The popularization of financial literacy has become a global trend, with governments across the world expressing commitment to continuously enhancing the financial literacy of their citizens to improve the country's overall financial well-being. However, there is a lack of research evaluating the actual effects of financial literacy on Chinese households. This study first investigated the micro impact of financial literacy on the household stock profit level using data from the 2019 China Household Finance Survey. As most existing studies use factor analysis to measure financial literacy from a single dimension of financial knowledge, our study additionally used the entropy method to construct a composite evaluation system of financial literacy from four dimensions: financial skills, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors. The ordinary least squares model was utilized as the primary regression model to estimate the correlation, and the average financial literacy of other households in the same community was selected as an instrumental variable. Further instrumental variable regression analysis was conducted using the two-stage least squares method. Three robustness tests were performed to ensure the reliability of the research findings. The results demonstrate that financial literacy significantly enhances household stock profit levels. The mediation effect analysis indicates that financial literacy affects stock profit levels through financial information attention. Moreover, financial literacy has a more substantial promoting effect on stock profit levels for households with members working for state-owned enterprises and those living in first-tier cities. This study confirms the value of financial literacy; identifies important channels for residents to increase their property income; and provides important guidance for the government, educational organizations, and financial institutions. This also injects more vigor into market participation to improve the persistently sluggish Chinese stock market.
With the rapid development and widespread popularity of the Internet, employee social media use at work has become an increasingly common phenomenon in organizations. This paper analyzes 105 related papers from the Social Science Citation Index in Web of Science through Scoping Review to clarify the definition and characteristics of employee social media use and the types of social media and summarizes the current research methods. Then, the reasons for employees' willingness and refusal to use social media and the positive and negative effects of employee social media use on employees' work attitudes, behaviors, and performance are discussed. Then, the mediating variables, moderating variables, and theoretical frameworks used in the relevant studies are described, and a comprehensive model of employee social media use is constructed. Finally, this paper indicates future research directions based on the latest research results in 2020-2022, i.e., improving research methods, increasing antecedent studies, expanding consequence research, and expanding mediating variables, moderating variables, and theoretical perspectives.
Prepared dishes are popular convenience foods that meet the needs of consumers who pursue delicious tastes while saving time and effort. As a new technology, food 3D printing (also known as food additive manufacturing technology) has great advantage in the production of personalized food. Applying food 3D printing technology in the production of prepared dishes provides the solution to microbial contamination, poor nutritional quality and product standardization. This review summarizes the problems faced by the prepared dishes industry in traditional food processing, and introduces the characteristics of prepared dishes and 3D printing technology. Food additives are suitable for 3D prepared dishes and novel 3D printing technologies are also included in this review. In addition, the challenges and possible solutions of the application of food 3D printing technology in the field of prepared dishes are summarized and explored. Food additives with advantages in heat stability, low temperature protection and bacteriostasis help to accelerate the application of 3D printing in prepared dishes industry. The combination of 3D printing technology with heat-assisted sources (microwave, laser) and non-heat-assisted sources (electrolysis, ultrasound) provides the possibility for the development of customized prepared dishes in the future, and also promotes more 3D food printing technologies for commercial use. It is noteworthy that these technologies are still at research stage, and there are challenges for the formulation design, the stability of printed ink storage, as well as implementation of customized nutrition for the elderly and children.
To encourage the building of a development route for ecological civilization construction which commensurates with China's unique national conditions, early demonstration and pilot ecological civilization zones should be built. This study aims to investigate the effects of ecological civilization construction policies on regional total factor productivity, green total factor productivity, and the methods of action by using panel data from 30 provinces in Mainland China from 2005 to 2020. Our findings indicate that the pilot eco-civilization policies have a more significant effect on the promotion of green total factor production, while the effect on total factor productivity is average. Furthermore, the main purpose of the ecological civilization construction pilot is to improve the level of green innovation, optimise the industrial structure and promote the allocation of factors to achieve a win-win situation for regional economic development and green benefits. Moreover, under different levels of economic growth, the pilot eco-civilization policies have a more significant effect on the promotion of green total factor at various stages of economic growth and industrialization. There are also clear discrepancies in how well ecological civilization construction programmes are implemented. Thus, in order to support high-quality regional economic development, it is crucial to continue to advance and promote the pilot eco-civilization initiatives.
