Search

Based on a micro dataset of Chinese manufacturing firms, we examined the effect of market-oriented reforms on innovation of Chinese manufacturing firms and its mechanisms. Results show the following. (1) The market-oriented reforms significantly improved the innovation performance of Chinese manufacturing firms. Among the various components of the market-oriented process, the development of the product markets had the greatest effect on promoting firms’ innovation. (2) Alleviating the financial constraint of firms and triggering the “competition effect” were important ways for market-oriented reforms to improve innovation performance. (3) The effect of market-oriented reforms on the innovation of various types of firms (different industry types, scale types, ownership types, regional types, exporters and non-exporters) was not the same, and significant heterogeneity was observed. This study enriches the research literature on market-oriented reforms and firms’ innovation and provides new micro evidence for understanding the effect of market-oriented reforms on firms’ innovation performance.

Eleven 4-phenylcoumarins including three new 4-phenylcoumarins, mesuaferols A-C (

Gene editing technology has been a hotspot in the field of biotechnology. CRISPR/Cas systems are efficient gene editing tools because of its specificity, simplicity and flexibility, these features enabled the rapid application of CRISPR/Cas systems in a variety of organisms. Moreover, the combination of transcriptional activator with dead Cas protein can achieve specific regulation of gene expression at the transcription level, which has made important contributions to the development of biotechnology in medical and agriculture. Overexpression of foreign genes is a common method to verify gene function and regulation. However, due to the limitation of vector capacity, it is difficult to achieve overexpression of multiple genes. CRISPR/Cas9 activation system can regulate the expression of multiple genes under the guidance of different guide RNAs to verify gene functions at the regulatory level. This review summarizes the composition of the CRISPR/Cas9 activation system and different activation strategies, and summarizes solutions for excessive activation. It may facilitate the application of CRISPR/Cas9 activation system in genetic improvement of cotton and herbicide resistance research.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mp) is a common cause of respiratory infections in school-age children. In the present study, a recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) assay combined with lateral flow dipstick (LFD) was developed for diagnosis of Mp. Specific primers and a probe were designed for the Mp p1 gene. The optimal reaction conditions of the RPA-LFD assay were 37 °C and 25 min. The minimal detection limit of the RPA assay was 10 DNA molecules. The RPA method had no cross-reaction with the other 14 common pathogens tested. The practicability of the assay for detecting Mp in clinical samples from the patients suspected to be Mp infection was also determined. The nucleic acids of the clinical samples were extracted by the DNA Rapid extraction reagent which took about 10 min. The clinical specimens were detected by the RPA method, and the result showed high agreement with that of the qPCR commercial kit. The RPA-LFD method with high sensitivity and specificity is easy to perform and is an alternative method for field detection in resources-limited settings.

The multiobject fiber-fed spectrograph is the core scientific instrument for large-scale spectroscopic surveys. For closed-loop control of fiber positioning, fiber metrology systems are implemented in numerous fiber-fed spectrographs. The position accuracy of the fiducial fiber in the focal plate directly affects the performance of the fiber metrology system. However, there are currently no suitable methods and devices for measuring the fiducial fibers with high accuracy in the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST). To solve this problem, this study proposed a novel online scanning measurement method for fiducial fibers in which a scanning camera was set up in front of the focal plate, and the rotation and translation movements of the focal plate were combined to set a polar coordinate measurement system. First, the pole and polar axis of the polar coordinate frame were determined, and the compensation values of the polar radius and angle of the polar coordinate of the fiducial fibers were solved in the field of view of the scanning camera. A prototype measurement platform was set up to verify the feasibility and scientific validity of the method. Experiment results show that the polar radius accuracy of the proposed method met the measurement requirements. The X–Y measurement accuracy can be further improved when a higher-precision rotary stage is adopted. Thus, the difficulties in online accurate measurement for fiducial fibers can be tackled by the proposed method with good operability in LAMOST.

The application of nitrogen (N) fertilizer as base fertilizer in plastic film mulching cultivation (PFMC) system easily leads to soil N deficiency in the late growth period of rice. The combination...

