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Background The influence of ApoE or lipid-soluble vitamins on lipid profile has been well documented. However, the association between ApoE status, vitamin A (VA) and vitamin E (VE) with dyslipidemia has been seldom reported. The aim of the present study was to investigate the impact of ApoE status on circulating VA and VE in aging adults with dyslipidemia. Methods A total of 1754 Chinese aged 55–75 was recruited from community health centers. They were interviewed to obtain demographic information. Food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to investigate daily food intakes of the participants. Fasting venous blood samples were taken and used for serum lipid profile measurement and ApoE genotyping. Serum VA and VE concentrations were determined by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results Serum VE and VA concentrations were circulating lipids and ApoE status dependent. Dyslipidemia subjects showed higher serum TC, TG, HDL-c/LDL-c ratio, VE and lipid-adjusted VE levels than normal subjects. ApoE genotype-dependent differences in serum lipid profile, VE and VA levels were observed in both normal and dyslipidemia subjects. The relationship between circulating VA with dyslipidemia is modifiable by lipid status. Conclusion Higher serum VE and lipid adjusted VE levels associated with increased risk of dyslipidemia in aging Chinese adults, especially in ApoE4 carriers. Large scale longitudinal study is required to determine the optimal circulating VE levels in the elderly based on different lipid profiles and ApoE status.

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and innovations have profoundly reshaped global development. Although there are many works that have examined the direct effects of ICTs on nationa...

This paper estimates the effect of high-speed rail (HSR) on city tourism. To identify the causal effect, we measure tourism outcomes with population flow data from Tencent migration big data and construct daily panel data of two national holidays from April 2015 to May 2019. Empirical results reveal that HSR connection increases the intercity tourist flows, which holds under a number of robustness checks. Such effect is greater in the Labor Day holiday than in the National Day holiday, and the impact on tourist outflow in the first half holiday is greater than that on tourist inflow. We also find that HSR connection increases the intensity that tourists travel by train. Our findings provide solid evidence on the contribution of transportation improvement to city tourism economy.

In this paper, a 2-point algorithm is proposed to estimate the relative pose as well as the absolute scale between two vehicle-mounted cameras efficiently. The system model is deduced by combining a two-view geometric model and the planar motion constraint to reduce the degrees of freedom. 2-point correspondences are utilized to calculate the rotation information independently from the translation information, which indicates that the proposed algorithm can deal with pure rotation scenes. Besides, provided that the camera’s configuration satisfies a certain condition, the absolute scale can be recovered. An approximation algorithm is developed and combined with the random sample and consensus scheme to deal with the uneven ground surfaces in practice. As only 2-point correspondences are required, less iterations are demanded in the estimating procedure compared with many other existing related algorithms. Both simulation and experiments are implemented to evaluate the proposed algorithm, in which the synthetic data, virtual robot experimentation platform, KITTI Vision Benchmark, and SUMMIT-XL platform are acquired. According to the results, the proposed algorithm performs better than many related algorithms including the well-known 5-point algorithm in many cases, especially when the camera’s trajectory contains sharp corners.

China National Tourism Administration began to grade the quality of tourist attractions in 2001, which is used by tourist attractions to signal their tourism quality, attract tourists, and thus inc...

This article takes advantage of the designation of top tourist cities in China to estimate the impact of quality disclosure on the city tourism economy. According to theories regarding quality disclosure and certification, we develop a tourism promotion hypothesis for the designation, which is then tested with panel data from China’s 284 prefectural-level cities between 2000 and 2015. The difference-in-differences approach shows that gaining the designation increases both domestic and inbound tourism revenues, which is robust to various specifications. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the tourism promotion effect only persists for about three years, decreases over time, is smaller in developed areas, and is less salient for multiple or county-level designations.

Enhancer of zeste homolog 2 (EZH2), a key histone methyltransferase and EMT inducer, is overexpressed in diverse carcinomas, including breast cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms of EZH2 dysregulation in cancers are still largely unknown. Here, we discover that EZH2 is asymmetrically dimethylated at R342 (meR342-EZH2) by PRMT1. meR342-EZH2 was found to inhibit the CDK1-mediated phosphorylation of EZH2 at T345 and T487, thereby attenuating EZH2 ubiquitylation mediated by the E3 ligase TRAF6. We also demonstrate that meR342-EZH2 resulted in a decrease in EZH2 target gene expression, but an increase in breast cancer cell EMT, invasion and metastasis. Moreover, we confirm the positive correlations among PRMT1, meR342-EZH2 and EZH2 expression in the breast cancer tissues. Finally, we report that high expression levels of meR342-EZH2 predict a poor clinical outcome in breast cancer patients. Our findings may provide a novel diagnostic target and promising therapeutic target for breast cancer metastasis.

Sb2Se3 is an emerging and promising light-absorbing material with superior photovoltaic properties. However, the specific one-dimensional structure of Sb2Se3 limits the doping density, preventing a...

BACKGROUND Associations between sex hormones and diabetic vascular complications have recently been studied, but the role luteinizing hormone (LH) plays in diabetic kidney disease (DKD) remains uncertain. We aimed to investigate the relationship of LH and DKD in Chinese men and postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS Data were collected from 1775 T2DM men and postmenopausal women in hospital. The odds ratios (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CI) in relation to LH quartiles were obtained by multiple logistic regression analysis. RESULTS LH levels were significantly higher in patients with macroalbuminuria than in those with microalbuminuria, but were not higher in patients with microalbuminuria than in those with normoalbuminuria. Consistently, LH in those with an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)

Objectives: To explore the characteristics of cytokine storm in patients with septic shock after abdominal surgery, examine its relationship with clinical data, and determine intervention timings. Materials and Methods: We prospectively observed a cohort of patients with abdominal infection admitted to the surgical intensive care unit (ICU) after surgery (shock group). A control group of healthy individuals was used for comparison. Plasma samples and clinical data recorded at 0, 12, 24, 48, and 72 h after surgery were collected. Cytokines (tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin [IL]-6, IL-8, IL-10, monocyte chemotactic protein [MCP]-1, IL-1 β, interferon-γ, IL-12p70, MCP-1α, IL-4, IL-2, and IL-13) were detected using the Luminex® technique. Results: Concentrations of most cytokines were significantly higher in the shock group. When a cytokine storm intensity curve was considered with the vasopressor dependency index and a Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, time point of maximum cytokine storm intensity was earlier than that of the maximum vasopressor dependency index and SOFA score in the shock group. Conclusions: Cytokine storm occurred in patients with septic shock shortly after the abdominal surgery and may be a main mechanism leading to septic shock. Cytokine storm interventions should ideally be initiated within 24 h after surgery and be guided by cytokine storm biomarkers.

