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Objective To understand the relationship between psychological resilience in social support and anxiety/depression in people living with HIV/AIDS and to verify whether there is a mediating effect. Methods The questionnaire was administered to 161 people living with HIV/AIDS in a hospital. The questionnaire contained a general questionnaire, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Psychological Resilience Inventory (CD-RICS), and the Social Collaborative Support Scale (PSSS), and Pearson correlation analyses were used to explore the correlation between the factors and anxiety/depression, stratified linear regression analyses were used to validate the mediation model, and the bootstrap method was used to test for mediating effects. Results Anxiety was negatively correlated with psychological resilience and social support (r=-0.232, P < 0.01; r=-0.293, P < 0.01); depression was negatively correlated with psychological resilience and social support (r=-0.382, P < 0.01; r=-0.482, P < 0.01); there was a mediation effect model of social support between psychological resilience and anxiety/depression; psychological resilience played a fully mediating role in social support and anxiety/depression, with an effect contribution of 68.42%/59.34% and a 95% CI(-0.256~-0.036)/(-0.341 to~-0.106). Conclusion Psychological resilience plays a complete mediating effect between social support and anxiety/depression. It is recommended that more channels of social support be provided to patients with HIV/AIDS, thereby enhancing their psychological resilience and reducing anxiety/depression levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until recently, the causal agent of Botryosphaeria canker was assumed to differ from that causing ring rot on fruit and warts on branches on apple trees in China and East Asia. However, recent research documented that Botryosphaeria dothidea caused both disease symptoms on apple. Inoculations with strains isolated from cankers and warts on branches were conducted to investigate symptom progression caused by B. dothidea and conditions inducing the two symptom types. The results confirmed that both cankers and warts are caused by B. dothidea. Warts are the results of hyperplasia and suberization of bark tissues induced by fungal infection, whereas cankers result from the rapid growth of hyphae from inside warts, lenticels, or wounds. Resistance to B. dothidea exists in living apple branches. When a living branch is infected via lenticels, the pathogen induces proliferation and suberization of cortical cells that restricts the growth and expansion of the hyphae, leading to warts. However, under certain stress conditions such as drought, the hyphae inside host tissues expand rapidly and kill cortical cells, leading to canker development. Host resistance may recover during active growth periods, which suppresses or even stops rapid expansion of the hyphae, leading to the intermediate symptom of canker warts. Abiotic factors, such as drought or high temperature in early spring, can result in rapid extension of colonized hyphae in branches and conversion of warts to cankers. Preventing this transition can be an important measure in managing Botryosphaeria canker on apple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In January 2012, a serious accident polluted the Longjiang River with high concentrations of cadmium (Cd) and other concomitant metals and metalloids in the water. After emergency treatment (i.e., the addition of coagulants), these metals and metalloids were transferred from the water into the sediment through precipitation of the flocculent materials produced. In this study, the long-term distribution of six metals and metalloids in the sediment of the Longjiang River was investigated and their ecological risks were assessed. Approximately 1 year after the accident (i.e., late 2012), the average Cd content in the sediment of the affected sites decreased to 25.6 ± 19.5 mg/kg, which was 8 times higher than that of 3.16 ± 3.18 mg/kg in the upstream reference sites. In 2016 and 2017, the average Cd content in the sediment of the affected sites further decreased to 4.91 ± 2.23 and 6.27 ± 4.27 mg/kg, respectively. Compared with late 2012, the amounts of Zn, Pb, and Cu obviously decreased