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Parameters regarding water quality, biology, marine disasters, and anthropogenic factors were collected and analyzed from 2020 to 2021 to evaluate the marine biodiversity of Tianjin's near-shore sea area accurately. A total of 29 indicators obtained from the surveys were selected to form the biodiversity evaluation system. The Pressure-State-Response (PSR) framework model combined with the ecological environment characteristics was used as the assessment method. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) determined the weights of each indicator. The results showed that the main influencing factors of the water environment for species diversity monitoring were dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and chemical oxygen demand (COD), and all water quality monitoring items were relatively stable without obvious pollution. The biomass of biological species in the near-shore sea area of Tianjin was relatively low, the species distribution was uneven, and the structure and function of the ecosystem need to be improved since environmental problems still existed.

Eutrophication is a global problem for coastal ecosystems, one that Bohai Bay, China, has been severely afflicted due to rapid economic and social development in the past decades. It was urgent to manage the total maximum allocated loads (TMALs) of the total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) on land-based, which was closely related to coastal eutrophication. In this study, from the perspective of economy-resources-environment (ERE) system, we presented the fuzzy credibility constrained linear programming based on pressure-state-response (PSR-FCCLP) model, which calculated the TMALs of TN and TP at three credibility levels (λ = 0.55, 0.75, and 0.95) in Bohai Bay. The results showed that when the credibility level increased from 0.55 to 0.95, the TMALs of TN and TP would decrease from 13,573.38 t/a to 12,820.00 t/a and from 2665.58 t/a to 2514.90 t/a, respectively. This study will provide support for environmental management in coastal regions.

Microplastics (MPs) are ubiquitous in the aquatic environment and can be frequently ingested by zooplankton, leading to various effects. Brine shrimp (Artemia parthenogenetica) has an important role in the energy flow through trophic levels in different seawater systems. In this work, the influence of polyethylene (PE) and polystyrene (PS) MPs on the growth of brine shrimp and corresponding changes of gut microbiota were investigated. Our results showed that the MPs remarkably reduced the growth rate of brine shrimp, and the two types of MPs have different impacts. The average body length of brine shrimps was reduced by 17.92 and 14.95% in the PE group and PS group, respectively. MPs are mainly found in the intestine, and their exposure evidently affects the gut microbiota. By using 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing, 32 phyla of bacteria were detected in the intestine, and the microbiome consisted mainly of Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, and Actinobacteria. MPs’ exposure significantly increased the gut microbial diversity. For the PE group, the proportion of Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes increased by 45.26 and 2.73%, respectively. For the PS group, it was 54.95 and 1.27%, respectively. According to the analysis on genus level, the proportions of Ponticoccus, Seohaeicola, Polycyclovorans, and Methylophaga decreased by 46.38, 1.24, 1.07, and 2.66%, respectively, for the PE group and 57.87, 1.43, 0.88, and 2.24%, respectively, for the PS group. In contrast, the proportions of Stappia, Microbacterium, and Dietzia increased by 1.12, 23.27, and 11.59%, respectively, for the PE group, and 1.09, 3.79, and 42.96%, respectively, for the PS group. These experimental results demonstrated that the ingestion of MPs by brine shrimp can alter the composition of the gut microbiota and lead to a slow growth rate. This study provides preliminary data support for understanding the biotoxicity of MPs to invertebrate zooplankton and is conducive to the further risk assessment of MP exposure.

To investigate whether the members of the mammalian Achaete-Scute Complex homologue (ASH) gene family have evolved functional differences, we used the patterning of bristles as a phenotypic marker. Drosophila uses a single genetic locus - the Achaete-Scute Complex - to demarcate the regions of the body where bristles can form. We found 4-5 Achaete-Scute Complex homologue genes (ASH) in the mammalian genome, which are homologous with scute in Drosophila. Although ASH2 and ASH3 have gained new functions during evolution, the function of ASH4 and its evolutionary changes are still unclear. In this study, we overexpressed mouse and human ASH1 and ASH4 in the Drosophila notum respectively. The results show that both the protein sequence and cis-regulatory elements of mammalian ASH1 have conserved an ancient proneural function during evolution. However, mouse ASH4 has lost proneural function partly due to truncation of a C-terminal amino acid domain. Interestingly, instead of a similar loss of proneural function, we found human ASH4 can actually inhibit Drosophila bristle development, implying that human ASH4 may be a potential factor relating to skin development in human being. Our results demonstrate gene duplication of the ASH family may have led to a novel function during evolution.

