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This article discusses a study conducted on a Chinese population that explores the association between genetic variants and the severity of COVID-19 in critical patients. The researchers identified several specific genetic variants that are significantly associated with the severity of the disease. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the genetic factors influencing COVID-19 severity and may aid in preventing and controlling the disease. Additionally, a document is provided that lists various scientific research articles on the genetic factors influencing COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. These studies include diverse populations from different regions and aim to provide insights into the genetic basis of COVID-19 and its impact on different populations. [Extracted from the article]

The climate and soil properties are major determinants of plant growth and forest community assembly across diverse biomes. However, the contribution of climate and soil on species diversity in tropical and subtropical forests remains controversial. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effects of soil and climate on tree species richness using survey data across 495 tropical and subtropical forest plots in Southern China. The selected predictors were categorized as local plot characteristics, climate, and soil factors, and their relationship with tree species richness was modeled using negative binomial generalized linear models. The results revealed that the considering of the interaction between climate and soil properties considerably improved the goodness−of−fit of these models. The individual effects of climate and soil factors had weak relationships with species richness, accounting for 3.61% and 5.77% of the overall 58.9% explained variance in species richness, respectively. Instead, the interaction between climate and soil properties explained most of the statistical variation in tree species richness (84.34% of the overall 58.9% explained variance). The results highlight the importance of soil and climate interactions on tree diversity in tropical and subtropical mature natural forests and their incorporation into biodiversity assessment models to enhance the prediction of community change and responses to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally, anthropogenic disturbance and climate change caused a rapid decline of submerged macrophytes in lake ecosystems. Potamogeton crispus (P. crispus), a species that germinates in winter, explosively expanded throughout many Chinese lakes, yet the underlying mechanism remained unclear. Here, this study examined the long-term changes in the distribution patterns of P. crispus in Lake Gaoyou by combining remote sensing images and hydrometeorological data from 1984 to 2022 and water quality data from 2009 to 2022. It aims to unravel the relationships between the distribution patterns of P. crispus and hydrometeorological and water quality factors. The results showed that the area of P. crispus in Lake Gaoyou showed a slight increase from 1984 to 2009, a marked increase from 2010 to 2019, followed by a decline after 2020. Spatially, P. crispus was primarily distributed in the western and northern parts of Lake Gaoyou, with less distribution in the central and southeastern parts of the lake. Wind speed (WS), temperature (Temp), water level (WL), ammonia nitrogen (NH3-N), and Secchi depth (SD) were identified as the key factors regulating the variation in the P. crispus area in Lake Gaoyou. We found that the P. crispus area showed an increasing trend with increasing Temp, WL, and SD and decreasing WS and NH3-N. The influence of environmental factors on the area of P. crispus in Lake Gaoyou varied among seasons. The results indicated that hydrometeorology (WS, Temp, and WL) may override water quality (NH3-N and SD) in driving the succession of P. crispus distribution. The findings of this study offer valuable insights into the recent widespread expansion of P. crispus in shallow lakes across Eastern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alpine Rhododendron species are prominent constituents and renowned ornamental plants in alpine ecosystems. Consequently, evaluating the genetic variation in embolism resistance within the genus Rhododendron and predicting their adaptability to future climate change is important. Nevertheless, the assessment of embolism resistance in Rhododendron species remains limited. This investigation aimed to examine leaf vulnerability to embolism across ten alpine Rhododendron species, which are frequently employed as ornamental species in Rhododendron forests in Southwest China. The study analyzed the correlation between embolism resistance and various morphological traits, while also conducting water control experiments to evaluate the relationship between embolism resistance and drought resistance. The outcomes indicated pronounced variations in leaf vulnerability to embolism among species, as reflected by the water potential at 50% of embolized pixels (P50). Furthermore, the leaf P50 exhibited a significant positive correlation with vessel diameter (D) (R2 = 0.44, P = 0.03) and vessel wall span (b) (R2 = 0.64, P = 0.005), while displaying a significant negative correlation with vessel reinforcement ((t/b)2) (R2 = 0.67, P = 0.004). These findings underscore the reliability of selecting species based on embolism vulnerability to preserve the diversity of alpine ecosystems and foster resilience to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Youth suicide has been a pressing public mental health concern in China, yet there is a lack of gatekeeper intervention programmes developed locally to prevent suicide among Chinese adolescents. Aims The current Delphi study was the first step in the systematic development of the Life Gatekeeper programme, the first gatekeeper programme to be developed locally in China that aims to equip teachers and parents with the knowledge, skills and ability to identify and intervene with students at high risk of suicide. Methods The Delphi method was used to elicit a consensus of experts who were invited to evaluate the importance of training content, the feasibility of the training delivery method, the possibility of achieving the training goals and, finally, the appropriateness of the training materials. Two Delphi rounds were conducted among local experts with diversified professional backgrounds in suicide research and practice. Statements were accepted for inclusion in the adjusted training programme if they were endorsed by at least 80% of the panel. Results Consensus was achieved on 201 out of 207 statements for inclusion into the adapted guidelines for the gatekeeper programme, with 151 from the original questionnaire and 50 generated from comments of the panel members. These endorsed statements were synthesised to develop the content of the Life Gatekeeper training programme. Conclusions This Delphi study provided an evidence base for developing the first gatekeeper training programme systematically and locally in China. We hope that the current study can pave the way for more evidence-based suicide prevention programmes in China. Further study is warranted to evaluate the effectiveness of the Life Gatekeeper training programme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), a destructive pest that originated in South and North America, spread to China in early 2019. Controlling this invasive pest requires an understanding of its population structure and migration patterns, yet the invasion genetics of Chinese S. frugiperda is not clear. Here, using the mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) gene, triose phosphate isomerase (Tpi) gene and eight microsatellite loci, we investigated genetic structure and genetic diversity of 16 S. frugiperda populations in China. The Tpi locus identified most S. frugiperda populations as the corn-strains, and a few were heterozygous strains. The microsatellite loci revealed that the genetic diversity of this pest in China was lower than that in South America. Furthermore, we found moderate differentiation among the populations, distinct genetic structures between adjacent populations and abundant genetic resources in the S. frugiperda populations from China sampled across 2 years. The survival rate of S. frugiperda was significantly higher when it was fed on corn leaves than on rice leaves, and the larval stage mortality rate was the highest under both treatments. Our results showed that S. frugiperda probably invaded China via multiple independent introductions and careful pesticide control, continuous monitoring and further studies will be needed to minimize its potential future outbreak. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Zuojin Pill (ZJP) has been used to treat gastrointestinal problems in China for hundreds of years. Objective: To discover more potential active ingredients and evaluate the gastroprotective mechanisms of ZJP. Materials and methods: An approach involving UPLC-Q-Orbitrap HRMS and serum pharmacochemistry was established to screen the multiple chemical constituents of ZJP. Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were divided into six groups: normal control, ulcer control, omeprazole (30mg/kg), and three ZJP groups (1.0, 2.0 and 4.0 g/kg). After oral treatment with ZJP or omeprazole for 7 days, all groups except the normal control group were orally administered 5 mL/kg ethanol to induce gastric ulceration. Histopathological assessment of gastric tissue was performed by haematoxylin and eosin staining. Antioxidant parameters and inflammatory mediators were determined using ELISA Kit and immunohistochemical analysis. Results: Ninety components were identified in ZJP. Among them, 23 prototypes were found in rat serum after oral administration of ZJP. The ulcer inhibition was over 90.0% for all the ZJP groups. Compared with the ulcer control rats, ZJP (4.0 g/kg) enhanced the antioxidant capacity of gastric tissue: superoxide dismutase (1.33-fold), catalase (2.61-fold), glutathione (2.14-fold), and reduced the malondialdehyde level (0.48-fold). Simultaneously, the ZJP meaningfully lowered the content of tumour necrosis factor-a (0.76-fold), interleukin-6 (0.66-fold), myeloperoxidase (0.21-fold), and nuclear factor kappa B (p65) (0.62-fold). Discussion and conclusions: This study showed ZJP could mitigate ethanol-induced rat gastric ulcers, which might benefit from the synergistic actions of multiple ingredients. The findings could support the quality control and clinical trials of ZJP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhododendron delavayi is a natural shrub with importance in preventing rocky desertification in the karst regions of Bijie city of China. The structure of fungal communities in bulk soil, rhizosphere and roots of R. delavayi at three elevations was analyzed by ITS2 amplicon sequencing. The results showed that the soil pH was highest at 1448 m, while the content of available phosphorus, total nitrogen and total phosphorus was lowest at 1821 m. The Shannon of fungal communities in bulk soil was higher than roots at 1448 m. Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were the most dominant phyla present in bulk soil, rhizosphere and root endophyte. The pH was positively related to Chytridiomycota and Glomeromycota in bulk soil at 1643 m. Ammonium-nitrogen significantly influenced the fungal communities in bulk soil, while the elevations impacted the diversity of fungal communities by affecting available phosphorus content in bulk soil and roots. In summary, elevation significantly affected the diversity and structure of fungal communities by affecting soil pH and nutrient levels, and the fungal communities helped R. delavayi in adaptating to different elevations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of vertical interlock on firm value of listed firms in China. We find that vertical interlock significantly reduces firm value. Further, the negative effects are more pronounced when the type of vertical interlock is indirect and the interlocking position is board chairman. This association is robust to a series of robustness and endogeneity tests. Importantly, we find that reducing R&D investment caused by vertical interlock is tightly associated with the decline in firm value. Our results support the notion that vertical interlock appears to worsen corporate governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Allium vegetable components have antibacterial, antioxidative, and immune modulation properties, thus potentially exhibiting antitumor effects. Despite evidence from case-control studies, prospective studies linking allium vegetables with gastric cancer (GC) have been sparse. Objective: In a prospective study, we examined whether allium vegetable intake would change the risk of GC occurrence and whether the associations would be modified by vitamin supplementation, garlic supplementation, and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) treatment. Methods: The study was conducted on the basis of the Shandong Intervention Trial, a randomized, placebo-controlled, factorial-designed trial (1995-2003) in a well-recognized high-risk area for GC in China. Participants were continuously followed up to December 2017 for 22.3 y (1995-2017). A total of 3229 subjects were included, with information on the intake of allium vegetables (garlic vegetables and scallions), collected by structured questionnaires in 1994. The associations of total and individual allium vegetable intake with the risk of GC were examined, respectively. Results: During the follow-up, 144 incident cases of GC were identified. Garlic vegetable intake was associated with a decreased risk of incident GC (P-trend = 0.02; OR: 0.83; 95% CI: 0.70, 0.98, per 1 kg/y increment), whereas scallion intake showed no association (P-trend = 0.80). An inverse association of the risk of GC with total allium vegetable and garlic vegetable intake was particularly stronger among those receiving the placebo for vitamin supplementation or garlic supplementation, indicating potential effect modifications by nutritional supplementation on allium vegetable intake and the risk of developing GC. Similar findings were found for analyses of the combined prevalence of dysplasia or GC. Conclusions: We found a significant reduction in the risk of developing GC with increasing dietary intake of allium vegetables, particularly garlic vegetables. The findings add to the literature on the potential inverse association of garlic vegetable intake with the risk of GC, therefore holding public health implications for dietary recommendations. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00339768. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhododendron liliiflorum H. Lév., with white outer edges and yellow inner edges of petals, is an ornamental flower that originated in China. In this study, we analysed the white (W) and yellow (Y) parts of R. liliiflorum flowers by RNA sequencing. Then, unigene assembly, unigene annotation, and classification of Eukaryotic Orthologous Groups (KOGs) were performed. Gene ontology (GO) classification and pathway enrichment analysis for unigenes were also conducted. A total of 219,221 transcripts and 180,677 unigenes of R. liliiflorum were obtained from 48.52 Gb of clean reads. Differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis indicated that 2310 unigenes were upregulated and 3062 were downregulated in W vs. Y. Thirty-six of these DEGs were involved in the flavonoid biosynthesis pathway. Pathway enrichment analysis showed that DEGs were significantly enriched in phenylpropanoid, flavonoid, and isoflavone biosynthesis. The expression of dihydroflavonol-4-reductase (DFR) and chalcone synthase (CHS) may affect differences in R. liliiflorum flower colour. The findings on flavonoid biosynthesis and other related genes in this study will provide guidance for exploring the mechanism of flower colour formation in Rhododendron. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Emotional disturbance is an important risk factor of suicidal behaviors. To ensure speech emotion recognition (SER), a novel technique to evaluate emotional characteristics of speech, precision in labeling emotional words is a prerequisite. Currently, a list of suicide-related emotional word is absent. The aims of this study were to establish an Emotional Words List for Suicidal Risk Assessment (EWLSRA) and test the reliability and validity of the list in a suicide-related SER task. Methods: Suicide-related emotion words were nominated and discussed by 10 suicide prevention professionals. Sixty-five tape-recordings of calls to a large psychological support hotline in China were selected to test psychometric characteristics of the EWLSRA. Results: The results shows that the EWLSRA consists of 11 emotion words which were highly associated with suicide risk scores and suicide attempts. Results of exploratory factor analysis support one-factor model of this list. The Fleiss' Kappa value of 0.42 indicated good inter-rater reliability of the list. In terms of criteria validities, indices of despair (Spearman r = 0.54, P < 0.001), sadness (r = 0.37, P = 0.006), helplessness (r = 0.45, P = 0.001), and numbness (r = 0.35, P = 0.009) were significantly associated with suicidal risk scores. The index of the emotional word of numbness in callers with suicide attempt during the 12-month follow-up was significantly higher than that in callers without suicide attempt during the follow-up (P = 0.049). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the EWLSRA has adequate psychometric performance in identifying suicide-related emotional words of recording of hotline callers to a national wide suicide prevention line. This list can be useful for SER in future studies on suicide prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), substantive progress has been achieved through the joint efforts made between China and the collaborative parties, attracting great attention from the international community. However, regarding the relationship between BRI and "a community with a shared future for mankind", a concept proposed by President Xi Jinping later, the explanations are diversified in the academia. The diversity indicates that a common understanding of this relationship is yet to be reached, calling for a further discussion. This paper argues that "a community with a shared future for mankind" is China's outlook for the future world facing a period of major change never seen in a century. It is China's vision of international society but transcends the narrative of international society in the international politics studies, because in the former, each party recognizes the deep interdependence relationships (or a form of shared future) among them and between human and nature, thereby willing to negotiate and cooperate to advance the world's economic development, deal with conflict of interests and contradictions among states/civilizations, and resolve the dissonance between human and nature. Thus, a peaceful, stable, prosperous, and sustainable world can be created and preserved. In regard to BRI, it is the platform where China constructs a community with a shared future for mankind through incentive mechanisms and applies its vision of international society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal.) Iljinskaja is a special plant species grown at high elevation in southwestern China. The bark, leaves, and roots are used for many purposes including reduction of fever and enhancement of blood insulin level. However, its growth is usually limited by the fragile environment and climate variability. Previous studies attributed the environment‐relevant yield reductions to stress induced gene expression changes. The accuracy and reliability of reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‐qPCR), a commonly accepted gene expression method, depends on the choice of appropriate reference genes, which are used for gene expression normalization. However, there are no reports at present about reference genes of C. paliurus under environmental stresses. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify reference genes for C. paliurus under environmental stresses. In this work, we selected seven common reference genes as our candidates: ACT2, ACTF, GAPDH, TUA, TUB, UBQ4, and 18SrRNA. The stability of these seven reference genes in C. paliurus was quantified by RT‐qPCR and evaluated by geNorm and NormFinder algorithms. The results suggest that although there were variations of the stability of the internal reference genes, two of them were usually good enough for the normalization purpose for low temperature (4 °C), high salinity (NaCl), and drought stress (polyethylene glycol [PEG] treatment). However, these genes should not be used for high‐temperature (42 °C) stress. This study provides insight for reference gene selection under experimental stresses in C. paliurus. It also sets the foundation of wide and accurate use of RT‐qPCR under environmental stresses. Core Ideas: The optimal number of reference genes under different abiotic stresses in Cyclocarya was determined.The average expression stability values (M) of internal reference gene were determined.GAPDH was identified as the best reference gene in the current research.TUB is the most unstable gene via agrose gel electrophoresis and RT‐qPCR.This study summarizes the optimal reference genes in crop plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The study aims to explore the mental health of the hotline callers during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Methods. Callers (N D10,490) from the Beijing Psychological Support Hotline from January 21st to June 30th in 2019 and 2020 were enrolled and divided into two groups (during (2020) and before (2019) COVID-19 pandemic). The severity of depressive symptoms, psychological distress, hopefulness, and suicidal ideation (SI) was assessed. Demographic characteristics and major concerns were also collected. Mann-Whitney U and chi-square test were used to compare the differences in mental health conditions and major concerns between two years and between different age groups. The multivariable logistic regression was used to explore whether mental health conditions were associated with pandemic and demographic factors. Results. Results from multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated that the change in suicidal ideation (OR = 1.52, 95% CI: 1.21-1.92) was significantly different across age groups. Callers during the pandemic reported a higher level of hopefulness (OR D 1.13, 95% CI [1.03-1.24]), a lower level of depressive symptoms (OR = 0.81, 95% CI [0.74-0.89]) and psychological distress (OR = 0.89, 95% CI [0.81-0.98]), and were less likely to report SI (OR = 0.69, 95% CI [0.61-0.77]) compared with callers before the pandemic. Conclusions. Compared with callers before the pandemic, hotline callers during the early stage of COVID-19 pandemic did not present significant mental health problems. Younger callers during the pandemic were more vulnerable for the presence of suicidal ideation. Hotline-based crisis interventions might provide specific psychological support to cope with troubles during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To reveal the effect of the interactions between soil depth and different land use types on soil nutrients and soil bacterial communities in a karst area, fifty soil samples from five different karst land use types in Huajiang town, Guizhou province, Southwest China were collected, and the soil bacteria were analyzed using high-throughput absolute quantification sequencing. Our results showed that land use types (LUT) and soil depth (SD) significantly influenced the content of soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), nitrate nitrogen (NN), ammonium nitrogen (AN) and available soil phosphorus (AP), and pH; further, the interaction of LUT and SD also significantly influenced SOC, NN, NA, AP, and pH. In addition, LUT clearly impacted the Chao1 and Shannon indexes, but, SD and LUT * SD markedly affect Chao1 and Shannon index, respectively. All the soil bacterial communities were significantly different in the five different five land use types according to PERMANOVA. Importantly, Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria were the predominant phyla at soil depths of 0–20 cm and 20–40 cm among all the LUTs. At 0–20 cm, TN, AN, and SOC exerted a strong positive influence on Acidobacteria, but NN exerted a strong negative influence on Acidobacteria; at 20–40 cm soil, TN and AN exerted a strong positive influence on Acidobacteria; TP exerted no marked influence on any of the phyla at these two soil depths. At 0–20 cm of soil depth, we also found that Chao1 index changes were closely related to the TN, SOC, AN, and NN; similarly, Shannon index changes were significantly correlated to the AN, TN, and SOC; the PCoA was clearly related to the TN, SOC, and AN. Interestingly, at soil depth of 20–40 cm, Chao 1 was markedly related to the TN and pH; Shannon was markedly correlated with the SOC, TP, AN, and AP; and the PCoA was significantly correlated with the TN and pH. Our findings imply that soil nutrients and soil bacteria communities are strongly influenced by land use types and soil depth in karst areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterization of the alterations in leaf lipidome in Begonia (Begonia grandis Dry subsp. sinensis) under heat stress will aid in understanding the mechanisms of stress adaptation to high-temperature stress often occurring during hot seasons at southern areas in China. The comparative lipidomic analysis was performed using leaves taken from Begonia plants exposed to ambient temperature or heat stress. The amounts of total lipids and major lipid classes, including monoacylglycerol (MG), diacylglycerol (DG), triacylglycerols (TG), and ethanolamine-, choline-, serine-, inositol glycerophospholipids (PE, PC, PS, PI) and the variations in the content of lipid molecular species, were analyzed and identified by tandem high-resolution mass spectrometry. Upon exposure to heat stress, a substantial increase in three different types of TG, including 18:0/16:0/16:0, 16:0/16:0/18:1, and 18:3/18:3/18:3, was detected, which marked the first stage of adaptation processes. Notably, the reduced accumulation of some phospholipids, including PI, PC, and phosphatidylglycerol (PG) was accompanied by an increased accumulation of PS, PE, and phosphatidic acid (PA) under heat stress. In contrast to the significant increase in the abundance of TG, all of the detected lysophospholipids and sphingolipids were dramatically reduced in the Begonia leaves exposed to heat stress, suggesting that a very dynamic and specified lipid remodeling process is highly coordinated and synchronized in adaptation to heat stress in Begonia plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Understanding the joint effects of plant development and environment on shifts of intraspecific leaf traits will advance the understandings of the causes of intraspecific trait variation. We address this question by focusing on a widespread species Clausena dunniana in a subtropical broad‐leaved forest. Methods: We sampled 262 individuals of C. dunniana at two major topographic habitat types, the slope and hilltop, within the karst forests in Maolan Nature Reserve in southwestern China. We measured individual plant level leaf traits (i.e., specific leaf area (SLA), leaf area, leaf dry‐matter content (LDMC), and leaf thickness) that are associated with plant resource‐use strategies. We adopted a linear mixed‐effects model in which the plant size (i.e., the first principal component of plant basal diameter and plant height) and environmental factors (i.e., topographic habitat, canopy height, and rock‐bareness) were used as independent variables, to estimate their