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Abstract The paper analyzes problems in Marine Park management and put forward suggestions for improvement based on differences of social value about Marine Park ecosystem services between Pulau Payar Marine Park (PPMP) in Malaysia and Gili Matra Marine Park (GMMP) in Indonesia. The purpose is to construct the connectivity of ecology, social economy, culture and system, and to study the management of marine protected areas (MPAs) from a broader perspective. The survey method used in this study is similar to that of 'SolVES' method, which aims to assess relative importance of social value for Marine Park and discuss people's attitudes towards the future development of Marine Park and management of Marine Park. We selected purposive sampling survey according to the occupation category, and obtained 109 and 102 valid questionnaires in PPMP and GMMP respectively. In this study, four sets of questions, including familiarity with Marine Park, attitude toward use of Marine Park, understanding of social-value of Marine Park and personal profile, were designed to analyze differences between PPMP in Malaysia and GMMP in Indonesia. For both Marine Parks Biological Diversity Value (B) was scored the highest among all ten social-values. The participation rate of marine education in both Marine Parks are relatively low; both of them are no more than 35%. Compared with locals, tourists value biodiversity more, and while comparison among different occupations, civil servants value biodiversity more than other occupations. Through on-the-spot investigation and sorting out the management problems of marine parks reflected by respondents, we found that: (a) the weakness of basic education and lack of popular science publicity and education activities have caused the level of public's awareness of environmental protection to be not high enough; (b) the relative insufficiency of tourism infrastructure and increase in number of tourists in recent years, might have caused many problems such as destroying coral reef resources and littering. Some suggestions were put forward to solve the problem: (a) promote public awareness of environmental protection through popular science publicity and education; (b) for PPMP, the restriction on the number of tourists will benefit the protection of coral, while improving infrastructure, such as garbage collection, will help improve environmental pollution; (c) for GMMP, strengthening the synergy between local and central governments will help to deal with the relationship between land use and environmental protection and highlight environmental protection functions. Highlights • The cognition of Biological Diversity Value is related to education. • Higher familiarity, more urgent to develop local infrastructure facilities. • Carry out popular science education to improve environmental protection awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The suspended particulate matter (SPM) is an important carrier of heavy metals transportation from land to sea, so it is significant to study the heavy metal pollution in SPM. The distribution and assessment of five heavy metals (Mn, Cr, Ni, Cu, and Pb) in SPM collected from Passur River and its estuary in Sundarban were studied in combination with water temperature, salinity, and turbidity. The results show that the heavy metal content and distribution in SPM are mainly controlled by runoff input, hydrodynamic process and the interaction process of salt and fresh water in estuaries. The quality evaluation results of heavy metals in SPM show that pollution degree is light. Studies on the heavy metals in SPM are of great significance to comprehensively evaluate regional pollution status and carry out early warning. [Display omitted] • Suspended particulate matter is the carrier of heavy metal transport. • Hydrodynamics and estuarine processes control the distribution of heavy metals. • Heavy metals in suspended particulate matter were evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A novel two-step technology, fast biophysical drying (BPD) coupling with fast pyrolysis (FP), was investigated for moisture removal and energy recovery from sewage sludge. For BPD, combined operations of extreme thermophilic amendment (with accelerated increasing and controllable maintenance of substrate temperature) and enhanced convective evaporation were conducted, both beneficial for moisture removal (moisture content reaching 23.1% for 7d) and organic preservation. Biophysical-dried sludge (BPDS) was characterized by homogeneous fine-particle morphology and well-developed porous microstructure. The synthesized BPDS particle preserved most organic components (92% volatile matters and 79% HHV of traditional thermal-dried sludge [TTDS]) attributable to the inhibitory effect of BPD adjustment, presenting considerable capacity for subsequent residue-derived energy. For FP, the distribution of products from BPDS pyrolysis indicated that syngas and char yields were higher than those of TTDS. The syngas from BPDS is a type of hydrogen-rich gas composed of 42.6vol.