Mongolia Of China Research Articles

Analysis of CO2 Abatement Cost of Solar Energy Integration in a Solar-Aided Coal-Fired Power Generation System in China

Utilization of renewable energy, improvement of power generation efficiency, and reduction of fossil fuel consumption are important strategies for the Chinese power industry in response to climate change and environment challenges. Solar thermal energy can be integrated into a conventional coal-fired power unit to build a solar-aided coal-fired power generation (SACPG) system. Because solar heat can be used more efficiently in a SACPG system, the solar-coal hybrid power system can reduce coal consumption and CO2 emissions. The performance and costs of a SACPG system are affected by the respective characteristics of its coal-fired system and solar thermal power system, their coupling effects, the solar energy resource, the costs of the solar power system, and other economic factors of coal price and carbon price. According to the characteristics of energy saving and CO2 emission reductions of a SACPG system, a general methodology of CO2 abatement cost for the hybrid system is proposed to assess the solar thermal energy integration reasonably and comprehensively. The critical factors for carbon abatement cost are also analyzed. Taking a SACPG system of 600 MW in Jinan, Shandong and in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia in China as an example, the methodology is further illustrated. The results show that the efficiency of solar heat-to-electricity should be high and it is 0.391 in the scheme of SIH1 in Hohhot, and that the designed direct normal irradiation (DNI) should be greater than 800 W/m2 in order to make full use of solar energy resources. It is indicated that the abatement cost of a SACPG system depends significantly both on the cost of solar power system and its relevant costs, and also on the fuel price or the carbon prices, and that the carbon abatement cost can be greatly reduced as the coal prices or CO2 price increase. The methodology of carbon abatement cost can provide support for the comprehensive assessment of a SACPG system for its design and optimal performance.

RESEARCH ON REGIONAL ECONOMIC COOPERATION BETWEEN CHINA AND MONGOLIA

Regional economic integration has become inevitable to promote the further development of regional economy in China and Mongolia. Since China’s reform and opening up and Mongolia’s democratic revolution, China Mongolia regional economic cooperation has been developing continuously. This paper summarizes the trend of economic cooperation between China and Mongolia through the analysis of economic and trade cooperation between China and Mongolia and the influencing factors of regional economy.

Are Women Willing to Delay Their Retirement? A Research on 270 Female Teachers in Inner Mongolia of China

Women’ retirement age is earlier than men in China, which has a negative effect on the problem-solving of aging society and the protection of women’s rights and interests. Therefore, prolonging the retirement age for women has become an important policy choice to alleviate the above problems. But are women themselves willing to delay their retirement? What factors effect women’s intention to delay their retirement? Those should be an important basis for the decision-making of a new retirement policy. This paper explores female delayed retirement intention by selecting the group of female teachers which is an important category of professional women in China. Taking 270 female teachers in Inner Mongolia of China as samples, this paper analyzes the effect of personal, occupational, and policy factors on female teachers’ delayed retirement intention. The results show that the health, children, monthly income, cumulative length of working, professional title and work units have a statistically significant impact on female teachers’ delayed retirement intention. Accordingly, this article puts forward policy implications on gender equity including eliminating the gender difference of retirement age, making flexible retirement policy and protecting women’s occupational interests.

Abundant Taxa and Favorable Pathways in the Microbiome of Soda-Saline Lakes in Inner Mongolia.

