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Studies have highlighted a possible link between air pollution and cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) imaging markers. However, the exact association and effects of polygenic risk score (PRS) defined genetic susceptibility remains unclear. This cross-sectional study used data from the UK Biobank. Participants aged 40–69 years were recruited between the year 2006 and 2010. The annual average concentrations of NOX, NO2, PM2.5, PM2.5–10, PM2.5 absorbance, and PM10, were estimated, and joint exposure to multiple air pollutants was reflected in the air pollution index (APEX). Air pollutant exposure was classified into the low (T1), intermediate (T2), and high (T3) tertiles. Three CSVD markers were used: white matter hyper-intensity (WMH), mean diffusivity (MD), and fractional anisotropy (FA). The first principal components of the MD and FA measures in the 48 white matter tracts were analysed. The sample consisted of 44,470 participants from the UK Biobank. The median (T1–T3) concentrations of pollutants were as follows: NO2, 25.5 (22.4–28.7) μg/m3; NOx, 41.3 (36.2–46.7) μg/m3; PM10, 15.9 (15.4–16.4) μg/m3; PM2.5, 9.9 (9.5–10.3) μg/m3; PM2.5 absorbance, 1.1 (1.0–1.2) per metre; and PM2.5–10, 6.1 (5.9–6.3) μg/m3. Compared with the low group, the high group’s APEX, NOX, and PM2.5 levels were associated with increased WMH volumes, and the estimates (95 %CI) were 0.024 (0.003, 0.044), 0.030 (0.010, 0.050), and 0.032 (0.011, 0.053), respectively, after adjusting for potential confounders. APEX, PM10, PM2.5 absorbance, and PM2.5–10 exposure in the high group were associated with increased FA values compared to that in the low group. Sex-specific analyses revealed associations only in females. Regarding the combined associations of air pollutant exposure and PRS-defined genetic susceptibility with CSVD markers, the associations of NO2, NOX, PM2.5, and PM2.5–10 with WMH were more profound in females with low PRS-defined genetic susceptibility, and the associations of PM10, PM2.5, and PM2.5 absorbance with FA were more profound in females with higher PRS-defined genetic susceptibility. Our study demonstrated that air pollutant exposure may be associated with CSVD imaging markers, with females being more susceptible, and that PRS-defined genetic susceptibility may modify the associations of air pollutants.

In the context of the "dual carbon goals" and intensified international manufacturing competition, the green and high-end transformation of manufacturing is the direction for the industry's future growth in China. The study discusses the effect of producer service industry co-agglomeration and manufacturing on the transformation of manufacturing into being green and high-end. Firstly, we systematically elaborate on the mechanism of the collaborative promotion of high-end manufacturing by the service and manufacturing industries and propose research hypotheses. Based on the 2010 to 2020 Hunan Provincial Statistical Yearbook data, we used the coupling coordination model and entropy method to calculate the level of collaborative development between the manufacturing and service industry, as well as the level of green high-end development in the manufacturing industry. Lastly, the specific impact of the synergistic effect of the two industries on the green high-end transformation of the manufacturing industry was analyzed using the dynamic panel regression model. Results found that service industry manufacturing synergy has a noteworthy positive driving effect on the green and high-end transformation of manufacturing. However, the impact varies across different service industries and manufacturing sectors with different technological levels. We also provide some implications for improving transformation efficiency in the green and high-end manufacturing industry.

This paper generalizes Razumikhin-type theorem and Krasovskii stability theorem of impulsive stochastic delay systems. By proposing uniformly stable function (USF) in the form of impulse as a new tool, some properties about USF and some novel pth moment decay theorems are derived. Based on these new theorems, the stability theorems of impulsive stochastic linear delay system are acquired via the Razumikhin method and the Krasovskii method. The obtained results enhance the elasticity of the impulsive gain by comparing the previous results. Finally, numerical examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of theoretical results.

