Isolation, characterization, and genomic analysis of a novel bacteriophage MA9V-1 infecting Chryseobacterium indologenes: a pathogen of Panax notoginseng root rot

Chryseobacterium indologenes is one of the primary causative agents of root rot of Panax notoginseng, which significantly affected plant growth and caused economic losses. With the increasing incidence of antibiotic-resistant bacterial phytopathogens, phage therapy has been garnered renewed attention in treating pathogenic bacteria. However, the therapeutic potential of phage therapy on root rot of P. notoginseng has not been evaluated. In this study, we isolated a novel lytic phage MA9V-1 infecting C. indologenes MA9 from sewage and monitored the formation of clear and round plaques with a diameter of approximately 0.5–1.5 mm. Phage MA9V-1 exhibited rapid absorption (>75% in 8 min), a latency period of 20 min, and a burst size of 10 particles per cell. Transmission electron microscopy indicated that the phage MA9V-1 is a new myovirus hosting C. indologenes MA9. Sequencing of phage genomes revealed that phage MA9V-1 contained a linear double-stranded DNA genome of 213,507 bp with 263 predicted open reading frames, including phage structure, host lysing, and DNA polymerase/helicase but no genes of tRNA, virulence, and antibiotic resistance. Our proteomic tree and genomic analysis revealed that phage MA9V-1 shares identity with Sphingomonas phage PAU and Tenacibaculum phage PTm1; however, they also showed apparent differences. Further systemic evaluation using phage therapy experiments on P. notoginseng suggested that phage MA9V-1 can be a potential candidate for effectively controlling C. indologenes MA9 infection. Thus, we have presented a novel approach to solving root rot in P. notoginseng

Actively implementing an evidence-based feeding guideline for critically ill patients (NEED): a multicenter, cluster-randomized, controlled trial

Background: Previous cluster-randomized controlled trials evaluating the impact of implementing evidence-based guidelines for nutrition therapy in critical illness do not consistently demonstrate patient benefits. A large-scale, sufficiently powered study is therefore warranted to ascertain the effects of guideline implementation on patient-centered outcomes. Methods: We conducted a multicenter, cluster-randomized, parallel-controlled trial in intensive care units (ICUs) across China. We developed an evidence-based feeding guideline. ICUs randomly allocated to the guideline group formed a local "intervention team", which actively implemented the guideline using standardized educational materials, a graphical feeding protocol, and live online education outreach meetings conducted by members of the study management committee. ICUs assigned to the control group remained unaware of the guideline content. All ICUs enrolled patients who were expected to stay in the ICU longer than seven days. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality within 28 days of enrollment. Results: Forty-eight ICUs were randomized to the guideline group and 49 to the control group. From March 2018 to July 2019, the guideline ICUs enrolled 1399 patients, and the control ICUs enrolled 1373 patients. Implementation of the guideline resulted in significantly earlier EN initiation (1.20 vs. 1.55 mean days to initiation of EN; difference − 0.40 [95% CI − 0.71 to − 0.09]; P = 0.01) and delayed PN initiation (1.29 vs. 0.80 mean days to start of PN; difference 1.06 [95% CI 0.44 to 1.67]; P = 0.001). There was no significant difference in 28-day mortality (14.2% vs. 15.2%; difference − 1.6% [95% CI − 4.3% to 1.2%]; P = 0.42) between groups. Conclusions: In this large-scale, multicenter trial, active implementation of an evidence-based feeding guideline reduced the time to commencement of EN and overall PN use but did not translate to a reduction in mortality from critical illness. Trial registration: ISRCTN, ISRCTN12233792. Registered November 20th, 2017

Actively implementing an evidence-based feeding guideline for critically ill patients (NEED): a multicenter, cluster-randomized, controlled trial.

