•A newly improved under-load cascading failure model are established.•The method to assess the network robustness and resilience are proposed.•The threshold of key parameter to protect global energy ...and food security is obtained.•There is no positive correlation between network robustness and resilience.•We should pay more attention to the little and countries to handle the risk.
The Russian- Ukraine War has and further influence the global energy and food security. However, the detailed influence degree, key weak points and influence process is still unclear in the current. Therefore, this study established a newly improved under-load cascading failure model with consideration of overload limitation, and used it to evaluate influence of Russian- Ukraine War on the global energy and food security. This study also proposed a method to assess the network structure characteristic including robustness and resilience through model simulation under different scenarios. The main results include: The upper limitation of node load has the dominant function on the global energy and food security, while the influence of lower limitation parameter of node load has limited function. All of the networks have relative consistent recover and anti-damage ability against Russian and Ukraine War and the global panic except barley network. A key phenomenon we should concern is that the largest trade flow amounts are not occurred in the failure nodes. The failure nodes are always the countries with low economic scale and political status. The results tell us that we should further strengthen the importance of enhance production ability and energy types to resist the risk of Russian and Ukraine War. The global international organizations are also required to strengthen the function of balance the global security demand of energy and food between big countries and small countries. We should pay more attention to the little countries in the Africa and Asia to handle the risk.
Heavy metal contamination in soils has worsened with rapid economic development. The combined method with principal component analysis/absolute principal component scores) and random forest models ...successfully reveals the total sources contribution structure and the specific influence process of industrial activities on heavy metals concentration in soils of the three urban agglomerations. Through statistical analysis, Cd in the Jing-Jin-Ji Metropolitan Region, Pb, Cu, Hg, Cd and As in the Yangtze River Delta, and Hg, As, Cd, Cu and Pb in the Pearl River Delta had relatively high mean concentrations and coefficient of variation (CV), which indicates that the contamination may be caused by human activities. Through PCA/APCS analysis, industrial activities contributed more than 60% of the Cd, Hg and Pb concentrations in soils in JJJ, YRD and PRD. A random forest simulation revealed that heavy metal pollution in soils is the combined result of natural processes and human activities in the three urban agglomerations. The heavy metals concentration in JJJ is mainly caused by industrial activities through land-based emission. The industrial activities presented more significant impact on heavy metals concentration in the soil of YRD compared with other two urban agglomerations. The elevation variation controlled the pattern of heavy metal concentration through influencing the spatial clustering feature of industrial activities. The distance from the sample location to the nearest industrial enterprise is the most important factor in determining the heavy metal concentration. The number of enterprises within a 5 km radius of the sample locations makes a greater contribution to the amount of Hg pollution than other heavy metals. The results of this study could provide support for better management of soil pollution prevention practices such as specific industrial governance and layout optimization.
Linking water to research on coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) has attracted wide interest as a means of supporting human-natural sustainability. However, most current research does not focus ...on water environmental properties; instead, it is at the stage of holistic status assessment and measures adjustment from the point of view of the whole study region without revealing the dynamic interaction between human activities and natural processes. This paper establishes an integrated model that combines a System Dynamics model, a Cell Automaton model and a Multiagent Systems model and exploits the potential of the combined model to reveal regions' human-water interaction status during the process of urban evolution, identify the main pollution sources and spatial units, and provide the explicit space-time measurements needed to enhance local human-natural sustainability. The successful application of the integrated model in the case study of Changzhou City, China reveals the following. (1) As the city's development has progressed, the water environment status in some spatial units is still unsatisfactory and may even become more serious, especially in the urban areas of the Urban District and Liyang County. The concentration of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) in monitoring section 157 of the Urban District has increased from 36.90 mg/l to 40.84 mg/l. The main source of this increase is the increase in secondary industry. (2) With the application of the spatially explicit measures of the sewage treatment ratio improvement and new sewage plant construction, the water quality in the urban area has significantly improved and now satisfies the water quality standards. The measure of livestock manure utilization enhancement is adopted to improve the spatial units in which livestock is the main pollution source and achieve the goal of water quality improvement. The model can be used to support the sustainable status assessment of human-water interaction and to identify effective measures that can be used to realize human-water sustainability along with social-economic development.
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•An integrated model has been established for human-water simulation.•It could reveal human-water dynamic change along with urban evolution.•It realizes pollution sources structure analysis for a specific monitoring section.•It could support for spatial explicit adjustment for human-water sustainability.
A spatially explicit approach is proposed to reveal human-water dynamic change and support human-water sustainable management.
