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Diversity and differentiation have become the hallmarks of contemporary Chinese rural settlements. Spatial differentiation of rural settlements' multi-function is important to fully understand characteristics of rural society under rapid social and economic changes in China. Few studies have systematically evaluated the impact of such change on the rural settlements' functions. Based on the "Distance attenuation" principle, and using the county as the regional center, we classified 112 rural settlements of Changzhi city, Shanxi province into four types: urban villages, suburban villages, outer suburban villages and remote villages. Then we recognized multifunctional of the rural settlements as daily life function, agricultural production function, and non-agricultural production function based on different social-economic factors that were carried by corresponding land use types. Finally, we chose indicators from the attributes of the rural settlements to study regional differentiation of rural settlements' functions. Methods of participatory rural appraisal, combined with GIS technology and remote sensing image were used. The results showed that attributes of rural settlements' multi-function changed regularly. With approaching to the county, rural houses and households were improved more frequently along with the improvement of service facilities of the rural settlements. As approaching to the county, the household income from agricultural production decreased, and the households tended to gradually give up agricultural production function. Also when approaching to the county, areas for non-agricultural production were expanded and the contributions of income from non-agricultural production for rural households increased. Finally, we constructed a multi-functional quantitative mathematical equation of rural settlements to measure multi-function dominance of rural settlements based on the index of rural settlements' functions. Comparative advantage function of different types of the rural settlements was remarkable difference. The comparative advantage functions of the urban villages were daily life function and agricultural production function, and these two functions had the location quotient of 1.09 and 1.92, respectively. Similar results were found with the suburban villages (1.04 and 1.11). The comparative advantage function of the outer suburban villages and the remote villages was agricultural production function. Their location quotient reached 1.47 and 1.72, respectively. We suggested that based on this research it was necessary to implement rural residential consolidation considering the multifunctions and their attributes of rural settlements. The proportion of land use within the rural settlements bearing economic activities, especially non-agricultural activities increased in urban villages and suburban villages. The household income was dependent on economic activities of the residences. While in the outer suburban villages and the remote villages, many residences moved out to work in non-agricultural sectors. However, there were still many people engaged in farming in those areas. Based on this study, we suggested that on the one hand, governments at all levels should strengthen the non-agricultural production function of urban villages and suburban villages in order to attract more elements gathering, such as more labor force who came from other areas. On the other hand, governments should strengthen agricultural production of outer suburban villages and remote villages. For the outer suburban and remote villages, daily life function was relatively weak and had no comparative advantage for improvement. Governments should help to repair houses and improve service facilities of these two types of rural settlements so that an evenly developed and harmonious rural society can be built. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mg–Al–Fe–NO3 layered double hydroxides (LDHs) with a constant Mg2+/(Al3+ + Fe3+) molar ratio but varying Al3+/Fe3+ molar ratios were successfully synthesized by a mechano-hydrothermal (MHT) method from Mg(OH)2, Al(OH)3 and Fe(NO3)3·9H2O or Mg(NO3)2·6H2O as starting materials. The resulting LDHs (MHT-LDHs) were characterized by XRD, TEM, SEM, FT-IR, and zeta potential, size distribution and specific surface area analyses. It was found that pre-milling played a key role in the LDH formation during subsequent hydrothermal treatment. The MHT route is advantageous in terms of low reaction temperature compared with the conventional hydrothermal method, and the target products are of high crystallinity and good dispersion compared with the conventional mechanochemical (MC) method. The MHT-LDHs had higher specific surface area and zeta potential, and lower hydrodynamic diameter than LDHs obtained by MC method (MC-LDHs). Furthermore, the removal of Cr(VI) from aqueous solutions using the LDHs was examined, showing that the MHT-LDHs are of higher removal efficiency than MC-LDHs for the heavy metal pollutant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the material basis for the development of modern agriculture, well-facilitated capital farmland is the key to ensuring food safety in China By improving the comprehensive productivity of cultivated land and agricultural production conditions, the construction of well-facilitated capital farmland and its effective management and efficient utilization has great significance for food security and the development of modern agriculture. Taking Fujin city of Heilongjiang Province as an example, the paper conducted a study on the well-facilitated capital farmland construction sequence. The main conclusions of the study were as follows: It introduces the Four Quadrant model by a feasibility and spatial stability analysis on a well-facilitated capital farmland construction sequence. It comprehensively determined a well-facilitated capital farmland construction sequence combined with the construction scale and goal orientation. Evaluation of the construction feasibility is mainly used to reflect the feasibility of a well-facilitated capital farmland construction sequence. The evaluation index was selected from three aspects including natural quality, engineering construction, and economic society. It mainly included thickness of effective soil, field area, and the later maintenance funding levels. Spatial stability evaluation is mainly used to reflect the spatial stability after well-facilitated capital farmland is constructed. It selected the distance to the county seat, the distance to the township, the