influences on the shifts of leaf traits. Key Results: We found that (1) plant size and the environmental factors independently drove the intraspecific leaf trait shifts of C. dunniana, of which plant size explained less variances than environmental factors. (2) With increasing plant size, C. dunniana individuals had increasingly smaller SLA but larger sized leaves. (3) The most influential environmental factor was topographic habitat; it drove the shifts of all the four traits examined. Clausena dunniana individuals on hilltops had leaf traits representing more conservative resource‐use strategies (e.g., smaller SLA, higher LDMC) than individuals on slopes. On top of that, local‐scale environmental factors further modified leaf trait shifts. Conclusions: Plant size and environment independently shaped the variations in intraspecific leaf traits of C. dunniana in the subtropical karst forest of Maolan. Compared with plant size, the environment played a more critical role in shaping intraspecific leaf trait variations, and potentially also the underlying individual‐level plant resource‐use strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many self-harmers do not present in hospitals due to the self-harm. It is still unclear on the differences between medically treated and untreated self-harm in China. This study described the differences of the two groups of self-harmers using the largest psychological aid hotline data. Methods: The present observational study recruited 3,403 hotline callers who reported episodes of self-harm before the call. In routine assessment, information about the most recent episode of self-harm was collected, including the method of self-harm, the wish to die, goals of the self-harm, and any medical treatment (irrespective of psychological services) in the hospital. The callers were divided into two groups: those who received hospital-based medical treatment due to the most recent self-harm (treated self-harm callers) and those who did not (untreated self-harm callers). Results: In the most recent episode of self-harm, 65% (n = 2,217) of callers were untreated and 55% (1,226/2,217) of the untreated self-harm callers reported a wish to die. A total of 67% of the callers reported that their main goal of self-harm was to relieve suffering. The most common self-harm methods were using instruments (knife or rope) and overdosing on medicines. Compared with treated self-harm callers, the untreated self-harm callers were less likely to have a wish to die (OR = 0.57), engage in self-harm outside the home (OR = 0.71 and 0.78), and attribute their self-harm to romantic relationship problems (OR = 0.76); however, they were more likely to use instruments, to jump, or to choose other methods (OR = 3.73, 3.83, and 7.71, respectively). Conclusions: Among hotline callers, many episodes of self-harm did not receive medical treatment, despite over half reporting a wish to die. Characteristics of self-harm behaviors were different between treated and untreated self-harm callers. Our findings suggest that more strategies should improve access to hospital-based medical treatment and coverage for post-intervention for self-harmers who are not presented in hospitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atmospheric carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations have been decreasing since 2000 as observed by both satellite- and ground-based instruments, but global bottom-up emission inventories surprisingly estimate increasing anthropogenic CO emissions concurrently. In this study, we use a multi-species atmospheric Bayesian inversion approach to attribute satellite-observed atmospheric CO variations to its sources and sinks in order to achieve a full closure of the global CO budget during 2000–2017. Our observation constraints include satellite retrievals of the total column mole fraction of CO, formaldehyde (HCHO), and methane (CH4) that are all major components of the atmospheric CO cycle. Three inversions (i.e., 2000–2017, 2005–2017, and 2010–2017) are performed to use the observation data to the maximum extent possible as they become available and assess the consistency of inversion results to the assimilation of more trace gas species. We identify a declining trend in the global CO budget since 2000 (three inversions are broadly consistent during overlapping periods), driven by reduced anthropogenic emissions in the U.S. and Europe (both likely from the transport sector), and in China (likely from industry and residential sectors), as well as by reduced biomass burning emissions globally, especially in Equatorial Africa (associated with reduced burned areas). We show that the trends and drivers of the inversion-based CO budget are not affected by the inter-annual variation assumed for prior CO fluxes. All three inversions estimate that surface CO emissions contradict the global bottom-up inventories in the world's top two emitters for the sign of anthropogenic emission trends in China (e.g., here −0.8 ± 0.5 % yr−1 since 2000 while the prior gives 1.3 ± 0.4 % yr−1) and for the rate of anthropogenic emission increase in South Asia (e.g., here 1.0 ± 0.6 % yr−1 since 2000 smaller than 3.5 ± 0.4 % yr−1 in the prior inventory). The posterior model CO concentrations and trends agree well with independent ground-based observations and correct the prior model bias. The comparison of the three inversions with different observation constraints further suggests that the most complete constrained inversion that assimilates CO, HCHO, and CH4 has a good representation of the global CO budget, therefore matches best with independent observations, while the inversion only assimilating CO tends to underestimate both the decrease in anthropogenic CO emissions and the increase in the CO chemical production. The global CO budget data from all three inversions in this study can be accessed from https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4454453.v1 (Zheng et al., 2019). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rosa sterilis is an economically and important fruit that is extensively grown in Southwestern China. In this study, we determined the complete chloroplast genome of R. sterilis using high-throughput Illumina sequencing. The chloroplast genome of R. sterilis is 156,561 bp in size, containing a large single-copy region (LSC)(85,701 bp), a small single-copy region (SSC) (18,746 bp), and a pair of inverted repeat (IR) regions (each one of 26,057 bp). The overall GC content of the chloroplast genome is 37.23%, while the corresponding values of GC contents of the LSC, SSC, and IR regions are 35.20%, 31.37%, and 42.70%, respectively. The chloroplast genome of R. sterilis contains 130 genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. The phylogenetic maximum-likelihood tree revealed that Rosa chinensis or Rosa chinensis var. spontanea is the closest related to R. sterilis in the phylogenetic relationship. This complete chloroplast genome can be further used for genomic studies, evolutionary analyses, and genetic engineering studies of the family Rosaceae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose the asymmetric multiscale detrended cross-correlation analysis (MS-ADCCA) method and apply MS-ADCCA method to explore the existence of asymmetric cross-correlation for daily price returns in US and Chinese stock markets and to assess the properties of these asym-metric cross-correlations. The results all show the existences of asymmetric cross-correlations, while small asymmetries at small scales and larger asymmetries at larger scales are also displayed. There is a strong similarity between S&P500 and DJI, and we reveal that the asymmetries depend more on the cross-correlations of S&P500 vs. DJI, S&P500 vs. NQCI, DJI vs. NQCI, and ShangZheng vs. ShenCheng when the market is falling than rising, respectively. By comparing the spectra of S&P500 vs. NQCI and DJI vs. NQCI with uptrends and downtrends, we detect some new characteristics which lead to some new conclusions. Likewise, some new conclusions also can be drawn by the new characteristics displayed through the comparison between the spec-tra of ShangZheng vs. HSI and ShenCheng vs. HSI. Obviously, we conclude that although the overall spectra are similar and one market has the same effect when it is rising and falling in the study of asymmetric cross-correlations between it and different markets, the cross-correlations and asymmetries on the trends of the different markets are all different. MS-ADCCA method can detect the differences on the asymmetric cross-correlations by different trends of markets. Moreover, the uniqueness of cross-correlation between NQCI and HSI can be detected in the study of the asymmetric cross-correlations, which confirms that HSI is unique in the Chinese stock mar-kets and NQCI is unique in the US stock markets further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction The optimal transfusion protocol remains unknown in the trauma setting. This retrospective cohort study aimed to determine if goal-directed transfusion protocol based on standard thrombelastography (TEG) is feasible and beneficial in patients with abdominal trauma. Methods Sixty adult patients with abdominal trauma who received 2 or more units of red blood cell transfusion within 24 hours of admission were studied. Patients