PurposeEnterprise social media (ESM) are widely adopted in the organizations with the aim of improving employees' work performance. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating effects of work context characteristics on the relationships between proactive motivations and usage behaviors of ESM communication and task collaboration feature sets.Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaire surveys were used to gather data from 307 randomly chosen Chinese employees, who were also ESM users. The research model was examined using linear regression methods with the SPSS 24 software package.FindingsThe results indicate that work context characteristics (i.e. task interdependence and perceived organizational support) had significant moderating effects on the relationships between proactive motivations and usage behaviors.Originality/valueBy extending the model of proactive motivation to the ESM context, this study directly addresses how users can be energized to use ESM features.

Decreased ADAMTS-13 is important for the diagnosis of thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), but recent studies have shown that reduced ADAMTS-13 activity is associated with disease prognosis of a variety of cancer patients. As an important hematological malignancy, the significance of ADAMTS-13 in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has not been fully elucidated. This research aims to explore the significance of decreased ADAMTS-13 activity in acute lymphoblastic leukemia after hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT). Thirty-eight ALL patients were included in this research, and their ADAMTS-13 activity was measured before HSCT, including 21 patients with low ADAMTS-13 activity (

Antibiotic resistance has become a concerning global health challenge, such as the dissemination of bacteria and genes between humans and the environments. Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) effluents, as significant reservoirs for antimicrobial resistant bacteria and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), pose critical risks to public health. However, whether wastewater effluent prominently contributes to the abundance of ARGs and their community assembly processes in receiving river has yet been unclear. Here we investigated the effects of the effluent discharge on the ARGs and their associate microbial community in the receiving river (Qinhuai River, Nanjing) of upstream and 2000 m downstream of one WWTPs discharge point. Results revealed that the total antibiotic concentrations of all sediment samples ranged from 37.86 to 76.11 µg/kg dw, while antibiotic concentrations and ARG abundances in the river near the wastewater discharge site were significantly higher than that of the downstream receiving river. The metagenomic assembly obtained 245 ARGs associated with 19 antibiotic types in the receiving river. Network analyses confirmed that Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Acidobacteria, and Bacteroides were the key phylum and positively correlated with the antibiotic resistome. Additionally, the bacterial pathogens of the receiving river were identified as the most frequent strains of clinically relevant antibacterial resistance, such as Streptococcus pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii. Using null modeling analysis to determine the quantification of ecological processes, the results showed that heterogeneous environmental selection (81.81%) was a dominate role of the ecological mechanisms determining the ARG community reconstruction in the receiving river. Our results may contribute to control the environmental dissemination of antimicrobial resistance risks in aquatic environments.

Coastal tidal flats are intersection zones between terrestrial and marine environments and are considered repositories of pollutants from anthropogenic activities (e.g., fishery and aquaculture). Specifically, the prevalence of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in coastal aquaculture environments pose critical threats to estuarine ecosystems. However, the contribution of aquaculture to the occurrence and abundance of ARGs and community assemblies has not been fully explored in tidal flat zones. Thus, we investigated ARGs profiles, ARG-carrying host bacteria, and their associate microbial community in the Dongtai and Sheyang tidal flat aquaculture regions of Jiangsu, China using metagenomic assembly methods. The antibiotic concentrations in the sediment samples ranged from nd to 35.50 ng/g dw, and the antibiotic pollution in the Dongtai tidal flat was more severe than in the Sheyang tidal flats. Metagenomic assembly indicated that a total of 247 ARG subtypes associated with ARG 33 types were characterized across all samples and their abundance in the Dongtai region exceeded that in the Sheyang region. Meanwhile, 21 bacteria in the tidal flat aquaculture were identified as ARG-carrying pathogens, including Escherichia coli, Vibrio fluvialis, and Staphylococcus aureus. Using neutral and null modeling analysis to determine the community ecological processes, the results revealed bacterial and ARG communities were generally dominated by stochastic and deterministic processes, respectively. The above results suggested that aquaculture pollution was contributed to shape ARG profiles in tidal flats. The observed deterministic processes affecting the ARG community in tidal flat aquaculture also provides an effective foundation to control the risks of environmental antibiotic resistance through reducing aquaculture antibiotic usage.