distance to the main roads, the distance to potential geological hazards, population density, local finance income, and other indicators from three aspects including location, ecology, and the construction land expansion force. The cultivated land to be evaluated was divided into three levels including high feasibility, medium feasibility, and low-grade feasibility based on the well-facilitated capital farmland construction feasibility evaluation model. The area of the highly feasible region was 13.18×104hm2 (22.69% of the total evaluation area), it was mainly in the state farms especially in the Qixing Farm and the Daxing Farm. The moderate feasible area was 22.72×104 hm2 (39.13% of the total evaluation area). It was distributed in the state farm and local government areas and the area was equal. It was mainly distributed in the Daxing Farm and the Qixing Farm of the state farms and Jinshan town of the local government; The low feasible area was 22.18×104hm2 (38.18% of the total evaluation area), all are located in the local government's area except for a little distribution in Qianjin Farm. On the issue of space stability, the area of highly stability, area of moderate stability, and area of low stability of well-facilitated capital farmland construction in Fujin City was 7.58×104hm2, 27.73×104hm2 and 22.77×104 hm2. It occupied respectively 13.06%, 47.73%, and 39.21% of the evaluation area. Highly stable areas were mainly distributed in the farm on the east of Fujin city; moderate stability areas were mainly distributed in the local towns in the south and west of Fujin city; and low stability areas were mainly distributed in the township in the western northern and central areas of Fujin city. The unstable areas were mainly distributed in the Songhua River, Sanhuanpao Nature Reserve, and some important areas of the rivers and city construction expansion area. It was coupled to the feasibility and spatial stability of well-facilitated capital farmland construction by the Four Quadrant model. It determined the well-facilitated capital farmland construction sequence based on the goal orientation of spatial stability priority. Qixing Farm, Hongwei Farm, Qianjin Farm, and Qinglongshan Farm are priority areas of well-facilitated capital farmland construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Diversity, complexity and change have become the hallmarks of contemporary Chinese rural settlements. However, the literature so far has paid insufficient attention to this phenomenon from the standpoint of functional transition and related land-use change. To fill in this gap, this paper explores the functional transition of rural settlement through analyzing land-use differentiation in a transect of Beijing. Land-use changes are presented along the differentiation of land-use structure and use change of rural housing. The results indicate that there is an obvious differentiation of land-use structure from near-urban countryside to the rural hinterland. Besides that, the use change of rural housing also has regional characteristics. They are different responses to the urban sprawl, respectively from the collective economic organization and single rural resident. The regional differentiation implies a functional transition in some rural settlements, including increases of non-agricultural function and urban servicing function. Quantitative evaluation of the functional intensity and its rules on spatial–temporal evolution still need to be approached in the future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

For the cultivated land quality comprehensive evaluation there have been relatively abundant research results at present, but most of them tend to judge the suitability of spatial distribution of cultivated land and prime farmland without taking sufficient attention to the ecological security. The cultivated land quality comprehensive evaluation plays an important part as prerequisites and groundwork in demarcating of prime farmland and high-standard prime farmland construction. On the basis of dissecting the concept and method of cultivated land quality evaluation, the paper constructed a cultivated quality comprehensive evaluation system by way of selecting relevant indicators from the natural quality, site conditions, spatial pattern and ecological security of cultivated land through referring to agricultural land classification, agricultural land gradation, cultivated land scale operation and its ecological security. The study aimed at meeting the inner demands for demarcating of prime farmland and made up for the deficiency in the present related researches, then achieved quantitative analysis of various indexes and calculation on the cultivated land quality comprehensive index with the help of GIS. On the above basis, the study divided 5 916 cultivated land parcels into 4 different types according to the similarity theory in Pinggu district: 1) The first one, named as the prior planning type, was up to 4 325.29 hm2 and accounted for 35.06% of regional total cultivated land area, distributed mainly in the western, southern and southwest plains of Pinggu district, mainly in the town of Donggaocun, followed by the towns of Yukou and Mafang, which showed comprehensive optimum in the natural quality, site conditions, ecological security and spatial pattern of cultivated land as the preferred object to be prime farmland or high-standard prime farmland. This type became the core part of cultivated land protected in Pinggu district. 2) The second one, named as the suitable addition type, was 3511.84 hm2 and accounted for 28.47% of regional total cultivated land area, distributed in the west, south and southwest plains of Pinggu district, especially in the towns of Donggaocun, Mafang and Machangying, which showed a sign of cultivated land landscape fragmentation without any restriction in the other three aspects. This kind of cultivated land's quality comprehensive index decreased mainly due to the spatial fragmentation caused by carving up and occupation from the construction land, which weakened the scale effect of modern agriculture. It was effectual to take action of land consolidation or parcel spatial adjustments to promote the concentration and connectivity for the cultivated land of suitable additional type as the object of the prime farmland or high-standard prime farmland. 