Fast Bacterial Succession Associated with the Decomposition of Larix gmelinii Litter in Wudalianchi Volcano.

In order to understand the role of microorganisms in litter decomposition and the nutrient cycle in volcanic forest ecosystems, the dominant forest species Larix gmelinii in the volcanic lava plateau of the Wudalianchi volcano was considered as the research object. We analyzed the response of bacterial community structure and diversity to litter decomposition for 1 year, with an in situ decomposition experimental design using litter bags and Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing. The results showed that after 365 days, the litter quality residual rate of Larix gmelinii was 77.57%, and the litter N, P, C:N, C:P, and N:P showed significant differences during the decomposition period (p < 0.05). The phyla Cyanobacteria and the genus unclassified_o_Chloroplast were the most dominant groups in early decomposition (January and April). The phyla Proteobacteria, Actinobacteriota, and Acidobacteriota and the genera Massilia, Pseudomonas, and Sphingomona were higher in July and October. The microbial communities showed extremely significant differences during the decomposition period (p < 0.05), with PCoa, RDA, and litter QRR, C:P, and N as the main factors driving litter bacteria succession. Microbial functional prediction analysis showed that Chloroplasts were the major functional group in January and April. Achemoheterotrophy and aerobic chemoheterotrophy showed a significant decrease as litter decomposition progressed.

Comparison of Microbial Diversity of Two Typical Volcanic Soils in Wudalianchi, China.

Volcanic lava is an excellent model of primary succession, in which basalt-associated microorganisms drive the cycling of different elements such as nitrogen, carbon, and other nutrients. Microbial communities in volcanic soils are of particular interest for study on the emergence and evolution of life within special and extreme conditions. The initial processes of colonization and subsequent rock weathering by microbial communities are still poorly understood. We analyzed the soil bacterial and fungal communities and diversities associated with lava (LBL) and kipuka (BK) sites in Wudalianchi using 16S and ITS rRNA Illumina Miseq sequencing techniques. The results showed that soil physical and chemical properties (pH, MC, TOC, TN, TP, AP, DOC, and DON) significantly differed between LBL and BK. The Shannon, Ace, and Pd indexes of fungi in the two sites showed a significant difference (p < 0.05). The dominant bacterial phyla forming communities at LBL and BK sites were Acidobacteria, Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria, and Basidiomycota, and their differences were driven by Gemmatimonadetes and Verrucomicrobia. The dominant fungal phyla of LBL and BK sites were Ascomycota, Zygomycota, and Rozellomcota, which differed significantly between the two sites. The microbial communities showed extremely significant differences (p < 0.05), with MC, pH, and nitrogen being the main influencing factors according to RDA/CCA and correlation analysis. Microbial functional prediction analysis across the two sites showed that the relative abundance of advantageous functional groups was significantly different (p < 0.05). The combined results drive us to conclude that the volcanic soil differences in the deposits appear to be the main factor shaping the microbial communities in Wudalianchi (WDLC) volcanic ecosystems.

The impact and mechanism of vertical fiscal imbalance on green development efficiency: An empirical analysis based on city-level samples in China.

Green development has become a prevalent theme due to the tightening of resource constraints. This article explores the institutional factors that may contribute to the slow pace of green modernization in prefecture-level cities during the new era through the examination of the central-local fiscal relationship that local governments in China must navigate. A two-way fixed-effects model is used to theoretically analyze the impact of the increase in vertical fiscal imbalance (VFI) on green development efficiency (GDE) based statistical data from 270 cities between 2007 and 2020. The research shows that the increase in VFI has an N-shaped nonlinear effect on GDE, which is supported by various robustness and endogeneity tests. The greening process is significantly affected by the fluctuating dynamics of China's central-local fiscal relations. The VFI values of 0.2801 and 0.8892 are important transition points along the GDE curve, representing its peak and valley, respectively. At the end of the study period, only 12.13% of the studied cities experienced a higher quality facilitation effect. Streamlining the relationship between central and local finance is urgently needed for the widespread implementation of greening. The stock and supply of scientific and technological personnel play crucial roles in shaping the impact of the central-local fiscal relationship on green modernization. Specifically, VFI has an inverted U-shaped nonlinear impact on the level of scientific and technological human resources (S&TL). The inflection point occurs at VFI = 0.2710, which is close to the point of GDE. Furthermore, heterogeneity tests indicate that the institutional dividend of VFI is more pronounced in economically developed regions, eastern coastal areas, and regions with a more developed industrial structure. The study provides valuable insights for the government to promote green development. However, the lack of indicators and specific samples, as well as the reliance on limited assumptions, constrains the ability of this study to draw meaningful research conclusions. These limitations highlight the necessity for further related research in the future.

