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In the context of escalating global concerns for “carbon neutrality and peak carbon” and the urgent need for ecological conservation, deciphering the spatiotemporal interactions between carbon emissions and the ecosystem service value (ESV) in relation to land use changes becomes critically significant. Identifying areas to bolster ecosystem services and curtail carbon emissions, especially within the Guanzhong urban agglomeration, is crucial for advancing sustainable and low-carbon regional development. The study focuses on the urban agglomeration of Guanzhong, using land use and socio-economic data from three periods between 2010 and 2020. Methods such as grid analysis and bivariate spatial autocorrelation models are employed to explore the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics and interaction patterns of carbon emissions and ESV in relation to land use. The findings reveal: (1) during 2010–2020, the Guanzhong urban agglomeration experienced varied transitions in land use types, marked by a significant net decrease in arable land and net increases in grasslands and urban construction areas. (2) The ESV in the Guanzhong urban agglomeration witnessed a consistent rise, exhibiting a spatial distribution pattern with higher values in the southwest and lower in the northeast. Among the categorized ecosystem service functions, services related to hydrological and climate regulation stood out. (3) The Guanzhong urban agglomeration observed an average annual growth rate of 5.03% in carbon emissions due to land use, with a spatial trend that was higher in the center and tapered towards the periphery. Predominant carbon sources included arable lands and urban construction areas, while forests accounted for 94% of carbon sequestration. (4) A pronounced negative correlation between the ESV and carbon emissions was discerned in Guanzhong. Regions with a stronger correlation were primarily centered in Guanzhong, notably around Xi’an and Baoji. The results emphasize the pivotal role of the primary sector’s qualitative development in harmonizing the ESV and carbon emission dynamics in the Guanzhong urban agglomeration. This research provides valuable insights for optimizing land resource management, aligned with the rural revitalization strategy, streamlining carbon dynamics, bolstering ESV, augmenting carbon sequestration efficiency, and guiding ecological spatial planning.

Numerical analysis of collision is an important aspect of bridge seismic research. This paper introduces precise integration to the numerical analysis of seismic collision. Firstly, the collision forces of four contact element models were expressed in a unified form, including linear spring model, Kelvin-Voigt model, Hertz model, and Jan-Hertz-Damp model, and then the precision integration formula was derived for solving the collision force. Next, a collision time search method was proposed under the linear acceleration hypothesis, and the seismic collision was divided into a collision phase and a non-collision phase. Different time steps were adopted for the two phases. This strategy was verified by comparing simulation results with the data of theoretical analysis and shaking table test. The results show that precision integration ensures the accuracy of numerical calculation for bridge structure collision under seismic action, and achieves a high calculation efficiency; the contact element model and model parameters should be selected reasonably to analyze seismic collision of bridges; the Jan-Hertz-Damp model of contact elements boasts the highest simulation accuracy among the commonly used models.

Fe2AlB2 material was prepared through spark plasma sintering (SPS) by using Fe/Al/B mixed powder as the raw material. The effects of sintering temperature, holding time, and Al content on the phase composition and microstructure of the product were studied to obtain materials with high Fe2AlB2 content. Results showed that when the sintering temperature was increased to approximately 1000°C, SPS induced a thermal explosion reaction, resulting in the formation of a dense sintered sample with high Fe2AlB2 content. The sample contained a small amount of FeB and FeAl3 impurities. The synthesis of Fe2AlB2 could be promoted by optimizing holding time and increasing Al content in the raw materials. The most suitable process parameters for the synthesis of materials with high Fe2AlB2 content were 1000°C, no holding, and 2Fe/1.1Al/2B raw material. The Fe2AlB2 sample had good mechanical properties. Its Vickers hardness and bending strength were 10.5 GPa and 352 MPa, respectively. Given that the synthesized Fe2AlB2 material was unstable, continuously increasing the temperature or extending the holding time would cause it to decompose.

