Rapid urbanisation has altered the vulnerability of urban areas to heat wave disasters. There is an urgent need to identify the factors underlying the effect of heat waves on human health and the ...areas that are most vulnerable to heat waves. In this study, we plan to integrate indices associated with heat wave vulnerability based on meteorological observation data, remote sensing data and point of interest (POI) data; analyse the influence of urbanisation on the urban vulnerability environment; and explore the relationship between the vulnerability environment and heat-wave-related mortality. Finally, we attempt to map the spatial distribution of high heat-wave-related mortality risk based on the results of heat wave vulnerability study and artificial society. The results reveal that 1) there are differences in the influence of urbanisation on heat wave exposure, sensitivity and adaptability; 2) the exposure and sensitivity level effects on the lower limit of health impacts and the adaptability level effects on the upper limit of the health impact from heat wave in a given study area; and 3) areas vulnerable to the effects of heat waves are not confined to the city centre, which implies that residents living in suburban areas are also vulnerable to heat waves. Finally, this study not only explores the factors contributing to the impacts of heat waves but also describes the spatial distribution of the risk of disaster-associated mortality, thereby providing direct scientific guidance that can be used by cities to address heat wave disasters in the future.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
We investigated how sibling status and sex of younger siblings influence Chinese adolescents' relationships with their fathers and mothers as a function of resource dilution and preference for sons. ...The sample included 1,093 adolescents from the 8th grade (Mage = 13.96 years, SD = 0.75 years; 47% girls) and the 11th grade (Mage = 17.25 years, SD = 0.74 years; 57% girls) in a longitudinal study. Consistent with expectations pertaining to the hypothesis of resource dilution and son preference in combination, girls with a younger brother reported less positive relationships with mothers than either singleton girls or girls with a younger sister. No significant difference was found between singleton boys and boys with a younger sibling. The current findings show implications that the resource‐dilution theory and son preference culture together may place girls with a younger brother in an unfavorable condition of resource allocation.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Exosomal microRNAs (miRNAs) are suggested to reflect molecular changes occurring in their cells of origin and are potential indicators in the early detection of cancers. This study aimed to determine ...whether certain exosomal miRNAs from tumor tissue can be used as noninvasive biomarkers for clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). Based on ccRCC miRNA expression profiles and the literature, we selected six miRNAs (miR‐210, miR‐224, miR‐452, miR‐155, miR‐21, and miR‐34a) and analyzed their expression in tissues, sera, and serum exosomes through quantitative real‐time polymerase chain reaction in hypoxia‐induced (with CoCl2) renal cell lines. miR‐210, miR‐224, miR‐452, miR‐155, and miR‐21 were upregulated in tumor tissues compared with normal tissues. Serum miR‐210 and miR‐155 levels were higher in patients with ccRCC than in healthy controls (HCs). Furthermore, only exosomal miR‐210 was significantly upregulated in patients with ccRCC than in HCs. Moreover, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis revealed an area under the ROC curve of 0.8779 (95% confidence interval, 0.7987‐0.9571) and a sensitivity and specificity of 82.5% and 80.0%, respectively. Moreover, exosomal miR‐210 was upregulated at an advanced stage, and Fuhrman grade and metastasis decreased significantly one month after surgery. Acute hypoxia exposure activates miR‐210 and release of exosomes with upregulated miR‐210 in both normal and tumor RCC cell lines and interferes with vacuole membrane protein 1 mRNA expression, especially in the metastatic ccRCC cell line. In conclusion, Serum exosomal miR‐210 originating from tumor tissue has potential as a novel noninvasive biomarker for the detection and prognosis of ccRCC.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Herein, we construct the blue-emitting carbon dots (CDs) with reversible polymerization by pH-controlled imine bond cleavage and re-formation.
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Carbon dots (CDs), as new type of ...carbon-based nanoparticles, are considered to be an aggregate with irreversible polymerization. Achieving the reversible tunability of CDs luminescence based on their reversible polymerization is a challenging subject. Herein, we, for the first time, design and construct the blue-emitting CDs with reversible polymerization by a room-temperature Schiff base reaction between tannic acid and ethylenediamine. The formation of CDs is proven to be due to the crosslinking polymerization of precursors caused by imine bond. As a dynamic covalent bond, imine bond endows CDs with controllable structural transformation properties, and the prepared CDs can be depolymerized and polymerized reversibly by pH-controlled imine bond cleavage and re-formation. These properties of reversible fluorescence photoswitching make the CDs have a good application prospect in reversible information encryption.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Soil nitrogen (N) transformation is mainly controlled by microorganisms. Different plant species have specific effects on soil ammonia‐oxidizing archaea (AOA) and bacteria (AOB). Furthermore, plant ...secondary metabolites have dramatic influences on soil N transformation and soil ammonia‐oxidizers. However, no study has directly linked the changes in soil AOA and AOB communities to N transformation due to different plant species' leaf leachates, including comparing invasive versus native plants. We selected three invasive species, Wedelia trilobata, Ipomoea cairica and Mikania micrantha, and two native species, Wedelia chinensis and Merremia hederacea, and incubated soil with high and low concentrations of leaf leachates from the five species. Soil N transformation and ammonia oxidizer communities (based on quantitative PCR and 16S rRNA high‐throughput sequencing) were determined. Leaf leachates significantly affected soil N transformation and soil AOA and AOB abundance, and the effects were dependent on the plant species and leachate concentration. The leachate of W. chinensis increased soil net nitrification rates (NNR), whereas that of M. micrantha increased soil nitrate (NO3−) and NNR. The leachate of M. micrantha increased AOB amoA genes, whereas that of M. hederacea decreased AOA amoA genes. At the higher concentration, all leachates showed inhibitory effects on the relative abundance of all AOA taxonomic groups. Phenolics, flavonoids and organic carbon in leaf leachates had a negative correlation with soil NO3−, NNR and the amoA genes of AOA and AOB, whereas NH4+ and NO3− in leachates showed a positive correlation. Among the five species, the invasive species M. micrantha had the strongest positive effect on soil N transformation and AOB abundance. The altered soil ammonia oxidizer communities and modified N process rates induced by leaf leachates provide an explanatory mechanism for the differential effects of plant species on N cycling.
