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Background Previous mass screening studies have shown that IgA antibodies against Epstein–Barr Virus (EBV) can facilitate early detection of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), but the impact of EBV-antibody screening for NPC-specific mortality remains unknown. Patients and methods A prospective, cluster randomized, controlled trial for NPC screening (PRO-NPC-001) was conducted in 3 selected towns of Zhongshan City and 13 selected towns of Sihui City in southern China beginning in 2008. Serum samples of the screening group were tested for two previously selected anti-EBV antibodies. Subjects with serological medium risk were subsequently retested annually for 3 years, and those with serological high risk were referred to otorhinolaryngologists for diagnostic check-up. An interim analysis was carried out to evaluate the primary end points of the NPC-specific mortality and the early diagnostic rate, and the secondary end point of the NPC incidence, through linkage with the database of Zhongshan City. Results Among 70 296 total subjects, 29 413 screened participants (41.8% of the total subjects) in the screening group and 50 636 in the control group, 153 (43.3 per 100 000 person-year), 62 (55.3 per 100 000 person-year) and 99 (33.1 per 100 000 person-year) NPC cases were identified. The early diagnostic rates of NPC were significantly higher in the participants (79.0%, P  < 0.0001) and the screening group (45.9%, P  < 0.0001) compared with the control group (20.6%). Although no differences were found between NPC-specific mortality of the screening group and the control group [relative risk (RR)= 0.82, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.37–1.79], lower NPC-specific mortality was noticed among participants from the screening group versus the control group (RR = 0.22, 95% CI 0.09–0.49). Conclusion IgA antibodies against EBV can identify high-risk population and was effective in screening for early asymptomatic NPC. Although the mortality reduction was not significant in the primary end point, we noted encouraging evidence of a mortality reduction in screening participants in this interim analysis. Clinical trial number NCT00941538. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human activities, intensified urbanization and climate changes altered source and quantity of dissolved organic matter (DOM), complicating its interaction with phytoplankton in aquatic ecosystems. However, relationship between DOM and phytoplankton in urban lakes strongly disturbed by human activities was still unclear. Thus, a whole-year sampling campaign was conducted in the Tangxun Lake, China's largest urban lake, to reveal the interaction between DOM and phytoplankton. Results indicated that trophic state in the Tangxun Lake varied from mesotrophic to moderately eutrophic. Parallel factor analysis method combined with excitation-emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy revealed that DOM in the Tangxun Lake consisted of three components, two protein-like components (C1, C3), and one humic-like component (C2). Protein-like components occupied 80% ± 11% of total CDOM pool, mainly due to urbanization driving DOM to be more protein-like, less humic-like. Besides, DOM in the Tangxun Lake was mainly autochthonous input and more recently formed. Furthermore, a total of 129 phytoplankton species were identified, belonging to 78 genera and 7 phyla. Tangxun Lake's phytoplankton community structure was dominated by the Chlorophyta-Bacillariophyta-Cyanophyta type. The temporal succession of phytoplankton varied significantly. It was found that the abundance of Cryptophyta and Cyanophyta were predominant in the mesotrophic state, while Cyanophyta and Bacillariophyta were prevailing in the eutrophic and middle-eutrophic states. As for the interaction between DOM and phytoplankton, results demonstrated that phytoplankton biomass was significantly positively correlated with a (254), a proxy of DOM abundance. Moreover, phytoplankton abundance and biomass significantly positively correlated with autochthonous and freshly released DOM, indicating that the more autochthonous and freshly released DOM, the higher phytoplankton abundance and biomass. Overall, this study provides profound environmental implications for aquatic ecosystem management, especially those strongly affected by human activities., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Lonicera macranthoides , the main source of traditional Chinese medicine Lonicerae Flos, is extensively cultivated in Southwest China. However, the quality of L. macranthoides produced in this region significantly varies due to its wide distribution and various cultivation breeds. Herein, 50 Lonicerae Flos samples derived from different breeds of L. macranthoides cultivated in Southwest China were collected for quality evaluation. Six organic acids and three saponin compounds were quantitatively analyzed using HPLC. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of a portion of samples was conducted with 2,2'-Azinobis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonate) (ABTS) and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging experiments. According to the quantitative results, all samples met the quality standards outlined in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia. The samples from Guizhou, whether derived from unopened or open wild-type breeds, exhibited high quality, while the wild-type samples showed relatively significant fluctuation in quality. The samples from Chongqing and Hunan demonstrated similar quality, whereas those from Sichuan exhibited relatively lower quality. These samples demonstrated significant abilities in clearing ABTS and DPPH radicals. The relationship between HPLC chromatograms and antioxidant activity, as elucidated by multivariate analysis, indicated that chlorogenic acid, isochlorogenic acid A, isochlorogenic acid B, and isochlorogenic acid C are active components and can serve as Q-markers for quality evaluation.

In order to explore the impact of experience in forest-based health and wellness (FHW) on the stress of middle-aged people, 12 participants aged 35-39 were selected to conduct a 3-day/2-night study on FHW experience in Wencheng, Wenzhou. Huawei bracelets were used to monitor participants' movement, pulse and blood pressure and their mood state was measured before and after the health care experience using the Profile of Mood States (POMS) scale. After the FHW experience, the lowest value of bracelet stress appeared on the second day of the experience for men and women. The total mood disturbance (TMD) decreased by 38.8 points on average, which significantly improved the positive mood and relieved the stress. The decompression effect of the FHW experience showed some variability among individuals. Furthermore, there were gender differences in alleviation of fatigue and puzzlement, which was greater for females than males., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Quan, Yu, Huang and Ying.)