in 2016 and 2017, whereas there were no obvious differences in the As and Hg amounts during 3 years considered. Among metals and metalloids, the average contribution of Cd to the potential ecological risk index (RI) was 90%, 69%, and 70% in the affected areas in 2012, 2016, and 2017, respectively, suggesting that Cd was the most important factor affecting the ecological risk of metals in the Longjiang River. It should be noted that the average contribution of Hg to RI in the affected areas increased from 8% in 2012 to 25% and 23% in 2016 and 2017, respectively. The sequence of contribution of six elements was Cd > Hg > As>Pb > Cu ≈ Zn. A high ecological risk of metals and metalloids was found in the sediments of two reservoirs, probably owing to the barrier effect of the dam. This study will be useful for the environmental management of rivers affected by accidental pollution of metals and metalloids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metal contamination due to mining activity is a global major concern because of its potential health risks to local inhabitants. In the present study, we investigated the levels of Cd, Cu, Pb and As in soil, crop, well water and fish samples collected from the vicinity of the Tonglushan mine in Hubei, China, and evaluated potential health risks among local residents. Results indicate that soils near the mine were heavily contaminated with Cd (2.59 mg kg −1 ), Cu (386 mg kg −1 ), Pb (120 mg kg −1 ) and As (35.4 mg kg −1 ), and exceeded the soil quality standard values of Cd and Cu contamination. The concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb and As in crop samples grown in mine-affected soils were significantly higher than those of the reference soils. The concentrations of Cd and As in most vegetables grown in mine-affected soils exceeded the maximum allowable level (MAL). The Cd, Pb and As concentration in rice grain collected from mine-affected soils were 2.95, 1.85 and 2.07-fold higher than the MAL, respectively. The concentrations of Cd and As in fish muscle from the mine-affected area were above national MAL in 61% and 34% of analyzed samples, respectively. All measured heavy metals except Pb were significantly greater in well water in the mine-affected area than those in the reference areas. The average estimated daily intakes of Cd and As were beyond the provisional tolerable daily intake, respectively. The intake of rice was identified as a major contributor (⩾72%) to the estimated daily intake among the residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chinese liquors are often a very important part of social event in China. Driven by high profit, some illegal traders often use inferior liquors instead of the products with high quality to cheat the customer. Therefore, it is highly required to authenticate Chinese liquors. In this paper a novel method based on ambient glow discharge ionization mass spectrometry has been developed to differentiate Chinese liquors. Volatile components from liquor samples were ionized by the plasma generated by glow discharge and then detected by a commercial linear ion trap mass spectrometer. Consequently, the fingerprint mass spectra of several Chinese liquors were obtained. Combined with principal component analysis, this new method was successfully applied to differentiate different brands of Chinese liquors without any sample pretreatment. Compared with conventional methods, this novel method has the advantages of easy operation, high speed, and high efficiency, which make it a potential tool in the fields of food safety, atmosphere chemistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study conducted to analyze the transmission of malaria in the Yangtze River located in China after the construction of three Gorges Reservoirs. In study six villages including Kaixian, Fengjie, Wanzhou were selected for investigating the transmission of malaria in the reservoir. It mentions that the transmission potential was estimated by the use of mathematical modeling and estimation of the local malaria situation. It reports that factors which influenced the transmission potential were analyzed by the Poisson regression analysis in combination with the Grey Systematic theory. The result revealed that the risk of malaria can be forecasted by transmission of malaria.