Eleven 4-phenylcoumarins including three new 4-phenylcoumarins, mesuaferols A–C (1–3), together with eight known 4-phenylcoumarins (4–11) have been isolated from the flowering buds of Mesua ferrea. Their structures were elucidated via UV, IR, HR-ESI-MS, and NMR spectral data. Compound 9 showed moderate cytotoxic activity toward MDA-MB-231, MCF-7, HepG2 and HeLa cell lines with IC50 values of 13.68 ± 1.36 μM, 9.27 ± 1.84 μM, 21.06 ± 1.95 μM, and 7.26 ± 1.68 μM, respectively, and other compounds showed weak cytotoxicity.

Collagen XII, belonging to the fibril-associated collagens with interrupted triple helix (FACIT) family, assembles from three identical α-chains encoded by the COL12A1 gene. The trimeric molecule consists of three N-terminal noncollagenous NC3 domains joined by disulfide bonds followed by a short interrupted collagen triple helix at the C-terminus. Collagen XII is expressed widely in the musculoskeletal system and mutations in the COL12A1 gene cause an Ehlers-Danlos/myopathy overlap syndrome, which is associated with skeletal abnormalities and muscle weakness. Our study defines the role of collagen XII in patella development using the Col12a1-/- mouse model. Deficiency in Col12a1 expression causes malformed facies patellaris femoris grooves at an early stage, which leads to patella subluxation and growth retardation. Due to the patella subluxation, more muscle fibers with centralized nuclei occur in the quadriceps than in the gastrocnemius muscles indicating a local effect. To further understand the role of collagen XII in the skeletal tissues single cell RNAseq (scRNA-seq) was performed. Comparison of the gene expression in the tenocyte cell sub-population of wild type and Col12a1-/- mice showed that several matrix genes are altered. Finally, we reinvestigated collagen XII deficient patients and observed a patella instability.

Bimodal polyethylene (BPE)/chitin nanocrystals (CNC) injection bars with various CNC content were prepared to explore the shish-kebab crystal structure of semi-crystalline polymer induced by bio-based nanofiller under flow field. The addition of CNC enhanced the ultimate tensile strength and Young’s modulus of the injection bars. Various characterization techniques were employed to investigate the mechanism of CNC reinforcing BPE injection bars. The wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) results showed that crystallinity and orientation were slightly increased with the 0.1–0.3 wt % CNC content but decreased in 0.5 wt %. The small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) results manifested that shish intensities were increased with the CNC content increasing, which suggests that more chains take part in the formation of shish-kebab crystals. The long period of shish-kebab with the CNC content was also increased firstly and then decreased with the CNC content increasing. The above results indicated that CNC plays a crucial role to promote shish-kebab formation. This research has an important theoretical significance in improving the mechanical properties of BPE industrial production.

Multiple endothermic peaks of isomorphous P(HB-co-HV) with low HV content were investigated by DSC, in-situ WAXD and SAXS measurements. The multiple endothermic peaks are confirmed to be caused by two different kinds of crystal structures of P(HB-co-HV), namely uniform lamellae with HV units complete exclusion and sandwich lamellae with HV units partial inclusion. With the increase of the temperature, the thinner uniform lamellae melt at the lower melting peak and the thicker sandwich lamellae melt at the higher melting peak. Comparing with P(HB-co-4.9%HV), P(HB-co-9.4%HV) has the larger value of unit cell parameters and the higher distribution and fusion enthalpy of higher melting peak, which confirm that P(HB-co-HV) with higher HV content contains more sandwich lamellae and more HV units included in crystals for P(HB-co-HV) with HV content lower than 10 mol%.

A growing awareness of the wider environmental significance of diffuse sediment pollution in interconnected river-lake systems has generated the need for reliable provenance information. Owing to their insufficient ability to distinguish between multiple sources, common sediment source apportionment methods would rarely be a practical solution. On the basis of the inseparable relationships between sediment and adsorbed microorganisms, community-based microbial source tracking may be a novel method of identifying dominant sediment sources in the era of high-throughput sequencing. Dongting Lake was selected as a study area as it receives considerable sediment import from its inflowing rivers during the flood season. This study was conducted to characterize the bacterial community composition of sediment samples from the inflow-river estuaries and quantify their sediment microbe contributions to the central lake. Metagenomic analysis revealed that the community compositions of source sediment samples were significantly different, allowing specific sources to be identified with the machine learning classification program SourceTracker. A modified analysis using SourceTracker found that the major contributors to three major lake districts were the Songzi, Zishui, and Xinqiang Rivers. The impacts of hydrodynamic conditions on source apportionment were further verified and suggested the practicability of this method to offer a systematic and comprehensive understanding of sediment sources, pathways, and transport dynamics. Finally, a novel framework for sediment source-tracking was established to develop effective sediment management and control strategies in river-lake systems.