Background As Drosophila is a classic model organism, understanding of the regulatory networks has great significance in revealing the genetic mechanisms of ageing and human diseases. Competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA)-mediated regulation is an important mechanism of circular RNA (circRNA) and long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) regulation in ageing and age-related disease. However, extensive analyses of the multi-omics (circRNA/miRNA/mRNA, lncRNA/miRNA/mRNA, and mRNA/protein) characteristics of adult Drosophila ageing have not been reported. Our results determine the ceRNA networks and the mRNA/protein correlations of key differentially expressed genes in adult Drosophila aging, and provide a solid foundation for understanding mechanisms of human ageing and ageing-related diseases. Results Here, differentially expressed circRNAs and microRNAs (miRNAs) between 7 and 42 day old Drosophila were screened and identified. Then, the differentially expressed mRNAs, circRNAs, miRNAs, lncRNAs, and proteins between day 7 and day 42 were used to analyse fly age-related circRNA/miRNA/mRNA and lncRNA/miRNA/mRNA networks and the mRNA/protein correlation in Drosophila ageing. Several key ceRNA networks were identified, such as the circ_0006913/miR-985-3p/Abl, circ_0009500/miR-14-5p/SERCA, XLOC_100429/miR-14-5p/SERCA, and XLOC_100429/miR-14-5p/Vha100-4 networks. Subsequently, 16 pairs of differentially expressed interacting mRNAs/proteins were found, including 10 pairs with the same expression trends and 6 pairs with the opposite expression trends. Furthermore, real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) was used to verify the expression level of those genes. Conclusions The discovery of these ceRNA networks and the mRNA/protein correlations in adult Drosophila ageing will provide new information for research on human ageing and age-related disease.

Bohai Bay, a typical semi-enclosed bay, is close to the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region, the economic center of north China. The release of emerging contaminants was considerably increasing with the fast urbanization and industrialization along the coastline. However, such data, e.g. plastic polymers, are still limited. Here, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) in surface sediments and sediment cores from the coastal area of Bohai Bay were investigated. The ranges of PET and DEHP concentrations in surface sediments are 1.49–13.90 mg/kg and 0.23–19.26 mg/kg, respectively. The relatively high contents of PET and DEHP were found near the Haihe River estuary, indicating the importance of riverine input. The PET and DEHP profiles in the cores dated by the 210Pb method showed increasing trends with time. The PET in Bohai Bay was low risk evaluated by the potential ecological risk assessment. Low ecological risks of DEHP to the benthic organisms were found in the sediments, using the environmental risk limits, risk quotient, threshold effect level and probable effect level methods. The pollution levels of PET and DEHP in Bohai Bay obtained in this study may provide important data for making pollution control strategies.

Identifying trophic status shift and developing nutrient criteria were considered important for controlling coastal eutrophication. Based on data from 1980 to 2018, we used sequential t-test analysis of regime shifts and assessment of coastal trophic status models to detect regime shifts in trophic status in Bohai Bay (China). We identified four distinct periods: unimpaired (1980–1984), minimally impacted (1985–1994), tipping point (1995–1999) and severely degraded (2000–2018). Using the reference conditions at different trophic status, a frequency distribution analysis was performed to develop candidate nutrient criteria. By considering other factors, such as the quantity and quality of data and long-term nutrient variations, we determined recommended criteria for dissolved inorganic nitrogen (15.3 μmol L−1) and phosphorus (0.42 μmol L−1) in Bohai Bay. This study provides a novel and feasible approach to determine reference conditions for the determination of nutrient criteria for coastal waters.

This paper explores the microscopic behavioral characteristics of various nodes in a social network and the macro-evolution law of its formation. Taking the Sina microblog in China as an example, the article presents a multi-agent simulation analysis on the Netlogo platform. The results show that a double limited and heterogeneous feature is possessed by the social network, namely the limited size of the network and the in-degree and out-degree of the nodes, as well as the heterogeneous attributes of the nodes. Compared with a small-world and scale-free network, the double limited and heterogeneous social network can better simulate a real social network. It not only has the overall structural characteristics of a small-world and scale-free network, but also microscopically reflects the influence and control of different types of nodes in a social network.

