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As a pivotal element in China's pursuit of a sustainable development model, green fiscal policies have become increasingly important amid the exacerbation of global climate conditions. Regrettably, little attention has been paid to comprehending the carbon allocation effects of the implementation of these policies. This study focuses on the "National Comprehensive Demonstration City of Energy Saving and Emission Reduction Fiscal Policy" (ESER policy) as the focal point of analysis. Using a multi-period difference-in-differences model, we assessed the implications of ESER policies on carbon inequality. This study further explored asymmetry, mechanism effects, and heterogeneity. Our empirical findings demonstrate that the ESER policy directly reduced carbon inequality by 11.4% in the demonstration cities. This conclusion withstood rigorous testing, including parallel trend assessments, robustness analyses, and endogeneity diagnostics. Moreover, the ameliorative implications of the ESER policy on carbon inequality in demonstration cities are predominantly realized by facilitating cleaner production technological innovation, end-of-pipe treatment technological innovation, industrial structure rationalization, and industrial structure optimization. Furthermore, the ameliorative implications of the ESER policy on carbon inequality were conspicuous in the upper quantiles. Finally, the urban magnitude, geographical location, resource endowment, and innovation foundation of a demonstration city exert diverse influences on policy implementation. These empirical results provide valuable guidance for the Chinese government in formulating climate policies with a focus on carbon equity considerations. Highlights: ♦Evaluating the impact of the ESER policy on urban carbon inequality in China. ♦ The ESER policy significantly reduced carbon inequality levels in pilot cities by 11.4%. ♦ The ESER policy reduces carbon inequality through industrial structure and green technological effects. ♦ The mitigating effects are significant at the higher quantiles. ♦ The impact of the ESER policy on carbon inequality is obviously heterogeneous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Observational research shows associations of the gut microbiota and its metabolites with autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD), but the causality is undetermined. Methods: Two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) was employed to analyze the association of the gut microbiota and its metabolites with AITD. A total of 119 gut microbiotas and nine fecal/circulating metabolites were the exposures. AITD, Graves' disease (GD), and Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) were the outcomes. Inverse-variance weighting (IVW) was primarily used to assess causality; Cochran's Q was used to assess heterogeneity. Sensitivity analyses (weighted median, MRPRESSO regression, MRPRESSO intercept, MRPRESSO global, Steiger filtering, leave-one-out) were conducted to assess causal estimate robustness. Multivariable MR (MVMR) was used to estimate the effects of body mass index (BMI) and alcohol consumption frequency on causality. Results: The outcomes were potentially causally associated with 22 gut microbiotas and three metabolites. After multiple-test correction, 3-indoleglyoxylic acid retained significant causality with AITD (IVW: odds ratio [OR] = 1.09, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.05–1.14, p = 2.43 × 10−5, FDR = 0.009). The sensitivity analyses were confirmatory (weighted median: OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.01–1.12, p = 0.025; MRPRESSO: OR = 1.09, 95% CI = 1.15–1.14, p = 0.001). MVMR revealed no confounding effects on this association (BMI: OR = 1.21, 95% CI =1.08–1.35, p = 0.001; drinks/week: OR = 1.22, 95% CI = 1.04–1.43, p = 0.014). Conclusions: MR revealed no significant causal effects of the gut microbiota on the outcomes. However, MR revealed the causal effects of 3-indoleglyoxylic acid on the risk of AITD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Opportunity youths (OY) are youths between 16 and 24 years of age who are neither in school nor working. Research suggests that youth disconnection can have negative consequences on youths' well-being, their communities, and the economy at large. The existing literature however neglects the underlying socio-demographic and economic factors that systematically contribute to the cause of youth disconnection in the United States. This study aims to explore the characteristics associated with youth disconnection and their spatially varying effects in different regions across the contiguous United States. Using data from the 2015 to 2019 5-year American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample, results suggest that areas with higher percentages of OY are located in the Sunbelt region (e.g., southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia). Moreover, a multiscale geographically weighted regression (MGWR) analysis illustrated spatially varying relationships with disconnection, demonstrating that factors have unique effects across different geographic areas. The potential impact of intersectionality for OY by race and ethnicity, ability, nationality, language, income, and parenting status is discussed. These results highlight the influence of local contexts in creating and reinforcing youth disconnection as well as informing responses to local support services for OY. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hashimoto thyroiditis (HT) is an organ-specific autoimmune disease linked to iodine intake. Emerging evidence highlights the gut microbiota's role in HT pathogenesis via the microbiota-gut-thyroid axis. However, the process through which iodine intake modifies the microbiota and triggers HT remains unclear. This study examines how iodine affects gut dysbiosis and HT, recruiting 23 patients with HT and 25 healthy individuals to assess gut microbiota composition and metabolic features. Furthermore, we establish a spontaneously developed thyroiditis mouse model using NOD.H-2h4 mice highlighting the influence of iodine intake on HT progression. The butanoate metabolism significantly differs between these two groups according to the enrichment results, and butyric acid is significantly decreased in patients with HT compared with those in healthy individuals. Gut dysbiosis, driven by excessive iodine intake, disrupts TH17/Treg balance by reducing butyric acid. In summary, iodine intake alters intestinal microbiota composition and metabolic changes influencing the microbiota-gut-thyroid axis. A study on human and mice using 16SrRNA gene sequencing and targeted metabolomic analysis suggests that iodine intake alters intestinal microbiota composition and metabolic changes influencing the microbiota-gut-thyroid axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a representative product of the sharing economy era and a powerful supplement to public transportation shared cars have the characteristics of convenience, efficiency, environmental protection, and green travel, and to a certain extent alleviate the contradiction between supply and demand, and solve the problem of long-term idle vehicles and overloaded operation of roads problems. But the uneven distribution of shared cars, the coexistence of no cars, and empty seats will happen. To solve the above problems, this article first analyzes data outliers, data missing values, and data standardization processing on the attached data, and then builds a BP neural network demand prediction model to obtain the distribution of shared car usage in the city.