% H2 at 900°C. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Based on stakeholder theory, this study sets up a research framework of value-satisfaction-demand, and chooses Gili Matra Marine Park, Indonesia as a case study to discuss the differences among stakeholders in ecological service value orientation, ecotourism satisfaction and resource development demand of marine park, to test the relationship among value-satisfaction-demand, and to identify relationships and potential conflicts among stakeholders. It shows that: (1) value orientation is a direct predictor of ecotourism satisfaction; (2) tourists' demands for the development of Gili Matra Marine Park are generally lower than that of local residents; (3) local residents' demands for future development are raised according to their professional needs or living needs; (4) the heterogeneity of resource development demands leads to the existence of conflicts. In order to promote the sustainable development of ecotourism in Gili Matra Marine Park, on the one hand, it is necessary to strictly follow the benefit distribution mechanism; on the other hand, it is also desirable to cultivate ecological value orientation. • Value orientation is a direct predictor of island ecotourism satisfaction. • Tourists' demands for the development are generally lower than that of locals. • The demands for resource development are related to career needs or life needs. • The heterogeneity of resource development demands leads to the existence of conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • First critical review focusing on the role of circRNA in pathogenesis of epilepsy. • Pathogenesis of epilepsy is closely related to circRNA. • circRNA has the potential to serve as a biomarker for epilepsy. Recent studies evidenced the involvement of circular RNA (circRNA) in neuroinflammation, apoptosis, and synaptic remodeling suggesting an important role for circRNA in the occurrence and development of epilepsy. This review provides an overview of circRNAs considered to be playing regulatory roles in the process of epilepsy and to be involved in multiple biological epilepsy-related processes, such as hippocampal sclerosis, inflammatory response, cell apoptosis, synaptic remodeling, and cell proliferation and differentiation. This review covers the current research status of differential expression of circRNA-mediated seizures, m6A methylation, demethylation-mediated seizures in post transcriptional circRNA modification, as well as the mechanisms of m5C- and m7G-modified circRNA. In summary, this article reviews the research progress on the relationship between circRNA in non-coding RNA and epilepsy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel method for energy recycling from sewage sludge was developed through biophysical drying coupled with fast pyrolysis. Thermal decomposition properties of biophysical-dried sludge (BDS) and thermal-dried sludge (TDS) were characterized through thermogravimetric (TG) coupled with mass spectrometry (MS) analysis. BDS exhibited typical peaks in each differential thermogravimetric (DTG) region and presented slower mass loss rates in H, C, and L regions (180–550 °C) but remarkable weight loss in region I (>550 °C) compared with TDS. The charring process centered at region I, was responsible for the prominent H 2 emission from BDS. The pseudo multicomponent model showed that the E m values of BDS and TDS were 48.84 and 37.75 kJ/mol, respectively. Furthermore, fast pyrolysis of BDS was proven to facilitate syngas and char formation more than TDS. For the yielded syngas, the thermal conversion of BDS was characterized by high H 2 and CH 4 content beyond 700 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims The aim of this study was to explore the effects of space flight on Klebsiella pneumoniae . Methods A strain of K. pneumoniae was sent to space for 398 h aboard the ShenZhou VIII spacecraft during November 1, 2011–November 17, 2011. At the same time, a ground simulation with similar temperature conditions during the space flight was performed as a control. After the space mission, the flight and control strains were analyzed using phenotypic, genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic techniques. Results The flight strains LCT-KP289 exhibited a higher cotrimoxazole resistance level and changes in metabolism relative to the ground control strain LCT-KP214. After the space flight, 73 SNPs and a plasmid copy number variation were identified in the flight strain. Based on the transcriptomic analysis, there are 232 upregulated and 1879 downregulated genes, of which almost all were for metabolism. Proteomic analysis revealed that there were 57 upregulated and 125 downregulated proteins. These differentially expressed proteins had several functions that included energy production and conversion, carbohydrate transport and metabolism, translation, ribosomal structure and biogenesis, posttranslational modification, protein turnover, and chaperone