Age-specific disparity in life loss per death attributable to ambient temperature: A nationwide time-series study in China.

Age-specific discrepancy of mortality burden attributed to temperature, measured as years of life lost (YLL), has been rarely investigated. We investigated age-specific temperature-YLL rates (per 100,000) relationships and quantified YLL per death caused by non-optimal temperature in China. We collected daily meteorological data, population data and daily death counts from 364 locations in China during 2006-2017. YLL was divided into three age groups (0-64 years, 65-74 years, and ≥75 years). A distributed lag non-linear model was first employed to estimate the associations of temperature with age-specific YLL rates in each location. Then we pooled the associations using a multivariate meta-analysis. Finally, we calculated age-specific average YLL per death caused by temperature by cause of death and region. We observed greater effects of cold and hot temperature on YLL rates for the elderly compared with the young population by region or cause of death. However, YLL per death due to non-optimal temperature for different regions or causes of death decreased with age, with 2.0 (95 % CI:1.5, 2.5), 1.2 (1.1, 1.4) and 1.0 years (0.9, 1.2) life loss per death for populations aged 0-64 years, 65-74 years and over 75 years, respectively. Most life loss per death results from moderate temperature, especially moderate cold for all age groups. The effect of non-optimal temperature on YLL rates is smaller for younger populations than older ones, while the temperature-related life loss per death was more prominent for younger populations.

Comparison of life loss per death attributable to ambient temperature among various development regions: a nationwide study in 364 locations in China.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have investigated the associations between ambient temperature and years of life lost (YLLs), but few focused on the difference of life loss attributable to temperature among different socioeconomic development levels. OBJECTIVES: We investigated the disparity in temperature-YLL rate relationships and life loss per death attributable to nonoptimal temperature in regions with various development levels. METHODS: Three hundred sixty-four Chinese counties or districts were classified into 92 high-development regions (HDRs) and 272 low-development regions (LDRs) according to socioeconomic factors of each location using K-means clustering approach. We used distributed lag non-linear models (DLNM) and multivariate meta-analysis to estimate the temperature-YLL rate relationships. We calculated attributable fraction (AF) of YLL and temperature-related average life loss per death to compare mortality burden of temperature between HDRs and LDRs. Stratified analyses were conducted by region, age, sex and cause of death. RESULTS: We found that non-optimal temperatures increased YLL rates in both HDRs and LDRs, but all subgroups in LDRs were more vulnerable. The disparity of cold effects between HDRs and LDRs was significant, while the difference in heat effect was insignificant. The overall AF of non-optimal temperature in LDRs [AF = 12.2, 95% empirical confidence interval (eCI):11.0-13.5%] was higher than that in HDRs (AF = 8.9, 95% eCI: 8.3-9.5%). Subgroups analyses found that most groups in LDRs had greater AFs than that in HDRs. The average life loss per death due to non-optimal temperature in LDRs (1.91 years, 95% eCI: 1.72-2.10) was also higher than that in HDRs (1.32 years, 95% eCI: 1.23-1.41). Most of AFs and life loss per death were caused by moderate cold in both HDRs and LDRs. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality burden caused by temperature was more significant in LDRs than that in HDRs, which means that more attention should be paid to vulnerable populations in LDRs in planning adaptive strategies.

Assembly and comparative analysis of complete mitochondrial genome sequence of an economic plant Salix suchowensis.

Willow is a widely used dioecious woody plant of Salicaceae family in China. Due to their high biomass yields, willows are promising sources for bioenergy crops. In this study, we assembled the complete mitochondrial (mt) genome sequence of S. suchowensis with the length of 644,437 bp using Roche-454 GS FLX Titanium sequencing technologies. Base composition of the S. suchowensis mt genome is A (27.43%), T (27.59%), C (22.34%), and G (22.64%), which shows a prevalent GC content with that of other angiosperms. This long circular mt genome encodes 58 unique genes (32 protein-coding genes, 23 tRNA genes and 3 rRNA genes), and 9 of the 32 protein-coding genes contain 17 introns. Through the phylogenetic analysis of 35 species based on 23 protein-coding genes, it is supported that Salix as a sister to Populus. With the detailed phylogenetic information and the identification of phylogenetic position, some ribosomal protein genes and succinate dehydrogenase genes are found usually lost during evolution. As a native shrub willow species, this worthwhile research of S. suchowensis mt genome will provide more desirable information for better understanding the genomic breeding and missing pieces of sex determination evolution in the future.

The complete chloroplast genome sequence of an economic plant Coffea canephora.

Coffea canephora is a paramount economic plant with great economic value. The complete chloroplast (cp) genome is 154,751 bp in length, including a large single copy (LSC) region of 84,850 bp, a small single copy (SSC) region of 18,131 bp and a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) of 25,885bp. This cp genome contains 131 genes, comprising of 86 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNAs and 8 rRNAs. The majority of these genes were single copy genes, while 18 genes existed as double copies, including 6 protein-coding genes (ndhB, rpl2, rpl23, rps12, rps7 and ycf2), 8 tRNA genes (trnA-UGC, trnG-GCC, trnI-CAU, trnI-GAU, trnL-CAA, trnN-GUU, trnR-ACG and trnV-GAC) and 4 rRNA genes (rrn4.5, rrn5, rrn16 and rrn23). A neighbour-joining phylogenetic tree was reconstructed to indicate that Coffea canephora is evolutionarily close to Olea europaea within Asterids. The complete cp genome will provide intragenic information for molecular phylogeny and biological studies of the Rubiales.