BackgroundThe current debates on “digital labor” focus on a gorgeous and comprehensive experiential description and theoretical exposition but do not provide a thorough examination of the unique context and social structure. In China, the development of internet is closely tied to politics, the Chinese Government uses internet as a tool of social governance. More importantly, aside from desire-based communications produced by corporate ideology, the Chinese people’s passion for the Internet also comes from individual survival, especially the middle and lower class of information represented by the disabled people. This means that analysis of the digital labor among people with disabilities in China must be done from a variety of angles, including politics, society and culture.MethodsThis study combines life-history interviews and field research methods to explore the value and significance of digitalized livelihoods and free prosumer labor for people with disabilities in China through self-narration. Since 2020, researchers have been volunteering at two social organizations serving people with physical disabilities in Wuhan city, Hubei Province. We participated in 26 assistance activities for disabled groups which included three 14-day training camps, and interviewed 40 people with physical disabilities.ResultsThis study found that although the digitalized livelihoods practice of people with disabilities is still “precarious labor” in nature, whose self-expression in the cyberspace is easy to fall into the shackles of capital flow logic. However, digital labor practice provides them with the opportunity to “sit at home, enter the community and society,” also enables them to “live independently.” More importantly, this opportunity and possibility enable people with disabilities to experience a sense of value and self-esteem as “competent people.” Therefore, in the realistic environment of structural obstacles in the social life of the people with disabilities in China, the possibility of “inclusiveness” brought by digital labor is the core value brought by digital society.

Field-based sampling can provide more accurate evaluation than MODIS in regional biomass burning (BB) emissions given the limitations of MODIS on unresolved fires. Polyurethane foam-based passive air samplers (PUF-PASs) are a promising tool for collecting atmospheric monosaccharides. Here, we deployed PUF-PASs to monitor monosaccharides and other BB-related biomarkers and presented a dataset of 31 atmospheric BB-related biomarkers in the Indo-China Peninsula (ICP) and Southwest China. The peak concentrations of monosaccharides in the ICP occurred before monsoon season. The highest concentrations were in the eastern Mekong plain, while the lowest were along the eastern coast. BB-related biomarkers displayed elevated concentrations after April, particularly in the monsoon season; however, fewer active fires were recorded by MODIS. This revealed the importance of MODIS unresolved fires (e.g., indoor biofuel combustion, small-scale BB incidents, and charcoal fires) to the regional atmosphere. The PAS derived levoglucosan concentrations indicated that, with the inclusion of MODIS unresolved fires, the estimated top-down emissions of PM (4194–4974 Gg/yr), OC (1234–1719 Gg/yr) and EC (52–384 Gg/yr) would be higher than previous bottom-up estimations in the ICP. Future studies on these MODIS unresolved fires and regional monitoring data of BB are vital for improving the modeling of regional BB emissions.

Ultra-high strength martensitic stainless steel plays an essential role in aerospace, nuclear and other fields. This paper addresses laser-based powder bed fusion of martensitic stainless steel, based on thermodynamic software and computer languages for high-throughput calculation in combination with the hot tear sensitivity index criterion, Optimization of the alloy composed of Fe11Cr8Ni5Co3Mo martensitic stainless steel for resistance to hot tearing. The martensitic stainless steel composition with the lowest crack sensitivity was selected from hundreds of millions of data sets, reducing the hot tearing sensitivity index from 6841 to 1861. The alloy with the lowest hot tearing sensitivity was Fe11.3Cr8.18Ni2.0Mo2.8Co0.24Mn0.02V0.02Si0.01C0.17Mg. The hot tearing sensitivity has been experimentally verified in conjunction with additive manufacturing, and a comparative study of the building state organization and mechanical properties has been made.

Purpose Cognitive impairment (CI) is very common in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Cerebral structural and functional abnormalities have been reported in cognitively impaired patients with COPD, and the neurovascular coupling changes are rarely investigated. To address this issue, arterial spin labeling (ASL) and resting-state blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) fMRI techniques were used to determine whether any neurovascular changes in COPD patients. Methods Forty-five stable COPD patients and forty gender- and age-matched healthy controls were recruited. Furthermore, resting-state BOLD fMRI and ASL were acquired to calculate degree centrality (DC) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) respectively. The CBF-DC coupling and CBF/DC ratio were compared between the two groups. Results COPD patients showed abnormal CBF, DC and CBF/DC ratio in several regions. Moreover, lower CBF/DC ratio in the left lingual gyrus negatively correlated with naming scores, lower CBF/DC ratio in medial frontal cortex/temporal gyrus positively correlated with the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), visuospatial/executive and delayed recall scores. Conclusion These findings may provide new potential insights into neuropathogenesis of cognition decline in stable COPD patients.