The ecological heterogeneity created by river bends benefits the diversity of microorganisms, which is vital for the pollutant degradation and overall river health. However, quantitative tools capable of determining the interactions among different trophic levels and species are lacking, and research regarding ecological heterogeneity has been limited to a few species. By integrating the multi-species-based index of biotic integrity (Mt-IBI) and the structure equation model (SEM), an interactions-based prediction modeling framework was established. Based on DNA metabarcoding, a multi-species (i.e., bacteria, protozoans, and metazoans) based index of biotic integrity including 309 candidate metrics was developed. After a three-step screening process, eight core metrics were obtained to assess the ecological heterogeneity, quantitatively. The Mt-IBI value, which ranged from 2.08 to 7.17, was calculated as the sum of each single core metric value. The Mt-IBI revealed that the ecological heterogeneity of concave banks was higher than other sites. According to the result of the SEM, D90 was the controlling factor (r = −0.779) of the ecological heterogeneity under the influence of the river bends. The bend-induced redistribution of sediment particle further influenced the concentrations of carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur. The nitrogen group (r = 0.668) also played an essential role in determining the ecological heterogeneity, follow by carbon group (r = 0.455). Furthermore, the alteration of niches would make a difference on the ecological heterogeneity. This multi-species interactions-based prediction modeling framework proposed a novel method to quantify ecological heterogeneity and provided insight into the enhancement of ecological heterogeneity in river bends.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) regulate cartilage differentiation and contribute to the onset and progression of joint degeneration. These small RNA molecules may affect extracellular matrix organization (ECM) in cartilage, but for only a few miRNAs has this role been defined in vivo. Previously, we showed that cartilage-specific genetic ablation of the Mirc24 cluster in mice leads to impaired cartilage development due to increased RAF/MEK/ERK pathway activation. Here, we studied the expression of the cluster in cartilage by LacZ reporter gene assays and determined its role for extracellular matrix homeostasis by proteome and immunoblot analysis. The cluster is expressed in prehypertrophic/hypertrophic chondrocytes of the growth plate and we now show that the cluster is also highly expressed in articular cartilage. Cartilage-specific loss of the cluster leads to increased proteoglycan 4 and matrix metallopeptidase 13 levels and decreased aggrecan and collagen X levels in epiphyseal cartilage. Interestingly, these changes are linked to a decrease in SRY-related HMG box-containing (SOX) transcription factors 6 and 9, which regulate ECM production in chondrocytes. Our data suggests that the Mirc24 cluster is important for ECM homoeostasis and the expression of transcriptional regulators of matrix production in cartilage.

Enterprise Social Media (ESM) is an emerging tool of office automation in the era of web 2.0 which are widely adopted within organizations. This study aims to investigate the effect of ESM affordances on employees' thriving at work (i.e., vitality and learning). Based on the psychological empowerment theory, this study proposes a model to examine how ESM affordances influence employees' thriving at work through enhancing psychological empowerment.

EPS can affect the migration of antibiotics in biofilm reactors, however the roles of biofilm EPS on the fate of antibiotics and the protective mechanisms to bacterial community remain unknown. We investigated the transport of three representative antibiotics in the biofilm suspension from a moving bed biofilm reactor. Spectral analysis suggested that proteins dominated the interactions between EPS and antibiotics. The adsorbed amounts of antibiotics onto EPS accounted for 14.5%, 88.2% and 13.1% of total concentration for sulfamethizole, tetracycline and norfloxacin, respectively at the biodegradation stage. The respiratory rates and representative enzymatic activities all experienced declines for biofilm without EPS in exposure to antibiotics. Gene sequencing results indicated that the bacterial community in biofilm without EPS was more vulnerable to antibiotics shocks. Our results demonstrated the protective roles of biofilm EPS in resisting antibiotics stresses, which provides important implications for understanding the bioremediation of antibiotics in biofilm systems.