Blooms of the harmful dinoflagellate Akashiwo sanguinea are responsible for the mass mortality of fish and invertebrates in coastal waters. This cosmopolitan species includes several genetically differentiated clades. Four clonal cultures were established by isolating single cells from Xiamen Harbour (the East China Sea) for morphological and genetic analyses. The cultures displayed identical morphology but were genetically different, thus revealing presence of cryptic diversity in the study area. New details of the apical structure complex of Akashiwo sanguinea were also found. To investigate whether the observed cryptic diversity was related to environmental differentiation, 634 cells were obtained from seasonal water samples collected from 2008 to 2012. These cells were sequenced by single-cell PCR. For comparison with Chinese material, additional large subunit ribosomal DNA sequences were obtained for three established strains from Malaysian and French waters. To examine potential ecological differentiation of the distinct genotypes, growth responses of the studied strains were tested under laboratory conditions at temperatures of 12°C to 33°C. These experiments showed four distinct ribotypes of A. sanguinea globally, with the ribotypes A and B co-occuring in Xiamen Harbour. Ribotype A of A. sanguinea was present year-round in Xiamen Harbour, but it only bloomed in the winter and spring, thus corresponding to the winter type. In contrast, A. sanguinea ribotype B bloomed only in the summer, corresponding to the summer type. This differentiation supports the temperature optimum conditions that were established for these two ribotypes in the laboratory. Ribotype A grew better at lower temperatures compared to ribotype B which preferred higher temperatures. These findings support the idea that various ribotypes of A. sanguinea correspond to distinct ecotypes and allopatric speciation occurred in different climatic regions followed by dispersal.
Nowadays, a growing number of microplastics are released into the environment due to the extensive use and inappropriate management of plastic products. With the increasing body of evidence about the pollution and hazards of microplastics, microplastics have drawn major attention from governments and the scientific community. As a kind of emerging and persistent environmental pollutants, microplastics have recently been detected on a variety of substrates in the world. Therefore, this paper reviews the recent progress in identifying the sources of microplastics in soil, water, and atmosphere and describing the transport and fate of microplastics in the terrestrial, aquatic and atmospheric ecosystems for revealing the circulation of microplastics in the ecosystem. In addition, considering the persistence of microplastics, this study elucidates the interactions of microplastics with other pollutants in the environment (i.e., organic pollutants, heavy metals) with emphasis on toxicity and accumulation, providing a novel insight into the ecological risks of microplastics in the environment. The negative impacts of microplastics on organisms and environmental health are also reviewed to reveal the environmental hazards of microplastics. The knowledge gaps and key research priorities of microplastics are identified to better understand and mitigate the environmental risks of microplastics.
