκB p65 protein/NFκB p65 protein (p-p65)/p65, phospho-inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B kinase beta subunit/inhibitor of nuclear factor kappa B kinase beta subunit (p-IKKβ/IKKβ), Bcl-2-associated X (Bax), and Cleaved Caspase 3/Caspase 3 proteins, while the expression of nuclear factor-erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2), heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), Recombinant NADH Dehydrogenase, Quinone 1 (NQO1), and B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) was increased. The present study showed that MT ameliorated renal injury, which mainly occurs through the regulation of the Nrf2 pathway, the NF-κB pathway, and the suppression of renal tissue apoptosis. It also suggests that MT can be used as an adjuvant to mitigate the nephrotoxicity of Cis chemotherapy. [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 relationship between maximizing forest revenue and reducing environmental pollution has been a challenging one. It is every country's responsibility to protect its forest reserves and mitigate climate change. Studies on the relationship between forest economic models and climate change are limited, and most of them focus on maximizing forestry products. This study aims at filling the gaps and makes scientific contributions by providing a detailed account of various economic models and their correlations with climate change, as well as identifying the ecological footprint of forest products, fossil fuel consumption, forest cover, foreign direct investment, economic growth, and population in terms of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. In this study, we observed that most forest economic models focus on forest profit maximization and disregard climate impact. The empirical results suggest that the ecological footprint of forest products increases CO2 emissions. In addition, forest cover helps to reduce CO2 emissions. A case study of China's tremendous growth and the associated CO2 emissions levels reported a recent decrease in such levels, largely due to an increase in forest cover. Although these findings are not exhaustive, they provide new insights into forestry economic models and the impact of climate change, offering theoretical and practical implications for future reference and forest governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study analyzes in-depth how knowledge-intensive small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can achieve higher new product development (NPD) process performance in the epidemic era and examine the internal development mechanism of knowledge-intensive SMEs in the process of continuous digital transformation. Design/methodology/approach: This issue is tested with partial least squares on data collected via a survey conducted from November 2021 to February 2022. The sample comprises 487 knowledge-intensive SMEs operating in China. Findings: The results indicate that one form of cross-functional ambidexterity, market development strategy (MDS), plays an important role in process performance from an inside-out financial perspective and an outside-in customer perspective. Simultaneously, product innovation efficiency (PIE) mediates the relationship between MDS and the above results. Big data analytics capabilities (BDACs) positively regulate the relationship between MDS and PIE. Research limitations/implications: The authors do not consider other contingency factors. Future research should introduce influential factors such as leadership and competitive intensity to further distinguish the effects of MDS on NPD process performance. Practical implications: The study findings offer suggestions to help knowledge-intensive SME managers better manage their NPD process by making better use of their limited resources in developing countries such as China. Originality/value: This study is one of only a few to adopt a process-oriented perspective to specifically examine how one form of cross-functional ambidexterity, MDS, impacts knowledge-intensive SME process performance in the epidemic era. This study also extends the theoretical framework of cross-functional ambidexterity to BDAC research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background--The following problems generally exist in the researches of forestry economy at present : advocating tool-oriented research methods and complexity of research processes and ignoring problem-oriented research methods and purpose-first research processes; Seeking the black-box analysis of "literatures + software" and avoiding the actual system structures and mechanism analysis ; Coping with the complexity of the changing research objects and its environments with rigid procedures. These practices make academic researches divorced from practical needs and far from the solution of scientific problems, and meanwhile they also imprison the formation of academic ideas and the production of innovation achievements. (2) Methods--It is a good solution to study forestry economy by using the thoughts and methods of system engineering. First, set up the system view of forestry economy, deeply understand the specific attributes and movement laws of forestry economy system. Then, analyze the problems of forestry economy by using the general theory of system science and the general methods of system analysis, study the specific system attributes of forestry economy system such as its purpose, structure and function, and establish the whole model of the system view of forestry economy. (3) Results--In the aspect of system structure, the aggregation, relevance and hierarchy of forestry economic system are studied. It studies the transitive hierarchy by taking the ecological footprint systems of national parks as an example, studies the resolving hierarchy by taking the forestry industry systems as an example, and studies the mixed hierarchy by taking the production systems of forestry enterprises as an example. In the aspect of system function, it studies the integrality marked by the combination effect of forestry ecological economy, the dynamics featured by the significant hysteresis effect of "ten years to grow trees", and the self-organization as the internal driving force of sustainable development. Meanwhile, it also studies the openness as a bridge between forest ecosystems and socio-economic systems, the environmental adaptability towards forest ecosystems and the environmental adaptability towards socio-economic systems. In the aspect of system purpose, by using the whole model and feedback mechanism of forestry economic system, it studies the resolving methods of the system purpose based on the system function effect feedback and establishes the resolving system of "function→purpose" which takes the green development of forestry economy as the overall