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The development of a practical Hg(II) adsorbent is highly important for both environmental protection and public health. Herein, an adaptive metal-organic framework (MOF; FJI-H30 ) has been prepared from a highly flexible ligand [tris(pyridin-4-ylmethyl)amine] and Co(SCN) 2 with cheap Hg(II) adsorption sites (SCN - groups) that not only has excellent chemical stability but also can capture Hg(II) from aqueous solution with high adsorption capacity (705 mg g -1 ). Moreover, it also has good anti-interference ability and can be used repeatedly and large-scale prepared. Further researches demonstrate that the relatively high Hg(II) adsorption capacity originates from the adsorbed Hg(II)-induced deformation of FJI-H30 , and such an adaptive deformation will reduce the potential repulsive forces between the adsorbed Hg(II) ions, enabling almost all Hg(II) absorption sites to adsorb Hg(II) ions. Finally, how to induce the deformation of FJI-H30 by adsorbed Hg(II) also has been studied in detail. Our work not only provides a practical Hg(II) adsorbent for wastewater treatment but also offers a novel strategy for the design of novel MOFs for efficient heavy-metal-ion removal.

This paper estimates the impacts of boarding on primary school students' health outcomes, using data on 7606 students from rural areas of two northwestern provinces (Qinghai and Ningxia) of China. Exogenous variations in students' home-to-school distance are exploited to address potential endogeneity in their boarding status. Instrumental variable estimates suggest that while boarding has little impact on students' physical health (measured by height-for-age and BMI-for-age z-scores and hemoglobin concentration levels), it has a significantly detrimental effect on their mental health status, amounting to 0.455 standard deviations (SDs) of the distribution of scores on a Mental Health Test (a modified version of the Children's Manifest Anxiety Scale). The effect of boarding is more pronounced for students with relatively advantageous backgrounds. For example, boarding boys scored 0.544 SDs higher on the Mental Health Test (suggesting more anxiety problems) than nonboarding boys, and boarders from relatively wealthier families scored 0.754 SDs higher than wealthier nonboarders. '., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: The high prevalence of myopia among school-age children in China has raised serious concerns about protecting Chinese students' vision. While the regular performance of the Chinese eye exercises has been adopted as a preventive approach in China since the mid-1960s, these exercises' effectiveness at protecting students' vision has remained largely unknown. This study attempts to provide new evidence of the impact of regularly performing the exercises on Chinese students' visual outcomes, based on a large-scale dataset., Methods: A school-based survey was conducted among 9842 randomly selected students (fourth graders) from 252 primary schools in rural Northwestern China in 2012. To address potential estimation bias, we adopted both an instrumental variable (IV) approach and a bivariate-probit model to estimate the impacts on students' visual acuity and the incidences of visual impairment and myopia., Results: Both IV and bivariate-probit estimates reveal a detrimental impact of regularly performing the Chinese eye exercises on students' vision. Compared with students who did not regularly perform the exercises, those who did were 6.2 percentage points more likely to have impaired vision and 7.6 percentage points more likely to be myopic. The estimates are robust to different estimation strategies, various specifications, and the majority of subsamples., Conclusion: Under the assumption that the correct performance of the Chinese eye exercises would not undermine students' vision, our findings suggest that the commonly-observed incorrect performance of these exercises among Chinese students imposes non-trivial threats to their vision health., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest for this work., (© 2020 Huang et al.)

Background: Alcohol use has been linked to a number of physical conditions, but the relationship between alcohol drinking and depression, one of the most common mental disorders that is a significant contributor to the global burden of disease, is still under debate. We aim to help fill the literature gap on the causal effect of alcohol use on depression by using genetic instruments of ALDH2 rs671 and ADH1B rs1229984 in the Mendelian randomization (MR) framework. Materials and Methods: We collected a sample of 476 middle-aged and older adults from mainland China. The 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10) was used to measure the status of depression. The frequency and intensity of alcohol consumption were measured by (1) a binary indicator of drinking or not, (2) the total number of drinking occasions during the past 30 days, and (3) the weekly ethanol consumption in grams. Results: MR estimates indicated that alcohol use was causally associated with a lower risk of depression. Parameter estimates of drinking or not ( b = -0.127, p = 0.048), number of drinking occasions ( b = -0.012, p = 0.040), and weekly ethanol consumption ( b = -0.001, p = 0.039) were all negative and statistically significant. The results were robust after adjustments for potential confounders (e.g., income, smoking, and parental drinking behaviors), and the exclusion of heavy or former drinkers. Conclusions: This is one of the first study to investigate the causal relationship between alcohol use and mental health using an MR design in East Asian populations. Further studies are needed to clarify the mechanisms of this causal link., (Copyright © 2020 Zhu, Chen, Si, Li, Chen and Zhao.)

The interfacial region between nanoparticles and polymer matrix plays a critical role in influencing the mechanical behavior of polymer nanocomposites. In this work, a set of model systems based on poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) matrix containing poly(alkyl glycidyl ether) brushes grafted on 50 nm metal-organic-framework (MOF) nanoparticles were synthesized and investigated. By systematically increasing the polymer brush length and graft density on the MOF nanoparticles, the fracture behavior of PMMA/MOF nanocomposite changes from forming only a few large crazes to generating massive crazing and to undergoing shear banding, which results in significant improvement in fracture toughness. The implication of the present finding for the interfacial design of the nanoparticles for the development of high-performance, multifunctional polymer nanocomposites is discussed.

