High-throughput sequencing-based analysis of the composition and diversity of endophytic bacteria community in tubers of Gastrodia elata f.glauca

Gastrodia elata f.glauca (G. elata) is a commonly used Chinese Medicinal Materials with great medicinal value. The medicinal plant and its endophytic bacteria are a symbiotic whole, and the endophytic bacteria are rich in species, and their metabolites are a treasure trove of natural compounds. However, there is a relative lack of analysis on the diversity, flora composition and network interactions of the endophytic bacteria of G. elata. In this study, high-throughput sequencing technology based on the Illumina Miseq platform was used to reveal the core microbiota by examining the diversity and community structures of tuber endophytic bacteria in G. elata grown under different regions and exploring the effect of region on its endophytic bacteria. Here, 1,265 endophytic ASVs were found to coexist with G. elata tuber in Guizhou and Hubei. At the phylum level, the dominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria and Acdobacteriota. At the family level, the dominant family were Comamonadaceae, Nocardicaece, Xanthobacteraceae, and Burkholderiaceae. At the genus level, Delftia and Rhodococcus were represented the core microbiota in G. elata tuber, which served as the dominant genera that coexisted in all samples tested. Moreover, we found that the beta diversity of endophytic bacteria in G. elata tuber was higher level in the Guizhou region than Hubei region. Overall, this study results to provide a reference for screening active strains and interaction between plants and endophytic bacteria

Nonlinear and threshold effects of built environment on older adults’ walking duration: do age and retirement status matter?

IntroductionWalking plays a crucial role in promoting physical activity among older adults. Understanding how the built environment influences older adults’ walking behavior is vital for promoting physical activity and healthy aging. Among voluminous literature investigating the environmental correlates of walking behaviors of older adults, few have focused on walking duration across different age groups and life stages, let alone examined the potential nonlinearities and thresholds of the built environment.MethodsThis study employs travel diary from Zhongshan, China and the gradient boosting decision trees (GBDT) approach to disentangle the age and retirement status differences in the nonlinear and threshold effects of the built environment on older adults’ walking duration.ResultsThe results showed built environment attributes collectively contribute 57.37% for predicting older adults’ walking duration, with a higher predicting power for the old-old (70+ years) or the retired. The most influencing built environment attribute for the young-old (60–70 years) is bus stop density, whereas the relative importance of population density, bus stop density, and accessibility to green space or commercial facilities is close for the old-old. The retired tend to walk longer in denser-populated neighborhoods with better bus service, but the non-retired are more active in walking in mixed-developed environments with accessible commercial facilities. The thresholds of bus stop density to encourage walking among the young-old is 7.8 counts/km2, comparing to 6 counts/km2 among the old-old. Regarding the green space accessibility, the effective range for the non-retired (4 to 30%) is smaller than that of the retired (12 to 45%).DiscussionOverall, the findings provide nuanced and diverse interventions for creating walking-friendly neighborhoods to promote walking across different sub-groups of older adults

Who is the main caregiver of the mother during the doing-the-month : is there an association with postpartum depression?

Background: To examine the relationship between the main caregiver during the “doing-the-month” (a traditional Chinese practice which a mother is confined at home for 1 month after giving birth) and the risk of postpartum depression (PPD) in postnatal women. Methods: Participants were postnatal women stayed in hospital and women who attended the hospital for postpartum examination, at 14–60 days after delivery from November 1, 2013 to December 30, 2013. Postpartum depression status was assessed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Univariate and multivariable logistic regressions were used to identify the associations between the main caregiver during “doing-the-month” and the risk of PPD in postnatal women. Results: One thousand three hundred twenty-five postnatal women with a mean (SD) age of 28 (4.58) years were included in the analyses. The median score (IQR) of PPD was 6.0 (2, 10) and the prevalence of PPD was 27%. Of these postnatal women, 44.5% were cared by their mother-in-law in the first month after delivery, 36.3% cared by own mother, 11.1% by “yuesao” or “maternity matron” and 8.1% by other relatives. No association was found between the main caregivers and the risk of PPD after multiple adjustments. Conclusions: Although no association between the main caregivers and the risk of PPD during doing-the-month was identified, considering the increasing prevalence of PPD in Chinese women, and the contradictions between traditional culture and latest scientific evidence for some of the doing-the-month practices, public health interventions aim to increase the awareness of PPD among caregivers and family members are warranted

A Retrospective Analysis of the Clinical Features of Inpatients With Epilepsy in the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture

Background: There is limited detailed clinical information for patients with epilepsy in Tibet. This study sought to provide data about the clinical features of epilepsy in the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture to improve strategies for epilepsy prevention and management in this region.Methods: We reviewed the clinical record of patients with epilepsy in the Neurology Department, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture People's Hospital and compared the clinical features and compared it with control, from West China Hospital in Chengdu.Results: This retrospective study included 165 patients with epilepsy admitted between January 2015 and February 2018. Majority of patients (97%) in this study had active epilepsy; 28.5% had generalized onset seizures and 68.5% had focal onset seizures. Fifty-four patients had received anti-epileptic drug (AED) treatment prior to hospitalization, however, 38 (70.4%) patients took the medication irregularly. The leading etiology of this cohort was head trauma (20.6%), followed by stroke (10.9%), neurocysticercosis (7.9%), brain hydatidosis (6.7%) and tuberculous infection (5.5%). Compared with in-patients in Chengdu, epilepsy in Ganzi was more frequently caused by infection (OR = 4.216, 95% CI, 2.124–8.367), including neurocysticercosis (OR = 29.301, 95% CI, 1.727–497.167) and brain hydatidosis (OR = 24.637, 95% CI, 1.439–421.670).Conclusions: These data suggest that the control of cerebral infections, especially parasite infection, is essential for the prevention of epilepsy in the Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Education of local primary doctors and patients about the literacy of epilepsy will enable better management of epilepsy in this population

