Severe heat exposure causes mitochondrial fragmentation and dysfunction, which contribute to the pathogenesis of heat-related illness. l-Citrulline is a naturally occurring amino acid and has been suggested to influence heat shock responses. This study aimed to test whether l-citrulline supplementation would preserve mitochondrial integrity and attenuate heat-induced skeletal muscle injury and elucidate the underlying mechanisms. At 37°C, l-citrulline (2 mM) increased mitochondrial elongation in mouse C2C12 myoblasts, a process associated with a reduction in mitochondrial fission protein Drp1 levels. Mechanistic studies revealed that l-citrulline increased cellular nitric oxide (NO) levels, but not S-nitrosylation of Drp1. l-Citrulline caused a decrease in phosphorylation of Drp1 at Ser 616 and an increase in phosphorylation of Drp1 at Ser 637, which resulted in a reduced mitochondrial localisation of Drp1. L-NAME, a non-selective NO synthase inhibitor, abolished the increase in l-citrulline-induced NO levels and inhibited Drp1 phosphorylation changes and mitochondrial elongation, which indicates the involvement of a NO-dependent pathway. Under 43°C heat stress conditions, l-citrulline prevented translocation of Drp1 to mitochondria, mitochondrial fragmentation and decreased membrane potential. Finally, l-citrulline pretreatment inhibited heat-induced reactive oxygen species overproduction, caspase 3/7 activation, apoptotic cell death and improved cell viability. NO inhibitor l-NAME abolished all the above protective effects of l-citrulline under heat stress. Our results suggest that l-citrulline prevents heat-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and cell injury through NO-mediated Drp1 inhibition in C2C12 myoblasts. l-Citrulline may be an effective treatment for heat-related illnesses and other mitochondrial diseases.

Pregnancy is a complex biological process. The establishment and maintenance of foetal–maternal interface are pivotal events. Decidual immune cells and inflammatory cytokines play indispensable roles in the foetal–maternal interface. The disfunction of decidual immune cells leads to adverse pregnancy outcome. Tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, a common inflammatory cytokine, has critical roles in different stages of normal pregnancy process. However, the relationship between the disorder of TNF-α and adverse pregnancy outcomes, including preeclampsia (PE), intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), spontaneous abortion (SA), preterm birth and so on, is still indefinite. In this review, we thoroughly reviewed the effect of TNF-α disorder on pathological conditions. Moreover, we summarized the reports about the adverse pregnancy outcomes (PE, IUGR, SA and preterm birth) of using anti-TNF-α drugs (infliximab, etanercept and adalimumab, certolizumab and golimumab) currently in the clinical studies. Overall, IUGR, SA and preterm birth are the most common adverse pregnancy outcomes of anti-TNF-α drugs. Our review may provide insight for the immunological treatment of pregnancy-related complication, and help practitioners make informed decisions based on the current evidences.

Dietary l-carnitine (LC) is a nutritional factor that reduces liver lipid content. However, whether dietary LC can improve lipid metabolism via simultaneous activation of mitochondrial fatty acid (FA) β-oxidation and suppression of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress is still unknown. Large yellow croaker were fed with a high-fat diet (HFD) supplemented with dietary LC at 0, 1·2 or 2·4 ‰ for 10 weeks. The results indicated that a HFD supplemented with LC reduced the liver total lipid and TAG content and improved serum lipid profiles. LC supplementation administered to this fish increased the liver antioxidant capacity by decreasing serum and liver malondialdehyde levels and enhancing the liver antioxidant capacity, which then relieved the liver damage. Dietary LC increased the ATP dynamic process and mitochondrial number, decreased mitochondrial DNA damage and enhanced the protein expression of mitochondrial β-oxidation, biogenesis and mitophagy. Furthermore, dietary LC supplementation increased the expression of genes and proteins related to peroxisomal β-oxidation and biogenesis. Interestingly, feeding fish with LC-enriched diets decreased the protein levels indicative of ER stress, such as glucose-regulated protein 78, p-eukaryotic translational initiation factor 2a and activating transcription factor 6. Dietary LC supplementation downregulated mRNA expression relative to FA synthesis, reduced liver lipid and relieved liver damage through regulating β-oxidation and biogenesis of mitochondria and peroxisomes, as well as the ER stress pathway in fish fed with HFD. The present study provides the first evidence that dietary LC can improve lipid metabolism via simultaneously promoting FA β-oxidation capability and suppressing the ER stress pathway in fish.

