An Integrated Data-Mining Strategy via Transcriptomics and DIA Quantitative Proteomics to Unveil Chemical Attribution Signature Peptides for Tracing Origins of Castor Beans.

Biomarker discovery produces lists of candidate markers whose presence and level must be subsequently verified in serum or plasma. Verification represents a paradigm shift from unbiased discovery approaches to targeted, hypothesis-driven methods and relies upon specific, quantitative assays optimized for the selective detection of target proteins. Many protein biomarkers of clinical currency are present at or below the nanogram/milliliter range in plasma and have been inaccessible to date by MS-based methods. Using multiple reaction monitoring coupled with stable isotope dilution mass spectrometry, we describe here the development of quantitative, multiplexed assays for six proteins in plasma that achieve limits of quantitation in the 1-10 ng/ml range with percent coefficients of variation from 3 to 15% without immunoaffinity enrichment of either proteins or peptides. Sample processing methods with sufficient throughput, recovery, and reproducibility to enable robust detection and quantitation of candidate biomarker proteins were developed and optimized by addition of exogenous proteins to immunoaffinity depleted plasma from a healthy donor. Quantitative multiple reaction monitoring assays were designed and optimized for signature peptides derived from the test proteins. Based upon calibration curves using known concentrations of spiked protein in plasma, we determined that each target protein had at least one signature peptide with a limit of quantitation in the 1-10 ng/ml range and linearity typically over 2 orders of magnitude in the measurement range of interest. Limits of detection were frequently in the high picogram/milliliter range. These levels of assay performance represent up to a 1000-fold improvement compared with direct analysis of proteins in plasma by MS and were achieved by simple, robust sample processing involving abundant protein depletion and minimal fractionation by strong cation exchange chromatography at the peptide level prior to LC-multiple reaction monitoring/MS. The methods presented here provide a solid basis for developing quantitative MS-based assays of low level proteins in blood.

With the popularity of social media and video sites, internet users gather together based on shared hobbies or needs, forming different virtual communities to establish social bonds and develop a collective consciousness, thus forming Internet communities, where the way internet users participate in online social networking also play a reshaping role for the online platform they are on. This paper will focus on Red and Hupu, two gender-focused apps, to analyze the formation of gender-based group subcultures, KOLs-leaded emotion-oriented consciousness transmission, and sexist right contends in online gender autonomous regions in China's current community-based economy-oriented operating environment. In the era of social media, it is essential for the rise of feminism to fight for their discourse right and to speak up rationally. The awakening of women's self-awareness and the reduction of women being seen, fantasized, objectified, and consumed are not only essential parts of gender studies but also indispensable propositions of media studies, in which social media plays a crucial role. Also, the dilemma of cultural discrimination that feminism, as a non-traditional and imported culture, is currently encountering in China, as mentioned in this essay, is also worthy of attention and further exploration in future feminist studies in China.

Few studies have explored whether or how nutrition knowledge interacts with education--do they act as substitutes or complements? Exceptions include research in Nicaragua (Lamontagne Engle and Zeitlin 1998) which found that maternal education and certain types of nutrition knowledge are significantly but independently associated with child outcomes. Another study in Brazil (Thomas Strauss and Henriques 1990) found that most of the correlation between maternal knowledge and child height could be explained by mothers’ access to media messages (on TV and radio) and that formal schooling and messages gained through community health services acted as substitutes. Similarly Glewwe (1999) found that maternal knowledge (rather than schooling) in Morocco strongly influences child height-for-age (a measure of longer-term child nutritional well-being) and that such knowledge is obtained mainly outside the classroom through the media from relatives and via public service messages. Variyam et al (1999 p. 381) also report that maternal schooling in the United States has a strong impact on children’s diets “wholly through its positive effect on maternal . . . nutrition knowledge.” Thus some of the contribution of schooling to child nutrition appears to come through its interaction with nutrition knowledge--possibly by enhancing women’s ability to acquire knowledge or by enabling them to put such knowledge into practice. However since nutrition knowledge has been shown to generate nutritional improvements even among illiterate populations and since formal education remains severely limited in most poor developing countries the potential for targeted transfers of nutrition information to assist in nutritional improvements may be large. This article offers preliminary support for such an argument. The article is organized as follows. Section II describes the survey data used in the analysis as well as the construction of our proxy for nutrition knowledge. Section III presents nonparametric evidence of the effects of nutrition knowledge maternal education and per capita expenditures on nutritional outcomes. Section IV presents supporting parametric results and Section V concludes with programmatic and research implications. (excerpt)