A new type of shuttle-shaped double-restrained buckling-restrained brace (SDR-BRB) is proposed, which adopts the form of a shuttle-shaped deformation section similar to its bending moment distribution as the external restraining system. The SDR-BRB has the advantages of superlong size, high load-carrying capacity, and lightweight components, and is suitable for use in large-span spatial structures and bridge structures with an exposed BRB. First, the calculation formula of the elastic buckling load of a pin-ended SDR-BRB is derived based on the equilibrium method, which is verified through the eigenvalue buckling analysis method, and the effects of the main geometric parameters on its elastic buckling behavior are evaluated. The effects of multiple key factors on the load-carrying capacity of the SDR-BRB are then studied by parametric analysis. The results show that the restraining ratio, initial imperfection, and gap have significant effects on the ultimate load-carrying capacity and overall stability of the SDR-BRB, while the effect of the diameter–thickness ratio is relatively small. On this basis, the fitting formula of the critical restraining ratio of the SDR-BRB considering the influences of initial imperfection and gap is proposed and verified by finite element analysis. The research lays a foundation for further research into the elastic–plastic hysteretic behavior and design method of an SDR-BRB.

The wide presence of antibiotics and minerals warrants their combined effects on the denitrification in natural aquatic environment. Herein, we investigated the effects of two antibiotics, sulfamethazine (SMZ) and chlortetracycline (CTC), on the reduction of NO3--N and accumulation of NO2--N in the absence and presence of engineered nanoparticles (NPs) (Al2O3, SiO2, and geothite) using 16 S rRNA sequencing and high-throughput quantitative PCR. The results showed that the addition of antibiotics inhibited the reduction of NO3--N by changing the bacterial community structure and reducing the abundance of denitrification genes, while engineered NPs promoted the denitrification by increasing the abundance of denitrification genes. In the binary systems, engineered NPs alleviated the inhibitory effect of antibiotics through enriching the denitrification genes and adsorbing antibiotics. Antibiotics and its combination with engineered NPs changed the composition of functional genes related to C, N, P, S metabolisms (p

Abstract Background Glioma is one of the most common central nervous system malignant tumors, accounting for 45~60% of adult intracranial tumors. However, the clinical treatment of glioma is limited. It is of great significance to seek new therapeutic methods for glioma via gene therapy. Methods Long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) SNHG16 expression level was measured by microarray and qRT-PCR assay; ISH was used to identify the location of SNHG16. Cancer stem cells (CSCs) were separated from glioma tissues and identified using immunofluorescence. Exosomes were isolated from CSCs and cancer cells and identified by TEM and western blot. MTT, wound healing, transwell, and colony formation assay were performed to explore the role of SNHG16 or si-SNHG16 from CSCs on progression of glioma cells. RIP was used to verify the interaction between SNHG16 and TLR7. The experiment of Xenograft used for exploring the function of SNHG16/ TLR7/MyD88/NFκB/c-Myc on growth on glioma in vivo. Results Microarray assay showed long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) SNHG16 was upregulated in glioma. Followed qRT-PCR also showed an increase of SNHG16 in glioma tissues; high expression of SNHG16 indicated a poor prognosis in glioma patients. Interestingly, SNHG16 was packaged into exosomes and derived from CSCs. Functional analysis showed exo-SNHG16 secreted by CSCs promoted the progression of glioma cell lines SHG44 and U251. Furthermore, SNHG16 interacted with TLR7 and activated NFκB/c-Myc signaling in glioma cells. And the silencing of TLR7 inhibited the progression of SHG44 and U251 cells by exo-SNHG16 from CSCs. In vivo tumorigenesis experiments showed that exo-SNHG16 induced glioma progression by activating TLR7/MyD88/NFκB/c-Myc signaling. Conclusion Our study suggested CSC-derived exo-SNHG16 promoted cancer progression by activating TLR7/MyD88/NFκB/c-Myc signaling pathway.