Preparation of Enzyme-Soluble Swim Bladder Collagen from Sea Eel (Muraenesox cinereus) and Evaluation Its Wound Healing Capacity.

In the present research, the enzyme-facilitated collagen from sea eel (Muraenesox cinereus) swim bladder was isolated, and the collagen characteristics were analyzed. Then, the collagen sponge was prepared and its potential mechanism in promoting skin wound healing in mice was further investigated. Collagen was obtained from the swim bladder of sea eels employing the pepsin extraction technique. Single-factor experiments served as the basis for the response surface method (RSM) to optimize pepsin concentration, solid-liquid ratio, and hydrolysis period. With a pepsin concentration of 2067 U/g, a solid-liquid ratio of 1:83 g/mL, and a hydrolysis period of 10 h, collagen extraction achieved a yield of 93.76%. The physicochemical analysis revealed that the extracted collagen belonged to type I collagen, and the collagen sponge displayed a fibrous structure under electron microscopy. Furthermore, in comparison to the control group, mice treated with collagen sponge dressing exhibited elevated activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC), and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and decreased levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), interleukin (IL)-1ß, interleukin (IL)-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. The collagen sponge dressing effectively alleviated inflammation in the wound area, facilitating efficient repair and rapid healing of the skin tissue. During the initial phase of wound healing, the group treated with collagen sponge dressing exhibited an enhancement in the expressions of cluster of differentiation (CD)31, epidermal growth factor (EGF), transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß1, and type I collagen, leading to an accelerated rate of wound healing. In addition, this collagen sponge dressing could also downregulate the expressions of CD31, EGF, and type I collagen to prevent scar formation in the later stage. Moreover, this collagen treatment minimized oxidative damage and inflammation during skin wound healing and facilitated blood vessel formation in the wound. Consequently, it exhibits significant potential as an ideal material for the development of a skin wound dressing.

Effects of bacteria on early-stage litter decomposition in Wudalianchi volcanic forest.

To understand the role of microorganisms in litter decomposition and nutrient cycling in volcanic forest ecosystem, we conducted in-situ litterbag decomposition experiment and used Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing to analyze the response of bacterial community structure and diversity during the decomposition of litters from Larix gmelinii, Betula platyphylla and Populus davidiana, the dominant tree species in volcanic lava plateau of Wudalianchi. The results showed that mass remaining percentage of litters of three species after 18-month decomposition was 63.9%-68.1%. Litter of B. platyphylla decomposed the fastest, with significant difference in N, C:N, and N:P before and after decomposition. The richness of bacterial species and diversity index differed significantly among the three litters. Proteobacteria, Actinomycetes, and Bacteroidetes were the dominant bacterial groups at the phylum level, while Rhizobium, Sphingomonas, and Pseudomonas were the dominant groups at the genus level, with significant difference among the three litters. After 18 months, the dominant bacterial groups in litter tended to be consistent with those in volcanic lava platform soil. In the volcanic forest ecosystem, bacterial diversity and community structure were mainly affected by P, C:N, and N:P in the litter.

Economic Development, Fiscal Ecological Compensation, and Ecological Environment Quality.

