Unravelling the influence and mechanism of agricultural inputs on rural poverty vulnerability: Evidence from China.

Agricultural inputs have a significant catabatic effect on rural poverty at present. However, few studies have assessed whether agricultural inputs inhibit the intending probability of being vulnerable to rural poverty, referred to as poverty vulnerability. Poverty vulnerability studies, which focus on the likeli-hood of poverty among households in the future, have forward-looking and prognostic features in poverty research. Such research provides essential tools for describing mechanisms that can eradicate poverty. This study investigates the impact of agricultural inputs on rural poverty vulnerability and the mechanisms of action, using data from the 2015 China Household Finance Survey (CHFS). The empirical results show that agricultural inputs significantly suppress the probability of rural poverty vulnerability. The results hold after replacing the poverty criterion, poverty vulnerability criterion, and core explanatory variables. To overcome the endogeneity problem created by possible reverse cau-sality and omitted variables in the baseline model, this study uses the instrumental variables method to test endogeneity. The study also applies a treatment effects model and propensity score matching method to estimate and address any endogeneity problems due to explanatory variables. The findings also remain robust and significant after addressing the endogeneity problem. Further analyses indicate that the inhibitive effect of agricultural inputs on rural poverty vulnerability is mainly achieved through increased agricultural yields, improved physical health, and increased opportunities for entre-preneurial behavior. A heterogeneity analysis finds that the inhibitive effect of agricultural inputs on poverty vulnerability is more pronounced in Midwest China, in households with physically healthy household heads, and in families whose leaders have risk preferences. Our findings provide empirical evidence that can help inform forward-looking and prognostic policies for developing countries when formulating anti-poverty strategies.

Publicity governance in contingency management during the COVID-19 pandemic in China: A "Government-Society" perspective.

BACKGROUND: Publicity is a common form of governance in government and is even more important in contingency management, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Publicity has two sides, the main body of publicity is led by the government, the object of publicity is the response to the public. So, publicity exists in the "government-society" field. Our aim was to find out how governments have been able to achieve effective publicity in the COVID-19 and to promote the active participation of society in governance. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We adopted a case study approach. Taking Chongqing Municipality as an example, we collected 201 messages from five forms of publicity, including cell phone SMS, village (community) broadcast, publicity placards or banners, official websites, and government media platforms during the period of 2020-2021, and described and analyzed the publicity content of different forms of publicity. RESULTS: During the whole period of the COVID-19, the publicity governance under contingency management showed the characteristics of focusing on administrative efficiency, social efficiency and post-social efficiency, and showed specific publicity governance functions such as mobilization and control, education and clarification, cultivation of public consciousness and shaping government credibility. CONCLUSIONS: Publicity governance in contingency management during the COVID-19 pandemic emphasizes three effective approaches: time synchronization, organizational scale, and interaction among multiple advocacy agents. This can extend the existing government-centered research to the level of interaction between the government and society, and help the government to better use effective publicity to achieve the governance task under contingency management.

The welfare effects of impoverished rural areas: Review and research prospects.

The relationship between rural poverty and welfare effects is a significant social issue, as poor areas face challenges like fragile livelihoods, nutritional imbalances, and inadequate policy regulation. Studying welfare effects in impoverished rural areas is vital for addressing capability poverty and achieving the United Nations SDGs. This study examines three decades of research, using a quantitative literature analysis and traditional literature review. It identifies three research characteristics: focus on poverty and inequality, the impact of rural vulnerability on welfare effects, and farm households' higher psychological needs. Research encompasses four key areas: theoretical research, measurement of welfare effects, factors influencing welfare effects, and strategies for improvement. Future research should link welfare policies to enhance rural nutrition, clarify rural-community interactions, and improve subject relations to boost overall welfare.

Texting in a crisis-using SMS for information and emotional support during COVID-19: A mixed methods research study.

