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Acidosis, regardless of hypoxia involvement, is recognized as a chronic and harsh tumor microenvironment (TME) that educates malignant cells to thrive and metastasize. Although overwhelming evidence supports an acidic environment as a driver or ubiquitous hallmark of cancer progression, the unrevealed core mechanisms underlying the direct effect of acidification on tumorigenesis have hindered the discovery of novel therapeutic targets and clinical therapy. Here, chemical-induced and transgenic mouse models for colon, liver and lung cancer were established, respectively. miR-7 and TGF- β 2 expressions were examined in clinical tissues (n = 184). RNA-seq, miRNA-seq, proteomics, biosynthesis analyses and functional studies were performed to validate the mechanisms involved in the acidic TME-induced lung cancer metastasis. Our data show that lung cancer is sensitive to the increased acidification of TME, and acidic TME-induced lung cancer metastasis via inhibition of miR-7-5p. TGF- β 2 is a direct target of miR-7-5p. The reduced expression of miR-7-5p subsequently increases the expression of TGF- β 2 which enhances the metastatic potential of the lung cancer. Indeed, overexpression of miR-7-5p reduces the acidic pH-enhanced lung cancer metastasis. Furthermore, the human lung tumor samples also show a reduced miR-7-5p expression but an elevated level of activated TGF- β 2; the expressions of both miR-7-5p and TGF- β 2 are correlated with patients' survival. We are the first to identify the role of the miR-7/TGF- β 2 axis in acidic pH-enhanced lung cancer metastasis. Our study not only delineates how acidification directly affects tumorigenesis, but also suggests miR-7 is a novel reliable biomarker for acidic TME and a novel therapeutic target for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment. Our study opens an avenue to explore the pH-sensitive subcellular components as novel therapeutic targets for cancer treatment. Extracellular acidosis, hallmark of tumor microenvironment, remarkably suppressed miR-7-5p generation to directly active TGF- β 2 expression, which specifically sustained metastasis in lung cancer cells while protect normal cells from death. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of the carbon trading system has a great impact on all aspects of the economy and society. Agriculture, which accounts for 34% of global carbon emissions, has also been hit hard as a high carbon emitting industry (Crippa M, 2021). This study uses agricultural green total factor productivity as an important indicator of agricultural green sustainable development, and analyzes the impact of China's carbon trading system on agricultural green total factor productivity, which can provide a reference for other countries that want to improve agricultural sustainable development and implement carbon trading. In this paper, the producer theory is used to build the basic model, and the differences-in-differences (DID) method is used to analyze the provincial data samples in China from 2000 to 2020. It is found that: the implementation of carbon trading pilot policy has a significant promotion effect on agricultural green total factor productivity; and after the implementation of carbon trading policy, with the advancement of time, under the constraint of reducing carbon quota, the promotion effect of agricultural green total factor productivity becomes stronger and stronger. Even in the regions without carbon trading pilot program, the policy spillover effect will also be obvious and promote the development of green total factor productivity of agriculture in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heatwaves and greenness have been shown to affect health, but the evidence on their joint effects is limited. We aim to assess the associations of the combined exposure to greenness and heatwaves. We utilized five waves (February 2000–October 2014) of the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS), a prospective cohort of older adults aged 65. We defined heatwaves as the daily maximum temperature ≥92.5th percentile with duration ≥3 days. We calculated the number of heatwave days in one year before death to and cumulative Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) during follow-up to assess individual long-term exposure to heatwaves and greenness. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the effects of greenness, heatwaves, and their interaction on mortality, adjusted for covariates. We conducted subgroup analyses by residence, gender, and age. There were 20,758 participants in our study, totaling 67,312 person-years of follow-up. The mean NDVI was 0·41 (SD 0.13), and the mean number of heatwave days was 8.92 (2.04). In the adjusted model, the mortality hazard ratio (HR) for each 3-day increase in heatwave days was 1.04 (95% CI 1.04, 1.05), each 0.1-unit decrease in cumulative NDVI was 1.06 (1.05, 1.07). In the adjusted model with an interaction term, the HR for the interaction term was 1.01 (1.01, 1.02) with a p-value less than 0.001. In our subgroup analyses, the HR for each 3-day increase in heatwave days was higher in urban areas than in rural areas (1.06 vs. 1.03), and the HR for 0.1-unit decrease in NDVI was higher in urban areas than in rural areas (1.08 vs. 1.04). Greenness can protect against the effect of heatwaves on mortality, and heatwaves affect the health effects of greenness. Urban dwellers have a higher response to the detrimental effect of heatwaves and a higher marginal benefit from greenness exposure. [Display omitted] • First nationally-representative cohort study to examine heatwave days-related mortality in diverse climatic regions of China, encompassing urban and rural areas. • Using a prospective longitudinal cohort, investigators documented long-term chronic effects of heatwaves and greenness on population health, supplementing prior findings on short-term acute heatwave mortality studies. • Found effect modification through interaction-term analysis between greenness and heatwaves and mortality. • Greenness can protect against frequency and duration of heatwaves on mortality. • Suggests greenness around where people live could be a possible adapation measure for climate change and rising temperature. Our findings adds to growing the body of evidence on heatwave and health, and contributes to a more precise relative risk estimation of heatwave days-related mortalities. The novelty of our research is finding an effect modification of residential greenness on heatwave-related mortality, and showing heatwave can have chronic effects on population health in addition to acute effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Gastric cancer has a high morbidity and is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is commonly found in the early stage of gastric cancer pathogenesis, which induces chronic gastritis. Artemisinin (ART) and its derivatives (ARTS, artesunate and DHA, dihydroartemisinin), a new class of potent antimalarials, have been reported to exert both preventive and anti-gastric cancer effects. However, the underlying mechanisms of the chemopreventive effects of ART and its derivatives in H. pylori infection induced-gastric cancer are not fully elucidated.Purpose: We investigated the effects of H. pylori infection in gastric cancer; and the preventive mechanisms of ART, ARTS and DHA.Methods: The H. pylori growth was determined by the broth macro-dilution method, and its adhesion to gastric cancer cells was evaluated by using the urease assay. The protein and mRNA levels, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, as well as the production of inflammatory cytokines were evaluated by Western blot, real-time PCR, flow cytometry and ELISA, respectively. Moreover, an in vivo MNU (N-methyl-N-nitroso-urea) and H. pylori-induced gastric adenocarcinoma mouse model was established for the investigation of the cancer preventive effects of ART and its derivaties, and the underlying mechanisms of action.Results: ART, DHA and ARTS inhibited the growth of H. pylori and gastric cancer cells,suppressed H. pylori adhesion to the gastric cancer cells, and reduced the H. pylori-enhanced ROS production. Moreover, ART, DHA and ARTS significantly reduced tumor incidence, number of tumor nodules and tumor size in the mouse model. Among these three compounds, DHA exerted the most potent chemopreventive effect. Mechanistic studies showed that ART and its derivatives potently inhibited the NF-κB activation.Conclusion: ART, DHA and ARTS have potent preventive effects in H. pylori-induced gastric carcinogenesis. These effects are, at least in part, attributed to the inhibition of NF-κB signaling pathway. Our findings provide a molecular justification of using ART and its derivatives for the prevention and treatment of gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • WUE responds differently to climatic drivers at monthly, 8-day intervals, daily, and half-hourly scales. • ET is the dominant factor influencing the WUE variability with a relative contribution of 57.5% for all seasons. • WUE has a remarkably high correspondence to air temperature at any time scale from monthly to half-hourly. • WUE during the episodic drought period is generally higher than that during the episodic wet period. Water use efficiency (WUE) quantifies the trade-off between carbon gain and water loss. A deep understanding of its relationships with the controlling factors is essential for predicting ecosystem responses to climate change. Our study utilized the eddy covariance measurements to analyze the variability of WUE and its influencing climate factors at the seasonal, monthly, 8-day, daily, and half-hourly scales and during the episodic drought and wet periods at a typical subtropical evergreen forest of Southeast China. The results show that ET is the dominant factor influencing the WUE variability with a relative