Valuing the effects of hydropower development on watershed ecosystem services: Case studies in the Jiulong River Watershed, Fujian Province, China

Hydropower development brings many negative impacts on watershed ecosystems which are not fully integrated into current decision-making largely because in practice few accept the cost and benefit beyond market. In this paper, a framework was proposed to valuate the effects on watershed ecosystem services caused by hydropower development. Watershed ecosystem services were classified into four categories of provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services; then effects on watershed ecosystem services caused by hydropower development were identified to 21 indicators. Thereafter various evaluation techniques including the market value method, opportunity cost approach, project restoration method, travel cost method, and contingent valuation method were determined and the models were developed to valuate these indicators reflecting specific watershed ecosystem services. This approach was applied to three representative hydropower projects (Daguan, Xizaikou and Tiangong) of Jiulong River Watershed in southeast China. It was concluded that for hydropower development: (1) the value ratio of negative impacts to positive benefits ranges from 64.09% to 91.18%, indicating that the negative impacts of hydropower development should be critically Studied during its environmental administration process; (2) the biodiversity loss and water quality degradation (together accounting for 80-94%) are the major negative impacts on watershed ecosystem services: (3) the average environmental cost per unit of electricity is up to 0.206 Yuan/kW h, which is about three quarters of its on-grid power tariff; and (4) the current water resource fee accounts for only about 4% of its negative impacts value, therefore a new compensatory method by paying for ecosystem services is necessary for sustainable hydropower development. These findings provide a clear picture of both positive and negative effects of hydropower development for decision-makers in the monetary term, and also provide a basis for further design of environmental instrument such as payment for watershed ecosystem services. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Association between genetic variants and development of antibodies to infliximab: A cross-sectional study in Chinese patients with Crohn’s disease

Aims: Genetic variants increase the susceptibility to anti-drug antibodies (ADA) in response to anti-TNF therapy in chronic inflammatory diseases. However, little is known about genetic variants in Chinese populations. This study aimed to identify genetic variants contributing to the risk of the development of antibodies to infliximab (ATI) in Chinese patients with Crohn’s disease (CD).Methods: CD patients (n = 104) treated with infliximab (IFX) during the maintenance therapy were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. ATI was assessed by an in-house developed drug-tolerant ELISA method. ATI titers of 1:20 and ≥1:60 were considered a low titer and a high titer, respectively. Thirteen types of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within 13 genes involved in the immune process, the susceptibility to chronic inflammatory diseases, cytokines and apoptosis pathways were investigated.Results: The median trough levels of infliximab (TLI) in patients with clinical remission (CR) were higher than those in patients without CR (3.80 vs. 1.50 μg/mL, p < .001). The median TLI in patients with high-titer ATI was significantly lower than that in ATI-negative patients (1.15 vs. 4.48 μg/mL, p < .001) or those with low-titer ATI (1.15 vs. 2.95 μg/mL, p = .03). The HLA-DQA1*05 rs2097432 GG and GA genotypes were more frequent in patients with ATI (GG and AG vs. AA, 27/38 = 71.05% vs. 29/66 = 43.94%, OR 2.94, 95% CI 1.19–7.30, p = .02). Patients carrying the CC and AC genotypes of rs396991 in FCGR3A were associated with a higher frequency of ATI formation (CC and AC vs. AA, 37/57 = 64.91% vs. 19/47 = 40.43%, OR 2.94, 95% CI 1.24–6.96, p = .01). According to the number of variants in rs2097432 and rs393991, patients with two variants had a higher proportion of producing ATI (two variants vs. no variant, 17/21 = 80.95% vs. 9/30 = 30.00%, OR 9.92, 95% CI 2.59–37.87, p = .001; single variant vs. no variant, 30/53 = 56.60% vs. 9/30 = 30.00%, OR 3.04, 95% CI 1.18–7.88, p = .02). No association was found between other SNPs and ATI production.Conclusion: Rs2097432 in HLA-DQA1*05 and rs396991 in FCGR3A are associated with ATI production in Chinese patients with CD. A pharmacogenomic strategy could help with the clinical management of CD

High-throughput sequencing reveals hub genes for human early embryonic development arrest in vitro fertilization: a pilot study