functions. At a systems biology level, the ytfG gene had a synonymous mutation that resulted in significantly downregulated expression at both transcriptomic and proteomic levels. Conclusions The mutation of the ytfG gene may influence fructose and mannose metabolic processes of K. pneumoniae during space flight, which may be beneficial to the field of space microbiology, providing potential therapeutic strategies to combat or prevent infection in astronauts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The bit depth of the state-of-the-art liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) devices is increasing beyond the standard 8 bit. • The extra bit depth is expected to improve the image quality of the information display systems, in which the LCOS devices operate as an amplitude spatial light modulator (SLM). • The benefit of the extra depth, however, has not been proven when the LCOS devices operates in the phase-only mode for the beam steering applications. • The impact of the extra bit depth on the performance of the hologram optimization algorithms has not been investigated either. In this paper, we evaluated the beam steering performance of the phase-only LCOS devices operating at different bit depths. • We also demonstrated a hologram optimization technique that was less sensitive to the bit depth of the LCOS device. The bit depth of the state-of-the-art liquid crystal on silicon (LCOS) devices is increasing beyond the standard 8 bit. The extra bit depth is expected to improve the image quality of the information display systems, in which the LCOS devices operate as an amplitude spatial light modulator (SLM). The benefit of the extra depth, however, has not been proven when the LCOS devices operates in the phase-only mode for the beam steering applications. The impact of the extra bit depth on the performance of the hologram optimisation algorithms has not been investigated either. In this paper, we evaluated the beam steering performance of the phase-only LCOS devices operating at different bit depths. We also demonstrated a hologram optimisation technique that was less sensitive to the bit depth of the LCOS device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The microgravity environment of spaceflight expeditions has been associated with altered microbial responses. This study explores the characterization of Serratia marcescensis grown in a spaceflight environment at the phenotypic, transcriptomic and proteomic levels. From November 1, 2011 to November 17, 2011, a strain of S. marcescensis was sent into space for 398h on the Shenzhou VIII spacecraft, and ground simulation was performed as a control (LCT-SM213). After the flight, two mutant strains (LCT-SM166 and LCT-SM262) were selected for further analysis. Although no changes in the morphology, post-culture growth kinetics, hemolysis or antibiotic sensitivity were observed, the two mutant strains exhibited significant changes in their metabolic profiles after exposure to spaceflight. Enrichment analysis of the transcriptome showed that the differentially expressed genes of the two spaceflight strains and the ground control strain mainly included those involved in metabolism and degradation. The proteome revealed that changes at the protein level were also associated with metabolic functions, such as glycolysis/gluconeogenesis, pyruvate metabolism, arginine and proline metabolism and the degradation of valine, leucine and isoleucine. In summary S. marcescens showed alterations primarily in genes and proteins that were associated with metabolism under spaceflight conditions, which gave us valuable clues for future research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The environment in space could affect microorganisms by changing a variety of features, including proliferation rate, cell physiology, cell metabolism, biofilm production, virulence, and drug resistance. However, the relevant mechanisms remain unclear. To explore the effect of a space environment on Bacillus cereus, a strain of B. cereus was sent to space for 398h by ShenZhou VIII from November 1, 2011 to November 17, 2011. A ground simulation with similar temperature conditions was simultaneously performed as a control. After the flight, the flight and control strains were further analyzed using phenotypic, genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic techniques to explore the divergence of B. cereus in a space environment. The flight strains exhibited a significantly slower growth rate, a significantly higher amikacin resistance level, and changes in metabolism relative to the ground control strain. After the space flight, three polymorphic loci were found in the flight strains LCT-BC25 and LCT-BC235. A combined transcriptome and proteome analysis was performed, and this analysis revealed that the flight strains had changes in genes/proteins relevant to metabolism. In addition, certain genes/proteins that are relevant to structural function, gene expression modification and translation, and virulence were also altered. Our study