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Objective: To explore the clinical feasibility of different treatment methods for persistent occipitotransverse position and the influence on maternal and infant complications. Method: During the trial of vaginal delivery from April 2020 to March 2023 in our hospital, the cervix was fully dilated and the presentation was located at +2 station. Ninety‐six pregnant women with fetal presentation at +4 station, occipitotransverse fetal position, maternal complications, abnormalities in the second stage of labor, and or fetal distress were divided into two groups: 65 patients with Kielland forceps vaginal delivery and 31 patients underwent emergency cesarean section. The delivery time, vaginal laceration rate, postpartum blood loss volume, puerperal infection rate, neonatal birth injury rate, and neonatal 1 min Apgar scores were analyzed. Results: The delivery outcomes and maternal and neonatal complications of 96 pregnant women were analyzed: the application of Kielland forceps delivery time was shorter, while the vaginal laceration rate, postpartum hemorrhage, puerperal infection rate were significantly lower than that of patients undergoing emergency cesarean section and the neonatal 1 min Apgar score was higher than that of emergency cesarean section group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: It was clinically appropriate to use Kielland forceps in vaginal delivery when the persistent occipitotransverse position was present and delivery needed to be expediated. Use of Kielland forceps can shorten the delivery time, improve the success rate of vaginal delivery and reduce the complications of mothers and infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Understanding cultural diversity in STEM education is important for inclusivity and teaching STEM literacy for all. We explore diversity at a micro-cultural classroom level involving students' emotional experiences and interactional practices as they engage with learning, which has received limited attention in naturalistic studies of STEM education, especially in East Asian cultures. In this study, we explore emotional experiences of students during a guided inquiry lesson in a Chinese primary school using an interpretive methodology informed by concepts of emotional energy, uniformity, and harmony. Emotional energy is an individual and collective experience of togetherness and solidarity emerging from successful social interaction. Uniformity and harmony are emotion-related concepts experienced in Confucian heritage cultures. The aims of this study are to explore Chinese students' emotional experiences during a STEM inquiry lesson and to refine the conceptualization of emotional energy from Confucian cultural perspectives. Results: In a STEM inquiry, context knowledge about micro-cultural diversity and the interplay between Chinese emotional experiences and engagement with ideas are explored. Notions of uniformity and harmony are described through cultural practices as they relate to emotional energy. The study contributes to understanding the diversity of emotional energy as a student experience and social form of engagement, during a STEM inquiry activity in a Confucian heritage context. Conclusions: This study contributes to understandings of student experiences of uniformity, harmony, and variations to intensity of emotional energy during learning via STEM inquiry. Modifications to the conceptualization of emotional energy in STEM education are indicated. Our findings inform an understanding of student emotive experiences of STEM education in East Asian and multi-cultural education systems internationally.

Background: With the aging population, the number of individuals with dementia in China is increasing rapidly. This community-based study aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors for dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) among older adults in China. Methods: In this study, 20,070 individuals aged ≥ 65 were recruited between January 1, 2022, and February 1, 2023, from ten communities in Xiamen City, China. We collected data on age, sex, level of education, and medical history, as well as global cognition and functional status. The prevalence of dementia and MCI was examined, and the risk factors for different groups were assessed. Results: The overall prevalence of dementia and MCI was approximately 5.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.1–5.7) and 7.7% (95% CI, 7.4–8.1), respectively. The results also indicated that dementia and MCI share similar risk factors, including older age, female sex, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus. Compared with individuals with no formal education, those with > 6 years of education had an odds ratio for MCI of 1.83 (95% CI, 1.49–2.25). We also found that only 5.5% of the positive participants chose to be referred to the hospital for further diagnosis and treatment during follow-up visits. Conclusions: This study estimated the prevalence and risk factors for dementia and MCI among individuals aged ≥ 65 years in Southeast China. These findings are crucial for preventing and managing dementia and MCI in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cerebral infarction (CI) is a common cerebrovascular disease worldwide, and the burden caused by the sequelae of CI has increased significantly. However, current treatment guidelines lack standardized recommendations for pharmacotherapy of sequelae of CI. This retrospective study collected and analyzed 1.98 million prescriptions concerning sequelae of CI from patients admitted to Zhiyun Health Internet Hospital in 2022. The mean age of patients was 66.2 ± 11.4 years, and 52.40% were male. 79.73% had one or more comorbidities. For treatment, the prescriptions of 1-, 2- and ≥ 3-drug accounted for 64.55%, 23.77% and 11.68% respectively. Chinese patent medicine (CPM) prescriptions, western medicine (WM) prescriptions, and CPM and WM combined (CPM + WM) prescriptions accounted for 53.81%, 27.33%, and 18.86% respectively. In CPM prescriptions, the most frequently prescribed medications were Salvia miltiorrhiza (34.81%), Ginkgo biloba (24.96%), Panax notoginseng (20.67%), Gastrodia (7.15%) and Ligusticum Wallichii (4.90%). For WM prescriptions, the most commonly prescribed agents were anti-hypertensive (32.82%), anti-thrombotic (16.06%), vasodilator (15.70%), anti-dementia (10.88%), and lipid-lowering (9.58%) drugs. Among CPM + WM prescriptions, 72.61% had CPM/WM = 1, 21.20% had CPM/WM < 1, and 6.19% had CPM/WM > 1. This research utilized real-world data extracted from internet hospitals in China to present valuable evidence of online prescription patterns among patients experiencing sequelae of CI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, the prevalence of hypertension and the accompanying burden of cardiovascular disease are increasing. Through drug utilization research, we can understand the prescription status of hypertension patients and promote rational drug use. The purpose of this retrospective study was to describe the current prescription pattern of antihypertensive drugs in Chinese patients and determine the compliance level of treatment guidelines. Around 11.1 million patients who received a prescription for antihypertensive therapy between January 2021 to December 2021 were obtained from a database of Hangzhou Kang Sheng Health Consulting CO., Ltd. The mean age of hypertensive patients was 54.75 ± 12.98 years. About 6.7 million (60.30%) were males. About 46.07% of patients had comorbidities. The most common classes of antihypertensive medications used were calcium channel blockers (CCBs) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs). Around 78.33% of participants were on monotherapy. Diuretics + ARBs and Diuretics + CCBs + ARBs were the most commonly prescribed pattern in two-drug combination therapy and three-drug combination therapy, respectively. CCBs and ARBs were the two most frequently prescribed for patients with hypertension. The prescription pattern of antihypertensive medications in the study largely complied with recommended Chinese hypertension guidelines. Cardiovascular disease is the most common complication of hypertension. Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) are the two most commonly used drugs for hypertension patients in China. The proportion of combination prescription pattern in Chinese hypertensive patients is low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large number of studies have provided evidence regarding the factors that influence commuting time. However, few studies have explored such effects in the context of considering spatial heterogeneity across cities, which limits the generalizability of the findings. This study addresses this gap by utilizing a dataset of 113 cities in China across the years 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020. A two-level hierarchical linear model (HLM) was developed to explore the combined effects of city-level and individual-level factors on commuting time by constructing a nested "city-individual" relationship. The results show that (1) built environments at the city level significantly impact commuting time; (2) a non-linear association between population density and commuting time (U-shaped relationship) was identified, as well as between the number of buses and commuting time (inverted U-shaped relationship); (3) the urban construction land area and road area per capita exert negative effects on commuting time; (4) the impacts of individuals' jobs–housing balance, travel allowances, and education on commuting time vary across cities. These findings might contribute to optimizing the design of a built environment, addressing the challenge posed by longer commuting times, and providing a better understanding of the effects of individuals' characteristics on commuting time while considering the inherent differences across cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic is a huge public health crisis in the 21st century. In addition to the acute symptoms, a considerable proportion of patients worldwide have suffered from post-COVID-19 syndrome, commonly known as Long COVID. The impact of Long COVID on individual and public health burden cannot be ignored. According to recent researches, Long COVID has been affecting multiple organ systems throughout the body, with respiratory, mental, nervous and digestive symptoms often seen in Chinese population. Clinical studies have proved that symptoms were alleviated by a variety of treatments, such as physical therapy, rehabilitation training, psychological support, behavioral cognitive therapy, stem cell therapy, etc. Based on the current clinical evidence, it is recommended to strengthen the scientific research on Long COVID and actively carry out early monitoring and intervention in the future, so as to effectively prevent the long-term disease burden and economic pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the increasing attention given to smart tourism in China, limited research has been conducted on this topic. The purpose of this research was to analyze the stakeholders, applications, experiences, and challenges of smart tourism in China. Public–private partnership played a dominant role in China's smart tourism construction. Smart technologies were applied in information platform construction, tourism statistics innovation, information offering, overcrowding management, environment and resource protection, experience co-creation and personalization, tourism traffic, and marketing. The experiences and challenges of China's smart tourism initiative, which can provide valuable implications for other destinations to improve smartness level, were also identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Regular retrospective analysis is necessary for potential improvement in clinical practice for the treatment of hard-to-heal wounds. Comorbidities and outcomes have demonstrated spatial and temporal diversity, emphasising the importance of updates in epidemiology. The complexity of healing hard-to-heal wounds has long been known, and so we sought evidence-based improvement on the current principles of treatment. Method: Demographic and clinical information of patients from the WoundCareLog database was collected. Patients who met the inclusion criteria and completed follow-up after treatment were included. Comorbidities were diagnosed and classified into eight categories based on ICD-10. We compared the demographic and aetiological characteristics between patients with and without comorbidities by t-test and Chi-squared test. The impact of comorbidities on wound healing were evaluated with a multivariate Cox model. Results: A total of 2163 patients met the inclusion criteria and were enrolled, of whom 37.0% were aged 61–80 years, 36.0% were aged 41–60 years and 60.8% were male. The lower extremities and buttocks were the most commonly affected areas with hard-to-heal wounds. Non-traumatic wounds accounted for 66.6% of cases, and infection, pressure and diabetes were the most common causes. Paralysis and diabetes were the most important factors which led to a prolonged healing process and inferior clinical outcomes. Conclusion: Comorbidities of hard-to-heal wounds were treated as separate contributors and their weighted effect on outcome was calculated through correlation analysis. Paralysis and diabetes were the most unfavourable comorbidities affecting the treatment of non-traumatic hard-to-heal wounds. Our study highlighted the priority of comorbidity treatment through data-driven approaches. It provides potential value in developing better public health strategies and preventive medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2020, the National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases with National Committee on Hypertension Management in Primary Health Care in China issued revised national clinical practice guidelines on the management of hypertension in primary health care based on the 2018 Chinese guidelines for the management of hypertension. To evaluate adherence to the guidelines, this retrospective study assessed the real-world status of antihypertensive drug prescribing for Chinese patients with hypertension, classified by comorbidity: coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus, heart failure, stroke, and renal disease. About 1088212 hypertensive patients who received their first prescription for antihypertensive therapy between January 2021 to June 2021, were obtained from a database of Hangzhou Kang Sheng Health Consulting CO., Ltd. Calcium channel blockers (CCBs) and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) were the most common drugs prescribed for each comorbidity subgroup. Whereas diabetes mellitus or renal disease is a compelling indication for use of renin–angiotensin system inhibitors, CCBs were often administered in these subgroups. The treatment pattern for patients with coronary heart disease was closely similar to that for the overall patient population. Beta-blockers (BBs) were prescribed more frequently for patients with heart failure than for those with other comorbidities. Although antihypertensive drug prescription varied by comorbidity, pharmacological decisions were largely made under Chinese recommendations while physicians could select antihypertensive drugs based on the patients' comorbidities. However, educational initiatives are still necessary to inspire clinicians to better familiarize themselves with the guidelines and manage hypertension comorbid diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An experimental vermicomposting system was established in purple soil present in Sichuan Basin, China. The purpose of vermicomposting (VC) was to recycle and manage organic waste materials; for instance, animal manure and crop residues are present in great quantity. A particular use of earthworms for VC is a valuable method for retrieving essential plant nutrients. Experimental vermicomposting followed by monitoring was conducted for two months in summer with an interval of fifteen days. Four treatments, COM (compost without earthworms), VCM (using cow manure), VPM (through pig manure), and VBC (using biochar), were applied with agricultural wastes such as rapeseed and wheat straw in combination with cow dung, pig manure, and biochar, respectively. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to statistically analyze and interpret the nutrient change among different treatments. Post hoc analysis was done using Tukey's test. The experimental vermicomposting results revealed that VCM gives increased plant nutrients with a minimum C: N ratio (from 22.13 to 14.38) and a maximum increase in nitrogen concentrations (1.77 to 29.15 g kg−1). A significant decrease in ammonia volatilization was observed in the order VCM > VBC > VPM when compared to COM. It was experimentally established that vermicomposting is the most suitable method for converting organic waste into nutrient-rich fertilizer with the least environmental pollution load. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is one of the leading causes of mortality worldwide. Moreover, the effects of air pollution have been associated with several cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The relationship between sandstorm weather and IHD is unknown. The Hexi Corridor is located in northwestern China and is a typical desert region comprising a large area of desert with a high incidence of sandstorms. This study aimed to explore the association between sandstorm weather and IHD-related mortality in this area. We acquired meteorological data of sandstorm weather from 2006 to 2015 from the Gansu Meteorological Bureau, and data regarding deaths due to IHD in five cities within the Hexi Corridor were collected from the death registration system of the Center for Disease Control of Gansu during the same period. Two other cities with few sandstorm events were selected as control regions. The time series method of the generalized additive model (GAM) was used to assess the association between sandstorm weather and IHD-related mortality in the Hexi Corridor. The results showed that the frequency of sandstorms in the Hexi Corridor was higher than that in the control regions (5.48% vs 1.64%, P < 0.01), and IHD-related mortality was correspondingly higher than that in the control regions (56.42/100,000 vs 45.62/100,000, P < 0.01). After stratification by gender, age, and urban/rural residence, a significant difference in IHD-related mortality was also noted (P < 0.05). Significant associations were found between sandstorm weather and IHD-related mortality, and the relative risk (RR) increased with an increasing number of days of sandstorm weather. According to the monthly and annual analyses, the mortality rate corresponded to sandstorm frequency. Our data suggest a positive association between sandstorm weather and IHD-related mortality in the Hexi Corridor of Gansu Province. The underlying mechanism requires further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We explored the potential for a molecular diagnosis of prenatalskeletal dysplasias using WES in China. • We got an 80% diagnosis rate higher than most previous studies, because we have used WES and US to prenatal diagnosis. • Greenberg skeletal dysplasia is a very rare, we reported one fetus casecaused by LBR mutations. • Our research may enrich the mutation spectrum of LBR, COL1A2,COL2A1 and FGFR3 genes in the Chinese population and improveunderstanding the pathogenesis of skeletal dysplasias. Skeletal dysplasias account for nearly 10% of fetal structural malformations detected by ultrasonography. This clinically heterogeneous group of genetic anomaly includes at least 461 genetic skeletal disorders with extreme clinical, phenotypic, and genetic heterogeneities, thus, significantly complicates accurate diagnosis. Researches have used whole exome sequencing (WES) for prenatal molecular diagnoses of skeletal dysplasias, however, data are still limited. DNA extracted from umbilical cord blood or amniocytes from fetuses suspected of skeletal dysplasias based on ultrasound evaluations were analyzed by WES. Blood samples were taken from the parents of the positive fetuses for co-segregation analysis using Sanger sequencing. Definitive molecular diagnosis was made in 6/8 (75%) cases, comprised of 5 de novo disease-causing changes in 3 genes (FGFR3 , COL2A1 , and COL1A2) and one proband with a biallelic deficiency for Lamin B Receptor(LBR),and including 3 novel variants. All fetuses had no detectable copy number variation (CNV) from sequencing results. Our study suggests that WES is an efficient approach for prenatal diagnosis of fetuses suspected of skeletal abnormalities and contributes to parental genetics counseling and pregnancy management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Farmland birds are of conservation concerns around the world. In China, conservation management has focused primarily on natural habitats, whereas little attention has been given to agricultural landscapes. Although agricultural land use is intensive in China, environmental heterogeneity can be highly variable in some regions due to variations in crop and noncrop elements within a landscape. We examined how noncrop heterogeneity, crop heterogeneity, and noncrop features (noncrop vegetation and water body such as open water) influenced species richness and abundance of all birds as well as three functional groups (woodland species, agricultural land species, and agricultural wetland species) in the paddy‐dominated landscapes of Erhai water basin situated in northwest Yunnan, China. Birds, crop, and noncrop vegetation surveys in twenty 1 km × 1 km landscape plots were conducted during the winter season (from 2014 to 2015). The results revealed that bird community compositions were best explained by amounts of noncrop vegetation and compositional heterogeneity of noncrop habitat (Shannon–Wiener index). Both variables also had a positive effect on richness and abundance of woodland species. Richness of agricultural wetland species increased with increasing areas of water bodies within the landscape plot. Richness of total species was also greater in the landscapes characterized by larger areas of water bodies, high proportion of noncrop vegetation, high compositional heterogeneity of noncrop habitat, or small field patches (high crop configurational heterogeneity). Crop compositional heterogeneity did not show significant effects neither on the whole community (all birds) nor on any of the three functional groups considered. These findings suggest that total bird diversity and some functional groups, especially woodland species, would benefit from increases in the proportion of noncrop features such as woody vegetation and water bodies as well as compositional heterogeneity of noncrop features within landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the low access rate of cable Internet connection in rural China, the mobile phone has become the most favored new media terminal for rural residents to surf the Internet. Particularly for rural adolescents, the mobile phone has become their primary medium to engage in social activities. By selecting Ou town, located in Central China, as the site of fieldwork and applying the theory of 'domestication', this paper aims to thickly describe the structure of rural family politics where new media use has become an integral part of the rural adolescents' lives. The research enriches the study of Internet politics at the micro-level and further reveals major practical issues related to the growth and socialization of rural adolescents in the digital era. This study finds adolescents live in varied 'family politics', and the respective family powers influence the measures and extent of domesticating new media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Jinsha River Basin is an important basin for hydropower in China and it is also the main runoff and sediment source area for the Yangtze River, which greatly influence the runoff and sediment in the Three Gorges Reservoir. This study aims to characterize the spatial distribution, inter-annual variation of runoff and sediment load in the Jinsha River Basin, and to analyze the contribution of rainfall and human activities to the runoff and sediment load changes. The monitoring data on runoff, sediment load and precipitation were collected from 11 hydrological stations in the Jinsha River Basin from 1966 to 2016. The data observed at the outlet of the basin showed that 71.4% of the runoff is from the upper reaches of the Jinsha River Basin and the Yalong River, while 63.3% of the sediment is from the lower reaches (excluding the Yalong River). There is no significant increase in runoff on temporal scale in the Jinsha River Basin, while it has an abrupt change in runoff in both upstream and midstream in 1985, and an abrupt change in downstream in 1980 and 2013. The sediment load demonstrated a significant increasing trend in the upstream, no significant reducing trend in the midstream, but significant reducing trend in the downstream. The sediment load in upstream showed abrupt change in 1987, in midstream in 1978 and 2014, in downstream in 2012. Rainfall dominated runoff variation, contributing more than 59.0% of the total variation, while human activity, including reservoirs construction, the implementation of soil and water conservation projects, is the major factor to sediment load variation, contributing more than 87.0% of the total variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Assessed water supply risks in SSP–RCPs for climate adaptation policy development. • Combined effects of climate and LUCC to project water supply risks. • Analyzed the change of climate, LUCC and water supply by SD-PLUS-SWAT model. • Medium-radiative-force scenario showed the risk of seasonal drought and flooding. Coupling land use and climate change under shared socioeconomic pathway and representative concentration pathway (SSP–RCP) scenarios can provide more accurate predictions of water supply risks, thereby supporting decision-making for spatial planning with a focus on climate adaptation. Climate change exhibits spatial and temporal differences. To meet the requirements of spatial planning, further research is needed to assess water supply risks at different basin or regional scales. In this study, we selected four SSP–RCP scenarios for analysis, considering the temporal scale of spatial planning. The climate modeling capabilities of five global climate models (GCMs) and a multi-model ensemble (MME) were evaluated using a Taylor diagram, which assesses the performance of climate element simulations. The modeling framework that consisted of system dynamics (SD), patch-generating land-use simulations (PLUS), and Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was employed to analyze synergistic changes in climate, land use, and water supply. The Ganjiang River Basin (GRB) serves as a case study for climate-adaptive planning at the basin scale, given its characteristics of high agricultural water demand and vulnerability to droughts and floods. The study aims to provide decision-making support for such