managed with goal-directed transfusion protocol via TEG (goal-directed group) were compared to patients admitted before utilization of the protocol (control group). Results There were 29 patients in the goal-directed group and 31 in the control group. Baseline parameters were similar except for higher admission systolic blood pressure in the goal- directed group than the control group (121.8 ± 23.1 mmHg vs 102.7 ± 26.5 mmHg, p < 0.01). At 24 h, patients in the goal-directed group had shorter aPTT compared to patients in the control group (39.2 ± 16.3 s vs 58.6 ± 36.6 s, p = 0.044). Administration of total blood products at 24 h appeared to be fewer in the goal-directed group than the control group (10.2 [7.0-43.1]U vs 14.8 [8.3-37.6]U, p = 0.28), but this was not statistically significant. Subgroup analysis including patients with ISS ≥ 16 showed that patients in the goal-directed group had significantly fewer consumption of total blood products than patients in the control group (7[6.1, 47.0]U vs 37.6[14.5, 89.9]U, p = 0.015). No differences were found in mortality at 28d, length of stay in intensive care unit and hospital between the two groups. Conclusions Goal-directed transfusion protocol via standard TEG was achievable in patients with abdominal trauma. The novel protocol, compared to conventional transfusion management, has the potential to decrease blood product utilization and prevent exacerbation of coagulation function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese liquor is one of the world’s oldest distilled alcoholic beverages and an important commercial fermented product in China. The Chinese liquor fermentation process has three stages: making Daqu (the starter), stacking fermentation on the ground, and liquor fermentation in pits. We investigated the bacterial diversity of Maotai and Guotai Daqu and liquor fermentation using high-throughput sequencing of the V4 hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA gene. A total of 70,297 sequences were obtained from the Daqu samples and clustered into 17 phyla. The composition of the bacterial communities in the Daqu from these two soy sauce aroma-style Chinese liquors was the same, although some bacterial species changed in abundance. Between the Daqu and liquor fermentation samples, 12 bacterial phyla increased. The abundance of Lactobacillus and Pseudomonas increased in the liquor fermentation. This study has used high-throughput sequencing to provide new insights into the bacterial composition of the Chinese liquor Daqu and fermentation. Similarities in the distribution of bacteria in the soy sauce aroma-style Chinese liquors Daqu suggest that the abundance of bacteria might be generally concerned to other liquor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

East Asian dust storms have become increasingly intense over the last two decades, and the arid inland regions of northern China have been recognized as the main dust source areas. Numerous lakes in this region have recently become desiccated, leaving large areas of bare ground prone to becoming potential dust sources. Vegetation cover characteristics and vegetation succession following lake desiccation remain unclear. Here we chose eight inland dry lakes, one outflow lake and one river on the southeast edge of the Inner Mongolian Plateau to investigate vegetation patterns along transects from lake bed to lake shore, and determine the relationships between vegetation patterns and environmental factors. The results show that dry lake bed soils do indeed have high contents of fine particles. Also, soil salt content is the most critical control on vegetation succession on desiccated lake beds, and vegetation is unlikely to colonize areas with soil salt content ≥5%. Soil texture additionally influenced vegetation patterns by affecting soil salt content. The likely vegetation succession on dry like beds is Nitraria tangutorum community > Suaeda corniculata and Suaeda glauca communities > Achnatherum splendens and Elymus sibiricus communities, and finally Carex duriuscula community as the probable climax. When vegetation is at the later stages of succession, for example with Achnatherum splendens communities, Elymus sibiricus communities and Carex duriuscula communities, soil may be protected from wind erosion because of their high vegetation cover and high proportion of perennials. We suggest grazing should be avoided around lake shores, especially in Achnatherum splendens communities, because high vegetation cover and biomass not only protect soil from erosion, but also promote the deposition of fine particles blown from upwind regions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Suicide is an urgent public health challenge for China. This study aims to examine the prevalence, influence factors, and gender differences of suicidal ideation among general population in Northwestern Urban China.Methods: Data used in this study were derived from the third wave of a cohort study of a randomized community sample with 4291 participants (≥ 20 years) in 2008 in Lanzhou City and Baiyin City, Gansu Province. Data were collected via face-to-face interview by the trained interviewers. Descriptive analyses, chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regressions were performed by using Stata 12.0, as needed.Results: The prevalence of 12-month suicidal ideation was 4.29%, there was no significant difference between males and females [5.04% vs 3.62%, Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 0.83, p = 0.351]. Several risk factors for suicidal ideation were confirmed, including being unmarried (AOR = 1.55, p = 0.030), having depression symptoms (AOR = 2.33, p < 0.001), having other insurance (AOR = 1.83, p = 0.01) or no insurance (AOR = 1.73, p = 0.024). In addition, several influence factors were significantly different in males and females, such as being currently married (unmarried vs married, AOR = 1.84, p = 0.027, for females; no difference for males), feeling hopeless (hopless vs hopeful, AOR = 1.92, p = 0.06, for females; no difference for males), having other insurances (having other insurances vs having basic employee medical insurance, AOR = 1.92, p = 0.044, for males; no difference for females), having debts (having debts vs no debts, AOR = 2.69, p = 0.001, for males; no difference for females), currently smoking (smoking vs nonsmoking, AOR = 3.01, p = 0.019 for females, no difference for males), and currently drinking (drinking vs nondrinking, AOR =2.01, p = 0.022, for males; no difference for females).Discussion and Conclusion: These findings suggested that comprehensive suicide prevention strategies should be developed or strengthened in order to prevent suicide ideation in China, and the gender-specific differences need to be explored through further researches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has the largest afforested area in the world (∼62 million hectares in 2008), and these forests are carbon sinks. The climatic effect of these new forests depends on how radiant and turbulent energy fluxes over these plantations modify surface temperature. For instance, a lower albedo may cause warming, which negates the climatic benefits of carbon sequestration. Here, we used satellite measurements of land surface temperature (LST) from planted forests and adjacent grasslands or croplands in China to understand how afforestation affects LST. Afforestation is found to decrease daytime LST by about 1.1 ± 0.5 °C (mean ± 1 SD) and to increase nighttime LST by about 0.2 ± 0.5 °C, on average. The observed daytime cooling is a result of increased evapotranspiration. The nighttime warming is found to increase with latitude and decrease with average rainfall. Afforestation in dry regions therefore leads to net warming, as daytime cooling is offset by nighttime warming. Thus, it is necessary to carefully consider where to plant trees to realize potential climatic benefits in future afforestation projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The widely distributed 241 lakes in the semiarid region of China bordering the Asian Gobi desert provide an irreplaceable environment for the region's human inhabitants, livestock, and wildlife. Using satellite imagery, we tracked the changing areas of lake water and freshwater/salty marshes during the last four decades and correlated observed changes with concurrent temperature and precipitation. On average, most of the lake size groups across different subregions showed a reduction in area from the 1970s to 2000s, particularly from the 1990s to 2000s (P < 0.05); 121 of the 241 lakes became fully desiccated at the end of the 2000s. Our results confirmed the prevalence of drought-induced lake shrinkage and desiccation at a regional scale, which has been sustained since the year 2000, and highlighted an accelerated shrinkage of individual lakes by human water use in the agriculture-dominated regions. Lake waters have become salinized, and freshwater marsh has been replaced by salty marsh, threatening the populations of endangered waterfowl species such as the red-crowned crane as well as the aquatic ecosystem. Although the dry lakebeds are a potential source of dust, the establishment of salty marsh on bare lake beds could have partially reduced dust release due to the increase in vegetation