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Objective The aim of this research was to determine the association between sorptivity of water and the state of mineralization in carious enamel of different stages of severity. Methods As a preliminary work, water droplets of 1.5 μL were placed on the surfaces of hydroxyapatite (HA) discs of different densities. The water droplet profile was dynamically recorded every second over a period of 10 s using a contact angle meter to determine the relationship between sorptivity and density. To measure and calculate sorptivity on enamel surfaces, varnish was painted on the labial surface of 96 extracted caries-free human teeth, leaving two 1.4 ± 0.1 mm diameter circular exposed test sites. The specimens were randomly divided into 6 groups (n = 16) and subjected to 0(G0), 7(G7), 14(G14), 21(G21), 28(G28) and 35(G35) days of pH cycling, respectively. A 0.7 μL water droplet was placed on each exposed site and Optical Coherence Tomography was used to measure its height every 10 seconds for 2 min. Sorptivity was computed by considering sorption equations and Washburn's analysis of capillary kinetics and correction for evaporation was also performed. Micro-Computed Tomography scans of the specimens were obtained and delta Z (ΔZ) is the parameter used to measure mineral loss. ΔZ at 10 μm (ΔZ10) and 50 μm (ΔZ50) from the surface were calculated. One-way ANOVA and Post-hoc Tukey tests were used to compare sorptivity between groups and bivariate correlations were used to analyze the association between sorptivity and ΔZ. Results Sorptivity was found to be inversely and linearly correlated with HA density with R2 value of 0.95. With enamel, there is a general trend of increase in mean sorptivity from G0 to G35, except for a decrease in G21. The same trends were observed for both ΔZ10 and ΔZ50. The decrease in sorptivity in G21 coincided with the presence of a surface hypermineralized layer in G21 samples. Post-hoc Tukey showed significant differences in mean sorptivity between G0 and G14, G0 and G21 as well as G14 and G21. Post-hoc Dunnett’s T3 showed significant differences for ΔZ10 between G0 and G14 as well as G14 and G21. Significant correlation between mean sorptivity and ΔZ10 was detected with Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.461. For ΔZ50, post-hoc Tukey showed significant differences between G0 and G14 but no significant difference was detected between G14 and G21. No correlations were detected between mean sorptivity and ΔZ50. Significance Sorptivity was found to be inversely and linearly correlated with HA density with R2 value of 0.95. With enamel, there is a general trend of increase in mean sorptivity from G0 to G35, except for a decrease in G21. The same trends were observed for both ΔZ10 and ΔZ50. The decrease in sorptivity in G21 coincided with the presence of a surface hypermineralized layer in G21 samples.

Tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily 19 (TNFRSF19) is a transmembrane protein involved in tumorigenesis. RAB43 is a small molecule GTP-binding protein contributing to the occurrence and development of tumors. However, TNFRSF19/RAB43 dysregulation and their role in hepatocellular carcinoma cells are unknown. Herein, we found that TNFRSF19 and RAB43 were downregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues. TNFRSF19/RAB43 overexpression suppressed, whereas TNFRSF19/RAB43 knockdown promoted cell proliferation and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) of hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Previously, using deep sequencing technology, a new miRNA, miR-HCC3, was identified and found to suppress the expression of TNFRSF19 and RAB43 by binding to their 3′untranslated regions (3′UTRs) directly. miR-HCC3 was upregulated in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues compared with adjacent noncancerous tissues and promoted proliferation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in HCC cells. Furthermore, TNFRSF19/RAB43 suppressed but miR-HCC3 promoted tumor growth in vivo. Collectively, our results indicated that downregulation of TNFRSF19 and RAB43 by miR-HCC3 contributes to oncogenic activities in HCC, which sheds light on tumorigenesis and might provide potential therapeutic targets for HCC.