Drought synchronously affects the water cycle and interferes with the carbon cycle in terrestrial ecosystems. Ecosystem water use efficiency (WUE), serving as a vital metric for assessing the interplay between water and carbon cycles, has found extensively use in exploring how ecosystems responses to drought. However, the effects of soil moisture drought on WUE are still poorly recognized. Taking Ziya River Basin as an example, the spatial-temporal variations of WUE from 2001 to 2020 were estimated by the Penman-Monteith-Leuning Version 2 (PML-V2) data. Based on the Standardized Soil Moisture Index (SSI) calculated from Soil Moisture of China by in situ data, version 1.0 (SMCI1.0) data, the sensitivity and thresholds of different vegetation WUE to drought magnitudes were investigated, and the influences of both lagged and cumulative effects of drought on WUE were further analyzed. Results showed that the annual mean WUE was 2.160 ± 0.975 g C kg -1 H 2 O -1 in the Ziya River Basin, with a significant increasing trend of 0.037 g C kg -1 H 2 O -1 yr -1 (p < 0.05). For all the vegetation types, the WUE reached the maximum value at a certain drought threshold (SSI = -1.5 ± 0.1). The dominant factor controlling WUE sensitivity to drought changed from evapotranspiration (ET) to gross primary production (GPP) when severe drought transformed into extreme drought. Significant lagged and cumulative effects were found in the response of WUE to drought in nearly 58.64 % (72.94 %) of the study area, with an average time scale of 6.65 and 2.11 months (p < 0.05) respectively. Drought resistance in descending order was: forest > shrub > grassland > cropland. Our findings enrich the understanding of the coupled carbon and water cycle processes in terrestrial ecosystems and their response to soil moisture drought in the context of global climate change., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

PM2.5 is closely linked to both air quality and public health. Many studies have used models combined with remote sensing and auxiliary data to inverse a large range of PM2.5 concentrations. However, the data's spatial resolution is limited. and better results might have been obtained if higher resolution data had been used. Therefore, this paper establishes a geographical and temporal weighted regression model (GTWR) and estimates the PM2.5 concentration in Xinjiang from 2015 to 2020 using 1 km resolution MCD19A2 (MODIS/Terra+Aqua Land Aerosol Optical Thickness Daily L2G Global 1km SIN Grid V006) data and 9 auxiliary variables. The findings indicate that the GTWR model performs better than the simple linear regression (SLR) and geographically weighted regression (GWR) models in terms of accuracy and feasibility in retrieving PM2.5 concentrations in Xinjiang. Simultaneously, by combining the GTWR model with MCD19A2 data, a spatial distribution map of PM2.5 with better spatial resolution can be obtained. Next, the regional distribution of annual PM2.5 concentrations in Xinjiang is consistent with the terrain from 2015 to 2020. The low value area is primarily found in the mountainous area with higher terrain, while the high value area is primarily in the basin with lower terrain. Overall, the southwest is high and the northeast is low. In terms of time change, the six-year PM2.5 shows a single peak distribution with 2016 as the inflection point. Lastly, from 2015 to 2020, the seasonal average PM2.5 concentration in Xinjiang has a significant difference, thereby showing winter (66.15μg/m3)>spring (52.28μg/m3)>autumn (40.51μg/m3)>summer (38.63μg/m3). The research shows that the combination of MCD19A2 data and GTWR model has good applicability in retrieving PM2.5 concentration., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Quan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Carbon monoxide (CO) is primarily the result of incomplete combustion, which has important impacts on the atmospheric chemical cycle and climate. Improved quantitative characterization of long-term CO trends is important for both atmospheric modeling and the design and implementation of policies to efficiently control multiple pollutants. Due to the limitations of high time-resolution and high-quality long-term observational data, studies on long-term trends in the CO concentration in China are quite limited. In this study, the observational data of the concentration of CO in a rural site of Beijing during 2006-2018 was used to analyze the long-term trend in CO concentration in Beijing. The Theil-Sen method and the generalized additive model (GAM)-based method, were used to conduct the trend estimation analysis. We found that the concentration of CO at the Shangdianzi site showed a significant downward trend during 2006-2018, with a decline rate of 22.8 ± 5.1 ppbV per year. The declining trend in CO also showed phasic characteristics, with a fast decreasing rate during the period of 2006-2008, stable variations during the period of 2009-2013 and a continuous downward trend after 2013. The declining trend in the CO concentration in the south to west (S-W) sectors where the polluted air masses come from is more rapid than that in the sectors where the clean air masses come from. The declining trend in the CO concentration implies the improved combustion efficiency and the successful air pollution control policies in Beijing and the surrounding area., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Previous studies showed that the COVID-19 outbreak increased the levels of depression and anxiety in heterogeneous populations. However, none has explored the prevalence and correlates of depression and anxiety among Chinese international students studying in US colleges during the pandemic., Objective: This study examines the prevalence of depression and anxiety among Chinese international students enrolled in US universities during the COVID-19 pandemic and identifies the associated factors, including habits, social and psychological support, sleep quality, and remote learning., Methods: Between June and July 2020, we conducted a cross-sectional study through Wenjuanxing, a web-based survey platform. Participants were recruited with snowball sampling through 21 Chinese international student associations in US universities. The survey consisted of demographic questions, the Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and self-constructed questions on academic performance, financial concerns, use of social media, physical exercise, and psychological support. Cut-off scores of 10 were used for both PHQ-9 and GAD-7 to determine the binary outcomes of depression and anxiety, respectively. Bivariant analyses and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the associated factors., Results: Among 1881 participants, we found a prevalence of depression (PHQ-9 score⩾ 10) at 24.5% and that of anxiety (GAD-7 score⩾ 10) at 20.7%. A higher risk of depression was associated with recent exposure to traumatic events, agreement to pandemic's negative impacts on financial status, agreement and strong agreement to the negative impacts of remote learning on personal relationships, and a higher ISI score. A lower risk of depression was associated with disagreement to the negative impacts of remote learning on academic performance and future careers, strong willingness to seek professional help with emotional issues, and a higher SSRS score. In addition, a higher risk of anxiety was associated with recent exposure to traumatic events, a lot of workloads, often staying up for online classes, agreement and strong agreement to the negative impacts of remote learning on personal relationships, and a higher ISI score. A lower risk of anxiety was associated with the willingness and strong willingness to seek professional help with emotional issues, and a higher SSRS score., Conclusion: This study showed a high prevalence of depression and anxiety among Chinese international students studying in US colleges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Multiple correlates-including recent exposure to traumatic events, pandemic-related financial concerns, workload, social support, remote learning, willingness to seek professional help, and sleep quality-were identified. It is critical for future studies to further investigate this student population and for universities to provide more flexible learning options and more access to psychological services., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Visibility observed at different altitudes is favorable to understand the causes of air pollution. We conducted 4-years of observations of visibility at 2.8 and 60 m and particulate matter (PM) concentrations from 2015 to 2018 in Shenyang, a provincial city in Northeast China. The results indicated that visibility increased with the increasing height in winter (especially at night), and decreased with height in summer (especially at the daytime). PM concentration exhibited opposite vertical variation to visibility, reflecting that visibility degrades with the increase of aerosol concentration in the air. The radiosonde meteorological data showed that weak turbulence in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) in winter favored aerosols' accumulation near the surface. Whereas in summer, unstable atmospheric conditions, upper-level moister environment, and regional transport of air pollutants resulted in the deterioration of upper-level visibility. Inter-annual variation in the two-level visibility indicated that the upper-level visibility improved more significantly than low-level visibility, much likely due to the reduction in emission of elevated point sources in Shenyang. Our study suggested that strengthening the control of surface non-point emissions is a promising control strategy to improve Shenyang air quality., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