The occurrence and transportation of antibiotics in biofilms from natural and engineered sources have attracted increasing interests. Nevertheless, the effects of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) on the responses of biofilms to the exposure to antibiotics are not clear. In this study, the effects of EPS on the sorption and biological responses to one representative antibiotic, sulfamethizole (STZ), in model biofilms were investigated. Proteins dominated the interactions between the EPS and the STZ and the EPS from a moving bed biofilm reactor exhibited the strongest interaction with the STZ. The EPS served as important reservoirs for the STZ and the tested biofilms all showed reduced sorption capacities for the STZ after the EPS were extracted. The respiratory rates and typical enzymatic activities were reduced after the EPS were extracted. High-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing results confirmed that the bacterial community in the biofilm without the EPS was more vulnerable to antibiotic shock as indicated by the community diversity and richness indices. A greater increase in the abundance of susceptible species was observed in the natural biofilm. The results comprehensively suggested that the EPS played important role in biosorption of STZ and alleviated the direct damage of the antibiotic to the cells; in addition the extent of the bacterial community response was associated with the origins of the biofilms. Our study provided details on the responses of multi-species biofilms to the exposure to an antibiotic and highlighted the role of the EPS in interacting with the antibiotic, thereby providing a deeper understanding of the bioremediation of antibiotics in real-life natural and engineered biofilm systems.

Cascade dams have exerted significant effects on river ecosystems. To quantitatively assess dam-induced effects on river ecological status, a novel multi-species interaction-based index of biotic integrity (Mt-IBI) was developed. Benthic microbiota was selected as a bio-indicator for its sensitivity to the environmental disturbance. An environmental DNA metabarcoding tool was used to identify microbiota (bacteria, protozoan, and metazoan). The Mt-IBI was applied to assess the ecological status of the Hanjiang River, a representative dam-affected river in China. Fifteen sampling sites along the Hanjiang River were sampled in June 2018. Seven core metrics were screened from a total of 364 candidate metrics to calculate the value of the Mt-IBI. The Mt-IBI of the Hanjiang River ranged from 1.90 to 6.39, with a mean value of 4.02. The mean values of Mt-IBI at the reservoir and riverine side of dams were 2.11 and 3.81, respectively. The downstream reach without dam constructions had the highest mean Mt-IBI (5.79). Thus, the continuity of the river was strongly related to the Mt-IBI. Structural equation models (SEMs) were further established to identify the dominant environmental variables in the dam-affected river. The SEMs indicated that flow velocity (coefficient 0.749) was the most important determinant of ecological status in the Hanjiang River. Water organic matter also played a vital role in determining the ecological status of the Hanjiang River, and exerted the strongest direct effect (P < 0.001, r = 0.712). The reliability of SEMs was verified by building a support vector regression model (R2 = 0.8141). This study can provide new tools for ecological assessment and diagnosis, and provide a new perspective for the management of cascade dams.

Generation of shish-kebab crystals of unimodal and bimodal polyethylenes (PEs) with different C4 short-branching sheared at high overmelt degree (the increment higher than the crystallization temperature) and a low shearing rate was investigated by using in-situ SAXS/WAXD techniques. Both PEs exhibiting SAXS streaks during the shearing indicate the shish crystals generated by shearing. The WAXD analysis indicates an orientation degree as high as 0.75–0.95 for both PEs. During the succeeding isothermal crystallization at 121 °C, kebab crystals and partially oriented stacked crystals in lamellae form, which elevate the crystallinity index but decrease the orientation degree. The shish crystal content of bimodal PE is higher than that of unimodal PE because the high molecular weight (MW) part facilitates the generation of shish crystals. The increase of the branching length is more favorable for the generation of shish crystals (comparing with C2). However, the high content of C4 short-chain branching makes shear-induced crystals less ordered. The generation mechanism of both PEs' shish crystals at high shearing temperatures can be ascribed to the coil-stretch transition (CST) mechanism.

