A two-year field study and evaluation of water quality and trophic state of a large shallow drinking water reservoir in Shanghai, China

<p>Reservoirs have been widely constructed all over the world in recent years to alleviate the shortage of water resources. Nevertheless, the assessment method of water quality and its trophic status needs to be developed. In this study, water quality parameters of a newly constructed shallow reservoir were regularly monitored for a period of two years, which is used as a major drinking water source of Shanghai, China. Furthermore, the trophic state indices of the reservoir were investigated based on literature and evaluated with the two-year field data. The results indicated that the studied reservoir is reaching the mesotrophic–eutrophic boundary, where further nutrient enrichment could cause water quality degradation; total phosphorus is the limiting nutrient for algal growth in the studied reservoir. Results of the study can help operators understand change and status of water quality of the reservoir and provide valuable data demonstrating variation of water quality indicators and trophic characteristics in shallow reservoirs or lakes.</p

Relationship of work-family conflict, self-reported social support and job satisfaction to burnout syndrome among medical workers in southwest China: A cross-sectional study

<div><p>Background</p><p>Burnout is a psychosomatic syndrome widely observed in Chinese medical workers due to the increasing cost of medical treatment, excessive workload, and excessive prescribing behavior. No studies have evaluated the interrelationship among occupational burnout, work-family conflict, social support, and job satisfaction in medical workers. The aim of this study was to evaluate these relationships among medical workers in southwest China.</p><p>Methods</p><p>This cross-sectional study was conducted between March 2013 and December 2013, and was based on the fifth National Health Service Survey (NHSS). A total of 1382 medical workers were enrolled in the study. Pearson correlation analysis and general linear model univariate analysis were used to evaluate the relationship of work-family conflict, self-reported social support, and job satisfaction with burnout syndrome in medical workers.</p><p>Results</p><p>We observed that five dimensions of job satisfaction and self-reported social support were negatively associated with burnout syndrome, whereas three dimensions of work-family conflict showed a positive correlation. In a four-stage general linear model analysis, we found that demographic factors accounted for 5.4% of individual variance in burnout syndrome (F = 4.720, P<0.001, R² = 0.054), and that work-family conflict, self-reported social support, and job satisfaction accounted for 2.6% (F = 5.93, P<0.001, R² = 0.080), 5.7% (F = 9.532, P<0.001, R² = 0.137) and 17.8% (F = 21.608, P<0.001, R² = 0.315) of the variance, respectively. In the fourth stage of analysis, female gender and a lower technical title correlated to a higher level of burnout syndrome, and medical workers without administrative duties had more serious burnout syndrome than those with administrative duties.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>In conclusion, the present study suggests that work-family conflict and self-reported social support slightly affect the level of burnout syndrome, and that job satisfaction is a much stronger influence on burnout syndrome in medical workers of southwest China.</p></div

Novel Inhibitors of Toxin HipA Reduce Multidrug Tolerant Persisters

Persisters are a small fraction of drug-tolerant bacteria without any genotype variations. Their existence in many life-threatening infectious diseases presents a major challenge to antibiotic therapy. Persistence is highly related to toxin–antitoxin modules. HipA (high persistence A) was the first toxin found to contribute to <i>Escherichia coli</i> persistence. In this study, we used structure-based virtual screening for HipA inhibitors discovery and identified several novel inhibitors of HipA that remarkably reduced <i>E. coli</i> persistence. The most potent one decreased the persister fraction by more than five-fold with an <i>in vitro</i> <i>K</i>_D of 270 ± 90 nM and an <i>ex vivo</i> EC₅₀ of 46 ± 2 and 28 ± 1 μM for ampicillin and kanamycin screening, respectively. These findings demonstrated that inhibition of toxin can reduce bacterial persistence independent of the antibiotics used and provided a framework for persistence treatment by interfering with the toxin–antitoxin modules

Pearson correlation analysis of the relationship of work-family conflict, social support at work, and job satisfaction with burnout syndrome.

<p>Pearson correlation analysis of the relationship of work-family conflict, social support at work, and job satisfaction with burnout syndrome.</p

Socio-demographic characteristics of investigated subjects.

<p>Socio-demographic characteristics of investigated subjects.</p

General linear model analysis with burnout syndrome dimensions as a dependent variable.

<p>General linear model analysis with burnout syndrome dimensions as a dependent variable.</p

Plant height (cm) of RI92 and its NIL and parents at seedling and maturation stages.

<p>Plant height (cm) of RI92 and its NIL and parents at seedling and maturation stages.</p

The construction of near isogenic line population used for mapping plant height.

<p>The construction of near isogenic line population used for mapping plant height.</p

Comparison of the allele sequences of <i>SD1</i> among ZS97, MH63 and RI92.

<p>(A) Bulk segregant analysis of 10 tall and dwarf plants in BC₃F₂ population. The red arrows indicate the target band for ZS97 and MH63 genotypes, respectively (B) Comparison of <i>SD1</i> sequences between ZS97 and MH63 alleles. (C) The intragenic recombination of <i>sd1</i>, (D) and the same 2-bp insertion in MH63 and RI92.</p

The genetic effects of <i>sd1</i> on grain yield related traits in the BC₃F₂ population.

<p>The genetic effects of <i>sd1</i> on grain yield related traits in the BC₃F₂ population.</p