To explore the expression of p62 protein in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). In this study, a cross-sectional study was adopted. From December 2011 to May 2013, 60 patients with lung adenocarcinoma who were diagnosed and treated in Tongji Hospital of Tongji University, Shanghai were selected for paraffin embedding and tissue chip preparation, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) technology was used to detect the expression of p62 in lung adenocarcinoma patients' cancer tissues and adjacent tissues, and analyze the relationship between p62 expression and the clinicopathological characteristics and survival prognosis of patients with lung adenocarcinoma; at the same time, 6 cases of lung adenocarcinoma were selected by random sampling cancer tissues and adjacent tissues were detected by Western Blot (WB) to detect p62 protein and analyzed by gray value. Preoperative examination specimens of inpatients with lung adenocarcinoma diagnosed from April 2018 to early October 2019, and plasma specimens of healthy subjects were collected, and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect lung adenocarcinoma patients and healthy patients. The expression of p62 in the plasma of the subjects was statistically analyzed using SPSS 22.0 software. The results of IHC showed that the positive expression rate of p62 in cancer tissues was significantly higher than that in adjacent tissues, and the difference was statistically significant ( t= 5.593, P <0.001). Similarly, WB results showed that the expression of p62 protein in cancer tissues was significantly higher than that in adjacent tissues. It is statistically relevant ( t= 2.238, P =0.049). The expression of p62 was statistically correlated with tumor size, clinicopathological stage and lymph node metastasis in patients with lung adenocarcinoma (all P <0.05). The overall survival of patients with lung adenocarcinoma with high p62 expression was worse than that of patients with low p62 expression (95 %CI was 0.238-0.870, P =0.028), suggesting that the high expression of p62 is related to the poor prognosis of patients with lung adenocarcinoma. The level of p62 protein in the plasma of patients with lung adenocarcinoma was significantly higher than that in the healthy control group. The difference was statistically significant ( t= 8.533, P <0.001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.835 (95 %CI was 0.779-0.891, P <0.001), which is significantly higher than CEA, CA125, CA153 and other single traditional indicators, and the combined detection of four indicators has the highest diagnostic efficiency. p62 was strongly expressed in cancer tissues and serum, which is related to the poor prognosis and overall survival rate of LUAD patients.

