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Because of the lack of diversity in many communities in the USA, there is both a need and an opportunity to import diversity through the arts into these communities through special programs. This article describes one such program undertaken by a US university making use of a pre-existing student/faculty exchange program with a university in the People's Republic of China. There is a brief explanation of how the students and teachers of a course in Traditional Instrumental Music of China were recruited over the period of a year and how the following instruments were chosen: "guzheng, pipa, huapengu, dizi, xiao, hulusi, bawu, sheng" and "suona." Details are given regarding the design and implementation of the course over a three-week period. Selected musical examples are provided to illustrate the progressive nature of the instruction along with the level of facility acquired at the end of the course. Results of the course and plans for the future are also provided. (Contains 4 figures and 4 tables.)

Introduction: Brachiaria humidicola, a tropical grass, could release root exudates with biological nitrification inhibition (BNI) capacity and reduce soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from grasslands. However, evidence of the reduction effect in situ in tropical grasslands in China is lacking. Methods: To evaluate the potential effects of B. humidicola on soil N2O emissions, a 2-year (2015-2017) field experiment was established in a Latosol and included eight treatments, consisting of two pastures, non-native B. humidicola and a native grass, Eremochloa ophiuroide, with four nitrogen (N) application rates. The annual urea application rates were 0, 150, 300, and 450 kg N ha-1. Results: The average 2-year E. ophiuroides biomass with and without N fertilization were 9.07-11.45 and 7.34 t ha-1, respectively, and corresponding values for B. humidicola increased to 31.97-39.07 and 29.54 t ha-1, respectively. The N-use efficiencies under E. ophiuroide and B. humidicola cultivation were 9.3-12.0 and 35.5-39.4%, respectively. Annual N2O emissions in the E. ophiuroides and B. humidicola fields were 1.37 and 2.83 kg N2O-N ha-1, respectively, under no N fertilization, and 1.54-3.46 and 4.30-7.19 kg N2O-N ha-1, respectively, under N fertilization. Discussions: According to the results, B. humidicola cultivation increased soil N2O emissions, especially under N fertilization. This is because B. humidicola exhibited the more effective stimulation effect on N2O production via denitrification primarily due to increased soil organic carbon and exudates than the inhibition effect on N2O production via autotrophic nitrification. Annual yield-scaled N2O emissions in the B. humidicola treatment were 93.02-183.12 mg N2O-N kg-1 biomass, which were significantly lower than those in the E. ophiuroides treatment. Overall, our results suggest that cultivation of the non-native grass, B. humidicola with BNI capacity, increased soil N2O emissions, while decreasing yield-scaled N2O emissions, when compared with native grass cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The schizothoracine fishes, an excellent model for several studies, is a dominant fish group of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). However, species populations have rapidly declined due to various factors, and infection with Echinorhynchus gymnocyprii is cited as a possible factor. In the present study, the molecular characteristics of E. gymnocyprii in four species of schizothoracine fishes from the QTP were explored. Methods: We investigated the infection status of E. gymnocyprii in 156 schizothoracine fishes from the upper Yangtze River, upper Yellow River, and Qinghai Lake in Qinghai Province, China. The complete internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of the ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene and part of the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 (cox1) gene of 35 E. gymnocyprii isolates from these fishes were sequenced and their characteristics analyzed. In addition, we inferred phylogenetic relationships of the E. gymnocyprii populations based on the rRNA-ITS and cox1 sequences. Results: The total prevalence of E. gymnocyprii in schizothoracine fishes was 57.69% (90/156). However, the prevalence among different species as well as that across the geographical locations of the schizothoracine fishes was significantly different. The results of sequence analysis showed that the four E. gymnocyprii populations from different hosts and regions of Qinghai Province were conspecific, exhibiting rich genetic diversity. Phylogenetic analysis based on rRNA-ITS and cox1 sequences supported the coalescence of branches within E. gymnocyprii; the cox1 gene of E. gymnocyprii populations inferred some geographical associations with water systems. In addition, three species of schizothoracine fishes were recorded as new definitive hosts for E. gymnocyprii. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first molecular description of E. gymnocyprii populations in schizothoracine fishes from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau that provides basic data for epidemiological surveillance and control of acanthocephaliasis to protect endemic fish stocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil moisture conditions affect energy partitioning between sensible and latent heat fluxes, resulting in a change in surface temperatures. In this study, the relationships between antecedent soil moisture conditions [as indicated by the 6-month standardized precipitation index (SPI)] and several temperature indices are statistically quantified using the quantile regression analysis across East China to investigate the influence of soil moisture on summer surface temperatures. These temperature indices include percentage of hot days (%HD), heat-wave duration (HWD), daily temperature range (DTR), and daily minimum temperature (Tmin). It was demonstrated that soil moisture had a significant impact on %HD and HWDat higher quantiles in all regions but the east, suggesting that drier soil moisture conditions tend to intensity summer hot extremes. It was also found that hot extremes (%HD and HWD at higher