Underground coal fires can increase surface temperature, cause surface cracks and collapse, and release poisonous and harmful gases, which significantly harm the ecological environment and humans. Traditional methods of extracting coal fires, such as global threshold, K-mean and active contour model, usually produce many false alarms. Therefore, this paper proposes an improved active contour model by introducing the distinguishing energies of coal fires and others into the traditional active contour model. Taking Urumqi, Xinjiang, China as the research area, coal fires are detected from Landsat-8 satellite and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) data. The results show that the proposed method can eliminate many false alarms compared with some traditional methods, and achieve detection of small-area coal fires by referring field survey data. More importantly, the results obtained from UAV data can help identify not only burning coal fires but also potential underground coal fires. This paper provides an efficient method for high-precision coal fire detection and strong technical support for reducing environmental pollution and coal energy use.

High rates of misdiagnosis and delayed intervention in neonatal PWS are leading to poor prognoses. To determine the clinical and image characteristics of newborns with Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS). A total of 102 cases of newborns definitively diagnosed with PWS at the Children’s Hospital of Fudan University from 02/2014 to 12/2017 were retrospectively analyzed. We analyzed the modulated voxel-based morphology (VBM) of gray matter in PWS by T2 weighted imaging. Of 102 cases, 75 (73.5%) have paternal deletion of 15q11.2-q13, whereas 27 (26.5%) have maternal uniparental disomy (UPD). Of the 75 deletion cases, 75 (100%) week crying, 71 (94.7%) hypotonia, 70 (93.3%) poor feeding, 46 (61.3%) hypopigmentation, 43 (57.3%) male cryptorchidism, 10 (13.3%) female labia minora, 48 (64%) characteristic facial features. Of 27 UPD cases, 27 (100%) week crying and hypotonia, 25 (92.6%) hypophagia, 20 (74.1%) male cryptorchidism, 1 (3.7%) female labia minora, 19 (70.4%) characteristic facial features, 12 (44.4%) hypopigmentation. The modulated VBM analysis shows that the middle frontal gyrus, orbitofrontal cortex (middle), and inferior frontal gyrus are the most variable brain regions that determine the endo-phenotype difference between the two genotypes. Hypotonia, hypophagia, and maldevelopment of sexual organs are general characteristics of newborns with PWS in Chinese population. In UPD cases, the proportions of premature newborns, elderly parturient women and congenital malformations were higher than for paternal deletion cases. The differences in the gray matter volume of these three regions between the two genotypes may explain the differences in maladaptive behaviors and emotions.

Background CHARGE syndrome is characterized by coloboma, heart defects, choanal atresia, growth retardation, genitourinary malformation and ear abnormalities. The chromodomain helicase DNA-binding protein 7 (CHD7) gene is the major cause of CHARGE syndrome and is inherited in an autosomal dominant manner. Currently, the phenotype spectrum of CHARGE syndrome in neonatal population remain elusive. We aimed to investigate the phenotype spectrum of neonatal patients suspected to have CHARGE syndrome with pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in the CHD7 gene. Methods We pooled next-generation sequencing data from the Neonatal Birth Defects Cohort (NBDC, ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02551081) in Children’s Hospital of Fudan University. The pathogenicity of novel variants was analyzed by bioinformatic and genetic analyses. Clinical information collection, Sanger sequencing and follow-up interviews were performed when possible. Cranial MRI of these patients was performed, the volumes of different regions of the brain were analyzed. Results A total of 12 unrelated patients in our cohort were found with CHD7 variants. Eight patients received a firm clinical diagnosis of CHARGE syndrome (Bergmann criteria, Blake criteria, Verloes criteria and Hale criteria). Three patients did not match any diagnostic criteria, and no patients matched the Verloes criteria. Phenotype spectrum analysis found that feeding difficulty was the dominant feature among this neonatal cohort. Six novel variants in the CHD7 gene (Glu2408*, Lys651*, c.5607 + 1G > T, Leu373Val, Lys2005Asnfs*37 and Gln1991*) were identified, expanding the variant database of the CHD7 gene. Cranial MRI analysis revealed significant volume loss in cingulate gyrus, occipital lobe, and cerebellum and volume gain in the left medial and inferior temporal gyri anterior white matter parts. Conclusions Based on a relatively unbiased neonatal cohort, we concluded that CHARGE syndrome and CHD7 gene variants should be suspected in newborns who have feeding difficulty, and one or more malformations. Trial registration Neonatal Birth Defects Cohort (NBDC, ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02551081). Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12881-019-0813-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

PurposeRural credit cooperatives (RCCs) have long dominated China’s rural credit market and met most of agricultural credit demands while the existing literature seldom examines their contribution to agricultural sector. The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence on the contribution of RCCs to agricultural growth, using China’s provincial panel data from 1997 to 2014.Design/methodology/approachBoth static fixed effects models and two-step generalized method of moment dynamic panel data models, which control the endogeneity, are employed to identify the causality from RCC credit to agricultural growth in China.FindingsThe results show that the credit from RCCs increases the agricultural output significantly. A 1 percent increase in RCC credit leads to agricultural growth of about 0.08 percent, which is robust to various empirical specifications. Further study shows that the contribution of RCC credit to agricultural growth decreases from the most developed eastern region to the least developed western region and increases over time.Research limitations/implicationsThe results imply that RCC credit is critical in financing agricultural activities by relaxing rural credit constraints and intense competition strengthens the contribution of RCCs to agricultural growth by improving managerial efficiency and developing diversified financial products to meet better rural credit demands.Originality/valueTo the authors’ knowledge, this is first empirical study on the effect of RCC credit on agricultural growth despite of many on the role of financial development in agricultural growth.