Background: CircRNAs are noncoding RNA molecules that have recently been described and shown to regulate miRNA functionality. While recent studies have suggested such circRNAs to be associated with pain related diseases in humans, no comprehensive migraine-related circRNA profiles have been generated, and there is currently no clear understanding of whether they can serve as regulators of migraine pathology., Methods: We initially conducted a circRNA microarray analysis of the plasma of migraine patients and healthy controls. Based upon these data, we then selected 8 differentially expressed circRNAs and confirmed their expression in more migraine patient plasma samples via real-time PCR. We then performed functional and pathway enrichment analyses. Lastly, using a robust rank aggregation approach, we constructed a ceRNA network according to predicted circRNA-miRNA and miRNA-mRNA pairs in these migraine patient samples., Results: We were able to detect 2039 circRNAs in our patient samples, with 794 of 1245 these circRNAs being up- and downregulated in migraine patients relative to controls, respectively (fold change ≥ 1.5, p < 0.01). A qRT-PCR analysis confirmed that the expression of hsa&#95;circRNA&#95;100236, hsa&#95;circRNA&#95;102413, and hsa&#95;circRNA&#95;000367 was significantly enhanced in migraine patients, whereas the expression of hsa&#95;circRNA&#95;103809, hsa&#95;circRNA&#95;103670, and hsa&#95;circRNA&#95;101833 was significantly reduced in these individuals relative to healthy controls. We found these differentially regulated circRNAs to be associated with numerous predicted biological processes, with enrichment analyses suggesting that they may modulate the PI3K-Akt signaling so as to promote inflammation to drive migraine development. However, further research will be needed to formally test these mechanistic possibilities and to validate these circRNAs as potential biomarkers of migraine patients., Conclusions: Our results offer new potential insights into the mechanistic basis of this condition and suggest that hsa&#95;circRNA&#95;000367 and hsa&#95;circRNA&#95;102413 may offer value as regulators of migraine pathology., Competing Interests: The authors declared that they have no conflicts of interest to this work. We declare that we do not have any commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted., (Copyright © 2020 Jinghan Lin et al.)

The development of practical porous materials for the selective capture of CO 2 from flue gas and crude biogas is highly critical for both environment protection and energy safety. Here, a novel metal-organic framework ( FJI-H29 ) has been prepared, which not only has excellent acid-base resistance but also possesses polar micropores (3.4-4.3 Å) that can match CO 2 molecules well. FJI-H29 can selectively capture CO 2 from N 2 and CH 4 with excellent separation efficiency and suitable adsorption enthalpy under ambient conditions. Breakthrough experiments further confirm its practicability for both CO 2 /N 2 and CO 2 /CH 4 separation. All of these confirm FJI-H29 is a practical CO 2 adsorbent. Modeling calculations reveal that the confinement effect of micropores and the polar environment synergistically promotes the selective adsorption of CO 2 , which will provide a potential strategy for the synthesis of a practical metal-organic framework for CO 2 capture.

Rational preparation of an adaptive cavity-like enzyme is a great challenge for chemists. Herein, a new self-assembly strategy for the rational preparation of metal-organic tubes with nano-channels has been developed; both 1D metal-organic tube and corresponding 2D layered assemblies can be selectively synthesized driven by different templates; reversible sheet-to-tube transformation can be realized and the key intermediate has been identified. Furthermore, the newly formed nano-channel displays excellent polarity-selectivity for encapsulation of guest molecules, and can be further expanded or contracted through guest-driven adaptive deformation; even induced by very similar guest molecules, the adaptive deformations can also be obviously distinguished. Finally, the key chemicals benzene/hexane with a similar size can also be effectively separated by such nano-channels in the liquid phase. Our work not only provides a new synthetic strategy for the rational synthesis of metal-organic tubes with a reversible sheet-to-tube transformation character, but also gives a potential method for the construction of adaptive host-like enzymes and an in-depth understanding of the nature of adaptive host and guest molecules., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

Background: Increasing morbidity and misdiagnosis of vestibular migraine (VM) gravely affect the treatment of the disease as well as the patients' quality of life. A powerful diagnostic prediction model is of great importance for management of the disease in the clinical setting., Materials and Methods: Patients with a main complaint of dizziness were invited to join this prospective study. The diagnosis of VM was made according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders. Study variables were collected from a rigorous questionnaire survey, clinical evaluation, and laboratory tests for the development of a novel predictive diagnosis model for VM., Results: A total of 235 patients were included in this study: 73 were diagnosed with VM and 162 were diagnosed with non-VM vertigo. Compared with non-VM vertigo patients, serum magnesium levels in VM patients were lower. Following the logistic regression analysis of risk factors, a predictive model was developed based on 6 variables: age, sex, autonomic symptoms, hypertension, cognitive impairment, and serum Mg 2+ concentration. The area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.856, which was better than some of the reported predictive models., Conclusion: With high sensitivity and specificity, the proposed logistic model has a very good predictive capability for the diagnosis of VM. It can be used as a screening tool as well as a complementary diagnostic tool for primary care providers and other clinicians who are non-experts of VM., Competing Interests: All of the authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (© 2020 Zhou et al.)

Facile preparation of low-cost electrocatalysts for efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) remains a big challenge. Herein, a novel strategy for ultrafast (20 s) transformation of bulk metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) into ultrathin metal oxyhydroxide nanosheets for efficient OER has been developed. For two isomeric MOFs (FJI-H25Fe and FJI-H25FeCo), only the metastable FJI-H25FeCo bulk can immediately transform into FeCo-oxyhydroxides nanosheets through electric-field assisted hydrolysis. The potential evolution process from MOF bulk to FeCo-oxyhydroxides nanosheets has been investigated in detail. The as-made nanosheets exhibit excellent OER performances, showing an extremely low overpotential of 231 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm -2 , a relatively small Tafel slope of 42 mV dec -1 , and long-term durability of at least 30 h. This work not only provides a novel strategy for facile preparation of low-cost and efficient OER electrocatalysts, but also represents a new way for preparation of metal oxyhydroxides nanosheets with good crystallinity and morphology, and a fresh method for mild synthesis of nanosized derivatives from MOF materials., (© 2020 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Background: This paper re-evaluates the impacts of China's New Cooperative Medicine Scheme (NCMS), a social health insurance program targeting China's rural population, on the incidences of chronic diseases among its enrollees. Although coverage under the NCMS expanded rapidly following its implementation in 2003, previous studies have failed to reach a consensus on its health impacts. Existing conflicting results may be due to methodological problems such as implausible identification assumptions and the failure to focus on the most relevant beneficiaries., Methods: Drawing on data from a longitudinal sample from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), we focus on a subgroup of patients over the age of 55 years to re-estimate the NCMS's impact on incidences of chronic disease among enrollees. We adopt a triple-difference (difference-in-difference-in-differences) method, relaxing the parallel-trend assumption commonly invoked in the previous double-difference (difference-in-differences) studies., Results: Our triple-difference estimates suggest that the NCMS has significantly reduced the incidences of apoplexy and diabetes among rural residents aged 55 years or older. The impacts of the NCMS on chronic disease are underestimated by the commonly adopted double-difference method. The triple-difference method allows evaluations to focus on the most relevant subgroups for detecting program impacts., Conclusion: Our findings that the NCMS has significantly positive impacts on elderly enrollees' incidences of chronic diseases also suggest the need for examining its impacts on other vulnerable groups, such as low-income individuals, young children, and individuals with poor health conditions., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2020 Chen et al.)

