This paper examines the short-term and mid-term impact of COVID-19 restrictions on SMEs, based on two waves of phone interviews with a previously surveyed large SME sample in China. The outbreak of ...COVID-19 and the resultant lockdowns took a heavy toll on SMEs. Afflicted by problems of logistics blocks, labor shortages, and drops in demand, 80% of SMEs were temporarily closed at the time of the first wave of interviews in February 2020. After reining in COVID-19, authorities largely eased lockdown restrictions in April. Consequently, most SMEs had reopened by the time of the second round of surveys in May. However, many firms, particularly export firms, were running at partial capacity, primarily due to inadequate demand. Moreover, around 19% of incorporated enterprises and 25% of self-employed businesses had permanently closed between the two waves of surveys.
•We conducted two waves of large-scale phone surveys with SMEs in China.•COVID-19 landed a heavy toll on SMEs.•The challenges facing SMEs have changed from the supply side to the demand side.•More inclusive policies were more effective in helping SMEs than other targeted policies.
Both cognitive decline and unhealthy lifestyles have been linked to an elevated risk of mortality in older people. We aimed to investigate whether a healthy lifestyle might modify the association ...between cognitive function and all-cause mortality in Chinese older populations.
The final analysis included 5124 individuals free of dementia, selected from the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey from 2011 to 2018. Cognitive function was assessed in 2011 using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE). A lifestyle score was calculated based on five lifestyle factors, including smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, diet, and body mass index. Cox proportional hazards models were performed to evaluate the association between baseline cognitive function and the risk of all-cause mortality, with an interaction term of cognitive function and lifestyle score being added to the models.
The average age of participants was 81.87 years old at baseline. During a median follow-up of 6.4 years, 1461 deaths were documented. Both higher cognitive function (HR: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.96-0.97) and a healthier lifestyle (HR: 0.92; 95% CI: 0.87-0.97) were significantly associated with a reduced risk of mortality. We found that lifestyle significantly modified the association of cognitive function with mortality (
for interaction = 0.004). The inverse relation between cognitive function and mortality was found to be more pronounced among participants with a healthier lifestyle. Of note, among the lifestyle scores component, diet showed a significant interaction with mortality (
for interaction = 0.003), and the protective HR of the all-cause mortality associated with higher MMSE scores was more prominent among participants with healthy diets compared with unhealthy diets.
Our study indicates that cognitive decline is associated with a higher risk of mortality, and such associations are attenuated by maintaining a healthy lifestyle, with a particular emphasis on healthy diet.
•Different ratios of Si/Al of the catalysts impacted hydroisomerization of FAMEs.•Alkane selectivity was optimal in Si/Al=25, 280°C, 0.8MPa, LHSV=4h−1, H2/oil=15.•88.2% of C5–C18 alkanes=8% gasoline ...alkane+32.5% jet alkane+47.7% diesel alkane.•Decarboxylation/decarbonylation was favored at high temperature, low H2 pressure.•The catalyst can run 80h and was caused deactivation by the carbon deposition.
A series of Ni/HZSM-5 catalysts with different Ni loading and Si/Al ratios were prepared by incipient wetness impregnation. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), N2-adsorption, temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia (NH3-TPD), and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. Moreover, their catalytic performance was investigated for the hydroprocessing of long-chain unsaturated fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) to renewable alkane fuels using a high-pressure fixed bed reactor system with a facility for online analysis. The different Ni loading and Si/Al ratios of the catalysts, as well as the influence of reaction conditions such as temperature, pressure, H2/oil molar ratio, and liquid hourly space velocity (LHSV), were studied in detail. The NiO aggregates dispersed on the surface of the support clearly increased the acidity after H2 reduction, thus significantly affecting the catalytic performance. Temperature and pressure played crucial roles in the conversion of FAMEs and selectivity for gasoline or jet or diesel alkane. Hydroprocessing over 10wt% Ni/HZSM-5 (Si/Al=25) at 280°C, a H2 pressure of 0.8MPa, an LHSV of 4h−1, and with a highly purified H2/oil molar ratio of 15 led to a high selectivity of 88.2% for C5–C18 liquid alkanes, which includes 8% of gasoline alkane, 32.5% of jet alkane and 47.7% of diesel alkane, along with appropriate isomerization selectivity of 27.0%, while the conversion of FAME reached 85.1%. To demonstrate the potential of this catalyst for practical applications, its stability in the hydroprocessing of FAMEs was also investigated. The conversion of FAMEs decreased to 30.1% over 10wt% Ni/HZSM-5 (Si/Al=25) after operation for 80h. Catalyst deactivation was predominantly caused by the deposition of carbon which causes blockage of the pores for FAMEs as evidence from TG analysis.
