Coupled relationships between landscape pattern and ecosystem health in response to urbanization.

Rapid urbanization has highlighted ecological problems in the metropolitan area, with increasing landscape fragmentation and severe threats to ecosystem health (EH). Studying the spatio-temporal coupled relationship between landscape pattern and EH and its response to urbanization in the Fuzhou metropolitan area (FMA) can provide scientific reference for its long-term development planning. We examined the coupled relationship between landscape pattern and EH and its driving mechanism in the FMA at grid and township scales to address the gap. The results show that landscape heterogeneity, diversity, and dispersion are gradually increasing, and EH is rising progressively in the FMA from 2000 to 2020. The spatial distribution of landscape pattern indices and EH indicators showed a "high in the south and low in the north" trend. During the study period, the coupled relationship between landscape patterns and EH was increasingly powerful but with remarkable spatial heterogeneity. The study also found an inverted U-shaped relationship between urbanization and coupled relationships. Ecological landscapes' heterogeneity, diversity, and connectivity in low-urbanization areas are conducive to EH. The opposite is true for high-urbanization areas. This study provides a valuable reference for optimizing landscape planning and ecological management in metropolitan areas.

Rapid one-pot isothermal amplification reassembled of fluorescent RNA aptamer for SARS-CoV-2 detection.

The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 poses a serious threat to human life and health. A rapid nucleic acid tests can effectively curb the spread of the disease. With the advantages of fluorescent RNA aptamers, low background and high sensitivity. A variety of fluorescent RNA aptamer sensors have been developed for the detection of nucleic acid. Here, we report a hypersensitive detection platform in which SARS-CoV-2 initiates RTF-EXPAR to amplify trigger fragments. This activation leads to the reassembled of the SRB2 fluorescent RNA aptamer, restoring its secondary structure for SR-DN binding and turn-on fluorescence. The platform completes the assay in 30 min and all reactions occur in one tube. The detection limit is as low as 116 aM. Significantly, the platform's quantitative analyses were almost identical to qPCR results in simulated tests of positive samples. In conclusion, the platform is sensitive, accurate and provides a new protocol for point-of-care testing of viruses.

[Discussion on discipline of herbalism].

Since the emergence of the term "materia medica", scholars have proposed different opinions on its concept. This term has been used to refer to traditional Chinese medicines, or medical books, or traditional pharmacology. Due to the differences in the concept of materia medica, scholars also have controversies about the concept of herbalism. Herbalism is usually understood as traditional Chinese pharmacology. After years of evolution, the term "herbalism" has now possessed the characteristics of an independent discipline, which can be defined as an applied basic discipline that comprehensively utilizes traditional and modern technological methods to study the formation, development, and changes of traditional pharmacology and reveal the basic theories and application laws of traditional medicine. At present, the research content of herbalism mainly includes three aspects: materia medica history, materia medica literature, and traditional pharmacology. This study explores the disciplinary concepts and main research content of herbalism based on a systematic review of the literature about the concepts of materia medica and herbalism, with the aim of attracting more attention to promote the establishment and development of the discipline of herbalism.