PurposeTo investigate the efficacy of the application of microecological agents in patients with perioperative colorectal cancer.MethodsThe seven electronic databases including PubMed, Cochrane Library, Excerpt Medica Database (Embase), Web of Science (WOS), Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and Wan-fang Database were systematically searched for eligible studies from 2000 to February 2023.ResultsA total of 38 randomized controlled clinical trials were included in this study, with a total of 1765 patients in the microecological preparation group and 1769 patients in the control group. All data were analyzed using Review Manager 5.4 and R 4.2.2 software. Meta-analysis showed that in the perioperative period of colorectal cancer, the microecological agents group reduced patients’ adverse drug reactions, improved intestinal flora with Lactobacillus (SMD, 3.0858, [2.0197; 4.1520], p< 0. 0001), Bifidobacterium (SMD, 2.1551, [1.6145; 2.6956], p< 0.0001) and Escherichia coli (SMD, -1.1393, [-1.6247; -0.6538], p< 0.0001); protection of intestinal mucosal barrier function, endotoxin (SMD, -2.6850 [-4.1399; -1.2301], p=0.0003), DAO (SMD, -2.5916, [-3.4694; -1.7137], p

Abstract Diabetes Mellitus can cause dental pulp cells apoptosis by oxidative stress, and affect the integrity and function of dental pulp tissue. Mitochondria are the main attack targets of oxidative stress and have a critical role in apoptosis. However, whether mitochondria are involved in dental pulp damage caused by diabetes mellitus remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the role of mitochondria in the apoptosis of odontoblast-like cell line (mDPC6T) induced by glucose oxidative stress, and to explore its possible mechanism. We established an oxidative stress model in vitro using glucose oxidase/glucose to simulate the pathological state under diabetic conditions. We found that the opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) contributed to the apoptosis of mDPC6T treated with glucose oxidase, as evidenced by enhanced mitochondrial reactive oxygen species (mtROS) and intracellular Ca2+ disorder, significantly reduced mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and ATP production. Antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) or Cyclosporine A (mPTP inhibitor) blocked the mPTP opening, which significantly attenuated mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis induced by glucose oxidative stress. In addition, we found that glucose oxidative stress stimulated mPTP opening may through inhibition of Akt-GSK3β pathway. This study provides a new insight into the mitochondrial mechanism underlying diabetes-associated odontoblast-like cell apoptosis, laying a foundation for the prevention and treatment of diabetes-associated pulp injury.

TEOSINTE BRANCHED1/CYCLOIDEA/PROLIFERATING CELL FACTOR (TCP) transcription factors are a plant-specific family and play roles in plant growth, development, and responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, little is known about the functions of the TCP transcription factors in the soybean cultivars with tolerance to salt stress. In this study, TCP9-like, a TCP transcription factor, was identified in the soybean cultivars exposed to salt stress. The expression of TCP9-like gene in the roots of salt-tolerant soybean cultivars was higher than that in salt-sensitive cultivars treated with NaCl. The overexpression of TCP9-like enhanced the salt tolerance of the salt-sensitive soybean cultivar 'DN50'. In T2 generation, the plants with TCP9-like overexpression had significantly lower Na+ accumulation and higher K+ accumulation than the WT plants exposed to 200 or 250 mmol/L NaCl. The K+/Na+ ratio in the plants overexpressing TCP9-like was significantly higher than that in WT plants treated with 200 mmol/L NaCl. Meanwhile, the overexpression of TCP9-like up-regulated the expression levels of GmNHX1, GmNHX3, GmSOS1, GmSOS2-like, and GmHKT1, which were involved in the K+/Na+ homeostasis pathway. The findings indicated that TCP9-like mediated the regulation of both Na+ and K+ accumulation to improve the tolerance of soybean to salt stress.