In the era of new media, short message service (SMS) is no longer seen as advantageous and it is no longer used very much by the Chinese public. However, as a traditional media, local governments managing public health crises used SMS as a way of meeting the public's need for emotional support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our study examined 108 SMS texts pushed to phones in Chongqing between January and December 2020, and carried out in-depth interviews with ten interviewees. This mixed research method of descriptive and grounded theory analysis was designed to investigate how SMS was used to communicate prevention guidelines and give emotional support during COVID-19. The results show that Chongqing Municipal Health and Health Commission gained the public's attention with SMS messages consisting of neutral, objective advice, and guidance to reduce people's anxiety and panic. However, with the stabilization of COVID-19, SMS has once again been discarded by users, including the public health sector. The study found that the emotional support offered by SMS was limited to the elderly, a subset of the population considered to be weak users of the internet. SMS has been replaced by other technologies, but along with other media, such as official media and social media, it has shaped the media communication environment and served as an emotional support channel for the public. Undoubtedly,the use of SMS during COVID-19 presents a research opportunity for exploring its capacity for prevention, control and emotional support.

Recombinant unpurified rETXH106P/ CTB-rETXY196E protects rabbits against Clostridium perfringens epsilon toxin.

Epsilon toxin (ETX), produced by Clostridium perfringens types B and D, has been touted as a potential biological weapon and is known to induce fatal enterotoxemia in a variety of livestock animals. For the efficient production of recombinant proteins with the objective of investigating the effects of different recombinant vaccines against ETX, a bicistronic design (BCD) expression system including the ETX coding sequence with mutation of amino acid 106 from Histidine to Proline (ETXH106P) in the first cistron, followed by Cholera Toxin B (CTB) linked with the ETX coding sequence with mutation of amino acid 196 from Tyrosine to Glutamic acid (ETXY196E) in the second cistron, was generated under the control of a single promoter. Rabbits were immunized twice with five inactivated recombinant Escherichia coli (E. coli) vaccines containing 100 µg/ml of the recombinant mutant rETXH106P/CTB-rETXY196E proteins mixed with different adjuvants. Apart from rETXH106P/CTB-rETXY196E-IMS1313-vaccinated rabbits, the neutralizing antibody titers of rETXH106P/CTB-rETXY196E-vaccinated rabbits were higher after the initial immunization than those administered the ETX toxoid or current commercial vaccines. rETXH106P/CTB-rETXY196E mixed with ISA201 induced the highest neutralizing antibody titer of 120 after the first immunization, suggesting that 0.1 ml of pooled sera could neutralize 120× mouse LD100 (100% lethal dose) of ETX. Following the second vaccination, rETXH106P/CTB-rETXY196E mixed with ISA201 or GR208 produced the highest neutralizing titer of 800. Rabbits from all vaccinated groups were completely protected from a 2× rabbit LD100 of ETX challenge. These results show that these novel recombinant proteins can induce a strong immune response and represent potential targets for the development of a commercial vaccine against the C. perfringens epsilon toxin.

Immunization of rabbits with recombinant Clostridium perfringens alpha toxins CPA-C and CTB-CPA-C in a bicistronic design expression system confers strong protection against challenge.

