Search

Education evaluation should be based on human development and revolve around educational institutions integrating two dimensions, the development needs of the nation and society, and the logic and laws of self-development. The value orientation of higher vocational education evaluation in China is actually expressed through enhancing quality awareness, normalizing education standards, strengthening the central position of teaching, highlighting the characteristics of institutions, changing the focus of the evaluation based on developments in society, and using evaluation concepts in keeping with the times. Due to late start, less experience, and rapid development, there have inevitably been theoretical and practical shortcomings in the evaluation of higher vocational education in China. The value orientation of higher vocational education evaluation should combine instrumental rationality and value rationality, investigate the implicit factors associated with education quality, increase the inherent motivation of institutions to participate in evaluations, promote the separation of governance, management, and evaluation, and conduct normalized, continuous, and dynamic monitoring of teaching quality.

Gerberae Piloselloidis Herba, a traditional Chinese medicine, is often employed to treat such lung‐related diseases as coughs, asthma, and pulmonary carbuncles in southwest China. Our previous study demonstrated that its active fraction, prepared from Gerberae Piloselloidis Herba, exerts an obvious beneficial effect on asthma. However, the pharmacokinetics of its major constituents remain unclear. Therefore, an ultra‐performance mass spectrometry‐electrospray ionization‐tandem mass spectrometry method was successfully established to simultaneously perform the pharmacokinetics of the main 11 components of the active fraction between normal and ovalbumin‐induced asthmatic mice. Compared to the normal group, in asthmatic mice the peak concentration of arbutin, marmesin, caffeoylquinic acids, and flavonoid glycosides clearly increased, while for luteolin it significantly declined; the area under the curve for arbutin and luteolin showed an increase, but the values of marmesin, caffeoylquinic acids, and flavonoid glycosides revealed a decline; the peak time for arbutin, caffeoylquinic acids and flavonoid glycosides decreased, while for marmesin and luteolin it significantly augmented; apart from marmesin, the half‐life for all compounds shortened significantly. It is indicated that the pathology of asthma could lead to an alteration in the pharmacokinetic profiles of the 11 components in plasma, providing a reference for further exploration of the pharmacodynamic basis of the anti‐bronchial effect of Gerberae Piloselloidis Herba. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Huangqi Liuyi decoction is a famous traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that has been widely used in China for the management of diabetes since the Song Dynasty. Today, it is commonly used for treating diabetic nephropathy (DN). Our previous experimental studies have suggested that the mixture HQD, containing astragalus saponin, astragalus flavone, astragalus polysaccharide, and glycyrrhetinic acid, could be used for the treatment of DN and to improve renal function. The objective of this study was to develop a sensitive and reliable high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method for simultaneous quantitation of astragaloside IV, calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside, calycosin-glucuronide, ononin, formononetin, and glycyrrhizic acid, which are the main active constituents in HQD, and to compare the pharmacokinetics of these active constituents in control and DN mice orally treated with HQD. The results indicated that the pharmacokinetic parameters of HQD were significantly different between the control and DN mouse groups. The absorption of HQD in the DN mice was greater than that in control mice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gerberae Piloselloidis Herba is widely used to treat cough and asthma in China. However, its effects on allergic asthma as related to its chemical compositions have not been fully elucidated, and there is a scarcity of methods to determine multi‐component contents for quality control. In this study, protective effects of Gerberae Piloselloidis Herba on ovalbumin‐induced asthma models were investigated, while qualitative and quantitative analyses of multiple constituents in Gerberae Piloselloidis Herba were conducted by using an ultrahigh‐performance liquid chromatography–Q Exactive hybrid quadrupole‐orbitrap high‐resolution accurate mass spectrometry and an ultrahigh‐performance liquid chromatography–photodiode array detection. The results showed that Gerberae Piloselloidis Herba could significantly mitigate asthma symptoms, reduce eosinophils counts in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, as well as decrease IgE, IL‐5, and IL‐13 concentration, and inflammatory cellular infiltration in lung tissues. A total of 51 compounds were tentatively identified, in which the content of 10 representative compounds was determined in 24 batches of Gerberae Piloselloidis Herba by using an ultrahigh‐performance liquid chromatography method with good linearity, precision, repeatability, accuracy, and stability. This research presents a comprehensive strategy combining biological activity evaluation with chemical profiling, providing a useful and comprehensive reference for further application and quality control of Gerberae Piloselloidis Herba. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the rapid response of high-resolution stalagmite O-C isotope in Nanjing, China. Decrease of the effective meteoric precipitation; Similarity of the pattern of stalagmite record to Greenland ice core record; Changes of the East Asian monsoon climate.