Soda-saline lakes are a special type of alkaline lake in which the chloride concentration is greater than the carbonate/bicarbonate concentration. Due to the high pH and a usually higher osmotic pressure than that of a normal soda lake, the microbes may need more energy to thrive in such a double-extreme environment. In this study, we systematically investigated the microbiome of the brine and sediment samples of nine artificially separated ponds (salinities from 5.5% to saturation) within two soda-saline lakes in Inner Mongolia of China, assisted by deep metagenomic sequencing. The main inorganic ions shaped the microbial community in both the brines and sediments, and the chloride concentration exhibited the most significant effect. A total of 385 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) were generated, in which 38 MAGs were revealed as the abundant species in at least one of the eighteen different samples. Interestingly, these abundant species also represented the most branches of the microbiome of the soda-saline lakes at the phylum level. These abundant taxa were close relatives of microorganisms from classic soda lakes and neutral saline environments, but forming a combination of both habitats. Notably, approximately half of the abundant MAGs had the potential to drive dissimilatory sulfur cycling. These MAGs included four autotrophic Ectothiorhodospiraceae MAGs, one Cyanobacteria MAG and nine heterotrophic MAGs with the potential to oxidize sulfur, as well as four abundant MAGs containing genes for elemental sulfur respiration. The possible reason is that reductive sulfur compounds could provide additional energy for the related species, and reductions of oxidative sulfur compounds are more prone to occur under alkaline conditions which support the sulfur cycling. In addition, a unique 1,4-alpha-glucan phosphorylation pathway, but not a normal hydrolysis one, was found in the abundant Candidatus Nanohaloarchaeota MAG NHA-1, which would produce more energy in polysaccharide degradation. In summary, this work has revealed the abundant taxa and favorable pathways in the soda-saline lakes, indicating that efficient energy regeneration pathway may increase the capacity for environmental adaptation in such saline-alkaline environments. These findings may help to elucidate the relationship between microbial metabolism and adaptation to extreme environments.

Influences of deficit irrigation on soil water content distribution and spring wheat growth in Hetao Irrigation District, Inner Mongolia of China

Abstract In order to develop a water-saving irrigation system for spring wheat, field experiments were conducted on the deficit irrigation of spring wheat in Hetao Irrigation District, Inner Mongolia. Through measurement of soil moisture content, the spring wheat growth and yield index, the influences of deficit irrigation on soil moisture distribution and spring wheat growth were studied. Results showed that, in the soil layers 0–100 cm below the ground, the soil moisture content under full irrigation at 100% ETc (ETc denotes actual water demanded by crops) and that under deficit irrigation at 80% ETc increased with the increase of soil layer depth; specifically, soil moisture under deficit irrigation at 60% ETc was mainly distributed in the subsurface layer (20–40 cm) and the middle layer (40–60 cm). The spring wheat yield was not greatly influenced by the deficit irrigation at 80% ETc, showing a decrease of merely 5–13% compared with that under full irrigation, while deficit irrigation at 60% ETc had greater impact on the growth and yield of spring wheat, cutting the yield by 10–37% in comparison with that under full irrigation. In the study area, the deficit irrigation treatment at 80% ETc was adopted, wherein the irrigation norm in the growth period was 288 mm. This irrigation system had little adverse impact on spring wheat growth and yield, and therefore, water-saving irrigation could be realized.

Forest Phenology Shifts in Response to Climate Change over China–Mongolia–Russia International Economic Corridor

Vegetation phenology is a sensitive indicator of climate change. With the intensification of global warming, the changes in growing seasons of various vegetation types have been widely documented across the world. However, as one of the most vulnerable regions in response to the global climate change, the phenological responses and associated mechanisms in mid–high latitude forests are still not fully understood. In this study, long-term changes in forest phenology and the associated relationship with the temperature and snow water equivalent in the China–Mongolia–Russia International Economic Corridor were examined by analyzing the satellite-measured normalized difference vegetation index and the meteorological observation data during 1982 to 2015. The average start date of the growing season (SOS) of the forest ecosystem in our study area advanced at a rate of 2.5 days/decade, while the end date of the growing season (EOS) was delayed at a rate of 2.3 days/decade, contributing to a growing season that was approximately 15 days longer in the 2010s compared to that in 1980s. A higher April temperature is beneficial to the advance in the SOS, and a higher summer temperature has the potential to extend the EOS in the forest ecosystem. However, our results also suggest that a single temperature cannot fully explain the advance of the SOS, as well as the delay in the EOS. The preseason Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) is also an essential factor in influencing the growing season. A higher SWE in February and March and lower SWE in April tend to advance the SOS, while higher SWE in pre-year December and lower SWE in current year October are beneficial to the extension of the EOS.