3) The third one, named as the main regulation type, was 2 606.45 hm2 and accounted for 21.13% of regional total cultivated land area, whose spatial distribution presented shifting trend from plains to semi-mountainous regions and their restrictive factors were complicated. The changing slope, weakening location advantage and fragmentation were the main reasons for the decrease of some cultivated land's quality comprehensive indices, which could improve the quality to be prime farmland by diversified means such as land leveling project, soil improvement, spatial adjustment of cultivated land parcel and so on. As for the other one that the quality comprehensive index decreased caused by restriction of ecological security pattern, to improve the comprehensive quality was harder than the former one and whether or not to become the prime farmland depended on the coordinated control between the productive and ecological function of cultivated land. 4) The last one, named as the removal quitting type, was 1 892.12 hm2 and accounted for 15.34% of regional total cultivated land area. This kind of cultivated land was not suitable as the prime farmland because of the intense restriction from the natural quality, site conditions, spatial pattern and ecological security of cultivated land. Those ones in mountainous area should bring about the ecological restoration; meanwhile, the other ones in plains should act as the urban greening function with other prime farmlands. The study results reflect the comprehensive quality of regional cultivated land, which have practical and guidance roles in planning method of the county prime farmland protection zone and high-standard prime farmland construction. Simultaneously, the classification of cultivated land can provide a reference for the functional zoning and regulation of cultivated land, the differential construction and management of prime farmland and the transformation of agricultural modernization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A mechano-hydrothermal method was developed to synthesize Mg2Al–NO3 layered double hydroxide (LDH) from MgO, Al2O3 and NaNO3 as starting materials. A two-step synthesis was conducted, that is, a mixture of MgO and Al2O3 was milled for 1h, followed by hydrothermal treatment with NaNO3 solution. The resulting LDHs were characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared and elemental analyses. Pre-milling played a key role in the LDH formation during subsequent hydrothermal treatment. The process is advantageous in terms of low reaction temperature and short reaction time compared with the conventional hydrothermal method, and the target products are of high crystallinity, good dispersion and regular shape compared with the conventional mechanochemical method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, we study the asymptotics of the solutions to the anomalous diffusion equations. The fractional anomalous diffusion equations are obtained from the existing anomalous diffusion and typical diffusion equations by replacing the first-order time derivative with fractional derivatives of order for the sub-diffusion and for the super-diffusion respectively. In most situations, fractional derivatives mean Riemann–Liouville derivative or Caputo derivative. In this paper, we use these two kinds of fractional derivatives. Using Laplace transform and Fourier transform, we obtain the asymptotics estimates of solutions to the anomalous diffusion equations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

ABSTRACT In this paper, we concentrate on the design of 1-resilient Boolean functions with desirable cryptographic properties. Firstly, we put forward a novel secondary construction to obtain 1-resilient functions. Next, we present the relationships between the properties of these constructed 1-resilient functions and that of the initial functions. Based on the construction and a class of bent functions on n variables, we can obtain a class of ( n + 3)-variable 1-resilient non-separable cryptographic functions with a high algebraic immunity, whose nonlinearity is equal to the bent concatenation bound 2 n + 2 − 2( n + 2)/2. Furthermore, we propose a set of 1-resilient non-separable functions on odd number of variables with an optimal algebraic degree, a high algebraic immunity, and a high nonlinearity. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different land-use managements accompany different land-use objectives in the changing phases of household economic development. These management changes lead to a number of changes in soil nutrients such as in soil organic matter (SOM). This article, with support from global positioning system (GPS) and geographic information system (GIS) monitoring, analyses and compares SOM change in an area of urban fringe in north China from 1982 to 2000 and then from 2000 to 2006. SOM increased by 27% (5.43 g kg-1-6.90 g kg-1) during the first period but decreased by 7% during the second. In the first period, with the implementation of the "Household Responsibility System", material inputs, especially of fertiliser was very high when the central household objective was to "have a full stomach". Yields also increased quickly, so there were corresponding increases in the amount of organic materials returned to the fields and SOM also increased during this earlier period. In the second period, household objectives developed making a trade-off between consumption and income above subsistence level. Land-use types evolved from subsistence field cropping to the growing of cash crops. Changing material inputs and managements between the different cropping systems affected soil nutrients such as SOM. SOM decreased in most of the region during this second period. Dynamic monitoring (GPS and GIS) is needed in the region to conduct scientific research on fertiliser use and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following land reform in China in the early 1980s, farm management practices, such as the type of crops grown and their rotations, intensity of cropping and fertilizer and pesticide use, underwent drastic changes. To investigate how these changes affected soil properties and ultimately the sustainability of agricultural production, a case study was conducted in Daxing County (southern Beijing Municipality). Soil in the Daxing area was sampled in 1982 at the onset of land reform and again in 2000. Surface soil (0–20 cm) samples were collected and analyzed for organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (TN), and available N (AN), P (AP) and K (AK) contents. The soil OM, TN, AN, and AP all increased significantly while AK decreased slightly, but significantly, for the sampling area over the 18-year study period. Increased crop yield (higher biomass production) with increasing fertilizer application combined with soil conservation measures that have retained more crop residue on land, are responsible for the increases in soil OM, N and P concentrations. However, the slight decreases in AK reflect the increased cropping intensity and low AK supplying power of these coarse textured soils as well as the low K fertilizer input. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper is devoted to the uniqueness problem on meromorphic functions whose differential polynomials share one nonzero finite constant. We improve some previous results and answer two open problems posed by Dyavanal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the admissible meromorphic solutions to the algebraic differential equation fnf′+Pn−1(f)=uev in an angular domain instead of the whole complex plane, where Pn−1(f) is a differential polynomial in f of degree ≤n−1 with small function coefficients, u is a non-vanishing small function of f and v is an entire function. Herein, mainly, we are able to show that the equation does not admit any meromorphic solution f under some conditions unless Pn−1(f)≡0. Using this result, we are able to extend or generalize a well-known result of Hayman. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most malignant and highly aggressive brain tumor. In this study, four types of typical GBM cell lines (LN229, SNB19, U87, U251) were cultured in a microfabricated 3-D model to study their in vitro behaviors. The 3-D in vitro model provides hollow micro-chamber arrays containing a natural collagen interface and thus allows the GBM cells to grow in the 3-D chambers. The GBM cells in this model showed specific properties on the aspects of cell morphology, proliferation, migration, and invasion, some of which were rarely observed before. Furthermore, how the cells invaded into the surrounding ECM and the corresponding specific invasion patterns were observed in details, implying that the four types of cells have different features during their development in cancer. This complex in vitro model, if applied to patient derived cells, possesses the potential of becoming a clinically relevant predictive model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biochar prepared by Chladophora (CB) was used to adsorb the ibuprofen and ofloxacin in sewage. SEM showed that CB preserved the natural tubular structure and increased its specific surface area. According to the BET results, the specific surface area of CB was 296.831 m2 g‐1. The adsorption of ibuprofen and ofloxacin on biochar conformed to the pseudo second‐order kinetic model, indicating that their adsorption rate was controlled by the chemical adsorption mechanism. According to the adsorption isotherms study, the adsorption of ibuprofen on CB met the Dubin‐Radushkevich model, while it fitted well with the Freundlich model for ofloxacin adsorption, making their adsorption onto biochar relating to non‐uniform surface and adsorption layer, respectively. The pore filling and electrostatic interaction were considered the main mechanism for the adsorption of pharmaceuticals and personal care products on CB, whereas the π‐π electron donor acceptor (EDA) interaction and hydrogen bond would also partially contribute to the adsorption process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacterial‐mediated synergistic cancer therapy (BMSCT) is used as a promising tumor therapy approach. However, there are some disadvantages of bacterial therapy alone to be resolved, such as low tumor suppression rate in the treatment. In this study, a novel light‐controlled engineered bacterial material which synergistically regulates amino acid metabolism to fight tumors is developed. It transcribes l‐methionine‐γ‐lyase (MdeA) into Escherichia coli (E. coli) and loads the approved photothermal agent indocyanine green (ICG), namely E. coli‐MdeA@ICG. Using the hypoxic tropism of E. coli, genetically engineered bacteria are first loaded with photothermal agents, then selectively accumulate and replicate in the tumor region. Under laser irradiation, photothermal lysis of E. coli‐MdeA is performed to release the MdeA and consume the essential amino acid methionine (Met) in the tumor environment. In vitro cell experiments confirm that the E. coli‐MdeA + NIR group can reach 90% of the 4T1 cells killing. In 4T1 tumor‐bearing mouse models, E. coli‐MdeA@ICG shows enhanced antitumor efficacy, along with 91.8% of the tumor growth inhibited. Apoptosis of tumor cells is induced under the dual action of photothermal therapy (PTT) and amino acid metabolism therapy. This strategy provides new ideas for the combination of synthetic biology and nanotechnology in anti‐tumor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS)-conjugated magnetite (FeO) nanoparticles (MNPs), which are denoted as CMCS-MNPs, were synthesized by covalently binding CMCS onto the surface of the MNPs via carbodiimide activation in a paraffin-acetic acid medium. The CMCS-MNPs exhibited a high level of CMCS binding (∼24.7 wt.%) and a spherical morphology with a mean diameter of 15 nm. In particular, they showed good water dispersity and a strong magnetic response. The sorption of Pb(II) on the CMCS-MNPs in aqueous solutions at different sorbent dosages ( C ), pH, electrolyte (NaNO) concentrations ( C ), and temperatures ( T) was investigated. The CMCS-MNPs showed high sorption capacity for Pb(II). The equilibrium amount increased with increasing pH but decreased with increasing C or T. In addition, a significant C -effect was observed in the sorption equilibria. Two C -dependent models, the Langmuir-SCA and Freundlich-SCA isotherms that were derived from a surface component activity (SCA) model, could describe the C -effect observed. The changes in pH, C , and T have no obvious influence on the C -effect. In addition, the changes in the thermodynamic parameters, ∆ G°, ∆ H°, and ∆ S°, for sorption were estimated, showing that the sorption process is spontaneous and exothermic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Coupling ecosystem services is a methodological innovation. • The spatial–temporal variation of landscape ecological risk is significant. • Urbanization, mineral development and policies are important influencing factors. The study aims to clarify the temporal and spatial evolution characteristics of landscape ecological risk in Hailar River basin in recent 30 years, and to serve for scientific formulation of ecological management strategies. In the study, ecosystem services were used to improve the traditional landscape ecological risk assessment method, and the theoretical basis of landscape ecological risk was clarified using the human-nature system method. The