This study uses a Mendelian randomization approach to resolve the difficulties of identifying the causal relationship between height and earnings by using a unique sample of 3,427 respondents from mainland China with sociodemographic information linked to individual genotyping data. Exploiting genetic variations to create instrumental variables for observed height, we find that while OLS regressions yield that an additional centimeter in height is associated with a 10-13% increase in one's annual earnings, IV estimates reveal only an insubstantial causal effect of height. Further analyses suggest that the observed height premium is likely to pick up the impacts of several cognitive/noncognitive skills on earnings confounded in previous studies, such as mental health, risk preference, and personality factors. Our study is the first empirical study that employs genetic IVs in developing countries, and our results contribute to the recent debate on the mechanism of height premium., Competing Interests: Gang Chen and Yingxiang Li are employees of WeGene. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Objective: This study evaluated change in caesarean section rate with reform of birth planning policy in China from one-child to two-child policy., Methods: Study data were collected from patient-level hospital records of 59,668 pregnant women who visited three major urban hospitals in Jiangsu Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China between January 2012 and December 2016. A segmented logistic regression approach was developed to evaluate the changes in caesarean section rate in these regions with the launch of China's new partial and universal two-child policies in January 2014 and January 2016, respectively., Results: Jiangsu Province had a significantly lower non-emergency caesarean rate (Jiangsu 8.15% vs Inner Mongolia 34.03%, p < 0.001) and a much lower percentage of minority population (Jiangsu 6.99% vs Inner Mongolia 21.76%, p < 0.001) than Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. In Jiangsu Province, no change in caesarean section rate was detected with the two-child policies (all p -values > 0.05), although the unadjusted trend change (0.038, 95% confidence interval or CI: [0.016, 0.060], p < 0.001) in log odds after the implementation of the partial two-child policy was statistically significant. In Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, an immediate jump in caesarean section rate was discovered by the segmented logistic regression with the implementation of both the partial (unadjusted level change 0.297, CI: [0.105, 0.489], p = 0.002) and universal two-child policies (unadjusted level change 1.945, CI: [1.277, 2.614], p < 0.001); but the rate reverted to the previous level thereafter. Ethnicity, maternal age, maternal reproduction history, insurance coverage type, infant weight, and infant gender were the significant factors associated with caesarean section rate (for odds ratios, all p -values < 0.05). However, the significance of infant gender may stem from the large sample size of the study and is not clinically meaningful., Conclusion: Change in caesarean section rate was not observed with the launch of two-child policy in China., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2020 Kang et al.)

Introduction: Factors influencing healthcare utilization in China have been frequently analyzed and discussed from various angles, based upon different objectives. However, few studies have attempted to categorize and summarize key determinants of healthcare utilization in China., Methods: To fill this gap, we reviewed all empirical studies that made use of data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), a longitudinal survey covering nine Chinese provinces for nearly three decades. The review was guided by Andersen's behavioral model, a conceptual framework widely used to analyze determinants of healthcare utilization., Results: Our review discovered many strong and consistent predictors of healthcare utilization at the individual level, including predisposing factors (e.g., marriage status and education), enabling factors (e.g., income and wealth), and need factors (e.g., illness severity and health status); in contrast, contextual factors (e.g., employment rates and population health indices) have rarely been examined. Our review also revealed a few factors whose impacts differ from expectations in many studies (e.g., employment status and health insurance coverage). While several factors explored in the reviewed studies (e.g., urbanization and industrialization) are not part of Andersen's model, some factors specified in the model (e.g., values and knowledge about health and health services) remain unexplored in the context of China., Conclusion: Individual-level factors received much more attention than contextual-level factors in the reviewed studies. It leads to an inadequate understanding of the roles played by contextual factors. Among the individual-level factors that have been extensively examined, enabling variables affect healthcare utilization more than predisposing and need factors., Competing Interests: The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work., (© 2019 Zhang et al.)

Many developing countries have implemented nutrition intervention programs to reduce child malnutrition. However, the effectiveness of these programs differs greatly, and it remains unclear what is causing the differences in effectiveness across different programs. To shed some light on this issue, this article examines the role the specificity of policy targets, along with the incentives attached, plays in affecting the effectiveness of nutrition intervention programs. More specifically, we examined how different policy targets (and the associated incentives) affect primary students' dietary structure and (thus) their nutritional and health status by analyzing a randomized intervention in rural Northwestern China that was designed with two treatment arms. The two treatments provided the same nutrition subsidy to project students but with different policy targets, one with a specific target of "anemia reduction" and the other with a general target of "malnutrition reduction". Our analysis revealed that compared to the treatment arm with only a general policy target, the treatment arm with the specific "anemia reduction" target was more effective at improving students' nutritional and health status, as measured by the incidences of being anemic and underweight, presumably through helping them develop a dietary structure with more flesh meat, bean products, vegetables, and fruits.

The pathogenesis of aplastic anemia (AA) in children is not clear. This study was conducted to investigate the changes in the proportion and function of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in pediatric AA. The proportion of Tregs, mRNA levels of transcription factors, and concentrations of cytokines were measured by flow cytometry, reverse transcription-PCR, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. Tregs were co-cultured with effector T cells (Teff) to evaluate the function of Tregs. The proportion of Tregs after immunosuppressive therapy (IST) in pediatric AA was monitored dynamically. Compared to the control, the proportions of Tregs in peripheral blood and bone marrow lymphocytes of the untreated AA group were lower (1.31% ± 0.73% vs. 3.16% ± 0.92%, 1.49% ± 0.81% vs. 3.06% ± 0.82%, respectively, p  < 0.001). The mRNA levels of FOXP3 and STAT3 in the AA group were lower ( p  = 0.014; p  < 0.001). However, the mRNA levels of T-BET did not significantly differ between groups. The concentration of interferon-γ and interleukin-17 in the AA group were higher ( p  = 0.004; p  = 0.003), whereas the concentration of TGF-β decreased ( p  = 0.044). The immunosuppressive function of Tregs was impaired in the AA group. After IST, the proportion of Tregs was significantly lower than that in the control. The proportion of Tregs at the time of diagnosis in the nonresponsive group was lower than that in the responsive group, but the difference was not significant. Treg levels were significantly decreased and were functionally impaired at the time of diagnosis of pediatric AA. However, there was no significant change in Tregs at the resolution of AA.