To minimize the plumbic poisoning, the construction of powerful portable chip for ultrasensitive Pb2+ assay plays a significant role in clinical diagnosis and environmental monitoring. Herein, inspired by communicating vessels, a microfluidic electrochemical sensing chip array was proposed for ultrasensitive Pb2+ detection of multiple samples. An editable nanoporous gold nanolayer with a feature of all-round conductivity and abundant active sites favoring biological ligand attachment was employed as electrochemical sensing substrate. Ceria@gold corona-nanocomposites (CeO2@Au NPs) was designed and utilized as a differential pulse voltammetry response enhancer of the o-phenylenediamine-hydrogen peroxide electrochemical sensing system. In addition, the proposed chip contains ten detection units and no complex components (such as pump or valve), which makes it capable of processing multiple samples in batch for the in-situ detection with low cost. Under the optimized experimental conditions, the Pb2+ detection limit of 3.1 pM was achieved with good stability and reliability, which was benefited from the excellent sensing substrate and appropriate CeO2@Au NPs-trigger amplification strategy. The results indicated that the integration of novel microfluidic chip design and nanomaterials catalytic strategy provides a new paradigm for the field of in-situ analysis, and shows promise for potential applications in many analytic fields.

Dietary restriction (DR) extends lifespan in many species which is a well-known phenomenon. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in regulation of cell senescence and important age-related signaling pathways. Here, we profiled the lncRNA and mRNA transcriptome of fruit flies at 7 day and 42 day during DR and fully-fed conditions, respectively. In general, 102 differentially expressed lncRNAs and 1406 differentially expressed coding genes were identified. Most informatively we found a large number of differentially expressed lncRNAs and their targets enriched in GO and KEGG analysis. We discovered some new aging related signaling pathways during DR, such as hippo signaling pathway-fly, phototransduction-fly and protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum etc. Novel lncRNAs XLOC_092363 and XLOC_166557 are found to be located in 10 kb upstream sequences of hairy and ems promoters, respectively. Furthermore, tissue specificity of some novel lncRNAs had been analyzed at 7 day of DR in fly head, gut and fat body. Also the silencing of lncRNA XLOC_076307 resulted in altered expression level of its targets including Gadd45 (involved in FoxO signaling pathway). Together, the results implicated many lncRNAs closely associated with dietary restriction, which could provide a resource for lncRNA in aging and age-related disease field.

Timeless(Tim) is considered to function as an essential circadian clock gene inDrosophila. Putative homologues of theDrosophila timelessgene have been identified in both mice and humans. WhileDrosophilacontains two paralogs,timelessandtimeout, acting in clock/light entrainment and chromosome integrity/photoreception, respectively, mammals contain only oneTimhomolog. In this paper, we study the phylogeny of thetimeless/timeoutfamily in 48 species [including 1 protozoan (Guillardia theta), 1 nematode (Caenorhabditis elegans), 8 arthropods and 38 chordates], for which whole genome data are available by using MEGA (Molecular Evolutionary Genetics Analysis). Phylogenetic Analysis by Maximum Likelihood (PAML) was used to analyze the selective pressure acting on metazoantimeless/timeoutgenes. Our phylogeny clearly separates insecttimelessandtimeoutlineages and shows that non-insect animalTimgenes are homologs of insecttimeout. In this study, we explored the relatively rapidly evolvingtimelesslineage that was apparently lost from most deuterostomes, including chordates, and fromCaenorhabditis elegans. In contrast, we found that thetimeoutprotein, often confusingly called “timeless” in the vertebrate literature, is present throughout the available animal genomes. Selection results showed thattimeoutis under weaker negative selection thantimeless. Finally, our phylogeny oftimeless/timeoutshowed an evolutionary conservation of the circadian clock genetimeoutin Metazoa. This conservation is in line with its multifunctionality, being essential for embryonic development and maintenance of chromosome integrity, among others.