planning. In our projections, precipitation in the GRB showed a slightly increasing trend from 2021 to 2050. Monthly precipitation increases during the flood season in August and decreases during the dry season from October to December. The maximum and minimum temperatures showed an increasing trend on both the yearly and monthly scales, with slightly higher increases during fall and winter. During the planning phase, the land use quantities of SSP126 and SSP245 showed similar variations. SSP370 experienced the most significant reduction in farmland, while SSP585 displayed a more scattered and punctuated layout of construction land. The annual water supply in the GRB showed a slightly decreasing trend from 2021 to 2035 and 2036–2050, and the largest reduction was found in SSP370. The trend of variation in the monthly water supply was complex. There was a consistent trend of decreasing water supply during the dry season, whereas the changes during the flood season were more complex. Seasonal variations in water supply are a major water security concern for the basin's future. It is necessary to strengthen the agricultural water security planning in the northern region of the basin and enhance its ability to adapt to droughts and floods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional travel behavior theory regards travel time as a waste. Recent studies suggest that it carries a positive utility, among other reasons for the benefit of the activities conducted while traveling. However, most studies of travel time use have focused on conventional trains in developed countries. Few have systematically examined the permeation of information and communication technology (ICT) into travel time use and the correlates of activity participation in developing countries, particularly on high speed rail (HSR). Using a survey conducted on the Shanghai-Nanjing corridor (N = 901), this study examines how HSR passengers use their travel time and explores the correlates of the different types of activities of business and non-business travelers, respectively, through multivariate probit models. We found that 96% of the respondents use ICT during their HSR journey and that most passengers spend some of their travel time on work-related activities. Moreover, items carried and advance planning as well as work-related travel attributes contribute significantly to activity participation. However, the factors affecting time use of business and non-business travelers differ. HSR service design should facilitate passenger engagement in various activities and improvement of their travel experience. A stable internet connection, adequate power sockets, and a noise-free environment will promote both work and leisure activities on the HSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microblogs widen the dissemination channels of tourism information, and provide advanced platform and convenient path for Tourism Administrations to market their destinations. Whether a microblog message is forwarded reflects the degree of information dissemission, and is also one of the standards to test the operation value of Tourism Administration Official Microblogs. This paper focuses on official microblogs of provincial tourism administrations in China. In order to make the study sample representative, data were collected from April 20th to May 6th in 2012, a period before and after May Day holiday, which is a peak period that provincial tourism administrations post official microblogs. During this period, 1657 pieces of original official microblogs were posted by 19 provincial tourism administrations. Based on pertinent literature and a long time observation experience, this paper confirmed three types of characteristic variables, including the characteristic of user, text and content, and 15 influential factors. User characteristics include geographical zone, and the number of followers, followees, and average daily microblogs; text characteristics include the microblogging date and time, mention, URL, emoticon, topic, micro-column, picture, video and audio; content characteristics are divided into 14 content types according to tourism six elements theory, pertinent literatures and the analysis of study sample. The premised hypothesis of this study is that different "forwarding" level is affected by different influential factors. Therefore, we used Multinomial Logistic Regression Model to study the influence of these factors in terms of its direction and degree on microblog "forwarding" level. The study results indicate that there are different factors affecting the "forwarding" level of officials microblogs of tourism administrations. The "forwarding" level here is divided into senior, ordinary and none forwarding. The premised hypothesis of this study is proven to be true. For official microblogs of provincial tourism administrations, combining different factors will make different propagation effect. As a result, it is necessary to design tailored messages for marketing purposes. Second, the characteristics of user, text and content have impact on microblog "forwarding", but there are differences in the significance and influence direction of each factor. The reasons causing different results are related to the identities of factors and preferences of information receivers. Third, the factors influencing the "forwarding" level are mainly microblog activity information, pictures, and number of followers. Fourth, there is no significant relationship between the "forwarding" level and other factors (i.e., geographical location, URLs, emoticon, micro-column and videos). It is a new and effective method for management organizations of tourism destinations to promote destinations using microblogs, which deserves deep research. This research enriched the theory of microblog marketing and played an important role in tourism microblog operation and tourism destination marketing. However, it is not a long time for the provincial tourism administrations to use official microblogs for information dissemination, and the application of official microblogs and such studies are still in their infancy; therefore, less research can be used for reference. Additionally, the number of study samples used in this paper is also limited. For these reasons, the research results need to be tested in practice and improved in future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: It is known that many different breeds of cattle are widely distributed in China. However, due to a lengthy selection of draught direction, there are obvious shortcomings in Chinese cattle, such as less meat production, slow weight gain, poor meat quality, and a lack of specialized beef cattle breeds. Animal breeding heavily benefits from molecular technologies, among which molecular genetic markers were widely used to improve the economic traits of beef cattle. Because the copy number variation (CNV) involves a longer DNA sequence or even the entire functional gene, it may have a greater impact on the phenotype. Recent studies have indicated that CNVs are widespread in the Chinese cattle genome. By investigating the effects of CNVs on gene expression and cattle traits, we aim to find those genomic variations which could significantly affect cattle traits, and which could provide a basis for genetic selection and molecular breeding of local Chinese cattle. Currently, studies of the SYT11 gene mainly focus on neurological diseases such as schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease. However, some studies have shown that the C2B domain of SYT11 can interact with RISC components and affect the gene regulation of miRNA, which is important for cell differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis, and therefore has an impact on muscle growth and development in animals. The whole-genome resequencing data detected a CNV in the SYT11 gene, and this may affect cattle growth traits. In this study, CNV distribution of 672 individuals from four cattle breeds, Yunling, Pinan, Xianan, and Qinchuan, were detected by qPCR. The relationship between CNV, gene expression and growth traits was further investigated. The results showed that the proportion of multiple copy types was the largest in all cattle breeds, but there were some differences among different breeds. The normal type had higher gene expression than the abnormal copy type. The CNVs of the SYT11 gene were significantly correlated with body length, cannon circumference, chest depth, rump length, and forehead size of Yunling cattle, and was significantly correlated with the bodyweight of Xianan cattle, respectively. These data improve our understanding of the effects of CNV on cattle growth traits. Our results suggest that the CNV of SYT11 gene is a protentional molecular marker, which may be used to improve growth traits in Chinese cattle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The four mutant loci in the ASB-3 gene were identified by Tetra-primer ARMS-PCR method. • Four mutant loci in the ASB-3 gene were found to be significantly associated with some body traits in Qinchuan