represents the first documented analysis of the phenotypic, genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic changes that occur in B. cereus during space flight, and our results could be beneficial to the field of space microbiology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• IAC+BCG increases high-risk NMIBC patients' recurrence-free survival. • High-risk NMIBC patients have better progression-free survival with IAC+BCG. • The adverse effects of IAC are generally modest, scoring one to two. • The side effects of BCG therapy were not noticeably exacerbated by IAC. To develop a novel combination therapy for high-risk nonmuscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) after transurethral resection of bladder tumor (TURBT), namely, intra-arterial chemotherapy (IAC) plus BCG immunotherapy, and to compare the feasibility and safety of the 2 therapies. A retrospective study was conducted on the data of 119 patients who were diagnosed with high-risk NMIBC and underwent TURBT in the past 5 years. Those who did not complete the treatment were excluded, and the remaining 98 patients were divided into 2 groups: both groups received intravesical BCG immunotherapy, while the BCG+IAC group received 4 courses of extra intra-arterial chemotherapy. Clinical and follow-up data were processed using statistical software. The recurrence rate was 22.2% in the BCG+IAC group and 35.8% in the BCG group, whereas the progression rates were 8.9% and 24.5%, respectively. In the Kaplan-Meier plot, a statistically significant difference was observed with respect to recurrence-free survival (p = 0.025), as well as the progression-free survival of the two groups was similar (p = 0.019). A total of 22.2% of the patients with adverse effects of IAC and 79.6% of patients suffered from adverse reactions to BCG immunotherapy, and most of the adverse effects were mild and tolerable. Univariate and multivariate analysis indicated that multifocal and treatment were independent risk factors for recurrence, while the history of recurrence and treatment were independent risk factors for progression. IAC could be a promising auxiliary treatment for BCG immunotherapy in decreasing the recurrence and progression rate of high-risk NMIBC with little additional toxicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background We aimed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA) and analyze the mechanism differences between them. Methods The gene expression profile of GSE1919 , GSE12021 , GSE21959 and GSE48780 were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus. Total 165 samples of synovial fibroblasts (118 RA samples, 15 OA samples and 32 normal controls) were used. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in RA samples but no differences in OA samples (RA.DEGs) and genes in OA samples but no differences in RA samples (OA.DEGs) were screened using limma package. Functional enrichment analysis was performed using DAVID. Moreover , transcriptional regulatory network (TRN) and microRNA regulatory network were constructed. Results Total 211 RA.DEGs (96 up- and 115 down-regulate) and 497 OA.DEGs (224 up- and 273 down-regulated) were identified. TRN analysis showed that C-ETS-1 and P53 were important transcription factors. C-ETS-1 could interact with matrix metallopeptidase 1 (MMP1) and CD53 while P53 could interact with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR ) and dual specificity phosphatase 1 (DUSP1). Besides, v-myc avian myelocytomatosis viral oncogene homolog (MYC) and interleukin 1, beta (IL1B) could be regulated by the most microRNAs in microRNA regulatory network. Our study indicates that ETS-1 may contribute to RA progression by up-regulation of MMP1 and result in OA progression via up-regulating CD53. Conclusions P53 may be involved in the progression of RA and OA via targeting downstream EGFR and DUSP1 respectively. Besides, MYC and IL1B may play an important role in OA progression via the regulation of microRNAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

N doped and N, S co-doped TiO 2 hollow spheres photocatalysts have been successfully synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method with water as the only solvent. The XRD results show that the all samples are crystalline without further sintering treatment. The measured photocatalytic activity under simulated solar light, monitored by the decomposition of Rhodamine-B, demonstrated that N or N, S loading could significantly enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO 2 . UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectra indicate that N-doping or N, S-codoping into a TiO 2 crystal lattice can result in the shift of the valence band of TiO 2 to a positive direction. It may lead to its higher oxidative ability than pure TiO 2 , which is important for organic pollutant degradation under visible-light irradiation. This work provides some insights into the rational design and development of high-performance photocatalysts using sunlight as an energy