quantiles) had increased substantially from 1958 to 2010. Soil moisture also significantly affected the DTR in all regions but tended to have more impacts on the DTR in soil moisture-limited regimes than in energy-limited regimes. This study provides observational evidence of soil moisture influences on hot extremes in East China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, we propose a method to predict ultra-short term wind power production with chaotic time series. Through analysis of the data measured from real wind farm, the ultra-short term prediction model of wind power is established based on the space theory of chaotic time series phase. The wind power of a real wind farm in northeast China in some future time including 15 m, 30 m and 1h are predicted by the prediction model finally. Test results are presented in the paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: An outbreak of aseptic meningitis occurred in Tianshui city of Gansu Province, the People's Republic of China, from March to June 2005. A total of 85 patients were clinical confirmed as aseptic meningitis in this outbreak. Results: CVA9 was mainly responsible for this outbreak supported by the clinical manifestations of the patients, epidemiological data of the outbreak, the results of RT-PCR and complete VP1 sequence determination, conventional neutralization assays, IgM serological assays, viral isolation and phylogenetics analysis. Through phylogenetic analysis and homogeneity analysis for partial VP1 gene, the nucleotide and amino acid homologies between Gansu isolates and former Chinese CVA9 strains were 88.2%-96.1% and 97.2%-99.2%, respectively. Multiple transmission chains of CVA9 occurred in different provinces or years in China. Moreover, in order to clarify the genotype of CVA9, Gansu CVA9 strains isolated in this outbreak were compared with other CVA9 isolates based on VP1/2A junction regions (genotyping region) and they might belong to a new genotype of CVA9, which could be assigned for genotype XIII, Conclusions: CVA9 was confirmed as the pathogen responsible for this outbreak. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that the CVA9 strains isolated in this outbreak might belong to a new genotype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Coal mining subsidence forms anthropogenic wetland. Nutrients in cropland around the wetland will be transferred into catchment along the slope of the coal mining wetland especially by the water washing in raining season. On the other hand, the washed nutrients from the cropland will be accumulated in the sediments of the catchment and eutrophicate the water body of catchment potentially. Nitrogen and phosphorus were selected as the biogeochemical indicators to address the environment effect of coal mining subsidence wetland in Panbei Coal Mine, Huainan, China. Nine water samples, nine sediment samples in the catchment, and twenty-seven topsoil samples around the catchment were collected. Contents of total nitrogen (TN), NO3-N, NH4-N, total phosphorus (TP) and available phosphorus of water, sediment and topsoil in coal mining subsidence wetland were measured. Distribution characteristics of nitrogen and phosphorus contents in water, sediments and topsoil in coal mining subsidence wetland indicated that their contents in water were relative lower, and highest contents in sediments were found, which reflected the nutrient absorption and accumulation in the sediment. In Panbei coal mining, the characteristics of distributions of nitrogen and phosphorus contents in topsoil of coal mining wetland generally decreased along the slope from flooded area to top of the basin. The phenomena indicated that the gradient formed by coal underground mining led to the nutrient losses in cropland and nutrient accumulaiton in sediments of catchment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The western region is an important strategic base of energy in China. The average per capita possession of fossil energy in the west is twice that in China. On the basis of the analysis of the mechanism how industrial structure adjustment affects energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP), the energy input-output table of western China was designed and compiled. Combining multiobjective planning techniques, setting energy-saving, economic growth, and laborer''s income growth as the goals, setting basic input-output relations, production capacity, and labor as the constraints, the multiobjective optimization model of western energy input-output was constructed. The results of industrial structure optimization of western China show that: with technology and product price remaining unchanged, the adjustment of the industrial structure can reduce energy consumption per unit GDP by 2.7%, at the same time ensuring the average annual increase of GDP and laborer''s income of western region in excess of 8%. It indicates that industrial structure adjustment is an effective method in accomplishing the aim of energy saving. Finally, policy suggestions from four angles, such as industrial chain and financial policies, were put forward. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: The parallel evolution of similar traits or species provides strong evidence for the role of natural selection in evolution. Traits or species that evolved repeatedly can be driven by separate de novo mutations or interspecific gene flow. Although parallel evolution has been reported in many studies, documented cases of parallel evolution caused by gene flow are scarce by comparison. Aquilegia ecalcarata and A. kansuensis belong to the genus of Aquilegia, and are the closest related sister species. Mutiple origins of A. ecalcarata have been reported in previous studies, but whether they have been driven by separate de novo mutations or gene flow remains unclear., Results: In this study, We conducted genomic analysis from 158 individuals of two repeatedly evolving pairs of A. ecalcarata and A. kansuensis. All samples were divided into two distinct clades with obvious geographical distribution based on phylogeny and population structure. Demographic modeling revealed that the origin of the A. ecalcarata in the Eastern of China was caused by gene flow, and the Eastern