Distinction between Cr and other heavy–metal–resistant bacteria involved in C/N cycling in contaminated soils of copper producing sites

For typical copper producing provinces of Heilongjiang, Henan, Inner Mongolia, Jiangxi, Shandong, Tibet, and Yunnan in China, 90 % of sampling sites were heavily polluted with multiple heavy metals. Soil heterogeneity and mutual interference of multimetals are obstacles to explore bacterial resistance pathways in contaminated field soils. Through analyses of contamination indices and bioindicators, combined with multivariate statistical models, the antioxidant enzyme activity, urease–induced precipitation of heavy metals, excretion of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) were attributed to different types of heavy metals. Furthermore, through redundancy analysis combined with phylogenetic analysis of metal–resistant bacteria, we identified that Verrucomicrobia, Acidobacteria, and Planctomycetes secreted EPS–polysaccharides and EPS–proteins to detoxify Cr, a metal with lower concentrations and lower ecological risk as compared to other metals. The pathway was innovatively differentiated from the multimetal resistance pathways in urease and/or catalase–producing bacteria such as Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, BRC1, Bacteroidetes, Dadabacteria, Entotheonellaeota, Nitrospirae, and Gemmatimonadetes using field studies and high–throughput sequencing. Moreover, these metal–resistant bacteria were linked to C/N cycling processes of urea hydrolysis, nitrification, denitrification, EPS production, and calcite precipitation. It will provide new insight into soil bacterial resistance to multimetals in field studies.

Does extra-large equal extra-ordinary? The \u2018Wall of Chinggis Khan\u2019 from a multidimensional perspective

This paper focuses on a hitherto little-known long (or “Great”) wall that stretches along 737 km from northern Inner Mongolia in China, through Siberia into northeastern Mongolia. The wall was constructed during the late medieval period (10th to 13th century CE) but is commonly called the “Wall of Chinggis Khan” (or ‘Chingisiin Dalan’ in Mongolian). It includes, in addition to the long-wall itself, a ditch feature and numerous associated fortifications. By way of an analysis of this impressive construction we seek to better understand the concept of monumentality and in turn shed light on the wall’s structure, function and possible reasons for its erection. We pose the interesting question of whether any construction that is very large and labor intensive should be defined as a “monument”, and if so, what that definition of monumentality actually entails and whether such a concept is useful as a tool for research. Our discussion is relevant to the theme of this collection of papers in that it addresses the concept of the ‘extraordinary’ as conceived by archeologists. Following our analysis and discussion, we conclude that although size and expenditure of energy are important attributes of many monuments, monumentality (i.e., expression of the extraordinary) is not a binary “either-or” concept. Rather than ask whether the “Wall of Chinggis Khan” was or was not a monument per se, our analysis reveals aspects in which it was indeed monumental and extraordinary, and others in which it was not extraordinary, but rather an ordinary utilitarian artifact.

An investment decision framework for photovoltaic power coupling hydrogen storage project based on a mixed evaluation method under intuitionistic fuzzy environment

Abstract The photovoltaic power coupling hydrogen storage (PVPCHS) system has been considerably valued due to the solar curtailment phenomenon as well as the long-term and large-scale energy storage characteristic of hydrogen energy. And the investment decision of PVPCHS project is a novel multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem, thus it is necessary to establish a decision framework considering the characteristics of PVPCHS project. First, the criteria system that includes resource, economy, environmental and social aspects is established. Second, in consideration of the uncertainty in the decision-making process, this paper applies the TIFN-fuzzy DEMATEL method to the weight determination stage and employs the TIFN-fuzzy TODIM method to rank the alternative PVPCHS projects. Finally, a case study in Inner Mongolia of China is executed to prove the validity of the hybrid evaluation method. The results indicate that the scheme A3 located in Hohhot possesses the best comprehensive performance. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis reveals the necessity to set up diverse scenarios based on the individual demands of decision makers. Meanwhile, the comparative analysis results show the exceptional applicability of the hybrid evaluation method. This paper can not only be adopted by investors to make decisions, but also be referred by further investigators.