Pediatric-onset colitis and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have significant effects on the growth of infants and children, but the etiopathogenesis underlying disease subtypes remains incompletely ...understood. Here, we report single-cell clustering, immune phenotyping, and risk gene analysis for children with undifferentiated colitis, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis. We demonstrate disease-specific characteristics, as well as common pathogenesis marked by impaired cyclic AMP (cAMP)-response signaling. Specifically, infiltration of PDE4B- and TNF-expressing macrophages, decreased abundance of CD39-expressing intraepithelial T cells, and platelet aggregation and release of 5-hydroxytryptamine at the colonic mucosae were common in colitis and IBD patients. Targeting these pathways by using the phosphodiesterase inhibitor dipyridamole restored immune homeostasis and improved colitis symptoms in a pilot study. In summary, comprehensive analysis of the colonic mucosae has uncovered common pathogenesis and therapeutic targets for children with colitis and IBD.
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•Defective cAMP response underlies mucosal immune defects in pediatric colitis or IBD•Platelets are activated at colonic mucosae in pediatric colitis or IBD•Dipyridamole promoted mucosal healing in nine children with colitis in a pilot study•Candidate risk genes are differentially enriched in mucosal cellular subsets
Single-cell and risk gene analysis of children with undifferentiated colitis, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis identifies common underlying mechanisms of pathogenesis and reveals the potential therapeutic benefit of modulating cAMP signaling via the drug dipyridamole.
Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been confirmed to be aberrantly expressed in various diseases including tumors. Recently, a new tumor‐related lncRNA, lncRNA TRPM2 antisense RNA (TRPM2‐AS), was ...shown to be involved in many tumors, such as lung cancer and breast cancer. However, the expression and role of TRPM2‐AS in the development of gastric cancer (GC) have not been elucidated. In the current study, we provided evidence that the expression levels of TRPM2‐AS were increased in both GC tissues and cell lines. We also showed that overexpression of TRPM2‐AS was modulated by ELK1, a transcription factor. The results of clinical assays showed that higher expressions of TRPM2‐AS were significantly related with invasion depth, TNM stage, lymphatic metastasis, and shorter overall survival. Further clinical assays using multivariate analysis suggested that TRPM2‐AS expression was an independent prognostic factor in patients with GC. Functional experiments illustrated that depression of TRPM2‐AS suppressed proliferation, migration, and invasion in GC cells. In terms of mechanism, we found that TRPM2‐AS directly inhibited miR‐195, which targeted the 3′‐untranslated region of high‐mobility group AT‐hook 1 (HMGA1) messenger RNA. Overall, these findings revealed that ELK1‐induced overexpression of TRPM2‐AS promoted the development and progression of GC in part through miR‐195/HMGA1 signaling axis, and established its candidacy as a new cancer biomarker for GC patients.
We first showed that ELK1‐induced upregulation of long noncoding RNA TRPM2‐AS promotes tumor progression in gastric cancer by regulating microRNA‐195/high‐mobility group AT‐hook 1 axis.
The role of miR-19a in colorectal cancer (CRC), a devastating disease with high mortality and morbidity, remains controversial. In the present study, we show that the level of miR-19a is ...significantly higher in clinical CRC tissue samples than in paracancerous tissue samples, and significantly higher in CRC cells lines HT29, SW480, and CaCO2 than in the normal human colon mucosal epithelial cell line NCM460. miR-19a mimics and inhibitors were synthesized and validated. Overexpression of miR-19a mimics significantly promoted, while miR-19a inhibitors inhibited, the proliferation, survival, migration, and invasion of SW480 and CaCO2 CRC cells. Furthermore, mRNA and protein levels of chloride channel accessory 4 (CLCA4) were lower in CRC cells and tissues. Bioinformatics and a luciferase reporter assay confirmed that CLCA4 was a miR-19a target. Further, miR-19a inhibition increased CLCA4 expression. The inhibitory effect of miR-19a on cell growth, survival, migration, and invasion was reversed by knockdown of CLCA4 expression. The data demonstrated that the miR-19a/CLCA4 axis modulates phospho-activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway in CRC cells. In conclusion, our results revealed that miR-19a overexpression decreases CLCA4 levels to promote CRC oncogenesis, suggesting that miR-19a inhibitors have potential applications for future therapeutic of CRC.
•The drying trend of the global soil accelerated in 2001–2017.•The global soil moisture in the future will be dominated by decreasing trend.•65.1% of the global soil drying trend was induced by ...temperature rising.•The soil wetting was affected by the action of temperature, precipitation and NDVI.
