Irrespective of which side is taken in the densification-sprawl debate, insights into the relationship between urban green space coverage and urbanization have been recognized as essential for ...guiding sustainable urban development. However, knowledge of the relationships between socio-economic variables of urbanization and long-term green space change is still limited. In this paper, using simple regression, hierarchical partitioning and multi-regression, the temporal trend in green space coverage and its relationship with urbanization were investigated using data from 286 cities between 1989 and 2009, covering all provinces in mainland China with the exception of Tibet. We found that: 1 average green space coverage of cities investigated increased steadily from 17.0% in 1989 to 37.3% in 2009; 2 cities with higher recent green space coverage also had relatively higher green space coverage historically; 3 cities in the same region exhibited similar long-term trends in green space coverage; 4 eight of the nine variables characterizing urbanization showed a significant positive linear relationship with green space coverage, with ‘per capita GDP’ having the highest independent contribution (24.2%); 5 among the climatic and geographic factors investigated, only mean elevation showed a significant effect; and 6 using the seven largest contributing individual factors, a linear model to predict variance in green space coverage was constructed. Here, we demonstrated that green space coverage in built-up areas tended to reflect the effects of urbanization rather than those of climatic or geographic factors. Quantification of the urbanization effects and the characteristics of green space development in China may provide a valuable reference for research into the processes of urban sprawl and its relationship with green space change.
► The green space coverage in Chinese cities increased steadily from 1991 to 2009. ► Cities in the same region exhibited long-term similar trends of development. ► Population, land area and GDP significantly affected green space coverage. ► Per capita GDP had the highest independent contribution to green space coverage. ► A linear model to predict variance in green space was constructed.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Developing highly efficient red metal-free organic phosphors for biological applications is a formidable challenge. Here, we report a novel molecular design principle to obtain red metal-free organic ...phosphors with long emission lifetime (504.6 μs) and high phosphorescence efficiency (14.6%) from the isolated molecules in the crystal. Furthermore, the well-dispersed phosphorescent nanodots (PNDs) with the particle size around 5 nm are prepared through polymer-encapsulation in an aqueous solution, which show good biocompatibility and low cytotoxicity. The metal-free PNDs are successfully applied to time-resolved luminescence imaging to eliminate background fluorescence interference both in vitro and vivo as well as effective photodynamic anticancer therapy for the first time. This work will not only pave a pathway to develop highly efficient metal-free RTP materials but also expand the scope of their applications to biomedical fields.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
It is well known that exogenous trehalose can improve resistances of plants to some abiotic and biotic stresses. Nonetheless, information respecting the molecular responses of tobacco leaves to Tre ...treatment is limited. Here we show that exogenous Tre can rapidly reduce stomatal aperture, up-regulate NADPH oxidase genes and increase O2•-andH2O2 on tobacco leaves at 2 h after treatment. We further demonstrated that imidazole and DPI, inhibitors of NADPH oxidase, can promote recovery of stomatal aperture of tobacco leaves upon trehalose treatment. Exogenous trehalose increased tobacco leaf resistance to tobacco mosaic disease significantly in a concentration-dependent way. To elucidate the molecular mechanisms in response to exogenous trehalose, the transcriptomic responses of tobacco leaves with 10 (low concentration) or 50 (high concentration) mM of trehalose treatment at 2 or 24h were investigated through RNA-seq approach. In total, 1288 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were found with different conditions of trehalose treatments relative to control. Among them, 1075 (83.5%) were triggered by low concentration of trehalose (10mM), indicating that low concentration of Tre is a better elicitor. Functional annotations with KEGG pathway analysis revealed that the DEGs are involved in metabolic pathway, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, plant hormone signal transduction, plant-pathogen interaction, protein processing in ER, flavonoid synthesis and circadian rhythm and so on. The protein-protein interaction networks generated from the core DEGs regulated by all conditions strikingly revealed that eight proteins, including ClpB1, HSP70, DnaJB1-like protein, universal stress protein (USP) A-like protein, two FTSH6 proteins, GolS1-like protein and chloroplastics HSP, play a core role in responses to exogenous trehalose in tobacco leaves. Our data suggest that trehalose triggers a signal transduction pathway which involves calcium and ROS-mediated signalings. These core components could lead to partial resistance or tolerance to abiotic and biotic stresses. Moreover, 19 DEGs were chosen for analysis of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). The qRT-PCR for the 19 candidate genes coincided with the DEGs identified via the RNA-seq analysis, sustaining the reliability of our RNA-seq data.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Demand response (DR) is an effective load management method. To attract customers to participate, DR policies need to both satisfy customers' individual DR habits and be economically profitable. ...However, customers’ individual DR habits are hard to be formulated with few hypotheses when other objectives are simultaneously considered. To tackle this challenge, a novel DR behavioural learning method is proposed. We learn customers’ DR habits by an inverse reinforcement learning (IRL) method to reduce the subjectivity in DR model formulation. Meanwhile, in contrast to traditional learning‐based methods, the proposed method can adapt to multiple DR objectives more than just following customers’ DR habits, like obtaining higher economic revenues. Additionally, we consider the diversity and changes of customer DR behaviour patterns and offer an enhancement for the proposed DR behavioural learning method via building a DR pattern clustering and inference module. The proposed method can work with customer‐side energy storage systems to diversify the DR policies and make the DR behaviours more flexible. Case studies show the proposed method can reduce about 10–20% behavioural learning deviations than the compared model‐based methods, while daily charges of the proposed method can be further reduced by over 4% than the compared supervised‐learning‐based methods.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Magnetic levitation (MagLev) is a promising density-based analytical technique with numerous applications. Several MagLev structures with different levels of sensitivity and range have been studied. ...However, these MagLev structures can seldom satisfy the different performance requirements simultaneously, such as high sensitivity, wide measurement range, and easy operation, which have prevented them from being widely used. In this work, a tunable MagLev system was developed. It is confirmed by numerical simulation and experiments that this system possesses a high resolution down to 10
g/cm
or even higher compared to the existing systems. Meanwhile, the resolution and range of this tunable system can be adjusted to meet different requirements of measurement. More importantly, this system can be operated simply and conveniently. This bundle of characteristics demonstrates that the novel tunable MagLev system could be handily applied in various density-based analyses on demand, which would greatly expand the ability of MagLev technology.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
•A dynamic model for mechanical systems of TBM is established with variable loads from the cutterhead.•General evaluation criteria for estimating the dynamic performance of TBM is proposed.•The ...uncertain mechanical behaviors of rocks are described with interval analysis method.•The criteria could be used to avoid unexpected shutdown of the tunneling project.
The complex and uncertain geological structures may cause difficult prediction for dynamic performance of tunnel boring machines (TBMs). The dynamic model of the thrusting and supporting system of TBM is established, in which the uncertain loads from cutterhead and the contact stiffness on tunnel interface are considered. An evaluation model for dynamic performance is proposed by considering the characteristics of translational and angular velocities of TBMs. The fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) is used for determining the weights in the evaluation model. The uncertain geological strata are described in terms of the interval analysis method. The dynamic performance is evaluated when TBMs excavate in straight and curvilinear tunnels considering the uncertain fractions of soft and hard rocks and different inclined angles of two rocks. The results show that the dynamic performance becomes worse with the increasing proportion of soft rock. TBMs excavating in the vertical layer interface perform better than those in horizontal one. So the probability of jamming and excavating deviation increases with the increasing proportion of soft rock when the interface of the mixed strata is horizontal. The evaluation standard is effectively verified by using the real jamming case of TBM when it excavated in the mixed strata containing both siltstone (70%) and argillite (30%).
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
A new sauropod-dominanted dinosaur fauna, including several new species of sauropods and stegosaurs, was recently excavated from the Lower Shaximiao Formation in Yunyang, northeastern Chongqing, ...southwestern China. Although this dinosaur fauna could possibly provide significant clues for a better understanding of the basal sauropod's evolution and diversification of basal sauropods in the Jurassic, many aspects of this fauna are not well defined constrained in terms of detailed stratigraphy, geochronology, and comparison with similar faunas in other regions of the Sichuan Basin. This paper reports on the petrological features of this locality, using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (EDS), with laser ablation-multi-collector-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) zircon U-Pb geochronology for a tuffaceous siltstone layer beneath the dinosaur fossil-bearing layers from the fossil site. The SEM and XRD results show a typical tuffaceous mineral composition of this layer. Zircon U-Pb data yielded a weighted average age of 166.0 ± 1.5 Ma, indicating a maximum burial age for this dinosaur fauna. This fauna is chronologically comparable with the Shunosaurus-Omeisaurus Fauna, which is primarily found in the central Sichuan Basin.
•166.0 ± 1.5 Ma as the maximum burial age for dinosaur fauna in Chongqing, SW China.•Precise age constraints on newly discovered dinosaur in Lower Shaximiao Formation.•Basal sauropods in Sichuan Basin are younger than biostratigraphic ages.•Providing age constraints on the radiation of basal sauropods in Jurassic.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Opiates are among the most prescribed drugs for pain management. However, morphine use or abuse results in significant gut bacterial translocation and predisposes patients to serious infections with ...gut origin. The mechanism underlying this defect is still unknown. In this report, we investigated the mechanisms underlying compromised gut immune function and bacterial translocation following morphine treatment. We demonstrate significant bacterial translocation to mesenteric lymph node (MLN) and liver following morphine treatment in wild-type (WT) animals that was dramatically and significantly attenuated in Toll-like receptor (TLR2 and 4) knockout mice. We further observed significant disruption of tight junction protein organization only in the ileum but not in the colon of morphine treated WT animals. Inhibition of myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) blocked the effects of both morphine and TLR ligands, suggesting the role of MLCK in tight junction modulation by TLR. This study conclusively demonstrates that morphine induced gut epithelial barrier dysfunction and subsequent bacteria translocation are mediated by TLR signaling and thus TLRs can be exploited as potential therapeutic targets for alleviating infections and even sepsis in morphine-using or abusing populations.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The chemokine CXCL8, also known as the neutrophil chemotactic factor, plays a crucial role in mediating inflammatory responses and managing cellular immune reactions during viral infections. Porcine ...reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) primarily infects pulmonary alveolar macrophages (PAMs), leading to acute pulmonary infections. In this study, we explored a novel long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), termed lnc-CAST, situated within the Cxcl8 gene locus. This lncRNA was found to be highly expressed in porcine macrophages. We observed that both lnc-CAST and CXCL8 were significantly upregulated in PAMs following PRRSV infection, and after treatments with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or lipoteichoic acid (LTA). Furthermore, we noticed a concurrent upregulation of lnc-CAST and CXCL8 expression in lungs of PRRSV-infected pigs. We then determined that lnc-CAST positively influenced CXCL8 expression in PAMs. Overexpression of lnc-CAST led to an increase in CXCL8 production, which in turn enhanced the migration of epithelial cells and the recruitment of neutrophils. Conversely, inhibiting lnc-CAST expression resulted in reduced CXCL8 production in PAMs, leading to decreased migration levels of epithelial cells and neutrophils. From a mechanistic perspective, we found that lnc-CAST, localized in the nucleus, facilitated the enrichment of histone H3K27ac in CXCL8 promoter region, thereby stimulating CXCL8 transcription in a cis-regulatory manner. In conclusion, our study underscores the pivotal critical role of lnc-CAST in regulating CXCL8 production, offering valuable insights into chemokine regulation and lung damage during PRRSV infection.
Properly deployed public charging stations are important foundations for the large-scale operation of electric taxis. This paper proposes a novel framework for the deployment of public charging ...stations, which takes into consideration the effects of passengers, taxi drivers, electricity retailers, transportation network, distribution network, and power consumers. First, on the premise that public charging stations have already been deployed, an agent-based model is constructed to simulate the charging demands of each station, considering passengers' travel demands and retailers' mutual competition. Second, to obtain candidate sites for public charging stations, the critical node index is put forward based on the massive trajectory data of taxis. Finally, a multi-objective optimizing model for public charging station deployment is proposed with charging demand simulation embedded. By traversing candidate sites and quantities of charging spots at each station using a modified genetic algorithm, the optimal deployment results are obtained. The framework and models are demonstrated and verified by a test case. The results indicate that the proposed framework could minimize the costs of charging stations, electric utilities, electric taxi drivers, and passengers while lowering the load heterogeneity in the distribution network at the same time.
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