Abstract: Ficus hirta Vahl. (Wuzhimaotao) is widely used as a folk medicine by Hakka people in southern China. In order to ascertain if any major fraction can be attributed to have pronounced anticancer effect, extracts of Wuzhimaotao on cytotoxic and apoptosis of HeLa cell lines were evaluated. HeLa cells were cultured and incubated with different concentrations of crude aqueous extracts (CAE), ethyl acetate extracts (EAE), and butyl alcohol extracts (BAE). It showed CAE, EAE, and BAE decreased cell viability on HeLa cells as a dose-dependent manner, and induced a sub-G1 peak in flow cytometry histogram of treated cells compared to the control. Apoptotic cell death is involved in CAE, EAE, and BAE toxicity, with EAE having a significant decrease in G1 population. An over all analysis of results showed that Wuzhimaotao extracts exert antiproliferative action and growth inhibition on HeLa cells through apoptosis induction which indicates its anticancer properties and deserves further investigation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Interest in edible beans as nutraceuticals is increasing. In the present study, the individual phenolic acids, the total phenolic content (TPC), the total flavonoid content (TFC), and the antioxidant and antidiabetic potential of 13 varieties of rice beans from China were investigated. Eight phenolic compounds (catechin, epicatechin, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, vitexin, isovitexin, sinapic acid, quercetin) were analyzed on an ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) mass spectrometry (MS) system. The rice bean varieties had significant differences in total phenolic compounds (ranging from 123.09 ± 10.35 to 843.75 ± 30.15 µg/g), in TPC (ranging from 3.27 ± 0.04 to 6.43 ± 0.25 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g), in TFC (ranging from 55.95 ± 11.16 to 320.39 ± 31.77 mg catechin (CE)/g), in antioxidant activity (ranging from 39.87 ± 1.37 to 46.40 ± 2.18 µM⋅TE/g), in α-glucosidase inhibition activity (ranging from 44.32 ± 2.12 to 68.71 ± 2.19) and in advanced glycation end products formation inhibition activity (ranging from 34.11 ± 0.59 to 75.75 ± 0.33). This study is the first report on phytochemistry and biological activities in rice beans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aims of this study were to examine the association of verbal, social, physical, and cyber bullying victimizations with sleep quality while taking social support as a moderator and to further examine gender and grade differences in the moderating effects of social support on bullying-associated sleep quality among Chinese adolescents. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted in a province of northwestern China. A total of 20,320 students were included in our analyses. Multivariable linear regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between bullying victimization and sleep quality as well as the moderating effects of social support on these relationships. After adjusting for confounding variables, four types of bullying victimization were significantly associated with sleep quality. Social support only moderated the relationship of verbal, physical, and social bullying with sleep quality. Moreover, these positive moderating effects were found only for girls and, in terms of grade difference, only for primary students. Some reversed moderating effects of social support were also observed in the relationship of cyber, physical bullying with sleep quality. This was a cross-sectional study, limiting the causal inference. This study revealed that bullying is a risk factor for poor sleep quality among adolescents in northwestern China. Furthermore, social support moderated the relationship between bullying and sleep quality in different ways depending on grade, gender, and type of bullying. More efforts are needed to prevent bullying and improve both school climate and students' sleep quality. • Participants who were bullied had poorer sleep quality. • Social support moderated the association between bullying and sleep quality. • Moderating effects of social support and bullying differ by gender and age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are of great environmental concern due to bioaccumulation in different food chains. Trophodynamics of PBDEs in freshwater food chain is an important criterion for assessing their ecological risk. In the study, PBDEs were analyzed in sixteen aquatic species collected from Baiyangdian Lake, North China. The concentrations of nine PBDE congeners (BDE-28, -47, -66, -99, -100, -85, -153, -154, and -183) in aquatic organisms ranged from 3.4 to 160.2ng/g lipid weight. BDE-47 was the predominant PBDE congener in most samples except for river snails and swan mussels. BDE-209 was detected in 50% of biota samples, which indicated the bioavailability of BDE209. Correlation between lipid-normalized concentrations of PBDEs and trophic levels determined by stable isotope nitrogen technologies confirmed that PBDEs were biomagnified in the freshwater food chain. The trophic magnification factors (TMFs) ranged from 1.3 to 2.1 for PBDE congeners, greater than one, indicating the biomagnification potential for the PBDE congeners in the freshwater food chain. The relationship between TMFs and Log K ow (octanol–water partition coefficient) indicated that the phenomenon of trophic magnification for lowly brominated congeners was obvious in the freshwater food chain. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Objective: This study investigates the association between physical exercise and emotion regulation abilities among college students, introducing self-efficacy as a mediating variable to analyze the pathway mechanism through which physical exercise affects emotion regulation abilities., Methods: A cross-sectional study design was employed, utilizing a stratified random sampling method to survey three colleges in Jiangsu Province, China. Physical Activity Rating Scale, Physical Activity Self-efficacy Scale, and Emotional Intelligence Scale were used to measure the college student population. Regression analysis and mediation tests assessed whether self-efficacy mediates the relationship between physical exercise and college students' emotion regulation abilities. A total of 5,430 valid questionnaires were collected., Results: The distribution of college students' physical activities was 77.0% for low, 13.1% for medium, and 9.3% for high levels. Physical activities were significantly and positively correlated with self-efficacy and emotional management abilities (r = 0.298,0.105;P<0.01), and self-efficacy was significantly and positively correlated with emotional management abilities (r = 0.322, P<0.01). Situational motivation and subjective support under self-efficacy were 0.08 and 0.255, respectively, and the adjusted R2 was 0.107. Self-efficacy played a fully mediating role between physical activities and emotional management abilities, with a total effect value of 0.032. The values of the direct and indirect effects were 0.003 and 0.029, accounting for 8.95% and 90.74% of the total effect, respectively., Conclusion: The physical exercise behavior of college students is primarily characterized by low intensity. Physical exercise among college students can positively predict their ability to regulate emotions. Self-efficacy fully mediates the relationship between physical exercise and emotion regulation ability among college students. College students can indirectly influence their ability to regulate emotions through physical exercise and self-efficacy., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Mu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