Tourism is more sensitive and susceptible in global arid regions to climate change than other sectors, and climate change mainly affects the behavior of tourists, selection of tourist destinations, tourism resources, and tourism safety. China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) is a representative area of the global arid region. To review its comprehensive impacts of climate change on tourism has indicative significance for the global arid region tourism industry to cope with climate change impacts. On the whole, the impacts of climate change on tourism in the XUAR will coexist with opportunities and challenges both at present and in the future. The XUAR is experiencing or will experience climatic process of warming and wetting. For the tourism climate comfort and extension of suitable travel period, the opportunities far outweigh the risks (high reliability). However, future climate change is expected to have great negative effects on cultural heritages, glacier and snow resources, and agricultural landscapes in arid areas of northwest China (high reliability). The above impacts are potential and long-term, and the measures should be taken as soon as possible to mitigate and adapt to climate change challenges to tourism.

The plasmid-mediated tigecycline resistance gene tmexCD1-toprJ1 and its variants have emerged as a public health threat, with increasing identification in various sources of Enterobacterales worldwide. However, comprehensive epidemiological features of tmexCD1-toprJ1 in clinical carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) remain limited. Herein, we conducted a retrospective nationwide surveillance to assess the prevalence and molecular epidemiology of clinical tmexCD1-toprJ1-positive isolates from 4314 non-duplicated CRKP strains collected from 151 medical institutions across 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in China. tmexCD1-toprJ1 was detected in 18 (0.42%) CRKP strains spanning 12 provinces, all exhibiting multidrug resistance phenotypes. ST147 was the dominant sequence type and predominantly co-harbored bla KPC-2. Phylogenetic analysis unveils the intrahospital, interhospital, and interprovincial spread of tmexCD1-toprJ1 carrying ST147 CRKP, which display a closer genomic proximity to those from other global regions, suggesting the international transmission risk of tmexCD1-toprJ1. Variable tigecycline resistance levels among isogenic ST147 strains were associated with differential tmexCD1-toprJ1 expression. Further, three types of plasmid replicons were found in the carriage of tmexCD1-toprJ1, among which IncFIB(K) and IncFIB(K)/IncHI1B were the primary vectors of tmexCD1-toprJ1, and a multireplicon megaplasmid was identified. The emergence of regionally disseminated tmexCD1-toprJ1-bearing ST147 CRKP clone highlights the potential global spread risk of tmexCD1-toprJ1, underscoring the urgent need for further surveillance and control measures to mitigate the ongoing spread of this resistant pathogen.

Objectives. We studied the genetic diversity of clinical isolates from patients with tuberculosis in the multiethnic area of Xinjiang autonomous region in China. A total of 311 clinical M. tuberculosis isolates were collected in 2006 and 2011 and genotyped by two genotyping methods. All isolates were grouped into 68 distinct spoligotypes using the spoligotyping method. The Beijing family was dominant, followed by T1 and CAS. MIRU-VNTR results showed that a total of 195 different VNTR types were identified. Ten of the 15 loci were highly or moderately discriminant according to their HGDI scores, and 13 loci had good discriminatory power in non-Beijing family strains, whereas only two loci had good discriminatory power in Beijing family strains. Chi-square tests demonstrated that there were no correlations between four characteristics (sex, age, type of case, and treatment history) and the Beijing family. In summary, Beijing family strains were predominant in Xinjiang, and the VNTR-15China locus-set was suitable for genotyping all Xinjiang strains, but not for the Beijing family strains. Thus, these data suggested that different genotype distributions may exist in different regions; MLVA locus-sets should be adjusted accordingly, with newly added loci to increase resolution if necessary.

Worldwide, overweight and obesity have become an important public health problem affecting the health of children and adolescents. In China, the prevalence of overweight and obesity has reached 19 percent among the 6–17-year-old age group. Although studies have shown that regular consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), especially sugar-sweetened carbonated beverages (SSCBs), is positively correlated with overweight and obesity among children, the research on ways to reduce SSBs consumption is scarce. This study fills this gap by analyzing data on nearly 4000 students aged between 9–15 from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China, exploring possible influential pathways between subjective dietary knowledge, SSCBs consumption, and child obesity. The estimation results show that SSCBs consumption significantly mediates the relationship between dietary knowledge and the incidence of overweight and obesity; the mediated effects are different among subgroups. Therefore, improving dietary knowledge related to the lowing of SSBs consumption to reduce the obesity risk may be considered a possible way to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children.

