Understanding Fishermen's Willingness and Preferences for Eco-compensation of Lake Conservation Projects: A Case Study From Nansi Lake Nature Reserve, China.

Lake regions face a tradeoff between water environmental conservation and social development. Although lake conservation projects along with eco-compensation policies are considered the solutions to this problem, it is often controversial and unsustainable. Therefore, it is essential to understand the key stakeholders' willingness to participate in lake conservation projects under the different compensation schemes. In this work, we conducted a choice experiment to estimate fishermen's willingness and preference for the returning fishponds to lake (RFTL) project in the Nansi Lake Nature Reserve (NLNR). Socioeconomic, perception and spatial factors are employed to analyze the preference heterogeneity of fishermen. We employed conditional logit, mixed logit and latent class models to estimates the parameters of factor variables considering the heterogeneous preferences and choice randomness across respondents. The results indicate that on average, fishermen are unwilling to change the status quo and are most concerned about the subsidy amount and contract duration in compensation contracts. However, there is obvious spatial heterogeneity in fishermen's choice preference, mainly manifested in their habitation distance to a town and fishpond location in different zones of the NLNR. Specifically, perceptions of supply and demand for water yield and water quality services significantly influence fishermen's choice, but they have opposite effects. Moreover, we estimated marginal willingness to accept (MWTA) of attributes in compensation contract and measured compensating surplus (CS) to compare different eco-compensation policy scenarios. Our results contribute to designing targeted payment policies, and promote the effective implementation of lake conservation projects and regional sustainable development.

Platelet miR-587 may be Used as a Potential Biomarker for Diagnosis of Patients with Acute Coronary Syndrome.

BACKGROUND: The current study aims to investigate the expression of miR-587 in platelets of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and its correlation with the severity of coronary artery disease. METHODS: One hundred thirty-nine patients with ACS who underwent coronary angiography (CAG) and hospitalized in the Department of Cardiology of Affiliated Tengzhou Central People's Hospital of Jining Medical University were selected. In addition, 42 subjects with normal CAG results were selected as the control group. The relative expression of platelet miR-587 was analyzed between ACS patients and control subjects. RESULTS: The relative expression of platelet miR-587 and Gensini score in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients were significantly higher than those in the unstable angina pectoris (UA) and control groups (median (IQR): 1.97 (0.47) vs. 1.49 (0.43) vs. 1.04 (0.35); 65.07 (21.6) vs. 44.58 (28.56) vs. 13.67 (11.8)). Furthermore, the relative level of miR-587 in ACS patients with three vessel lesions was significantly higher than those with double vessel le-sion and single vessel lesion (2.68 (0.64) vs. 1.85 (0.53) vs. 1.22 (0.40)). Additionally, the relative expression of platelet miR-587 in patients with severe coronary artery disease was significantly higher than in those with moderate or mild coronary artery disease (2.44 (0.59) vs. 1.70 (0.49) vs. 0.96 (0.32)). Pearson's correlation analysis showed that the Gensini score and creatine kinase isoenzyme (CK-MB) of ACS patients were positively correlated with the expression of platelet miR-587 (r = 0.785, p = 0.000; r = 0.806, p = 0.000). CONCLUSIONS: The expression of platelet miR-587 was closely related to the severity of coronary artery stenosis and could be used as a potential target for diagnosis or prognosis.

Puerarin Attenuates Anoxia/Reoxygenation Injury Through Enhancing Bcl-2 Associated Athanogene 3 Expression, a Modulator of Apoptosis and Autophagy.

BACKGROUND: Puerarin has protective effects on ischemia-reperfusion injury, but the underlying mechanisms are not fully revealed. This study explored the effect of puerarin on the expression of Bcl-2 associated athanogene 3 (BAG3) in an in vitro model of anoxia/reoxygenation injury (A/RI) in neonate rat primary cardiomyocytes and the functions of BAG3 in A/RI. MATERIAL/METHODS: BAG3 expression in cardiomyocytes with or without puerarin pre-treatment was quantified using qRT-PCR and Western blot analysis. The effects of BAG3 on A/RI were studied by measuring the activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine phosphate kinase (CPK), the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px). The effects of BAG3 on autophagy and apoptosis of the cardiomyocytes after A/RI were further studied. RESULTS: Puerarin significantly promoted BAG3 expression in the rat primary cardiomyocytes after A/RI. Enforced BAG3 expression presented similar effects as puerarin pre-treatment in attenuating A/RI in terms of CPK, LDH, MDA, SOD, GSH-Px, ROS generation, and cell viability. BAG3 overexpression significantly stimulated autophagy in cardiomyocytes after A/RI, which presented protective effects on A/RI in terms of cell viability and apoptosis. Autophagy inhibition partly abrogated the protective effects of BAG3. CONCLUSIONS: Puerarin can directly increase BAG3 transcription and translation in cardiomyocytes after A/RI. The elevated BAG3 expression presents protective effects on A/RI at least through enhancing autophagy and reducing apoptosis, which is a novel protective mechanism of puerarin in ARI.

Associations between individual and environmental factors and habitual physical activity among older Chinese adults: A social-ecological perspective.

PURPOSE: To examine, within a social-ecological framework, associations between multifaceted individual and environmental factors and habitual physical activity (HPA) among older Chinese adults. METHODS: Through a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, a survey instrument assessing various factors underlying 3 social-ecological dimensions of intrapersonal, interpersonal, and community and environmental resources was developed. Using a cross-sectional design, older adults (n = 1580, aged 67 ± 7 years) recruited from 10 communities in Shandong province completed the social-ecological survey of HPA. Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Path Modeling. RESULTS: Factors related to intrapersonal (medical knowledge, motivation, physical function, sport skills, socioeconomic status, and education), interpersonal (social support, social activity, and social norms), and community and physical environmental resources (safety, capacity, availability of and access to physical activity facilities) were found to be significantly associated with older adults' participation in HPA. CONCLUSION: The findings provide an initial validation of a social-ecological approach to the study of HPA in China, suggesting that strategies aimed at promoting physical activity in older adults should address multiple levels of factors that may contribute to the likelihood of older Chinese adults being physically active.