Thermal behaviors and kinetic analysis of two natural kaolinite samples selected from Qingshuihe region in Inner Mongolia in China

The thermal characteristic behaviors of two kaolinite samples selected from Qingshuihe region in Inner Mongolia in China were studied through thermogravimetry, derivative thermogravimetry, and differential scanning calorimetry (TG–DTG–DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The activation energies of dehydroxylation for the two kaolinite samples (determined as Kaol-1 and Kaol-2) were calculated based on KAS and FWO methods. The XRD results indicated that Kaol-1 and Kaol-2 both were determined as kaolinite, and a small amount of quartz, but the Kaol-2 presented many amorphous organic matters. The TG–DSC results displayed the adsorbed water desorption and dehydroxylation with the temperature increased from 200 to 1100 °C. The dehydroxylation is followed as the intensities decrease in the bands at 3690 cm−1, 3620 cm−1 and 914.0 cm−1 attributing to the stretching mode of inner surface hydroxyls, and which disappeared when the temperature reached at 600 °C. The endothermic peak temperature of dehydroxylation for Kaol-2 presented higher than that of Kaol-1, which may be attributed to present of amorphous organic matter and was in agreement with the XRD data. The maximum endothermic temperature of dehydroxylation increased both for Kaol-1 and Kaol-2 with the increase in heating rate, which was attributed to more sufficient decomposition as the decrease in heating rate. The thermal kinetic analysis indicated that the dehydroxylation reaction of Kaol-1 should be a single kinetic mechanism, but the E of Kaol-2 decreased as α increasing from 0.2 to 0.5 and then gradually increased with the increase of α. The average E of dehydroxylation for Kaol-2 both was lower than that of Kaol-1 based on Kissenger–Akahira–Sunose and Flynn–Wall–Ozawa methods, which was attributed to the relatively higher organic carbon content in Kaol-2.

Improving Tuber Yield and Phosphorus Use Efficiency Using Split Phosphorus Application to Potatoes in Inner Mongolia

Increasingly, phosphorus (P) fertilizer is being applied in Inner Mongolia of China to overcome the problem of insolubility of phosphorus in calcareous soil and meet the growth demand of potato plants. As a result, phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) in potatoes decreases continually. In this four-year study in sandy soils, drip fertigating potatoes with phosphorus during the growth season improved phosphorus uptake, plant growth, tuber yield, and PUE. Results show that relative to a single phosphorus application, using a split phosphorus application regime through drip irrigation significantly increased the leaf area index (LAI) and phosphorus uptake rate in the mid and late growth stages of potatoes, and enhanced potato yield and PUE. We concluded that split phosphorus application has the potential to benefit sustainable potato production in Inner Mongolia of China.

Variable extent of dehydration of clinopyroxene megacrysts from Gezi volcano of Inner Mongolia

Mineral phenocrysts/megacrysts convey important information about deep magmatic evolution and volcanic eruption especially with respect to magmatic water content. Clinopyroxene (cpx) is generally considered to be less susceptible to diffusive hydrogen loss than olivine and orthopyroxene. We analyzed hydrogen concentration profiles alongside major and trace element compositions of a suite of cpx megacrysts (1–4 cm in size) hosted in basanitic scoria from the Gezi volcano, central Inner Mongolia of north China. The anhydrous composition within each megacryst is homogeneous, but comparison between different grains shows clear elemental covariation, suggesting that these cpx megacrysts progressively crystallized from a common parental magma. The cpx megacrysts contain hydrogen contents in the range of 0–410 wt ppm H2O at their cores, and some of them show a smooth decrease of hydrogen from the core to the rim. Those with the highest hydrogen contents (290–410 wt ppm H2O) have long plateau at the core, in contrast with long dehydration profiles and no plateau in some low-hydrogen megacrysts. These observations suggest that the cpx megacrysts experienced variable extent of dehydration during volcanic eruption, arising from variable H diffusivity probably associated with differences in the composition and microstructure of cpx megacrysts. Cpx megacrysts with the lowest degree of dehydration and good diffusion profiles are the most informative. Their plateau hydrogen contents at the core are used to infer ~2 wt% H2O in the parental magma. Quantitative modeling of the diffusion profiles at the rim yields a dehydration duration of 3–28 h, suggesting an ascent rate of 1–6 m/s for the host basanitic magma.