Styphnolobium japonicum (L.) Schott (family Fabaceae Juss.) also called pagoda tree, is widely planted in northern China in landscape plantings, for erosion control and forestry. In recent years, symptoms of branch dieback were observed on S. japonicum in the southern part of Xinjiang province, China. From 2019 to 2022, in total ca. 1000 ha area was surveyed in Korla (41.68°N, 86.06°E), Bohu (41.95°N, 86.53°E) and Alaer (41.15°N, 80.29°E). Typical symptoms were observed in 70% of the surveyed branches. To identify the cause, we collected 50 symptomatic branches. Symptoms were initially observed on green current-year twigs, which turned grayish white in color. In the later stages of disease development, a large number of nacked black conidia formed under epidermis of perennial branches, causing visible black protrusions (pycnidia) on branch surface. The disease occurred throughout the entire growing season of S. japonicum. Symptoms also occurred on the inflorescence, fruit, and twigs. In some cases, infection resulted in tree mortality. Isolations were made from the margin between healthy and diseased tissues. Small pieces were excised, surface disinfested (75% ethanol 30 s, 1% NaClO solution 5 mins), cut into pieces (5 to 10 mm2), and incubated on PDA medium at 28℃ for 3 days. A total of 16 isolates (GH01-GH16) with similar colony morphology were obtained. The colonies were initially white, gradually turning to olive-green on the surface and black on the underside after 7 days. Microscopically, the conidia were aseptate, 1-septate, two-septate, and muriform, 2.6-4.5 × 2.9-27.6 μm (n=50). Pycnidia ranged in size from 120.2 to 135.5 × 112.4 to 118.6 µm (n=20). Those morphological characters matched the descriptions of Neoscytalidium dimidiatum (previously N. novaehollandiae) (Alizadeh et al. 2022; Pavlic et al. 2008). For molecular identification, genomic DNA of GH01-GH16 were extracted from fresh mycelia. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS), large subunit ribosomal RNA gene (LSU), and translation elongation factor 1-alpha (EF1-α) gene were amplified using the primer sets ITS1/ITS4 (White 1990), LRoR/LR5 (Vilgalys and Hester 1990) and EF1-728F/EF1-986R (Carbone and Kohn 1999). The sequences were deposited in GenBank (accession No. OP379832, OQ096643-OQ096657 for ITS, OP389048, OQ127403-OQ127417 for LSU, and OQ136617, OQ586044-OQ586058 for EF1-α). The ITS sequence had 100% identity (505/505 bp) to MT362600. Similarly, the LSU and EF1-α sequences were found to be identical to MW883823 (100%, 821/821 bp) and KX464763(99%, 256/258 bp), respectively. Pathogenicity was tested on one-year-old healthy S. japonicum seedlings. Spores of representative isolate GH01 were produced on PDA by incubating for 7-days at 28℃. Conidia were washed with sterile water. Five trees were inoculated with 1 × 106 conidia/ml conidial suspensions and five trees were sprayed with sterile water. All trees were covered with plastic bags for 24 h and kept at 25°C in a greenhouse. Signs and symptoms were similar to those observed in field collections one month after inoculation, while no symptoms occurred on the controls. The original fungus was successfully reisolated from the inoculated trees and was identified as N. dimidiatum following the methods described above. N. dimidiatum has been reported in many Asian country such as Malaysia, India, Turkey, and Iran(Akgül et al. 2019; Alizadeh et al. 2022; Khoo et al. 2023; Salunkhe et al. 2023). To our knowledge, this is the first report of N. dimidiatum associated with branch dieback of S. japonicum in China. Our findings have expanded the host range of N. dimidiatum in China and provides a theoretical basis for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
The large yield of anaerobic digestates and the suboptimal efficacy of nutrient slow-release severely limit its practical application. To address these issues, a new biochar based fertilizer (MAP@BRC) was developed using biogas residue biochar (BRC) to recover nitrogen and phosphorus from biogas slurry. The nutrient release patterns of MAP@BRC and mechanisms for enhancing soil fertility were studied, and it demonstrated excellent performance, with 59% total nitrogen and 50% total phosphorus nutrient release rates within 28 days. This was attributed to the coupling of the mechanism involving the dissolution of struvite skeletons and the release of biochar pores. Pot experiments showed that crop yield and water productivity were doubled in the MAP@BRC group compared with unfertilized planting. The application of MAP@BRC also improved soil nutrient levels, reduced soil acidification, increased microbial populations, and decreased soil heavy metal pollution risk. The key factors that contributed to the improvement in soil fertility by MAP@BRC were an increase in available nitrogen and the optimization of pH levels in the soil. Overall, MAP@BRC is a safe, slow-release fertilizer that exhibits biochar-fertilizer interactions and synergistic effects. This slow-release fertilizer was prepared by treating a phosphorus-rich biogas slurry with a nitrogen-rich biogas slurry, and it simultaneously addresses problems associated with livestock waste treatment and provides a promising strategy to promote zero-waste agriculture.