Focusing on the exploration of the important role of fiscal ecological compensation in green development, this paper incorporates fiscal ecological compensation into the analytical framework of green development. Based on samples of data from county areas in China in 2017 and 2018, this paper empirically examines the shape of the green development routes in county areas in China. On this basis, this paper explores the impact and mechanism of fiscal ecological compensation on the green development path in China. The empirical results show that there is a nonlinear, N-shaped relationship between economic development and the ecological environment in China within the range of the sample examined. Fiscal ecological compensation has a direct governance effect on the ecological environment of deterring ecological damage and providing financial compensation. Fiscal ecological compensation has an indirect impact on the ecological management of different regions by influencing economic development. Therefore, while focusing on transforming the economic development model, local governments should adopt policy instruments such as expanding the coverage of financial ecological compensation, deepening the design of the financial ecological compensation system, and systematically evaluating the effects of financial ecological compensation policies. The government should further improve and optimize the fiscal eco-compensation system in order to help China's green and high-quality development.

Ultrasound-assisted micellar cleanup coupled with large-volume-injection enrichment for the analysis of polar drugs in blood and zebrafish samples.

A novel ultrasound-assisted micellar cleanup strategy (UAMC) coupled with large volume injection (LVI) high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was proposed and successfully applied to the analysis of cefathiamidine in complex biological samples such as whole blood, plasma, serum and even zebrafish, a challenging positive real sample. Based on the micelle-biomacromolecule interaction, the phase-separation feature of surfactant micelles and ultrasound cavitation, UAMC possessed an impressive matrix cleanup capability and could rapidly reach distribution equilibrium (approximately 2 min), which enabled simultaneous sample cleanup and analyte extraction within 8 min. Due to the high cleanup efficiency of UAMC, large volume of pretreated samples could be injected for analysis without peak broadening, impurity interference and column degradation. Thus, online analyte enrichment could be automatically performed to significantly improve method sensitivity by the column-switching LVI-HPLC system, a commercial HPLC system with small modifications. The UAMC-LVI-HPLC method creatively integrated sample cleanup, analyte extraction and on-column enrichment into simple operation. In addition, the UAMC-LVI-HPLC method enabled non-matrix-matched analysis of cefathiamidine in complex biological samples. This feature was helpful to address the problems caused by conventional matrix-matched or internal standard calibration methods, such as matrix bias, increased workload, limited availability of suitable blank matrices and the use of expensive internal standards. The method had low limits of detections (e.g., 0.0051 mg/L and 0.038 µg/g), wide linear ranges (0.030-100 mg/L and 0.15-489 µg/g), good linear correlation (R2 = 0.9999), satisfactory accuracy (97.6-109.7%) and excellent intra- and interday precision (0.5-4.9%). Thus, UAMC-LVI-HPLC is expected to be a promising candidate for bioanalysis in therapeutic drug monitoring or pharmacokinetic and toxicology studies in the future.

[Effects of water levels in heterogeneous habitats on sexual reproductive allocation of Deyeuxia angustifolia.] / å¼‚è´¨ç”Ÿå¢ƒæ°´ä½å·®å¼‚å¯¹å°å¶ç« æœ‰æ€§ç¹æ®–åˆ†é çš„å½±å“.

Taking Deyeuxia angustifolia as the research object, a representative plant of wetland in Sanjiang Plain, we analyzed the variations of individual size and biomass among the habitats of swamp wetlands, swampy meadows, typical meadows and miscellaneous grass meadows, and the relationship between reproductive components and plant biomass. We explored the effects of water level on individual biomass and reproductive allocation of D. angustifolia in different types of wetlands. The results showed that plant biomass, height and the characteristics of sexual reproduction significantly decreased with the increases of water level. The reproductive thresholds of D. angustifolia in miscellaneous grass meadow, typical meadow, swampy meadow, and swamp wetland were 0.245, 0.149, 0.148 and 0.157 g, respectively. There was a significantly negative correlation between plant size and reproductive allocation in three habitats except swampy meadow. Compared with individual size, soil water content had a stronger effect on reproductive allocation of D. angustifolia. The different investment between individual size and reproductive allocation in different habitats was the basic condition that contributes to the good ecological adaptability of D. angustifolia.

Monkfish (Lophius litulon) Peptides Ameliorate High-Fat-Diet-Induced Nephrotoxicity by Reducing Oxidative Stress and Inflammation via Regulation of Intestinal Flora.