A Gram-negative bacterium, designated S1-65 T , was isolated from soil samples collected from a cotton field located in the Xinjiang region of PR China. Results of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that strain S1-65 T was affiliated to the genus Steroidobacter with its closest phylogenetic relatives being ' Steroidobacter cummioxidans ' 35Y (98.4 %), ' Steroidobacter agaridevorans ' SA29-B (98.3 %) and Steroidobacter agariperforans KA5-B T (98.3 %). 16S rRNA-directed phylogenetic analysis showed that strain S1-65 T formed a unique phylogenetic subclade next to ' S. agaridevorans ' SA29-B and S. agariperforans KA5-B T , suggesting that strain S1-65 T should be identified as a member of the genus Steroidobacter . Further, substantial differences between the genotypic properties of strain S1-65 T and the members of the genus Steroidobacter , including average nucleotide identity and digital DNA-DNA hybridization, resolved the taxonomic position of strain S1-65 T and suggested its positioning as representing a novel species of the genus Steroidobacter . The DNA G+C content of strain S1-65 T was 62.5 mol%, based on its draft genome sequence. The predominant respiratory quinone was ubiquinone-8. The main fatty acids were identified as summed feature 3 (C 16:1 ω6 c /C 16:1 ω7 c ), C 16 : 0 and iso-C 15 : 0 . In addition, its polar lipid profile was composed of aminophospholipid, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol. Here, we propose a novel species of the genus Steroidobacter : Steroidobacter gossypii sp. nov. with the type strain S1-65 T (=JCM 34287 T =CGMCC 1.18736 T ).