Soil moisture (SM) is a comprehensive variable of terrestrial ecosystems. However, the global SM trend in recent decades and the future is uncertain, and the main factors causing soil drying and wetting are not fully understood. This study using Extended Triple Collation, Mann-Kendall test, Theil-Sen estimate, Hurst exponent, Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition and pertinent methods found that 1) at the pixel scale, the long-term daily SM data from ERA-Interim was closest to the true SM compared with ESA CCI and GLDAS; 2) the global average SM in 1979–2017 decreased remarkably and the declining trend accelerated in 2001–2017; 3) soil drying was observed in seven major land covers; among which, urban area has the largest area proportion of soil drying, about 80%; 4) the strong persistence of SM trend indicates that the global future soil will continuously be dominated by a drying trend; 5) overall, 65.1% of the global soil drying trend was attributed to temperature rising, whereas 82% of the wetting trend was affected by the combined action of temperature, precipitation, and NDVI. Under global warming, the soil drying area expanded at a rate of 1% yr−1 in 1979–2017 and the global SM will keep diminishing in the next years, which may increase the risks of extreme heatwaves, water resources shortage, land degradation, and other eco-environmental problems.
Abstract Background To investigate the changes in the unhealthy eye-related behaviors of junior middle school students during the COVID-19 pandemic and the double reduction policy and its ...relationship with myopia. Methods Data were obtained from the 2019–2022 Tianjin Children and Youth Myopia, Common Diseases and Health Influencing Factors Survey. Latent profile analysis (LPA) and a generalized linear model (GLM) were applied to analyze the effect of eye-related behavior classes on myopia. Results A total of 2508 junior middle school students were included. The types of eye-related behavior were categorized into the medium-healthy behavior group, heavy academic burden and near-eye behavior group, insufficient lighting group and high-healthy behavior group. Students with heavy academic burdens and near-eye behavior were more likely to develop myopia than were those in the high-healthy group (OR = 1.466, 95% CI = 1.203–1.787; P < 0.001). Conclusions The dual reduction policy has a positive effect on improving unhealthy eye-related behaviors, and the prevention and control of myopia through the use of different combinations of eye-related behaviors are heterogeneous among junior middle school students. In the post-COVID-19 period, we should continue to implement a double reduction policy and formulate targeted eye-related behavior strategies to provide an important reference for the prevention and control of myopia among children and adolescents during public health emergencies in the future.
Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) has high mortality worldwide. The CD247 molecule (CD247, as known as T-cell surface glycoprotein CD3 zeta chain) has been reported as a susceptibility locus in ...systemic sclerosis, but its correlation with IPF remains unclear.
Datasets were acquired by researching the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO). CD247 was identified as the hub gene associated with percent predicted diffusion capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (Dlco% predicted) and prognosis according to Pearson correlation, logistic regression, and survival analysis.
CD247 is significantly downregulated in patients with IPF compared with controls in both blood and lung tissue samples. Moreover, CD247 is significantly positively associated with Dlco% predicted in blood and lung tissue samples. Patients with low-expression CD247 had shorter transplant-free survival (TFS) time and more composite end-point events (CEP, death, or decline in FVC >10% over a 6-month period) compared with patients with high-expression CD247 (blood). Moreover, in the follow-up 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 12th months, low expression of CD247 was still the risk factor of CEP in the GSE93606 dataset (blood). Thirteen genes were found to interact with CD247 according to the protein-protein interaction network, and the 14 genes including CD247 were associated with the functions of T cells and natural killer (NK) cells such as PD-L1 expression and PD-1 checkpoint pathway and NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity. Furthermore, we also found that a low expression of CD247 might be associated with a lower activity of TIL (tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes), checkpoint, and cytolytic activity and a higher activity of macrophages and neutrophils.
These results imply that CD247 may be a potential T cell-derived disease severity and prognostic biomarker for IPF.
The NAC (NAM, ATAF1/2, CUC2) family of transcription factors (TFs) is a vital transcription factor family of plants. It controls multiple parts of plant development, tissue formation, and abiotic ...stress response. We cloned the
gene from
(a diploid strawberry) for this research. There is a conserved NAM structural domain in the FvNAC29 protein. The highest homology between FvNAC29 and PaNAC1 was found by phylogenetic tree analysis. Subcellular localization revealed that FvNAC29 is localized onto the nucleus. Compared to other tissues, the expression level of
was higher in young leaves and roots. In addition,
plants overexpressing
had higher cold and high-salinity tolerance than the wild type (WT) and unloaded line with empty vector (UL). The proline and chlorophyll contents of transgenic
plants, along with the activities of the antioxidant enzymes like catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), and superoxide dismutase (SOD) under 200 mM NaCl treatment or -8 °C treatment, were higher than those activities of the control. Meanwhile, malondialdehyde (MDA) and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) content were higher in the WT and UL lines.
improves transgenic plant resistance to cold and salt stress by regulating the expression levels of
,
,
, and
. It also improves the potential to tolerate cold stress by positively regulating the expression levels of
,
,
, and
. These findings suggest that
may be related to the processes and the molecular mechanisms of
response to high-salinity stress and LT stress, providing a comprehensive understanding of the NAC TFs.
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