Research on rural tourism environment perception based on grounded theory A case study of Beishan Village, Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, China.

Drawing upon its regional culture, natural landscapes, and architectural features, Beishan Village in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, has forged a distinctive rural development model that combines an industrial park with tourism. While this approach has catalyzed rural progress, it also encounters numerous complex practical challenges. Utilizing the grounded theory method, this study employs participatory observation, in-depth interviews, and network data analysis to investigate the perspectives of three key stakeholder groups: villagers, tourists, and resident merchants. A model is constructed to capture their environmental perceptions of rural tourism. Based on an analysis of network and interview textual data, as well as the influencing factors identified through the theoretical model, this study proposes several optimization strategies. These include enhancing infrastructure development, cultivating a regional brand culture, strengthening the institutional management framework, establishing a rural sharing economy platform, and introducing digital tours. These strategies are designed to refine and enhance Beishan Village's development model, offering insights for similar villages and advancing the integration of beautiful China initiatives with urban and rural development efforts.

Research on the Identification Mechanism of Coal Gangue Based on the Differences of Mineral Components.

For coal and gangue, intelligent sorting processes for separation, the use of coal and gangue mineral components with different fundamental differences, and the study of different properties of minerals and coal with different scales and density regarding the gray value change law are presented. The results show that the gray value of single minerals and mixed minerals gradually decreases with the increase of their thickness and density. The greater the density of minerals, the smaller the gray value at the same thickness, and the same rule applies to different coal ranks. Via regression analysis methods, the values of the regression equation parameter a of pure minerals for graphite, quartz, kaolinite, and montmorillonite are 59.25, 65.69, 61.61, and 58.02 in the high-energy region, respectively. In the low-energy region, they are 174.95, 177.31, 186.95, and 161.81. For the regression equation parameter of mixed minerals in the form of two mixed minerals (graphite and quartz, kaolinite, or montmorillonite) and three kinds of mineral mixing (graphite-kaolinite and quartz; graphite-montmorillonite and quartz; graphite-kaolinite and montmorillonite), the gray values are 151.12, 156.00, 153.13,152.43, 152.98, and 151.98 in the high-energy region, respectively; in the low-energy region, they are 193.34, 201.34, 192.93, 191.26, 194.68, and 193.08. The phenomenon for the gray range of two kinds of single minerals locates in the range of mixed minerals that was formed from a single mineral observed after the regression equation of mixed mineral was verified by a single mineral, which agrees with the X-ray recognition pattern. In the end, as the density of coking coal, fat coal, and gas coal increases, the gray value decreases, which was in agreement with single- and mixed-mineral analyses.

Complete mitochondrial genome and phylogenetic analysis of Ixodes acutitarsus (Acari: Ixodidae).

Ixodes acutitarsus is regarded as the largest Ixodes tick around the world. I. acutitarsus is capable to transmit a wide range of animal and human pathogens. This research pioneered sequencing of the complete mitochondrial genome of I. acutitarsus. With a length of 14,475 bp, the complete mitochondrial genome encodes 13 protein-coding genes (PCGs), two ribosomal RNA genes (rRNAs), 22 transfer RNA genes (tRNAs), and one replication-initiating region. The phylogenetic relationship was established using the Maximum-likelihood method to indicate that I. acutitarsus and the others of the genus Ixodes fit into the same branch, which confirms the inclusion of I. acutitarsus in the genus Ixodes. The complete mitogenome of sequenced I. acutitarsus provides molecular evidence for the taxonomic status and phylogenetic position of several Ixodes species.

ACE2 overexpressing mesenchymal stem cells alleviates COVID-19 lung injury by inhibiting pyroptosis.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have shown some efficacy in the COVID-19 treatment. We proposed that exogenous supplementation of ACE2 via MSCs (ACE2-MSCs) might have better therapeutic effects. We constructed SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein stably transfected AT-II and Beas-2B cells and used SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudovirus to infect hACE2 transgenic mice. The results showed that spike glycoprotein transfection triggers the release of apoptotic bodies and formation of membrane pores in pyroptosis. Inflammatory factors and pyroptosis factors were highly upregulated by spike glycoprotein transfection. SARS-CoV-2 spike pseudovirus worsened lung injury and increased the main factors of cytokine storm and pyroptosis. Compared to using MSCs or rh-ACE2 alone, the administration of ACE2-MSCs could significantly reduce these factors better and alleviate lung injury in vivo and in vitro, which might be because of the increased activities of secretory ACE2. Our proposal is a promising therapeutic solution for preclinical or clinical research.

Occurrence of brackish water phytoplankton species at a closed coral reef in Nansha Islands, South China Sea.

The phytoplankton assemblage of Zhubi Reef, a closed coral reef in Nansha Islands (South China Sea, SCS) was studied in June 2007. A total of 92 species belonging to 53 genera and four phyla have been identified. The dominant taxa in the lagoon were the diatom Chaetoceros and cyanobacteria Nostoc and Microcystis, while in reef flats were cyanobacteria Trichodesmium erythraeum, dinoflagellates Gymnodinium and Prorocentrum. The species richness and diversity were consistently lower in the lagoon than in reef flats. Classification and nMDS ordination also revealed significant dissimilarity in phytoplankton community structure between the reef flat and lagoon, with statistical difference in species composition and abundance between them (ANOSIM, p=0.025). Nutrient concentrations also spatially varied, with ammonium-enrichment in the lagoon, while high Si-concentration existed in reef flat areas. Both nutrient levels and currents in SCS may play important roles in determining the composition and distribution of microalgae in Zhubi Reef and SCS.

Variation of phytoplankton biomass and primary production in Daya Bay during spring and summer.

Environmental factors, phytoplankton biomass (Chl a) and primary production of two water areas in Daya Bay (Dapeng'ao Bay and Aotou Bay) were investigated during the transition period from spring to summer. Chl a ranged from 3.20 to 13.62 and 13.43 to 26.49 mg m(-3) in Dapeng'ao Bay and Aotou Bay respectively, if data obtained during red tides are excluded. Primary production varied between 239.7 and 1001.4 mg Cm(-2) d(-1) in Dapeng'ao Bay. The regional distribution of Chl a and primary production were mostly consistent from spring to summer in both bays. Seasonal transition characters have been found in Daya Bay from spring to summer, including high values of DO, nitrate and silicate. Size structures of phytoplankton and its primary production do not change very much from spring to summer, with micro-phytoplankton dominating and contributing about 50% of the whole. In Daya Bay, phytoplankton is limited by nitrogen in spring, and by phosphate in summer. Artificial impacts are evident from high temperature effluent from nuclear power stations, aquaculture and sewage. During the investigation, a red tide occurred in Aotou Bay, with a maximum Chl a of 103.23 mgm(-3) at surface and primary production of 2721.9 mg Cm(-2) d(-1) in the red tide center. Raised water temperature and nutrient supply from land-sources help to stimulate annual red tides.