Abstract Background Radiation-induced dermatitis is a serious side effect of radiotherapy, and very few effective treatments are currently available for this condition. We previously demonstrated that apoptosis is an important feature of radiation-induced dermatitis and adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) are one of the most promising types of stem cells that have a protective effect on acute radiation-induced dermatitis. Cathepsin F (CTSF) is a recently discovered protein that plays an important role in apoptosis. In this study, we investigated whether ADSCs affect chronic radiation-induced dermatitis, and the underlying mechanisms involved. Methods ADSCs were isolated from male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats and characterized. For in vivo studies, rats were randomly divided into control and ADSC-treated groups, and cultured ADSCs were transplanted into radiation-induced dermatitis model rats. The effects of ADSC transplantation were determined by skin damage scoring, histopathological analysis, electron microscopy, immunohistochemical staining, and western blotting analysis of apoptosis-related proteins. To evaluate the effects of ADSCs in vitro, radiation-induced apoptotic cells were treated with ADSC culture supernatant, and apoptosis-related protein expression was investigated by TUNEL staining, flow cytometry, and western blotting. Results In the in vivo studies, skin damage, inflammation, fibrosis, and apoptosis were reduced and hair follicle and sebaceous gland regeneration were enhanced in the ADSC group compared with the control group. Further, CTSF and downstream pro-apoptotic proteins (Bid, BAX, and caspase 9) were downregulated, while anti-apoptotic proteins (Bcl-2 and Bcl-XL) were upregulated. In vitro, ADSCs markedly attenuated radiation-induced apoptosis, downregulated CTSF and downstream pro-apoptotic proteins, and upregulated anti-apoptotic proteins. Conclusion ADSCs protect against radiation-induced dermatitis by exerting an anti-apoptotic effect through inhibition of CTSF expression. ADSCs may be a good therapeutic candidate to prevent the development of radiation-induced dermatitis.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic increased the burden on many healthcare systems and in the process, exposed the need for medical resources and physical space. While few studies discussed the efficient utilization of medical resources and physical space so far. Therefore, this study aimed to summarize experiences related to facilities used for centralized isolation for medical observation and treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic in China and to provide suggestions to further improve the management of confirmed cases, suspected cases, and close contacts. In China, three types of facilities for centralized isolation (Fangcang shelter hospitals, refitted non-designated hospitals, and quarantine hotels) underwent retrofitting for the treatment and isolation of confirmed and suspected cases. These facilities mitigated the immediate high demand for space. Moreover, in order to minimize infection risks in these facilities, regulators and governmental agencies implemented new designs, management measures, and precautionary measures to minimize infection risk. Other countries and regions could refer to China's experience in optimally allocating social resources in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a conclusion, government should allocate social resources and construct centralized isolation and quarantine facilities for an emergency response, health authorities should issue regulations for centralized isolation facilities and pay strict attention to the daily management of these facilities, a multidisciplinary administration team is required to support the daily operation of a centralized isolation facility, in-depth studies and international collaboration on the centralized isolation policy are encouraged.

Transient metastable intermediates play an important role in the crystallization process. Here, the authors unveil the microstructural changes in magnetite mesocrystals that depend on the intermediate polymorphism and the universal crystallite size effect on the magnetic coercivity of mesocrystals.

Bike sharing is a new form of transport and is becoming increasingly popular in cities around the world. In this article, we deal with the Bike Sharing Rebalancing Problem (BRP) which concerns the task of repositioning bikes among stations in self-service bike-sharing systems. We analyze its property of routes’ feasible changes based insertion positions, which allow us to speed up the computation of our heuristics. Based on the speed up technique, we proposed the Capacity Range Length Heuristic (CRLH), which is a kind of classic heuristics for the BRP, and the Tabu Search Algorithm (TSA) for solving the BRP. We evaluated our algorithms on the instance sets of other literature reported. The CRLH is strongly improved the computational times on same computational environment, and the TSA also find the optimal solutions but holds lower computational times comparing to the reported results in the literature.

Rhizoctonia cerealis is the causal agent of sharp eyespot, a devastating disease of cereal crops including wheat. Several metalloproteases have been implicated in pathogenic virulence, but little is known about whole-genome metalloproteases in R. cerealis. In this study, a total of 116 metalloproteases-encoding genes were identified and characterized from the R. cerealis Rc207 genome. The gene expression profiles and phylogenetic relationship of 11 MEP36/fungalysin metalloproteases were examined during the fungal infection to wheat, and function of an upregulated secretory MEP36 named RcFL1 was validated. Of 11 MEP36 family metalloproteases, ten, except RcFL5, were predicted to be secreted proteins and nine encoding genes, but not RcFL5 and RcFL2, were expressed during the R. cerealis infection process. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that MEP36 metalloproteases in R. cerealis were closely related to those of Rhizoctonia solani but were remote to those of Bipolaris sorokiniana, Fusarium graminearum, F. pseudograminearum, and Pyricularia oryzae. Expression of RcFL1 was significantly upregulated during the infection process and induced plant cell death in wheat to promote the virulence of the pathogen. The MEP36 domain was necessary for the activities of RcFL1. Furthermore, RcFL1 could repress the expression of wheat genes coding for the chitin elicitor receptor kinase TaCERK1 and chitinases. These results suggest that this MEP36 metalloprotease RcFL1 may function as a virulence factor of R. cerealis through inhibiting host chitin-triggered immunity and chitinases. This study provides insights on pathogenic mechanisms of R. cerealis. RcFL1 likely is an important gene resource for improving resistance of wheat to R. cerealis through host-induced gene silencing strategy.