Connexins (Cxs) are ubiquitous transmembrane proteins that possess both channel function (e.g., formations of gap junction and hemichannel) and non-channel properties (e.g., gene transcription and ...protein-protein interaction). Several factors have been identified to play a role in the regulation of Cxs, which include those acting intracellularly, as redox potential, pH, intramolecular interactions, and post-translational modifications (e.g., phosphorylation, S-nitrosylation) as well as those acting extracellularly, such as Ca
2+
and Mg
2+
. The relationship between redox signaling and Cxs attracts considerable attention in recent years. There is ample evidence showing that redox signaling molecules (e.g., hydrogen peroxide (H
2
O
2
), nitric oxide (NO)) affect Cxs-based channel function while the opening of Cx channels also triggers the transfer of various redox-related metabolites (e.g., reactive oxygen species, glutathione, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, and NO). On the basis of these evidences, we propose the existence of redox-Cxs crosstalk. In this review, we briefly discuss the interaction between redox signaling and Cxs and the implications of the intersection in disease pathology and future therapeutic interventions.
First-principles calculations were used to explore the effect of various Y-doping levels on the electrical conductivity of SrTiO
3
. Herein, we prepared ((Y
0.07
Sr
0.93
Ti
0.6
Fe
0.4−
x
O
3−
δ
)/
x
.../3Co
3
O
4
(
x
= 0.1, 0.2, 0.3)) composites using a solid state reaction method. The properties of these sensing materials and the fabricated sensors including crystal phase composition, microstructures, oxygen ionic conductivity, total conductivity and sensor performance were investigated in detail. XRD demonstrates the formation of a highly cubic perovskite structure. The introduction of Co
3
O
4
promotes remarkably the electronic conductivity of the Y
0.07
Sr
0.93
Ti
0.6
Fe
0.4−
x
O
3−
δ
/
x
/3Co
3
O
4
composites due to the formation of n-type CoO and p-type Co
2
O
3
. A limiting current oxygen sensor based on (Y
0.07
Sr
0.93
Ti
0.6
Fe
0.4−
x
O
3−
δ
)/
x
/3Co
3
O
4
as a dense diffusion barrier shows excellent sensing performance. The recovery time is less than the response time, indicating that Co
2
O
3
promotes the gas desorption reaction which results in a shorter recovery time. The obtained results demonstrate a direct relationship between limiting current (
I
L
) and oxygen content.
First-principles calculations were used to explore the effect of various Y-doping levels on the electrical conductivity of SrTiO
3
.
Mitochondria are major sources of reactive oxygen species (ROS) within the cell and are especially vulnerable to oxidative stress. Oxidative damage to mitochondria results in disrupted mitochondrial ...function and cell death signaling, finally triggering diverse pathologies such as epilepsy, a common neurological disease characterized with aberrant electrical brain activity. Antioxidants are considered as promising neuroprotective strategies for epileptic condition via combating the deleterious effects of excessive ROS production in mitochondria. In this review, we provide a brief discussion of the role of mitochondrial oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of epilepsy and evidences that support neuroprotective roles of antioxidants targeting mitochondrial oxidative stress including mitochondria-targeted antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamins, thiols, and nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) activators in epilepsy. We point out these antioxidative compounds as effectively protective approaches for improving prognosis. In addition, we specially propose that these antioxidants exert neuroprotection against epileptic impairment possibly by modulating cell death interactions, notably autophagy-apoptosis, and autophagy-ferroptosis crosstalk.
The industrial wastewater accompanying rapid industrialization has caused severe pollution problems, especially in China. Addressing industrial structure upgrading and spatial optimization based on ...water environment carrying capacity has become an urgent issue. This paper establishes an analytical framework that uses a combination of economic and water environment information for industrial structure upgrading and spatial optimization based on water environment carrying capacity. This framework promotes the practical application of water environment carrying capacity theory for socio-ecological sustainability. The input-output table, information entropy method and a simulation platform of water environment carrying capacity using a multi-agent system are integrated into the analytical framework. A spatial assessment of the water environment carrying capacity, industrial structure upgrading and spatial optimization is performed for Changzhou, China. With the measures implementation of industrial structure upgrading and spatial optimization, the economic scale of the electrical equipment and machinery industry, which is the most important industry in Changzhou City, would reach 126,814.68 billion yuan, nearly 7.3 times its current value. In addition, the total local industrial economy would reach 3319.81 billion yuan, nearly 1.6 times its current scale. Due to the industrial concentration, the increased economic scale would create additional benefits, including the whole study region reaching the water quality goal and the water quality in urban areas significantly improving. The measures of industrial structure upgrading and spatial optimization would help to achieve a mutually beneficial balance between environmental protection and economic development. The analytical framework establishes the internal link between industrial structure upgrading and spatial optimization based on the water environment carrying capacity. The links from water quality to industrial structure upgrading and spatial optimization are also established. These connections could support the fine-scale management of water environments and could help local governments to plan sustainable socio-ecologic development.