To assess hemodynamic changes related to acute gouty knee arthritis in a rabbit with CT perfusion (CTP) Forty-two rabbits were randomly separated into two groups: the treated group of 30 and the control group of 12. The right knee was injected with monosodium urate solution and polymyxin in the treated group and saline and polymyxin in the control group. At 2, 16, 32, 48, 60, and 72 h after injection, five rabbits from the treated group and two rabbits from the control group were selected for CTP. At each time point, blood flow (BF), blood volume (BV), and clearance rate (CL) were measured, and microvessel density (MVD) was evaluated with a microscope. In the treated group, BF, BV, CL, and MVD were significantly higher than in the control group (p

Resumo Fundamento A dupla antiagregação plaquetária (DAP) é o tratamento fundamental do infarto agudo do miocárdio (IAM). Objetivo O presente estudo visou investigar a eficácia e a segurança da tripla antiagregação plaquetária (TAP) em pacientes femininas idosas com diabetes e infarto agudo do miocárdio com supradesnível do segmento ST (IAMCSST), que foram submetidas à intervenção coronária percutânea ICP. Métodos Trata-se se de um estudo randomizado e mono-cego. O grupo controle A (97 pacientes idosos do sexo masculino com diabetes e STEMI, cujos escores CRUSADE foram < 30) recebeu aspirina, ticagrelor e tirofibana. Um total de 162 pacientes femininas idosas com diabetes e IAMCSST foram divididas aleatoriamente em dois grupos de acordo com o escore CRUSADE. O grupo B (69 pacientes com escore CRUSADE > 31) recebeu aspirina e ticagrelor. O grupo C (93 pacientes com escore CRUSADE < 30) recebeu aspirina, ticagrelor e tirofibana. Valores de p < 0,05 foram considerados estatisticamente significativos. Resultados Após a PCI, o fluxo sanguíneo grau 3 Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) e a perfusão miocárdica TIMI grau 3 foram significativamente menos prevalentes no grupo B, em comparação com o grupo A (p < 0,05). Quando comparada aos grupos A e C, a incidência de complicações adversas maiores foi significativamente maior no grupo B (p < 0,05). Conclusão A TAP pode efetivamente reduzir a incidência de complicações maiores em pacientes idosas com diabetes e IAMCSST. No entanto, atenção cuidadosa deve ser dada à hemorragia em pacientes que recebem TAP. (Arq Bras Cardiol. 2020; [online].ahead print, PP.0-0) Abstract Background Dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) is the cornerstone treatment of acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Objective The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of triple antiplatelet therapy (TAPT) in elderly female patients with diabetes and ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), who had undergone percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Methods We designed a randomized, single-blind study. Control group A (97 elderly male patients with diabetes and STEMI, whose CRUSADE scores were < 30) received aspirin, ticagrelor, and tirofiban. A total of 162 elderly female patients with diabetes and STEMI were randomly divided into two groups according to CRUSADE score. Group B (69 patients with CRUSADE score > 31) received aspirin and ticagrelor. Group C (93 patients with CRUSADE score < 30) received aspirin, ticagrelor and tirofiban. P values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results Compared to the findings in group A, post-PCI Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) grade 3 blood flow and TIMI myocardial perfusion grade 3 were significantly less prevalent in group B (p < 0.05). When compared to groups A and C, the incidence of major adverse complications was significantly higher in group B (p < 0.05). Conclusion TAPT could effectively reduce the incidence of major complications in elderly female patients with diabetes and STEMI. However, close attention should be paid to hemorrhage in patients receiving TAPT. (Arq Bras Cardiol. 2020; [online].ahead print, PP.0-0)

This paper contributes to providing causal evidence on the effect of World Heritage Site (WHS) inscription on city tourism attractiveness, which is still highly elusive in the existing literature. To identify the causal effect, it uses unique daily city-pair tourist flows from Tencent migration big data on two Chinese national holidays between 2015 and 2019. We document that WHS inscription does raise city tourism attractiveness. One more WHS leads to an increase in the tourist inflow intensity by at least 6.7% up to around 10%. The tourism-enhancing effect is consistent under many robustness checks and displays some notable heterogeneity effects in terms of holiday types, days within each holiday, high-speed rail connection, and newly-inscribed WHS cities.

This paper uses a unique large-size data set from China's most developed areas to examine the innovation impacts of environmental regulations. Reduction mandates on designated pollutants between the 10th and the 12th Five-Year Plans (2001–2015) are explored to construct spatial and temporal variations in the stringency of environmental regulations faced by industrial firms. To address endogeneity concern, we calculate city-level fair pollution reduction mandates according to each city’s contribution to national pollution emissions and use them as instrumental variables of planned ones. Our empirical results reveal that while air pollution regulation (APR) has some but limited innovation-motivating effects, water pollution regulation (WPR) hinders firm innovation. Heterogeneity effect analysis reveals that the different innovation effects are because WPR is more pervasive over time and across regions and industries, thereby more stringent than APR. We also test several channels that drive these effects.

Seki et al. show that ablation of endothelial VEGFR1 induces adipose tissues browning in healthy and obese mice, which has profound effects on improving global metabolic dysfunctions. These discoveries establish an important role for the adipose vasculature in controlling the metabolic functions of adipocytes and provide new therapeutic options for treatment of obesity and diabetes., Angiogenesis plays an instrumental role in the modulation of adipose tissue mass and metabolism. Targeting adipose vasculature provides an outstanding opportunity for treatment of obesity and metabolic disorders. Here, we report the physiological functions of VEGFR1 in the modulation of adipose angiogenesis, obesity, and global metabolism. Pharmacological inhibition and genetic deletion of endothelial VEGFR1 augmented adipose angiogenesis and browning of subcutaneous white adipose tissue, leading to elevated thermogenesis. In a diet-induced obesity model, endothelial-VEGFR1 deficiency demonstrated a potent anti-obesity effect by improving global metabolism. Along with metabolic changes, fatty liver and insulin sensitivity were also markedly improved in VEGFR1-deficient high fat diet (HFD)–fed mice. Together, our data indicate that targeting of VEGFR1 provides an exciting new opportunity for treatment of obesity and metabolic diseases, such as liver steatosis and type 2 diabetes.