cattle, Jinnan cattle and Xianan cattle. • Validation of ASB-3 as a candidate genetic marker for molecular breeding of China cattle. ASB-3 is one of the 18 members of ASB gene family. As a special negative regulation factor of TNF-R2, ASB-3 inhibits the signal transduction of JNK-TNF-R2 and JNK-STAT signaling pathway by TNF-R2 protein. In this study, the genetic polymorphisms of ASB-3 were detected in total of 637 from Qinchuan, Jinnan and Xianan cattle using the sequence of mixed DNA pool, Tetra-primer ARMS-PCR and PCR-RFLP methods. Four mutation sites were detected including the g.C41255T, g.G74754A, and g.T75438C were synonymous mutation, whereas the g.C115213T was missense mutation (Pro > Ser). The associated analysis of four polymorphic loci of ASB-3 gene respectively with growth traits in the three cattle breeds. The result showed that SNP1 site was significantly related with Qinchuan cattle height and TT was the dominant genotype; SNP2 had a significant relationship with body length of Xianan cattle and cross department height of Qinchuan cattle, AA was the dominant genotype; SNP3 was significantly related to cross height of Xianan cattle, TT was the dominant genotype; SNP4 site was significantly correlated with body height of Xianan cattle and cross height of Jinnan cattle. Genotype combinations were only significantly correlated with the hucklebone width in the adult Qinchuan cattle. The combination genotype CTAGCTCC was outperformed other combination genotypes of Qinchuan cattle. The results showed that ASB-3 could be an important candidate gene and the four SNPs in ASB-3 can be used for molecular marker-assisted selection of four beef cattle breeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While in hospite Symbiodiniaceae dinoflagellates are essential for coral health, ambient free-living counterparts are crucial for coral recruitment and resilience. Comparing free-living and in hospite Symbiodiniaceae communities can potentially provide insights into endosymbiont acquisition and recurrent recruitment in bleaching recovery. In this study, we studied coral-endosymbiotic and ambient free-living Symbiodiniaceae communities in the South China Sea. We collected samples from 183 coral and ambient plankton samples and conducted metabarcoding to investigate the diversity distribution, driving factors, and assembly mechanisms of the two groups of Symbiodiniaceae. Results revealed Cladocopium C1 and Durusdinium D1 as dominant genotypes. We detected a higher genotypic diversity in free-living than in hospite symbiodiniacean communities, but with shared dominant genotypes. This indicates a genetically diverse pool of Symbiodiniaceae available for recruitment by corals. Strikingly, we found that the cooler area had more Symbiodiniaceae thermosensitive genotypes, whereas the warmer area had more Symbiodiniaceae thermotolerant genotypes. Furthermore, in hospite and free-living Symbiodiniaceae communities were similarly affected by environmental factors, but shaped by different assembly mechanisms. The in hospite communities were controlled mainly by deterministic processes, whereas the ambient communities by stochastic processes. This study sheds light on the genetic diversity of source environmental Symbiodiniaceae and differential assembly mechanisms influencing Symbiodiniaceae inside and outside corals.IMPORTANCESymbiodiniaceae dinoflagellates play a pivotal role as key primary producers within coral reef ecosystems. Coral-endosymbiotic Symbiodiniaceae communities have been extensively studied, but relatively little work has been reported on the free-living Symbiodiniaceae community. Conducting a comparative analysis between sympatric coral-endosymbiotic and free-living Symbiodiniaceae communities can potentially enhance the understanding of how endosymbiont communities change in response to changing environments and the mechanisms driving these changes. Our findings shed light on the genetic diversity of source environmental Symbiodiniaceae and differential assembly mechanisms shaping free-living and in hospite Symbiodiniaceae communities, with implications in evaluating the adaptive and resilient capacity of corals in response to future climate change., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the current situation of Chinese mobile apps for hypertension management and explore patients' real requirements for app use, providing a theoretical basis for the future improvement of hypertension apps., Methods: We reviewed hypertension management apps from mobile app platforms, and summarized their functional characteristics. In addition, we conducted an online survey among 1000 hypertensive patients, collected valid responses, and analyzed the feedback data., Results: Forty hypertension management apps were analyzed, with 72.5% offering no more than six functions, indicating limited coverage of advanced and comprehensive functionalities. Among the 934 valid survey responses, patients emphasized four main functions in apps for hypertension management: long-term dynamic blood pressure monitoring, scientific lifestyle management, strict medication management and systematic health knowledge delivering., Conclusion: The existing hypertension management apps mainly serve as "Digital Health" tools with unclear clinical efficacy. The future development of these apps lies in how they transition to "Digital Therapeutics" solutions to better meet patients' needs and provide clear clinical advantages., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Ammonia (NH 3 ) volatilization and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission are important environment pollution sources in upland agro-ecosystems. Vermicompost was used for amending purple soil and comparing NH 3 and GHG emissions. A field experiment was conducted with a comparison of organic and inorganic fertilizers in a wheat-maize rotation system in the Sichuan Basin, China. The five treatments were conventional inorganic fertilizers, NPK as control; vermicompost prepared with cow dung (VCM); and pig manure (VPM); cow dung and pig manure vermicompost, respectively (VCMNPK, VPMNPK). Total nitrogen rates of all treatments were the same. Soil NH 3 volatilization and GHG emissions were monitored with the static chamber method. The results showed that NH 3 volatilization occurred in the first two weeks following nitrogen (N) fertilization. The cumulative fluxes of NH 3 recorded in the NPK, VCM, VPM, VCMNPK, and VPMNPK treatments were 15.4, 5.7, 6.3, 10.32, and 10.29 kg N ha -1 yr -1 , respectively, in the winter and 4.8, 5.5, 19.83, 12.8, and 11.9 kg N ha -1 yr -1 respectively, in the summer. The global warming potential (GWP) 773.6 and 803.9 g CO 2 -eq m -2 in VCM and VPM, respectively, during the wheat season 540.6 and 576.2 g CO 2 -eq m -2 , respectively, during the maize season. The GWPs in NPK treatment were 1032.4 and 570.7 g CO 2 -eq m -2 during the wheat and maize seasons, respectively. The increasing effects of nutrient loops, particularly 18 % soil total nitrogen (TN) and 31 % soil organic carbon (SOC) in VCM, and crop productivity of vermicompost treatments during the wheat-maize rotation had been evaluated. This study recommends that VCM can be considered as a better organic amendment, promoting plant growth while decreasing the environmental costs of gas emissions., 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 © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Cardiovascular diseases seriously affect human health and their prevalence continues to increase with the aging of the population. The integrated therapy of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) and western medicine for cardiovascular diseases has achieved certain results, but it is still faced with new challenges. Studies have shown that inflammation plays an important role in the development of cardiovascular diseases and some of these mechanisms have common features. For example, in cardiovascular diseases, C-C motif chemokine receptor 2(CCR2)-expressing macrophages increase and promote inflammation, and excessive activation of NOD-like receptor protein 3(NLRP3) inflammasome leads to the elevation of inflammatory factors. There is also new understanding of the pathogenesis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases in TCM. The heat-toxicity theory in cardiovascular diseases and the therapeutic principle of clearing heat and removing toxin have attracted attention. The clinical and pharmacological studies on the treatment of cardiovascular diseases such as Huanglian Jiedu Decoction and Simiao Yong'an Decoction are also gradually increasing. The present study analyzed the common features of the inflammatory response mechanisms in diverse cardiovascular diseases and discussed the significance of the prevention and treatment of diverse cardiovascular diseases by the treatment method of clearing heat and removing toxin to regulate inflammation, which is expected to provide new ideas and references for clinical treatment and drug research on cardiovascular diseases with the same treatment method for different diseases.