A. ecalcarata occurred following introgression from Western A. ecalcarata population. Analysis of Treemix and D-statistic also revealed that a strong signal of gene flow was detected from Western A. ecalcarata to Eastern A. ecalcarata. Genetic divergence and selective sweep analyses inferred parallel regions of genomic divergence and identified many candidate genes associated with ecologically adaptive divergence between species pair. Comparative analysis of parallel diverged regions and gene introgression confirms that gene flow contributed to the parallel evolution of A. ecalcarata., Conclusions: Our results further confirmed the multiple origins of A. ecalcarata and highlighted the roles of gene flow. These findings provide new evidence for parallel origin after hybridization as well as insights into the ecological adaptation mechanisms underlying the parallel origins of species., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Zokors in the genus Eospalax , which are endemic to northern and western China, are subterranean rodents that inhabit various niches, including grasslands, high-altitude meadows, forests, and farmlands. Six species in Eospalax were described a century ago but their taxonomy and phylogeny remain controversial. In this study, we performed high-depth whole-genome sequencing of 47 zokor samples, comprising all six previously described species. Genomic analyses revealed a reliable and robust phylogeny of Eospalax and supported the validity of the six named species. According to the inferred phylogenetic relationships, Eospalax first divergent into two clades in the early Pliocene (ca. 4.68 million years ago (Ma)), one inhabiting the high-altitude Qinghai-Xizang (Tibet) Plateau (QTP) and adjacent regions, and the another inhabiting the low-altitude Loess Plateau and Qinling-Daba Mountains. The most recent divergences occurred between E. baileyi and E. smithii and between E. rufescens and E. rothschildi in the late Pliocene (ca. 2.09 and 2.19 Ma, respectively). We also collected specimens of zokors in the southern Hengduan Mountains (Muli County, Sichuan Province), far from the known distributions of all other zokors. Morphological and molecular analyses strongly suggested that the specimens represent a new species, formally described here as Eospalax muliensis sp. nov . The new species belongs to the high-altitude clade and diverged from closely related species (ca. 4.22 Ma) shortly after the first divergence in Eospalax . Interestingly, Eospalax muliensis sp. nov . possesses more supposedly plesiomorphic characters, suggesting a possible origin of the genus in the Hengduan Mountains.

As a traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese dragon's blood has multiple effects, such as activating blood to remove blood stasis, softening and dispelling stagnation, astringent and hemostasis, clearing swelling and relieving pain, regulating menstruation and rectifying the blood, so it is called "an effective medicine of promoting blood circulation". It has been widely used clinically to treat a variety of diseases. With the further research on Chinese dragon's blood, its anti-tumor medicinal value is gradually emerging. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that Chinese dragon's blood exerts anti-tumor effects mainly by inhibiting cell proliferation, inducing apoptosis, inducing DNA damage and cell cycle arrest, inducing senescence and autophagy of tumor cells, inhibiting metastasis and angiogenesis, as well as reversing multidrug resistance. This article focuses on the research progress on anti-tumor effects of Chinese dragon's blood extract and its chemical components, with a view to provide new references for the in-depth research and reasonable utilization of Chinese dragon's blood.

To unravel the genetic mechanisms of disease and physiological traits, it requires comprehensive sequencing analysis of large sample size in Chinese populations. Here, we report the primary results of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Precision Medicine Initiative (CASPMI) project launched by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, including the de novo assembly of a northern Han reference genome (NH1.0) and whole genome analyses of 597 healthy people coming from most areas in China. Given the two existing reference genomes for Han Chinese (YH and HX1) were both from the south, we constructed NH1.0, a new reference genome from a northern individual, by combining the sequencing strategies of PacBio, 10× Genomics, and Bionano mapping. Using this integrated approach, we obtained an N50 scaffold size of 46.63 Mb for the NH1.0 genome and performed a comparative genome analysis of NH1.0 with YH and HX1. In order to generate a genomic variation map of Chinese populations, we performed the whole-genome sequencing of 597 participants and identified 24.85 million (M) single nucleotide variants (SNVs), 3.85 M small indels, and 106,382 structural variations. In the association analysis with collected phenotypes, we found that the T allele of rs1549293 in KAT8 significantly correlated with the waist circumference in northern Han males. Moreover, significant genetic diversity in MTHFR, TCN2, FADS1, and FADS2, which associate with circulating folate, vitamin B12, or lipid metabolism, was observed between northerners and southerners. Especially, for the homocysteine-increasing allele of rs1801133 (MTHFR 677T), we hypothesize that there exists a "comfort" zone for a high frequency of 677T between latitudes of 35-45 degree North. Taken together, our results provide a high-quality northern Han reference genome and novel population-specific data sets of genetic variants for use in the personalized and precision medicine., (Copyright © 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We report here a new type of plasmid that carries the mcr-1 gene, the pMCR-1-P3 plasmid, harbored in an Escherichia coli strain isolated from a pig farm in China. pMCR-1-P3 belongs to the IncY incompatibility group and is a phage-like plasmid that contains a large portion of phage-related sequences. The backbone of this plasmid is different from that of other mcr-1 -carrying plasmids reported previously., (Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.)