results show that, on the spatial scale, the overall landscape ecological risk of Hailar River basin is characterized by high in the middle and low around. The high-risk areas are mainly located in the transition zone of "urban-grassland" and "urban-forest" in the middle of the basin and the main mining areas, which are distributed in strips along the main roads and rivers. Low risk areas are mainly distributed in the Great Khingan Mountains forest area in the east and north of the basin. In terms of time scale, the landscape ecological risk in the edge of the watershed has always maintained a high proportion of low-risk areas (75.35 %), while the area of high-risk areas in the middle of the watershed has experienced a process of first increasing and then decreasing. In terms of ecological governance, high-risk areas should achieve orderly urban construction and orderly development of mineral resources, and establish a classified management system of natural resources. Low risk areas should continue to promote measures to prohibit logging and limit grazing, and establish a supporting ecological compensation mechanism. The conclusion shows that urbanization, mineral development and management, and the implementation of forest and grass policies are the main driving factors for the change of landscape ecological risks in Hailar River basin. The basic principles of zoning control and human land coordination should be adhered to, and the size of cities and towns should be adjusted reasonably to promote the orderly development of mineral resources and the orderly construction of projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The social-ecological system consists of six basic elements—population, capital, facilities, management, resources and the environment. • The basic material circulation and social production chains formed by the six basic elements. • The essential feature of the operation of the hexagonal network structure is circulation. Research on the social-ecological system unifies society, the economy, resources and the environment and provides an integrated and systematic research framework through which to study complex earth system problems, such as climate change, globalization, land use/cover change and population growth. This research aims to provide support for the excavation of the deep-seated coupling mechanism of the social-ecological system by revealing the basic structure of this system to answer the following three questions. What are the elements of the social-ecological system? What are the correlations between elements? How does the system work? The results are as follows. (1) The social-ecological system consists of six basic elements—population, capital, facility, management, resource, and environment—the first four of which constitute the social subsystem, and the last two of which constitute the ecological subsystem. (2) The basic material circulation and social production chains formed by the six basic elements through specific material and information flow are interrelated; they are fed to each other to form a unit social-ecological system, and a hexagonal network structure is formed through the networking of flow elements. (3) The essential feature of the operation of the hexagonal network structure is circulation. The basic social production chain is nested in the basic material circulation chain; that is, the ecological subsystem provides raw materials and services for social production, then starts the next cycle after absorbing the waste generated by the social subsystem during the production and consumption process. This research reveals that the social-ecological system structure is not only a static geometric network with stability and elasticity formed layer by layer due to multiple factors but also a dynamic circular network based on the circular movement of factors, which can distinguish flow and stock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We aimed to identify the active ingredients and elucidate the underlying mechanism of action of Atractylodes lancea (Thunb.) DC (namely, Cangzhu) for the treatment of gouty arthritis (GA) based on network pharmacology methods. These findings are expected to provide a theoretical basis for the clinical treatment of GA. We used monosodium urate (MSU)-induced GA rats as a model to test the overall efficacy of Cangzhu in vivo. Then, the components of the Cangzhu decoction were analyzed and identified, and we screened the active ingredients and their targets. The GA disease targets were predicted by GeneCards and Disgenet databases and found to overlap in both databases. The STRING database was used to construct a protein–protein interaction network, followed by identification of the hub genes using Network Analyzer. Thereafter, Cytoscape software (version 3.8.2) was applied to construct a network for drug-active ingredient-key targets. Next, we applied cluego, a plug-in of Cytoscape, to perform gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) signal pathway enrichment analyses. Additionally, molecular docking was used to verify the characteristics of the key candidate components interacting with the hub therapeutic targets. Finally, we established an inflammatory injury model of LPS using RAW264.7 macrophages and used it to experimentally validate the critical active ingredients. Cangzhu effectively protected against gouty arthritis in vivo , and network pharmacology results revealed various active ingredients in Cangzhu, such as wogonin, atractylenolide I and atractylenolide II. These compounds were found to act on 16 hub targets, including tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin-1β (IL-1β), prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (PTGS2), recombinant mitogen-activated protein kinase 14 (MAPK14) and transcription factor p65 (RELA), which have significant effects on regulating inflammatory factors and apoptosis-related pathways to improve the proinflammatory or anti-inflammatory imbalance in the body, and this may be one of the underlying mechanisms of Cangzhu in anti-GA. Our findings revealed that Cangzhu comprises multiple active components that exert various targeted effects during GA treatment. These findings provide relevant insights to illuminate the mechanism of Cangzhu in the treatment of GA and provide a reference for further experimental research. Part 1: pharmacodynamic experiment on rats in vivo. Part 2: Composition analysis of the Cangzhu decoction. Part 3: prediction of network pharmacology of Cangzhu and verification by in vitro cell experiments. [Display omitted] • This research lays the