Highlights
Link changes in soil AOA and AOB to N cycling due to leaf leachates.
Specific plants can dramatically alter soil ammonia‐oxidizer presence and abundance.
Effects of invasive plants on soil N and AOB are mainly driven by M. micrantha.
High concentrations of plant leachates reduced the relative abundance of AOA groups.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Over-expression of TROP2 (the trophoblast cell surface antigen 2) was reported to predict poor prognosis in various solid tumors in number of studies. However, the results remained not comprehensive. ...Therefore, we here carried out this meta-analysis of relevant studies published on this topic to quantitatively evaluate the clinicopathological significance of TROP2 in solid tumors. Relevant articles were identified through searching the PubMed, Web of Science and Embase database. The primary outcomes were overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). In this meta-analysis, 16 studies involving 2,569 participants were included, and we drew the conclusion that TROP2 overexpression was significantly associated with poor OS (pooled HR = 1.896, 95% CI = 1.599-2.247, P < 0.001) and short DFS (pooled HR = 2.336, 95% CI = 1.596-3.419, P < 0.001). Furthermore, the subgroup analysis revealed that the associations between TROP2 overexpression and the outcome endpoints (OS or DFS) were significant in in patients with female genital system neoplasms, as well in gastrointestine neoplasms. In addition, subgroup analysis found no difference HR across populations of different descent.Taken together, TROP2 overexpression was associated with poor survival in human solid tumors. TROP2 may be a valuable prognosis predictive biomarker and a potential therapeutic target in human solid tumors.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
With the increasing penetration level of renewable energy resources with less system inertia, accurate estimation of the power system inertia has become a critical issue for maintaining the frequency ...stability of the entire power system. To tackle out this challenging task, a two-stage data-driven method is proposed in this paper for estimating the system inertia from disturbed PMU measurements. First, by integrating its low-order system frequency response model with the first-order turbine model, analytical expressions of the frequency response under the steady-state and these transient oscillatory components are derived. Then, based on this parametric model, a two-stage estimation algorithm will be developed. At the first stage, system parameters of oscillatory components can be extracted from PMU measurements by Estimation of Signal Parameters via Rotational Invariance Techniques (ESPRIT). By utilizing frequency measurement data from PMUs and those estimated parameters from the ESPRIT algorithm, a weighted nonlinear least square approach is applied at the second stage to estimate physical parameters such as system inertia, damping coefficient, turbine time constant, and regulation coefficient. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, simulation studies of IEEE 39- bus system is investigated. Historical PMU measurements from various contingencies of Taiwan Power System will also be explored. All of these results demonstrated that the proposed method provides satisfactory performances with the mean relative error less than 10%. Comparisons with other existing methods are performed to demonstrate the advantage of the proposed method.
Hemolysin-coregulated protein 1 (Hcp1) is an effector released by the type VI secretion system (T6SS) in certain pathogenic strains of
(
) that causes apoptosis and contributes to the development of ...meningitis. The exact toxic consequences of Hcp1 and whether it intensifies the inflammatory response by triggering pyroptosis are yet unknown. Here, utilizing the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing method, we removed the gene expressing Hcp1 from wild-type
W24 and examined the impact of Hcp1 on
virulence in Kunming (KM) mice. It was found that Hcp1-sufficient
was more lethal, exacerbating acute liver injury (ALI) and acute kidney injury (AKI) or even systemic infections, structural organ damage, and inflammatory factor infiltration. These symptoms were alleviated in mice infected with W24Δ
. Additionally, we investigated the molecular mechanism by which Hcp1 worsens AKI and found that pyroptosis is involved, manifested as DNA breaks in many renal tubular epithelial cells. Genes or proteins closely related to pyroptosis are abundantly expressed in the kidney. Most importantly, Hcp1 promotes the activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome and the expression of active caspase-1, thereby cleaving GSDMD-N and accelerating the release of active IL-1β and ultimately leading to pyroptosis. In conclusion, Hcp1 enhances the virulence of
, aggravates ALI and AKI, and promotes the inflammatory response; moreover, Hcp1-induced pyroptosis is one of the molecular mechanisms of AKI.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Downregulating transcription of the oncogene c-MYC is a feasible strategy for cancer therapy. Stabilization of the G-quadruplex structure present in the c-MYC promoter can suppress c-MYC ...transcription. Thus, far, several ligands targeting this structure have been developed. However, most have shown no selectivity for the c-MYC G-quadruplex over other G-quadruplexes, leading to uncertain side effects. In this study, through structural modification of aryl-substituted imidazole/carbazole conjugates, a brand-new, four-leaf clover-like ligand called IZCZ-3 was found to preferentially bind and stabilize the c-MYC G-quadruplex. Further intracellular studies indicated that IZCZ-3 provoked cell cycle arrest and apoptosis and thus inhibited cell growth, primarily by blocking c-MYC transcription through specific targeting of the promoter G-quadruplex structure. Notably, IZCZ-3 effectively suppressed tumor growth in a mouse xenograft model. Accordingly, this work provides an encouraging example of a selective small molecule that can target one particular G-quadruplex structure, and the selective ligand might serve as an excellent anticancer agent.
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