Search

Population aging has indeed emerged as a significant challenge for China. Using data from four waves of the China Family Panel Studies, this paper explores the impact of population aging on household carbon emissions and its underlying mechanisms. Results show that population aging significantly decreases per capita household carbon emissions, and this conclusion is robust with respect to sample selection, measurement of primary independent variable, and data selection. Population aging influences household carbon emissions through negative consumption effects and positive composition effects, with the former playing a dominant role. Notably, population aging increases per capita household carbon emissions in items such as medicine, heating, and healthcare, while decreasing emissions in most other items. Furthermore, empirical evidence suggests impact heterogeneity across hukou, income level, and the health status of household head. The insights presented in this paper are crucial for advancing our understanding of sustainable development. • Population aging decreases per capita household carbon emissions. • It is achieved through negative consumption effects and positive composition effects. • The consumption effects play a dominant role. • Evidence indicates impact heterogeneity across, hukou, income level, and the health status of household head. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crabs in mangroves could enhance the transfer of organic carbon (OC) from leaf litter to soils, whose variation with the difference in crab size is, however, not well known. A 32-day laboratory feeding experiment was conducted to explore the effects of different sizes of the crabs Parasesarma plicatum foraging on leaf litter of Kandelia obovata on OC accumulation in mangrove soils. Mean rates of soil OC accumulation due to leaf foraging by large, medium, and small crabs were 21.11, 16.11, and 0.77 mg C ind−1 d−1, corresponding to the rates of OC removal from leaf litter of 62.60%, 51.37%, and 2.19%, respectively. Large and medium crabs ingested larger amounts of leaf litter, and soil OC accumulation rates resulting from leaf foraging by large and medium crabs were approximately 8 times higher than those by leaf litter decomposition and triple those by non-leaf foraging. Small crabs ingested the smallest amount of leaf litter, which was almost used for their growth and metabolism. These results underline the key ecological roles of leaf foraging by crabs, especially those with large and medium sizes, in OC accumulation in mangrove soils, which is conducive to estimating carbon sequestration in mangrove soils. • We divided the herbivorous crabs into large, medium and small sizes. • Large and medium crabs significantly increased soil OC accumulation. • Small crabs had little impact on soil OC accumulation. • The transformation rate of leaf litter decay to soil OC was 6.63%. • The transformation rates of large, medium and small crabs to soil OC were 62.60%, 51.37% and 2.19%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Sharing a common target, both MG and BTX treatment can weaken the function of neuromuscular junction. • MG should not be considered to be an absolute contraindication for BTX. • Under proper management of MG, BTX could be used in patients presenting MG comorbidities. Botulinum toxin (BTX) is a neurotoxin that has been used to treat various disorders and has also become a popular choice for cosmetic indications, yet traditionally, myasthenia gravis (MG) is considered a contraindication for BTX. To determine whether BTX should be avoided in MG patients, clinical data from our MG and dystonia specialist clinic were analyzed retrospectively. In addition, a systematic literature review was conducted to identify all published cases associated with the co-existence of MG and BTX treatments. Here, we described one patient from our clinic, who received BTX injections before being given MG diagnosis. After the literature review, 8 cases with subclinical MG previously treated with BTX for dystonia or cosmetic reasons ("BTX injections before MG diagnosis") were identified. Markedly, 8 out of 8 (100%) patients developed obvious muscle weakness. In contrast, 10 patients presenting MG as comorbidity had received BTX for dystonia or overactive bladder ("BTX injection after MG diagnosis"), and 8 out of 10 (80%) experienced improved symptoms through appropriate dose modifications and adequate treatment for MG before receiving BTX injections. These findings support that, under proper management of co-existing MG, BTX could be used safely and successfully in patients presenting MG comorbidities in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancing energy efficiency, employing renewable energy sources, improving the performance of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation, creating innovative technologies to absorb greenhouse gases, and eliminating incentives for environmentally damaging operations are all tasks that support low-carbon advancement. Following the trend of the worldwide shift away from natural fuels as major energy providers to other forms of energy, the concept of a low-carbon economy (LCE) is being implemented. An LCE minimizes greenhouse gas emissions by replacing nonrenewable energy sources with renewable and natural energy resources. In recent years, LCEs have been globally implemented based on the impact of greenhouse gases on climatic conditions. This article introduces a genetic algorithm-enabled replacement recommendation model (GA-RRM) for managing LCEs in open environments. The proposed model identifies the links among energy exhaustion, requirements, and generation for emission management. The balancing process involves new weight assignments and recommendations for different resources. The proposed model generates multiple populating weights using the GA to mitigate the effects of certain factors. The proposed model uses current and previous climatic change factors to identify LCE management trends. GA-RRM is used to manage and analyze an LCE, and traditional energy sources are replaced with green gas-emitting and natural energy sources in an open environment. The performance of GA-RRM is evaluated based on emission control and energy usage scenarios, and high precision is observed. • Proposed GA-RRM to evaluate low carbon emission control over renewable resources • Identified the link between energy exhaustion, requirement, and generation • GA-RRM's performance is measured through pollution control and energy use. • The GPR method is used for the carbon emission control and prediction process. • SVM provided appropriate solutions to solve the major carbon emission cause. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Source apportionment studies have been performed on online receptor datasets in recent years (called online source apportionment), including mass spectra and online chemical dataset. Single particle aerosol mass spectrometry (SPAMS), an important online technique, has the ability to analyze mass spectrum (MS) and particular size information of a single particle in real time. Clustering methods have been widely applied to MS dataset to investigate the sources of particles, although the receptor models are the common tools to probe the particle sources based on the receptor dataset. This work developed a new method (SPAMS-RM) that employed the receptor model (RM) on an MS dataset from SPAMS to identify particle sources. Particles were measured by SPAMS from July 14 to August 15, 2015, at an urban site in Tianjin, China. Multilinear Engine-2 (ME2) and adaptive resonance theory-based neural networks-2a (ART-2a) were separately used to analyze the single particle MS dataset. This work also evaluated the performance of SPAMS-RM method. Concentrations of chemical components of PM 2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of less than 2.5 μm) and gaseous pollutants were measured by independent online instruments (1 h resolution). Source apportionment was separately conducted using two receptor models, Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) and ME2, based on the 1 h resolution chemical dataset. This method was called online chemical source apportionment (OCSA-RM). ART-2a obtained 19 clusters that merged into five major classes: carbon species, rich-K, sea salt, crustal dust, and industrial metals. SPAMS-RM identified eight sources by interpreting the MS characteristic of factors and investigating the relationship of the temporal trends of factor contributions, chemical species, gaseous pollutants, and particle clusters. OCSA-ME2 and OCSA-PMF both identified seven factors. Source apportionment results between SPAMS-RM and OCSA-ME2/PMF were compared. Each method identified coal combustion, biomass burning, sea salt, nitrate source, sulfate source, vehicle emission, and crustal dust. The SPAMS-RM results showed that nitrate source was the most significant contributor (34%) to the PM followed by sulfate source (17%), coal combustion (14%), crustal dust (11%), vehicle emission (10%), biomass burning-OCEC (7%), and industrial activities & sea salt (4%). Some differences between SPAMS-RM and OCSA-ME2/PMF results existed and might be due to chemical analysis methods and sampling methods. ME2 was used for the first time to identify the PM sources based on the MS dataset from SPAMS and demonstrated its capability when coupled with MS dataset from SPAMS to apportion the source of PM. Highlights • A new method that employed ME2 on SPAMS dataset was developed to infer PM sources. • PMF and ME2 were employed on the 1 h resolution chemical dataset. • ART-2a was employed on the SPAMS dataset to qualitatively identify the PM sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sought to examine grouped and right-censored (GRC) counts of adolescent marijuana use and estimate its temporal trajectories and sociodemographic disparities over almost half a century. After compiling 46 waves of nationally representative data from the Monitoring the Future (MTF) study from 1976 to 2021 (sample size = 491,348), we utilized an innovative modified Poisson (mixture) approach to analyze past-year marijuana use quantified by GRC counts. The overall reduction in incidence rates of marijuana use was attributable to an almost 40% reduction in the risk of marijuana use (with the proportion of at-risk adolescents at 51.36% in 1979 and 31.53% in 2021). Despite substantial changes over the study period, the recent incidence rates for at-risk individuals were similar to those in the early 1980s. Living in an intact family was a protective factor against adolescent marijuana use over time. The incidence rates of marijuana use among at-risk students, especially those from disadvantaged families, remained high over the study period. The modified Poisson (mixture) approach serves as the preferred tool for modeling GRC responses. It is essential to distinguish among risk, at-risk incidence, and overall incidence when assessing substance use and other risky behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of processing tomato industry in China is short and the major variety being used in production to date is still Riegel 87-5, a variety released in 1996. To investigate the genetic and fruit trait differences between Chinese elite lines/varieties and American varieties, 51 including 24 recently developed Chinese elite lines, four Chinese varieties, and 23 American varieties were subjected to genotypic analysis using 547 InDel markers. The range of Nei’s genetic distance was wider in Chinese elite lines (0.209–0.383) than in Chinese varieties (0.126–0.214) and American varieties (0.223–0.342). Cluster analysis indicated that the 51 varieties/lines could be classified into three groups without