The aim of this study was to assess the potential of 21 bp mutation in the second intron of the GSN gene as a molecular marker-assisted by exploring the effect of 21 bp mutation on growth traits in four beef cattle breeds. Gelsolin (GSN), a member of the superfamily of gel proteins, is involved in the regulation of a variety of cellular activities in the organism and plays an important function in cell motility, apoptosis, signal transduction and inflammatory responses. Gelatin can not only negatively regulate the pro-apoptotic effect of P53 protein, but also promote apoptosis by blocking the interaction between actin and deoxyribonuclease, so, the GSN gene was selected as a candidate gene in this study. In this study, a 21 bp mutation on the second intron to the GSN gene was verified in 573 individuals of Yunling (YL, n = 220), Jiaxian (JX, n = 140), Xianan (XN, n = 114) and Qinchuan (QC, n = 97) cattle breeds using Once PCR and agarose gel electrophoresis. The association analysis of polymorphisms in the GSN gene with growth traits in four breeds was revealed: in YL cattle, the heart girth and forehead size of heterozygous ID genotype were significantly higher than II genotype (P < 0.05). In JX cattle, the withers height, body length and heart girth of II and ID genotype were significantly highest than DD genotype (P < 0.01); the height at hip cross and height at sacrum of II genotype was significantly highest than DD genotype (P < 0.01), but ID genotype was significantly higher than DD genotype. In XN cattle, the abdominal girth and circumference of the cannon bone of II genotype were significantly higher than ID genotype (P < 0.05). In QC cattle, the hucklebone width of ID genotype was significantly the highest than II genotype (P < 0.01). The results suggest that GSN may be an important candidate gene and that a 21 bp mutation on the second intron to the GSN gene can be used for molecular marker-assisted selection of four beef cattle breeds., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Cardiac injury is a common complication of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), and is associated with adverse clinical outcomes. In this study, we aimed to reveal the association of cardiac injury with coagulation dysfunction. We enrolled 181 consecutive patients who were hospitalized with COVID-19, and studied the clinical characteristics and outcome of these patients. Cardiac biomarkers high-sensitivity troponin I (hs-cTnI), myohemoglobin and creatine kinase-myocardial band (CK-MB) were assessed in all patients. The clinical outcomes were defined as hospital discharge or death. The median age of the study cohort was 55 (IQR, 46-65) years, and 102 (56.4%) were males. Forty-two of the 181 patients (23.2%) had cardiac injury. Old age, high leukocyte count, and high levels of aspartate transaminase (AST), D-dimer and serum ferritin were significantly associated with cardiac injury. Multivariate regression analysis revealed old age and elevated D-dimer levels as being strong risk predictors of in-hospital mortality. Interleukin 6 (IL6) levels were comparable in patients with or without cardiac injury. Serial observations of coagulation parameters demonstrated highly synchronous alterations of D-dimer along with progression to cardiac injury. Cardiac injury is a common complication of COVID-19 and is an independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality. Old age, high leukocyte count, and high levels of AST, D-dimer and serum ferritin are significantly associated with cardiac injury, whereas IL6 are not. Therefore, the pathogenesis of cardiac injury in COVID-19 may be primarily due to coagulation dysfunction along with microvascular injury.

Microplastics are emerging contaminants and widespread in the ocean, but their impacts on coral reef ecosystems are poorly understood, and in situ study is still lacking. In the present study, the distribution patterns of microplastics in the environment and inhabiting organisms were investigated along the east coast of Hainan Island, South China Sea, and the physiological impacts of the microplastics on scleractinian corals were analyzed. We documented average microplastic concentrations of 14.90 particlesL -1 in seawater, 343.04 particleskg -1 in sediment, 4.97 particlescm -2 in corals, and 0.67-3.12 particlescm -1 in Tridacnidae, Trochidae and fish intestines. Further analysis revealed that the characteristics of microplastics in the organisms were different from those in the environment, indicating preferential enrichment in the organisms. Furthermore, there was an obvious correlation between microplastic concentration and symbiotic density in corals. Furthermore, caspase3 activity was significantly positively correlated with the microplastic content in the small-polyp coral Pocillopora damicornis, but the large-polyp coral Galaxea fascicularis showed higher tolerance to microplastics. Taken together, our results suggest that microplastics are selectively enriched in corals and other reef-dwellers, in which they exact differential stress (apoptotic) effects, with the potential to impact the coral-Symbiodiniaceae symbiosis and alter the coral community structure., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

There is a huge potential for nutrient recovery from organic waste materials for soil fertility restoration as well as negative environmental emission mitigation. Previous research has found vermicomposting the optimal choice for converting organic waste into beneficial organic fertilizer while reducing reactive N loss. However, a great deal of the processes of greenhouse gases (GHG) and ammonia volatilization during vermicomposting are not well-documented. A field vermicomposting experiment was conducted by deploying earthworms ( Eisenia fetida ) with three types of agricultural by-products-namely, cow manure (VCM), pig manure (VPM), and biochar (VBC)-and crop (maize) residues compared with traditional composting (COM) without earthworms in the Sichuan Basin, China. Results showed that vermicomposting caused a decrease in electrical conductivity (EC) and total organic carbon (TOC) while increasing total nitrogen (TN). The greatest TN increase was found with VCM. The cumulative NH 3 volatilization in COM, VCM, VPM, and VBC during experimental duration was 9.00, 8.02, 15.16, and 8.91 kg N ha -1 , respectively. The cumulative CO 2 emissions in COM, VCM, VPM, and VBC were 2369, 2814, 3435, and 2984 (g·C·m -2 ), while for CH 4 , they were 0.36, 0.28, 4.07, and 0.19 (g·C·m -2 ) and, for N 2 O, they were 0.12, 0.06, 0.76, and 0.04 (g·N m -2 ), respectively. Lower emissions of N 2 O, CH 4 , and NH 3 were observed in VBC. We concluded that earthworms, as ecological engineers, enhanced reactive nutrients and reduced ammonia volatilization during vermicomposting in our test system. Overall, vermicomposting is proposed as an eco-friendly, sustainable technique that helps to reduce environmental impacts and associated health risks.