Pasteurization and sterilization, normally carried out in milk, can induce the Maillard reaction, which can produce substances that are harmful to health. Quantitation of initial, intermediate, and advanced Maillard reaction products in milk was conducted for pasteurization (low-temperature long-time [LTLT], high-temperature short-time [HTST]) and sterilization (ultra-high temperature [UHT], in-bottle sterilization [BS]) methods. Total lysine and lactose decreased by 32.8% and 6.7% in BS milk, respectively. The generation of furosine in sterilized milk and pasteurized milk ranged from 2.5- to 5.0-fold and 1.4- to 2.8-fold higher, respectively, than those in raw milk. 5-(Hydroxymethyl)furfural increased by 4.7- and 8.4-fold in UHT and BS milk, and 2-furaldehyde (F) was not quantified in raw and LTLT milk. The concentrations of Nε-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML) was nearly 4.4- to 6.7-fold higher than that of Nε-(carboxyethyl)lysine in the heated milk samples. CML in UHT and BS milk were around 1.4-fold and 1.6-fold higher than that in raw milk, respectively. The concentration of these Maillard reaction products in sterilized milk was significantly higher than those in raw, LTLT, and HTST milk. The results of this study could improve safety control in the dairy industry with respect to pasteurization and sterilization procedures., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The rapid wide-scale spread of fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) has caused serious crop losses globally. However, differences in the genetic background of subpopulations and the mechanisms of rapid adaptation behind the invasion are still not well understood. Here we report the assembly of a 390.38-Mb chromosome-level genome of fall armyworm derived from south-central Africa using Pacific Bioscience (PacBio) and Hi-C sequencing technologies, with scaffold N50 of 12.9 Mb and containing 22,260 annotated protein-coding genes. Genome-wide resequencing of 103 samples and strain identification were conducted to reveal the genetic background of fall armyworm populations in China. Analysis of genes related to pesticide- and Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) resistance showed that the risk of fall armyworm developing resistance to conventional pesticides is very high. Laboratory bioassay results showed that insects invading China carry resistance to organophosphate and pyrethroid pesticides, but are sensitive to genetically modified maize expressing the Bt toxin Cry1Ab in field experiments. Additionally, two mitochondrial fragments were found to be inserted into the nuclear genome, with the insertion event occurring after the differentiation of the two strains. This study represents a valuable advance toward improving management strategies for fall armyworm., (© The Authors. Molecular Ecology Resources published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Measuring ammonia (NH 3 ) is important for understanding the role of NH 3 in secondary aerosol formation and the atmospheric deposition of reactive N. In this study, NH 3 was measured in an urban area, a background region, and a tunnel in Beijing. The average NH 3 concentrations between September 2017 and August 2018 were 24.8 ± 14.8 ppb and 11.6 ± 10.3 ppb in the urban area and background region, respectively. Higher NH 3 concentrations at both the urban and background sites, relative to some earlier measurements indicated a likely increase in the NH 3 concentrations in these regions. The urban NH 3 level in Beijing was much higher than that typically observed at urban and industrial sites in other domestic and foreign cities, suggesting that the Beijing urban area was affected by greater NH 3 emissions than other regions. Based on the relationship among NH 3 , wind direction, and wind speed, the urban area was affected by both local emissions and air transported from North China Plain (NCP). Potential source contribution function analyses suggested that regional transport from the NCP could greatly affect local concentrations of NH 3 in both urban and background areas in spring and autumn; however, in addition to the NCP, urban emissions could also affect NH 3 levels in the background region in summer and winter. The average NH 3 concentration at the Fenshuiling Tunnel was 8.5 ± 7.7 ppb from December 2017 to February 2018. The NH 3 :CO emission ratio measured in the tunnel test was 0.022 ± 0.038 ppb/ppb, which was lower than values in the USA and South Korea. The contribution of traffic to NH 3 in Beijing did not agree well with the available emission inventories, suggesting that vehicular emissions were underestimated and further evaluation is necessary., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Computerized cognitive remediation therapy (CCRT) is generally effective for the cognitive deficits of schizophrenia. However, there is much uncertainty about what factors mediate or moderate effectiveness and are therefore important to personalize treatment and boost its effects., Method: In total, 311 Chinese inpatients with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-IV schizophrenia were randomized to receive CCRT or Active control for 12 weeks with four to five sessions per week. All participants were assessed at baseline, post-treatment and 3-month follow-up. The outcomes were cognition, clinical symptoms and functional outcomes., Results: There was a significant benefit in the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery (MCCB) total score for CCRT (F1,258 = 5.62; p = 0.02; effect size was 0.27, 95% confidence interval 0.04-0.49). There were no specific moderators of CCRT improvements. However, across both groups, Wisconsin Card Sort Test improvement mediated a positive effect on functional capacity and Digit Span benefit mediated decreases in positive symptoms. In exploratory analyses younger and older participants showed cognitive improvements but on different tests (younger on Symbol Coding Test, while older on the Spatial Span Test). Only the older age group showed MSCEIT benefits at post-treatment. In addition, cognition at baseline negatively correlated with cognitive improvement and those whose MCCB baseline total score was around 31 seem to derive the most benefit., Conclusions: CCRT can improve the cognitive function of patients with schizophrenia. Changes in cognitive outcomes also contributed to improvements in functional outcomes either directly or solely in the context of CCRT. Age and the basic cognitive level of the participants seem to affect the cognitive benefits from CCRT.