Abstract Phedimus aizoon L. is a drought-resistant Chinese herbal medicine and vegetable. However, its drought tolerant limit and the mechanism of drought tolerance are unknown, which restricts the promotion of water-saving cultivation of Phedimus aizoon L. in arid areas. To solve the above problem, we carried out a 30-day-long drought stress experiment in pots that presented different soil water contents and were divided into four groups: control check, 75–80% of the maximum water-holding capacity (MWHC); mild drought, 55–60%; moderate drought, 40–45%; and severe drought, 20–25%. The dynamic changes in both plant physiological indexes from 10 to 30 days and leaf anatomical structure on the 30th day of stress were recorded. The results show that Phedimus aizoon L. grew normally under mild drought stress for 30 days, but the growth of the plants became inhibited after 20 days of severe drought and after 30 days of moderate drought. At the same time, Phedimus aizoon L. physiologically responded to cope with drought stress: the growth of the root system accelerated, the waxy layer of the leaves thickened, and the dark reactions of the plants transformed from those of the C3 cycle to CAM. The activity of antioxidant enzymes (SOD, POD and CAT) continuously increased to alleviate the damage caused by drought stress. To ensure the relative stability of the osmotic potential, the contents of osmoregulatory substances such as proline, soluble sugars, soluble protein and trehalose increased correspondingly. Although Phedimus aizoon L. has strong drought stress resistance, our experimental results show that the soil available water content should not be less than 27% during cultivation.

The applicability of current seismic-performance-improvement technologies needs to be studied. This research took a super-long-span CFST arch bridge with a total length of 788 m as the object on which to perform a non-linear time-history analysis and a seismic-check calculation according to the seismic response, so as to reveal the seismic weak points of the arch bridge. After the completion of the bridge’s construction, we arranged and utilized the stayed buckle cables (SBCs) reasonably. The seismic performance of the super-long-span CFST arch bridge was improved through friction-pendulum bearings (FPBs) and SBCs. The research shows that FPBs can solve the problem of the insufficient shear resistance of bearings, and SBCs can address the problem whereby the compressive stress of the transverse connection of the main arch exceeds the allowable stress. Moreover, SBCs can increase the transverse stiffness of arch bridges and reduce their seismic responses. Finally, a combination of FPBs and SBCs was adopted to improve the overall seismic performance of the arch bridge and obtain the best seismic-performance-improvement effect.

Abstract Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) is a transcription factor and an oncogene product, which plays a pivotal role in tumor progression. Therefore, targeting persistent STAT3 signaling directly is an attractive anticancer strategy. The aim of this study is to test the efficacy of a novel STAT3 small molecule inhibitor, LLL12B, in suppressing medulloblastoma cells in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. LLL12B selectively inhibited the induction of STAT3 phosphorylation by interleukin-6 but not induction of STAT1 phosphorylation by INF-γ. LLL12B also induced apoptosis in human medulloblastoma cells. In addition, LLL12B exhibited good oral bioavailability in vivo and potent suppressive activity in tumor growth of medulloblastoma cells in vivo. Besides, combining LLL12B with cisplatin showed greater inhibition of cell viability and tumorsphere formation as well as induction of apoptosis comparing to single agent treatment in medulloblastoma cells. Furthermore, LLL12B and cisplatin combination exhibited greater suppression of medulloblastoma tumor growth than monotherapy in vivo. The present study supported that LLL12B is a novel therapeutic agent for medulloblastoma and the combination of LLL12B with a chemotherapeutic agent cisplatin may be an effective approach for medulloblastoma therapy.