cover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does outward investment induce more domestic innovation or simply move local innovative efforts to foreign plants? This question is topical and relevant to Taiwan in view of its large share of outward investment concentrated in China and the special political relationship between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of outward investment in China on domestic innovative activity in Taiwan. Overall, this study finds that a positive relationship exists between outward investment and innovation in terms of R&D intensity and patents, implying that investing in China is part of a global resource allocation strategy of Taiwanese multinational enterprises to allocate production in China and pay more attention to innovative activity in their domestic plants. Moreover, the deregulation of the policy regarding investing in China in 2001 has induced an upsurge in investment in China, although it does not seem to have brought about an outflow of technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Qujialing site is a representative Neolithic archaeological site in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, China. Absence of suitable material for radiocarbon dating in this region makes the timing of the similar sites difficult. Here we applied optically stimulated luminescence (OSL–SAR) and thermoluminescence (TL–SAR) techniques to date the archaeological and natural deposits from the Qujialing site with known age, testing the techniques on samples at archaeological sites in this region. The results showed that the luminescence properties of quartz from sediment and baked earth samples are very similar. The quartz OSL ages obtained for a sediment sample and a baked earth sample from the cultural layer are 5.4±0.3 and 5.1±0.3ka, respectively. The quartz TL age of the baked earth sample is 5.6±0.5ka. These dates are consistent with the calibrated radiocarbon ages (4.9±0.1 and 5.1±0.1kacalBP (±1σ)) of the two charcoal samples from the cultural layer at a nearby locality, and are also in agreement with the age of Qujialing culture period. The results indicate that the OSL dating techniques can be applied to date similar archaeological sites in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: A few previous cross-sectional studies investigated correlated factors of suicidal ideation or suicide attempts among suicide prevention hotline callers; however, scarcely any evidence was from a longitudinal study. In addition, it is still unclear whether improvements in some suicide risk factors could reduce the occurrence of subsequent suicidal acts. This longitudinal study focusing on the risk factors for subsequent suicidal acts among adolescent and young adult callers with high suicide risk aims to fill this gap. Methods: This study recruited 12–25-year-old high-risk callers to a China nationwide suicide prevention hotline. Potential risk factors, including hopefulness, psychological distress, depression, history of suicide attempts, alcohol or substance misuse, and acute life events, were examined during the index calls, and improvements in hopefulness, psychological distress, and suicide intent were assessed before ending the index calls. The recruited callers were followed up 12 months after their index calls. The primary outcome was the occurrence of suicidal acts (suicide attempts or suicide death) during follow-up. Kaplan–Meier survival curves, log-rank tests, and Cox proportional hazards model were used. Results: During the follow-up period, 271 of 1656 high-risk adolescent and young adult callers attempted suicide, and seven callers died by suicide. After adjusting for demographic variables, low hopefulness (Hazard Ratio [HR] = 2.03, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]=[1.47, 2.80]) at the beginning of the index call was associated with a higher risk for subsequent suicidal acts, whereas improvements in psychological distress (HR = 0.61, 95%CI [0.41, 0.89]) and suicidal intent (HR = 0.56, 95%CI [0.38, 0.84]) during the index call reduced the risk of subsequent suicidal acts. In addition, alcohol or substance misuse (Model 2, HR = 1.65, 95%CI [1.11, 2.46]) and suicide attempt history(Model 1: one episode, HR = 1.96, 95%CI=[1.05, 3.66]; two or more episodes, HR = 2.81, 95%CI [1.59, 4.96]. Model 2: one episode, HR = 2.26, 95%CI [1.06, 4.82]; two or more episodes: HR = 3.28, 95%CI [1.63, 6.60]) were risk factors for subsequent suicidal acts. Conclusions: While suicide prevention hotline operators deliver brief psychological interventions to high-risk adolescent and young adult callers, priority should be given to callers with low hopefulness and to the alleviation of callers' high psychological distress and suicide intent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although it is well documented that mountains tend to exhibit high biodiversity, how geological processes affect the assemblage of montane floras is a matter of ongoing research. Here, we explore landform-specific differences among montane floras based on a dataset comprising 17,576 angiosperm species representing 140 Chinese mountain floras, which we define as the collection of all angiosperm species growing on a specific mountain. Our results show that igneous bedrock (granitic and karst-granitic landforms) is correlated with higher species richness and phylogenetic overdispersion, while the opposite is true for sedimentary bedrock (karst, Danxia, and desert landforms), which is correlated with phylogenetic clustering. Furthermore, we show that landform type was the primary determinant of the assembly of evolutionarily older species within floras, while climate was a greater determinant for younger species. Our study indicates that landform type not only affects montane species richness, but also contributes to the composition of montane floras. To explain the assembly and differentiation of mountain floras, we propose the 'floristic geo-lithology hypothesis', which highlights the role of bedrock and landform processes in montane floristic assembly and provides insights for future research on speciation, migration, and biodiversity in montane regions. An analysis of 140 floras from China reveals that high species diversity exists in granite and mixed landforms, while low species diversity is found in karst, Danxia, and desert landforms. Based on these findings, the authors provide new clues for understanding the assembly and differentiation of mountain floras, highlighting the role of bedrock and landform processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Neuroendoscopy is a minimally invasive procedure for clot evacuation in intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) which may have advantages compared with open surgical evacuation procedures. The application of neuroendoscopy in ICH has attracted increasing attention in recent years. However, it remains unclear whether it could improve outcomes in patients with ICH. Objective: The aim of this study is to explore the efficacy and safety of neuroendoscopic hematoma evacuation surgery compared with standard conservative treatment for spontaneous deep supratentorial cerebral hemorrhage. Methods: The Efficacy and safety of NeuroEndoscopic Surgery for IntraCerebral Hemorrhage (NESICH) Trial is a multicenter, randomized, controlled, open-label, blinded-endpoint clinical trial. Up to 560 eligible subjects with acute deep supratentorial ICH will be randomly assigned (1:1) to receive either neuroendoscopic hematoma evacuation or standard conservative treatment at more than 30 qualified neurosurgery centers in China. Outcomes: The primary endpoint is the proportion of patients with a good functional outcome (mRS score 0–3) in both groups at 180 days after onset. The main safety endpoints include all-cause mortality at 7, 30, and 180 days, rebleeding at 3, 7, and 30 days, and serious complications within 180 days. Discussion: NESICH will provide high-quality evidence for the efficacy and safety of neuroendoscopic hematoma evacuation surgery in ICH patients. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05539859. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April 2022, a novel Goose adenovirus (GoAdV) isolated from diseased Lion head gooses exhibiting swelling and hemorrhage of liver and kidney, accumulation of fluid in pericardial, in Fujian province of China. The GoAdV was propagated in goose embryo fibroblasts (GEFs), the morphological properties of the virions were studied by electron microscopy, and the full genome sequence was determined and analyzed. The results revealed that the infected cells became round and clustered like grapes, virions accumulated and were arranged in crystal lattice formations in the nucleus of GEFs with a diameter of ∼80 nm. The new isolate (named CH-FJZZ-202201) has a viral genome size of 43,480 bp and shared 96.69% sequence identity with GoAdV-4 (P29), representing the species Goose aviadenovirus A. Phylogenetic analysis showed that CH-FJZZ-202201 was in the same genetic evolutionary branch with the viruses of Aviadenovirus and was the closest relative to GoAdV-4 P29/Hungary. This is the first report of the GoAdV-4 outside of Hungary, indicating the reemergence of new AdV strains in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Infections with Plasmodium ovale are widely distributed but rarely investigated, and the resulting burden of disease has been underestimated. Plasmodium ovale curtisi Duffy binding protein domain region II (PocDBP-RII) is an essential ligand for reticulocyte recognition and host cell invasion by P. ovale curtisi. However, the genomic variation, antigenicity and immunogenicity of PocDBP-RII remain major knowledge gaps. Methods: A total of 93 P. ovale curtisi samples were collected from migrant workers who returned to China from 17 countries in Africa between 2012 and 2016. The genetic polymorphism, natural selection and copy number variation (CNV) were investigated by sequencing and real-time PCR. The antigenicity and immunogenicity of the recombinant PocDBP-RII (rPocDBP-RII) protein were further examined, and the humoral and cellular responses of immunized mice were assessed using protein microarrays and flow cytometry. Results: Efficiently expressed and purified rPocDBP-RII (39 kDa) was successfully used as an antigen for immunization in mice. The haplotype diversity (Hd) of PocDBP-RII gene was 0.105, and the nucleotide diversity index (π) was 0.00011. No increased copy number was found among the collected isolates of P. ovale curtisi. Furthermore, rPocDBP-RII induced persistent antigen-specific antibody production with a serum IgG antibody titer of 1: 16,000. IFN-γ-producing T cells, rather than IL-10-producing cells, were activated in response to the stimulation of rPocDBP-RII. Compared to PBS-immunized mice (negative control), there was a higher percentage of CD4+CD44highCD62L− T cells (effector memory T cells) and CD8+CD44highCD62L+ T cells (central memory T cells) in rPocDBP-RII‑immunized mice. Conclusions: PocDBP-RII sequences were highly conserved in clinical isolates of P. ovale curtisi. rPocDBP-RII protein could mediate protective blood-stage immunity through IFN-γ-producing CD4+ and CD8+ T cells and memory T cells, in addition to inducing specific antibodies. Our results suggested that rPocDBP-RII protein has potential as a vaccine candidate to provide assessment and guidance for malaria control and elimination activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Brucella abortus is the main causative agent for bovine brucellosis. B. abortus A19 is a widely used vaccine strain to protect cows from Brucella infection in China. However, A19 has a similar lipopolysaccharide (LPS) antigen to that of the field virulent Brucella strain, whose immunization interferes with the serodiagnosis of vaccinated and infected animals. [Aim] To develop a novel Brucella DIVA vaccine candidate. Study design and methods: The B. abortus mutant A19mut2 with the formyltransferase gene wbkC is replaced by an acetyltransferase gene wbdR from E. coli O157 using the bacterial homologous recombination technique, generating a modified O-polysaccharide that cannot induce antibodies in mice against wild-type Brucella LPS. The biological phenotypes of the A19mut2 were assessed using a growth curve analysis, agglutination tests, Western blotting, and stress resistance assays. Histopathological changes and bacterial colonization in the spleens of vaccinated mice were investigated to assess the residual virulence and protection of the A19mut2. Humoral and cellular immunity was evaluated by measuring the levels of IgG, IgG subtypes, and the release of cytokines IFN-γ and IL10 in the splenocytes of the vaccinated mice. ELISA coated with wild-type LPS can distinguish mouse antibodies induced by A19 and A19mut2 immunization. Results: The A19mut2 showed a decreased residual virulence in mice, compared to the A19 strain, but induced significant humoral and cellular immune responses, as the A19 immunization did. The protection efficacy of A19mut2 immunization against B. abortus S2308 NalR infection was similar to that of A19 immunization. Conclusion: The A19mut2 has potential as a novel DIVA vaccine candidate in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Political leaderships and their networks are influential and impactful in the decision-making process of societies worldwide. The role of the top political leaders is even more significant in authoritarian systems/single-party states like China. Absolute political power without resistance or opposition helps with quick decisions and policy formulations/alternations by government agencies. The competition to acquire power and position can be peaceful or fierce and depends on the capacities of individuals/institutions. This attempt to capture power, institutions and position among the elites of the Communist Party in China happens every five years during the Party Congress. Many factors determine the outcome of the fierce competition for power and positions in the Communist Party during the Party Congress. This fierce competition to acquire power influences ideological leanings, loyalty, political networks and governance models. The debate on the issues of consent, consensus and justice in the distribution/redistribution of power and positions in authoritarian regimes is tricky to conclude. Chinese Politics are like the 'Great Wall of China', where construction materials change based on geographical conditions. Chinese politics are also like the ancient Chinese board game of Wei qi, where the priority is to capture more territory over others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on our research in China's southern mountains about ethnic medicines, and intrigued by the proverbial Chinese view that Yao Shi Tong Yuan (food and medicine have the same source), this article traces the eventfulness and powers at play in healing and eating when they are seen as closely related forms of life. Ancient and modern traditional Chinese medicine understandings of flavor are here shown to be a common basis for the healing and harming powers of both food and medicine. The term Wu Wei , or five flavors is explored as both experiences of eating and cooking, and some patterns of qi movement that animate and invigorate the body. Following Vivienne Lo's term "potent flavors," practices of harmonizing (He , Tiao He) flavors in Chinese medicine, as in cooking, express a world of natural powers and expert embodiment that goes far beyond mere taste. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: To establish an early warning model of hepatic encephalopathy in patients with liver cirrhosis based on psychological testing. Methods: Data including patient demographics, number connection test‐A (NCT‐A), digit symbol test (DST), Model for End‐Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores were collected for patients admitted to a tertiary hospital in Shanghai with liver cirrhosis between January and December 2019. Patients were divided into two groups based on the development of hepatic encephalopathy (the hepatic encephalopathy group and non‐hepatic encephalopathy group). Risk factors for hepatic encephalopathy in patients with liver cirrhosis were determined by using the binary logistic regression. We developed a predictive model in accordance with the STARD statement criteria (Supplementary File S1) with a cut‐off value determined by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis and calculation of the Youden index. Results: A total of 417 patients with liver cirrhosis were included in the present study. Of these, 33 out of 66 patients with abnormal psychological tests had hepatic encephalopathy during hospitalisation. In contrast, 6 out of 317 patients with normal psychological tests had hepatic encephalopathy. Logistic regression analysis identified age, MELD score, and abnormal psychological tests as risk factors for hepatic encephalopathy in patients with liver cirrhosis. The area under the ROC curve for our prediction model for hepatic encephalopathy in patients with liver cirrhosis was 0.950 and the largest calculated Youden index was 0.804, which corresponds to a cut‐off value is 0.0307. Conclusion: Greater age, higher MELD score and abnormal psychological tests were significantly associated with increased risk of hepatic encephalopathy indicating early warning systems and identification of abnormal psychological tests are important components of the clinical nursing care process for cirrhotic patients. Our early warning model based on psychological testing can provide a basis for nursing observation and prevention of hepatic encephalopathy. Relevance to clinical practice: Risk assessments for hepatic encephalopathy according to liver function and psychological tests, in addition to traditional neurological observations and dietary guidance, have utility in decreasing the incidence of hepatic encephalopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant growth and crop harvest are impacted by both climate change and air pollution. However, their relative importance in crop yields remains elusive, especially in heavily polluted regions. Here we develop crop yield prediction models, based on a large volume of historical crop data, as well as climate and pollution records in China since 1980. A long‐term surface ozone concentration data set is developed from a machine‐learning model and various observations. An assessment of four climate and pollution factors reveals the critical role of particulate and ozone pollution in regulating interannual variations of crop yields in China. During 2010–2018, we find that the particulate