Linking meteorological patterns shift to hydrological extremes in a lake watershed across the mid-high latitude transition region

Climate transition at different scales complicates the dynamics of catchment water cycle. Examination of meteorological pattern shift enables us to have a deeper insight of the mechanism in hydrological extremes. Lake Hulun, the largest freshwater lake in Northern China, plays an important role in maintaining the regional ecological sustainability. The abrupt decrease of water level in the lake after 2000 has resulted in serious impacts on the lake’s ecosystem. This paper presents a systematic analysis by linking meteorological dynamics with hydrological extremes based on the long-term precipitation, river discharge, and evapotranspiration (ET) data in the Lake Hulun watershed, which is a transition zone from desert to wetland and to permafrost along the Mongolia–China borderline. The results indicate that signals of large-scale precipitation variations can be well identified by using the Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF). Spatially, the precipitation in the Lake Hulun watershed is dominated by two leading EOF patterns at the basin scale. The two leading patterns present complementary features of the high value centers in space. The amplitudes evolution of the leading patterns of EOF reveal that the redistribution of precipitation that occurred more in the middle flat plain and less in the mountain regions of the watershed triggers a big effect on the increasing ET and weakening runoff production due to the spatial heterogeneity in hydrological processes. Such effects are echoed by the trend patterns in precipitation and ET. The mechanism of the precipitation pattern shift is also confirmed by the large scale meteorological variations in geopotential and water vapor transport. Therefore, the change in the leading patterns of precipitation and the effects in ET triggered by the pattern shift in precipitation are the major causes of decrease in watershed runoff and the hydrological extremes in the terminal lake.

Integration of TanDEM-X and SRTM DEMs and Spectral Imagery to Improve the Large-Scale Detection of Opencast Mining Areas

Land use and land cover (LULC) is a key variable of the Earth’s system and has become an important indicator to evaluate the impact of human activities on the Earth’s ecosystems. With the increasing demand of mine resources, widespread opencast mining has led to significant changes in LULC and caused substantial damage to the environment. An efficient approach of detecting mining activities at large scales is of critical importance in mitigating their potential impacts on downstream settlements and in assessing LULC characteristics. In this study, we present a novel approach for enabling large-scale automatic detection of opencast mining areas by integrating multitemporal digital elevation models (DEMs, including the SRTM DEM and the recently released TanDEM-X DEM) and multispectral imagery in object-based image analysis and random forest (RF) algorithms. A sequence of data preparation, image segmentation, threshold analysis, calculation of metrics, and influence factor regulation was developed and tested on the Landsat 8 sample dataset in Inner Mongolia in China, which is a mineral-rich area. Aside from spectral metrics, such as brightness and reflectance value, introduced topographical features enhanced the modeling and classification significantly, and the overall performance is greatly influenced by feature selection (the out-of-bag error rate in the RF algorithm is 7.54% for the integrated DEM method in comparison with 12.70% for the only-optical images method). The integrated use of spectral imagery and multitemporal DEMs reveals that the identified mining area is about 1100 km2 in the study area and period, and the topographic changes of opencast mining in terms of elevation difference is between −258 and 162 m. The results show that the method can map the locations and extents of mining areas automatically from spectral and DEM data and can potentially be applied to larger areas.

