A dataset of distribution and diversity of ticks in China

While tick-borne zoonoses, such as Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis, present an increasing global concern, knowledge of their vectors’ distribution remains limited, especially for China. In this paper, we present the first comprehensive dataset of known tick species and their distributions in China, derived from peer-reviewed literature published between 1960 and 2017. We searched for journal articles, conference papers and degree thesis published in both English and Chinese, extracted geographic information associated with tick occurrence, and applied quality-control procedures to remove duplicates and ensure accuracy. The dataset contains 5731 records of geo-referenced occurrences for 123 tick species distributed over 1141 locations distinguished at four levels of scale i.e., provincial, prefectural, county, and township and finer. The most frequently reported tick species include Haemaphysalis longicornis, Dermacentor silvarum, Ixodes persulcatus, Haemaphysalis conicinna, Rhipicephalus microplus, and Rhipicephalus sanguineus sensu lato. The geographical dataset provides an improved map of where ticks inhabit China and can be used for a variety of spatial analyses of ticks and the risk of zoonoses they transmit

9-{4-[(E)-2-(4,6-Dimethyl-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl)ethen­yl]phen­yl}-9H-carbazole

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C25H20N4, the triazinyl ring is nearly coplanar with the planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.028 Å) phenyl­ethenyl unit, the twist being only 5.8 (2)°; however, the planar carbazolyl unit (r.m.s. deviation = 0.008 Å) is twisted by 47.8 (1)° with respect to the phenyl­ethenyl unit. The nonplanar nature of the mol­ecule explains the phenomenon of light emission at short wavelengths in the solid state but at long wavelengths in solution

N,N,N′,N′-Tetra­kis(2-hy­droxy-5-methyl­benz­yl)ethane-1,2-diamine dimethyl­formamide disolvate

The title compound, C34H40N2O4·2C3H7NO, was synthesized by the Mannich condensation of ethane­diamine, formaldehyde and p-cresol. In the crystal, the tetra­phenol mol­ecule is arranged around an inversion center. The mol­ecule and the dimethyl­formamide solvate are linked through an O—H⋯O hydrogen bond. An intra­molecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bond occurs in the tetra­phenol mol­ecule, which may influence the mol­ecular confomation. Futhermore, C—H⋯O and π–π stacking inter­actions [centroid–centroid distance = 3.7081 (14) Å] stabilize the crystal packing, building a three-dimensional network

Seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii infection in dairy goats in Shaanxi Province, Northwestern China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Toxoplasma gondii </it>is an important zoonotic pathogen causing significant human and animal health problems. Infection in dairy goats not only results in significant reproductive losses, but also represents an important source of human infection due to consumption of infected meat and milk. In the present study we report for the first time seroprevalence of <it>T. gondii </it>infection in Guanzhong and Saanen dairy goats in Shaanxi province, Northwestern China.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Sera from 751 dairy goats from 9 farms in 6 counties were examined for <it>T. gondii </it>antibodies with an indirect haemagglutination (IHA) test. Antibodies to <it>T. gondii </it>were detected in 106 (14.1%) serum samples, with antibody titres ranging from 1:64 to 1:1024. Seropositive goats were found in all 9 farms and seroprevalences in Guanzhong (16.3%, 75/461) and Saanen (10.7%, 31/290) dairy goats were not statistically significantly different. All the factors (sex, age and location) reported in the present study affected prevalence of infection, and seroprevalence increased with age, suggesting postnatal acquisition of <it>T. gondii </it>infection.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results of the present survey indicate that infection by <it>T. gondii </it>is widely prevalent in dairy goats in Shaanxi province, Northwestern China, and this has implications for prevention and control of toxoplasmosis in this province.</p

Substantial transition to clean household energy mix in rural China

The household energy mix has significant impacts on human health and climate, as it contributes greatly to many health- and climate-relevant air pollutants. Compared to the well-established urban energy statistical system, the rural household energy statistical system is incomplete and is often associated with high biases. Via a nationwide investigation, this study revealed high contributions to energy supply from coal and biomass fuels in the rural household energy sector, while electricity comprised ∼20%. Stacking (the use of multiple sources of energy) is significant, and the average number of energy types was 2.8 per household. Compared to 2012, the consumption of biomass and coals in 2017 decreased by 45% and 12%, respectively, while the gas consumption amount increased by 204%. Increased gas and decreased coal consumptions were mainly in cooking, while decreased biomass was in both cooking (41%) and heating (59%). The time-sharing fraction of electricity and gases (E&G) for daily cooking grew, reaching 69% in 2017, but for space heating, traditional solid fuels were still dominant, with the national average shared fraction of E&G being only 20%. The non-uniform spatial distribution and the non-linear increase in the fraction of E&G indicated challenges to achieving universal access to modern cooking energy by 2030, particularly in less-developed rural and mountainous areas. In some non-typical heating zones, the increased share of E&G for heating was significant and largely driven by income growth, but in typical heating zones, the time-sharing fraction was <5% and was not significantly increased, except in areas with policy intervention. The intervention policy not only led to dramatic increases in the clean energy fraction for heating but also accelerated the clean cooking transition. Higher income, higher education, younger age, less energy/stove stacking and smaller family size positively impacted the clean energy transition

Journey to the east: Diverse routes and variable flowering times for wheat and barley en route to prehistoric China.

Today, farmers in many regions of eastern Asia sow their barley grains in the spring and harvest them in the autumn of the same year (spring barley). However, when it was first domesticated in southwest Asia, barley was grown between the autumn and subsequent spring (winter barley), to complete their life cycles before the summer drought. The question of when the eastern barley shifted from the original winter habit to flexible growing schedules is of significance in terms of understanding its spread. This article investigates when barley cultivation dispersed from southwest Asia to regions of eastern Asia and how the eastern spring barley evolved in this context. We report 70 new radiocarbon measurements obtained directly from barley grains recovered from archaeological sites in eastern Eurasia. Our results indicate that the eastern dispersals of wheat and barley were distinct in both space and time. We infer that barley had been cultivated in a range of markedly contrasting environments by the second millennium BC. In this context, we consider the distribution of known haplotypes of a flowering-time gene in barley, Ppd-H1, and infer that the distributions of those haplotypes may reflect the early dispersal of barley. These patterns of dispersal resonate with the second and first millennia BC textual records documenting sowing and harvesting times for barley in central/eastern China

Correction: Journey to the east: Diverse routes and variable flowering times for wheat and barley en route to prehistoric China.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0187405.]

The fruits of Xanthium sibiricum Patr: A review on phytochemistry, pharmacological activities, and toxicity

In recent years, drug development and research have gradually shifted from chemical synthesis to biopharmaceutical and natural drugs. Natural medicines, such as traditional Chinese medicine, have been among the first studied because of their long medicinal history, simplicity, and the relatively low cost of research. Among them, Xanthii Fructus (XF) is famous for the treatment of sinusitis. In this article, the achievements of research on XF from 1953 to 2020 are systematically reviewed, focusing on the aspects of chemical constituents, pharmacological effects, clinical applications, toxicity and side effects, and processing methods. To date, there have been significant advances in both the phytochemistry and pharmacology of XF. Some traditional uses have been validated and clarified in modern pharmacological studies. However, its mechanism of action in the treatment of allergic diseases has not been satisfactorily explained. Further in vitro and in vivo studies are required to rationally develop new drugs and to elucidate the therapeutic potential of XF. A comprehensive evaluation of XF and an understanding of network pharmacology are also needed. © 2020 World Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine | Published by Wolters Kluwer ‑ Medknow