The long-term utilization of brackish water for irrigation in arid areas will decrease the oxygen content required for root growth, leading to the deterioration of soil environment in the root zone and the inhibition of plant growth. This study investigated the effects of oxygenated brackish water on the physiological characteristics of seed germination and seedling growth characteristics of spring wheat. The dissolved oxygen (DO) of 20 mg·l−1 in brackish water had a significant promotion effect on the seed germination and seedling growth. Specifically, at this DO concentration of 20 mg·l−1, the germination rate, germination potential, germination index, vigor index, and plant height on the 23rd day after sowing of wheat seeds were significantly higher than those of brackish water treatment (CK). Furthermore, compared with CK, the α-amylase activity in wheat seeds was significantly increased. Germination rate could be used as the quantitative evaluation index for wheat seed germination under the condition of oxygenated brackish water irrigation. According to the relationship between germination rate and DO concentration, the DO concentration with the maximum germination rate was 19 mg·l−1. During the wheat seedling growth period, compared with CK, the oxygenated brackish water with DO concentration of 20 mg·l−1 significantly increased the contents of soluble sugar and soluble protein in the leaves, whereas significantly decreased the proline content. Soluble sugar content was selected as the quantitative evaluation index for wheat seedling growth. The electrical conductivity and the activities of alkaline phosphatase and nitrate reductase in the root zone soil were significantly influenced. Thus, the oxygenation of brackish water with appropriate DO concentration could effectively improve the salt stress caused by brackish water irrigation. These results provide an effective method for the safe and efficient utilization of brackish water.

Halonitromethanes (HNMs) are a class of halogenated nitrogenous disinfection by-products (N-DBPs) in drinking water which possess health concerns due to their potentially higher toxicity than regulated disinfection by-products (DBPs). A cold on-column (COC) injection in track-oven mode coupled with a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) system for the analysis of HNMs has been developed. Comparative experiments showed that COC had an advantage over the conventional split/splitless injection in minimizing thermal degradation of HNMs, especially dibromochloro- and tribromo-nitromethanes in water. Both debromo- and denitro-products of HNMs were observed in the splitless injection mode at 117 °C and 170 °C. Liquid–liquid extraction (LLE) and solid phase extraction (SPE) procedures were compared for sample pretreatment. LLE showed good recoveries of 73–91% for all nine HNMs. In comparison, SPE provided a similar recovery range for four commonly detected HNMs in drinking water: dichloronitromethane, trichloronitromethane, bromochloronitromethane and dibromonitromethane in drinking water, while the recoveries of the other HNMs were below 50%. This indicated that the SPE-COC-GC-MS method can be a good alternative to LLE-COC-GC-MS for the identification and quantification of the four HNMs commonly present in tap water due to the simplicity of the SPE pretreatment technique.

Rivers bring large amounts of water, sediment, and other abundant materials (nitrogen, phosphorus, carbons, etc.) into lakes, which places great pressure on lake ecosystems. In this study, a novel bio-assessment framework integrating the bacteria-based index of biotic integrity (Ba-IBI) and path model was established to determine the direct and indirect effects of fluvial inputs on the ecological status of Dongting Lake, China. Twenty-two sampling sites were selected in Dongting Lake basin during two days in August 2017. After range, responsive, and redundancy tests, four core metrics were selected from the dataset of 130 candidate metrics to develop the Ba-IBI, including the proportions of Flavobacteriia, Burkholderiales, phototrophs, and streptomycin producers. The Ba-IBI value, which was the sum of each individual metric value, was ranged from 1.37 to 3.66. Based on the 25th and 75th percentiles of the Ba-IBI, three levels were classified to show the influence degree of fluvial inputs on the ecological status. The Ba-IBI showed a gradient distribution for the distance from estuaries to the major lake regions. To further investigate the relative contributions of each individual fluvial input to the Ba-IBI, a path model was established and validated. The results showed that water nutrients (r = −0.658, p