Many clinical studies have shown that embryos of in vitro fertilization (IVF) are often prone to developmental arrest, which leads to recurrent failure of IVF treatment. Early embryonic arrest has always been an urgent clinical problem in assisted reproduction centers. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying early embryonic development arrest remain largely unknown. The objective of this study is to investigate potential candidate hub genes and key signaling pathways involved in early stages of embryonic development. RNA-seq analysis was performed on normal and arrest embryos to study the changes of gene expression during early embryonic development. A total of 520 genes exhibiting differential expression were identified, with 174 genes being upregulated and 346 genes being downregulated. Upregulated genes show enrichment in biosynthesis, cellular proliferation and differentiation, and epigenetic regulation. While downregulated genes exhibit enrichment in transcriptional activity, epigenetic regulation, cell cycle progression, cellular proliferation and ubiquitination. The STRING (search tool for the retravel of interacting genes/proteins) database was utilized to analyze protein-protein interactions among these genes, aiming to enhance comprehension of the potential role of these differentially expressed genes (DEGs). A total of 22 hub genes (highly connected genes) were identified among the DEGs using Cytoscape software. Of these, ERBB2 and VEGFA were upregulated, while the remaining 20 genes (CCNB1, CCNA2, DICER1, NOTCH1, UBE2B, UBE2N, PRMT5, UBE2D1, MAPK3, SOX9, UBE2C, UB2D2, EGF, ACTB, UBA52, SHH, KRAS, UBE2E1, ADAM17 and BRCA2) were downregulated. These hub genes are associated with crucial biological processes such as ubiquitination, cellular senescence, cell proliferation and differentiation, and cell cycle. Among these hub genes, CCNA2 and CCNB1 may be involved in controlling cell cycle, which are critical process in early embryonic development

Diagnosis of mixed infection and a primary immunodeficiency disease using next-generation sequencing: a case report

Major Histocompatibility Complex Class II (MHC II) deficiency is a rare primary immunodeficiency disorder (PID) with autosomal recessive inheritance pattern. The outcome is almost fatal owing to delayed diagnosis and lacking of effective therapy. Therefore, prompt diagnosis, timely and effective treatment are critical. Here, we report a 117-day-old boy with diarrhea, cough, cyanosis and tachypnea who was failed to be cured by empiric antimicrobial therapy initially and progressed to severe pneumonia and respiratory failure. The patient was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) immediately and underwent a series of tests. Blood examination revealed elevated levels of inflammatory markers and cytomegalovirus DNA. Imaging findings showed signs of severe infection of lungs. Finally, the diagnosis was obtained mainly through next-generation sequencing (NGS). We found out what pathogenic microorganism he was infected via repeated conventional detection methods and metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) of sputum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF). And his whole exome sequencing (WES) examination suggested that CIITA gene was heterozygous mutation, a kind of MHC II deficiency diseases. After aggressive respiratory support and repeated adjustment of antimicrobial regimens, the patient was weaned from ventilator on the 56th day of admission and transferred to the immunology ward on the 60th day. The patient was successful discharged after hospitalizing for 91 days, taking antimicrobials orally to prevent infections post-discharge and waiting for stem cell transplantation. This case highlights the potential importance of NGS in providing better diagnostic testing for unexplained infection and illness. Furthermore, pathogens would be identified more accurately if conventional detection techniques were combined with mNGS

Lenalidomide or bortezomib as maintenance treatment remedy the inferior impact of high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities in non-transplant patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma: a real-world multi-centered study in China

Maintenance treatment is a pivotal part in the whole process management of multiple myeloma (MM), which further deepens response and improves survival. However, evidence of maintenance in non-transplant MM patients is inadequate in real-world practice. Here, we retrospectively analyzed the efficacy and survival of 375 non-transplant MM patients from 11 centers between 2010 and 2021 in north China. After a median of seven cycles of front-line regimens, there were 141, 79, and 155 patients receiving lenalidomide maintenance (L-MT), bortezomib maintenance (B-MT), or thalidomide maintenance (T-MT), respectively. Patients on L-MT and B-MT had significantly greater proportions of high-risk cytogenetic abnormalities (HRCAs) detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), which was defined as 1q21 gain, 17p deletion, adverse immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) translocations. Although the progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were comparable among the three groups, L-MT and B-MT remedied the negative impact of HRCAs on survival (PFS of patients with HRCAs vs. patients without HRCAs: L-MT, 26.9 vs. 39.2 months, p=0.19; B-MT, 20.0 vs. 29.7 months, p=0.36; OS not reached in all groups). Patients with HRCAs in the T-MT group presented inferior clinical outcomes compared to standard-risk patients (PFS, 12.1 vs. 22.8 months, p=0.02, HR=1.8, 95% CI 1.0–3.4; OS, 54.9 months vs. NR, p<0.001, HR=3.2, 95% CI 1.5–7.0). Achieving complete response (CR) after induction therapy led to superior PFS compared to other degrees of response, regardless of maintenance medication. Furthermore, maintenance duration over 24 months correlated with favorable survival. Due to the large gap of transplant eligibility in China, optimizing maintenance therapy is important for non-transplant MM patients. In this real-world multi-centered study, our findings suggest that clinicians prefer to prescribe lenalidomide or bortezomib as maintenance therapy in high-risk settings, which are superior to thalidomide in non-transplant MM patients. Achievement of CR and maintenance duration over 2 years are positive factors that influence survival