Plasmodium cynomolgi is a malaria parasite that typically infects Asian macaque monkeys, and humans on rare occasions. P. cynomolgi serves as a model system for the human malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax, with which it shares such important biological characteristics as formation of a dormant liver stage and a preference to invade reticulocytes. While genomes of three P. cynomolgi strains have been sequenced, genetic diversity of P. cynomolgi has not been widely investigated. To address this we developed the first panel of P. cynomolgi microsatellite markers to genotype eleven P. cynomolgi laboratory strains and 18 field isolates from Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. We found diverse genotypes among most of the laboratory strains, though two nominally different strains were found to be genetically identical. We also investigated sequence polymorphism in two erythrocyte invasion gene families, the reticulocyte binding protein and Duffy binding protein genes, in these strains. We also observed copy number variation in rbp genes.
The genus Gymnodinium includes many morphologically similar species, but molecular phylogenies show that it is polyphyletic. Eight strains of Gymnodinium impudicum, Gymnodinium dorsalisulcum and a novel Gymnodinium-like species from Chinese and Malaysian waters and the Mediterranean Sea were established. All of these strains were examined with light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. SSU, LSU and internal transcribed spacers rDNA sequences were obtained. A new genus, Wangodinium, was erected to incorporate strains with a loop-shaped apical structure complex (ASC) comprising two rows of amphiesmal vesicles, here referred to as a new type of ASC. The chloroplasts of Wangodinium sinense are enveloped by two membranes. Pigment analysis shows that peridinin is the main accessory pigment in W. sinense. Wangodinium differs from other genera mainly in its unique ASC, and additionally differs from Gymnodinium in the absence of nuclear chambers, and from Lepidodinium in the absence of Chl b and nuclear chambers. New morphological information was provided for G. dorsalisulcum and G. impudicum, e.g., a short sulcal intrusion in G. dorsalisulcum; nuclear chambers in G. impudicum and G. dorsalisulcum; and a chloroplast enveloped by two membranes in G. impudicum. Molecular phylogeny was inferred using maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference with independent SSU and LSU rDNA sequences. Our results support the classification of Wangodinium within the Gymnodiniales sensu stricto clade and it is close to Lepidodinium. Our results also support the close relationship among G. dorsalisulcum, G. impudicum, and Barrufeta. Further research is needed to assign these Gymnodinium species to Barrufeta or to erect new genera.
Although starch has been intensively studied as a raw material for 3D printing, the relationship between several important process parameters in the preparation of starch gels and the printing results is unclear. In this study, the relationship between different processing conditions and the gel printing performance of corn starch was evaluated by printing tests, rheological tests and low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) tests, and a back-propagation artificial neural network (BP-ANN) model for predicting gel printing performance was developed. The results revealed that starch gels exhibited favorable printing performance when the gelatinization temperature ranged from 75 °C to 85 °C, and the starch content was maintained between 15 % and 20 %. The R2adj of the BP-ANN models were all reached 0.894, which indicated good predictive ability. The results of the study not only provide theoretical support for the application of corn starch gels in 3D food printing, but also present a novel approach for predicting the printing performance of related materials. This method contributes to the optimization of printing parameters, thereby enhancing printing efficiency and quality.
