Objectives This study investigated the effects of a national early retirement reform, which was implemented in 2006 and penalized early retirement, on paid employment and different exit pathways and examined whether these effects differ by gender, income level and health status. Methods This study included all Dutch individuals in paid employment born six months before (control group) and six months after (intervention group) the cut-off date of the reform (1 January 1950) that fiscally penalized early retirement. A regression discontinuity design combined with restricted mean survival time analysis was applied to evaluate the effect of penalizing early retirement on labor force participation from age 60 until workers reached the retirement age of 65 years, while accounting for secular trends around the threshold. Results The intervention group postponed early retirement by 7.41 months [95% confidence interval (CI) 6.11-8.72], and partly replaced this by remaining 4.87 months (95% CI 3.60-6.24) longer in paid employment. Workers born after the threshold, annually earning €25 000-40 000, spent 1.24 months (95% CI 0.31-2.18) more in economic inactivity than those born before. The working months lost to unemployment increased by 1.50 months (95% CI 0.30-2.71) for female workers and 1.99 months (95% CI 0.06-3.92) for workers reporting multiple chronic diseases. Conclusions The national reform successfully prolonged working lives of older workers. However, workers with a middle income, female workers, and workers with chronic diseases were more vulnerable to premature exit from the labor market through unemployment or being without any income or benefit.Spotted fever group rickettsiae, mainly maintained and transmitted by ticks, are important etiological agents of (re)emerging zoonotic diseases worldwide. It is of great significance to investigate spotted fever group rickettsiae in ticks in different areas for the prevention and control of rickettsioses. In this study, a total of 305 ticks were collected from wild and domestic animals in Chongqing, Guizhou, Yunnan, and Guangxi provinces of southwestern China during 2017-2019 and examined for the presence of spotted fever group rickettsiae by PCR with primers targeting the partial gltA, ompA, rrs, and htrA genes. Results showed that two spotted fever group rickettsiae species, including the pathogenic Candidatus Rickettsia jingxinensis (Rickettsiales Rickettsiaceae) and a potential novel species Rickettsia sp. sw (Rickettsiales Rickettsiaceae), were identified. The Ca. R. jingxinensis sequences were recovered from Rhipicephalus microplus (Ixodida Ixodidae) and Haemaphysalis longicornis (Ixodida Ixodidae) tickfever group rickettsiae in China and are useful for assessing the potential public health risk.The Mediterranean fruit fly Ceratitis capitata (Wiedemann, 1824) (Diptera Tephritidae) is among the main pests of fruit crops worldwide. Biological control using entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) may be an alternative to suppress populations of this pest. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the pathogenicity and virulence of six EPN isolates (Heterorhabditis bacteriophora HB, H. amazonensis IBCB-n24, Steinernema carpocapsae IBCB-n02, S. rarum PAM-25, S. glaseri IBCB-n47, and S. brazilense IBCB-n06) against C. capitata pupae. The compatibility of EPNs with different chemical insecticides that are registered for management of C. capitata was also assessed. Isolates of H. bacteriophora HB and S. brazilense IBCB-n06 at a concentration of 1,000 infective juveniles (IJ)/ml proved to be most pathogenic to C. capitata (70 and 80% mortality, respectively). In contrast, the isolates H. amazonensis IBCB-n24, Steinernema carpocapsae IBCB-n02, S. rarum PAM-25, S. signaling pathway glaseri IBCB-n47 provided pupal mortality of less than 60%. Bioassays to determine lethal concentrations indicated that concentrations of 600 IJ/ml (H. bacteriophora HB) and 1,000 IJ/ml (S. brazilense IBCB-n06) showed the highest virulence against C. capitata pupae. In contrast, the highest numbers of IJs emerged at concentrations of 1,200 and 200 IJ/ml. In compatibility bioassays, malathion, spinetoram, phosmet, acetamiprid, and novaluron were considered compatible with and harmless (Class 1) to H. bacteriophora HB and S. brazilense IBCB-n06, according to IOBC/WPRS. This information is important for implementing integrated management programs for C. capitata, using biological control with EPNs, whether alone or in combination with chemical insecticides.The dry bulbs of Fritillaria cirrhosa species can help resolve phlegm, soothe cough, clear heat, and moisten the lung, and the main active components responsible for these effect are its alkaloids. However, it is unclear whether or how edpetiline in Fritillaria can inhibit the excessive inflammatory response and oxidative stress. In this research, we aimed to examine this aspect using lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages as an inflammatory model. The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis results showed that edpetiline significantly inhibited the content and mRNA expression levels of proinflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6) in LPS-induced RAW264.7 cells, significantly increased the mRNA expression of IL-4 (anti-inflammatory cytokine), and markedly downregulated the inflammatory mediators inductible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) mRNA and protein expression levels. The oxidative stress induced by LPS was also inhibited by edpetiline, as the level of intracellular reactive oxygen species decreased notably. Edpetiline may exert anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects through inhibiting the phosphorylation of IκB and the nuclear transcription of nuclear transcription factor-κB p65 and decreasing the phosphorylation of p38 and ERK in the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway, without activating the JNK/mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway. These findings suggest that edpetiline may be a potential therapeutic agent for the prevention or treatment of inflammation- and oxidative stress-related pathophysiological processes and diseases.