contribution of 57.56 ± 2.26% for different seasons in this study area. Secondly, WUE responds differently to climatic drivers from monthly to half-hourly scales. Our results show that WUE has a remarkably high sensitivity to soil moisture at multi-time scales (from monthly to half-hourly), and the connection strength increases with increasing time scale. Thirdly, there is no significant relationship between VPD and WUE as time scale expands. In addition, WUEs during the episodic drought period have higher values than those during the episodic wet period on the monthly scales. The half-hourly WUE during the episodic drought period is close to the WUE during the episodic wet period from 8:30 to 19:00 but is higher from 6:00 to 8:00. These results indicate that soil moisture plays an important role on influencing WUE variation at multi-time scales and under extreme climatic conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Longitudinal data of multiple environmental determinants of vitamin D levels. • An increase in PM 2.5 and ozone was associated with higher vitamin D deficiency. • UV radiation and greenness had a protective association with vitamin D deficiency. • UV radiation partly mediated the association between air pollution and vitamin D deficiency. • Greenness modified the effect of ultraviolet radiation on vitamin D levels. Vitamin D metabolism is essential in aging and can be affected by multiple environmental factors. However, most studies conducted single exposure analyses. We aim to assess the individual and combined effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation, residential greenness, fine particulate matter (PM 2.5), and ozone (O 3) on vitamin D levels in a national cohort study of older adults in China. We used the 2012 and 2014 Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey data, and measured the environmental exposure in the same year. We interpolated the UV radiation from monitoring stations, measured residential greenness through satellite-derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), modeled PM 2.5 with satellite data, and estimated O 3 using machine learning. We dichotomized serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D), the primary circulating form of vitamin D, into non-deficiency (≥50 nmol/L) and deficiency (<50 nmol/L) categories. We used the generalized estimating equation for analysis, adjusted for sociodemographic information, lifestyle, physical condition, and season of blood draw, and calculated joint odds ratios based on the Cumulative Risk Index. We also explored the interaction between interested exposures, modification of participants' characteristics, and potential mediation. We included 1,336 participants, with a mean age of 83 at baseline. In single exposure models, the odds ratios of vitamin D deficiency (VDD) for per interquartile range increase in UV radiation, NDVI, PM 2.5, and O 3 and decrease were 0.39 (95 % CI:0.33,0.46), 0.90 (0.81,1.00), 1.65 (1.53,1.78), 1.67 (1.46,1.92), respectively. UV radiation mediated nearly 48 % and 78 % of the relationship between VDD and PM 2.5 and O 3 , respectively. The association between UV radiation and VDD was stronger in females than men (OR: 2.25 vs 1.22). UV radiation, residential greenness can protect against VDD, while, PM 2.5 and O 3 increase the risk of VDD. UV radiation partly mediated the association between air pollution and VDD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurately quantifying and assessing the flood risks is critical for flood hazard mitigation and prevention. This study proposed a new integrated flood risk assessment framework to map flood risk, hazard and vulnerability by coupling the HEC-HMS hydrological model, the HEC-RAS 1D and 2D hydraulic models, and a bottom-up hazard vulnerability analysis. The Old Brahmaputra River floodplain of Bangladesh, a flood-prone region, was chosen as a case study. The coupled hydrological-hydraulic model shows a comparable robust performance in both calibration and validation periods with Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient = 0.93 (0.81), coefficient of determination = 0.95 (0.89), and percent bias = −1.17% (2.40%) for the calibration (validation) period. Our results indicate that the assessed risk levels are roughly consistent with the overall property distribution and flood-hazard potential in the study area. The proposed framework and associated findings are valuable for developing adaptation strategies and early-warning systems to reduce flood impacts in the future. • Developed an integrated flood risk assessment framework to map flood risk, hazard and vulnerability. • Coupled the HEC-HMS hydrological model, the HEC-RAS hydraulic models, and a bottom-up hazard vulnerability analysis. • Mapped flood risks of the flood-prone Old Brahmaputra River floodplain of Bangladesh. • Provided a used modeling system for flood adaptation and early-warning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]