source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the island-reef engineering construction background in the South China Sea, the research studied the preparation technology, mechanical properties and chloride ion diffusion behavior of coral aggregate seawater concrete and discussed the steel bars corrosion behavior of coral aggregate seawater concrete (CASC) and reliability analysis of service life, which provide a low cost, high durability CASC and its application technology for island-reef engineering. The results showed that: according to the theory of grout concrete and the design principle of high-performance concrete, the cube compressive strength (f cu) of CASC can reach C80. Uniaxial compression whole stress-strain curve of CASC with different strength grades and constitutive relation were obtained. The "three high" Cl− diffusion characteristics, high initial chloride ion content (C 0), high surface chloride ion content (C s) and high apparent chloride ion diffusion coefficient (D a) in CASC, were established, which easily result in steel bars corrosion. It suggests to choose organic newly coated steel bars, which the thickness of the concrete protective cover is greater than 5.5 cm, concrete strength grade is greater than C50 and use "slow-release effect of micropump" of coral aggregate to pre-absorb and incorporate the amino alcohols inhibitor, which can significantly reduce steel bars corrosion of CASC structures. Finally, the study determined the durability design methods of CASC structures that meet the 20–100 years of service life requirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We present a time-series analysis of nutrient and pCO2 (partial pressure of CO2) levels in an oligotrophic coastal ecosystem (Gan Bay), which was likely to be influenced by upwelled subsurface water. Gan Bay is off Currimao Harbor, in the northwest Philippines and is located at the boundary of the South China Sea (SCS). This 42-h time-series observation was conducted in December 2006. In addition to continuous observations of dissolved oxygen (DO) and pCO2, discrete samples were collected at a depth of 5m every 3h for measurements of nutrients, including soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) and inorganic nitrogen (NO3 − +NO2 −) in order to examine their dynamics and possible physical and biological controls. We observed remarkably large short-term variations in the surface water, spanning a 10-fold change for SRP (32–330nM) and from <0.3μM to 4.3μM for NO3 − +NO2 −. DO also varied substantially from a lower end of 171 to 205μM O2. Surface water pCO2 changed from an equilibrium stage with the atmosphere (∼386μatm) to a stage where it was a significant source for the atmospheric CO2 (seawater pCO2 ∼469μatm). We found that the variation of nutrients was driven neither by tidal mixing nor by biological activities, as was suggested by the variations in the total bacterial abundance and chlorophyll a. Instead, our inverse T–S relationship suggested a two end-member mixing process during the observation period. The N:P ratio throughout the observation period was ∼13.2, which is characteristic of SCS subsurface and deep waters. Moreover, pCO2 was correlated inversely with the sea surface temperature. It is likely, therefore, that an upwelled subsurface cold water with high nutrients, low-temperature and high-pCO2 existed. It should be noted that this upwelled cold water did not appear to impact the entire observation period (approximately 35h of 42h), which might suggest an extremely dynamic nature for this upwelled cold water mass. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In addition to direct effect on tumor cells, the tumor-promoting activity of CCL2 has been ascribed to its role in chemoattracting tumor-associated macrophages. However it is unclear whether CCL2 also attracts other immune regulatory cells during tumor development. In this study, we confirmed the ubiquitous expression of CCR2 in myeloid suppressor cells (MSCs), a main inducer for tumor immune evasion, and identified that cancer patient-derived CCL2 mediated the migration of MSCs to tumors in vitro, which could be interdicted by antibodies neutralizing CCL2 or blocking CCR2. In mouse tumor model, the adoptively transferred CCR2−/− MSCs could not migrate to either tumor or spleen as efficiently as WT MSCs. The absence of CCL2/CCR2 signaling hindered both MSC migration and MSC-promoted tumor growth. Our data provide evidence that CCL2/CCR2 pathway plays a pivotal role in MSC migration, which is a novel mechanism through which CCL2 promotes tumor growth. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We investigated the effects of smoking status on the serum prolactin levels in schizophrenia. The serum prolactin concentration was significantly higher in nonsmokers compared with smokers. Moreover, smoking was an independent predictor of prolactin concentration. These findings suggest that smoking has an impact on prolactin concentration in male schizophrenic patients. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]