Rational induction of chirality from achiral systems is one of the most compelling challenges for chemists. Herein, the first chiral net derived from pcu topology has been prepared using the vertex splitting and ligand anchoring strategy, showing a new way to construct chiral frameworks from achiral precursors.

Hog pseudorabies (Aujeszky's disease) can incur serious losses for farm owners and even the entire hog industry by causing infertility, abortion, and stillbirth among sows, as well as diarrhoea, respiratory failure, and death among piglets. Pseudorabies virus could be prevented, controlled, and eliminated by clean-up at both farm and regional levels through a strict procedure of vaccination, quarantine, diagnosis, elimination of positive animals, and healthy animals nurturing. Using data from 63 large-scale hog farms from nine provinces (municipalities, autonomous regions) of China, we evaluated the economic consequences of hog pseudorabies clean-up in China's hog farms based on a partial budgeting method. By comparing large-scale hog farms that have performed pseudorabies clean-up with similar farms that have not, we analysed how clean-up affected farm profit and whether there existed sufficient economic incentives for farm owners to adopt pseudorabies control measures. Further, we examined how the economic consequences varied with factors such as clean-up history and farm size. The findings showed that, on average, clean-up adopters outperformed non-adopters by 8.02 million yuan per farm per year within the four years post clean-up adoption. Also, we found that the net profit changes attributable to pseudorabies clean-up increased over time and with farm size. Although we cannot extrapolate to all Chinese hog farms, these findings suggest that the earlier a hog farm adopted pseudorabies clean-up, the larger the economic benefits would be, especially for large-scale farms., (Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Selective probing of one molecule from one class of similar molecules is highly challenging due to their similar chemical and physical properties. Herein, a novel metal-organic framework FJI-H15 with flexible porous cages has been designed and synthesized, which can specifically recognize ethylbenzene with ultrahigh enhancement efficiency from a series of alkyl-aromatics, in which an unusual size-dependent interaction has been found and proved. It can also selectively detect phenolic-nitroaromatics among a series of nitroaromatics based on energy transfer and electrostatic interactions. Such unusual specificity and variable mechanisms responding to different types of molecules have not yet been reported, which will provide a new strategy for the development of more effective chemosensors based on MOFs for probing small structural differences in molecules., (© 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Considering rapidly rising Hg emission from industrial waste effluents, it is imperative to explore practical and effective adsorbents for Hg. Herein, a mild and facile method has been developed to confine ultrasmall In 2 S 3 nanoparticles (about 2.5 nm) in the cavities of a MOF for the first time. The resulting composite (In 2 S 3 @MIL-101) can remove 99.95% of the Hg 2+ from wastewater very efficiently in as short as 1 min with the highest distribution coefficient (2.2 × 10 7 mL g -1 ) among all MOF-based mercury adsorbents. It also displays excellent selectivity for Hg even when other interferential metal ions are present, and it can be reused with almost retained adsorption capacity. All of these features make the composite a potential adsorbent for Hg removal from industrial wastewater.

In genetics, heterosis refers to the phenomenon that cross-breeding within species leads to offspring that are genetically fitter than their parents and exhibit improved phenotypic characteristics. Based on the theory of heterosis and existing genetic evidence, offspring of "hybrid" marriages (spouses originating from different states/provinces/countries/areas), though relatively rare due to physical boundaries, may exhibit greater genetic fitness in terms of intelligence, height, or physical attractiveness (the "distance-performance" hypothesis). This study explores whether heterosis is a contributing factor to offspring's educational attainment in China by applying a high-dimensional fixed effects (HDFE) modelling framework to the unique 0.1% micro-sample of the 2000 Chinese Population Census data. Concerning potential endogeneity of hybrid marriages, we conduct a series of robustness checks. Reassuringly, the estimated heterosis effect remains significantly positive across various measurements, after controlling for parental educational attainments/height, environmental influences, and over a thousand region and region-by-year fixed effects. The effects in male and higher-educated offspring are found to be stronger. Results are replicated when analyzing body height using data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey. Although endogeneity of "hybrid marriages" may not be completely ruled out, the current study sheds light on the potentially beneficial effects of interprovincial migration on population-level human capital accumulation, and we hope that this paper can intrigue future studies that further address endogeneity. The implied heterosis effect could, therefore, be profound for Homo sapiens as a species from an evolutionary point of view. An additional important implication is that the overall genetic influences of parents on offspring's performance may be further decomposed into a conventional heredity effect and a heterosis effect that has been neglected previously., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A series of complex influencing factors lead to failure of neural regeneration after spinal cord injury (SCI). Up to now, there is no robust treatment that can restore the loss of function caused by injury. Because damaged spinal axons do not spontaneously regenerate in their naturally inhibitory microenvironments, biomaterials that induce neural regeneration to appear as attractive treatments to improve the microenvironmental conditions after SCI. In this study, we report the novel use of decellularized (DC) scaffolds to provide contact guidance for axonal regrowth in vivo. The idea is that the scaffolds comprise some cytokines and a physical compartment that may facilitate regeneration. To evaluate the efficacy of scaffolds in supporting neural regeneration after SCI, the scaffold was implanted into an injured spinal cord of the rat. The injured spinal scaffolds showed a significant increase of the expression of GAP43, NF200, and Nestin in the scaffold implant groups compared with controls without the scaffold. In addition, the motor function has a better recovery. Together, these results demonstrate that spinal acellular scaffold is capable of promoting axonal regeneration after SCI and may serve as a potential tool in the treatment of SCI. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 106A: 698-705, 2018., (© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Considering the rapid increase of CO 2 emission, especially from power plants, there is a constant need for materials which can effectively eliminate post-combustion CO 2 (the main component: CO 2 /N 2  = 15/85). Here, we show the design and synthesis of a Cu(II) metal-organic framework (FJI-H14) with a high density of active sites, which displays unusual acid and base stability and high volumetric uptake (171 cm 3  cm -3 ) of CO 2 under ambient conditions (298 K, 1 atm), making it a potential adsorbing agent for post-combustion CO 2 . Moreover, CO 2 from simulated post-combustion flue gas can be smoothly converted into corresponding cyclic carbonates by the FJI-H14 catalyst. Such high CO 2 adsorption capacity and moderate catalytic activity may result from the synergistic effect of multiple active sites.