Objective: To develop an emergency training program of personal protective equipment (PPE) for general healthcare workers (HCWs) who may be under the threat of Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and evaluate the effect of the program., Methods: A three-stage training program was designed. The complete clinical workflow together with infectious disease ward was simulated. To verify the effect of the program, an experimental training with pre- and post-test was conducted before large-scale training., Results: Post-test scores were significantly improved when compared with the pre-test scores. Among all PPE, N95 respirator and protective coverall needed training most. Meanwhile, "proficiency level" and "mutual check & help" also needed to be strengthened as independent scoring points., Conclusion: This training program significantly improved the performances of participants. It may therefore be applied for general HCWs on a larger scale.

Emergent cadmium pollution can cause water quality deterioration in rivers, which destroys the aquatic eco-environment and poses threats to human health. Fish species in these aquatic systems are prone to such pollution incidents and act as important indicators of the pollution level. Because cadmium enters the systematic circulation of fish and is non-biodegradable, the investigation of cadmium accumulation in fish bodies provides insights into the detrimental effects of cadmium pollution on the aquatic biological system. This research aims to validate the eco-environmental risks associated with emergent cadmium pollution incidents based on the investigation of the different tissues and organs of diverse fish species. The investigation was conducted six times along the Longjiang River using sampling methods during which all fish species were also classified and analyzed based on the water layer they reside in and their feeding habits. The results show that the cadmium concentration in the fish tissues is significantly higher in the former three investigations compared with that of the latter three analyses. For herbivorous, carnivorous, and omnivorous fish species, the cadmium concentration of their different tissues and organs follows the order:kidney > liver > gut > gill > egg > scale ≈ muscle. The cadmium concentration in the kidney is significantly higher ( P <0.05) than that in any other organs of the fish species. This agrees with the fact that the kidney intensively metabolizes and accumulates heavy metals. The cadmium concentration in the same tissues or organs of the fish species living in different water layers follows the trend:demersal fish species > middle lower-layer species > middle upper-layer species. The sequence of the cadmium bioaccumulation factors in the muscles of different fish species is omnivore > carnivorous > herbivorous, that is, 8.32, 6.33, and 5.15, respectively, while the bioaccumulation factors in the muscles of the fish species in different water layers decrease in the following sequence:demersal fish species (8.18) > middle bottom-layer fish species (7.70) > middle upper-layer fish species (4.99). These experimental results indicate the biomagnification effects in heavy metal-polluted aquatic environments, where the bioaccumulation of heavy metals by fish is related to both the overall pollution level and local residential environment.

A long-term investigation, which covered 10 sampling campaigns over 3 years, was performed to evaluate the occurrence, removal and risk of 10 pharmaceuticals in 2 full-scale sewage treatment plants (STPs) in Guangdong, South China. Target pharmaceuticals except for clofibrate and ibuprofen were detected in every sample, with mean concentrations of 12.5-685.6 and 7.9-130.3 ng/L in the influent and effluent, respectively. Salicylic acid was the most abundant compound in both the influents and effluents in the two STPs. For most pharmaceuticals, the seasonal variation in the influent showed the highest concentrations in January and lowest concentrations in July due to their consumption and rainfall. Ibuprofen and fenoprofen presented high removal rates (>90%) and some of the targets such as gemfibrozil, mefenamic acid, tolfenamic acid and diclofenac were detectable with significantly higher mass loads in effluents than in influents. Studies of the five efficiently eliminated pharmaceuticals show that the primary treatment and secondary treatment contributed to most pharmaceutical removal, the anoxic tank made a negligible contribution to their elimination. According to the results produced from the calculation of the risk quotient, only diclofenac might pose a risk to the aquatic environment.

The species-area relationship is one of the most important topic in the study of species diversity, conservation biology and landscape ecology. The species-area relationship curves describe the increase of species number with increasing area, and have been modeled by various equations. In this paper, we used detailed data from six 1-ha subtropical forest communities to fit three species-area relationship models. The coefficient of determination and F ratio of ANOVA showed all the three models fitted well to the species-area relationship data in the subtropical communities, with the logarithm model performing better than the other two models. We also used the three species-abundance distributions, namely the lognormal, logcauchy and logseries model, to fit them to the species-abundance data of six communities. In this case, the logcauchy model had the better fit based on the coefficient of determination. Our research reveals that the rare species always exist in the six communities, corroborating the neutral theory of Hubbell. Furthermore, we explained why all species-abundance figures appeared to be left-side truncated. This was due to subtropical forests have high diversity, and their large species number includes many rare species.