BACKGROUND: Renal damage and intestinal flora imbalance due to lipotoxicity are particularly significant in terms of oxidative stress and inflammation, which can be alleviated with bioactive peptides. The monkfish (Lophius litulon) is rich in proteins, which can be used as a source of quality bioactive peptides. This study aimed to examine the protective effect of monkfish peptides on renal injury and their potential role in regulating gut microbiota. METHODS: Monkfish meat was hydrolyzed using neutral protease and filtered, and the component with the highest elimination rate of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl was named lophius litulon peptides (LPs). Lipid nephrotoxicity was induced via high-fat diet (HFD) feeding for 8 weeks and then treated with LPs. Oxidative stress, inflammatory factors, and intestinal flora were evaluated. RESULTS: LP (200 mg/kg) therapy reduced serum creatinine, uric acid, and blood urea nitrogen levels by 49.5%, 31.6%, and 31.6%, respectively. Renal vesicles and tubules were considerably improved with this treatment. Moreover, the activities of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and total antioxidant capacity increased significantly by 198.7%, 167.9%, 61.5%, and 89.4%, respectively. LPs attenuated the upregulation of HFD-induced Toll-like receptor 4 and phospho-nuclear factor-kappa B and increased the protein levels of heme oxygenase 1, nicotinamide quinone oxidoreductase 1, and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2. The dysbiosis of intestinal microbiota improved after LP treatment. CONCLUSIONS: LPs significantly improve antioxidant activity, reduce inflammatory cytokine levels, and regulate intestinal dysbiosis. Thus, LPs are potential compounds that can alleviate HFD-induced renal lipotoxicity.

Twig biomass allocation of Betula platyphylla in different habitats in Wudalianchi Volcano, northeast China.

Understanding the response of biomass allocation in current-year twigs is crucial for elucidating the plant life-history strategies under heterogeneous volcanic habitats. We aimed to test whether twig biomass allocation, within-leaf biomass allocation, and the size-number trade-off of Betula platyphylla would be influenced. We measured twig traits of B. platyphylla in Wudalianchi volcanic kipuka, the lava platform, and Shankou lake in northeastern China using standardized major axis analyses. The results showed that the leaf number, total lamina mass (TLAM), stem mass (SM), and twig mass (TM) were significantly different between the three habitats and were greatest in kipuka with abundant soil nutrients. TLAM and SM scaled allometrically with respect to TM, while the normalization constants of the lava platform differ significantly between kipuka and Shankou lake, which showed that under certain TM, leaves gain more biomass in the lava platform. However, within the leaf, individual lamina mass (ILM) scaled isometrically with respect to individual petiole mass (IPM) in kipuka and the lava platform, but ILM scaled allometrically to IPM in Shankou lake. Our results indicated that inhabitats influenced the twig traits and biomass allocation and within-leaf biomass allocation are strategies for plants to adapt to volcanic heterogeneous habitats.

Fiscal Policy Dilemma in Resolving Agricultural Risks: Evidence from China's Agricultural Insurance Subsidy Pilot.

The agricultural insurance subsidy policy (AISP) encourages farmers to expand production scale by mitigating production risks. Under the high-input production patterns of traditional agriculture, the implementation of AISP is conducive to increase farmers' income, but it also leads to the destruction of the agricultural environment. Achieving agricultural green development (AGD) has been hindered in China. In this context, this paper attempts to analyze the impact of AISP on farmers' income and the agricultural environment. Based on the panel data of 316 prefecture-level cities from 2003 to 2012 in China, this paper empirically tests the effects of AISP by employing methods such as time-varying difference-in-difference (DID). The results show that AISP has significantly promoted the growth of farmers' incomes but has negatively impacted the agricultural environment. Furthermore, the mechanism analysis shows that the policy effects are realized by affecting the quantity of main productive fixed assets (Mpfa) and grain sown area per capita (Gsa). In addition, the policy effect is heterogeneous in different regions. Therefore, the government should appropriately raise the subsidy standard for farmers who adopt environmental-friendly production patterns. At the same time, the government should give more subsidies to the large grain-producing areas.

Nonaqueous Miscible Liquid-Liquid Electroextraction for Fast Exhaustive Enrichment of Ultratrace Analytes by an Exponential Transfer and Deceleration Mechanism.