We report improved whole-genome shotgun sequences for the genomes of indica and japonica rice, both with multimegabase contiguity, or almost 1,000-fold improvement over the drafts of 2002. Tested against a nonredundant collection of 19,079 full-length cDNAs, 97.7% of the genes are aligned, without fragmentation, to the mapped super-scaffolds of one or the other genome. We introduce a gene identification procedure for plants that does not rely on similarity to known genes to remove erroneous predictions resulting from transposable elements. Using the available EST data to adjust for residual errors in the predictions, the estimated gene count is at least 38,000-40,000. Only 2%-3% of the genes are unique to any one subspecies, comparable to the amount of sequence that might still be missing. Despite this lack of variation in gene content, there is enormous variation in the intergenic regions. At least a quarter of the two sequences could not be aligned, and where they could be aligned, single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rates varied from as little as 3.0 SNP/kb in the coding regions to 27.6 SNP/kb in the transposable elements. A more inclusive new approach for analyzing duplication history is introduced here. It reveals an ancient whole-genome duplication, a recent segmental duplication on Chromosomes 11 and 12, and massive ongoing individual gene duplications. We find 18 distinct pairs of duplicated segments that cover 65.7% of the genome; 17 of these pairs date back to a common time before the divergence of the grasses. More important, ongoing individual gene duplications provide a never-ending source of raw material for gene genesis and are major contributors to the differences between members of the grass family.

We report a complete genomic sequence of rare isolates (minor genotype) of the SARS-CoV from SARS patients in Guangdong, China, where the first few cases emerged. The most striking discovery from the isolate is an extra 29-nucleotide sequence located at the nucleotide positions between 27,863 and 27,864 (referred to the complete sequence of BJ01) within an overlapped region composed of BGI-PUP5 (BGI-postulated uncharacterized protein 5) and BGI-PUP6 upstream of the N (nucleocapsid) protein. The discovery of this minor genotype, GD-Ins29, suggests a significant genetic event and differentiates it from the previously reported genotype, the dominant form among all sequenced SARS-CoV isolates. A 17-nt segment of this extra sequence is identical to a segment of the same size in two human mRNA sequences that may interfere with viral replication and transcription in the cytosol of the infected cells. It provides a new avenue for the exploration of the virus-host interaction in viral evolution, host pathogenesis, and vaccine development.

Since 1992, the Brugada syndrome has been increasingly recognized worldwide, although its incidence and distribution remain unclear. In Asia, several cases have been reported in Japan, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam. However, little information is available from the Chinese population. Since June 1997, we have identified 10 patients with the diagnosis of the Brugada syndrome from six hospitals in Taiwan. All patients were male with the mean age of 46 +/- 7 years (range 36-61). They all had a normal chemistry profile, coronary angiography and echocardiography. Clinical presentations varied from seizure and syncope to sudden cardiac death. MRI and ultrafast CT of the heart did not show any abnormalities. Sustained ventricular tachycardia/ventricular fibrillation (VF) was induced in 7 of 8 patients who underwent an electrophysiologic study. The pharmacological provocation test was positive in 4 of 5 patients. One of the 4 patients who had a genetic study showed SCN5A gene mutation. An implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) was implanted in 8 patients. During a mean follow-up of 29 +/- 17 months (range 2-54), 3 of 8 patients who had an ICD received appropriate ICD discharges after implantation. These 3 patients who were subsequently treated with antiarrhythmic agents have had no further recurrent ICD discharges. Two patients who refused ICD implantation are alive and well without taking antiarrhythmic agents. Our study showed that the clinical characteristics of our patients are similar to those described in the literature and that ICD is an effective treatment modality for patients with recurrent VF. However, antiarrhythmic agents may be beneficial for suppressing arrhythmia recurrences in selected patients., (Copyright 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel)