The national ecological footprint of both consumption and production are significantly spatially autocorrelated at global level. This violates the assumption of independently distributed errors of ...most conventional estimation techniques. Using a spatial econometric approach, this paper re-examine the relationship between economic growth and environmental impact for indicator of ecological footprint. The results do not show evidence of inverted U-shape Environmental Kuznets Curve. The domestic ecological footprint of consumption (or production) was obviously influenced by the ecological footprint of consumption (or production), income and biocapacity in neighborhood countries. We also found that the consumption footprint is more sensitive to domestic income, while production footprint is more sensitive to domestic biocapacity, which is often unnoticed in EKC hypothesis analyses that focus exclusively on the consumption-based or production-based indictors.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Longitudinal cancer monitoring is crucial to clinical implementation of precision medicine. There is growing evidence indicating important functions of extracellular vesicles (EVs) in tumor ...progression and metastasis, including matrix remodeling via transporting matrix metalloproteases (MMPs). However, the clinical relevance of EVs remains largely undetermined, partially owing to challenges in EV analysis. Distinct from existing technologies mostly focused on characterizing molecular constituents of EVs, here we report a nanoengineered lab-on-a-chip system that enables integrative functional and molecular phenotyping of tumor-associated EVs. A generalized, high-resolution colloidal inkjet printing method was developed to allow robust and scalable manufacturing of three-dimensional (3D) nanopatterned devices. With this nanochip platform, we demonstrated integrative analysis of the expression and proteolytic activity of MMP14 on EVs to detect in vitro cell invasiveness and monitor in vivo tumor metastasis, using cancer cell lines and mouse models. Analysis of clinical plasma specimen showed that our technology could be used for cancer detection including accurate classification of age-matched controls and patients with ductal carcinoma in situ, invasive ductal carcinoma, or locally metastatic breast cancer in a training cohort (
= 30, 96.7% accuracy) and an independent validation cohort (
= 70, 92.9% accuracy). With clinical validation, our technology could provide a useful liquid biopsy tool to improve cancer diagnostics and real-time surveillance of tumor evolution in patients to inform personalized therapy.
Exosomes, nano-sized extracellular vesicles secreted by most cell types, are found in all kinds of biological fluids and tissues, including the central nervous system(CNS). The proposed functions of ...these vesicles include roles in cell–cell signaling, removal of cellular debris, and transfer of pathogens between cells. Many studies have revealed that exosomes derived from the CNS occur in the cerebrospinal fluid and peripheral body fluids,and their contents are altered during disease, making them an appealing target for biomarker development in Parkinson’s disease(PD). Exosomes have been shown to spread toxic a-synuclein(asyn) between cells and induce apoptosis, which suggests a key mechanism underlying the spread of asyn aggregates in the brain and the acceleration of pathology in PD. However, potential neuroprotective roles of exosomes in PD have also been reported. On the treatment side, as drug delivery vehicles, exosomes have been used to deliver small interfering RNAs and catalase to the brain, and have shown clear therapeutic effects in a mouse model of PD. These features of exosomes in PD make them extremely interesting from the point of view of developing novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
As a novel class of non-coding RNAs, circular RNAs (circRNAs) are key regulators of the development and progression of different cancers. However, little is known about the function and biological ...mechanism of circLMTK2, also named hsa_circ_0001725, in gastric cancer (GC) tumourigenesis.
circLMTK2 was identified in ten paired cancer specimens and adjacent normal tissues by RNA sequencing and genome-wide bioinformatic analysis and verified by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). Knockdown or exogenous expression of circLMTK2 combined with in vitro and in vivo assays were performed to prove the functional significance of circLMTK2. The molecular mechanism of circLMTK2 was demonstrated by searching the CircNet database and confirmed by RNA in vivo precipitation assays, western blotting, luciferase assays and rescue experiments.
circLMTK2 was frequently upregulated in GC tissues, and high circLMTK2 expression was associated with poor prognosis, lymph node metastasis and poor TNM stage in GC patients. Functionally, circLMTK2 overexpression promoted GC cell proliferation and tumourigenicity in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, ectopic circLMTK2 expression enhanced GC cell migration and invasion in vitro and tumour metastasis in vivo. In addition, we demonstrated that circLMTK2 could sponge miR-150-5p, thus indirectly regulating the c-Myc expression and contributing to GC tumourigenesis.
Our findings demonstrate that circLMTK2 functions as a tumour promoter in GC through the miR-150-5p/c-Myc axis and could thus be a prognostic predictor and therapeutic target for GC.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•A “source-pathway-carrier-impact-response” (SPCIR) model was constructed.•The proposed method is the first to assess the ecological stress caused by vessels.•Response index is a crucial parameter ...for pinpointing key management areas.•The SPCIR model can be applied to identify marine ecological stress and the stressor.•This study contributes to more effective marine area management decision-making.
Increased maritime vessel activity has adversely affected the conservation of marine environments. The mobility and diverse operations of vessels increase the difficulty of marine spatial planning and protected-area management. This study proposed a “source-pathway-carrier-impact-response” (SPCIR) model to describe marine ecological stress caused by vessels (VES) and constructed a comprehensive assessment index system. The method was applied to the Bohai Sea in China using automatic identification system (AIS) data and geographic information system (GIS) spatial analysis. The results showed an obvious increase in VES from 2014 to 2018, with noise pollution, light pollution, and hydrodynamic interaction being the most prominent. Cargo vessels and oil tankers were the main stressors. Vessel activity seriously affected agriculture and fishery functions as well as marine-reserved zones in the Bohai Sea. The proposed SPCIR model can effectively identify the level and spatiotemporal characteristics of various vessel-related impacts and efficiently determine management priorities. It can provide a theoretical basis for marine area management and be conveniently adopted by management departments in various regions.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The quality of samples is crucial in constructing a data-driven landslide susceptibility model. This article aims to construct a data-driven landslide susceptibility model that takes into account the ...selection of non-landslide samples. First, 21 conditioning factors are selected, including four types of topography and landform, geological conditions, environmental conditions, and human activities. Grid units with 30 m resolution are established by combining 942 historical landslide events in study area. Second, non-landslide samples are selected using both the traditional method and the information quantity method. Two landslide susceptibility models are established using the Bayesian optimization-LightGBM model. The accuracy of the model is evaluated by significance test and the area under curve (AUC). Finally, the SHAP algorithm is used to analyse the internal mechanism of the model's decision-making. Based on the information quantity method, the LightGBM model identifies very high-high susceptibility areas that account for 77.92% of the total number of landslides. Additionally, the AUC of test set and the AUC of training set are 23.2% and 17.1% higher, respectively, compared to the traditional model. The selection of different sample data, whether landslide or non-landslide, impacts the factor rank, model accuracy, and the interal decision-making mechanism of the model. This finding provides valuable for the selection of sample data in the binary classification model.
Abstract
Reactions between cyano radicals and aromatic hydrocarbons are believed to be important pathways for the formation of aromatic nitriles in the interstellar medium (ISM) including those ...identified in the Taurus molecular cloud (TMC-1). Aromatic nitriles might participate in the formation of polycyclic aromatic nitrogen-containing hydrocarbons (PANHs) in Titan's atmosphere. Here, ab initio kinetic simulations reveal a high efficiency of ∼10
−10
cm
3
s
−1
and the competition of the different products of the CN + toluene reaction at 30–1800 K and 10
−7
–100 atm. In the star-forming region of the TMC-1 environment, the product yields of benzonitrile and tolunitriles for CN reacting with toluene are approximately 17% and 83%, respectively. Detections of the main products, tolunitriles, can serve as proxies for the undetected toluene in the ISM due to their much larger dipole moments. Competition between bimolecular and unimolecular products is extremely intense in the warmer and denser PANH-forming region of Titan's stratosphere. Computational results show that the fractions of tolunitriles, adducts, and benzonitrile are 19%–68%, 15%–64%, and 17%, respectively, at 150–200 K and 0.0001–0.001 atm (Titan's stratosphere). Then, benzonitrile and tolunitriles may contribute to the formation of PANHs by consecutive C
2
H additions. The kinetic information of aromatic nitriles for the CN + toluene reaction calculated here helps to explain the formation mechanism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PANHs under different interstellar environments and constrains corresponding astrochemical models.
Reliable assessment of satellite-based precipitation estimation (SPE) and production of more accurate precipitation data by data fusion is typically challenging in sparsely gauged and ungauged areas. ...Triple collocation (TC) is a novel assessment approach that does not require gauge observations; it provides a feasible solution for this problem. This study comprehensively validates the TC performance for assessing SPEs and performs data fusion of multiple SPEs using the TC-based merging (TCM) approach. The study area is the Tibetan Plateau (TP), a typical area lacking gauge observations. Three widely used SPEs are used: the integrated multi-satellite retrievals for global precipitation measurement (IMERG) “early run” product (IMERG-E), the precipitation estimation from remotely sensed information using artificial neural networks (PERSIANN) dynamic infrared (PDIR), and the Climate Prediction Center (CPC) morphing technique (CMORPH). Validation of the TC assessment approach shows that TC can effectively assess the SPEs’ accuracy, derive the spatial accuracy pattern of the SPEs, and reveal the accuracy ranking of the SPEs. TC can also detect the SPEs’ accuracy patterns, which are difficult to obtain from a traditional approach. The data fusion results of the SPEs show that TCM incorporates the regional advantages of the individual SPEs, providing more accurate precipitation data than the original SPEs, revealing that data fusion is reasonable and reliable in ungauged areas. In general, the TC approach performs well for the assessment and data fusion of SPEs, showing reasonable applicability in the TP and other areas lacking gauge data than other methods because it does not rely on gauge observations.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Accelerated soil erosion is an undesirable process that adversely affects the conservation of water and soil. Rainfall erosivity is used to measure the potential ability of rain to cause erosion. ...This study explores spatio-temporal variations in rainfall erosivity in the Pearl River Basin of China during 1960–2012, at annual and seasonal scales based on a daily model proposed by Yu. Analysis methods including linear regression, Mann-Kendall and the Kriging interpolation technology were applied to determine fluctuating spatial and temporal patterns. Yu's model was proven suitable for the Pearl River Basin by comparison with another model proposed by Zhang. Computation results show an average annual rainfall erosivity of 9918.98MJ·mm/(hm2·h) and that the Pearl River Delta region, most regions of the Dongjiang River Basin, and the Beijiang River Basin were all under considerable threat from rainfall erosion. The annual rainfall erosivity of the basin does not show significant or abrupt changes, and has fluctuated moderately over the past few decades. The rainfall erosivity of the basin shows an upward trend, and the probability of water and soil erosion caused by rainfall was increasing overall. The problem of water and soil loss in the Pear River Basin remains severe due to aggravating vegetation deterioration, rocky desertification, and climate change. Relevant response strategies and appropriate measures must be considered to guard against further deterioration of the basin.
•A daily model of rainfall erosivity was used to calculate the rainfall erosivity.•Spatio-temporal variations in rainfall erosivity in the Pearl River Basin of China during 1960–2012 were analyzed.•The problem of water and soil loss in the Pear River Basin was quite severe overall.•Exacerbated vegetation deterioration and rocky desertification impact on rainfall erosion.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
2,6-dialkylpiperideines found in the venom of Solenopsis (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) fire ants are a range of compounds possessing various biological activities. A series of racemic ...2-methyl-6-alkyl-Δ1,6-piperideines were synthesized for chemical confirmation of the natural products found in fire ant venom, and the evaluation of their biological activity. Synthetic Δ1,6-piperideines and the natural compounds in the cis-alkaloid fraction of Solenopsis invicta had identical mass spectra and retention times. Their insecticidal activities against the third-instar larvae of cotton bollworm (Helicoverpa armigera) were evaluated by using injection and topical application methods. All three compounds exhibited no lethal effect at concentrations of 0.05–0.4 mol/L by topical treatment, but moderate lethal effect at 0.4 mol/L through injection treatment. Compound 6a showed significantly higher activity than the natural insecticide nicotine. The differences in activity among compounds 6b, 6c and nicotine were not significant. The elongation of the carbon chain at the 6-position of the piperideine ring appears to decrease insecticidal activity.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
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