This paper investigates the stability of a fully parabolic–parabolic-fluid (PP-fluid) system of the Keller–Segel–Navier–Stokes type in a bounded planar domain under the natural volume-filling hypothesis. In the limit of fast signal diffusion, we first show that the global classical solutions of the PP-fluid system will converge to the solution of the corresponding parabolic–elliptic-fluid (PE-fluid) system. As a by-product, we obtain the global well-posedness of the PE-fluid system for general large initial data. We also establish some new exponential time decay estimates for suitable small initial cell mass, which in particular ensure an improvement of convergence rate on time. To further explore the stability property, we carry out three numerical examples of different types: the nontrivial and trivial equilibriums, and the rotating aggregation. The simulation results illustrate the possibility to achieve the optimal convergence and show the vanishment of the deviation between the PP-fluid system and PE-fluid system for the equilibriums and the drastic fluctuation of error for the rotating solution.

This study presents a cross-temporal comparison of managerial ethics in China and the US. Although it is well established that cross-cultural differences exist in business ethics and that culture and values in a society may evolve over time, little attention has been paid to the longitudinal changes in such cross-cultural differences that might have occurred over time. Building on three different perspectives on values evolution, namely, convergence, divergence, and crossvergence, we investigate whether and how cross-cultural differences in managerial ethical decision-making and the associated moral philosophy have changed in China and the US over the decade between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s. Our analysis reveals that the difference in Chinese and American managers' ethical decision-making evolved in many different directions over the decade, lending support to the crossvergence perspective. Interestingly, however, we discover that the divergence outlook prevails when it comes to the moral philosophies behind their decision-making. These findings provide critical insights into cross-cultural as well cross-temporal evolution in business ethics in a world of increasing cross-cultural and multicultural interactions.

High-Mg andesites (HMAs) are crucial for the reconstruction of plate tectonics, continental margin formation and lithospheric evolution. In this study, we present new fossil age, whole-rock geochemical and Sr–Nd isotope data on the newly discovered Dundunshan Group HMAs in the Dundunshan area of the Beishan orogen (central-southern Central Asian Orogenic Belt). The Dundunshan HMA samples are characterized by high MgO (6.47–7.02 wt%) contents and high Mg# values (67.27–68.77), with SiO2 (58.57–62.13 wt%), Al2O3 (14.49–16.07 wt%) and CaO (5.05–6.24 wt%) resembling typical HMAs. The Dundunshan HMA samples are calc-alkaline and strongly enriched in light rare earth elements (LREEs) and large-ion lithophile elements (LILEs), with slightly negative Eu anomaly and high-field-strength element (HFSE) depletions. Their (87Sr/86Sr)i ratios (0.7041–0.7057) and ϵNd(t) (3.73–5.59) indicate that the Dundunshan HMAs were mainly formed by the interactions between subducted oceanic sediment-derived melts and mantle peridotites. Fossil evidence and published radiometric age data constrain the formation of the Dundunshan HMAs to early Late Devonian time. Sedimentological features of the Middle Devonian Sangejing Formation and regional tectonic correlation suggest that the Hongliuhe–Niujuanzi–Xichangjing Ocean in the Dundunshan area was likely closed during late Middle Devonian time, and that the Dundunshan HMAs were formed in a post-collision extensional setting.