Environmentally benign and potentially cost‐effective Sb2Se3 solar cells have drawn much attention by continuously achieving new efficiency records. This article reports a compatible strategy to enhance the efficiency of planar n–i–p Sb2Se3 solar cells through Sb2Se3 surface modification and an architecture with oriented 1D van der Waals material, trigonal selenium (t‐Se). A seed layer assisted successive close spaced sublimation (CSS) is developed to fabricate highly crystalline Sb2Se3 absorbers. It is found that the Sb2Se3 absorber exhibits a Se‐deficient surface and negative surface band bending. Reactive Se is innovatively introduced to compensate the surface Se deficiency and form an (101) oriented 1D t‐Se interlayer. The p‐type t‐Se layer promotes a favored band alignment and band bending at the Sb2Se3/t‐Se interface, and functionally works as a surface passivation and hole transport material, which significantly suppresses interface recombination and enhances carrier extraction efficiency. An efficiency of 7.45% is obtained in a planar Sb2Se3 solar cell in superstrate n–i–p configuration, which is the highest efficiency for planar Sb2Se3 solar cells prepared by CSS. The all‐inorganic Sb2Se3 solar cell with t‐Se shows superb stability, retaining ≈98% of the initial efficiency after 40 days storage in open air without encapsulation.

IntroductionNon-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a global health problem with high geographic heterogeneity. We aimed to investigate regional-specific concomitant rate of NAFLD and quantitative relationship between liver fat content (LFC) and glucose metabolism parameters in representative clinical populations from six provinces/municipalities of China.Research design and methodsA total of 2420 eligible Han Chinese were enrolled consecutively from 10 clinics of obesity, diabetes and metabolic diseases located at six provinces/municipalities of China, and divided into North (Tianjin, Shandong and Heilongjiang) and South (Shanghai, Jiangsu and Henan) groups according to their geographical latitude and proximity of NAFLD concomitant rate. LFC was assessed by a quantitative ultrasound method. Multivariate regression models and analysis of covariance were used to assess the regional difference in the risk of NAFLD.ResultsThe concomitant rate of NAFLD was 23.3%, 44.0% and 55.3% in individuals with normal glucose tolerance (NGT), pre-diabetes and diabetes, respectively. A higher concomitant rate of NAFLD was found in the participants from the North comparing with the South group, regardless of glucose metabolism status (34.7% vs 16.2% in NGT, 61.5% vs 34.7% in pre-diabetes and 67.1% vs 48.1% in diabetes). This regional difference remained significant after adjustment for age, gender, alcohol drinking, cigarette smoking, confounding metabolic parameters and liver enzymes. For any given blood glucose, participants from the North had higher LFC than those from the South group.ConclusionsHalf of Han Chinese with pre-diabetes/type 2 diabetes had NAFLD, and the individuals from the North cities were more susceptible to NAFLD.

This paper estimates the effect of high-speed rail (HSR) on city tourism. To identify the causal effect, we measure tourism outcomes with population flow data from Tencent migration big data and construct daily panel data of two national holidays from April 2015 to May 2019. Empirical results reveal that HSR connection increases the intercity tourist flows, which holds under a number of robustness checks. Such effect is greater in the Labor Day holiday than in the National Day holiday, and the impact on tourist outflow in the first half holiday is greater than that on tourist inflow. We also find that HSR connection increases the intensity that tourists travel by train. Our findings provide solid evidence on the contribution of transportation improvement to city tourism economy.

Natural gas is one of the most important clean energy and has played crucial roles in curbing air pollution in developed world. To facilitate the use of natural gas and reduce air pollution by reaching a similar energy consumption structure to the developed world, Chinese government has vigorously constructed natural gas pipeline projects (NGPPs) during the past decades. This paper evaluates the impact of China's NGPPs on air pollution reduction, by using national data of pollutant emissions of over 800,000 firm-level observations from 1998 to 2010. The difference-in-differences approach shows that the introduction of pipeline natural gas reduces sulfur dioxide (SO2) discharge intensity in connected cities by about 22.8%. The magnitude of the reduced SO2 emissions is estimated to be at least 17.41 million metric tons, a size of 7.33% of the total industrial SO2 discharge from 1998 to 2010. We also find that a substitution effect channel that NGPPs facilitate firms to replace fuel coal with natural gas under tightening environmental regulations.

In this technical note, a nonlinear observer strategy is proposed to asymptotically identify the velocity and range of the feature points on a moving object using a static-moving camera system. Specifically, the camera system consists of a static camera and a moving camera. The observers are developed in a sequential way. First, nonlinear observers are designed to identify the scaled velocity of the feature points and the angular velocity of the moving camera. Second, based on the estimated velocities, the range of the feature points is identified by a reduced order estimator. Homography-based techniques are used in the auxiliary state construction and the observer design. With the estimated scaled velocity and range, the motion and structure of the object can be obtained with respect to both cameras. The proposed approach does not require the motion constraint or a priori geometric knowledge of the moving object. Furthermore, Lyapunov-based analysis is used to prove that the estimators asymptotically identify the velocity and range of the feature points. The performance of the proposed strategy is demonstrated by simulation results.

Various factors possibly impact on national innovative capacity. Governments are makers and implementers of national innovative policies, then, does its governance efficiency matter for the innovat...

The diffusion and adoption of modern information technology provide new chance for China to close urban-rural income gap. This chapter uses China’s provincial panel data from 2002 to 2013 to investigate the effect of computer penetration on rural residents’ income. A public program aiming to connect every village with broadband Internet and other rural facilities provides plausibly exogenous variation in rural residents’ availability and adoption of the broadband Internet, which is used to explore the instrument variable for rural computer penetration. The results show that rural computer penetration tends to increase rural residents’ income over time, but the average effect remains limited. The dynamic panel threshold effects model, which allows for both the threshold variable and other covariates to be endogenous, is further used to explore the constraints of the income-increase effect of rural computer penetration. It shows that the effect is at least doubled over the average effect estimated from instrument variables method, once the digital divide causes are removed. Our findings have important implications for the government to increase rural residents’ income and reduce urban-rural income gap by encouraging rural computer usage and removing the digital divide.

The relationship between the Internet and democratic developments has long been a controversial topic, hampered in part by the lack of empirical evidence. So this study is undertaken to investigate the effects of Internet penetration on democratization based on the panel data of 125 countries gathered from 1993 to 2014. The authors apply machine-learning method (i.e., random forest) to effectively screen the variables that are more closely related to democracy. The results of different estimation models reveal an inverted U-shaped relationship between Internet penetration and democratization and also distinguish the impacts of the Internet on advanced and less advanced democracies. Then, we arrive at the conclusion that Internet penetration brings a late-starting advantage in the development of democracy for less advanced democracies. These conclusions are further confirmed by the robust test.