The Clostridium perfringens alpha toxin (CPA), encoded by the plc gene, is the causative pathogen of gas gangrene, which is a lethal infection. In this study, we used an E. coli system for the efficient production of recombinant proteins and developed a bicistronic design (BCD) expression construct consisting of two copies of the C-terminal (247-370) domain of the alpha toxin (CPA-C) in the first cistron, followed by Cholera Toxin B (CTB) linked with another two copies of CPA-C in the second cistron that is controlled by a single promoter. Rabbits were immunized twice with purified proteins (rCPA-C rCTB-CPA-C) produced in the BCD expression system, with an inactivated recombinant E. coli vaccine (RE), C. perfringens formaldehyde-inactivated alpha toxoid (FA-CPA) and C. perfringensl-lysine/formaldehyde alpha toxoid (LF-CPA) vaccines. Following the second vaccination, 0.1 mL of pooled sera of the RE-vaccinated rabbits could neutralize 12× mouse LD100 (100% lethal dose) of CPA, while that of the rCPA-C rCTB-CPA-C-vaccinated rabbits could neutralize 6× mouse LD100 of CPA. Antibody titers against CPA were also assessed by ELISA, reaching titers as high as 1:2048000 in the RE group; this was significantly higher compared to the C. perfringens alpha toxoid vaccinated groups (FA-CPA and LF-CPA). Rabbits from all vaccinated groups were completely protected from a 2× rabbit LD100 of CPA challenge. These results demonstrate that the recombinant proteins are able to induce a strong immune responses, indicating that they may be potentially utilized as targets for novel vaccines specifically against the C. perfringens alpha toxin.

Short hairpin RNA-mediated gene silencing of ADAM17 inhibits the growth of breast cancer MCF­7 cells in vitro and in vivo and its mechanism of action.

A disintegrin and metalloprotease 17 (ADAM17) is highly expressed in many malignant tumors and is closely related to their development. We showed in a previous study that silencing of ADAM17 by siRNA inhibited the growth of MCF­7 breast cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. In the present study, we investigated the effects of ADAM17-short hairpin RNA (ADAM17­shRNA) on MCF­7 breast cancer cells and explored the potential action pathway. In vitro, transfection of shRNAs was performed using a lentivirus, and the effects of ADAM17­shRNA on invasion, proliferation and cell cycle distribution of MCF­7 cells were assessed by Boyden chamber method, real­time cell analysis and flow cytometry, respectively. In vivo, MCF­7 cells with different administrations were transplanted subcutaneously into nude mice, and the effect of ADAM17­shRNA on the growth of transplanted tumors was assessed. In addition, the morphological structures were observed by H&E staining, and the expression of ADAM17 and Ki­67 was assessed by immunohistochemistry; expression of ADAM17, EGFR, p­EGFR, AKT, p­AKT, ERK and p­ERK proteins was assessed by western blotting, respectively. Our data showed that ADAM17­shRNA successfully inhibited ADAM17 mRNA expression, invasion and proliferation of MCF­7 cells resulting in G0/G1 phase arrest, and significantly inhibited the growth of transplanted tumors with larger areas of necrosis, low expression of ADAM17 and Ki-67 and reduced protein expression of ADAM17, EGFR, p­EGFR, AKT, p­AKT, ERK, and p­ERK in the tumor tissues. The present research suggests that ADAM17­shRNA can inhibit MCF­7 cell invasion and proliferation in vitro and inhibit MCF­7 xenograft growth in vivo through the EGFR/PI3K/AKT and EGFR/MEK/ERK signaling pathways.

Solution-processed new porphyrin-based small molecules as electron donors for highly efficient organic photovoltaics.

A series of unsymmetrical π-conjugated small molecules have been constructed from meso-alkyl substituted porphyrins as the central unit and 3-ethylrhodanine as the terminal group. Using PC71BM as an acceptor, and these small molecules as electron donors in solution-processed bulk-heterojunction solar cells, a high power conversion efficiency of 6.49% has been achieved.

[Chemical constituents from the aerial part of Stauntonia obovatifoliola Hayata subsp. urophylla].

OBJECTIVE: To study the chemical constituents of the aerial part of Stauntonia obovatifoliola. METHODS: The chemical constituents of ethyl acetate fraction were isolated and purified by several chromatography. Their structures were elucidated by their physiochemical properties and spectral methods. RESULTS: Six known compounds were isolated and identified as lupeone(1), lupeol(2), stigmasterol(3),3beta-O-acetyloleanolic acid(4), resinone(5) and daucosterol(6). CONCLUSION: Compounds 1-6 are isolated from this plant for the first time.