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Objective To investigate the effect of different maintenance doses of caffeine citrate treatment on early-stage pulmonary function and complications in preterm infants. Methods A total of 78 preterm infants with a gestational age of 28 weeks to 33+6 weeks who were admitted to our hospital from April 2019 to January 2022 and did not need invasive mechanical ventilation after birth were enrolled as subjects, and they were divided into high-maintenance-dose caffeine citrate group with 40 infants and low-maintenance-dose caffeine citrate group with 38 infants using a random number table. Both groups were given peripheral intravenous pumping of caffeine citrate at a loading dose of 20 mg/(kg·d) at 2 h after birth, and then the high and low maintenance dose groups were given caffeine citrate at a maintenance dose of 10 mg/(kg·d) and 5 mg/(kg·d), respectively, after 24 h. The two groups were compared in terms of pulmonary function, complications (necrotizing enterocolitis, retinopathy of prematurity, and intraventricular hemorrhage), and adverse reactions (feeding intolerance, hyperglycemia, and tachycardia) on days 7 and 14 after birth and at the corrected gestational age of 40 weeks. Results Compared with the low maintenance dose group, the high maintenance dose group had significantly higher tidal volume, ratio of time to peak tidal expiratory flow to total expiratory time, and ratio of volume to peak tidal expiratory flow to total expiratory volume on days 7 and 14 after birth and at the corrected gestational age of 40 weeks, as well as a significantly higher respiratory rate on days 7 and 14 after birth (t=2.107-4.128,P0.05). Conclusion A high maintenance dose of caffeine citrate can significantly improve early-stage pulmonary function in preterm infants without increasing related complications and adverse reactions.

Rapid urbanization is changing the existing patterns of land use land cover (LULC) globally, which is consequently increasing the land surface temperature (LST) in many regions. The present study is focused on estimating current and simulating future LULC and LST trends in the urban environment of Chaoyang District, Beijing. Past patterns of LULC and LST were identified through the maximum likelihood classification (MLC) method and multispectral Landsat satellite images during the 1990–2018 data period. The cellular automata (CA) and stochastic transition matrix of the Markov model were applied to simulate future (2025) LULC and LST changes, respectively, using their past patterns. The CA model was validated for the simulated and estimated LULC for 1990–2018, with an overall Kappa (K) value of 0.83, using validation modules in IDRISI software. Our results indicated that the cumulative changes in built-up to vegetation area were 74.61 km2 (16.08%) and 113.13 km2 (24.38%) from 1990 to 2018. The correlation coefficient of land use and land cover change (LULCC), including vegetation, water bodies and built-up area, had values of r = − 0.155 (p > 0.005), −0.809 (p = 0.000), and 0.519 (p > 0.005), respectively. The results of future analysis revealed that there will be an estimated 164.92 km2 (−12%) decrease in vegetation area, while an expansion of approximately 283.04 km2 (6% change) will occur in built-up areas from 1990 to 2025. This decrease in vegetation cover and expansion of settlements would likely cause a rise of approximately ∼10.74 °C and ∼12.66 °C in future temperature, which would cause a rise in temperature (2025). The analyses could open an avenue regarding how to manage urban land cover patterns to enhance the resilience of cities to climate warming. This study provides scientific insights for environmental development and sustainability through efficient and effective urban planning and management in Beijing and will also help strengthen other research related to the UHI phenomenon in other parts of the world.

In this study, the whole chloroplast genome of Ulmus glabra ‘Pendula’ was sequenced, assembled, annotated and characterized for the first time. The results showed that the total length of the chloroplast genome of U. glabra ‘Pendula’ was 159,305 bp and the GC content was 35.58%. It had a circular tetrad structure of the chloroplast genome of typical angiosperms, including a large single-copy (LSC) with length of 87,916 bp, a small single-copy (SSC) with length of 18,693 bp, and a pair of inverted repeat sequence (IRs) of 26,348 bp. A total of 131 genes were identified, including 86 protein coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Based on the whole chloroplast genome sequence, the phylogenetic trees of 14 plants in U. glabra ‘Pendula’ and NCBI database were constructed, and the phylogenetic position of U. glabra ‘Pendula’ in Ulmaceae was identified. The results provided important information for the identification of genetic relationship of U. glabra ‘Pendula’, and will also promote the functional analysis of genes related to agronomic traits controlled by the chloroplast genome of U. glabra ‘Pendula’.

Rapid urbanization is changing the existing patterns of land use land cover (LULC) globally, which is consequently increasing the land surface temperature (LST) in many regions. The present study is focused on estimating current and simulating future LULC and LST trends in the urban environment of Chaoyang District, Beijing. Past patterns of LULC and LST were identified through the maximum likelihood classification (MLC) method and multispectral Landsat satellite images during the 1990–2018 data period. The cellular automata (CA) and stochastic transition matrix of the Markov model were applied to simulate future (2025) LULC and LST changes, respectively, using their past patterns. The CA model was validated for the simulated and estimated LULC for 1990–2018, with an overall Kappa (K) value of 0.83, using validation modules in IDRISI software. Our results indicated that the cumulative changes in built-up to vegetation area were 74.61 km2 (16.08%) and 113.13 km2 (24.38%) from 1990 to 2018. The correlation coefficient of land use and land cover change (LULCC), including vegetation, water bodies and built-up area, had values of r = − 0.155 (p > 0.005), −0.809 (p = 0.000), and 0.519 (p > 0.005), respectively. The results of future analysis revealed that there will be an estimated 164.92 km2 (−12%) decrease in vegetation area, while an expansion of approximately 283.04 km2 (6% change) will occur in built-up areas from 1990 to 2025. This decrease in vegetation cover and expansion of settlements would likely cause a rise of approximately ∼10.74 °C and ∼12.66 °C in future temperature, which would cause a rise in temperature (2025). The analyses could open an avenue regarding how to manage urban land cover patterns to enhance the resilience of cities to climate warming. This study provides scientific insights for environmental development and sustainability through efficient and effective urban planning and management in Beijing and will also help strengthen other research related to the UHI phenomenon in other parts of the world [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obesity is increasingly prevalent globally, searching for therapeutic agents acting on adipose tissue is of great importance. Equisetin (EQST), a meroterpenoid isolated from a marine sponge-derived fungus, has been reported to display antibacterial and antiviral activities. Here, we revealed that EQST displayed anti-obesity effects acting on adipose tissue through inhibiting adipogenesis in vitro and attenuating HFD-induced obesity in mice, doing so without affecting food intake, blood pressure or heart rate. We demonstrated that EQST inhibited the enzyme activity of 11 β -hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11 β -HSD1), a therapeutic target of obesity in adipose tissue. Anti-obesity properties of EQST were all offset by applying excessive 11 β -HSD1's substrates and 11 β -HSD1 inhibition through knockdown in vitro or 11 β -HSD1 knockout in vivo . In the 11 β -HSD1 bypass model constructed by adding excess 11 β -HSD1 products, EQST's anti-obesity effects disappeared. Furthermore, EQST directly bond to 11 β -HSD1 protein and presented remarkable better intensity on 11 β -HSD1 inhibition and better efficacy on anti-obesity than known 11 β -HSD1 inhibitor. Therefore, EQST can be developed into anti-obesity candidate compound, and this study may provide more clues for developing higher effective 11 β -HSD1 inhibitors., (© 2022 Chinese Pharmaceutical Association and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.)