•A framework of industrial structure upgrading and spatial optimization is established.•It reveals the linkage between industrial structure and industrial spatial pattern.•It connects industrial structure and pattern with water quality.•It guides maximum sustainable development of regional industry based on WECC.•It exploits water environment capacity actively while reducing pollutions emission.
Undecorated and Pt-decorated SnO2 nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared using sol-gel and hydrothermal methods. The tin dioxide NPs, as sensing materials, were screen printed on alumina substrates with ...Pt test electrode to fabricate the gas sensors. The characteristics of these gas sensors in terms of composition, morphology, and sensing property were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and electrochemical workstation, respectively. The results elucidated that the response time of Pt-decorated SnO2 sensor to 100 ppm H2 is 29 s at 350 °C, which is almost half of that of pure SnO2 gas sensor. Meanwhile, the effect of operating temperature and Pt decorating on the sensing properties and the ‘n’ value is studied. Comparing with many fabricated H2 gas sensors, our as-prepared sensor exhibits not only a high response time but also detects H2 gas down to 0.08 ppm. To the author's best knowledge, the detection limit of 0.08 ppm is the best reported detection limit for the gas sensors based on tin oxide NPs so far. Moreover, there is a significant enhancement in the selectivity of Pt-decorated SnO2 sensor to the H2 gas against other investigated gases such as carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2). Overall, the obtained results clearly demonstrate that the Pt-decorated SnO2 is an excellent sensing material for the fabrication of gas sensors and the detection of trace concentration of H2 down to 0.08 ppm. Furthermore, the results of statistical and fractal analysis on 2D microstructures of FESEM images showed a coefficient correlation of about 0.991 for all the samples.
•Pt-SnO2 was synthesized using sol-gel and hydrothermal techniques.•The influence of ‘n’ value on the sensing properties of the fabricated gas sensors is discussed in details.•Pt-SnO2 gas sensors demonstrated excellent sensing properties and can detect H2 down to 0.08 ppm.
The concept of “carrying capacity” has been widely used in various disciplines in reference to human-environment sustainability. No unified cognition exists regarding carrying capacity limits for ...humans. As a typical type of carrying capacity, the water environment carrying capacity (WECC) has been researched for human-water environment sustainability. However, most recent research has focused on the assessment of the water environment carrying capacity of a certain region or river basin. The detailed resilience potential of human-water environment systems that could improve the local water environment carrying capacity has not been systematically exploited. The key concerns of the existence of water environment carrying capacity limits and the exact value have not been addressed. This study first distinguished the characteristics of related concepts, such as carrying capacity, planetary boundaries, resilience, limitations, thresholds and tipping points. An analytical framework was then established to exploit the resilience potential from the four dimensions of “scale, structure, pattern and network”. The economy scale with full use of the resilience potential is 11,511,880 M yuan under the current technology and development status, which is nearly 37 times that of the current scale of the economy. The analytical framework confirms that the limit on the water environment carrying capacity is a dynamic value, which could be changed from the four dimensions. The socioeconomic scale that the local water environment can support would be nearly unlimited in some extreme ideal situation. The results would provide some enlightenment on the carrying capacity and other similar marked concepts of theoretical research and provide support for human-environment sustainability.
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•This study distinguished similar concepts related to carrying capacity.•A framework was established for exploration of WECC limits.•This study realized the resilience potential exploitation of WECC.•The results confirmed that WECC limits are dynamic values.•The results provided some enlightenment for carrying capacity research.
•The P-N nanojunction gas sensors addressed the poor selectivity to mixed gases.•The SMO gas sensors selectively detected H2 without the cross sensitivity of CO.•The selectivity results were ...supported by band theory mechanism.
The main disadvantage of metal oxide semiconductor sensors is their poor selectivity to different gases having similar (reducing or oxidizing) nature. Taking two strong interference homogeneous gases CO and H2 as example, it is difficult for the sensor to accurately detect their concentrations when CO and H2 coexist because of the cross sensitivity between the two homogeneous gases. Thus far, there has been no effective method to selectively detect specific gas without the cross sensitivity of another homogeneous gas. In this paper, the n-SnO2/p-Co3O4 composite nanoparticles (NPs) have been prepared for the sensing materials. By means of controlling the p-n nanojunction and holes (h+)-electrons (e−) concentration, the n-SnO2/p-Co3O4 NPs sensor material with the Sn/Co molar ratio of 1:0.15 successfully and selectively detects H2 without the cross sensitivity of CO. This makes a great breakthrough in solving the poor selectivity. Most important, the mechanism of the excellent selectivity of the sensor to H2 against CO has been explained based on the series of characterization results. This provides a theoretical guidance and technical solution for solving the problem of poor selectivity of this type of sensors.
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