The self-powered ultraviolet photodetectors (UV PDs) have attracted increasing attention due to their potential applications without consuming any external power. It is important to obtain the high-performance self-powered UV PDs by a simple method for the practical application. Herein, TiO2 nanorod arrays (NRs) were synthesized by hydrothermal method, which were integrated with p-type NiO nanoflakes to realize a high performance pn heterojunction for the efficient UV photodetection. TiOx thin film can improve the morphological and carrier transport properties of TiO2 NRs and decrease the surface and defect states, resulting in the enhanced photocurrent of the devices. NiO/TiO2 nanostructural heterojunctions show excellent rectifying characteristics (rectification ratio of 2.52 × 104 and 1.45 × 105 for NiO/TiO2 NRs and NiO/TiO2 NRs/TiOx, respectively) with a very low reverse saturation current. The PDs based on the heterojunctions exhibit good spectral selectivity, high photoresponsivity, and fast respons...

The continuous crystallization behavior of an air–liquid segmented tubular crystallization process was investigated using glycine as a model compound. Process parameters such as aspect ratio of the liquid slug, Reynolds number, seed loading, tubing material, slug shape, and tube crystallizer arrangement were optimized experimentally for their effect on the growth rate, size distribution, and morphology of the produced crystals. An Eulerian liquid–solid two-phase model coupled with a realizable k−e model in a computational fluid dynamics platform was also used to simulate the suspension state and the flow trajectory of crystals in a liquid slug. The results of our study indicated that a uniform crystal size benefiting from a heightened flow dynamics of crystals can be achieved under the following conditions: a slug aspect ratio of 1:1, 2 wt % seed loading, a Reynolds number higher than 22.87, a tubing material with highly hydrophobic properties and a resulted highly spherical slug shape. The growth rate of...

Water sustainability is imperative for socio-economic development. The grey water footprint (GWF) is a useful indicator for quantifying how human activities influence freshwater systems. This study identified the change in GWF for Yinchuan City, an agricultural region in the Yellow River Basin, by the validation of acquired water-quality data. The driving forces of the GWF were analyzed using the logarithmic mean division index (LMDI) decomposition method. The results indicated that the total GWF showed a declining trend during the study period between 2002 and 2017 within the range of 12.6–21.5 × 108 m3/yr. The agricultural GWF had a relatively stable contribution (30–40%), and the focus should be on the increased proportion of domestic sector in this irrigated region. Economic development and technology effects were the dominant negative and positive factors, respectively, behind the decline in GWF. Although the water pollution levels (0.06–0.12) indicating that the waste assimilation capacity was sufficient to take up the pollutant load, the effect of pollution load on groundwater was cause for concern based on the actual water-quality data. A significant increase in NO3–N in the phreatic water was detected between 2003 and 2013. The dominance of NH4–N for the water supply wells in confined aquifers hinted at the deteriorating water quality, which was attributed to the aquifer leakage under pumping conditions. This study better reflected the current water pollution situation by combining GWF with understanding of the hydrological cycle and the actual water-quality data. Findings in this study will be valuable for addressing water quality threats and to develop sustainability strategies for local authorities.

T cell receptor (TCR) diversity is clearly related to protection from infection. However, the characteristics of TCR diversity in neonates are not clear. In this study, we investigated the TCR diversity of neonates with sepsis. Twenty neonates with severe sepsis and eight matched neonates without infection were enrolled in the study. For the neonates with sepsis, EDTA-anticoagulated blood was collected on day 1 after the diagnosis of sepsis and on day 7 of treatment. For the neonates without infection, blood was collected one time. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The complementarity determining region 3 (CDR3) gene was analysed by multiplex PCR and high-throughput sequencing. The CDR3 types and lengths were similar in patients and healthy controls. There was a significant difference in VJ gene usage among the three groups. Compared to the healthy neonates, the neonates with sepsis had different VJ pairs and generated different clonotypes. Although the TCR β-chain diversity was generally lower in the neonates with sepsis, there was no significant difference in TCR β-chain diversity between the patients and the healthy controls. Our data showed the characteristics of the TCR repertoire in neonates with sepsis, which represents a potentially valuable data set. This result is useful for understanding neonatal susceptibility to infection.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to estimate the effectiveness of the credit evaluation system using the borrowing data from China’s leading P2P lending platform, Renrendai.com. Design/methodology/approach The current credit valuation systems are classified into the forward-looking mechanism, which judges the borrowers’ credit levels based on their uploaded information, and the backward-looking mechanism, which judges the borrowers’ credit levels based on their historical repayment performance. Probit models and Tobit models are used to examine the effectiveness of credit evaluation mechanisms. Findings The results show that only the “hard” information reflecting borrowers’ credit ability can explain the default risk on the platform under the forward-looking credit evaluation mechanism. The backward-looking credit evaluation mechanism (BCEM) based on the repeated borrowings produces both promise-enhancing and “fishing” incentives and thus fails to explain the default risk, and weakens the effectiveness of forward-looking credit indicators in explaining the default risk because it encourages borrowers to invest in forging forward-looking credit indicators. Additional information such as the interest rate and the repayment periods reveals borrowers’ credit and thus can also be used as a predictor of borrowers’ default risk. Practical implications The findings suggest that current ex ante screening based on the information collected from the borrowers or repeated borrowings is inadequate to control the default risk in P2P lending markets and thus needs be improved. Ex post monitoring and sharing on defaulter’s information should be strengthened to increase the default cost and thus to deter potential bad borrowers. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper classifying the credit evaluation system in online P2P lending market into the forward-looking type and the backward-looking type, which is important since they provide different incentives to borrowers. The paper also investigates and provides evidence on the promise-enhancing and “fishing” incentives of BCEMs.