The electric bicycle-sharing system (EBSS) is the fourth-generation urban shared bicycle travel system, which effectively improves the travel efficiency of urban residents and solve the problem of urban congestion. This study attempts to use an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) method to study the acceptance of EBSSs. We had introduced four potential variables, including perceived pleasure (PP), perceived environmental value (PEV), perceived cost (PC), and perceived reliability (PR), into the classic TAM to form a new EBSS-TAM. Data were obtained by using a Likert scale questionnaire from 399 citizens in China. Partial least-squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with reflective constructs was employed as the analysis method. The results showed that: (1) the EBSS-TAM can explain user behaviors regarding the use of EBSSs. PP has a positive impact on behavior attitude (BA) while having no impact on behavior intention (BI). PEV has no impact on BA and BI. PC has a negative impact on BA and has no impact on BI. PR has a positive impact on BA while having no impact on BI. Perceived ease of use (PEU) has a positive impact on PP and PEV. (2) Younger users (under 35 years old) are more likely to change from liking CBSSs to using EBSSs than older users are. Male users are more satisfied with EBSSs because of their ease of use. The users who never used CBSSs are more likely to perceive the environmental protection value of EBSSs. Some managerial implications were proposed for the EBSSs.

Light-emitting Diode (LED) has been considered as one of the new generation lighting sources with several merits such as high efficiency, high reliability, long lifespan, high-speed response, and energy saving. The optical performances of an LED luminaire, such as illuminance, luminance, correlated color temperature, and spectra power distribution, determine the lighting environment which can affect the human ocular physiological characteristics. To investigate the effect of optical performances on human vision, previous studies have assessed the subjective perception based on questionnaires. In this paper, we propose a novel method based on the aberrations and accommodations data from 150 human factor measurements on a total of 25 participants. The results show that: 1) optical performances of the LED luminaire have an influence on ocular physiological characteristics during the visual task duration, which can be quantized by the variations of physiological parameters; 2) the desk illuminance and light distribution curve are selected in this study as the optical parameters. The variations of ocular physiological characteristics reach the minimum values when the desk illuminance is 550 lux and the light distribution curve is large beam angle; and 3) ocular physiological characteristics are more sensitive to the light spatial distribution compared to the light quality. Thus, the proposed assessment method based on variations of ocular physiological characteristics in this paper is promising as one of the guidelines for the design and optimization of the LED luminaires.

The illuminance index has been widely used in the field of photometry, although the luminance contains more information on not only light intensity but also light direction. In this study, we clarify which photometric index is more competent to describe the influence of lighting environment on human eye. In this study, we propose a novel methodology to investigate the photo-biological effect of the lighting environment by human factor experiment. With the human factor experiments performed on 20 participants, we compare the variations of ocular responses during the Landolt-rings-counting visual task in lighting environments with similar illuminance while distinct luminance changes. With the same Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) and Spectral Power Distribution (SPD), optical performances with similar illuminance values present quite different influences on ocular responses, and the response variations are found to vary with luminance values. It is implied that the regularity of luminance influence on the ocular responses to lighting environment is likely to be dependent on luminance value instead of illuminance, and the photometric index luminance seems more appropriate to be used to assess the lighting quality in standards.

As public health teams respond to the pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), containment and understanding of the modes of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission is of utmost importance for policy making. During this time, governmental agencies have been instructing the community on handwashing and physical distancing measures. However, there is no agreement on the role of aerosol transmission for SARS-CoV-2. To this end, we aimed to review the evidence of aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2. Several studies support that aerosol transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is plausible, and the plausibility score (weight of combined evidence) is 8 out of 9. Precautionary control strategies should consider aerosol transmission for effective mitigation of SARS-CoV-2.