BackgroundPrevious cluster-randomized controlled trials evaluating the impact of implementing evidence-based guidelines for nutrition therapy in critical illness do not consistently demonstrate patient benefits. A large-scale, sufficiently powered study is therefore warranted to ascertain the effects of guideline implementation on patient-centered outcomes.MethodsWe conducted a multicenter, cluster-randomized, parallel-controlled trial in intensive care units (ICUs) across China. We developed an evidence-based feeding guideline. ICUs randomly allocated to the guideline group formed a local "intervention team", which actively implemented the guideline using standardized educational materials, a graphical feeding protocol, and live online education outreach meetings conducted by members of the study management committee. ICUs assigned to the control group remained unaware of the guideline content. All ICUs enrolled patients who were expected to stay in the ICU longer than seven days. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality within 28 days of enrollment.ResultsForty-eight ICUs were randomized to the guideline group and 49 to the control group. From March 2018 to July 2019, the guideline ICUs enrolled 1399 patients, and the control ICUs enrolled 1373 patients. Implementation of the guideline resulted in significantly earlier EN initiation (1.20 vs. 1.55 mean days to initiation of EN; difference - 0.40 [95% CI - 0.71 to - 0.09]; P = 0.01) and delayed PN initiation (1.29 vs. 0.80 mean days to start of PN; difference 1.06 [95% CI 0.44 to 1.67]; P = 0.001). There was no significant difference in 28-day mortality (14.2% vs. 15.2%; difference - 1.6% [95% CI - 4.3% to 1.2%]; P = 0.42) between groups.ConclusionsIn this large-scale, multicenter trial, active implementation of an evidence-based feeding guideline reduced the time to commencement of EN and overall PN use but did not translate to a reduction in mortality from critical illness.Trial registrationISRCTN, ISRCTN12233792 . Registered November 20th, 2017

Actively implementing an evidence-based feeding guideline for critically ill patients (NEED): a multicenter, cluster-randomized, controlled trial (vol 26, 46, 2022)

BackgroundPrevious cluster-randomized controlled trials evaluating the impact of implementing evidence-based guidelines for nutrition therapy in critical illness do not consistently demonstrate patient benefits. A large-scale, sufficiently powered study is therefore warranted to ascertain the effects of guideline implementation on patient-centered outcomes.MethodsWe conducted a multicenter, cluster-randomized, parallel-controlled trial in intensive care units (ICUs) across China. We developed an evidence-based feeding guideline. ICUs randomly allocated to the guideline group formed a local "intervention team", which actively implemented the guideline using standardized educational materials, a graphical feeding protocol, and live online education outreach meetings conducted by members of the study management committee. ICUs assigned to the control group remained unaware of the guideline content. All ICUs enrolled patients who were expected to stay in the ICU longer than seven days. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality within 28 days of enrollment.ResultsForty-eight ICUs were randomized to the guideline group and 49 to the control group. From March 2018 to July 2019, the guideline ICUs enrolled 1399 patients, and the control ICUs enrolled 1373 patients. Implementation of the guideline resulted in significantly earlier EN initiation (1.20 vs. 1.55 mean days to initiation of EN; difference - 0.40 [95% CI - 0.71 to - 0.09]; P = 0.01) and delayed PN initiation (1.29 vs. 0.80 mean days to start of PN; difference 1.06 [95% CI 0.44 to 1.67]; P = 0.001). There was no significant difference in 28-day mortality (14.2% vs. 15.2%; difference - 1.6% [95% CI - 4.3% to 1.2%]; P = 0.42) between groups.ConclusionsIn this large-scale, multicenter trial, active implementation of an evidence-based feeding guideline reduced the time to commencement of EN and overall PN use but did not translate to a reduction in mortality from critical illness.Trial registrationISRCTN, ISRCTN12233792 . Registered November 20th, 2017

Potential geographical distribution and its multi-factor analysis of Pinus massoniana in China based on the maxent model

Pinus massoniana, an important timber, producing, and silvicultural species in southern China, exhibits high adaptability and wide distribution. This study utilizes the Maximum Entropy Model (MaxEnt), a species distribution model based on the theory of maximum entropy, to forecast the potential suitable distribution areas of P. massoniana in China under four climate change scenarios (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, and SSP5-8.5) for both present and future (2080) conditions. The research integrates and analyzes the effects of various environmental factors, including topography, soil, and population, on the distribution of P. massoniana. Additionally, a geographical detector is employed to assess the interaction between different environmental factors and their contribution to the variation in suitability zones.The findings indicate that the MaxEnt model accurately predicts the potential distribution areas of P. massoniana, with AUC values exceeding 0.94. Precipitation in the driest month (BIO14), population density (POP), and annual precipitation (BIO12) emerge as the main factors influencing the current distribution of P. massoniana. Notably, BIO14 has the greatest impact on the species' distribution (43%), followed by POP (32.7%). Furthermore, lower BIO14 values correspond to higher probabilities of pine distribution, while higher POP values correlate with increased pine distribution probabilities. The potential distribution of P. massoniana is primarily concentrated in southern China under current climatic conditions, encompassing a total suitable survival zone of 25.24 × 105 km2, accounting for 26.29% of China's total area. Among the regions, Guangxi exhibits the largest suitable area for survival, reaching 28.9 × 104 km2, implying that the environmental characteristics of Guangxi are conducive to P. massoniana's survival. Under future climate scenarios, the overall distribution pattern of the potential range of P. massoniana remains similar to the present one, with an increasing trend in area. Notably, the SSP3-7.0 emissions scenario shows the most significant increase in area, totaling 4.71 × 104 km2, suggesting that this particular scenario is more favorable for the distribution of P. massoniana. This study provides valuable scientific insights for the management, conservation, and rational site selection of P. massoniana