As part of a long-term experiment to determine the impacts of composted manure and straw amendments (replacing 50% of chemical fertilizer with composted pig manure, wheat straw return combined with chemical fertilizer, and setting no fertilizer and chemical fertilizer-only as controls) on rice-associated weeds in a rice (Oryza sativa L.)–wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) rotation system, species richness, abundance, density, and biomass of weeds were assessed during years 8 and 9. Fertilization decreased the species richness and total density of rice-associated weeds but increased their total biomass. The species richness and densities of broadleaf and sedge weeds decreased with fertilization, while species richness of grass weeds increased only with straw return and density was not significantly affected. The shoot biomass per square meter of grass and broadleaf weeds was significantly higher with fertilization treatments than with the no-fertilizer control, while that of sedge weeds declined with fertilizer application. With fertilization, the densities of monarch redstem (Ammannia baccifera L.) and smallflower umbrella sedge (Cyperus difformis L.) decreased, that of Chinese sprangletop [Leptochloa chinensis (L.) Nees] increased, and those of barnyardgrass [Echinochloa crus-galli (L.) P. Beauv.] and monochoria [Monochoria vaginalis (Burm. f.) C. Presl ex Kunth] were not significantly affected. Ammannia baccifera was the most abundant weed species in all treatments. Whereas composted pig manure plus fertilizer resulted in higher density of A. baccifera and lower shoot biomass per plant than chemical fertilizer only, wheat straw return plus chemical fertilizer caused lower density and shoot biomass of A. baccifera. Therefore, it may be possible that fertilization strategies that suppress specific weeds could be used as improved weed management program components in rice production systems.

The sudden outbreak of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) sparked widespread concern about organisational resilience in the management domain. The resources, operations and practices of organisational resilience have to be considered in particular contexts at different stages and in relation to numerous inputs, processes and outputs. Selected as one example, the preparation, response and development of a retail supermarket's management and operations in China is examined through an empirical case study. Supply chain and digital construction, improvisational ability, system management and corporate social responsibility all played a positive role in this organisation's response to the outbreak of COVID-19 (2019–2020) in the Chinese management context. Organisational resilience is reflected in the case study organisation's self-interested and altruistic policies and practices. The case provides valuable insights on efficacious management practices for organisational resilience building in the retail industry.

Chronic inflammation exerts pleiotropic effects in the aetiology and progression of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Glucosamine is widely used in many countries and may have anti-inflammatory properties. We aimed to prospectively evaluate the association of regular glucosamine use with incident COPD risk and explore whether such association could be modified by smoking in the UK Biobank cohort, which recruited more than half a million participants aged 40–69 years from across the UK between 2006 and 2010. Cox proportional hazards models with adjustment for potential confounding factors were used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) as well as 95 % CI for the risk of incident COPD. During a median follow-up of 8·96 years (interquartile range 8·29–9·53 years), 9016 new-onset events of COPD were documented. We found that the regular use of glucosamine was associated with a significantly lower risk of incident COPD with multivariable adjusted HR of 0·80 (95 % CI, 0·75, 0·85; P < 0·001). When subgroup analyses were performed by smoking status, the adjusted HR for the association of regular glucosamine use with incident COPD were 0·84 (0·73, 0·96), 0·84 (0·77, 0·92) and 0·71 (0·62, 0·80) among never smokers, former smokers and current smokers, respectively. No significant interaction was observed between glucosamine use and smoking status (Pfor interaction = 0·078). Incident COPD could be reduced by 14 % to 84 % through a combination of regular glucosamine use and smoking cessation.