We observed significant effects of particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) on cause-specific mortality by applying a time-stratified case-crossover and lag-structure designs in Beijing over a nine-year study period (2005-2013). The year-round odds ratio (OR) was 1.005 on the current day with a 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 for all-cause mortality. For cardiovascular mortality and stroke, the ORs were 1.007 and 1.008 on the current day, respectively. Meanwhile, during a lag of six days, the cumulative effects of haze on relative risk of mortality, respiratory mortality and all-cause mortality was in the range of 2~11%. Moreover, we found a significant seasonal pattern in the associations for respiratory mortality: significant associations were observed in spring and fall, while for all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, cardiac and stroke, significant associations were observed in winter. Moreover, increasing temperature would decrease risks of mortalities in winter taking fall as the reference season. We concluded that in summer, temperature acted as a direct enhancer of air pollutants; while in winter and spring, it was an index of the diameter distribution and composition of fine particles., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Background : The secondary forests have become the major forest type worldwide, and forest gap was also a common small disturbance in secondary forests. We aimed to analyze the effects of small gap disturbance on the plant species richness of subtropical secondary forest with natural regeneration barriers and examine the relationship between soil topography and plant species in a subtropical Rhododendron secondary forest of the Baili Rhododendron National Nature Reserve. Methods : The major plant species and soil topography gradient factors of the small gaps and closed canopy (control group) were analyzed using two-way ANOVA, multivariate permutational analysis of variance, nonmetric multi-dimensional scaling, random forest, canonical correspondence analysis, redundancy analysis, and a generalized linear model. Results : Small gaps had significant impact on the distribution of soil available potassium (AK), organic carbon to total phosphorus (C/P) ratio rather than slope position for soil pH and calcium (Ca) under closed canopy. Soil pH and AK followed by total phosphorus (TP) were the most important variables explaining the spatial distributions of soil properties in both habitats. Determining the spatial distribution of individual woody plant species were soil pH in small gaps, instead of lower altitude, TP, total potassium (TK) and sodium (Na) concentrations for both habitats. Moreover, Ericaceae and Fagaceae were strongly associated with pH in the small gaps. However, there was soil Na for the herbaceous plant in the closed canopy. The species richness of woody plant species in small gaps was affected significantly by pH, soil water content (SWC), and TK, instead of soil organic carbon (SOC), SWC and C/P ratio in both habitats. Conclusions : Small gaps were not always significantly improved the composition of soil nutrients, but provided a good microenvironment for plant growth, species richness of major woody plant differed between habitats.

Thelazia callipaeda, T. californiensis and T. gulosa are three causative agents of human thelaziasis. Most of the reported cases were caused by T. callipaeda , occurring in the old world, particularly in Asian and European countries. T. californiensis and T. gulosa have rarely been reported infecting humans in North America. T. callipaeda has long been called the oriental eye worm, referring to its traditional distribution across eastern and southeastern Asia (i.e., China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, and India) where infection is endemic in animals and humans, usually in poorer rural areas and mainly among children and the elderly. The identification of the parasite was mainly based on the characteristics of oral and genital organs. In Asia and Europe, vectors for this nematode are male Phortica okadai and P. variegata drosophilids respectively, which feed on ocular secretions of hosts and transmit infective stage larvae to domestic and wild carnivores, lagomorphs, and humans. China probably has the largest number of cases with thelaziasis in the world, and lots of cases have been existed in other Asian countries such as Japan and Korea. Although a few of human cases have been reported, there were high infection rates of wild animals and domesticated dogs and cats in most of European countries. Based on the cox 1 gene, a total of 21 haplotypes were identified in the samples from worldwide, in which, one circulated only in European countries (h1), while the other 20 haplotypes were distributed in Korea, Japan and China. In general, the Chinese clinical isolates of T. callipaeda expressed high genetic diversity. The population differences between Europe and Asian countries were greater than those among China, Korea and Japan. The T. callipaeda populations from Europe and Asia should be divided into two separate sub-populations. These two groups started to diverge during the middle Pleistocene.

Current Chinese national guidelines recommend routine screening for liver cancer in patients positive for HBsAg, irrespective of fibrosis status, age, or family history of liver cancer. We aim to evaluate whether the recommended screening strategy could reduce liver-cancer-specific mortality. We conducted a liver cancer mass screening trial in Xiaolan Town, Zhongshan City, China, among residents aged 35-64 years in 2012. All volunteers were offered serological testing for hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg). We proposed biannual screening using serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and ultrasonography examination for subjects positive for HBsAg. Among 17,966 participants (26.2% of 68,510 eligible residents) who were free of liver cancer at baseline in 2012, we identified 57 incident cases of liver cancer within the first 4 years of follow-up (i.e., 43 among 2,848 HBsAg-positive participants and 14 among 15,118 HBsAg-negative participants), compared with 104 cases identified in non-participants (N = 50,544). A total of 207 participants had the recommended number of ultrasonography examinations (every 6 months) during the screening period. Compared with cases identified from non-participants, the cases arising among participants were more likely to be at early stage and had better survival than those among non-participants. However, we did not observe a reduction in liver cancer-specific mortality rate among participants (relative risk = 1.04, 95% confidence interval = 0.68, 1.58, P = 0.856). Our demonstration screening study does not show a reduction in liver cancer mortality within the first 4 years of follow-up according to current guidance in China, although long-term efficacy remains to be evaluated. Targeted surveillance among high-risk individuals as recommended by international guidelines, along with measures to improve compliance, should be evaluated in the Chinese population.