foundation for CZ's clinical application and further experimental research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a fundamental resource for human beings, cultivated land contributes significantly to the sustainable development of society. Investigating cultivated land stability in semiarid areas with a fragile ecology is essential for stabilizing agricultural production and preserving environmental security. The objective of this study was to evaluate cultivated land stability by combining the growth root normalized difference vegetation index (GRNDVI) and precipitation during the crop growing season from 2015 to 2019 in the Horqin Zuoyihou Banner. The productivity of cultivated land was categorized into five levels by the relative criterion, and the minimum productivity level was chosen to represent the stability level. The results showed that a variation in precipitation was evident across both years and crop growing seasons; approximately 66.78% of the cultivated land was classified as moderately stable, 6.55% was classified as highly stable, 22.14% was classified as marginally stable, 0.91% was classified as extremely stable, and 3.62% was classified as unstable. Extremely and highly stable cultivated lands were dominant at the eastern and southern ends of the region, and marginal and unstable cultivated lands were principally present in the west and north while moderately stable land was distributed extensively. Cultivated land stability was affected substantially by water availability and topography, indicating that cultivated land with high levels of stability was distributed more in areas with abundant water and flat terrain. Marginally stable and unstable cultivated lands should be returned to their previous vegetation covers, with priority given to planting appropriate sandy plants to restore ecological integrity. Such evaluation outcomes are meaningful for optimizing the distribution of cultivated land and facilitating the sustainable utilization of land resources. • The temporal distribution of precipitation during the growing season is crucial. • Cultivated land stability is clearly affected by topography and water conditions. • Optimal land utilization was proposed based on cultivated land stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metals and organic pollutants are prevalent in water bodies, causing great damage to the environment and human beings. Hence, it is urgent to develop a kind of adsorbent with good performance. Anion interlacing layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are a promising adsorbent for the sustainable removal of heavy metal ions and dyes from wastewater. Using aluminum chloride, zinc chloride and ammonium pentaborate tetrahydrate (NH 4 B 5 O 8 · 4H 2 O, BA) as raw materials, the LDHs complex (BA-LDHs) of B 5 O 8 - intercalation was prepared by one-step hydrothermal method. The BA-LDHs samples were characterized by a X-ray powder diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR) and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method. The results showed that B 5 O 8 - was successfully intercalated. Adsorption experimental results suggested that BA-LDHs possess a maximum adsorption capacity of 18.7, 57.5, 70.2, and 3.12 mg·g -1 for Cd(II), Cu(II), Cr(VI) and Methylene blue (MB) at C s = 2 g·L -1 , respectively. The adsorption experiment conforms to the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption models, and the kinetic adsorption data are well fitted by the pseudo-second-order adsorption kinetic equation. The as-prepared BA-LDHs have potential application prospects in the removal of heavy metals and dyes in wastewater. More importantly, they also provide a strategy for preparing selective adsorbents.

The surge in non-grain production on farmland (NGPF) poses significant threats to food security and land sustainability, particularly in hilly regions. However, there remains a lack of clarity on how to effectively balance grain and non-grain production in relation to land remediation. Using Wannian County as a case study, we investigate the evolution of this by leveraging high-precision land surveys and satellite imagery. Through the application of bootstrapped partial linear regression models, we identify key influencers behind each type of NGPF. In proposing land remediation solutions, we integrate the results of NGPF and land quality evaluations to identify mismatches between non-grain production and land attributes (i.e., topography, geology, soil, and land use). Our findings reveal a substantial growth in NGPF, expanding from 3838.72 ha to 5659.64 ha (2010-2020), and predominantly occurring on farmland with favorable natural conditions and connected locations such as proximity to roads, town centers, and industrial plants. Surprisingly, the basic farmland protection policy shows limited effectiveness in curbing NGPF, except for garden operations. We identify 1674 NGPF patches suitable for conversion to grain production and provide land remediation suggestions tailored to low-quality farmland with specific natural barriers, thus complementing the demand for regional non-grain production. This study thereby innovatively proposes nature-based land remediation strategies to address the non-grain production dilemma by tailoring NGPF and land quality, offering valuable insights for sustainable farmland management in China and beyond., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Insufficient endosomal escape presents a major hurdle for successful nucleic acid therapy. Here, for the first time, a chemical electron transfer (CET) system was integrated into small interfering RNA (siRNA) lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). The CET acceptor can be chemically excited using the generated energy between the donor and hydrogen peroxide, which triggers the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), promoting endosomal lipid membrane destabilization. Tetra-oleoyl tri-lysino succinoyl tetraethylene pentamine was included as an ionizable lipopeptide with a U-shaped topology for effective siRNA encapsulation and pH-induced endosomal escape. LNPs loaded with siRNA and CET components demonstrated a more efficient endosomal escape, as evidenced by a galectin-8-mRuby reporter; ROS significantly augmented galectin-8 recruitment by at least threefold compared with the control groups, with a p value of 0.03. Moreover, CET-enhanced LNPs achieved a 24% improvement in apoptosis level by knocking down the tumor-protective gene nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2, boosting the CET-mediated ROS cell killing.