Doxorubicin is a commonly used anthracycline chemotherapeutic agent; however, its application is limited owing to its cardiotoxicity. Current clinical treatments cannot efficiently or fully prevent doxorubicin-induced toxicity, primarily because its pathogenesis and mechanisms of action remain unknown. In this study, we established a rat model of chronic doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity, in which the severity of cardiac fibrosis and hydroxyproline levels increased in a time-dependent manner. Doxorubicin damaged the mitochondria and blood vessels and induced autophagy. Cells undergoing endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndoMT)and those expressing endothelial cell and myofibroblast markers were simultaneously observed in vitro and in rats treated with doxorubicin. The NF-κB pathway was activated during EndoMT, andp65 and p-p65 were strongly expressed in the nucleus of endothelial cells in vitro. Taken together, these results suggest that vascular injury and cardiac fibrosis are characteristic symptoms of doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity. The NF-κB pathway-associated EndoMT may influence the pathogenesis of doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity, and the constituents of this pathway may be potential therapeutic targets to prevent the development of this condition.

In the original article, there was a mistake in Figure 8 as published [...]

Intravoxel incoherent motion has received extensive attention in brain studies for its potential as a non-invasive magnetic resonance perfusion method. However, studies on intravoxel incoherent motion imaging and crossed cerebellar diaschisis detection are relatively scarce. The aim of our study was to evaluate the feasibility of using intravoxel incoherent motion imaging in crossed cerebellar diaschisis diagnosis in subacute ischemic stroke patients by comparing results from intravoxel incoherent motion imaging, single-photon emission computed tomography, and arterial spin-labeling perfusion methods. In total, 39 patients with subacute ischemic stroke who underwent intravoxel incoherent motion, arterial spin-labeling, and single-photon emission computed tomography scanning were enrolled. Intravoxel incoherent motion-derived perfusion-related parameters including fast diffusion coefficient, vascular volume fraction, arterial spin-labeling-derived cerebral blood flow as well as single-photon emission computed tomography-derived cerebral blood flow of bilateral cerebellum were measured. A crossed cerebellar diaschisis-positive result was considered present with an asymmetry index ≥10% of single-photon emission computed tomography. In the crossed cerebellar diaschisis-positive group, fast diffusion coefficient, arterial spin-labeling-derived cerebral blood flow, and computed tomography-derived cerebral blood flow of the contralateral cerebellum decreased compared with those of the ipsilesional cerebellum; whereas vascular volume fraction significantly increased. The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score and infarct volume in the crossed cerebellar diaschisis-positive group were significantly higher than those in the crossed cerebellar diaschisis-negative group. A positive correlation was detected between the fast diffusion coefficient-based asymmetry index and the single-photon emission computed tomography-based asymmetry index, fast diffusion coefficient-based asymmetry, and arterial spin-labeling based asymmetry index; whereas the vascular volume fraction - based asymmetry index value had a negative correlation with the single-photon emission computed tomography-based asymmetry index and arterial spin-labeling based asymmetry index. Furthermore, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve value of the arterial spin-labeling-based asymmetry index was 0.923. The fast diffusion coefficient derived from the intravoxel incoherent motion could be valuable for the assessment of crossed cerebellar diaschisis in supratentorial stroke patients.

Neurological deficits and cognitive dysfunctions caused by acute ischemic stroke pose enormous burden to the stroke families and the communities. Restoration of the normal function of the neurovascular unit following ischemic stroke is critical for improving neurological recovery and cognitive functions after stroke. Recent evidence suggests that the myeloid cells including both the resident microglia and infiltrating monocytes/macrophages and neutrophils are highly plastic in response to the environmental cues. They intimately interact with multiple components of the neurovascular unit in response to the alarmins, danger associated pattern molecules (DAMPs) and other signals released from the ischemic brain. The aim of this review is to discuss the reciprocal interactions between the myeloid cells and the ischemic neurovascular unit during the late repair phase of cerebral ischemic stroke. We also summarize potential immunotherapeutic targets on myeloid cells and new therapeutic approaches targeting myeloid cells, such as cell transplantation, mitochondrial dynamic and extracellular vesicles-based therapy et al to enhance neurovascular repair for better stroke recovery.