This study investigates cross-cultural differences between Chinese and American consumers in the relationships of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) intentions and consumers’ engagement with CSR communication through social media with three antecedents: (1) attitude toward CSR in social media, (2) peer communication about CSR activities, and (3) opinion leadership characteristics. An online survey was conducted with samples of social media users in China and the U.S. Results from the multiple-group analysis show that the degree of impact of the three antecedents varies significantly between consumers in China and the U.S. Specifically, the influence of attitudes toward CSR in social media on consumers’ engagement with CSR communication in social media is stronger for the Chinese participants than for the U.S. participants. In addition, peer communication and opinion leadership characteristics have significantly stronger effects on consumers’ engagement with CSR communication via social media for the Chinese participants than for the U.S. participants.

Building environmental monitoring and compliance checking are important in ensuring environmental performance. The information required for monitoring and checking is obtained from different data sources in different information systems. In this context, information sharing between stakeholders and the semantic interoperability that prevails with varying information systems are necessary. However, the implementation of information sharing and semantic interoperability can be a challenge. This paper proposes an ontology-based framework to support environmental monitoring and compliance checking under building information modeling (BIM) environment among different information systems. The framework integrates building information from BIM, environmental information provided by sensors, and regulatory information based on building regulations and design requirements. In this framework, four specific ontologies are developed to represent relevant knowledge. Building information is extracted from BIM and then converted, together with environmental information provided by sensors, into resource description framework format as ontology instances. The regulation clauses are transformed into SPARQL (SPARQL Protocol and RDF Query Language) rules. A case study is performed to apply the framework, and environmental monitoring and automated compliance checking are implemented in the context of a real distributed energy station project. The testing results validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed framework.

Based on data of 286 Chinese cities from 2006 to 2015, the paper applies Difference-in-Difference (DID) model to investigate whether and how High-Speed Railway (HSR) influences the tourist arrivals. Empirical results suggest that 1) although HSR opening can significantly promote tourist arrivals, the multi-stage DID model indicates a time-lag effect of HSR on tourism. 2) The positive effects of HSR opening on tourist arrivals increase gradually. 3) Improving HSR frequency helps cities to attract more tourists. 4) The location of HSR station has no significant impact on tourist arrivals. 5) Compared with the ordinary station, the hub station of HSR in the city can attract more tourist arrivals through an enhanced network effect.

The study examines whether and how social media use can be sources of political affects.It examines both positive/negative affects and discrete negative emotions.It finds civic and political participation were triggered by different affects.It proposes a mediation-moderation mode. Although the role of affects and emotions in political participation has attracted much scholarly attention, few studies have examined whether and how media and communications can be the sources of political affects. This study argues that social media are not only information channels; they can also be effective in communicating feelings and emotions. Social media use may contribute to political affects, which in turn impinge on civic and political participation. In addition, political affects may moderate the effects of social media use on political participation. Based on a survey of university students in Guangzhou, China (N=897), this study finds that, under Chinas networked authoritarianism, political communication via social media is related to positive affects toward the government and society, while connection with activists via social media is related to negative affect. Positive and negative affects have different impact on different types of participation. Negative affects strengthen the connection between social media use and participation. The roles of three discrete negative emotions anger, anxiety and fear are also explored.

The capability of High-Speed Rail (HSR) to influence urban development has received considerable attention. However, due to lack of statistical data, there are few studies examining HSR-led urban development from a national perspective. Using the brightness of nighttime lights as a proxy for economic development, this manuscript begins to offer a more complete picture of development around 124 HSR station areas in China. Moreover, the manuscript explores the causes of different development patterns among China's HSR station areas. Empirical results reveal three main findings. 1) HSR station areas with high nighttime light brightness are mainly located in Beijing, Tianjin, Yangtze River delta city cluster and Pearl River delta city cluster. HSR station areas with relatively rapid growth in nighttime light brightness are mostly distributed in Hebei province, Henan province and Anhui province. 2) The level of urban economic development, the level of city rank and the location of HSR stations are three important factors affecting the development of HSR station areas. 3) The factors affecting the development of new and existing HSR station areas are distinct from one another. The influence of the overall urban economic development level on the development of new HSR station areas is larger than such influence on existing station areas where HSR has been added to existing infrastructure. The level of city ranking and the location of HSR stations significantly affect the development around new HSR stations, but have no significant impact on the development surrounding pre-existing HSR stations.