pollution mitigation outweighs the negative impacts of concurrent climate change, resulting in 0.5%–1.9% net yield increases nationwide, despite of the ozone increases in the North China Plain. Looking to the future, the impacts of climate change, particularly from surface temperature increase, will dominate over pollution factors and profoundly reduce future maize and rice yields by 0.6 to 2.8% 10 yr−1 by 2050. Our findings call for attention on the threat to future global food security from the absence of pollution mitigation and the persistence of global warming. Plain Language Summary: We capitalize on 39‐year historical records of crop yields, climate variables, and pollution data to develop a robust crop yield prediction model. Utilizing this model, we show a critical role of particulate pollution in determining annual crop yields. Moreover, our analyses reveal that the recent abatement of anthropogenic emission in China results in a net crop gain, which masks the crop loss due to the increased temperature and precipitation. In the next 30 years, temperature dominant climate effects will emerge to steer the future trend of crop yields. The present study demonstrates the co‐benefit of the recent air pollution control policy from agriculture and food perspectives. However, this benefit will eventually be diminished after the air pollution becomes alleviated in the full scale, while persisting or even exacerbated global warming will pose larger threat on the future food security. Key Points: Robust crop yield prediction models are developed to assess climate change and air pollution impacts on agricultureDuring 2010–2018, the particulate pollution mitigation outweighs the negative impacts of concurrent climate change in ChinaExacerbated global warming will lead to crop yield reduction in spite of pollution alleviation in the future scenarios [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, environmental pollution responsibilities are divided according to administrative regions. However, because of the strong externality of environmental pollution, the movement of environmental pollution undoubtedly increases the complexity of pollution governance. To divide the responsibility of environmental pollution governance in each province, we effectively quantify the unequal relationship between environmental pollution costs and economic benefits in each province to understand the mechanism and characteristics of inter-provincial environmental pollution movement. Based on the regional input–output model and an inventory we compiled of sulfur dioxide(SO2) emissions of air pollutants in 2012, we calculate the implied inter-provincial environmental pollution emissions and economic benefits from trade, based on production and consumption (supply-side and demand-side). In addition, the movement relationship is explored, and the cost and economic value-added indexes of air pollution control are further constructed to provide effective evidence for a reasonable division of responsibility for environmental pollution control. The results show that there are obvious environmental inequities in the regional trade process in each province, indicating that environmental pollution has been moved. Developed provinces have more economic benefits but pay less in the process of trading goods with less-developed provinces due to the advantages of their industrial structure, while the opposite is true for less-developed provinces. Finally, we propose corresponding policy recommendations to change this condition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classics has a long tradition whether in China or in the West. This article tries to analyze its history, its nature, and the ideological struggle within classics from the following three aspects: (1) classics is not necessarily conservative, and in essence it is the project of modernity; (2) the tradition of classics is permeated by a cultural imagination of the past, presuming some particular political lifestyle of the ancients with a kind of metaphysical and transcendental correctness; (3) German classics is a distinctive dual combination of historicism and romanticism, which produces profound influence on the humanities and academics in modern China. In the end, this article tries to argue that classics is a historical science and its methodology should be of historical critique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the vast body of scholarship on the Enlightenment, only a small portion addresses the role of China in the debates of that period. Among those, scarcely any concerns the relationship between China and Rousseau's thought. Yet the connections are many, and deep. This essay surveys a body of Chinese political theory available to Rousseau, then compares Rousseau's understanding of sovereignty, the "people," popular will, public opinion, and the authority of office, with comparable terms present in the Chinese theory available to him. The aim of this exercise is not so much to establish influence, though that can be difficult to deny. Primarily, the essay attempts to show that Rousseau's system generates contradictions in part because he attempts to combine parliamentary procedure with the conception of sovereignty and the popular will found in his Chinese sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of educational gerontology (EG) policies in mainland China has gone through two stages, the social welfare stage (1982–2000) and the lifelong learning stage (2001–present), and a rudimentary system of EG provisions and legislation has been formed. Although a system of EG practices in mainland China has also been built under the guidance of these policies, there are still some loopholes in the policies that hinder the further development of practices, such as a lack of awareness of EG as a separate discipline, misconceptions about lifelong education, and imperfections in the systems, techniques, and content of legislation related to EG. Additionally, there are some major gaps in EG policies and practices in China, unlike in other regions and countries. Therefore, this paper suggests a future EG policy agenda, including enacting legislation such as the Lifelong Education Act or Adult Education Act; improving the quality of the existing provisions and legislation to increase their rationality, standardization and operability; issuing a special law regarding the employment of older people to safeguard their right to learn and work; and launching initiatives to improve EG practices, including initiatives to enhance aging education in school, higher education for older adults, the utilization of older human resources, the cultivation of digital skills among older people, and education for disadvantaged older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advancement of novel sequencing technologies facilitates modern life science and medicine unprecedentedly. Exploring complete genome sequences of bacteria by long-read sequencing technology is significant for microbial genomics research. However, third-generation long-read sequencing technologies are available with limited choices, which generate technological barrier to scientific research. Recently, a novel QitanTech nanopore long-read sequencing technology has emerged in China, but the potential application and performance were unexplored. Herein, we comprehensively evaluated the feasibility of the emerging sequencing technology in assembling complete genomes of MDR pathogens. The results showed that 500 Mbp QitanTech nanopore sequencing data could be generated within 8 h in one flow cell with the standard library preparation method. The mean read length, longest read length, and mean read-level accuracy of QitanTech sequencing data were 6,041 bp, 57,037 bp, and 81.50% (LAST)/81.40% (Minimap2), respectively. Two routine assembly strategies including long-read assembly and hybrid assembly enable the achievement of complete bacterial genomes. The accuracy of assembled draft bacterial genomes with QitanTech long-read data could be improved up to 99.9% dramatically by polishing using accurate short-read data. Furthermore, the assembled bacterial genomes cover accurate structures of complex resistance plasmids harboring critical resistance genes such as tet (X), tmexCD-toprJ , and bla VIM–2, even the complex fusion MDR plasmid generated from homologous recombination. In conclusion, QitanTech nanopore sequencing, as a nanopore long-read sequencing technology launched in China, could be a good option for investigation of complex bacterial genomes. More potential applications based on this novel platform warrant investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Diabetic wounds are a protracted complication of diabetes mainly characterised by chronic inflammation, obstruction of epithelialization, damaged blood vessels and collagen production (maturation), as well as neuropathy. As a non‐coding RNA (ncRNA) that lack coding potential, long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have recently been reported to play a salient role in diabetic wound healing. Here, this review summarises the roles of lncRNAs in the pathology and treatments of diabetic wounds, providing references for its potential clinical diagnostic criteria or therapeutic targets in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]