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the associations of serum biomarkers of fruit and vegetable intake (vitamin C and carotenoids) with cause–specific mortality and all–cause mortality in a nationally representative sample of US adults.MethodsWe analyzed data from 12,530 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (1988–1994). The Cox proportional hazards models with restricted cubic spline were used for the analysis.ResultsDuring 246,027 person–years of follow–up, 4,511 deaths occurred, including 1,395 deaths from cardiovascular disease, 1,072 deaths from heart disease, 323 deaths from cerebral disease, and 954 deaths from cancer. The serum vitamin C was significantly associated with the cancer and all–cause mortality, with hazard ratios (HRs) (95% CIs) for each one SD of 0.80 (0.71–0.91) and 0.91 (0.86–0.96). The serum alpha–carotene was significantly associated with the cancer mortality, with HRs (95% CIs) of 0.70 (0.54–0.90), 0.68 (0.48–0.95), 0.64 (0.43–0.95), and 0.44 (0.33–0.60) for comparisons of groups 2–5 with group 1 in model 2, respectively. The change for each one SD in the composite biomarker score, equivalent to a 0.483 times/month difference in total fruits and vegetables intake, gave an HR of 0.79 (0.69–0.90) for cancer mortality.ConclusionInverse associations were found between serum vitamin C, carotenoids, and composite biomarker score and outcomes expect for cerebral disease, heart disease, and cardiovascular disease mortality. This finding supports an increase in dietary fruit and vegetable intake as a primary prevention strategy for cancer and all–cause mortality.

Tumor metastasis and invasion are the main impediments to lung adenocarcinoma successful treatment. Previous studies demonstrate that chemotherapeutic agents can elevate the malignancy of cancer cells other than their therapeutic effects. In this study, the effects of transient low-dose cisplatin treatment on the malignant development of lung adenocarcinoma cells (A549) were detected, and the underlying epigenetic mechanisms were investigated. The findings showed that A549 cells exhibited epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-like phenotype along with malignant progression under the transient low-dose cisplatin treatment. Meanwhile, low-dose cisplatin was found to induce contactin-1 (CNTN-1) upregulation in A549 cells. Subsequently, we found that further overexpressing CNTN-1 in A549 cells obviously activated the EMT process in vitro and in vivo, and caused malignant development of A549 cells in vitro. Taken together, we conclude that low-dose cisplatin can activate the EMT process and resulting malignant progression through upregulating CNTN-1 in A549 cells. The findings provided new evidence that a low concentration of chemotherapeutic agents could facilitate the malignancy of carcinoma cells via activating the EMT process other than their therapeutic effects.

Abstract Background This article reports a patient who survived severe pneumonia, pyopneumothorax with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and septic shock, which is very difficult to treat. Case presentation Antibiotics, continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT), bronchial lavage and other treatments were used to treat a patient with pneumonia, pyopneumothorax, severe ARDS and septic shock. After comprehensive treatment, the patient was successfully treated and survived for a long time. Conclusions There is a low successful clinical treatment rate for patients with pneumonia, pyopneumothorax with severe ARDS and septic shock. The successful treatment of this patient benefited from early and effective empirical therapy, targeted drug selection in the later stage, adequate closed thoracic drainage, repeated bronchial lavage, early CRRT, an appropriate respiratory support mode and parameter setting, immunotherapy and nutritional support therapy. This paper proposes a reference diagnosis and treatment solution for similar cases.

Abstract Background Intraoperative pulmonary artery (PA) hemorrhage is one of the leading reasons for conversion from uniportal VATS to open thoracotomy, especially for the small incision (≤3 cm) uniportal VATS performed by our department. So, We designed a technology called pretreatment clamping of the pulmonary artery, which may be helpful to solve the problem. Methods A retrospective analysis of 19 patients who had pulmonary artery bleeding during uniportal thoracoscopic lobectomy in which one group had undergone preventive pulmonary artery clamping, the clamping group (n = 11), and one group which did not receive preventive clamping, the non-clamping group (n = 8). We compared the rates of conversion from the uniportal VATS approach to open thoracotomy or multi-incision operation, duration of pulmonary artery repair, blood loss, length of postoperative hospital stay and postoperative complications of the two groups. Results Compared to the non-clamping group, the clamping group had lower rates of conversion to open thoracotomy (0% vs 62.5%, p