specific relationship between group and country. This was further supported by population structure analysis using the software STRUCTURE2.3.4. Fruit traits were collected from 51 tomato varieties/lines grown in 2013 and 2014. The average soluble solid content was lower, while the average fruit weight was larger, and the average color was relatively poorer in both Chinese elite lines and varieties than in the American varieties. However, some elite lines such as 9508-h and their progenies had relatively good fruit traits, and thus could be superior sources for processing tomato improvement. The experience of developing processing tomato industry in China could be of value to countries with similar situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existing studies have widely investigated the nexus between technological changes and environmental concerns. A large extent of literature estimates the influences of technological changes on ecological consequences using overall technologies or climate technologies. However, the moderating impacts of financial development have gained little attention, altering the technology-climate nexus in distinct samples. Therefore, this study analyzed developed and developing economies by integrating different technologies and financial development attributes from 1990 to 2019. In doing so, advanced panel estimations are employed, such as Bai and Carrion-I-Silvestre unit root, Banerjee and Carrion–i-Silvestre cointegration test, Westerlund and Edgerton cointegration to integrate structural changes, hidden cointegration, and multiple breaks in panel data. Our preliminary findings confirm the presence of cross-sectional dependency and slope heterogeneity. Therefore, we have applied a cross-sectional augmented autoregressive distributed lags model (CS-ARDL). The long-run results demonstrate a significant role of climate technologies and economic freedom in reducing the ecological footprints (EFP); however, their marginal effects significantly varied for both samples. In contrast, financial development leads to higher (lower) EFP in developing (developed) countries. Moreover, the negative influence of financial development is neutralized in developing countries through the integration of innovative technologies. Likewise, economic freedom facilitates innovative technologies and reduces EFP in both samples. These findings imply that integrating innovative technologies and financial development is imperative to ensure long-term sustainable growth. • Different attributes of technologies produce distinct environmental outcomes. • Ecological impact of technologies also varies across developed and developing countries. • Advance panel estimators are employed to draw reliable estimates. • Climate technologies and economic freedom reduce ecological footprints. • Sustainable financial development is only observed in developed countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tedizolid (TZD) is an oxazolidinone anti-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) drug. Linezolid (LZD), another oxazolidinone, has been shown to have an anti-inflammatory effect. TZD has been shown to exhibit an anti-inflammatory effect in a murine model of hematogenous pulmonary infection. In this study, we further investigated the anti-inflammatory effect of TZDs using a carrageenan-induced rat footpad edema model. TZD was administered at 0, 10, 20, and 40 mg/kg to the carrageenan-induced rat footpad edema model, and the edema rate was measured over time up to 9 h later. The area under the time curve of the edema rate profile (AUC edema0→9) decreased in a TZD dose-dependent manner. In addition, the correlation between AUC edema0→9 and the area under the time curve of free TZD plasma concentration (f AUC blood) obtained from the pharmacokinetic study of TZD in the carrageenan-induced rat footpad edema model was examined. f AUC blood and AUC edema0→9 showed a good negative correlation. These results indicate that TZD suppresses carrageenan-induced footpad edema and that TZD exerts its anti-inflammatory effects in a plasma concentration-dependent manner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common cancers in the world. A small proportion of CRCs can be attributed to recognizable hereditary germline variants of known CRC susceptibility genes. To better understand cancer risk, it is necessary to explore the prevalence of hereditary CRC and pathogenic variants of multiple cancer-predisposing genes in non-European populations. We analyzed the coding regions of 27 cancer-predisposing genes in 12,503 unselected Japanese CRC patients and 23,705 controls by target sequencing and genome-wide SNP chip. Their clinical significance was assessed using ClinVar and the guidelines by ACMG/AMP. We identified 4,804 variants in the 27 genes and annotated them as pathogenic in 397 and benign variants in 941, of which 43.6% were novel. In total, 3.3% of the unselected CRC patients and 1.5% of the controls had a pathogenic variant. The pathogenic variants of MSH2 (odds ratio (OR) = 18.1), MLH1 (OR = 8.6), MSH6 (OR = 4.9), APC (OR = 49.4), BRIP1 (OR=3.6), BRCA1 (OR = 2.6), BRCA2 (OR = 1.9), and TP53 (OR = 1.7) were significantly associated with CRC development in the Japanese population (P -values<0.01, FDR<0.05). These pathogenic variants were significantly associated with diagnosis age and personal/family history of cancer. In total, at least 3.5% of the Japanese CRC population had a pathogenic variant or CNV of the 27 cancer-predisposing genes, indicating hereditary cancers. This largest study of CRC heredity in Asia can contribute to the development of guidelines for genetic testing and variant interpretation for heritable CRCs. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Much of the skeleton of sharks, skate and rays (Elasmobranchii) is characterized by a tessellated structure, composed of a shell of small, mineralized plates (tesserae) joined by intertesseral ligaments overlaying a soft cartilage core. Although tessellated cartilage is a defining feature of this group of fishes, the significance of this skeletal tissue type – particularly from a mechanical perspective – is unknown. The aim of the present work was to perform stress relaxation experiments with tessellated cartilage samples from the jaws of blue sharks to better understand the time dependent behavior of this skeletal type. In order to facilitate this aim, the resulting relaxation behavior for different loading directions were simulated using the transversely isotropic biphasic model and this model combined with generalized Maxwell elements to represent the tessellated layer. Analysis of the ability of the models to simulate the observed experimental behavior indicates that the transversely isotropic biphasic model can provide good predictions of the relaxation behavior of the hyaline cartilage. However, the incorporation of Maxwell elements into this model can achieve a more accurate simulation of the dynamic behavior of calcified cartilage when the loading is parallel to the tessellated layer. Correlation of experimental data with present combined composite models showed that the equilibrium modulus of the tessellated layer for this loading direction is about 45 times greater than that for uncalcified cartilage. Moreover, tessellation has relatively little effect on the viscoelasticity of shark cartilage under loading that is normal to the tessellated layer. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Perovskite bismuth ferrite (BiFeO3) layer, which is widely recognized as a multiferroic material, was prepared on a c-axis-oriented strontium ferrite (SrFe12O19) layer by magnetron sputtering to form a BiFeO3/SrFe12O19 bilayer. Direct observations of the magnetic and electric domains originating from the magnetism coincident with the ferroelectricity of BiFeO3 in the bilayer were achieved through magnetic force microscopy and electrostatic force microscopy, respectively. Simultaneous existence of magnetic and electric domains was observed in the BiFeO3 phase. A pinning effect of BiFeO3 in relation to SrFe12O19 was suggested from the magnetic hysteresis curves, although BiFeO3 layer exhibits a small magnetization. By applying a magnetic field to the BiFeO3/SrFe12O19 bilayer, the electric domains in the BiFeO3 layer sensitively respond, which implies that ferroelectric polarization in BiFeO3 layer can be magnetically controlled. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Background: Oxytocin is associated with social interaction, trust, and affectivity. Affective temperaments are traits based on Kraepelin''s typological definition of the “fundamental states” of manic-depressive illness. These states can be measured by the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris and San Diego-Autoquestionnaire version (TEMPS-A). The objective of this study is to assess the association between oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR) polymorphisms and affective temperaments. Methods: Participants consisted of 493 genetically unrelated, non-clinical Japanese subjects (307 males and 186 females). The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) was used to screen and exclude those who had a lifetime diagnosis of schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders. Fifteen OXTR tag single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were genotyped using TaqMan® or direct sequencing. The Haploview 4.1. software determined the haplotype block structure. Haplotype-based quantitative trait association analysis with Bonferroni correction using PLINK 1.06 software was used to assess the association between haplotypes and the following affective temperaments: depressive, cyclothymic, hyperthymic, irritable, and anxious. Results: Two haplotype blocks were identified on the OXTR. The depressive temperament was significantly associated with the most frequent haplotype GGGTGTC (rs11131149/rs2243370/rs2243369/rs13316193/rs2254298/rs2268493/rs2268491) (corrected P <0.05). Limitations: This study consisted of participants from a corporation and the effect sizes were small. Conclusions: The findings suggest that an OXTR haplotype is associated with a discrete depressive temperament. Clarification of the biological basis of this temperamental trait may help to elucidate the pathophysiology of depressive disorder. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Much of the skeleton of sharks, skate and rays (Elasmobranchii) is characterized by a tessellated structure, composed of a shell of small, mineralized plates (tesserae) joined by intertesseral ligaments overlaying a soft cartilage core. Although tessellated cartilage is a defining feature of this group of fishes and has been maintained for millions of years, the significance of this skeletal tissue type — particularly from a mechanical perspective — is unknown. A cross-sectional model, based on empirical material property and morphological data, was developed in the present work to analyze the function of intertesseral joints in regulating the stress distribution within the skeletal tissue during bending. The results indicate that this structure distributes more stress to the tesserae loaded in compression when compared to those loaded in tension. A functional bias towards compression has also been observed for bone, but with the formation of microcracks in the region under greatest tension. The present model demonstrates how functional compression bias can also be achieved in tessellated cartilage structures but in the absence of microcracking. This behavior provides possible advantages including increasing the resistance to fatigue damage as well as mitigating the risk of tearing under excessive bending loads. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]