Density functional theory (DFT) was employed to elucidate the mechanisms for ozonolysis reaction of p-nitrophenol (PNP) and its anion form aPNP. Thermodynamic data, coupled with Average Local Ionization Energies (ALIE) analysis, reveal that the ortho-positions of the OH/O - groups are the most favorable reaction sites. Moreover, rate constant calculations demonstrate that the O 3 attack on the C2-C3 bond is the predominant process in the reaction between neutral PNP and O 3 . For the aPNP + O 3 reaction, the most favorable pathways involve O 3 attacking the C1-C2 and C6-C1 bonds. The rate constant for PNP ozonolysis positively correlates with pH, ranging from 5.47 × 10 8 to 2.86 × 10 9  M -1  s -1 in the natural aquatic environment. In addition, the formation of hydroxyl radicals in the ozonation process of PNP and the mechanisms of its synergistic reaction of PNP with ozone were investigated. Furthermore, the ozonation and hydroxylation processes involving the intermediate OH-derivatives were both thermodynamically and kinetic analyzed, which illustrate that OH radicals could promote the elimination of PNP. Finally, the toxic of PNP and the main products for fish, daphnia, green algae and rat were assessed. The findings reveal that certain intermediates possess greater toxicity than the original reactant. Consequently, the potential health risks these compounds pose to organisms warrant serious consideration., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.)

Blast furnace slag (BFS) is a kind of waste produced in industrial production, as well as a valuable secondary resource. In this paper, layered double hydroxides composites (BFS/LDHs) were prepared by aqueous polymerization, with industrial waste BFS as modifier and magnesium nitrate, aluminium nitrate, and urea as raw materials. BFS/LDHs have been characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), fourier infrared spectrometer (FT IR), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and the specific surface area analyser (BET). The adsorption of BFS/LDHs on Cu (II) and methylene blue (MB) was investigated by batch experiments. The results showed that the adsorption capacity of BFS/LDHs to Cu (II) is stronger than that of MB. What's more, the solid concentration effect was found in the process of sorption kinetics and sorption isotherms. The sorption kinetics curves of Cu (II) and MB on BFS/LDHs were well fitted by the quasi-second-order kinetics under different adsorbent concentrations. Langmuir and Freundlich sorption isotherm models were used to analyse the adsorption. It showed that the adsorption conforms to Langmuir and Freundlich's adsorption isotherm models. The BFS/LDHs composites have good recycling availability in this adsorption process of Cu (II) and MB, the removal capacity of which was reduced by 16.1% and 3.8% after being recycled for six times, respectively. More importantly, BFS/LDHs composites are not only expected to become a sewage treatment agent, but also to solve the problem of industrial waste treatment, which is a win-win strategy.

An iodoform-promoted functionalization of ether with secondary sulfonyl amides under visible-light irradiation was developed toward synthesis of hemiaminal skeleton with good to excellent isolated yields. The characterization of the isolated ether and iodoform complex revealed regioselective hydrogen atom transfer to initiate carbon radical formation and enabled the amination reaction with the sulfonamide.

Carbon nanodots present resistance to photobleaching, bright photoluminescence, and superior biocompatibility, making them highly promising for bioimaging applications. Herein, nanoprobes were caged with four-armed oligomers and subsequently modified with a novel DBCO-PEG-modified retro-enantio peptide ligand reL57, enhancing cellular uptake into U87MG glioma cells highly expressing low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 1 (LRP1). A key point in the development of the oligomers was the incorporation of ε-amino-linked lysines instead of standard α-amino-linked lysines, which considerably extended the contour length per monomer. The four-armed oligomer 1696 was identified as the best performer, spanning a contour length of ~8.42 nm for each arm, and was based on an altering motive of two cationic ε-amidated lysine tripeptides and two tyrosine tripeptides for electrostatic and aromatic stabilization of the resulting formulations, cysteines for disulfide-based caging, and N-terminal azidolysines for click-modification. This work highlights that well-designed four-armed oligomers can be used for noncovalent coating and covalent caging of nanoprobes, and click modification using a novel LRP1-directed peptide ligand facilitates delivery into receptor-expressing target cells.