Market opportunities do not explain the ability of herders to meet livelihood objectives over winter on the Mongolian Plateau

Drylands under pastoral land use are considered one of the most vulnerable social-ecological systems to global climate change, but the abilities of different adaptive strategies to adapt to the impacts of different extreme weather events on herders’ livelihood have received little attention in the drylands. Herders on the Mongolian Plateau (MP; including Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region of China and Mongolia), have had a long history of adapting climatic variability and extreme weather events. However, it is unclear how changes such as increased levels of infrastructure and market integration affect the ability of herders to achieve the two key livelihood objectives: the minimisation of the death and abortion rates of livestock in the winter. Here, we used remotely sensed and household survey data to map, model and explore the climate exposure and sensitivity of herders in the settled area (Inner Mongolia of China) and nomadic area (Mongolia) in the winter of 2012–2013. We aimed to quantify the multi-scaled characteristics of both climate exposure and sensitivity through the lens of key adaptive strategies utilized by herders. Our results showed that the higher levels of infrastructure and market integration, and the lower levels of remoteness on the MP did not increase the herders’ ability to achieve the two key livelihood objectives. Our results also suggested that exposure to the snow that is comparatively greater than the long-term average (cumulative exposure) may be more important in determining the social-ecological vulnerability than absolute exposure. We suggested that neither the risk management strategies available to these herders, nor the demographic variables, could compensate for the mode of production governing the pastoral systems. Our study could provide further evidence for the complex and scaled nature of climate exposure and sensitivity, and the results imply that any analysis of the relationship between exposure, sensitivity and vulnerability of pastoral households to climate change in the drylands will require a multi-scaled and interdisciplinary approach.

Early Permian to Late Triassic tectonics of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt: geochronological and geochemical constraints from gabbros and granites in the northern Alxa area, NW China

AbstractSituated between the North China Craton to the east and the Tarim Craton to the west, the northern Alxa area in westernmost Inner Mongolia in China occupies a key location for interpreting the late-stage tectonic evolution of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt. New LA-ICP-MS zircon U–Pb dating results reveal 282.2 ± 3.9 Ma gabbros and 216.3 ± 3.2 Ma granites from the Yagan metamorphic core complex in northern Alxa, NW China. The gabbros are characterized by low contents of Si, Na, K, Ti and P and high contents of Mg, Ca, Al and Fe. These gabbros have arc geochemical signatures with relative enrichments in large ion lithophile elements and depletions in high field strength elements, as well as negative εNd(t) (−0.91 to −0.54) and positive εHf(t) (2.59 to 6.37) values. These features indicate that a depleted mantle magma source metasomatized by subduction fluids/melts and contaminated by crustal materials was involved in the processes of magma migration and emplacement. The granites show high-K calc-alkaline and metaluminous to weakly peraluminous affinities, similar to A-type granites. They have positive εNd(t) (1.55 to 1.99) and εHf(t) (5.03 to 7.64) values. These features suggest that the granites were derived from the mixing of mantle and crustal sources and formed in a postcollisional tectonic setting. Considering previous studies, we infer that the final closure of the Palaeo-Asian Ocean in the central part of the southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt occurred in late Permian to Early–Middle Triassic times.

Comprehensive Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Travel Climate Comfort Degree and Rainstorm-Flood Disaster Risk in the China–Russia Border Region

Infrastructure and tourism is gradually increasing along the China–Russia border with the development of the China–Mongolia–Russia economic corridor. Facing the issues of thermal comfort and rainstorm-flood risk in the neighborhood area between China and Russia, we constructed homologous evaluation models to analyze spatial regularity and internal variations of their effect. Among the results, approximately 55% of the area was classified into the categories of “comfort” and “high comfort” in summer. Oppositely, the situation of most areas in winter corresponds to physical discomfort. On the other hand, the high-risk area of rainstorm-flood in spring and summer is principally located in the northern and southern regions, respectively, while this is further expanded in autumn. After that, the risk level turns to medium and low. Subsequently, a comprehensive assessment coordinate system of the two results was constructed to identify the distribution pattern of a seasonal suitable area for traveling in binary ways. The evaluation shows that Great Khingan Range in the north-western Heilongjiang province is the preferable place among most of seasons, especially in summer. While on the Russian side, the corresponding area is mainly spread over its southern coastal cities. The study is expected to provide recommendations for reasonable year-round travel time, space selection, and risk decision support for millions of people traveling between China and Russia.