The Cu 2 O films were electrodeposited on ZnO nanorod arrays (NRs) and the Cu 2 O/ZnO NRs heterojunctions were formed. The optical-electronic response of the heterojunctions was investigated. The diameter size and crystal quality of ZnO NRs were modified by the seed layer. ZnO NRs with good crystal quality were obtained on the 0.5% Al doped ZnO seed layer film (named as AZO (0.5%)). The devices based on the Cu 2 O/ZnO NRs heterojunction exhibit excellent stability and reproducibility of the self-powered photoresponse properties. The device with AZO (0.5%) seed layer demonstrates the high photoresponsivity of 60–70 mA/W in the violet and blue light with a fast response speed at zero applied bias.

A radiation resistant standard cell library is completed based on SMIC 0.18 μm technology in this paper. Standard cell library includes combinatorial logic cells and sequential logic cells. SET (Single Event Transient) effect always occurs in combinatorial logic cells, and SEU (Single Event Upset) effect always occurs in sequential logic cells. SEL(Single Event Latchup) and TID(Total Ionizing Dose) effects affect all logic cells. According to radiation effects, logic cells in the standard cell library are designed with harden methods at the circuit level and the layout level. Combination logic cells adopt fault-tolerant delay filtering method in circuit level, and sequential logic cells use DICE structure in circuit design. A guard ring has been added to the layout design for the SEL and TID effects. Then physical information and timing information are extracted for all cells, and the library building process is completed. Finally we use EDA tools to verify the availability of the anti-radiation library.

Chronic inflammation plays an important role in the development of diabetic nephropathy. Advanced glycation end product receptor (RAGE), nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase 4 (NOX4) are involved in the development of inflammation. Resveratrol is a plant antitoxin; it is believed to have anti-inflammatory effects and can improve blood glucose. We speculate that resveratrol treatment can protect renal function by reducing blood glucose, decreasing the expression of inflammatory factors. Non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice were randomly divided into three groups: T1DM, insulin (INS) and resveratrol (Res) groups. Mice without diabetes were classified as the non-diabetic control group (NOD-C group). The blood glucose (BG) level, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) level, serum creatinine (SCr) level and 24-h urinary microalbumin quantitative (UMA) were measured. The glomerulosclerosis index and basement membrane thickness were calculated under light and electron microscopes. The expression levels of RAGE, NF-кB (P65) and NOX4 in renal tissues were detected by Western blot analysis. We found that resveratrol treatment significantly reduced blood glucose within 28 days of the experiment, but the hypoglycemic effect was not lasting. At the same time, resveratrol reduced BUN, SCr, 24 h UMA and the expression of the inflammatory factors RAGE, NF-кB (P65) and NOX4 and improved the renal pathological structure. We believe that resveratrol improves renal function not only by its anti-inflammatory effect but also by improving the metabolic memory of hyperglycemia.

This paper evaluates the impact of China’s natural gas pipeline projects (NGPPs) on air pollution reduction, by using national data of pollutant emissions of over 800,000 institute-level observations from 1998 to 2010. The difference-in-differences approach shows that the introduction of pipeline natural gas reduces sulfur dioxide (SO2) discharge intensity in connected cities by about 22.8%. The magnitude of the reduced SO2 emissions is estimated to be at least 17.4 million tons, a size of 7.37% of the total industrial SO2 discharge from 1998 to 2010. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the air pollution reduction effect of NGPPs increases over time, is larger for firms surviving longer in our data, for large firms, in heavy pollution industries or cities, and when environmental policy is more stringent. It also finds that a substitution effect channels the effect by facilitating firms and institutes to replace coal with natural gas or drive away under strict environmental regulations.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been a major threat to global public health. The association between temperature and CVD has been widely studied and reported in cities in developed countries. However, information from developing countries, especially from suburbs and countryside, is quite limited. In this study, the daily time series data on CVD hospital admissions in farmers in the suburbs of Tianshui, China, and the meteorological data from 2012 to 2015, were collected; besides, a quasi-Poisson regression with a distributed-lag non-linear model (DLNM) was used to explore the impact of local daily mean temperature on CVD hospital admissions in suburban farmers. This study found that, first, from 2011 to 2015, a total of 30,611 person-times of CVD hospital admissions in farmers were recorded; second, there was a "J-shaped" relation between temperature and CVD hospital admissions, and both low and high temperature increased the risk of hospital admission, but the impact of high temperature was greater; third, compared with the minimum hospitalization temperature (MHT) at 0.3 °C, during 0 to 21 lag days, the cumulative relative risk (RR) for extreme cold and heat (1st and 99th percentile of temperature, respectively) was 1.117 (95% CI 0.941-1.325) and 1.740 (95% CI 1.302-2.327), respectively, and that of moderate cold and heat (5st and 95th percentile of temperature, respectively) was 1.029 (95% CI 0.958-1.106) and 1.572 (95% CI 1.210-2.042), respectively; fourth, compared with male and ≥ 65 years groups, the risk for low temperature was greater for female and 65 years groups, the risk for high temperature was just the opposite; last, about 21.04% of CVD hospital admissions burden were attributed to the ambient temperature, and most of (about 19.26%) were caused by moderate heat. In Tianshui, alongside with extreme temperature, the moderate temperature might be an important risk factor for CVD hospital admissions in suburban farmers.

Ag and Au are typical electrode materials for NiO/TiO2 heterojunction ultraviolet photodetectors (UV PDs), but the influence of work functions of Ag and Au on performance of devices has not been investigated. We synthesized TiO2 NRs on FTO by hydrothermal method and then constructed heterojunction by preparing NiO nanoflakes on TiO2 NRs using chemical bath deposition (CBD) method. The devices with Ag and Au as top electrode show self-power UV response. The energy band information of NiO is determined by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) valence band spectra, absorption spectrum, and work functions obtained by Kelvin probe. Due to the different arrangement between Fermi energy level of NiO and work functions of Ag and Au, the downward and upward band bending is formed in interfaces of Ag/NiO and Au/NiO. The suitable bending of energy band in Au/NiO leads to more favorable hole collection than that of Ag/NiO, which results in higher responsivity of Au/NiO/TiO2/FTO UV PDs.