A temperature- and anion-induced coordination-driven self-assembly system based on a dynamic Ag 6 L 4 metallocage was developed. Induced by SbF 6 - anions, both kinetically controlled [Ag 3 L 2 (SbF 6 ) 3 ] n and thermodynamically controlled [Ag 2 L 2 (SbF 6 ) 2 ] n can be reassembled from discrete Ag 6 L 4 (SbF 6 ) 6 metallocages at 30 °C, and increasing the temperature to 40 °C results in selective inhibition of the kinetic product. Under the influence of BF 4 - anions, dynamic Ag 6 L 4 (BF 4 ) 6 metallocages self-assemble into the thermodynamically controlled polycage at 25 °C, and lowing the temperature to 0 °C leads to selective inhibition of the thermodynamic product. Thus, both kinetically and thermodynamically controlled assembly processes in a dynamic system can be selectively driven by suitable external stimuli., (© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

An extraordinary metal-organic framework FJI-H9 with high adsorption and selectivity for the reversible uptake of Cd(ii) has been developed. Further research indicates that such high absorption results from an unusual synergy from active sites and the confined cavity. In addition, fast detection of Cd(ii) at low concentrations down to 10 ppm and in situ reconstruction of the used framework into a fresh one have also been successfully achieved.

A doubly interpenetrated microporous indium based metal-organic framework was solvothermally synthesized, in which cage-like pores and one-dimensional channels coexist. Due to its flexible nature, the complex exhibits a novel dynamic response to N2, Ar and CO2 sorption. Furthermore, the material shows a high H2 uptake capacity.

A degradable polycaprolactone(PCL)/poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid, LA:GA = 80:20) (PLGA) ureter tubular stent was fabricated by electrospinning. The structure and properties of the stents were investigated by the mechanical property testing, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), degradability test in vitro and MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay. The stent was transplanted to the dorsal muscle of rabbit to evaluate its tissue compatibility. It was shown that the stent has the nano-structure. The mechanical test showed that with the increase in PCL concentration, the mechanical properties of the stent gradually increased, and it could meet the demands of a urethral stent. The collapse time of different concentration of PCL/PLGA (5%, 15%, and 25%) was 28, 42, and 56 days, respectively. These results provide strong evidence that the degradation time can be increased with the increase in PCL concentration. The results of the MTT assay show that the PCL/PLGA stent had no cytotoxicity. In muscle implantation tests, acute tissue reactions due to operation trauma were seen in all specimens at 1 week. After four weeks, the number of inflammatory cells had decreased significantly. Only a few inflammatory cells were seen in the PCL/PLGA stent group after 12 weeks, and the foreign body reaction was more severe in the control group. Animal orthotopic transplantation experiments of these ureteral stents will be done to evaluate its degradable model and tissue compatibility.

Background: The present study was designed to compare oncologic outcomes of T2 upper tract urothelial carcinoma patients treated with retroperitoneoscopic nephroureterectomy (RNU) or open radical nephroureterectomy (ONU)., Patients and Methods: T2 upper tract urothelial carcinoma patients were treated with RNU (n = 110) or ONU (n = 118) and followed-up for > 5 years. Demographic and clinical data, including preoperative indexes, intraoperative indexes, and oncological outcomes, were retrospectively compared to determine the efficacy of the 2 procedures., Results: The RNU and ONU groups were statistically similar in age, sex, tumor location, and tumor pathologic grade. The original surgery time required for RNU and ONU was statistically similar, but RNU was associated with a significantly smaller volume of intraoperative estimated blood loss and shorter length of postoperative hospital stay. Follow-up (average: 43.2 months; range, 6-72 months) revealed that the estimated 5-year overall survival rate and the estimated 5-year disease-specific survival rate after RNU was slightly worse than after ONU (66.0% vs. 67.1%, and 80.8% vs. 83.8%, respectively), and the estimated 5-year recurrence-free survival rate and the estimated 5-year intravesical recurrence-free survival rates were slightly better than ONU (79.5% vs. 77.9%, and 68.3% vs. 65.6%, respectively). However, none of these differences were statistically significant., Conclusion: The open surgery strategy and the RNU strategy are equally effective for treating T2 upper tract urothelial carcinoma. However, the RNU procedure is safer, less invasive, and requires a shorter duration of postoperative hospitalized care; thus, RNU is recommended as the preferred strategy., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A novel conformation driven self-assembly system, where four metallocycles with different conformations have been in situ self-assembled, has been reported. Interestingly, only square metallocycles can further interlock into polycatenanes. However, rectangular and rhombus metallocycles fail to overcome such an entropically unfavourable process, which constitutes an obstacle to the formation of polycatenanes.

This article describes the developments in coordination self-assembly based on flexible tripodal ligands with different metal species. Various finite metallocages such as M3 L2 , M6 L8 , M6 L4 , M4 L4 and different catenanes based on discrete metallocages constructed from flexible tripodal ligands with suitable metal species are presented here. Many M3 L2 metallocages based on ligands L(1) -L(12) and different two-coordinated metal species have been prepared, in which various Ag(I) salts and other metal species that have been protected by suitable groups, such as Zn(OAc)2 , ZnBr2 , and PdBr2 , have been used as effective acceptors. All of the M6 L8 -type metallocages are constructed from ligands L(2) or L(12) -L(20) and different four-coordinated metal species, such as various palladium(II) salts or NiCl2 , and have similar topological structures. Only a few discrete M6 L4 -type metallocages, based on ligands L(21) -L(24) , have been reported, using different strategies such as protecting groups and steric hindrance. All of the M4 L4 -type cages have similar topological structures and are constructed from ligands L(25) -L(29) with multiple donor sites. More intriguing interlocking ensembles constructed from discrete metallocages are also described here in detail, namely, three [2]catenanes based on ligands L(30) -L(32) and four polycatenanes based on ligands L(33) -L(34) ., (© 2015 The Chemical Society of Japan & Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A tubular poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL)/poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) ureteral stent composed of nanofibers with micropores was fabricated by double-needle electrospinning. The stent was ureteroscopically inserted into six Changbai pigs, and the commercial polyurethane Shagong(®) stent was inserted into four pigs as control. Intravenous pyelography revealed that the PCL/PLGA stent gradually degraded from the distal end to proximal terminal, and all stents were completely degraded at 10 weeks post-insertion. No significant difference was observed in hydronephrosis severity between the two groups. The levels of serum creatinine and urine pH remained similar throughout the study in the two groups, but the number of white blood cells in the urine was significantly higher in the Shagong(®) stent group. On Day 70, histological evaluation indicated equivalent histological severity scores in the middle and distal ureter sections and bladder in the two groups. However, the PCL/PLGA stent-implanted pigs had significantly lower mean severity scores in the kidney and proximal ureter sites. These data revealed that the PCL/PLGA stent degraded in a controlled manner, did not induce obstruction, and had a lower urothelial impact in comparison to the Shagong(®) stent, indicating that the stent exhibited great potential for clinical application.