In this paper, we investigate the stability for reaction systems with stochastic switching. Two types of switched models are considered: (i) Markov switching and (ii) independent and identically distributed switching. By means of the ergodic property of Markov chain, Dynkin formula and Fubini theorem, together with the Lyapunov direct method, some sufficient conditions are obtained to ensure that the zero solution of reaction–diffusion systems with Markov switching is almost surely exponential stable or exponentially stable in the mean square. By using Theorem 7.3 in [R. Durrett, Probability: Theory and Examples, Duxbury Press, Belmont, CA, 2005], we also investigate the stability of reaction–diffusion systems with independent and identically distributed switching. Meanwhile, an example with simulations is provided to certify that the stochastic switching plays an essential role in the stability of systems.

Rhizoctonia cerealis is the causal pathogen of the devastating disease, sharp eyespot, of the important crop wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). In phytopathogenic fungi, several M36 metalloproteases have been implicated in virulence, but pathogenesis roles of M35 family metalloproteases are largely unknown. Here, we identified four M35 family metalloproteases from R. cerealis genome, designated RcMEP2–RcMEP5, measured their transcriptional profiles, and investigated RcMEP2 function. RcMEP2-RcMEP5 are predicted as secreted metalloproteases since each protein sequence contains a signal peptide and an M35 domain that includes two characteristic motifs HEXXE and GTXDXXYG. Transcription levels of RcMEP2-RcMEP5 markedly elevated during the fungus infection to wheat, among which RcMEP2 expressed with the highest level. Functional dissection indicated that RcMEP2 and its M35 domain could trigger H2O2 rapidly-excessive accumulation, induce cell death, and inhibit expression of host chitinases. This consequently enhanced the susceptibility of wheat to R. cerealis and the predicated signal peptide of RcMEP2 functions required for secretion and cell death-induction. These results demonstrate that RcMEP2 is a virulence factor and that its M35 domain and signal peptide are necessary for the virulence role of RcMEP2. This study facilitates a better understanding of the pathogenesis mechanism of metalloproteases in phytopathogens including R. cerealis.

It is predicted that global change combined with urbanization will impact increasingly on the society and terrestrial ecosystem in the Guangdong-Hongkong-Macao Greater Bay Area of China (GBA). In this context, the cities in GBA began to plant a variety of urban trees since 2000 which are considered to play an important role in fixing carbon, improving air quality, reducing noise and providing other ecosystem services. However, data on the growth patterns and ecosystem services of the planted trees remains scarce, which hampers a comprehensive understanding of how well the planted trees adapt to the local urban environment. Therefore, we selected three widely planted tree species in Foshan, one of the core cities in GBA and investigated their tree growth and ecosystem services via a harvest campaign and soil analysis. With the same, fast tree growth as natural forests and the greatest above- and below-ground biomass among the three tree species, Ml (Mytilaria laosensis Lec.) showed a distinguished adaption to the local urban environment in terms of growth patterns, carbon fixation, stabilization against typhoon risk and water uptake capacity against potential drought risk in the future. Although Cf (Chinese fir) showed reduced diameter at breast height (DBH) and volume development, it significantly increased the total and available potassium in soils to improve the soil quality. The DBH growth of Sp (Slash pine) decreased between six and 12 years old while it recovered at the age of 12 years, probably suggesting its adaptation might take a longer time. Our results indicated that different trees had different growth patterns and ecosystem services after they were planted in cities. In a harsh urban environment under climate change, precise and comprehensive data on urban trees is necessary, helping to provide different perspectives for urban managers to select appropriate tree species and make policies.

This paper is concerned with the p-th moment exponential stability and quasi sure exponential stability of impulsive stochastic functional differential systems driven by G-Brownian motion (IGSFDSs). By using G-Lyapunov method, several stability theorems of IGSFDSs are obtained. These new results are employed to impulsive stochastic delayed differential systems driven by G-motion (IGSDDEs). In addition, delay-dependent method is developed to investigate the stability of IGSDDSs by constructing the G-Lyapunov−Krasovkii functional. Finally, an example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the obtained results.