The Rural Revitalization Strategy is an important policy enacted by the Chinese government, aimed at bridging the disparity between urban and rural areas while enhancing economic, cultural, and social development levels in rural areas. Research evaluating return-to-hometown entrepreneurship policies is pivotal for facilitating the sustained flow and comprehensive sustainable development of capital, technology, and talent to rural areas within the Rural Revitalization Strategy framework. This study employs NVivo12 and the policy modeling consistency (PMC) index to analyze trends, characteristics, and policy tool utilization quantitatively, as well as regional differences or commonalities in 55 return-to-hometown entrepreneurship policies of 16 provinces and autonomous regions in China from 2013 to 2023. The content analysis of these policy texts reveals trends characterized by multistakeholder participation, an increasing emphasis on technology integration, and increased efforts toward talent retention. Overall, the results of the PMC model analysis indicate that the scores for return-to-hometown entrepreneurship policies across 16 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions) are relatively high in terms of the indices of policy field, policy content, and policy tools, whereas the scores are comparatively low in terms of the indices of policy nature and policy timeliness. The remaining indices present moderate scores with slight differences. When examining the average scores between the eastern and central-western regions, it is observed that there is only a very slight difference in the index of policy timeliness and policy implementation. Additionally, the performance of eastern regions is superior in terms of the index of policy issuer, policy functions, and policy content. However, central-western regions demonstrate higher scores in the indices of policy nature, policy field, policy tools, and policy evaluation.

Background and Purpose: We know little of the current status of stroke in Tibet Autonomous Region in China. This study was designed to investigate the characteristics of acute stroke in Tibet. Methods: We conducted a hospital-based study on acute first-ever stroke in the People’s Hospital of Tibet Autonomous Region (PHOTAR), and then compared the data collected to that from West China Hospital (WCH). Results: The study included 301 inpatients from PHOTAR and 3,334 from WCH. The peak age group in PHOTAR was one decade younger than in WCH. Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) was the main stroke subtype in PHOTAR (74.1%). The prevalence of hypertension and heavy alcohol consumption prior to stroke were the most important vascular risk factors. Treatments for stroke in PHOTAR lacked standardization and in-hospital mortality was higher for each subtype. Conclusions: ICH is the dominant stroke subtype in Tibet Autonomous Region, and can be attributed to high rates of hypertension and heavy alcohol consumption. Greater public awareness of stroke and effective management of risk factors should be implemented immediately in Tibet.

Thermal behavior of halloysite selected from Erdos, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in China, was investigated by thermogravimetry and differential thermal gravity (TG–DTG), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The XRD results indicated that the mineralogical composition of halloysite sample was determined as 7 A halloysite with the d (001) value of 0.734 nm, a small amount of 10 A halloysite with the d (001) value of 0.998 nm, quartz, calcite, anhydrite, siderite, and analcite. The crystal chemical formula of halloysite specimen is (Ca0.007Na0.039K0.048)(Al1.935Fe 0.032 3+ Mn 0.003 2+ Ti 0.002 4+ Mg 0.015 2+ Ca 0.021 2+ )2 [(Si1.935Al 0.065 3+ )2](OH)4·2H2O according to the oxygen atom method. The TG–DTG–DSC data showed that a small amount of water molecule layer in the interlayer and the dehydroxylation was observed at 493.6 °C. The XRD, FT-IR, and SEM data clearly show that the structure changes and dehydroxylation of the halloysite with the temperature increased from 200 to 1200 °C. The dehydration of the halloysite is followed by the loss of intensity and evolution of the OH vibration bands and the change in microstructure. Dehydroxylation is followed by the decrease in the intensity of the bands at 3696 and 3620 cm−1, which is completely disappeared at 700 °C. The thermal behavior of halloysite was influenced by the mineralogy composition and impurities.