Coastal ecosystems are often subjected to anthropogenic disturbances that lead to water quality deterioration and an increase in harmful algal bloom (HAB) events. Using the next-generation molecular tool of 18S rDNA metabarcoding, we examined the community assemblages of HAB species in the Johor Strait, Malaysia between May 2018 and September 2019, covering 19 stations across the strait. The molecular operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of HAB taxa retrieved from the dataset (n = 194) revealed a much higher number of HAB taxa (26 OTUs) than before, with 12 taxa belong to new records in the strait. As revealed in the findings of this study, the diversity and community structure of HAB taxa varied significantly over time and space. The most common and abundant HAB taxa in the strait (frequency of occurrence >70%) comprised Heterosigma akashiwo, Fibrocapsa japonica, Pseudo-nitzschia pungens, Dinophysis spp., Gymnodinium catenatum, Alexandrium leei, and A. tamiyavanichii. Also, our results demonstrated that the HAB community assemblages in the strait were dependent on the interplay of environmental variables that influence by the monsoonal effects. Different HAB taxa, constitute various functional types, occupied and prevailed in different environmental niches across space and time, leading to diverse community assemblages and population density. This study adds to the current understandings of HAB dynamics and provides a robust overview of temporal-spatial changes in HAB community assemblages along the environmental gradients in a tropical eutrophic coastal ecosystem.
Species of the benthic dinoflagellate Gambierdiscus produce polyether neurotoxins that caused ciguatera fish/shellfish poisoning in human. The toxins enter marine food webs by foraging of herbivores on the biotic substrates like macroalgae that host the toxic dinoflagellates. Interaction of Gambierdiscus and their macroalgal substrate hosts is believed to shape the tendency of substrate preferences and habitat specialization. This was supported by studies that manifested epiphytic preferences and behaviors in Gambierdiscus species toward different macroalgal hosts. To further examine the supposition, a laboratory-based experimental study was conducted to examine the growth, epiphytic behaviors and host preferences of three Gambierdiscus species towards four macroalgal hosts over a culture period of 40 days. The dinoflagellates Gambierdiscus balechii, G. caribaeus, and a new ribotype, herein designated as Gambierdiscus type 7 were initially identified based on the thecal morphology and molecular characterization. Our results showed that Gambierdiscus species tested in this study exhibited higher growth rates in the presence of macroalgal hosts. Growth responses and attachment behaviors, however, differed among different species and strains of Gambierdiscus over different macroalgal substrate hosts. Cells of Gambierdiscus mostly attached to substrate hosts at the beginning of the experiments but detached at the later time. Localized Gambierdiscus-host interactions, as demonstrated in this study, could help to better inform efforts of sampling and monitoring of this benthic toxic dinoflagellate.
Thirteen isolates of Prorocentrum species were established from the coral reefs of Perhentian Islands Marine Park, Malaysia and underwent morphological observations and molecular characterization. Six species were found: P. caipirignum, P. concavum, P. cf. emarginatum, P. lima, P. mexicanum and a new morphotype, herein designated as P. malayense sp. nov. Prorocentrum malayense, a species closely related to P. leve, P. cf. foraminosum, P. sp. aff. foraminossum, and P. concavum (Clade A sensu Chomérat et al. 2018), is distinguished from its congeners as having larger thecal pore size and a more deeply excavated V-shaped periflagellar area. Platelet arrangement in the periflagellar area of P. malayense is unique, with the presence of platelet 1a and 1b, platelet 2 being the most anterior platelet, and a broad calabash-shaped platelet 3. The species exhibits consistent genetic sequence divergences for the nuclear-encoded large subunit ribosomal RNA gene (LSU rDNA) and the second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2). The phylogenetic inferences further confirmed that it represents an independent lineage, closely related to species in Clade A sensu Chomérat et al. Pairwise comparison of ITS2 transcripts with its closest relatives revealed the presence of compensatory base changes (CBCs). Toxicity analysis showed detectable levels of okadaic acid in P. lima (1.0-1.6 pg cell-1) and P. caipirignum (3.1 pg cell-1); this is the first report of toxigenic P. caipirignum in the Southeast Asian region. Other Prorocentrum species tested, including the new species, however, were below the detection limit.