CONSPECTUS: Nanosized supramolecular metallocages have a unique self-assembly process that allows chemists to both understand and control it. In addition, well-defined cavities of such supramolecular aggregates have various attractive applications including storage, separation, catalysis, recognition, drug delivery, and many others. Coordination-driven self-assembly of nanosized supramolecular metallocages is a powerful methodology to construct supramolecular metallocages with considerable size and desirable shapes. In this Account, we summarize our recent research on controllable coordination-driven assembly of supramolecular metallocages and infinite cage-based frameworks. To this end, we have chosen flexible ligands that can adopt various conformations and metal ions with suitable coordination sites for the rational design and assembly of metal-organic supramolecular ensembles. This has resulted in various types of metallocages including M3L2, M6L8, M6L4, and M12L8 with different sizes and shapes. Because the kinds of metal geometries are limited, we have found that we can replace single metal ions with metal clusters to alternatively increase molecular diversity and complexity. There are two clear-cut merits of this strategy. First, metal clusters are much bigger than single metal ions, which helps in the construction and stabilization of large metallocages, especially nanosized cages. Second, metal clusters can generate diverse assembly modes that chemists could not synthesize with single metal ions. This allows us to obtain a series of unprecedented supramolecular metallocages. The large cavities and potential unsaturated coordination sites of these discrete supramolecular cages offer opportunities to construct infinite cage-based frameworks. This in turn can offer us a new avenue to understand self-assembly and realize certain various functionalities. We introduce two types of infinite cage-based frameworks here: cage-based coordination polymers and cage-based polycatenanes, which we can construct through coordination bonds and mechanical bonds, respectively. Through either directly linking the unsaturated coordination sites of metallocages or replacing the labile terminal ligands with bridging ligands, we can produce infinite cage-based frameworks based on coordination bonds. We introduce several interesting cage-based coordination polymers, including a single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformation from a M6L8 cage to an infinite cage-based chain. Compared with discrete metallocages, these kinds of materials can give us higher structural stability and complexity, favoring the applications of metallocages. In addition, we discuss how we can use mechanical bonds, such as interlocking and interpenetrating, to construct extended cage-based frameworks. So far, study in this field has focused on polycatenanes constructed from M6L4 and M12L8 cages, as well as a controllable and dynamic self-assembly based on M6L4 metallocages. We also discuss cage-based polycatenanes, which can give dynamic properties to discrete metallocages. We hope that our investigations will bring new insights to the world of the supramolecular metallocages by enlarging its breadth and encourage us to devote more effort to this blossoming field in the future.

Purpose: To assess the efficacy and safety of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) under the guidance of ultrasonography and fluoroscopy., Materials and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 562 renal calculi patients (313 men and 249 women; mean age 46 years, ranged from 13 to 70 years) who underwent 582 PCNL from March 2004 to October 2011 in our department., Results: Of participants, 89.6% experienced less than 3 puncture times; 2 patients (0.4%) experienced puncture failures; percentage of single or multiple tracts was 89.7% and 10.3%, respectively, 55 patients (9.5%) needed auxiliary measures after one PCNL (24 second PCNL and 31 extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy). The mean operative time was 82.3 min (range, 45-190 min). The stone free rate was 90.5%. Thirty five patients (6.0%) had postoperative fever and responded to antibiotics. Three patients (0.5%) developed pleural effusion and recovered after closed drainage of thoracic cavity. Thirteen patients (2.2%) needed blood transfusion. Twelve patients (2.1%) developed septic shock and were given anti-shock therapy. Two patients (0.3%) needed angiographic renal embolization or nephrectomy., Conclusion: With its high success rate for achieving access to the targeted calyx and high stone clearance rate, the guidance of ultrasonography and fluoroscopy should be the first option in PCNL.

Purpose: To evaluate the percutaneous access outcomes and complications following percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) that was obtained by sonographer or urologist at a single academic institution., Material and Methods: A retrospective chart review of 259 patients who underwent PCNL was performed. Patients were stratified according to percutaneous access by sonographer (group 1) or urologist (group 2) in 174 and 85 patients, respectively. Demographic, stone characteristics, operative variables, percutaneous access complications and stone-free rates were compared between groups., Results: The major complication rate and minor complication rate, mean blood loss and rates of blood transfusion were comparable between groups. Compared with urologist, sonographer preferred to choose subcostal rib puncture instead of intercostal rib puncture. The lower calyx was the most frequent site of target calyx puncture in group 1 (165 cases, 94.8%), while the percentage of lower calyx in group 2 was 82.3% (72 cases) (P = .001). The overall stone-free rates were significantly higher in group 2 than that in group 1 (90.6% vs. 79.9%, P = .03). In group 1, 23 cases (13.2%) needed post-operative extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (SWL), while, the percentage of post-operative SWL in group 2 was only 4.7% (4 cases) (P = .035)., Conclusions: Renal access in PCNL can be safely and successfully obtained by both sonographer and urologist. Infracostal and lower calyx access in our study has poor stone-free rates and sonographer prefers infracostal and lower access. We encourage urologists establish renal access by themselves during PCNL.

