THE EFFECT OF AIR POLLUTION ON SOPHORA JAPONICA (LEGUMINOSAE) AND EULECANIUM GIGANTEUM (SHINJI) (HEMIPTERA: COCCOIDEA: COCCIDAE) IN URBAN AREAS IN CHINA

THE EFFECT OF AIR POLLUTION ON SOPHORA JAPONICA (LEGUMINOSAE) AND EULECANIUM GIGANTEUM (SHINJI) (HEMIPTERA: COCCOIDEA: COCCIDAE) IN URBAN AREAS IN CHINA. A study was made of the effect of two air pollutants (sulphur dioxide and lead) on the pest status of the soft scale Eulecanium giganteum (Shinji) and on the accumulation of sulphur and lead in the scale’s host tree, Sophora japonica, in three cities in China, namely Taiyuan, Yuci and Taigu. E. giganteum is a major pest of several tree species in many cities in China where air pollution can be high. This study showed a positive correlation between the level of the pollutants in the trees and the populations of the scale. The leaves absorbed and accumulated a greater amount of sulphur dioxide (SO2 - as sulphur) and lead (Pb) than the twigs, but the trends were the same in each, namely with high levels in these tissues in the Spring and early Autumn. It is concluded that E. giganteum can withstand high levels of pollutants, both within the host plant and in the environment, whereas its natural enemies may not. Key words: urban areas, biology, percentage parasitism, sap quality, pollution levels, Beijing utila, Microterys clauseni, Blastothrix sericea, Eucomys sasakii, Anisetus, Coccinellidae, Helicodinidae, Encyrtidae, Coccinella septempunctata, Harmonia axyridis, Chilocorus rubidus

Antibiotic susceptibility of Escherichia coli isolated from neonates admitted to neonatal intensive care units across China from 2015 to 2020

BackgroundEscherichia coli is one of the most common pathogens causing neonatal infections. Recently, the incidence and drug resistance of E. coli have increased, posing a major threat to neonatal health. The aim of this study was to describe and analyze the antibiotic resistance and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) characteristics of E. coli derived from infants admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) across China.MethodsIn this study, 370 strains of E. coli from neonates were collected. E. coli isolated from these specimens were subjected to antimicrobial susceptibility testing (by broth microdilution method) and MLST.ResultsThe overall resistance rate was 82.68%, with the highest rate of methicillin/sulfamethoxazole (55.68%) followed by cefotaxime (46.22%). Multiple resistance rate was 36.74%, 132 strains (35.68%) had extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) phenotype and 5 strains (1.35%) had insensitivity to the tested carbapenem antibiotics. The resistance of E. coli isolated from different pathogenicity and different sites of infections varied, strains derived from sputum were significantly more resistant to β-lactams and tetracyclines. Currently, the prevalence spectrum in NICUs was dominated by ST1193, ST95, ST73, ST69 and ST131 across China. And the multidrug resistance of ST410 was the most severe. ST410 had the highest resistance rate to cefotaxime (86.67%), and its most common multidrug resistance pattern was β-lactams + aminoglycosides + quinolones + tetracyclines + sulfonamides.ConclusionsSubstantial proportions of neonatal E. coli isolates were severely resistant to commonly administered antibiotics. MLST results can suggest the prevalent characteristics of antibiotic resistance in E. coli with different ST types

Design of a WSN System for Condition Monitoring of the Mechanical Equipment with Energy Harvesting

Abstract—A design of wireless sensor networks for mechanical condition monitoring system (WSN-MCM) is presented in this paper. The main purpose of this work is to develop a WSN system for mechanical condition monitoring as the existing mature wireless sensor network nodes are not suitable for the long-time monitoring of mechanical equipment due to their short working life and low acquisition accuracy. In order to realize the function of long-term working of the sensor node, we designed an energy harvesting board of the node to harvest the energy and transferred energy with high efficiency . Meanwhile, the node has the function of high-accuracy acquisition of analog signals and can access of various low-frequency and high-frequency sensors. The experiment and stimulated results demonstrate that the wireless sensor network system designed is suitable for mechanical condition monitoring

Design of a WSN System for Condition Monitoring of the Mechanical Equipment with Energy Harvesting

Abstract—A design of wireless sensor networks for mechanical condition monitoring system (WSN-MCM) is presented in this paper. The main purpose of this work is to develop a WSN system for mechanical condition monitoring as the existing mature wireless sensor network nodes are not suitable for the long-time monitoring of mechanical equipment due to their short working life and low acquisition accuracy. In order to realize the function of long-term working of the sensor node, we designed an energy harvesting board of the node to harvest the energy and transferred energy with high efficiency . Meanwhile, the node has the function of high-accuracy acquisition of analog signals and can access of various low-frequency and high-frequency sensors. The experiment and stimulated results demonstrate that the wireless sensor network system designed is suitable for mechanical condition monitoring

Transcriptome analysis and identification of genes related to terpenoid biosynthesis in Cinnamomum camphora

