Household carbon footprint is closely related with economic development level. Thus, to reveal the characteristic of household carbon footprint and its driving forces for countries under different ...development stage, this paper compared household carbon footprint and driving forces of developing China and developed Japan using input-output method and structural decomposition analysis method. Results show that China's household carbon footprint increased rapidly from 939 megatons (Mt) in 1997–3363 Mt in 2015, and then gradually decreased, while Japan's household carbon footprint fluctuated between 700–1000 Mt. In terms of per capita indirect household carbon footprint, it increased fast in China, but was still only less than 1/4 of that in Japan in 2018. Another finding is that food carbon footprint will decrease, while housing carbon footprint will increase with economic development. Transportation & communication can be a potential source for reducing such carbon footprints. In terms of driving forces of household carbon footprint, consumption expenditure was the major positive driving force and technology was a major negative driving force in China, while Japan was mainly driven by technology. It is suggested to pay attention to control the per capita household carbon footprint of fast developing countries, particularly transportation & communication consumption.
•Household carbon footprint (CF) of China and Japan during 1997–2018 is compared.•Driving forces of household carbon footprint are analyzed using SDA method.•Per capita indirect household carbon footprint of China is only 1/4 of Japan.•Food CF decreases while housing CF increases with economic development.•Household consumption expenditure and technology are main driving forces.
The discovery of potent, peptide site directed, tyrosine kinase inhibitors has remained an elusive goal. Herein we describe the discovery of two such clinical candidates that inhibit the tyrosine ...kinase Src. Compound 1 is a phase 3 clinical trial candidate that is likely to provide a first in class topical treatment for actinic keratosis (AK) with good efficacy and dramatically less toxicity compared to existing standard therapy. Compound 2 is a phase 1 clinical trial candidate that is likely to provide a first in class treatment of malignant glioblastoma and induces 30% long-term complete tumor remission in animal models. The discovery strategy for these compounds iteratively utilized molecular modeling, along with the synthesis and testing of increasingly elaborated proof of concept compounds, until the final clinical candidates were arrived at. This was followed with mechanism of action (MOA) studies that revealed tubulin polymerization inhibition as the second MOA.
Understanding consumers' purchase behaviors is fundamental to the success of the dairy industry. With its economic importance, the Chinese market is critical to dairy producers in most countries ...around the world. However, understanding consumers in this market is particularly challenging, as these consumers often have a different relationship with dairy products than consumers elsewhere in the world, given the country's historical dairy-related scandals. This special relationship can be characterized by what consumer behavior researchers call "high involvement," indicating that Chinese dairy consumers often attempt to reduce the level of risk associated with buying dairy products. Surprisingly, although this relationship affects several important aspects of purchase behavior, examination of the concept of involvement in the dairy sector has not been widely considered. Of note, there is no understanding of how Chinese consumers vary in their involvement levels and their implications on their dairy purchase behaviors. Nor have there been involvement-based insights provided on how dairy companies can position their marketing strategy to suit the needs of these consumers better. Thus, this study proposes a new approach to understanding Chinese consumer dairy decisions by introducing "consumer involvement" as a segmentation tool through which individuals' behaviors can be predicated according to their involvement profile. Based on an online survey administered in Shanghai using 1,073 dairy consumers, principal component analysis confirmed involvement with dairy is a multidimensional construct with the following 4 factors: pleasure value, symbolic value, risk importance, and risk probability. A 2-step cluster analysis identified 4 consumer clusters based on their involvement profile: face-concerned dairy lover, carefree dairy consumer, cautious dairy lover, and confused dairy consumer. According to a one-way ANOVA test and cross-tabulation with χ
test, these consumer segments behave differently in relation to the extensiveness of decision making, cue utilization, trust of information sources, and consumption behavior. The outcomes in this paper further explain why efforts to restore consumer trust for dairy products do not work among some consumers, as individuals may exhibit diverse attitudes toward such information due to their heterogeneous involvement levels. The study also provides suggestions for market practitioners and organizations to develop effective target market strategies and policies according to different consumer clusters.