Sentence context and fundamental frequency (F0) contours are important factors to speech perception and comprehension. In Chinese-Mandarin, lexical tones can be distinguished by the F0 contours. Previous studies found healthy people could use the cue of context to recover the phonological representations of lexical tones from the altered tonal patterns to comprehend the sentences in quiet condition, but can not in noise environment. Lots of research showed that patients with schizophrenia have deficits of speech perception and comprehension. However, it is unclear how context and F0 contours influence speech perception and comprehension in patients with schizophrenia. This study detected the contribution of context and lexical tone to sentence comprehension in four types of sentences by manipulating the context and F0 contours in 32 patients with schizophrenia and 33 healthy controls. The results showed that (1) in patients with schizophrenia, the interaction between context and F0 contour was not significant, which was significant in healthy controls; (2) the scores of sentences with two types of sentences with flattened F0 contours were negatively correlated with hallucination trait scores; (3) the patients with schizophrenia showed significantly lower scores on the intelligibility of sentences in all conditions, which were negatively correlated with PANSS-P. The patients with schizophrenia couldn't use the cue of context to recover the phonological representations of lexical tones from the altered tonal patterns when they comprehend the sentences, inner noise may be the underlying mechanism for the deficits of speech perception and comprehension., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Stripe rust, a devastating disease of wheat worldwide, can be controlled by use of diverse wheat resistance resources. To find new quantitative trait loci (QTL) for resistance to stripe rust, Qing Shumai (a Chinese winter wheat landrace possessing slow rusting resistance) was crossed with the susceptible line Mingxian 169. The parents and 276 recombinant inbred lines (RILs) from the cross were evaluated in five environments involving two locations (Gansu and Shandong provinces, China) and four autumn-sown wheat seasons (2008 to 2012). Disease severities on Qing Shumai were lower than 25%, contrasting with approximately 90% on Mingxian 169. The RILs varied in rust intensity in a continuous and monomodal distribution. A bulked segregant analysis approach using 2,344 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers mapped a major QTL to the long arm of chromosome 6D (hereby designated as QYr.cau-6DL). An SSR marker (gpw5179, https://wheat.pw.usda.gov/GG2/index.shtml ) was identified as being tightly linked with QYr.cau-6DL. Combination between QYr.cau-6DL and the stripe rust-resistance gene Yr18 was examined using 160 F 2:3 families of Qing Shumai × RL6058 (a near-isogenic line for Yr18 in the genetic background of the spring wheat Thatcher). The combination elevated the resistance consistently across both winter and spring wheat backgrounds, acting synergistically without undesired epistasis.

It has been reported in alphabetic languages that individuals with schizophrenia showed language-related cognitive impairments including phonological deficits, which were in turn associated with clinical symptoms such as auditory hallucinations and thought disorders. To date, however, the phonological deficits involved in schizophrenia in Chinese and its neural basis have not been well established. In order to establish such a relationship we conducted a behavioral study using lexical tone judgment and digit span tasks as well as an event-related potential (ERP) study with an auditory oddball paradigm, in particular, for P300 effects, the event-related brain potential (ERP) index of discrimination. Chinese patients with schizophrenia and Chinese healthy controls in China participated in the current study. Compared to the healthy controls, the patients with schizophrenia showed significant impairments in phonological processing skills, which in turn significantly correlated with smaller P300 effects. Thus these behavioral and electrophysiological findings in Chinese patients with schizophrenia were critically evaluated in terms of their phonological processing abilities., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: In China's Nong Zhuan Fei (NZF) communities, farmers living in rural villages are uprooted and moved into newly constructed urban apartments when the government purchases their land for residential and commercial development. With their relocation from a traditional rural setting to a modern urban setting, residents of NZF communities face lifestyle-based risk factors for diabetes and other chronic diseases. We reported estimates of diabetes prevalence, risk factors, and health-related quality of life among adult Chinese NZF rural-to-urban migrants., Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study through a U.S.-China partnership with an NZF community of 3,184 residents. Health and disease history, risk factors, and sociodemographic information were collected by questionnaire. Participants completed a 24-hour diet recall, three-day physical activity recall, a health-related quality of life Short-Form 36 (SF-36) health survey, the Beck Depression Inventory, and fasting blood glucose tests., Results: We gathered complete data from 1,150 of 1,772 eligible participants. The prevalence of diabetes was 11.6% (95% confidence interval 9.8, 13.6). Diabetes risk increased significantly with age, income, obesity, and hypertension. Based on SF-36 scores, residents aged ≥60 years with diabetes reported significantly greater physical (47.7 v. 70.2, p=0.001) and emotional (76.9 vs. 89.7, p=0.006) limitations, more bodily pain (79.7 vs. 84.9, p=0.021), and worse overall physical health (67.6 vs. 76.0, p=0.015) than those without diabetes., Conclusion: The Chinese government hopes to integrate an additional 250 million people into city living by 2025. As the NZF population increases, so may the prevalence of diabetes associated with the change from a rural to an urban lifestyle. Action is needed now by public health professionals to prevent a possible diabetes crisis in NZF communities in the future.