The incidence of chronic wounds has been increasing over the past 20 years. However, the standardized diagnosis and treatment practice of chronic refractory wounds have not been established. In addition, the properties of the wound are characterized by morphology and thus correct description of the wound in medical history collection plays a vital role, which directly affects the definitive diagnosis. To develop more accurate format of clinical history record which can correctly reflect a patient's course and treatment progress, and to standardize the medical history record of chronic refractory wounds, at the national or regional level, we designed the WoundCareLog APP. It acts as a recording and communication tool for wound healing specialists at all levels of medical institutions in China. The WoundCareLog APP is fully compatible to meet the criteria and requirements of conventional medical records by embedding 9 modules. In addition, the demands for morphological description of wounds in wound healing diagnosis and treatment have been fulfilled by enroll of digital imaging technology to overcome the inadequacies of traditional medical history records., (Copyright © 2019 Chinese Medical Association. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A Gram-staining negative bacterium, designated as GSS15 T , was isolated from compost in Guangzhou, China. Cells of strain GSS15 T were rod-shaped and non-motile. The isolate was able to grow at 15-42 °C (optimum 30 °C) and pH 6.0-11.0 (optimum pH 8.0), and tolerate up to 6.0% NaCl (w/v). When the 16S rRNA gene sequence of the isolate was compared with those of other bacteria, the highest similarity was observed with Pseudoxanthomonas helianthi roo10 T (96.9%). Furthermore, strain GSS15 T showed low ANI (75.7-79.5%) and DDH (24.2-18.3%) values to the closely related species. Q-8 was the predominant respiratory quinone. The major cellular fatty acids ( > 5%) were iso-C 15:0 (18.7%), C 16:1 ω7c (18.6%), anteiso-C 15:0 (13.2%), C 16:0 (9.8%), and iso-C 16:0 (8.8%). The polar lipids consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, and diphosphatidylglycerol. Based on its phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and genotypic data, strain GSS15 T (= KCTC 52974 T  = MCCC 1K03334 T ) is designated as the type strain of a novel species of the genus Pseudoxanthomonas, for which the name Pseudoxanthomonas composti sp. nov. is proposed.

Myopia is the leading cause of visual impairments worldwide. Some studies revealed that visual experience in early life affected the final myopia, indicating that environmental factors play an impellent role in the development of myopia. However, risk factors of myopia are still not identified among adolescents in China. A total of 4104 cases of myopia symptom and 3306 emmetropia controls were selected from students in primary and middle schools in Wuhan in 2008. We identified the risk factors associated with myopia symptom by multivariate logistic regression in this cross-sectional study and constructed a risk score system for myopia symptom. The value of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was 0.735. Furthermore, we followed up 93 students aged 7-9 years for one year and calculated the total points using the score system. We found no significant difference between the final myopia symptom and the results predicted by the total points by pair chi-square test (P>0.05). The score system had a modest ability to estimate the risk factors of myopia symptom. Using this score system, we could identify the students who are at risk of myopia symptom in the future according to their behaviors and environmental factors, and take measures to slow the progress of myopia symptom.

A novel halophilic bacterium, strain GSS13 T , capable of growing at salinities of 8-28 % (w/v) NaCl (optimally at 24 %, w/v) was isolated from Yuncheng Saline Lake in China. GSS13 T was Gram-stain-positive, strictly aerobic, rod-shaped, motile and a non-spore-former. Growth occurred at pH 5.5-8.5 (optimum pH 7.0) and at 10-45 °C (optimum 30 °C). On the basis of the results of 16S rRNA gene sequences phylogenetic analyses, GSS13 T represents a member of the genus Salibacterium and is closely related to Salibacterium halotolerans S7 T , Salibacterium qingdaonense CM1 T and Salibacterium halochares MSS4 T , with 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities of 98.7, 98.4 and 97.9 %, respectively. The results of DNA-DNA pairing studies revealed that GSS13 T displayed 52, 43 and 48 % relatedness to S. halotolerans S7 T , S. qingdaonense CM1 T and S. halochares MSS4 T , respectively. The polar lipids of GSS13 consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol unidentified glycolipids, an unidentified phospholipid and an unidentified lipid. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was MK-7, and the major fatty acids were anteiso-C17 : 0 (32.0 %) and anteiso C15 : 0 (26.4 %). The DNA G+C content of the type strain was 52.1 mol%. On the basis of phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic and phenotypic data, a novel species of the genus Salibacterium is proposed, with the name Salibacterium lacus sp. nov. The type strain is GSS13 T (=KCTC 33792 T =MCCC 1K00567 T ).

α-Mannosidosis storage disease is a rare autosomal recessive disease that is caused by a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme α-mannosidase. In this article, a proband in China was preliminarily diagnosed as having α-mannosidosis by clinical symptoms, imaging examination, and enzyme assay. Definitive diagnosis was performed by directly sequencing the MAN2B1 gDNA and cDNA of the peripheral blood leukocyte from the patient. Finally, denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography screening, conservative analysis, and protein secondary structure prediction were used to identify the novel mutation. The results showed that the patient has compound heterozygous mutations in the MAN2B1 gene, c.856G>A (p.E286K, novel) and c.788C>T (p.P263L). Her parents are heterozygote that carry one of these two mutations respectively. Pathogenicity identification of the novel mutation showed that the p.E286K mutation is a disease-causing mutation. Our work enriches the human MAN2B1 gene mutation database. As far as we know, this research is thus far the first gene diagnosis case of a Chinese patient with α-mannosidosis.

A halophilic, aerobic bacterium, designated GD01(T), was isolated from a mangrove forest soil near the South China Sea. Cells of strain GD01(T) were Gram staining positive, oxidase positive, and catalase positive. The strain was rod shaped and motile by means of peritrichous flagella and produced ellipsoidal endospores. The strain was able to grow with NaCl at concentrations of 0.5-12 % (optimum 3-5 %, w/v), at temperatures of 20-50 °C (optimum 30 °C), and at pH 6.0-8.5 (optimum pH 7.0). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain GD01(T) formed a cluster with O. profundus DSM 18246(T) (96.4 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity), O. caeni KCTC 13061(T) (95.4 %), and O. oncorhynchi JCM 12661(T) (94.5 %). The G+C content of strain GD01(T) was 38.7 mol%. The major respiratory quinone was MK-7. The major cellular fatty acids (>5 %) were anteiso-C15:0, iso-C16:0 (13.7 %), anteiso-C17:0 (12.6 %), iso-C15:0 (9.9 %), iso-C14:0 (9.5 %), and C16:0 (5.0 %). The polar lipids consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, glycolipid, four unknown lipids, and four unknown phospholipids. Based on phenotypic characteristics, chemotaxonomic features, and phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, the strain was identified to represent a distinct novel species in the genus Oceanobacillus, and the name proposed is Oceanobacillus halophilum sp. nov. with type train GD01(T) (=CCTCC AB 2012863(T) = KCTC 33101(T)).