Abstract Carcinogenesis is a complex, multistep, multipath process often described as “somatic evolution”. Conventional models of cancer progression are typically based on the genetic and epigenetic ...changes observed in malignant and premalignant tumors. We have explored an alternative approach that emphasizes the selection forces within adaptive landscapes governing growth and evolution in in situ , microinvasive, and metastatic cancers. In each environment, specific barriers to proliferation act as strong selection forces that determine the optimal phenotypic properties that permit tumor growth and invasion. Thus, the phenotypic properties or “hallmarks” of cancer can be viewed as successful adaptations to these microenvironmental selection forces. In turn, these selection pressures are not static but will dynamically change as a result of tumor population growth and evolution. Here, we emphasize the role of hypoxia and acidosis in the progression of tumor from in situ to invasive cancer. This is a consequence of early tumor cell proliferation on epithelial surfaces, which are separated from the underlying blood supply by the intact basement membrane. As tumor cells proliferate further away from the basement membrane, the diffusion-reaction kinetics of substrate and metabolite flow to and from the blood vessels result in regional hypoxia and acidosis. Cellular adaptation to the former include upregulation of glcyolysis and to the latter include upregulation of Na+ /H+ exchangers (NHE1) and other acid-regulating proteins such as carbonic anhydrase. We propose this phenotype is critical for subsequent malignant growth of primary and metastatic cancers.
Aims
The aim of this study was to rapidly screen potential hypoglycaemic strain by α‐glucosidase inhibitory activity in vitro, then explored the antidiabetic effect of Lactobacillus plantarum ...CCFM0236 in vivo.
Methods and Results
The cell‐free supernatant of Lact. plantarum CCFM0236 significantly inhibited α‐glucosidase activity in vitro. Therefore, the effects of Lact. plantarum CCFM0236, with potential hypoglycaemia activity, on insulin resistance and hyperglycaemia were explored in high‐fat and streptozotocin‐induced type 2 diabetes mice. Oral administration of Lact. plantarum CCFM0236 was found to decrease food intake, blood glucose level, glycosylated haemoglobin level and leptin level. Treatments of Lact. plantarum CCFM0236 also favourably regulated insulin level, AUCglucose, and HOMA‐IR index, and increased the activities of glutathione peroxidase and the levels of glutathione, high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol and interleukin‐10. In addition, Lact. plantarum CCFM0236 reduced levels of malondialdehyde and tumour necrosis factor‐α and protected pancreas function.
Conclusions
Lactobacillus plantarum CCFM0236 has potential hypoglycaemic ability by ameliorating insulin resistance, antioxidant capacity and systemic inflammation in mice.
Significance and Impact of the Study
The method of α‐glucosidase inhibitory activity could be effectively used to screen potential hypoglycaemic products and Lact. plantarum CCFM0236 might be a promising therapeutic agent for ameliorating type 2 diabetes.
The present paper sets to conduct a theoretical investigation on the role of national culture in shaping innovation diffusion patterns in different markets. We build a culturally grounded agent-based ...model to examine the question and introduce cultural heterogeneity to our simulations by merging two of Hofstede's dimensions of culture (individualism/collectivism and uncertainty avoidance) with Rogers' seminal work on innovation diffusion behavior. Our findings suggest that both dimensions of culture influence diffusion rates. The model also puts forward the importance of network topology as an enabling factor of national culture on diffusion processes.
•We study whether national culture has an impact on innovation diffusion processes.•An exploratory agent-based simulation is implemented to examine the issue.•Our simulations suggest that culture matters in shaping diffusion patterns.•We advance a ranking of countries that are the most and least prone to diffusing innovations.
We describe a stochastic, dynamical system capable of inference and learning in a probabilistic latent variable model. The most challenging problem in such models—sampling the posterior distribution ...over latent variables—is proposed to be solved by harnessing natural sources of stochasticity inherent in electronic and neural systems. We demonstrate this idea for a sparse coding model by deriving a continuous-time equation for inferring its latent variables via Langevin dynamics. The model parameters are learned by simultaneously evolving according to another continuous-time equation, thus bypassing the need for digital accumulators or a global clock. Moreover, we show that Langevin dynamics lead to an efficient procedure for sampling from the posterior distribution in the
sparse regime, where latent variables are encouraged to be set to zero as opposed to having a small
norm. This allows the model to properly incorporate the notion of sparsity rather than having to resort to a relaxed version of sparsity to make optimization tractable. Simulations of the proposed dynamical system on both synthetic and natural image data sets demonstrate that the model is capable of probabilistically correct inference, enabling learning of the dictionary as well as parameters of the prior.