In this paper, we study the perturbed Riemann problem with delta shock for a hyperbolic system. The problem is different from the previous perturbed Riemann problems which have no delta shock. The solutions to the problem are obtained constructively. From the solutions, we see that a delta shock in the corresponding Riemann solution may turn into a shock and a contact discontinuity under a perturbation of the Riemann initial data. This shows the instability and the internal mechanism of a delta shock. Furthermore, we find that the Riemann solution of the hyperbolic system is instable under this perturbation, which is also quite different from the previous perturbed Riemann problems.

The vehicle routing problem (VRP) has a wide range of applications in the field of logistics distribution. In order to reduce the cost of logistics distribution, the distance-constrained and capacitated VRP with split deliveries by order (DCVRPSDO) was studied. We show that the customer demand, which can't be split in the classical VRP model, can only be discrete split deliveries by order. A model of double objective programming is constructed by taking the minimum number of vehicles used and minimum vehicle traveling cost as the first and the second objective, respectively. This approach contains a series of constraints, such as single depot, single vehicle type, distance-constrained and load capacity limit, split delivery by order, etc. DCVRPSDO is a new type of VRP. A new tabu search algorithm is designed to solve the problem and the examples testing show the efficiency of the proposed algorithm. This paper focuses on constructing a double objective mathematical programming model for DCVRPSDO and designing an adaptive tabu search algorithm (ATSA) with good performance to solving the problem. The performance of the ATSA is improved by adding some strategies into the search process, including: (a) a strategy of discrete split deliveries by order is used to split the customer demand; (b) a multi-neighborhood structure is designed to enhance the ability of global optimization;

Pyrroquinoline quinone-dependent alcohol dehydrogenase (PQQ-ADH) is a key enzyme in the ethanol oxidase respiratory chain of acetic acid bacteria (AAB). To investigate the effect of PQQ-ADH on acetic acid production by Acetobacter pasteurianus JST-S, subunits I (adhA) and II (adhB) of PQQ-ADH were over-expressed, the fermentation parameters and the metabolic flux analysis were compared in the engineered strain and the original one. The acetic acid production was improved by the engineered strain (61.42 g L−1) while the residual ethanol content (4.18 g L−1) was decreased. Analysis of 2D maps indicated that 19 proteins were differently expressed between the two strains; of these, 17 were identified and analyzed by mass spectrometry and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. With further investigation of metabolic flux analysis (MFA) of the pathway from ethanol and glucose, the results reveal that over-expression of PQQ-ADH is an effective way to improve the ethanol oxidation respiratory chain pathway and these can offer theoretical references for potential mechanism of metabolic regulation in AAB and researches with its acetic acid resistance.

Using the coincidence degree theory by Mawhin, we prove the existence of periodic solutions for the second-order delay differential equations with impulses $displaylines{ x''(t)+f(t,x'(t))+g(x(t-au(t))=p(t),quad tgeq0,; teq t_k,cr Delta x(t_k)=I_k(x(t_k),x'(t_k)),cr Delta x'(t_k)=J_k(x(t_k),x'(t_k)). }$$ We obtain new existence results and illustrated them by an example.

We obtain the existence of stable invariant manifolds for the nonlinear equation x′=L(t)xt+f(t,xt,λ) provided that the linear delay equation x′=L(t)xt admits a nonuniform (μ,ν)-dichotomy and f is a sufficiently small Lipschitz perturbation. We show that the stable invariant manifolds are dependent on parameter λ. Namely, the stable invariant manifolds are Lipschitz in the parameter λ. In addition, we also show that nonuniform (μ,ν)-contraction persists under sufficiently small nonlinear perturbations.

This paper is devoted to exponential synchronization for complex dynamical networks with delay and impulsive effects. The coupling configuration matrix is assumed to be irreducible. By using impulsive differential inequality and the Kronecker product techniques, some criteria are obtained to guarantee the exponential synchronization for dynamical networks. We also extend the delay fractioning approach to the dynamical networks by constructing a Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and comparing to a linear discrete system. Meanwhile, numerical examples are given to demonstrate the theoretical results.

We study the existence of periodic solutions for n-th order functional differential equations 𝑥(𝑛)∑(𝑡)=𝑛−1𝑖=0𝑏𝑖[𝑥(𝑖)(𝑡)]𝑘+𝑓(𝑥(𝑡−𝜏(𝑡)))+𝑝(𝑡). Some new results on the existence of periodic solutions of the equations are obtained. Our approach is based on the coincidence degree theory of Mawhin.