Abstract Background Cinnamomum camphora has been cultivated as an economically important tree for its medicinal and aromatic properties. Selective breeding has produced Cinnamomum plants for special uses, including spice strains with characteristic flavors and aromas and high-potency medicinal cultivars. The molecular biology underlying terpenoid biosynthesis is still unexplored. Results Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry was used to analyze the differences in contents and compositions of essential oil terpenoids in linalool- and borneol-type chemotypes of C. camphora. The data revealed that the essential oils consist primarily of monoterpenes with only very minor quantities of sesquiterpenes and diterpenes and that the essential oil differs in different chemotypes of C. camphora, with higher yields of (−)-borneol from the borneol-type than from the linalool-type. To study the terpenoid biosynthesis of signature compounds of the major monoterpenes, we performed RNA sequencing to profile the leaf transcriptomes of the two chemotypes of C. camphora. A total of 23.76 Gb clean data was generated from two chemotypes and assembled into 156,184 unigenes. The total length, average length, N50 and GC content of unigenes were 155,645,929 bp, 997 bp, 1430 bp, and 46.5%, respectively. Among them, 76,421 unigenes were annotated by publicly available databases, of which 67 candidate unigenes were identified to be involved in terpenoid biosynthesis in C. camphora. A total of 2863 unigenes were identified to be differentially expression between borneol-type and linalool-type, including 1714 up-regulated and 1149 down-regulated unigenes. Most genes encoding proteins involved in terpenoid precursor MVA and MEP pathways were expressed in similar levels in both chemotypes of C. camphora. In addition, 10 and 17 DEGs were significantly enriched in the terpene synthase activity and oxidoreductase activity terms of their directed acyclic graphs (DAG), respectively. Three monoterpene synthase genes, TPS14-like1, TPS14-like2 and TPS14-like3 were up-regulated in the borneol-type compared to the linalool-type, and their expression levels were further verified using quantitative real-time PCR. Conclusions This study provides a global overview of gene expression patterns related to terpenoid biosynthesis in C. camphora, and could contribute to a better understanding of the differential accumulation of terpenoids in different C. camphora chemotypes

Association of ABO blood group, Rh phenotype and MN blood group with susceptibility to COVID-19.

BackgroundPrevious studies have reported that the susceptibility to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is related to ABO blood group, but the relationship with Rh phenotype and MN blood group is unknown. China had adopted a strict control policy on COVID-19 until December 5, 2022, when local communities were liberalized. Therefore, we aimed to explore the correlation between ABO blood group, Rh phenotype, MN blood group and susceptibility to COVID-19 based on the time sequence of infection during the pandemic.MethodsA total of 870 patients who were routinely hospitalized in Ningbo Medical Center Lihuili Hospital from March 1, 2023 to March 31, 2023 were randomly selected to enroll in this study. Patients were divided into susceptible group and non-susceptible group, according to the time of their previous infection. The demographics and clinical information of the enrolled participants were collected from electronic medical records. The association of ABO blood group, Rh phenotype and MN blood group with susceptibility to COVID-19 was analyzed.ResultsA total of 650 cases (74.7%) had been infected with COVID-19, with 157 cases (18.0%) in the second week and 252 cases (29.0%) in the third week, reaching the peak of infection. Compared with the non-susceptible group, the susceptible group had no statistically significant differences in ABO blood group and Rh phenotype, but the proportion of N+ was higher (75.6% vs 68.9%, P = 0.030) and the proportion of MM was lower (24.4% vs 31.1%, P = 0.030). Consistent with this, ABO blood group and Rh phenotype were not significantly associated with susceptibility to COVID-19 (P>0.05), while N+ and MM were associated with susceptibility to COVID-19 (OR: 1.432, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.049, 1.954, P = 0.024; OR: 0.698, 95% CI: 0.512, 0.953, P = 0.024, respectively), after adjusting for age, sex, BMI, basic disease, and vaccination status in multivariate logistic regression analysis.ConclusionOur study showed that ABO blood group and Rh phenotype may not be related to the susceptibility to COVID-19, but MN blood group may be associated with the susceptibility to COVID-19

Cold atmospheric plasma treatment inhibits growth in colorectal cancer cells

Plasma oncology is a relatively new field of research. Recent developments have indicated that cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) technology is an interesting new therapeutic approach to cancer treatment. In this study, p53 wildtype (LoVo) and human p53 mutated (HT29 and SW480) colorectal cancer cells were treated with the miniFlatPlaSter - a device particularly developed for the treatment of tumor cells - that uses the Surface Micro Discharge (SMD) technology for plasma production in air. The present study analyzed the effects of plasma on colorectal cancer cells in vitro and on normal colon tissue ex vivo. Plasma treatment had strong effects on colon cancer cells, such as inhibition of cell proliferation, induction of cell death and modulation of p21 expression. In contrast, CAP treatment of murine colon tissue ex vivo for up to 2 min did not show any toxic effect on normal colon cells compared to H2O2 positive control. In summary, these results suggest that the miniFlatPlaSter plasma device is able to kill colorectal cancer cells independent of their p53 mutation status. Thus, this device presents a promising new approach in colon cancer therapy