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been applied to examine the possible functional alternations during the performance of cognitive tasks in schizophrenia. With this technique, previous studies have observed that patients with schizophrenia are often associated with reduced brain activation in the prefrontal cortex during the verbal fluency task (VFT) of the English version or the Japanese version. However, it remains unclear whether there is a brain functional impairment in Chinese-speaking patients with schizophrenia. In this study, we designed a Chinese version of the VFT and performed a multichannel NIRS study in a large group of patients with schizophrenia and healthy controls. We investigated brain activation during the task period of the Chinese version of the VFT within a schizophrenia group and a healthy group, respectively, and compared the relative changes between the two groups. Our results confirmed that Chinese-speaking patients with schizophrenia had significantly lower brain activation in the prefrontal cortex and superior temporal cortex when compared with healthy controls. Such findings based on the NIRS data provided us reliable evidences about brain functional deficits in the Chinese-speaking patients with schizophrenia., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To identify the major ecological drivers for malaria vector density using the structural equation model (SEM) in the Three Gorges Reservoir., Method: An 11-year longitudinal surveillance of malaria vector as well as its related ecological factors was carried out in the Three Gorges Reservoir. The Delphi method was used to identify associated ecological factors. The structural equation model was repeatedly corrected and improved by the corrected index, combined with the actual situation. The final model was defined by relative simplicity, best fitting as well as the practicality., Result: The final model indicated that the direct effects of temperature, livestock, humidity, and breeding on the vector were 0.015, -0.228, 0.450, 0.516 respectively, their total effects on the vector were 0.359, -0.112, 0.850, and 0.043 through different pathways., Conclusion: SEM was effective and convenient in elucidating the mechanism by which malaria vector dynamics operated in this study. It identified that the breeding had the highest direct effect on vector and played a key role for mediating effect of temperature and humidity.

Background: Many patients who survive a myocardial infarction (MI) remain at risk of sudden cardiac death despite revascularization and optimal medical treatment. We used the modified moving average (MMA) method to assess the utility of T-wave alternans (TWA) and heart rate turbulence (HRT) as risk markers in MI patients with or without diabetes mellitus (DM)., Methods: We prospectively enrolled 248 consecutive patients: 96 with MI (post-MI patients); 77 MI with DM (post-MI + DM patients); 75 controls without cardiovascular disease (group control). Both TWA and HRT were measured on ambulatory electrocardiograms (AECGs). HRT was assessed by two parameters ─ turbulence onset (TO) and turbulence slope (TS). HRT was considered positive when both TO ≥0% and TS ≤2.5 ms/R-R interval were met. The endpoint was cardiac mortality., Results: TWA values differed significantly between MI and controls. Post-MI + DM patients had higher TWA values than post-MI patients (58 ± 21 μV VS 52 ± 18 μV, P = 0.029). Impaired HRT--increased TO and decreased TS were observed in MI patients with or without DM. During follow-up of 578 ± 146 days, cardiac death occurred in ten patients and three of them suffered sudden cardiac death (SCD). Multivariate analysis determined that a HRT-positive outcome [HR (95% CI): 5.01, 1.33-18.85; P = 0.017], as well as the combination of abnormal TWA (≥47 μV) and positive HRT had significant association with the endpoint [HR (95% CI): 9.08, 2.21-37.2; P = 0.002)]., Conclusion: This study indicates that AECGs-based TWA and HRT can predict cardiac mortality in MI patients with or without DM. Combined analysis TWA and HRT may be a convenient and useful method of identifying patients at high risk for cardiovascular death.

Correlation of heavy metals in the tissues of typical organisms (i.e., fishes and crabs) and those in their living environments (i.e., surface water, bottom water, and sediment) in Yangtze River Estuary has been qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed. Metal levels followed the trend: sediments > Eriocheir sinensis > Eriocheir leptognathus > benthic fish > pelagic fish > bottom water > surface water. Tissues in fishes and crabs of different species and sizes had diverse metal bioaccumulation characteristics, which was significantly affected by environment factors and their living habits. Metal levels in legs of crabs, and heads and skins of fishes showed significant correlations with those in their living environments. Collichthys lucidus is an effective bioindicator for assessing metal levels in water. No significant health risk was identified by the estimated daily intake and target hazard quotients analyses., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Salmonella Paratyphi A (SPA) is rapidly becoming a common cause of enteric fever in South East Asia. A large outbreak of SPA occurred in a boarding middle school in China in 2004. There were 394 suspected cases; 95·5% were students. The highest incidence was in the youngest children (7th grade). Forty-four of 151 (29%) blood cultures and 4/54 (7·4%) rectal swabs were positive for SPA; three were from kitchen workers. The geometric mean levels of serum IgG anti-lipopolysaccharide (anti-LPS) from patients was higher than from healthy individuals [35·25 vs. 5·20 ELISA units (EU), P<0·001]. A kitchen worker with a positive rectal swab, negative blood culture and a high level of serum IgG anti-LPS (529·65 EU), was identified as a possible SPA carrier. No SPA was isolated from water or food samples. A survey of students' habits indicated drinking unboiled water as being the main reason for contracting the disease. Hand washing was the second most important factor. A food handler with possible SPA carriage could also have been a risk factor. Attention to maintaining a safe water supply, enhancing food-handler hygiene and proper hand washing can help to prevent similar outbreaks in the future.