purpose. (4) Proposals--Forestry economic system has three kinds of attributes : purpose, structure and function. Among them, the system structure includes three aspects : aggregation, relevance and hierarchy. According to its proximity to the external environment, the system function can be divided into inner function and outer function. The inner function includes integrality, dynamics and self-organization of the system, while the outer function includes openness and environmental adaptability. The research shows that the system purpose of forestry economic system determines the structure and function of the system, and the system function embodies the order and ability of the interaction between the system and the environment, and the effects of this interaction in turn improve the purpose, structure, and function of the system through its organization and self-organization processes. It can be seen that each attribute of forestry economic system interacts with each other and forms a feedback system. It not only explains the general principles of the forestry economic system, but also provides useful enlightenment for the study of the system structures and operation mechanisms of various specific forestry economic problems, which is helpful to solve various complicated problems in the development of China's forestry economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With ecological civilization becoming an increasingly high profile topic, terms such as carbon neutrality and carbon markets have entered the research landscape. Carbon prices are the core of carbon markets. After analyzing the eight carbon trading markets in China, this paper finds that carbon prices are poorly balanced, i.e., they vary widely between pilots. Regional carbon prices show a discrete distribution, and regions with better carbon market development do not have a spatial demonstration effect on neighboring regions. Therefore, in the initial stage of China's unified carbon trading market, the mandatory control threshold amount should be lowered to allow more enterprises can participate in emission reduction. Reliance on nonclean energy should be weakened, investment in environmental protection and emission reduction should be strengthened, the proportion of carbon offset in forestry should be increased, and a carbon tax should be gradually introduced. The paper's overall aim is to bridge regional barriers and narrow differences to achieve a smooth transition from pilot regions to national and global carbon markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among the existing modes of "Internet plus tree-planting" in China, the government-led mode is represented by "Internet plus national voluntary tree planting", and the enterprise-led mode is represented by "Ant Forest". Now, the public enthusiasm for participating in both modes has declined. We investigated the factors influencing public participation in "Internet plus tree-planting" activities of the two modes, with a view to providing better suggestions for solving the dilemma of public participation. This paper examines the factors that influence public participation in "Internet plus tree-planting" of these two different modes. We combine the theory of planned behavior (TPB) with Knowledge-Attitude-Practice (KAP). Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used to explore the formation of public intention and behavior practice for the two modes and compares the differences between them. Results show that subjective norm has the greatest effect on public participation in national voluntary tree planting but has no effect on public participation in Ant Forest. On the contrary, the total effect of outcome efficacy on public participation behavior has the least weight in national voluntary tree planting, while the conclusion is the opposite for Ant Forest. This paper contributes to researchers' understanding of the two participation behaviors. In addition, suggestions on promoting integrated forms of the two modes were proposed for policymakers: (1) Keep channels of communication open and attract emerging forces. (2) Popularize environmental knowledge and improve environmental protection literacy. (3) Enrich interactive content and improve incentive policies. (4) Create an integration platform and foster two-way linkage between government and enterprises. • Combined KAP and TPB to construct the conceptual model of two "Internet plus tree-planting" modes. • Explored the different influencing factors of public participation between two modes. • In the government-led mode, subjective norm and outcome efficacy both had mediating effect on intention, and the total effect of subjective norm was greatest. • In the enterprise-led mode, outcome efficacy had a mediating effect on intention, while subjective norm had neither any direct nor indirect effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a monthly data between 2008 and 2019, this study investigated how the development of the Internet technologies has shaped the consumer consumption pattern of different types of paper products in China during this period. In detail, this study covers four major types of paper products in the Chinese market: newsprint, printing paper, household paper, and packaging paper. The developments of Internet technologies were decomposed into two aspects: the communication technology (CT) and the software platform technology (PT). Granger causality analysis was employed to determine whether the consumption pattern of paper products was affected by the development of the Internet. Furthermore, impulse-response analyses were utilized to measure how the consumption pattern of each paper product was shaped by the development of each aspect of Internet technologies, i.e., CT or PT. The empirical results suggested that the Internet developments are causing the consumption patterns shifts of all four paper products. Specifically, the consumptions of newsprint and printing paper were driven by both CT and PT. However, the consumptions of packaging paper and household paper were driven by the PT only. Compared to the development of CT, we found that the quick evolution of PT plays a more significant role in shifting people's consumption of paper products in China. The empirical results revealed by this study could provide valuable economics and policy implications to both academia and relevant industries. • Internet development has shifted the paper products consumption pattern in China. • Development of internet boosted the demand for printing paper and household paper. • Development of internet suppressed the demand for newsprint. • The effects of internet technological development are separated into two aspects. • Emerging Internet platforms shifted the consumption of paper products efficiently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's