Purpose: To compare the safety and efficacy of standard-tract combined with mini-tract to single standard-tract in percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) for renal staghorn calculi., Methods: The records of 216 patients with staghorn calculi (110 (50.9%) had complete and 106 (49.1%) had partial) who received PCNL were reviewed retrospectively. 58 patients received standard-tract combined with mini-tract PCNL (group A) and 158 patients underwent single standard-tract PCNL (group B). Both groups had comparable demographic data. Operation time, stone-free rate, blood transfusion rate, hospital stay and complications were analyzed., Results: Postoperative Clavien score in the two groups was similar. The rate of blood transfusion and perioperative bleeding requiring superselective embolization were not statistically significant between the groups (p = 0.557, 0.463, respectively). The mean operation time was comparable between groups in the standard-tract combined with mini-tract group. The stone-free rate was significantly higher (89.7 vs. 78.5%, p = 0.044) in group A than in group B. The rate of second PCNL was higher in group B., Conclusion: The standard-tract combined with mini-tract results had higher success rates with no increase in the incidence of complications, and should be the first option for renal staghorn calculi., (© 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

Objective: To perform a prospective randomized trial comparing the efficacy and safety of percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) in the prone and modified supine positions., Methods: Between August 2010 and August 2011, 102 patients with renal calculi and 20 patients with ureteral calculi were randomized to undergo fluoroscopy and ultrasound-guided PCNL procedures in the prone or modified supine position. Baseline characteristics, puncture position, numbers of punctures, operation time, stone free rate, loss of blood, hospital stay and second phase PCNL were compared in the two groups., Results: There were no significant differences in gender, age, body mass index, stone location, stone size and the presence of hydronephrosis between the two groups. The rate of second PCNL was significantly higher and the stone clearance rate was significantly lower in the modified supine than in the prone position group. Mean operation time was significantly lower in the prone than in the modified supine position group (78 min vs 88 min, P<0.05). There were no significant differences in rates of rib and calyx puncture, numbers of punctures, mean blood loss, and mean hospital stay between the two groups., Conclusions: Both the prone and modified supine positions are effective and safe for PCNL. Operation time was longer in the modified supine group, and patients undergoing PCNL in the modified supine position more frequently required a second operation due to a lower stone clearance rate.

Induced by different anions, two different polycatenanes constructed from Ag(6)L(4) units with different conformations have been prepared. Intermediates Ag(6)L(4) and Ag(5)L(4) are observed to participate in interlocking, and the related possible self-assembly routes are also presented.

Objectives: To assess the safety and efficacy of combining Doppler ultrasound with X-ray-guided percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) with one-step balloon dilation for management of complex renal stones., Material and Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 85 renal stone patients who underwent 89 PCNLs from January 2011 to May 2012. Doppler ultrasound with X-ray-guided PCNL with one-step balloon dilation was finished on the Fluoroscopic Table (Siemens, Berlin, Germany) with the patient under general anesthesia., Results: The study included 85 patients (49 male and 36 female) with a mean age of 42.5 ± 16.4 years. All patients underwent 89 PCNLs (4 patients had bilateral stones). The mean operative time was 72.8 min (range: 35-140). The average fluoroscopic screening time was 5.55 ± 1.81 s (range: 4-12). Successful access to the collecting system was 98.9% (88/89). Although most of the cases (85/89) were managed satisfactorily by a single tract, a second tract was used in 4 cases. No severe complications occurred. The stone-free rate of PCNL monotherapy was 77.5% (69/89). At 3 months, the stone-free rate increased to 89.9% (80/89) after shock wave lithotripsy., Conclusions: PCNL with one-step balloon dilation for the management of complex renal stones under the guidance of combining Doppler ultrasound with X-ray is safe and effective because of its high stone-free rate and low operative time., (Copyright © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

A novel flexible multisite cyclotetraphosphazene ligand, octakis(4-pyridylamino)cyclotetraphosphazene (OPCP), was synthesized through a new method, and it represents the first fully substituted pyridylaminocylcophosphazene ligand with eight coordinating arms. Self-assemblies of OPCP and different transition metal ions result in three novel 3D coordination polymers, in which the Cd(II) complex exhibits a quite strong blue emission.

Three new compounds, CuL, CuL', and Cu(2)O(2)L''(2) (H(2)L = 3'-[(E)-{[(1S,2S)-2-aminocyclohexyl]imino}methyl]-4'-hydroxy-4-biphenylcarboxlic acid, H(2)L' = 3'-[(E)-{[(1S,2S)-2-aminocyclohexyl]imino}methyl]-4'-hydroxy-5'-nitro-4-biphenylcarboxlic acid, H(2)L'' = 3'-(N,N-dimethylamino methyl)-4'-hydroxy-4-biphenylcarboxlic acid), were selectively synthesized through a controlled in situ ligand reaction system mediated by copper(II) nitrate and H(2)L. Selective nitration was achieved by using different solvent mixtures under relatively mild conditions, and an interesting and economical reductive amination system in DMF/EtOH/H(2) O was also found. All crystal structures were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Both CuL and CuL' display chiral 1D chain structures, whereas Cu(2)O(2)L''(2) possesses a structure with 13×16 Å channels and a free volume of 41.4 %. The possible mechanisms involved in this in situ ligand-controlled reaction system are discussed in detail., (Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Clear cell carcinoma of the bladder is a rare tumor of the bladder. There are few reports available on this rare disease, and no cases with recurrence were reported. Here we present a case of 68-year-old woman with primary clear cell carcinoma of the bladder, who underwent repeat TUR-BT and tumor recurrence. We also reviewed the previous treatments and prognoses in previous case reports and evaluate the proper treatment for this disease. Once the diagnosis is determined, the radical surgery should be recommended. The recurrence is not prevented based on post-TUR intravesical therapy.

Objective: To identify the risk factors predicting septic shock and severe hemorrhage in percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL)., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 420 renal calculi patients who underwent ultrasound-guided PCNL from March 2005 to May 2011. Data on patients who experienced infectious shock requiring anti-shock therapy and severe renal bleeding requiring angiographic renal embolization or nephrectomy were compared with other patients using univariate analyses., Results: Of 420 patients, 10 (2.4%) suffered septic shock and 4 (1%) had severe hemorrhage. The two significant risk factors for infectious shock were preoperative urine white blood cell count and operation time. For severe bleeding the absence of hydronephrosis and puncture time were significant risk factors. Operation time >90 min was associated with both septic shock and severe renal bleeding (p = 0.017). In contrast, the risk of encountering severe renal bleeding was higher if a nephroscope rather than a ureteroscope was used (p = 0.045)., Conclusions: Operation time was a risk factor for both septic shock and severe hemorrhage. The patients without hydronephrosis before operation were more likely to suffer severe renal bleeding. Reducing intraoperative puncture time can reduce the probability of severe post-PCNL hemorrhage. The use of a comparatively gross nephroscope passage was likely to result in severe renal bleeding., (Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.)