Taking Xianyu (Taobao second-hand platform) for an example, this study proposes a framework to identify the integrative effect of community and e-commerce on building the “trustworthiness” of online second-hand transaction platform. Research data was analysed by structural equation modelling based on 565 valid questionnaires. The results revealed that e-commerce service quality (system quality, security assurance, product variety and service support) and community quality had direct and interaction effects on users’ perceived trust, which consequently affected their transaction intention. The findings shed light on how web communities should be used to lead to optimal results in the context of online second-hand transaction.

The evolutionary differences in sensory bristle patterns on the thorax of dipterans are an excellent model for studying the patterns of evolutionary development. We observed that Drosophila melanogaster has two pairs of the large bristles, called macrochaetes, in the dorsocentral (DC) region of the notum, while Musca domestica retains six DC macrochaetes. To explore possible mechanism by which these two dipteran species have different numbers of DC bristles, we compared the corresponding protein sequences, the gene expression levels and the spatial expression patterns of five genes (scute, pnr, ush, hairy, and emc) for bristle development between two species. We also checked the overexpression of scute and emc in transgenic flies. The results demonstrated a strong conservation of five protein sequences between these two species. The mRNA expression of the five genes differed significantly between D. melanogaster and M. domestica. The gene expression patterns exhibited a species-specific pattern during the larval development stage. It suggests that the function of these genes has been conserved in regulating the development of macrocheates between housefly and fruit fly, whereas the gene expression levels, especially spatial expression patterns lead to species-specificity in DC bristles.

SummaryDietary restriction (DR) is widely regarded as a viable intervention to extend lifespan and healthspan in diverse organisms. The precise molecular regulatory mechanisms are largely unknown. Epigenetic modifications are not stable upon DR and also keep changing with age. Here, we employed whole genome bisulfite sequencing to determine the DNA methylation changes upon DR in adult Drosophila. Our results indicate that although a low level of DNA methylation exists in the adult Drosophila genome, there is no significant difference in DNA methylation levels upon DR when compared to unrestricted flies. This suggests that other epigenetic components such as histone modifications might be altered by DR.

Artificial illumination is an important exogenous factor in the control of many physiological and behavioral processes as well as an important environmental factor in the management of laying hens. Melatonin receptors are members of the G protein-coupled receptor family. The hormone melatonin is secreted primarily by the pineal gland, with highest levels occurring during the dark period of a circadian cycle. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of monochromatic light on chicken egg reproduction and expression of melatonin receptors in chicken ovarian follicles. A total of 552 19-week-old hens were randomly divided into 4 groups with 138 birds in each group. Each group was randomly divided into 3 replicates with 46 birds in each replicate. Feed and water were provided for ad libitum. Light treatments were: control cool white (400-760 nm), blue (480 nm), green (560 nm), and red (660 nm). The short wavelength (blue light) group produced a greater total number of eggs at 300 days of age than did the long wavelength (red light) group, and the red light group showed higher melatonin receptor type 1A and melatonin receptor type 1C mRNA and protein expression. These results suggest that the wavelength of light is closely related to chicken egg number at 300 days of age; there is no effect of monochromatic light on melatonin receptor type 1B.

A deeper understanding of the conserved molecular mechanisms in different taxa have been made possible only because of the evolutionary conservation of crucial signaling pathways. In the present study, we explored the molecular evolutionary pattern of selection signatures in 51 species for 10 genes which are important components of NAD+/Sirtuin pathway and have already been directly linked to lifespan extension in worms and mice. Selection pressure analysis using PAML program revealed that MRPS5 and PPARGC1A were under significant constraints because of their functional significance. FOXO3a also displayed strong purifying selection. All three sirtuins, which were SIRT1, SIRT2 and SIRT6, displayed a great degree of conservation between taxa, which is consistent with the previous report. A significant evolutionary constraint is seen on the anti-oxidant gene, SOD3. As expected, TP53 gene was under significant selection pressure in mammals, owing to its major role in tumor progression. Poly-ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) genes displayed the most sites under positive selection. Further 3D structural analysis of PARP1 and PARP2 protein revealed that some of these positively selected sites caused a change in the electrostatic potential of the protein structure, which may allow a change in its interaction with other proteins and molecules ultimately leading to difference in the function. Although the functional significance of the positively selected sites could not be established in the variants databases, yet it will be interesting to see if these sites actually affect the function of PARP1 and PARP2.