Conventional electrical-field-assisted sample preparation (EFASP) methods rely on analyte transfer between immiscible phases and require at least one aqueous phase in contact with the electrode. In this paper, we report a novel nonaqueous miscible liquid-liquid electroextraction (NMLEE) technique that enables fast exhaustive enrichment of ultratrace analytes from a milliliter-level donor in a vial to a microliter-level acceptor in a tube. Miscible nonaqueous solvents are used for the donor and acceptor to overcome common EFASP problems such as high charge or mass transfer resistance, loss of analytes in the membrane phase, water electrolysis, back-extraction, bubble generation, and difficulties in the application of high voltage for fast migration. According to theoretical derivation and experimental verification results, the concentrations of analytes in the donor and their migration velocity in the acceptor both decrease exponentially with time, and the extraction recovery correlates linearly with the current variation. These mechanisms result in efficient enrichment by forming an analyte-enriched zone and allow the extraction progress and recovery to be monitored and estimated based on the current variation. NMLEE was coupled with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to analyze 10 amphetamine-type drugs, atropine, nortriptyline, and methadone in blood and urine samples. This method provided low limits of detection (0.003-0.1 ng·mL-1), satisfactory extraction recoveries (89.6-104.1%), and RSDs (<12.3% for intraday and <8.8% for interday), which met the requirements of the ICH guidelines. This study may contribute to the further development of EFASP methods for effective ultratrace analyses in forensic science.

Responses of soil respiration to nitrogen addition in the Sanjiang Plain wetland, northeastern China.

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that nitrogen (N) addition leads to enhanced soil respiration (SR) in nitrogen deficient marsh. Here, we report the response of SR to simulated N deposition in a temperate marsh of northeastern China from June 2009 to September 2011. The experiment included three-levels of N treatment (control: no N addition, Low-N: 4g N m-2 y-1, and High-N: 8 g N m-2 y-1). Our study showed various responses of SR to level and duration of N addition. Yearly SR was increased by 11.8%-15.2% (P<0.05) under Low-N addition during the three years, while SR showed a strong increase by 27.5% (P<0.05) in the first year and then decreased by 4.4% (P>0.05) and 15.4% (P<0.05) in the next two years under High-N addition. Soil respiration was positively correlated with soil temperature and negatively correlated with soil water content. High-N treatment reduced soil pH value (P<0.05). The negative response of SR to High-N addition in the following two years may attribute to lower microbial activity, microbial biomass and alteration in the microbial community due to lower soil pH, which consequently leads to decreased SR. Meanwhile, we found root biomass were increased under High-N addition. This implies that the increase of autotrophic respiration was lower than the decline of heterotrophic respiration in the following two years. Our findings suggest complex interactions between N deposition and SR, which is needed to be further investigated in the future studies.

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the chemical constituents in Mahuang-Fuzi-Xixin decoction based on high performance liquid chromatography combined with time-of-flight mass spectrometry and triple quadrupole mass spectrometers.

High-performance liquid chromatography coupled with time-of-flight mass spectrometry (HPLC-TOF/MS) and high-performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (HPLC-QQQ/MS/MS) were utilized to clarify the chemical constituents of Mahuang-Fuzi-Xixin Decoction. There are 52 compounds, including alkaloids, amino acids and organic acids were identified or tentatively characterized by their characteristic high resolution mass data by HPLC-QQQ/MS/MS. In the subsequent quantitative analysis, 10 constituents, including methyl ephedrine, aconine, songrine, fuziline, neoline, talatisamine, chasmanine, benzoylmesaconine, benzoylaconine and benzoylhypaconine were simultaneously determined by HPLC-QQQ/MS/MS with multiple reaction monitoring mode. Satisfactory linearity was achieved with wide linear range and fine determination coefficient (r > 0.9992). The relative standard deviations (RSD) of inter- and intra-day precisions were <3%. This method was also validated by repeatability, stability and recovery with RSD <3% respectively. A highly sensitive and efficient method was established for chemical constituents studying, including identification and quantification of Mahuang-Fuzi-Xixin decoction.