A discrete octahedral nano-cage has been synthesized by using a C(3)-symmetry semi-rigid pyridine-based ligand tppa. X-ray structure study reveals that the cage has a big inner cavity, flexible windows and all P=O moieties of tppa ligands are inside positions. By anion exchange the 0D nano-cages can transform to infinite chain without noticeable loss of their crystallinity.

Double fertilization in angiosperms involves several successive steps, including guidance and reception of the pollen tube and male-female gamete recognition. Each step entails extensive communication and interaction between two different reproductive cell or tissue types. Extensive research has focused on the pollen tube, namely, its interaction with the stigma and reception by maternal cells. Little is known, however, about the mechanism by which the gametes recognize each other and interact to form a zygote. We report that an ankyrin repeat protein (ANK6) is essential for fertilization, specifically for gamete recognition. ANK6 (At5g61230) was highly expressed in the male and female gametophytes before and during but not after fertilization. Genetic analysis of a T-DNA insertional mutant suggested that loss of function of ANK6 results in embryonic lethality. Moreover, male-female gamete recognition was found to be impaired only when an ank6 male gamete reached an ank6 female gamete, thereby preventing formation of homozygous zygotes. ANK6 was localized to the mitochondria, where it interacted with SIG5, a transcription initiation factor previously found to be essential for fertility. These results show that ANK6 plays a central role in male-female gamete recognition, possibly by regulating mitochondrial gene expression.

Objective: To investigate the diversity of cultivable halophilic and halotolerant bacteria isolated from ordinary non-saline soil samples collected from Xiaoxi National Natural Reserve (28 degrees 42' 15"-28 degrees 53' 15" N, 110 degrees 6' 50"-110 degrees 21' 35" E), Hunan Province, China., Methods: Bacterial strains were isolated from the samples by using the conventional culture-dependent method and investigated by using phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons., Results: We isolated 114 bacterial strains (8 moderately halophilic, 19 slightly halophilic, 87 halotolerant) from the samples on media (marine agar 2216, International Streptomyces Project medium 2 and 5, nutrient and humic acid agars) supplemented with 5% to 20% (w/v) NaCl. On the basis of morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics, we selected 61 strains to perform a phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. Results showed that 61 isolates represented 41 species, belonging to 18 genera (Actinomadura, Arthrobacter, Bacillus, Brachybacterium, Brevibacterium, Erwinia, Halobacillus, Jeotgalibacillus, Microbacterium, Microbulbifer, Nocardia, Pseudomonas, Rheinheimera, Rhodococcus, Sphingomonas, Staphylococcus, Streptomyces, Yaniella) of 16 families ( Alteromonadaceae, Bacillaceae, Brevibacteriaceae, Chromatiaceae, Dermabacteraceae, Enterobacteriaceae, Microbacteriaceae, Micrococcaceae, Nocardiaceae, Planococcaceae, Pseudomonadaceae, Sphingomonadaceae, Staphylococcaceae, Streptomycetaceae, Thermomonosporaceae, Yaniellaceae) in three phyla (Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Proteobacteria). The most abundant and diverse isolates were within the phylum Firmicutes (38 strains; 62.3%) and the phylum Actinobacteria (18 strains; 29.5%). The phylogenetic distance matrix results suggested that there were obvious genetic divergences between most isolates and their closestly related type strains (16S rRNA gene sequence similarities ranged from 96.9% to 99.8%), and that, out of 61 isolates, at least 7 strains (JSM 070026, JSM 081004, JSM 081006, JSM 081008, JSM 083058, JSM 083085, JSM 084035) should represent 7 potential novel species within 6 characterized genera (Yaniella, Bacillus, Jeotgalibacillus, Sphingomonas, Rheinheimera, Microbulbifer)., Conclusion: The results presented here showed that there is abundant diversity of halophilic and halotolerant bacteria, as well as a number of novel species in non-saline soil collected from Xiaoxi National Natural Reserve, Hunan Province, China.

Objective: To investigate the diversity of culturable bacteria isolated from the sea urchin Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus collected from a tidal flat of Naozhou Island (20 degrees 52'N - 20 degrees 56'N 110 degrees 33'E - 110 degrees 38'E), Leizhou Bay, South China Sea, China., Methods: Bacteria were isolated from the sample by using conventional culture-dependent method and then investigated by using phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons., Results: We isolated 106 bacterial strains from the sample on media (Difco marine 2216, International Streotomyces Project medium 2, nutrient, sea water and humic acid agars) supplemented with 0 - 2 mol/L NaCl. On the basis of morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics, we selected 34 strains to perform a phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. Our results showed that 34 isolates represented 21 species, belonging to 17 genera (Alteromonas, Bacillus, Brachybacterium, Brevibacterium, Halobacillus, Halomonas, Nocardiopsis, Oceanobacillus, Piscibacillus, Planococcus, Pontibacillus, Pseudoalteromonas, Pseudonocardia, Salinicoccus, Salinivibrio, Staphylococcus, Vibrio, Virgibacillus) of 10 families (Alteromonadaceae, Bacillaceae, Brevibacteriaceae, Dermabacteraceae, Halomonadaceae, Planococcaceae, Pseudoalteromonadaceae, Pseudonocardiaceae, Nocardiopsaceae, Staphylococcaceae, Vibrionaceae) in three phylogenetic groups (Actinobacteria, Firmicutes, Gamma-Proteobacteria). The most abundant and diverse isolates were within the phylum Firmicutes (58.8%) and the subphylum Gamma-Proteobacteria (26.5%). The phylogenetic distance matrix results suggested that there were obvious genetic divergences between most isolates and their closestly related type strains (16S rRNA gene sequence similarities ranged from 99.6 to 99.9%), and that, out of 34 isolates, at least 5 strains (JSM 076033, JSM 076056, JSM 076093, JSM 078063, JSM 078169) could represent 5 potential new species within 5 characterized genera (Jeotgalicoccus, Pontibacillus, Halomonas, Bacillus, Sporosarcina), in which the descriptions of 3 novel species [Jeotgalicoccus marinus (type strain, JSM 076033), Pontibacillus halophilus (JSM 076056), Halomonas zhanjiangensis (JSM 078169)] have been published in IJSEM (International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology)., Conclusion: The results presented above showed that there are abundant bacteria diversity in the sea urchin Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus collected from Naozhou Island.

A ruthenium complex was accidentally synthesized and its unique catalytic behavior in dynamic kinetic resolution of various types of secondary alcohols, particularly for those bearing additional functional groups, is described.