Background: China Yangtze Three Gorges Project (TGP) is one of the biggest construction projects in the world. The areas around the Three Gorge Dam has a history of tertian malaria and subtertian malaria epidemic, but there are no overall data about malaria epidemics before the completion of the project. The objective of this study was to get a reliable baseline on malaria infection in the Yangtze River Three Gorges reservoir area and to provide reference data for future studies about the impact of the project on malaria epidemics., Methods: Two surveys of malaria infection were carried out in area, at six-month intervals in May and October 2008. About 3,600 dual specimens blood film samples for parasite diagnosis and filter paper blood spots for serology (using the immunofluorescence antibody test) were collected from the general population, including school populations, whenever possible., Results: The overall percentage of positive response of the same population during post-transmission periods was about twice (1.40/0.72) of that in pre-transmission. Positive individuals under 15 years of age were detected in all the localities., Conclusion: A certain extent of malaria infection existed in this area. Additional studies are needed to determine the length of malaria experience, and chemotherapeutic intervention as well as the distribution of main vectors for transmission in this area.

The peak age of onset of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is continually increasing worldwide. This study aims to evaluate whether there exists any significant difference in the clinicopathological features between younger- and elderly-HCC.1082 Consecutive patients with HCC who underwent liver resection at Liver Cancer Institute, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University from 1995 to 1998 were studied. The patients were divided into elderly-HCC (>or=65 years of age) and younger-HCC (< 65 years of age). Important clinicopathological features of the patients and postoperative survival rates were compared between these two groups. Among 1082 patients studied, 108 were elderly-HCC and 974 were younger-HCC. The resection rate of the elderly-HCC was significantly higher than that of the younger-HCC. The 1, 3 and 5-year survival rates of the elderly-HCC were not significantly different from those of the younger-HCC. Compared with the younger-HCC, the elderly-HCC had (1) less HBsAg-positive rate; (2) more frequent anti-HCV positivity ; (3) lower proportion with AFP value >or=400 microg/dl; (4) a relatively small tumor diameter; (5) higher proportion of stage I-II patients; (6) a relatively low metastasis rate. However, there were no statistically significant differences in other clinicopathological features (including gender, symptoms, tumor number, tumor venous invasion, tumor differentiation, capsular formation, type of cirrhosis) between the two groups. There is a certain extent difference in clinicopathological features between elderly and younger-HCC patients, but the postoperative survival rate is comparable between the two groups.

By using sequential fumigation-incubation method, this paper determined the soil labile organic carbon (LOC) content under evergreen broadleaf forest, coniferous forest, sub-alpine dwarf forest, and alpine meadow along an altitude gradient in Wuyi Mountain National Nature Reserve in Fujian Province of China, with its relations to soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC), total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), and fine root biomass (FRB) analyzed. The results showed that soil LOC occupied 3.40%-7.46% of soil TOC, and soil MBC occupied 26.87%-80.38% of the LOC. The LOC under different forest stands increased significantly with altitude, and decreased with soil depth. Soil LOC had very significant correlations with soil MBC, TOC, TN and FRB, and its content was obviously higher at higher altitudes than at lower altitudes.

Based on recent research, related literature data and updated model parameter values, the present internal radiation dose from intakes of radionuclides for Chinese adult men (except for radon and its short-lived decay products) has been re-estimated. Radiation doses obtained by using both direct and indirect approaches have been compared. It is shown that the total annual committed effective dose in Chinese men accounts for approximately 0.43 mSv, 43% higher than the world reference value. The average annual dose from (40)K is quite near to the world reference value, but those from the (238)U-series (with (235)U-series) and (232)Th-series are 2.1- and 3.2-fold higher, respectively. The dose by ingestion is about two orders of magnitude higher than that by inhalation. (40)K is the greatest contributor to the total dose, while, in the decreasing order, (210)Po, (210)Pb, (228)Ra and (14)C are lower. Other radionuclides contribute very little dose ( approximately 2.6%). These results provide a useful basis for clarifying the characteristics of natural radiation exposure and for establishing related reference values for Chinese adult men.

We examined the variation in aboveground biomass accumulation and tissue concentrations of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb) in Phragmites australis (common reed), Spartina alterniflora (salt cordgrass), and Scirpus mariqueter throughout the growing season (April-October 2005), in order to determine the differences in net element accumulation and distribution between the three salt marsh macrophytes in the Yangtze River estuary, China. The aboveground biomass was significantly greater in the plots of S. alterniflora than in the plots of P. australis and S. mariqueter throughout the growing season (P<0.05). In August, the peak aboveground biomass was 1246+/-89 gDW/m(2), 2759+/-250 gDW/m(2) and 548+/-54 gDW/m(2) for P. australis, S. alterniflora and S. mariqueter, respectively. The concentrations of nutrients and heavy metals in plant tissues showed similar seasonal patterns. There was a steady decline in element concentrations of the aboveground tissues from April to October. Relative element concentrations in aboveground tissues were at a peak during the spring sampling intervals with minimum levels during the fall. But the concentrations of total nitrogen and total phosphorus in the belowground tissues were relatively constant throughout growing season. Generally, trace metal concentrations in the aboveground tissues of S. mariqueter was the highest throughout the growing season, and the metal concentrations of S. alterniflora tissues (aboveground and belowground) were greater than those of P. australis. Furthermore, the aboveground pools of nutrients and metals were consistently greater for S. alterniflora than for P. australis and S. mariqueter, which suggested that the rapid replacement of native P. australis and S. mariqueter with invasive S. alterniflora would significantly improve the magnitude of nutrient cycling and bioavailability of trace metals in the salt marsh and maybe transport more toxic metals into the water column and the detrital food web in the estuary.