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Background: Bacillus cereus is a common bacterium found in the environment. Some strains can cause food poisoning, and very few can cause clinically severe infections, leading to death. Here, we characterized the genome sequence of B. cereus LIN78 isolated from teeth with deep caries and compared it with those of 25 other related species. Methods: Third-generation sequencing technology, bacteriological analyses, biochemistry, and mass spectrometry were applied to characterize the drug-resistance genes and virulence factors of B. cereus LIN78. Results: The complete genome sequence of B. cereus Lin78 consists of 5647 genes distributed on a circular chromosome, a 393 kbp plasmid, and 928 pseudogenes (37.4% of whole-genome DNA). The LIN78 genome contains 14 sets of 16s, 23s, and 5s ribosomal RNA operons; 106 tRNA genes, one tmRNA, 12 genomic islands, six prophases, 64 repeats; 37 antibiotic-resistant genes; and 1119 putative virulence genes, including enterotoxins and cytolysins. The B. cereus LIN78 genome carries multiple copies of non-ribosomal polypeptide synthetase (NRPS) and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs). Phylogenetic analysis of the 26 B. cereus strains showed that B. cereus LIN78 is evolutionarily closely related to B. thuringiensis ATCC 10792 and B. cereus ATCC 14579. Conclusion: The newly isolated B. cereus carries many virulence genes, including enterotoxins and hemolysins, similar to B. anthracis, and multiple antibiotic resistance genes. These findings suggest that the strain has a potential risk of causing disease. Our studies are vital for further exploration of the evolution of B. cereus, its pathogenic mechanisms, and the control and treatment of bacterial infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst China has become home to the second largest doctoral education system in the world, with over 20% of its doctoral graduates taking up postdoctoral researcher positions inside and outside of China, a lack of information regarding the expectations of these doctoral graduates in pursuing postdocs has resulted in a failure to meet their expectations, leading to insufficient institutional support for their career development. In order to improve this situation and provide more tailored institutional support for Chinese postdocs, we conducted interviews with 30 doctoral graduates from elite Chinese universities from February 2020 to December 2021 to understand their expectations for and experiences of postdocs. The data identified four expected‐to‐accumulated capitals during postdoc experiences: personal scientific capital, discipline‐related social capital, institution‐related social capital and family‐related social capital. Among these, the primary consideration for engaging in postdocs is to enhance personal scientific capital in both qualitative and quantitative aspects. Chinese doctoral graduates who choose domestic postdocs have higher expectations for increasing institution‐based social capital, while those who go abroad expect to develop discipline‐related social capital within the international academic community. Understanding these expectations will be instrumental in developing optimal approaches to providing institutional support for the career development of Chinese postdocs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of gender equality in academic leadership has been widely recognised, yet this issue has been underexplored outside the Anglo‐Saxon countries. In this systematic review, we analysed 62 academic articles on women's academic leadership in Bangladesh (15), China (17) and Finland (30), published between 2000 and 2021. Our study revealed that research on gender‐related academic leadership is still underdeveloped across the three countries, particularly in Bangladesh. Most studies have focussed on the barriers that hinder women from attaining academic leaders' roles. Our review results highlight the role of societal and cultural factors that contribute to the differences in the levels of gender equality in university leadership across the three countries. However, the men‐dominated structure and culture in higher education pose the major obstacle for women in reaching leaders' positions in all three countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]