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

Taking the flocs from cadmium pollution emergency treatment of Longjiang River in Guangxi province as the research object, the stability of the flocs in the simulated static reservoirs and acidic floods was investigated based on the effects of disturbance and pH on the stability of the flocs. The results indicated that disturbance and pH had great effects on the stability of the flocs, and the concentrations of Cd2+ followed the order of pH 5.0 >> pH 6.0 > pH 7. 0 approximately pH 8.0 > pH 9.0 with the original pH of water. When the original pH of water was 5.0, the concentrations of Cd2+ in samples were 19-58 times higher than the national standard limit, and when the original pH of water were 6.0, 7.0, 8.0 and 9.0, respectively, the concentrations of Cd2+ in samples varied from below to 11 times higher than the national standard limit. The release of cadmium from the flocs was higher in the disturbed water, with the concentrations of Cd2+ in most samples higher than 5.0 microg x L(-1), and the highest was double of the national standard limit. In contrast, there was little release in the simulated static reservoirs, with the concentrations of Cd2+ in all samples below 5.0 microg x L(-1), which was lower than the national standard limit. Therefore, the flocs had good stability in the simulated static reservoirs. But it had poor stability in the simulated acidic floods, with higher release of cadmium, and the concentrations of Cd2+ in samples were 14-25 times higher than the national standard limit. Therefore, the monitoring of cadmium concentrations in the floods should be strengthened in the post project analysis for eco-environmental impact of Longjiang River.

Phenolics in black soybean seed coat (BSSC) are considered to be responsible for the health benefits of black soybean. BSSCs of 60 Chinese varieties were examined for phenolic contents, anthocyanin profiles, and antioxidant activity. Total phenolic and condensed tannin contents ranged from 512.2 to 6057.9 mg gallic acid equivalents/100 g and from 137.2 to 1741.1 mg (+)-catechin equivalents/100 g, respectively. Six anthocyanins (delphinidin-3-glucoside, cyanidin-3-galactoside, cyanidin-3-glucoside, petunidin-3-glucoside, peonidin-3-glucoside, and malvidin-3-glucoside) were detected by HPLC. Total anthocyanin contents (TAC) were from 98.8 to 2132.5 mg/100 g, and cyanidin-3-glucoside was the most abundant anthocyanin in all varieties, with a distribution of 48.8-94.1% of TAC. Antioxidant properties detected by DPPH, FRAP, and ORAC methods all showed wide variations ranging from 4.8 to 65.3 μg/100 mL (expressed as EC(50)), from 17.5 to 105.8 units/g, and from 42.5 to 1834.6 μmol Trolox equivalent/g, respectively. Sixty varieties were classified into four groups by hierarchical clustering analysis, and group 4 consisting of nine varieties had the highest phytochemicals content and antioxidant activity.

Objective: To investigate the role of American plastic surgeon Jerome P. Webster in the history of plastic surgery in China., Methods: The archives stored in J. P. Webster' s library and documents are analyzed and information is also collected by interviewing some senior plastic surgeon (oral history)., Results: The experience of Webster in China for two times and the documents about the Shanghai plastic surgery course in 1948 were acquired. The doctors who participated the Shanghai plastic surgery course were studied for their career, especially Hongyin Zhu, Liangneng Wang, and Disheng Zhang. The role of Webster in the development of plastic surgery in China was evaluated objectively., Conclusions: Webster started his career in Peking Union Medical College at early 1920s, who went back to China in 1948 to enlighten the first group of Chinese plastic surgeon in Shanghai plastic surgery course.

The concentrations of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCHs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDTs), and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in muscle, liver and brain of ducks from Baiyangdian Lake were determined by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometer (GC/MS). The results showed that the concentrations of HCHs, DDTs and PBDEs in various tissues of ducks were in the range of 0.9-5.0 ng/g wet weight (WW), 0.3-2.8 ng/g (WW) and 0.03-0.65 ng/g (WW), respectively. Statistical analysis indicated that the accumulation of DDTs and PBDEs in muscle, liver and brain was significantly different (p < 0.05), but not with HCHs (p > 0.05). Liver tissues contained the highest DDTs and PBDEs levels, with average concentrations of 2.3 ng/g (WW) and 0.37 ng/g (WW), respectively. Among the HCH isomers and DDT metabolites, beta-HCH was the predominant isomers in liver and brain tissues, and p,p'-DDE was the dominant metabolites of DDTs in various tissues. Among the PBDE congeners, BDE47 and BDE99 were the predominant in various tissues. The different profiles of persistent organohalogen compounds in various tissues of ducks may reflect that the Baiyangdian Lake still subject to the contamination of historically residue for HCHs and DDTs. In addition, the source of PBDEs was partly attributed to the industrial pollution, chemical plants, and sewage discharging.