Exposure to trace-level heavy metals and antibiotics may elicit metabolic disorder, alter protein expression, and then induce pathological changes in zebrafish embryos, despite negligible physiological and developmental toxicity. This study investigated the single and combined developmental toxicity of fluoroquinolones (enrofloxacin [ENR] and ciprofloxacin [CIP]) (≤0.5 μM) and heavy metals (Cu and Cd) (≤0.5 μM) to zebrafish embryos, and molecular responses of zebrafish larvae upon exposure to the single pollutant (0.2 μM) or a binary metal-fluoroquinolone mixture (0.2 μM). In all single and mixture exposure groups, no developmental toxicity was observed, but oxidative stress, inflammation, and lipid depletion were found in zebrafish embryos, which was more severe in the mixture exposure groups than in the single exposure groups, probably due to increased metal bioaccumulation in the presence of ENR or CIP. Metabolomics analysis revealed the up-regulation of amino acids and down-regulation of fatty acids, corresponding to an active response to oxidative stress and the occurrence of inflammation. The up-regulation of antioxidase and immune proteins revealed by proteomics analysis further confirmed the occurrence of oxidative stress and inflammation. Furthermore, the KEGG pathway enrichment analysis showed a significant disturbance of pathways related to immunity and tumor, indicating the potential risk of tumorigenesis in zebrafish larvae. The findings provide molecular-level insights into the adverse effects of heavy metals and antibiotics (especially in chemical mixtures) on zebrafish embryos, and highlight the potential ecotoxicological risks of trace-level heavy metals and antibiotics in the environment.

Intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD) is closely related to osmolarity, which fluctuates with daily activities, and hyperosmolarity may be a contributor to nucleus pulposus (NP) cells apoptosis. Aquaporin-3 (AQP-3) belongs to the family of aquaporins and mainly transports water and other small molecular proteins, which is reduced with the aging of the intervertebral disc. ERK1/2 pathway is one type of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and is associated with cellular apoptosis. This study was aimed to investigate the effects of AQP-3 on NP cells apoptosis induced by a hyperosmolarity and focused on the role of the ERK1/2 signaling pathway. We found that NP apoptosis could be induced by hyperosmolarity (550 mOsm/kg), and downregulation of AQP-3 and inhibition of ERK1/2 could be simultaneously observed. Therefore, lentivirus was used to enhance the expression of AQP-3 to compare apoptosis between AQP-3-overexpressed NP cells and the control NP cells. The results showed that apoptosis could be alleviated by overexpression of AQP-3 and the activity of ERK1/2 could also be promoted. Furthermore, we found that the inhibitor U0126 could partly aggravate apoptosis of the AQP-3-overexpressed NP cells. In summary, our results suggested that overexpression of AQP-3 could protect against hyperosmolarity-induced NP cell apoptosis via promoting the activity of the ERK1/2 pathway. This study may shed light on a better understanding of the pathologic mechanism of IDD and bring AQP-3 into the therapeutic approaches for IDD treatment.

Autoimmune diseases (ADs) are a broad range of diseases in which the immune response to self-antigens causes damage or disorder of tissues, and the genetic susceptibility is regarded as the key etiology of ADs. Accumulating evidence has suggested that there are certain commonalities among different ADs. However, the theoretical research about similarity between ADs is still limited. In this work, we first computed the genetic similarity between 26 ADs based on three measurements: network similarity (NetSim), functional similarity (FunSim), and semantic similarity (SemSim), and systematically identified three significant pairs of similar ADs: rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), myasthenia gravis (MG) and autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT), and autoimmune polyendocrinopathies (AP) and uveomeningoencephalitic syndrome (Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome, VKH). Then we investigated the gene ontology terms and pathways enriched by the three significant AD pairs through functional analysis. By the cluster analysis on the similarity matrix of 26 ADs, we embedded the three significant AD pairs in three different disease clusters respectively, and the ADs of each disease cluster might have high genetic similarity. We also detected the risk genes in common among the ADs which belonged to the same disease cluster. Overall, our findings will provide significant insight in the commonalities of different ADs in genetics, and contribute to the discovery of novel biomarkers and the development of new therapeutic methods for ADs.