Sustainability development is a core issue in autonomous regions’ construction and development. The paper evaluated the sustainability development of the five autonomous regions in Western China from 2010 to 2019. In order to further analyze the sustainable development level of the autonomous regions, it is compared with the three provinces with the largest GDP in Central China in the past three years, and similarly, with the three provinces in Eastern China. A new weighting method was proposed by combining the grey relational analysis (GRA) and set pair analysis (SPA) methods that not only analyze the correlation between indicators and ideal points but also analyze the status and development trend. The method can ensure the objectivity of indicator weight. Firstly, the ideal reference point is determined by the grey correlation degree between the indicator and the ideal positive point. Secondly, the indicator and the ideal reference point constitute a set pair system, and the relation number is used further to analyze the status and development trend of the indicator to determine the weight objectively. The sustainability results showed that the progress of the autonomous regions’ sustainable development in China was increased slowly in 2010–2019. For example, Ningxia and Xinjiang saw the slowest growth. The prime reason is that economic sustainability has declined severely. Although Inner Mongolia presented the highest increasing trends, the growth rate value was 0.75%. In contrast, other autonomous regions showed a negative growth trend. Regarding sustainable development in three dimensions, the economic sustainability performance of autonomous regions is not ideal, but the environmental sustainability performance is the most ideal. This conclusion implicates the necessity and urgency of improving the coordinated development of the three dimensions of autonomous regions in China.

We compared the differences and explored the associations between ethnic identity and Chinese national identity, and the intergroup attitudes of adolescents from the Yi, Han, and Mongolian ethnicities in a Yi ethnic autonomous region in China. The participants (N = 1830, 50% female) were middle school students (n = 910, M age = 13.51) and high school students (n = 920, M age = 17.71). We found (a) significant ethnic differences between the high school students in the subscales of behavior, self-identification, and achievement; (b) that the three ethnic groups exhibited nonsignificant differences in their perceptions of Chinese national identity; (c) a positive association between ethnic identity and Chinese national identity for the adolescents across ethnicities; (d) a positive association between ethnic identity and intergroup attitudes for the Yi adolescents only; and (e) that Chinese national identity was positively associated with intergroup attitudes for the Yi and Han adolescents and for the Mongolian middle school students, but not for the Mongolian high school students. This suggests that age and context play central roles in shaping the ethnic and national identities of adolescents in such regions, and those who grow up in an inclusive environment are more likely to develop positive intergroup attitudes.

The concept of Greater Tibet has surfaced in the political and academic worlds in recent years. It is based in the inadequacies of other definitions of what constitutes the historical and modern worlds in which Tibetan people, ideas, and culture occupy. This collection of papers is inspired by a panel on Greater Tibet held at the XIIIth meeting of the International Association of Tibet Studies in Ulaan Baatar in 2013. Participants included leading Tibet scholars, experts in international law, and Tibetan officials. Greater Tibet is inclusive of all peoples who generally speak languages from the Tibetan branch of the Tibeto-Burman family, have a concept of mutual origination, and share some common historical narratives. It includes a wide area, including peoples from the Central Asian Republics, Pakistan, India, Nepal Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, People’s Republic of China, Mongolia, Russia, and Tibetan people in diaspora abroad. It may even include practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism who are not of Tibetan origin, and Tibetan peoples who do not practice Buddhism. Most of this area corresponds to the broad expansion of Tibetan culture and political control in the 7th–9th centuries AD, and is thus many times larger than the current Tibet Autonomous Region in China—the Tibetan “culture area.” As a conceptual framework, Greater Tibet stands in contrast to Scott’s concept of Zomia for roughly the same region, a term which defines an area of highland Asia and Southeast Asia characterized by disdain for rule from distant centers, failed state formation, anarchist, and “libertarian” individual proclivities.

Expressway guide sign is important for traffic safety. The selection of control information of expressway guide sign has a strong impact on the effectiveness of expressway guide sign. Most of the previous studies on the evaluation of control information of expressway guide sign are aimed at qualitative analysis or quantitative analysis without considering the data of operating period, especially the network toll collection data. So some systematic investigation and analysis work are completed using the network toll collection data collected from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China. The useful data are abstracted and the calculation method of cross-sectional traffic volume is provided. Based on these analyses, the concept of traffic gravitation is proposed and model of traffic gravitation between two cities is built which considers the factor of distance, the factor of cross-sectional traffic volume, and the factor of regional differences in China. The value of traffic gravitation can be calculated by the model of traffic gravitation. By comparison of the value of traffic gravitation among different control information, the control information whose traffic gravitation value is largest can be selected as the right control information. In this way, the present control information can also be evaluated. The flow chart of evaluation of control information of expressway guide sign is also provided. This quantitative evaluation method has already been used for road safety evaluation in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in China.

Prevalence of convulsive epilepsy and health-related quality of life of the population with convulsive epilepsy in rural areas of Tibet Autonomous Region in China: An initial survey