forestry industry has a weak Internet foundation and cleaner production in the process of forest product production lacks supervisory mechanisms. To propose ways to overcome these issues, this paper studies the influence of the Internet on the forestry industry and how different Internet technologies can help to optimize and coordinate the process of cleaner production. First, based on the development status of "Internet plus forestry" in China, that is to use Internet technology to drive the development of forestry, a judgment about the current stage of the technology is made. It was considered to be in the process of technology upgrade from the stage of technological Internet based on infrastructure to the stage of platform Internet based on network platform. Second, this paper calculates the green forestry total factor productivity and green technical changes as a reflection of the effect of regional forestry cleaner production. From the static and dynamic perspectives, the function paths of the technological Internet and platform Internet for green total factor productivity and its decomposition were discussed. The results are as follows: (i). The cleaner production effect of the eastern Chinese provinces with a more developed economy showed weak growth, and their increment range of return to scale was small. However, several central and western regions showed a strong growth trend, and the return to scale increased significantly. (ii). Both technological Internet and platform Internet exerted a positive impact on forestry cleaner production in the short term, and the promoting effect of the technological Internet was stronger. However, in the long run, the technological Internet has obstructed the change of green technical efficiency and green technical progress, while platform Internet still exerted positive effects on both. (iii).The threshold model is introduced to verify that the influence of platform Internet on forestry green total factor productivity is nonlinear. Finally, this paper provides a basis and policy instruction for the improvement of the operation mechanism of cleaner production under the Internet environment. Furthermore, this paper explains how to coordinate different Internet technologies toward the development of cleaner production. • The Internet is divided into four different technological stages. • A three-dimensional pyramid system of "Internet plus forestry" was proposed. • Forestry green efficiency including undesirable output was calculated. • The influence of Internet on cleaner production is non-linear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incidence of hepatoblastoma has been increasing, but the causes of this disease remain unclear. Some studies have suggested that abnormal expressions of ALKBH5 gene are associated with multiple cancers. This study aims to test the hypothesis that hepatoblastoma risk may be modulated by genetic polymorphisms in ALKBH5 gene based on genotyped data from samples of 328 cases and 1476 controls enrolled from eight hospitals in China. We used TaqMan assay to genotype ALKBH5 gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs1378602G > A and rs8400G > A. We calculated the odds ratios (ORs) and P values using logistic regression models to estimate the association between hepatoblastoma risk and ALKBH5 gene SNPs. We found the rs1378602G > A and rs8400G > A could not impact hepatoblastoma risk in single or combined analysis. Stratified analysis revealed that subjects with the rs8400 AA genotype are prone to getting hepatoblastoma in the clinical stage III + IV subgroup (adjusted OR = 1.93, 95% CI = 1.20–3.10, P = 0.007), when compared to those with GG/GA genotype. False-positive report probability validated the reliability of the significant results. Preliminary functional annotations revealed that rs8400 A is correlated with increased expression of ALKBH5 gene in the expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) analysis. In all, our investigation presents evidence of a weak impact of ALKBH5 gene polymorphisms on hepatoblastoma risk, using the largest hepatoblastoma sample size. These findings shed some light on the genetic basis of hepatoblastoma, implicating the role of ALKBH5 gene polymorphisms in the etiology of hepatoblastoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: PM 2.5 can induce and aggravate the occurrence and development of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The objective of our study is to estimate the causal effect of PM 2.5 on mortality rates associated with CVDs using the instrumental variables (IVs) method., Methods: We extracted daily meteorological, PM 2.5 and CVDs death data from 2016 to 2020 in Binzhou. Subsequently, we employed the general additive model (GAM), two-stage predictor substitution (2SPS), and control function (CFN) to analyze the association between PM 2.5 and daily CVDs mortality., Results: The 2SPS estimated the association between PM 2.5 and daily CVDs mortality as 1.14% (95% CI: 1.04%, 1.14%) for every 10 µg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 . Meanwhile, the CFN estimated this association to be 1.05% (95% CI: 1.02%, 1.10%). The GAM estimated it as 0.85% (95% CI: 0.77%, 1.05%). PM 2.5 also exhibited a statistically significant effect on the mortality rate of patients with ischaemic heart disease, myocardial infarction, or cerebrovascular accidents (P < 0.05). However, no significant association was observed between PM 2.5 and hypertension., Conclusion: PM 2.5 was significantly associated with daily CVDs deaths (excluding hypertension). The estimates from the IVs method were slightly higher than those from the GAM. Previous studies based on GAM may have underestimated the impact of PM 2.5 on CVDs., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

The content and distribution of the main Amatoxins (alpha-amanitin, beta-amanitin) and Phallotoxins (Phallacidin, Phallisin, Phalloin, Phalloidin) in the three tissues (cap, stipe and volva) of Amanita exitialis were evaluated by means of high-performance liquid chromatography. The results showed that Amanita exitialis was a lethal mushrooms, the cap had the highest content of total toxins, it reached 8152.6 microg/g dry weight, the toxins content in stipe reached 3742.3 microg/g dry weight, whereas the volva had the lowest content of total toxins,it had only 1142.5 microg/g dry weight. The distribution of Amatoxins and Phallotoxins in the tissues were revealed and it displayed that the content of Amatoxins (alpha-amanitin and beta-amanitins especially alpha-amanitin) in the cap, stipe or volva of A. exitialis was higher than that of Phallotoxins (Phallacidin, Phallisin, Phalloidin and Phalloin). But the content of Phallotoxins especially Phallacidin was gradationally higher from cap to stipe and to volva.