Dietary restriction (DR) extends lifespan in many species which is a well-known phenomenon. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play an important role in regulation of cell senescence and important age-related signaling pathways. Here, we profiled the lncRNA and mRNA transcriptome of fruit flies at 7 day and 42 day during DR and fully-fed conditions, respectively. In general, 102 differentially expressed lncRNAs and 1406 differentially expressed coding genes were identified. Most informatively we found a large number of differentially expressed lncRNAs and their targets enriched in GO and KEGG analysis. We discovered some new aging related signaling pathways during DR, such as hippo signaling pathway-fly, phototransduction-fly and protein processing in endoplasmic reticulum etc. Novel lncRNAs XLOC_092363 and XLOC_166557 are found to be located in 10 kb upstream sequences of hairy and ems promoters, respectively. Furthermore, tissue specificity of some novel lncRNAs had been analyzed at 7 day of DR in fly head, gut and fat body. Also the silencing of lncRNA XLOC_076307 resulted in altered expression level of its targets including Gadd45 (involved in FoxO signaling pathway). Together, the results implicated many lncRNAs closely associated with dietary restriction, which could provide a resource for lncRNA in aging and age-related disease field.

Drosophila formosana (Diptera: Drosophilidae) belongs to the Drosophilidae group of Drosophila. The mitochondrial genome sequence of Drosophila formosana is determined in this study. Mitochondrion of D. formosana is a circular DNA molecule of the 16 100 nucleotide pairs (bp) that contains one encoding region including 37 genes and 1 non-coding A + T-rich region. The similarity and typicality have been showed by the structure and organization analysis. All genes are arranged in the circular DNA molecule. In addition to DN5 that use GTG start codon, all other protein-coding genes (PCGs) start with an ATN start codon. Ten protein-coding genes stop with the termination codon TAN, while other protein-coding genes (PCGs) used incomplete termination codon TA- (cox2, nad5, nad1). The A + T-rich region with a length of 1088 bp is located between rrnS and trnI. The mitochondrial genome of D. formosana has been completely sequenced for the first time in this study.

Chinese Brands are large but not strong, and China lacks true global brands. Product, corporate, and country brand are all of crucial important to building Chinese global brands. A survey on Chinese consumers is conducted to examine their attitudes and purchase intentions toward five automobile products of five corporations which come from five countries. The results indicate that both product band and country brand positively affect corporate brand and the impact of product brand is stronger; the impact of product brand on purchase intention is significant but country brand has no direct influence on purchase intention; corporate brand firstly influences attitude and then affects purchase intention; the strongest impact on purchase intention is attitude toward corporate brand, then product brand and country brand. The paper further enriches the relevant theory of brand and provides managerial implications for building Chinese global brands.

Cis-regulatory hypothesis is one of the most important theories in evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo), which claims that evolution of cis-regulatory elements (CREs) plays a key role during evolution of morphology. However, an increasing number of experimental results show that cis-regulatory hypothesis alone is not far enough to explain the complexity of evo-devo processes. Other modifications, including mutations of protein coding, gene and genome duplications, and flexibility of homeodomains and CREs, also cause the morphological changes in animals. In this review, we retrospect the recent results of evolution of CREs and genes associated with CREs and discuss new methods and trends for research in evo-devo.

The paper attempts to analyze the relationship between co-creation customer experience, customer co-created value and behavioral intention in non-trading virtual community. Customer co-created value defined by the help of literature research in non-trading virtual community. And Literature research and qualitative research of focus group interview were applied to determine the dimensions of customer co-created value, including pragmatic value and hedonic value. Empirical research of structural equation model was applied to analyze the relationship between co-creation customer experience, customer co-created value and behavioral intention. The results show that the two dimensions of co-creation customer experience, emotional experience and relationship experience all have significantly positive impact on pragmatic value and hedonic value; pragmatic value and hedonic value all have significantly positive impact on word-of-mouth and repeated use intention, and the impact of hedonic value is more significant. The conclusion of the paper can not only help researchers to study intensively about the theory of effect factors of customer co-created value, but also make community enterprises understand customers better and improve their online services.