PM2.5 and PM1.0 samples were collected simultaneously during July of 2008 in Guangzhou. The concentrations of water-soluble inorganic ions (Na+, NH4+, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, F-, Cl-, NO3-, and SO4(2-)) were determined by ion chromatography. Meteorological parameters, atmospheric scattering, visibility, and concentrations of trace gases (SO2, NO2, and O3) for this period were also recorded. The results showed the total water-soluble inorganic ions concentrations were (25.5 +/- 10.9) microg x m(-1) and (22. 7 +/- 10.5) microg x m(-3) in PM2.5 and PM1.0, which occupied (47.9 +/- 4.3)% and (49.3 +/- 4.3)% of PM mass respectively. Sulfate was the most abundant ion and contributed (25.8 +/- 4.0)% of PM2.5 mass and (27.5 +/- 4.5)% of PM1.0 mass respectively. High temperature and high ozone level favored the formation of sulfate from sulfur dioxide, while the high relative humidity favored the formation of nitrate were observed. Moreover, sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium in PM2.5 and PM1.0 had great impact on the scattering coefficient and visibility degradation.

In order to find out the heavy metals concentrations and their potential ecological risks of the sediments in Beijiang river's upper and middle reaches, 25 sediments specimens were sampled from both the trunk stream and tributaries for analyzing Cu, Pb, Zn, Cd, Ni, Cr, As and Hg. The Index of Geoaccumulation and the Potential Ecological Risk Index were then employed to evaluate the pollution degree of heavy metals in the sediments. The results indicate that the sediments in Beijiang River have been severely contaminated by many heavy metals. The descending order of pollution degree of various metals is: Cd >> Hg > Zn > As > Pb approximately to Cu > Ni > Cr; and similarly the potential ecological risk intensity caused by different metals is: Cd >> Hg > Pb approximately to As > Cu > Zn > Cr, and Cd is the predominant element among them. In general, because the trunk stream receives huge waste discharge, the pollution degree of heavy metals is stronger in the trunk stream than that in the tributaries due to long time accumulation. The Maba River is the worst polluted among the tributaries, and the Zhengshui River and Wongjiang River are next to it.

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

A novel bacterium exhibiting alginolytic activity was isolated from rotten algae. The alginate-degrading activity was detected in the culture supernatant by measuring the decrease in alginate viscosity or the increase in reducing sugars. Basic characterization showed that it was gram negative, rod shaped, yellow pigmented, and positive for oxidase and catalase, with a DNA G+C content of 35.6 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that this strain is related to members of the genus Flavobacterium. Sequence similarity values with their nearest phylogenetic neighbours ranged from 95.9% to 96.7%. Genotypic results, together with phenotypic characteristics, differentiated this species from related Flavobacterium organisms with validly published names, which suggests that the organism should be a new species of the genus Flavobacterium tentatively named as Flavobacterium sp. strain LXA.

SARS is a new kind of pneumonia. From the end of 2002 to the beginning of 2003, SARS broke in Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Beijing, and then gradually spread to the world. SARS is extremely contagious. The symptoms of SARS progress very quickly. SARS smashes the people's tranquil life and many people live in horror, worry and anxiety. But if we review the medical history of pneumonia, we would have a better understanding of SARS. This article focuses the history of people's understanding of pneumonia on the historical documents, diagnosis, etiology and treatment. Through the epidemic of SARS, the author hopes to express that contagion will live with us for a long time, but it is not a deadly disease. It is preventable and good care is essential for contagious patients. As Chinese people, we should have the best use of TCM in our combat with contagion.