Designs of the single-, dual-, wide-band rectangular dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs) are discussed. Using new single-band formulas, the resonance frequency of the DRA can be determined easily ...from the given DRA dimensions and vice versa. Also, new formulas for designs of dual-mode rectangular DRAs are derived in this paper. From the derivation, the limit of the frequency ratio is also found and discussed. The formulas can be used to design a dualband DRA or a wideband DRA when the two resonance frequencies are close to each other. To validate our results, three single-, dual-, and wide-band rectangular DRAs were designed using the new formulas. In each case, the reflection coefficient, radiation pattern, and antenna gain were simulated and measured. Good agreement between the calculated, simulated, and measured results is obtained.
Desulfovibrio spp. is predominant member of sulphate‐reducing bacteria in human gut microbiota. Previous studies indicated that the isolation of Desulfovibrio strains from human faecal samples is ...very important to study the roles of human intestinal Desulfovibrio spp. in maintaining healthy states or causing diseases, as well as defining their biological characteristics. However, there are very few reports describing the isolation of Desulfovibrio spp. from human faecal samples. In this study, faecal samples were inoculated into various media containing different components. The enriched culture communities were identified using 16S rRNA gene high‐throughput sequencing analysis, enabling us to identify the specific components that enable the enrichment of Desulfovibrio. Using this information, we developed five specific media and identified an effective enrichment medium that produced the highest relative abundance of Desulfovibrio in communities cultured from four faecal samples (26·5, 73·5, 44·7 and 77·6% respectively). In addition, the major non‐Desulfovibrio genera were identified. Finally, three species of Desulfovibrio, D. desulfuricans, D. piger and D. legallii were isolated, representing the first time that has D. legallii been isolated from a human gastrointestinal source.
Significance and Impact of the Study
ost of the human intestinal bacteria have not been cultured because of lack of appropriate culture method and appropriate media. Desulfovibrio spp. is associated with several clinical conditions like inflammatory bowel disease, but until now there are very few reports describing the isolation of Desulfovibrio spp. from human faecal samples. In this study, 16S rRNA gene high‐throughput sequencing analysis was applied to screen appropriate enrichment media and selective cultivation of Desulfovibrio. This sequencing‐based directed culture method described here can be used for the selective cultivation of gut bacteria of interest.
Significance and Impact of the Study: Most of the human intestinal bacteria have not been cultured because of lack of appropriate culture method and appropriate media. Desulfovibrio spp. is associated with several clinical conditions like inflammatory bowel disease, but until now there are very few reports describing the isolation of Desulfovibrio spp. from human faecal samples. In this study, 16S rRNA gene high‐throughput sequencing analysis was applied to screen appropriate enrichment media and selective cultivation of Desulfovibrio. This sequencing‐based directed culture method described here can be used for the selective cultivation of gut bacteria of interest.
As a saturable absorption material, the heterostructure with the van der Waals structure has been paid much attention in material science. In general, the heterogeneous combination is able to ...neutralize, or even exceed, the individual material's advantages in some aspects. In this paper, which describes the magnetron sputtering deposition method, the tapered fiber is coated by the MoS
-WS
heterostructure, and the MoS
-WS
heterostructure saturable absorber (SA) is fabricated. The modulation depth of the prepared MoS
-WS
heterostructure SA is measured to be 19.12%. Besides, the theoretical calculations for the band gap and carrier mobility of the MoS
-WS
heterostructure are provided. By employing the prepared SA, a stable and passively erbium-doped fiber laser is implemented. The generated pulse duration of 154 fs is certified to be the shortest among all fiber lasers based on transition mental dichalcogenides. Results in this paper provide the new direction for the fabrication of ultrafast photon modulation devices.
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