A large-scale sampling was undertaken during a research cruise across the South China Sea in August 2016, covering an area of about 100,000 km2 to investigate the molecular diversity and distributions of micro-eukaryotic protists, with a focus on the potentially harmful microalgal (HAB) species along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Environmental DNAs from 30 stations were extracted and DNA metabarcoding targeting the V4 and V9 markers in the 18S rDNA was performed. Many protistan molecular units, including previously unreported HAB taxa, were discovered for the first time in the water. Our findings also revealed interesting spatial distribution patterns, with a marked signal of compositional turnover between latitudinal regimes of water masses, where dinophytes and diatom compositions were among the most strongly enhanced at the fronts, leading to distinct niches. Our results further confirmed the widespread distribution of HAB species, such as the toxigenic Alexandrium tamiyavaichii and Pseudo-nitzschia species, and the fish-killing Margalefidinium polykrikoides and Karlodinium veneficum. The molecular information obtained from this study provides an updated HAB species inventory and a toolset that could facilitate existing HAB monitoring schemes in the region to better inform management decisions.
Dengue is a rapidly spreading mosquito-borne disease caused by the dengue virus (DENV) and has emerged as a severe public health problem around the world. Guangdong, one of the southern Chinese provinces, experienced a serious outbreak of dengue in 2014, which was believed to be the worst dengue epidemic in China over the last 20 years. To better understand the epidemic, we collected the epidemiological data of the outbreak and analyzed 14,594 clinically suspected dengue patients from 25 hospitals in Guangdong. Dengue cases were then laboratory-confirmed by the detection of DENV non-structural protein 1 (NS1) antigen and/or DENV RNA. Afterwards, clinical manifestations of dengue patients were analyzed and 93 laboratory-positive serum specimens were chosen for the DENV serotyping and molecular analysis. Our data showed that the 2014 dengue outbreak in Guangdong had spread to 20 cities and more than 45 thousand people suffered from dengue fever. Of 14,594 participants, 11,387 were definitively diagnosed. Most manifested with a typical non-severe clinical course, and 1.96 % developed to severe dengue. The strains isolated successfully from the serum samples were identified as DENV-1. Genetic analyses revealed that the strains were classified into genotypes I and V of DENV-1, and the dengue epidemic of Guangdong in 2014 was caused by indigenous cases and imported cases from the neighboring Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia and Singapore. Overall, our study is informative and significant to the 2014 dengue outbreak in Guangdong and will provide crucial implications for dengue prevention and control in China and elsewhere.
Recent molecular phylogenetic studies of Gambierdiscus species flagged several new species and genotypes, thus leading to revitalizing its systematics. The inter-relationships of clades revealed by the primary sequence information of nuclear ribosomal genes (rDNA), however, can sometimes be equivocal, and therefore, in this study, the taxonomic status of a ribotype, Gambierdiscus sp. type 6, was evaluated using specimens collected from the original locality, Marakei Island, Republic of Kiribati; and specimens found in Rawa Island, Peninsular Malaysia, were further used for comparison. Morphologically, the ribotype cells resembled G. scabrosus, G. belizeanus, G. balechii, G. cheloniae and G. lapillus in thecal ornamentation, where the thecal surfaces are reticulate-foveated, but differed from G. scabrosus by its hatchet-shaped Plate 2', and G. belizeanus by the asymmetrical Plate 3'. To identify the phylogenetic relationship of this ribotype, a large dataset of the large subunit (LSU) and small subunit (SSU) rDNAs were compiled, and performed comprehensive analyses, using Bayesian-inference, maximum-parsimony, and maximum-likelihood, for the latter two incorporating the sequence-structure information of the SSU rDNA. Both the LSU and SSU rDNA phylogenetic trees displayed an identical topology and supported the hypothesis that the relationship between Gambierdiscus sp. type 6 and G. balechii was monophyletic. As a result, the taxonomic status of Gambierdiscus sp. type 6 was revised, and assigned as Gambierdiscus balechii. Toxicity analysis using neuroblastoma N2A assay confirmed that the Central Pacific strains were toxic, ranging from 1.1 to 19.9 fg P-CTX-1 eq cell-1, but no toxicity was detected in a Western Pacific strain. This suggested that the species might be one of the species contributing to the high incidence rate of ciguatera fish poisoning in Marakei Island.
In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field.