The findings regarding the associations between red meat, fish and poultry consumption, and the metabolic syndrome (Mets) have been inconclusive, and evidence from Chinese populations is scarce. A cross-sectional study was performed to investigate the associations between red meat, fish and poultry consumption, and the prevalence of the Mets and its components among the residents of Suzhou Industrial Park, Suzhou, China. A total of 4424 participants were eligible for the analysis. A logistic regression model was used to estimate the OR and 95 % CI for the prevalence of the Mets and its components according to red meat, fish and poultry consumption. In addition, the data of our cross-sectional study were meta-analysed under a random effects model along with those of published observational studies to generate the summary relative risks (RR) of the associations between the highest v. lowest categories of red meat, fish and poultry consumption and the Mets and its components. In the cross-sectional study, the multivariable-adjusted OR for the highest v. lowest quartiles of consumption was 1·23 (95 % CI 1·02, 1·48) for red meat, 0·83 (95 % CI 0·72, 0·97) for fish and 0·93 (95 % CI 0·74, 1·18) for poultry. In the meta-analysis, the pooled RR for the highest v. lowest categories of consumption was 1·20 (95 % CI 1·06, 1·35) for red meat, 0·88 (95 % CI 0·81, 0·96) for fish and 0·97 (95 % CI 0·85, 1·10) for poultry. The findings of both cross-sectional studies and meta-analyses indicated that the association between fish consumption and the Mets may be partly driven by the inverse association of fish consumption with elevated TAG and reduced HDL-cholesterol and, to a lesser extent, fasting plasma glucose. No clear pattern of associations was observed between red meat or poultry consumption and the components of the Mets. The current findings add weight to the evidence that the Mets may be positively associated with red meat consumption, inversely associated with fish consumption and neutrally associated with poultry consumption.

In the k-means problem with penalties, we are given a data set $${\cal D} \subseteq \mathbb{R}^\ell $$ of n points where each point $$j \in {\cal D}$$ is associated with a penalty cost pj and an integer k. The goal is to choose a set $${\rm{C}}S \subseteq {{\cal R}^\ell }$$ with |CS| ≤ k and a penalized subset $${{\cal D}_p} \subseteq {\cal D}$$ to minimize the sum of the total squared distance from the points in D / Dp to CS and the total penalty cost of points in Dp, namely $$\sum\nolimits_{j \in {\cal D}\backslash {{\cal D}_p}} {d^2}(j,{\rm{C}}S) + \sum\nolimits_{j \in {{\cal D}_p}} {p_j}$$. We employ the primal-dual technique to give a pseudo-polynomial time algorithm with an approximation ratio of (6.357+ε) for the k-means problem with penalties, improving the previous best approximation ratio 19.849+∊ for this problem given by Feng et al. in Proceedings of FAW (2019).

In early January 2020, when Chinese theatre director Wang Chong (b. 1982) arrived in New York to remount his production of Nick Payne's Constellations for the Public Theater's Under the Radar Festival, he couldn't have predicted that this would be the last time for months that he would watch his actors from the middle of a full house. By the time his work-in-progress solo show, Made in China 2.0, opened at the Asia TOPA Festival in Melbourne, Australia, at the end of that February, it was clear that there would be no live theatre in Wang's hometown of Beijing for some time. All of China was on lockdown as the disease now tragically familiar as COVID-19 swept the country. Then, as Wang returned to Beijing in early March, businesses around the globe were shuttering, theatres were going dark, and theatre artists were confronting an unprecedented challenge to their personal safety, livelihoods, and ability to make meaningful art. In short order, some well-resourced theatre institutions began to stream performance recordings and reconfigure their seasons for online platforms. Only a month after returning home, Wang Chong joined this mass online movement with his production of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, streamed live on 5–6 April 2020 as Dengdai Geduo.

The aim of the present study was to compare the rate of preterm birth (PTB) and growth from birth to 18 years between twins conceived by in vitro fertilization (IVF) and twins conceived by spontaneous conception (SC) in mainland China. The retrospective cohort study included 1164 twins resulting from IVF and 25,654 twins conceived spontaneously, of which 494 from IVF and 6338 from SC were opposite-sex twins. PTB and low birth weight (LBW), and growth, including length/height and weight, were compared between the two groups at five stages: infancy (0 year), toddler period (1–2 years), preschool (3–5 years), primary or elementary school (6–11 years), and adolescence (10–18 years). Few statistically significant differences were found for LBW and growth between the two groups after adjusting for PTB and other confounders. Twins born by IVF faced an increased risk of PTB compared with those born by SC (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 8.21, 95% confidence interval [CI] [3.19, 21.13], p < .001 in all twins and aOR 10.12, 95% CI [2.32, 44.04], p = .002 in opposite-sex twins). Twins born by IVF experienced a similar growth at five stages (0–18 years old) when compared with those born by SC. PTB risk, however, is significantly higher for twins conceived by IVF than those conceived by SC.