Background: Mucopolysaccharidosis type IIIB (MPS IIIB) is a lysosomal storage disorder caused by over 130 mutations in NAGLU gene. However, there are not much mutations that have been reported in China. Here we studied five MPS IIIB patients from three unrelated Chinese families., Methods: Urine test and NAGLU activity assay were used to validate the patients' type of MPS. We performed DNA analyses by direct sequencing, PCR-DHPLC, and PCR-restriction enzyme techniques. In addition, prenatal gene diagnosis was performed to one couple with two pregnancies. Finally RT-PCR and bioinformatics analysis were used to identify mutations., Result: A total of six different mutations were found, including a novel deletion, c.867delC, and five missense mutations, c.1081T>C (p.W361R) (novel), c.700C>T (p.R234C), c.874G>A (p.G292R), c.1693C>T (p.R565W), and c.1694G>A (p.R565Q). Prenatal diagnosis revealed that the first fetus was a compound heterozygote carrying two mutations (p.R565W and p.R565Q), whereas the second fetus carried only p.R565Q mutation., Conclusions: Our research may enrich the mutation spectrum of the NAGLU gene in the Chinese population and help us further in understanding the pathogenesis of MPS IIIB., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Alterations in the TP53 and MDM2 genes appear to be important in the development of many human tumors, but evidence is conflicting on associations between polymorphisms in these genes and risk of prostate cancer (PCa). The influence of TP53 codon 72, MDM2 SNP309, and MDM2 C1797G polymorphisms in southern Chinese PCa patients was investigated. In the comparison of genotype distributions of TP53 codon 72 between cases and controls, the adjusted odds ratios for PCa associated with the Pro/Pro, Arg/Pro, and Arg/Arg genotypes were 1.00, 1.89 (95% CI = 1.20-2.97), and 2.01 (95% CI = 1.11-3.64), respectively; however, MDM2 SNP309 and C1797G did not show any significant difference between cases and controls. When TP53 and MDM2 polymorphisms were combined based on the numbers of variant risk alleles (i.e., G-allele of TP53 codon 72, G-allele of MDM2 SNP309, and G-allele of MDM2 C1797G), individuals with 3-5 variants had a 1.56-fold greater risk of PCa than those with 0-2 variants (95% CI = 1.07-2.26). Moreover, subjects with 0-2 variants had 33.3% positive p53 expression, whereas subjects with 3-5 variants had 23.3% p53 expression (P = 0.39). These findings suggest that TP53 and MDM2 polymorphisms play a role in PCa susceptibility in southern Chinese Han population., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Alterations in P53 and murine double minute 2 (MDM2) genes appear to be important in the development of many human tumors. We investigated the potential prognostic roles of p53 codon 72 and MDM2 309 and 1797 polymorphisms in prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy., Patients and Methods: Fifty southern Chinese with prostate cancer undergoing radical prostatectomy were included in this study. All polymorphisms were detected by PCR-RFLP. Their prognosis on biochemical recurrence was assessed using Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression model., Results: p53 codon 72 GG genotype was associated with increased biochemical recurrence compared with CG+CC genotypes and poorer PSA-free survival. It was also noted that GG genotype was an independent risk factor for biochemical recurrence after radical prostatectomy on multivariate analysis. No statistical difference was observed in MDM2 polymorphisms and prostate cancer prognosis., Conclusion: Our data revealed that p53 codon 72 GG genotype carriers more frequently show biochemical recurrence than CG+CC genotypes carriers., (Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Aim: The inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) has been strongly correlated with the risk of cardiovascular disease. Some single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been reported to be associated with serum CRP levels. In this study, we assessed the genetic association between SNPs within the CRP gene and ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke in the Han Chinese population., Methods: This study comprises 564 ischemic stroke patients, 220 hemorrhagic stroke patients and 564 controls from the ethnic Han Chinese population in Wuhan. Four CRP SNPs, -757A>G (rs3093059), -717A>G (rs2794521), -286C>T>A (rs3091244) and +2147C>T (rs1205), were genotyped from patients using TaqMan assays., Results: The A allele frequency for the -717A>G polymorphism was significant higher in controls than in ischemic stroke patients (P=0.037), after adjustment for traditional risk factors (odds ratio 0.28; 95% CI 0.12-0.65; P=0.003), suggesting a protective effect for this allele against ischemic stroke. Haplotype analysis showed that the H3 (G-C-C) haplotype conferred a significantly increased risk of ischemic stroke (odds ratio 1.052, 95% CI 1.001-1.106: P=0.047). Neither CRP genotypes nor haplotypes showed an association with hemorrhagic stroke. However, the frequency for haplotype H5 (A-T-C) was significantly higher in ischemic stroke than hemorrhagic stroke patients (P=0.0003)., Conclusion: These data suggest that the CRP gene -717A allele confers a protective effect against ischemic stroke. Furthermore, the H3 haplotype (G-C-C) is an independent risk marker for ischemic stroke, whereas the H5 haplotype (A-T-C) can be used as a prognostic marker of hemorrhagic stroke.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of Streptococcus suis and major pathogenic serotypes in middle part of Jiangsu province., Methods: Tonsillar specimens from 303 slaughtered pigs aged 6 to 8 months were investigated for the presence of Streptococcus suis and major pathogenic serotypes by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Bacteriological examination compared with molecular genetics identification for three Streptococcus suis isolates were also done., Results: The overall carrier rate of Streptococcus suis was up to 88.0%, with the percentages of serotype 1(14), 2(1/2), 7 and 9 were 9.6%, 8.5%, 11.3% and 29.5% respectively in 2005. While in 2006, the prevalence of Streptococcus suis was 82.5%, with capsular types 1 (14), 2 (1/2), 7 and 9 were accounted for 17.6%, 2.4%, 25.8% and 20.0% of all the specimens. All the three isolates belonged to Streptococcus suis serotype 2,named 2a, 2f and 14e, which exhibiting the virulent phenotype cps2+/gdh+/mrp-/lepf-/sly-/fbps+/orf2+/89k-, cps2+/lgdh+/mrp-/epf-/sly-/fbps-/orf2-/89k- and cps2+/gdh+/mrp-/epf-/sly-/fbps/orf2-/ respectively. These isolates were all susceptible to amoxicillin, ampicillin, penicillin and resistant to amikacin and tetraycline. Clinical signs were not noted in BALB/c mice and rabbit., Conclusion: Prevalence of the Streptococcus suis among the healthy herds in the areas was very high, with various capsule types of Streptococcus suis involved in the same herds, and the virulent phenotype of these 3 isolates were very different from those prevalent Streptococcus suis serotype 2 virulent isolates frequently discovered from the epidemic areas.

The most basic task in proteomics remains the detection and identification of proteins from a biological sample, and the most traditional way to achieve this goal consists in protein separations performed by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (2-D PAGE). Yet the 2-D PAGE-mass spectrometry (MS) approach has its drawbacks with regard to automation, sensitivity, and throughput. Consequently, considerable effort has been devoted to the development of non-gel-based proteome separation technologies in an effort to alleviate the shortcomings of 2-D PAGE. In addition, traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs), due to their long period of clinical testing and reliable therapeutic efficacy, are attracting increased global attention. However, hundreds or even thousands of components are usually present in TCMs, which results in great difficulties of separation. As a mainstream separation tool, multidimensional liquid separation systems have shown powerful separation ability, high peak capacity, and excellent detectability in the analysis of complex samples including biological samples and TCMs, etc. Therefore, this review emphasizes the most recent advances in multidimensional liquid chromatography and capillary electrophoresis-based separation techniques, and the corresponding applications in proteomics and TCMs. In view of the significant contributions from Chinese scientists, this review focuses mainly on the work of Chinese scientists in the above fields.