A directional polarimetric camera (DPC) is a key payload on board China’s Gaofen 5B (hereafter denoted as GF-5B) satellite, a hyperspectral observation instrument for monitoring aerosols. On the basis of the dark dense vegetation (DDV) algorithm, this study applied DDV algorithm to DPC measurements. First, the reflectance of vegetation in three channels (0.443, 0.49, and 0.675 μm) was analyzed, and inversion channels were identified. Subsequently, the decrease in normalized difference vegetation index associated with various view angles was simulated, and the optimal view angle for extracting dark pixels was determined. Finally, the top-of-atmosphere reflectance at different view angles was simulated to determine the optimal view angle for aerosol inversion. The inversion experiments were conducted by using DPC data collected over North China from November 2021 to January 2022. The results revealed that DDV algorithm could monitor pollution from 30 December 2021 to 4 January 2022, and the inversion results were strongly correlated with Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol product and AERONET station data (R > 0.85).

Life-history strategies play a critical role in susceptibility to environmental stresses for Scleractinia coral. Metabolomics, which is capable of determining the metabolic responses of biological systems to genetic and environmental changes, is competent for the characterization of species’ biological traits. In this study, two coral species (Pocillopora meandrina and Seriatopora hystrix in the South China Sea) with different life-history strategies (“competitive” and “weedy”) were targeted, and untargeted mass spectrometry metabolomics combined with molecular networking was applied to characterize their differential metabolic pathways. The results show that lyso-platelet activating factors (lyso-PAFs), diacylglyceryl carboxyhydroxymethylcholine (DGCC), aromatic amino acids, and sulfhydryl compounds were more enriched in P. meandrina, whereas new phospholipids, dehydrated phosphoglycerol dihydroceramide (de-PG DHC), monoacylglycerol (MAG), fatty acids (FA) (C < 18), short peptides, and guanidine compounds were more enriched in S. hystrix. The metabolic pathways involved immune response, energy metabolism, cellular membrane structure regulation, oxidative stress system, secondary metabolite synthesis, etc. While the immune system (lysoPAF) and secondary metabolite synthesis (aromatic amino acids and sulfhydryl compounds) facilitates fast growth and resistance to environmental stressors of P. meandrina, the cell membrane structure (structural lipids), energy storage (storage lipids), oxidative stress system (short peptides), and secondary metabolite synthesis (guanidine compounds) are beneficial to the survival of S. hystrix in harsh conditions. This study contributes to the understanding of the potential molecular traits underlying life-history strategies of different coral species.

Abstract Background Even though China launched a series of measures to alleviate several financial burdens (including health insurance scheme, increased government investment, and so on), the economic burden of health expenditure has still not been alleviated. Out-of-pocket payments (OPPs) show not only a time correlation but also some degree of spatial correlation. The aims of the current study were thus to identify the spatial cluster of OPPs, to investigate the main factors affecting variation, and to explore the spatial spillover sources of China’s OPP. Methods Global and local spatial autocorrelation tests were validated to identify the spatial cluster of OPPs using the panel data of 31 provinces in China from 2005 to 2016. The Spatial Durbin Model, established in this paper, measured the spatial spillover effect of OPPs and analyzed the possible spillover sources (demand, supply, and socio-economic factors. Results OPPs were found to have a significant and positive spatial correlation. The results of the Spatial Durbin Model showed the direct and indirect effects of demand, supply, and socio- economic factors on China’s OPPs. Among the demand factors, the direct and indirect correlation (elasticity) coefficients were positive. Among the supply factors, the direct and indirect effects of the share of primary health beds on residents’ OPPs were negative. The ratio of health technicians in hospitals to those in primary health institutions on per capital OPPs had a significant indirect effect. Among the socio-economic factors, the direct effects of GDP, government health expenditure, and urbanization on OPPs were found to be positive. There were no significant indirect effects of socio-economic factors on OPPs. Conclusion This paper finds that China’s OPPs are not randomly distributed but, overall, present a positive spatial cluster, even though a series of measures have been launched to promote health equity. Socio-economic factors and those associated with demand were found to be the main influences of variation in OPPs, while demand was seen to be the driver of the positive spatial spillover of OPPs, whereby effective supply could inhibit these positive spillover effects.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are the main hotspots for the release of antibiotics, including the widely used sulphonamides. Microbes play important roles in eliminating sulphonamides in WWTPs, and knowledge about these degraders and their interactions within the microbial community is crucial for operating and optimising WWTPs. In the present study, stable isotope probing (SIP) coupled with high-throughput sequencing as culture-independent approach revealed four operational taxonomic units (OTUs) involved in sulphamethoxazole (SMX) degradation in activated sludge. Except for the OTU affiliated with Gammaproteobacteria, the others have not been previously reported to possess the ability to metabolise SMX. The isolated SMX degrader by culture-dependent method did not participate in SMX biodegradation in situ according to the SIP analysis, and showed weak correlations with other members in the activated sludge. The complex interactions between in situ active SMX degraders and non-degrading microbes might explain our failure to isolate these degraders. In addition, sul1 genes associated with SMX resistance were also labelled with 13C, suggesting that they might benefit from SMX degradation and/or originate from the active SMX degraders. These findings broaden our understanding of the diversity of SMX-degrading microbes and their associated characteristics in WWTPs. Keywords: Antibiotic resistance genes, Activated sludge, Sulphamethoxazole-degrading bacteria, Molecular ecological network analysis, Stable isotope probing, Sulphonamide biodegradation