An emerging poplar canker caused by the gram-negative bacterium, Lonsdalea populi, has led to high mortality of hybrid poplars Populus × euramericana in China and Europe. The molecular bases of pathogenicity and bark adaptation of L. populi have become a focus of recent research. This study revealed the whole genome sequence and identified putative virulence factors of L. populi. A high-quality L. populi genome sequence was assembled de novo, with a genome size of 3,859,707 bp, containing approximately 3434 genes and 107 RNAs (75 tRNA, 22 rRNA, and 10 ncRNA). The L. populi genome contained 380 virulence-associated genes, mainly encoding for adhesion, extracellular enzymes, secretory systems, and two-component transduction systems. The genome had 110 carbohydrate-active enzyme (CAZy)-coding genes and putative secreted proteins. The antibiotic-resistance database annotation listed that L. populi was resistant to penicillin, fluoroquinolone, and kasugamycin. Analysis of comparative genomics found that L. populi exhibited the highest homology with the L. britannica genome and L. populi encompassed 1905 specific genes, 1769 dispensable genes, and 1381 conserved genes, suggesting high evolutionary diversity and genomic plasticity. Moreover, the pan genome analysis revealed that the N-5-1 genome is an open genome. These findings provide important resources for understanding the molecular basis of the pathogenicity and biology of L. populi and the poplar-bacterium interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leaf resource-use efficiencies are key indicators of plant adaptability to climate change, as they depend on both photosynthetic carbon assimilation and available resources. However, accurately quantifying the response of the coupled carbon and water cycles is challenging due to the canopy vertical variability in resource-use efficiencies, which introduces greater uncertainty into the calculations. Here we experimented to ascertain the vertical variations of leaf resource-use efficiencies along three canopy gradients of coniferous (Pinus elliottii Engelmann.) and broad-leaved (Schima Superba Gardn & Champ.) forests over one year in the subtropical region of China. The efficiency of water (WUE), and nitrogen (NUE) showed higher values in the top canopy level for the two species. The maximum efficiency of light (LUE) occurred in the bottom canopy level for both species. The impact of photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD), leaf temperature (T leaf), and vapor pressure deficit (VPD) on leaf resource-use efficiencies varied with canopy gradients in slash pine and schima superba. We also observed a trade-off between NUE and LUE for slash pine and between NUE and WUE for schima superba. Moreover, the variation in the correlation between LUE and WUE indicated a change in resource-use strategies for slash pine. These results emphasize the significance of vertical variations in resource-use efficiencies to enhance the prediction of future carbon-water dynamics in the subtropical forest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The tree species variations affect the relationships between leaf chlorophyll and photosynthetic capacity. • The vertical gradient of the canopy impacts the ability of leaf chlorophyll to act as a proxy for photosynthetic capacity. • The proportion of leaf nitrogen allocation mediates the sensitivity of chlorophyll to changes in photosynthetic capacity. Leaf chlorophyll content can be retrieved from satellite observed radiance providing a new perspective for accurately mapping the global pattern of maximum carboxylation rate (V cmax). However, it is unclear whether species and canopy positions affect the relationship between V cmax and leaf chlorophyll content. Here, vertical and seasonal variations in leaf V cmax , chlorophyll and nitrogen (N) content were measured synchronously along canopy profiles of coniferous and broad-leaved trees on a scaffold tower over one year in a subtropical forest ecosystem of south China. We found that the relationship between V cmax and area-based chlorophyll content (Chl area) was positive and significant in coniferous but not in broad-leaved trees. V cmax and Chl area decreased while the proportion of nitrogen partitioned to light-harvesting chlorophyll components increased from top to bottom layer along the vertical profile of coniferous trees. The proportion of nitrogen partitioned to light-harvesting chlorophyll components mediated the relationship between V cmax and Chl area. These findings highlight the crucial role of nitrogen allocation and potentially help to optimize global terrestrial productivity models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]