Clean and safe groundwater is the basic guarantee for social and human sustainable development. With the increasing groundwater pollution, it is essential to characterize hydrogeochemistry and assess groundwater quality accurately for water supply purpose. In this study, investigation of groundwater was conducted in the urban area of Xi’an, which has a more than 3100 years glorious city history. 97 groundwater samples were collected from domestic tube wells for physical and chemical analysis. Results showed that groundwater in the study area was predominantly the HCO3–Ca and HCO3–Ca·Mg type, which were controlled by multiple processes of water-rock interaction, evaporation, cation exchange etc. Some samples fall in Zone 4 (mixed type) and Zone 2 (SO4–Na type) in Piper diagram, indicating the complex influence of both rock-water interactions and anthropogenic activities. To assess groundwater quality reasonably, an innovative integrated-weight water quality index (IWQI) was proposed by combining objective and subjective weights through additive model. The calculated weights showed that integrated weights balanced the relationship between subjective expertise about impacts of chemical components on human health risk and objective entropy information of ion concentration. The high integrated weight for F− (0.237), NO2–N (0.104) and HCO3− (0.103) indicated their significant influences on groundwater quality. According to the IWQI, overall situation of groundwater in the study area was described as good, while only 9.4% of groundwater samples was of medium to poor quality and unsuitable for drinking. Investigation and historical documents data showed that this poor groundwater quality in the city centre can be attributed to the low terrain, special characteristics of loess deposit, modern pollution in recent decades and the migration of ancient pollutants over one millennia. The sensitive analysis of IWQI indicated the innovative IWQI could describe the overall water quality reliably, stably and correctly, and have the potential suitability for extensive application.

Garrison and Souleyrette II (1996) elaborated a companion innovation hypothesis which says that improvements in transportation energize innovation in other sectors by creating opportunities to accomplish old things well or do something new. However, existing literature provides limited direct evidence on this hypothesis. The fast rollout of high-speed rail (HSR) in China is explored as a natural experiment to test the hypothesis by matching it with three waves of innovation surveys on manufacturing firms from counties in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta, China’s two most developed regions. The empirical results, obtained using the difference-in-differences method, show that HSR connection promotes firm innovation in peripheral areas, which is larger in the Yangtze River Delta and increases over time but switches from promoting process innovations to stimulating product innovation. Further studies show that HSR connection promotes innovation by arousing entrepreneurs’ awareness of the importance of innovation and intellectual property protection, opening new sources for innovation and bringing about market size effects.

Lakes in arid regions are ecologically valuable yet highly fragile due to intense evaporation. To provide an extra water supply for maintaining water balance in lakes, the Ecological Replenishment Water Program (ERWP) in northwest China has significantly changed the hydrological and hydrochemical conditions for these lakes. Descriptive statistics and water and mass balances, together with hydrogeochemical modeling were used in this study to gain an understanding of the impacts of water replenishment (irrigation and drainage water) on evolution for Shahu Lake. A virtual sample was introduced in NETPATH hydrogeochemical modeling to compute the net chemical reactions in the lake water. Variations in TDS indicated that the lake evolved to be saline during 2004–2012 (stage I) and then tended to be fresh during 2013–2014 (stage II). Results highlighted that groundwater outflow and chemical reactions were the overriding factors controlling chemical evolution in the lake system, which greatly depend on the replenishment activities. The salinity reduction from the virtual samples to the final samples were attributed to the precipitation of calcite and dolomite, dissolution of gypsum, Na-K and Na-Ca exchange, and the CO2 degassing in the lake system at an annual scale of 0.11 g/L in stage I and 0.15 g/L in stage II. The quality of replenishment water was as important as quantity for rehabilitating lakes, as it significantly determines the occurrence of chemical reactions in lake water. Findings from this paper can provide insight into the evolution of arid lakes in response to replenishment activities and can help contribute to better management of a valuable and fragile resource.

A large number of studies have evidenced that developmental neurotoxicity induced by lead (Pb) is related to oxidative injury. Furthermore, recent studies have found that developmental Pb exposure can induce neurodegeneration in old age. Because of the common presence of Pb in the environment, humans are exposed to this metal throughout their lifetime. However, few studies have explored the changes in lifespan profiles of neurotoxicity, as well as oxidative stress following lifetime Pb exposure. In the present study, rats were exposed to lead acetate from their embryonic stage to old age. Dynamic changes in neurodegeneration, oxidative stress, and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in the brains at postnatal week 3 (PNW3, weaning), 41 weeks (PNW41, adulthood) and 70 weeks (PNW70, old age) were investigated. Pb exposure resulted in neurodegeneration with decreased neuronal densities and brain volumes in PNW3 and PNW70 rats; however, no significant changes occurred in PNW41 rats based on thionine stain analysis and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. Expression of the ER stress protein glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) increased in Pb-exposed rats, which was associated with high levels of 8-hydroxy-2'-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in rat brains after Pb exposure in PNW3 and PNW70 rats. Our findings suggested that lifetime Pb exposure induced neurodegenerative injuries that began to occur in infancy, were relieved in adulthood, but intensified in old age. The critical periods for prevention or intervention in neurodegenerative diseases induced by Pb exposure occurred in early life.

Background AIDS is a worrying public health issue in China and lacks timely and effective surveillance. With the diffusion and adoption of the Internet, the ‘big data’ aggregated from Internet search engines, which contain users’ information on the concern or reality of their health status, provide a new opportunity for AIDS surveillance. This paper uses search engine data to monitor and forecast AIDS in China. Methods A machine learning method, artificial neural networks (ANNs), is used to forecast AIDS incidences and deaths. Search trend data related to AIDS from the largest Chinese search engine, Baidu.com, are collected and selected as the input variables of ANNs, and officially reported actual AIDS incidences and deaths are used as the output variable. Three criteria, the mean absolute percentage error, the root mean squared percentage error, and the index of agreement, are used to test the forecasting performance of the ANN method. Results Based on the monthly time series data from January 2011 to June 2017, this article finds that, under the three criteria, the ANN method can lead to satisfactory forecasting of AIDS incidences and deaths, regardless of the change in the number of search queries. Conclusions Despite the inability to self-detect HIV/AIDS through online searching, Internet-based data should be adopted as a timely, cost-effective complement to a traditional AIDS surveillance system.