Abstract Background Interleukin-11 (IL-11), a dominant IL-6 family cytokine, is involved in tumorigenesis, tumor progression and differentiation in colon cancer cells. IL-11 signaling has been recently identified as a potential therapeutic target in colon cancer. Bazedoxifene, a third- generation selective estrogen modulator approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is a novel inhibitor of IL-11/GP130 signaling discovered by docking modeling. Methods In this study, the inhibition efficacy of bazedoxifene in colon cancer cells and its potential mechanism were investigated in vitro and in vivo by using MTT cell viability assay, BrdU cell proliferation assay, colony formation assay, wound-healing/cell migration assay, immunofluorescence, western blot assay and the mouse xenograft tumor model. Results Bazedoxifene inhibits phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (p-STAT3) and its nuclear translocation induced by IL-11 in colon cancer cells. It also inhibits p-STAT3 induced by IL-6 and IL-11 but not by OSM or STAT1 phosphorylation induced by INF-γ in human colon cancer cells. In addition, bazedoxifene can significantly inhibit phosphorylation of AKT and STAT3 downstream targets. Furthermore, bazedoxifene alone or together with oxaliplatin can significantly induce apoptosis, inhibit cell viability, cell colony formation and cell migration in colon cancer cells. Knock-down of IL-11R can reduce the sensitivity of colon cancer cells to bazedoxifene. IL-11 can reduce the efficacy of oxaliplatin-mediated inhibition of cell viability. Consistent with in vitro findings, bazedoxifene alone also attenuated HCT-15 xenograft tumor burden and reduced p-STAT3, p-AKT and p-ERK in vivo. Its combination with oxaliplatin attenuated DLD-1 xenograft tumor burden and reduced p-STAT3 in vivo. Conclusions Taken together, these results support bazedoxifene as a novel and effective therapeutic agent targeting IL-11/GP130 signaling for human colorectal cancer therapy.

Mobile robots are extensively used to complete repetitive operations in industrial areas such as intelligent transportation, logistics, and manufacturing systems. This paper addresses the path planning problem of multi-type robot systems with time windows based on timed colored Petri nets. The tasks to be completed are divided into three different types: common, exclusive and collaborative. An analytical approach to plan a group of different types of mobile robots is developed to ensure that some specific robots will visit task regions within given time windows. First, a multi-type robot system and its environment are modeled by a timed colored Petri net. Then, some methods are developed to convert the task requirements that contain logic constraints and time windows into linear constraints. Based on integer linear programming techniques, a planning approach is proposed to minimize the total cost (i.e., total travel distance) of the system. Finally, simulation studies are investigated to show the effectiveness of the developed approach.