Modeling Driver Behavior near Intersections in Hidden Markov Model

Intersections are one of the major locations where safety is a big concern to drivers. Inappropriate driver behaviors in response to frequent changes when approaching intersections often lead to intersection-related crashes or collisions. Thus to better understand driver behaviors at intersections, especially in the dilemma zone, a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) is utilized in this study. With the discrete data processing, the observed dynamic data of vehicles are used for the inference of the Hidden Markov Model. The Baum-Welch (B-W) estimation algorithm is applied to calculate the vehicle state transition probability matrix and the observation probability matrix. When combined with the Forward algorithm, the most likely state of the driver can be obtained. Thus the model can be used to measure the stability and risk of driver behavior. It is found that drivers’ behaviors in the dilemma zone are of lower stability and higher risk compared with those in other regions around intersections. In addition to the B-W estimation algorithm, the Viterbi Algorithm is utilized to predict the potential dangers of vehicles. The results can be applied to driving assistance systems to warn drivers to avoid possible accidents

Collaborative design of prefabricated building architecture and structure based on PKPM-BIM platform

Compared with traditional cast-in-place concrete buildings, prefabricated buildings have many advantages and meet the strategic requirements of national sustainable economic development, which has become the development direction of the construction industry. BIM (Building Information Modeling) simulates the real Information of buildings through digital Information, which has the characteristics of visualization, coordination, simulation, optimization, drawing availability and so on, and improves the efficiency of multi-professional collaborative design of prefabricated buildings. This paper mainly studies the advantages of collaborative design of prefabricated buildings based on PKPM-BIM platform for architecture and structure majors. Research shows that the application of BIM can improve the efficiency and quality of multi-professional collaborative design of prefabricated buildings

Penicillium spp. XK10, Fungi with Potential to Repair Cadmium and Antimony Pollution

Soil heavy-metal pollution is one of the most important environmental problems in the world, and seriously endangers plant growth and human health. Microbial remediation has become a key technology in the field of soil heavy-metal remediation due to its advantages of being harmless, green and environmental. In this study, a fungus Penicillium spp. XK10 with high tolerance to cadmium (Cd) and antimony (Sb) was screened from mine slag, and its adsorption characteristics to heavy metals under different environmental conditions were studied. The results showed that at pH0 = 6, C0 (Cd) = 0.1 mM, and the adsorption time was 4 days, the maximum removal rate of cadmium by XK10 was 32.2%. Under the conditions of pH0 = 4, T = 7d, and the initial antimony concentration of 1 mM, the removal rate of antimony by XK10 was the highest, which was 15.5%. This study provides potential microbial materials for bioremediation of heavy metal-contaminated soils

Political turnover and audit opinion: evidence from China

In this study, we examine how political turnover influences auditor reporting behavior by focusing on the turnover of Chinese provincial governors. We predict that the Big 10 audit firms tend to report more conservatively to counter the uncertainties induced by governor turnover, whereas local small audit firms would report more aggressively to help governors conceal local negative information. Using 11,405 audits conducted in the Chinese economy, we find that the Big 10 audit firms report more Modified Audit Opinions (MAOs), whereas local small audit firms render more clean opinions in the pre-turnover than other nonturnover years. We also find that: (1) audit firms readjust their reporting behavior after governor turnover ends; and (2) governor turnover can be well anticipated one year ahead. Overall, our study suggests that political turnover wields a significant influence on auditor reporting behavior and this influence further varies across audit firms.</p