Research on the set-aside, use and administration for work safety expenses of the business entity in China

Work safety expenses, as legally required, should be used to meet and improve the prescribed work safety conditions of the business entity specifically. The standardized set-aside, use and management of work safety expenses can ensure the normal development of work safety activities and the safety of employees' lives and property. The historical evolution of work safety expenses in China is described in detail, from the department rules of work safety expenses set-aside for coal production enterprises, fireworks and firecracker production enterprises, and other single enterprise types to the comprehensive department rules, applicable to the management of work safety expenses in multiple industries. The set-aside standard and time of work safety expenses of different types of enterprises are comprehensively compared, and the standardized set-aside of work safety expenses is explained by taking the production and storage enterprises of dangerous chemicals as an example. It is analyzed that the scope of use of work safety expenses includes the construction of emergency rescue teams, major hazard detection, safety risk grading management, hidden trouble checking, construction of work safety information, etc. Through the establishment of a three-level linkage of government supervision, enterprise implementation, and third-party agency services, the standardized management of work safety expenses will be realized

Tracheid development under a drought event producing intra-annual density fluctuations in the semi-arid China

Drought is the primary limiting factor for tree growth in arid and semi-arid regions, where it can greatly influence xylem anatomical traits and induce multiple responses to wood development. However, the mechanisms driving xylogenesis and intra-annual density fluctuations (IADFs), as well as the seasonal dynamics of wood development in water-limited environments, are still unclear. In this study, we assessed the kinetics of xylem development weekly in Chinese pine (Pinus tabuliformis) and Qinghai spruce (Picea crassifolia), at two altitudes in the Helan Mountains, semi-arid China. Results indicate that summer drought in June inhibited cambial division and reduced xylogenesis, resulting in only 40% of the xylem developing before August. The onset of abundant precipitation in mid-July reactivated radial growth. This second growth extended the growing season by one month and partly compensated for the negative effect of the drought on growth. E-type IADF were characterized by narrow cells with thick walls, formed during July and early August. The duration of cell enlargement explained 57% of variance in tracheid diameter, showing that it played an important role in determining cell size. In contrast, changes in the cell wall thickness were mainly driven by the rate of secondary wall thickening, which explained 65% of the variance. This study reveals the potential mechanisms for xylem development and E-IADF formation under summer drought in semi-arid China, provides evidence for the plasticity and resistance of Chinese pine and Qinghai spruce under varying environmental conditions, and contributes to our understanding of likely future trends in forest productivity under climate changes

Microfluidic fabrication of highly stretchable and fast electro-responsive graphene oxide/polyacrylamide/alginate hydrogel fibers

The practical application of electro-responsive hydrogels is limited due to the slow response rate and the poor mechanical property. The electro-response rate of hydrogels can be improved by forming hydrogel fiber and adding graphene oxide (GO). Meanwhile, the incorporation of GO can also enhance the mechanical properties of hydrogels. However, the highly stretchable and fast electro-responsive hydrogel fibers are rarely reported at present. In this paper, graphene oxide/polyacrylamide/sodium alginate hydrogel fibers were prepared by microfluidic spinning and free radical polymerization. The mechanical properties, swelling properties and electro-responsive behaviors of the nanocomposite hydrogel fibers were investigated. The results show the nanocomposite hydrogel fibers could be very stretchable by adjusting GO and N,N-methylenebisacrylamide (BIS) contents. Besides, compared with hydrogel rods, the hydrogel fibers with diameter in microscale exhibit much faster swelling rate and electro-response rate. The thinner the hydrogel fiber is, the faster the electro-response rate is. This suggests that the highly stretchable and fast electro-responsive hydrogel fibers take us closer to the application of artificial muscle actuators

Study and Application of Ultrafine Temperature-Resistant and Salt-Tolerant Swellable Particles in Low Permeability Reservoirs

Based on the characteristics of low-permeability oil and gas reservoirs and the requirements for profile control and water plugging and for water cut decrease and production increase in the high water cut stage of the middle and late exploitation periods, ultrafine temperature-resistant and salt-tolerant swellable particles DS-1 suitable for low permeability oilfields were prepared by introducing N,N-dimethylacrylamide(DMAA) monomers into the 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS)/acrylamide(AM)/N,N-dimethylbisacrylamide ternary crosslinking system. The median of initial particle size was 22.00 μm, and is compatible with formation pore throats. A static water absorption experiment showed that the particles can still maintain a high swelling ratio after 15 days at a high temperature and high mineralization degree, so they have long-term stability. The physical and chemical properties of the particles were analyzed microscopically using the infrared spectrum method and the scanning electron microscope (SEM) method. A dynamic displacement experiment confirmed that the particles can effectively plug dominant channels of waterflooding, increase the injection pressure, and improve the interlayer and intralayer heterogeneity. In the field experiment, the swellable particles DS-1 were used as a main slug for water plugging operations, and a good water cut decrease and oil production increase effect was obtained