Ecological Aspects of Mining Enterprises in the Areas of the China–Mongolia–Russia Economic Corridor

Presented are the results from investigating the environmental impact of the mining industry in the Baikal region and Mongolia where in accordance with the tripartite international agreements it is planned to create the China−Mongolia−Russia transport economic corridors. The investigation was made for the areas traversed by the sections of the transport and economic corridors: the Trans-Siberian Railroad, Ulan-Ude−Ulaanbaatar railroad to the border with China, and the Karymskoe−Zabaikalsk railroad. The algorithm of the study implies a model in which the mining complex is considered as an intricately shaped natural-technogenic system. Elements of this system are production sites for the extraction of mineral raw materials and the environment in the field of technological impact, including natural and socio-economic components. The cartographic method is used as a key technique. Maps serve as a systematic methodology for research and are the result of a component-wise and integral assessment of the technogenic impact of mining on the environment and population. A system of indicators is suggested, which was used in assessing and mapping the technogenic impact at the local (areas of development of deposits) and areal (administrative districts) levels. Methods for compiling maps and their contents are outlined. The problems and prospects of research are identified.

Exploration of Endophytes from Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) as Biocontrol Agents

Endophytes are increasingly investigated as biocontrol agents for agricultural production. The identification of new endophytes with high effectiveness against plant disease is very important. A total of 362 strains of endophytes, including fungi, bacteria, and actinomycete, were isolated from alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) collected in Hebei, Inner Mongolia and Ningxia provinces of China. The three strains of endophytic bacteria (NA NX51R-5, NA NX90R-8, and NA NM1S-1) with strong biocontrol capability with >50% effectiveness were screened against the common alfalfa root rot pathogen Fusarium oxysporum F. sp. medicaginis in alfalfa seedling germination experiments on MS medium and pot experiments. Using phylogenetic analysis, the isolates of NA NM1S-1 and NA NX51R-5 were identified as Bacillus spp. by 16S rDNA, while NA NX90R-8 was found to be Pseudomonas sp.

The investigation and influencing factors analysis of analgesia and sedation nursing behavior of pediatric intensive care unit nurses in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia

Objective Based on a cross-sectional survey about the status of analgesia and sedation nursing behavior of PICU nurses in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia, to analyze the influencing factors and to provide reference for further constructing standardized training programs and developing standardized for analgesia and sedation nursing process. Methods The self-designed questionnaire was made for investigation from 435 PICU nurses in 18 hospitals in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia. Results The average questionnaire score of the analgesia and sedation nursing behavior of PICU nurses was(70.54±13.63)in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia.The behavioral scores were different in each group between different age, nursing age, PICU nursing age, educational background, professional title, and whether was the intensive care unit nurse, whether trained in analgesia and sedation, whether have experience in caring children with analgesia and sedation, and the differences were all statistically significant(P<0.05). The main factors influencing the analgesia and sedation behavior of PICU nurses were whether have received training in analgesia and sedation, whether have experience in caring children with analgesia and sedation treatment and their attitude score to analgesia and sedation. Conclusion There is still much space for development in analgesia and sedation nursing behavior of PICU nurses in Northeast China and Inner Mongolia.The more analgesia and sedation training PICU nurses take participate in, the more experience and positive attitudes they have in nursing children with analgesia and sedation, their clinical nursing practice ability could become more stronger. Key words: Pediatric intensive care unit; Nurse; Analgesia and sedation; Nursing behavior; Influence factors