The confluence area of river networks is a hot spot for pollutant removal. As an essential part of the river ecosystem, sediment bacterial communities played a crucial role in the removal of pollutants. However, how the potential of sediment bacterial communities can be enhanced toward the removal of pollutants remains unclear. Therefore, this study provides a new approach for the identification of key environmental factors that enhance the pollutant removal potential at a river confluence, integrating the bacteria-based index of biotic integrity (Ba-IBI), path model, support vector regression (SVR) model, and sensitivity analysis. The developed Ba-IBI could quantitatively evaluate the differences of both structure and function of bacterial communities before and after the confluence, with a range from 1.52 to 2.78. The flow regime, which was represented by the Froude number, exerted an indirect effect on Ba-IBI mediated through water nutrients and sediment nutrients according to path model results. Sediment nutrients and water nutrients were considered as the main environmental factors that directly affected sediment bacterial communities. A function that could predict the response of sediment bacterial communities to environmental factors in the best possible way was found through SVR modeling, with R2 = 0.8357. The results of the sensitivity analysis indicated that the total phosphorus in water and ammonia nitrogen in sediments were key environmental factors for enhancing the pollutant removal potential at the river confluence. The established approach aids the improvement of the bioremediation potential of river confluence area, and might provide a theoretical basis for watershed restoration.

Objective: This study aims to clarify the changes and clinical significance of red cell distribution width (RDW) during HBV-related chronic diseases, including inactive hepatitis B virus (HBV) carriers, HBV immune tolerant individuals, chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients and HBV-related hepatocirrhosis patients. Methods: RDW was measured 288 CHB patients, 100 patients with hepatitis B e antigen(HBeAg)-negative chronic HBV infection (inactive carriers), 92 patients with HBeAg-positive chronic HBV infection (immune tolerant), and 272 patients with HBV-related hepatocirrhosis. Their RDW changes were compared with 160 healthy controls. Correlations between RDW and clinical indicators were conducted. For HBeAg+ CHB patients, RDW was measured before and after antiviral therapy. The efficiency of RDW to distinguish hepatocirrhosis from CHB and/or inactive carriers was evaluated by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results: RDW was higher in hepatocirrhosis patients than other groups of patients and healthy controls. Besides, HBeAg+ CHB patients possessed higher RDW than HBeAg- CHB patients. For HBeAg+ patients that underwent HBeAg seroconversion after antiviral therapy, RDW was decreased. RDW was positively correlated with total bilirubin and Child-Pugh scores and negatively correlated with albumin among hepatocirrhosis patients. The areas under the curve (AUC) of ROC curves to distinguish hepatocirrhosis from CHB patients was 0.7040 for RDW-standard deviation (RDW-SD) and 0.6650 for RDW-coefficient of variation (RDW-CV), and AUC to distinguish hepatocirrhosis from inactive carriers was 0.7805 for RDW-SD and 0.7991 for RDW-CV. Conclusions: RDW is significantly increased in HBeAg+ CHB patients and patients with HBV-related hepatocirrhosis and could reflect their severity. RDW could help to distinguish hepatocirrhosis from CHB patients and inactive HBV carriers.

This research aimed to explore the significance of low activity of ADAMTS-13 in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) after bone morrow transplantation (BMT), and to evaluate the disease progress and prognosis of the patients with low or normal activity of ADAMTS-13 after BMT.46 AML patients were included in our research. ADAMTS-13 activity was measured before BMT. Their medical indicators were recorded one month after BMT. All the patients were followed up and their disease progression was evaluated afterwards. The medical indicators and prognosis situation were compared between Low ADAMTS13 Group (481 ng/ml) and Normal Group (481-785 ng/ml) according to the reference range of local laboratory. ROC curves were used to evaluate the predictive value of ADAMTS13 for infection complications and survival.Low ADAMTS13 Group show extended APTT, PT and elevated CRP and D-Dimer levels, compared with Normal Group. Low ADAMTS13 Group suffered more BMT-related complications than Normal Group. In addition, Low ADAMTS13 Group underwent higher mortality than Normal Group in the one-year follow up after BMT and two-year follow up after onset of AML. ADAMTS13 has AUC of 0.7675, 0.7254, 0.8019 for lung infection, CMV infection and death within one year after BMT, suggesting that ADAMTS13 has predictive value for prognosis of AML patients after BMT.For patients with low ADAMTS13 activity, the prognosis was worse and the probability of serious complications and mortality was significantly higher than AML patients with normal ADAMTS13 activity, which suggest predictive role of ADAMTS13 activity for the prognosis of AML after BMT.AML patients with low activity of ADAMTS-13 had worse prognosis after BMT.