Introduction A large number of studies have shown that the developmental neurotoxicity induced by lead is related to oxidative injury, meanwhile, oxidative stress is among the most common mechanisms of neurodegeneration. However, few studies have explored the role of oxidative stress in age-related cognitive impairment caused by prolonged lead exposure and oxidative stress. Methods In the present study, rats were exposed to low-level lead from the embryonic stage to old age. Dynamic changes in neurodegeneration, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, and oxidative stress in brains during postnatal weeks 3, 41 and 70 (PNW3, PNW41 and PNW70, respectively) were investigated. Results Lead exposure resulted in neurodegeneration in PNW70 rats based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and thionine stain analysis. Amyloid precursor protein (APP) and tau mRNA expression in PNW41 and PNW70 brains increased in a time- and dose-dependent manner. APP and Tau protein levels significantly increased with lead exposure at PNW3 and PNW70. Mechanistically, the expression of the ER stress protein glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) was higher in the presence of lead than in normal controls, which was associated with high levels of 8-hydroxy-2’-deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in brain tissues after lead exposure in PNW3 and PNW70, their changes were like as APP and tau protein that were a u- or j-shaped curve with time of lead exposure. Conclusion Our findings suggest that the neurodegenerative injuries induced by lead exposure may be mediated by ER and oxidative stresses, and there is a critical period for prevention or intervention AD in early life and later life, however middle-aged people at the latent stage of neurodegenerative process should not be ignored.

Transportation has long been shown to produce real impacts on productivity, urbanization, and economic growth, among others, companying with which innovation might take place. However, extant literature provides limited evidence on the companion innovation hypothesis of transportation improvement. The fast rollout of high-speed rail (HSR) in China is explored as a natural experiment to identify that hypothesis by matching it with three waves of innovation surveys on manufacturing firms from the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta, China’s two most developed regions. The empirical results, obtained using the difference in differences method, show that HSR connection promotes firm innovation in peripheral areas, which are larger in the Yangtze River Delta, which increases over time but switches from process innovation to product innovation and stands under various robustness checks. Further studies show that HSR connection promotes innovation by arousing entrepreneurs’ recognition of the importance of innovation and property rights protection, opening new sources for innovation and bringing about market size effects.

To improve the tourism quality of tourist attractions, China National Tourism Administration provide quality accreditations to them, which is also used by tourist attractions to signal their quality and to attract tourists. However, how such accreditation influences regional tourism economy lacks empirical examination. This paper uses China’s prefectural city panel data from 2000 to 2015 to evaluate the impact of the accreditation of top-grade tourist attractions on the regional tourism economy. The difference-in-differences method finds a surprising result that the accreditation hinders prefectural tourism revenue. The adverse effect is not heterogeneous to China’s three regions or the abundance of tourism resource and is consistent with robustness checks. Our results suggest that Chinese tourism administrations should pay close attention to the costs of official accreditation to tourist attractions on regional tourism development.

This paper evaluates the impact of high-speed rail (HSR) on tourism growth using China’s city panel data from 2004 to 2015. The empirical results from the difference-in-differences method show that HSR connection does not promote tourism revenue but does boost tourist arrivals, leading to a negative effect of HSR connection on tourism revenue per arrival; these results are further confirmed by the instrumental variable method to address the issue of endogenous HSR route placement, and by various robustness checks. Further investigation shows that the effect of HSR connection on tourist arrivals is heterogeneous. By connecting to HSR, less-developed central and western regions have attracted more arrivals than the developed eastern region, and cities with unique tourism resources, although they attract fewer arrival increase, gain more revenue than cities without those resources.

Background The influence of albedo on ocular UV exposure has seldom been reported. This paper aimed to explore the enhancement effect on measured ocular UV radiation due to a sand surface compared to measured ocular UV radiation due to a grass surface. Methods We measured ambient and ocular UV radiation over the beach and grass surface in Sanya City of China (18.4°N, 109.7°E). The experimental apparatus was composed of a manikin and a dual-detector spectrometer. Integration of both UVA and UVB radiation was used to denote UV radiation. Then biologically effective ocular UVB radiation (UVBE) and the ratios of UVBE of two surfaces were calculated. Result Maximum of ocular UV radiation versus time over the two surfaces is bimodal. UVBE on the beach is significantly larger than UVBE on the sand, and UVBE peaked at different solar elevation angle (SEA) over the two surfaces (about 53° and 40° on the beach and grass, respectively, according to Bayesian regression). The maximum of ocular UVBE ratios is greater than two, which peaked SEA was about 50°. One hour’s cumulative radiation under sunny weather exceeds thresholds for photokeratitis, conjunctivitis and lens damage. Conclusions Higher albedo significantly increased biological ocular UV radiation. Tourists on tropical beaches should take protective measures and avoid facing the sun directly, especially when SEA is around 50°.

This paper presents a 2-point algorithm for relative pose estimation of a monocular camera mounted on a ground vehicle. Specifically, the geometric model is developed by combining two-view geometry with planar motion constraint. Based on the proposed model, the relative camera pose information can be estimated efficiently with at least 2 feature correspondences. Besides, the proposed algorithm can recover rotation independently with translation so that pure rotation can be computed stably under planar motion. Both experiments on synthetic data and in real world are presented. In the synthetic data experiments, the proposed algorithm is compared with other well-known algorithms to illustrate its high accuracy and robustness to image noise. In addition, the great robustness of the proposed algorithm to nonplanar motion is demonstrated as well. Furthermore, experiment are carried out based on KITTI Vision Benchmark, and the result indicates that the proposed algorithm has better performance than 5-point algorithm for monocular visual odometry and has a wide range of applicability.

Angiogenesis plays an instrumental role in the modulation of adipose tissue mass and metabolism. Targeting adipose vasculature provides an outstanding opportunity for treatment of obesity and metabolic disorders. Here, we report the physiological functions of VEGFR1 in the modulation of adipose angiogenesis, obesity, and global metabolism. Pharmacological inhibition and genetic deletion of endothelial VEGFR1 augmented adipose angiogenesis and browning of subcutaneous white adipose tissue, leading to elevated thermogenesis. In a diet-induced obesity model, endothelial-VEGFR1 deficiency demonstrated a potent anti-obesity effect by improving global metabolism. Along with metabolic changes, fatty liver and insulin sensitivity were also markedly improved in VEGFR1-deficient high fat diet (HFD)–fed mice. Together, our data indicate that targeting of VEGFR1 provides an exciting new opportunity for treatment of obesity and metabolic diseases, such as liver steatosis and type 2 diabetes.