Separation, identification, and quantification of active constituents in Fructus Psoraleae by high-performance liquid chromatography with UV, ion trap mass spectrometry, and electrochemical detection

The qualitative and quantitative analysis of active constituents in Fructus Psoraleae is presented by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with different detections. Extracts of Fructus Psoraleae were examined by HPLC with ion trap mass spectrometry (IT-MS) and 18 major compounds of coumarins, benzofuran glycosides, flavonoids, and meroterpene were identified. The determination of four major constituents including bavachin, isobavachalcone, bavachinin, and bakuchiol was accomplished by HPLC with UV, MS, and electrochemical detection (ECD). These methods were evaluated for a number of validation characteristics (repeatability, LOD, calibration range, and recovery). ECD obtained a high sensitivity for analysis of the four components; MS provided a high selectivity and sensitivity for determination of bavachin, isobavachalcone, and bavachinin in negative-ion mode. After optimization of the methods, separation, identification. and quantification of the four components in Fructus Psoraleae were comprehensively tested by HPLC with UV, MS, and ECD. Keywords: HPLC-UV, HPLC-MS, HPLC-ECD, Fructus Psoraleae, Chinese medicin

Learning Support of MOOCs in China

Capítulo del libro "Zheng Q., Chen L., Burgos D. (2018) The Development of MOOCs in China. Lecture Notes in Educational Technology. Springer, Singapore.MOOCs’ high dropout rate has been widely criticized. It is one of the measures to reduce the dropout rate by establishing a perfect learning support service system and enhancing the learning support service capacity. This study took 621 courses of 14 major MOOC platforms in China as the research object, investigated their learning support condition, and compared the types and quantity of learning support services (LSS) provided by different types of courses. The study found that, in general, China’s MOOCs supply very few types of LSS, and the overall level of support service was low. There are big differences in learning support among MOOCs with different teaching models. Inquiry-based courses designed better learning support than lecture-based courses. Flipped-classroom MOOCs used learning support more often. The learning support in MOOCs was more traditionally designed. Courses with well-designed certificate system had better learning support. According to the research results, we suggest that in order to advance the construction and application, MOOCs should enhance the learning support service capacity, promote the practical application of learning analytics, pay more attention to the timeliness and validity of teaching interaction, construct the inquiry learning environment, and promote flipped-classroom teaching model. With all these measures, the learning effects of MOOCs will be improved greatly

Design Model for MOOCs in China

Capítulo del libro "Zheng Q., Chen L., Burgos D. (2018) The Development of MOOCs in China. Lecture Notes in Educational Technology. Springer, Singapore"Fanatical behind MOOCs, we must ponder what essence is it? Ultimately, MOOCs origin is online learning, which is a form of education. Since it is education, course design is a systematic approach to its success. The study began this question: Whether course design of Chinese MOOCs effectively promote learning? To solve this problem, data analysis is running by the domestic representative 622 courses which contain all information from the following five aspects: learning path, learning objectives, learning assessment, learning activities, and learning. The study found that the use of Chinese MOOCs whole “watch micro-courses + online discussions + test” learning paths, less emphasis on the design of learning objectives, learning evaluation mostly in the form of a single “test” to “online discussion” as the key learning activities and “micro-course” as the main learning resources. To more effectively promote learning, increase completion rates, research suggests multiple strategies designed learning paths, SMART learning objectives, diversified evaluation methods, scaffold-like learning activities, and effective micro-courses

Learner Analysis of Chinese MOOCs

Capítulo del libro "Zheng Q., Chen L., Burgos D. (2018) The Development of MOOCs in China. Lecture Notes in Educational Technology. Springer, Singapore"Learning is fundamentally an activity conducted by learners, so it is necessary to pay attention to Chinese learners of MOOCs in this study and to listen to their voice. What do we know about them? How are they learning online? How do they feel about online learning? These questions and the corresponding answers make an important basis for construction and development of Chinese MOOCs. This chapter, using the learner study done by mooc.guokr.com from 2013 to 2015, tries to analyze learners of MOOCs from eight dimensions, namely learners’ basic information, learning experience, learning preference, learning motives, participation in teaching–learning interaction, learning satisfaction, learning difficulties, and learning platforms and tool, and also made evaluations of their learning qualities