Traditional Chinese medicine offer unique advantages in mitigating and preventing early or intermediate stage for treating heart failure (HF). The purpose of this study was to assess the in vivo therapeutic efficacy of Xin-shu-bao (XSB) at different stages of HF following induction of a myocardial infarction (MI) in mice and use mass spectrometry-based proteomics to identify potential therapeutic targets for different stages of HF based on the molecular changes following XSB treatment. XSB had high cardioprotective efficacy in the pre-HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) stages, but had a weak or no effect in the post-HFrEF stages. This was supported by echocardiographic measurements showing that XSB decreased ejection fraction and fractional shortening in HF. XSB administration improved cardiac function in the pre- and post-HFrEF mouse model, ameliorated deleterious changes to the morphology and subcellular structure of cardiomyocytes, and reduced cardiac fibrosis. Proteomics analysis showed that XSB intervention exclusively targeted thrombomodulin (THBD) and stromal interaction molecule 1 (STIM1) proteins when administered to the mice for both 8 and 6 weeks. Furthermore, XSB intervention for 8, 6, and 4 weeks after MI induction increased the expression of fibroblast growth factor 1 (FGF1) and decreased arrestin β1 (ARRB1), which are classic biomarkers of cardiac fibroblast transformation and collagen synthesis, respectively. Overall, the study suggests that early intervention with XSB could be an effective strategy for preventing HFrEF and highlights potential therapeutic targets for further investigation into HFrEF remediation strategies., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest There are no any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations interests conflicts to declare., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.)

Industrial heavy metal-contaminated wastewater is one of the main water pollution problems. Adsorbents are a promising method for the removal of heavy metal contaminants. Herein, polyaspartic acid/carboxymethyl poplar sawdust hydrogels (PASP/CMPP) and ascorbic acid/carboxymethyl poplar sawdust hydrogels (VC/CMPP) were prepared by aqueous polymerization using alkalized poplar sawdust (CMPP) as the substrate and PASP and vitamin C (VC) as modifiers. The effective results, provided by the characterization analysis of SEM and BET, indicate that the surface of the PASP/CMPP hydrogel has a larger number of loose pores and a larger pore volume than the VC/CMPP hydrogel. The treatment effects of the two hydrogels on simulated wastewater containing Cd(II) were investigated by a batch of experiments. The results showed that PASP/CMPP had a better adsorption effect than VC/CMPP under the same adsorption conditions. Interestingly, the solid concentration effect was found in the process of sorption kinetics and sorption isotherms. The sorption kinetic curves of Cd(II) on PASP/CMPP were well-fitted by the quasi-second-order kinetics under different adsorbent concentrations. The adsorption conforms to Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherm models. More importantly, PASP/CMPP composites are expected to be used as a new kind of environmental adsorbent for wastewater treatment.

Symbiotic nitrogen fixation boosts legume growth and production in nitrogen-poor soils. It has long been assumed that fixed nitrogen increases reproductive success, but until now, the regulatory mechanism was unknown. Here, we report a symbiotic flowering pathway that couples symbiotic and nutrient signals to the flowering induction pathway in legumes. We show that the symbiotic microRNA-microRNA172c (miR172c) and fixed nitrogen systemically and synergistically convey symbiotic and nutritional cues from roots to leaves to promote soybean ( Glycine max ) flowering. The combinations of symbiotic miR172c and local miR172c elicited by fixed nitrogen and development in leaves activate florigen-encoding FLOWERING LOCUS T ( FT ) homologs ( GmFT2a/5a ) by repressing TARGET OF EAT1-like 4a ( GmTOE4a ). Thus, FTs trigger reproductive development, which allows legumes to survive and reproduce under low-nitrogen conditions.

A soybean protein-based adhesive with desired adhesion properties and low processing cost is prepared by a simple and practical method, which is of great significance to the sustainable utilization of resources and human health. Nevertheless, the protein of high-temperature soybean meal (HSM) has a high degree of denaturation and low solubility, endowing the resultant soybean-based adhesive with a high viscosity and unstable bonding performance. Herein, we propose the strategy of protein molecular recombination to improve the bonding properties of the adhesive. First, chemical denaturation was carried out under the combined action of sodium sulfite, sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium hydroxide, urea, or sodium dodecyl sulfate/sodium hydroxide to reshape the structure of the protein to release active groups. Then, thermal treatment was employed to facilitate the protein repolymerization and protein-carbohydrate Maillard reaction. Meanwhile, the epichlorohydrin-modified polyamide (PAE) as a crosslinking agent was introduced to recombine unfolded protein and the products from Maillard reaction to develop an eco-friendly soy protein-based adhesive with an excellent and stable bonding performance. As expected, the highest cycle wet bond strength of the adhesive sample of 1.20 MPa was attained by adding a combination of 2% SDS and 0.5% sodium hydroxide, exceeding the value required for structural use (0.98 MPa) of 22.44% according to the JIS K6806-2003 commercial standard. Moreover, the adhesive possessed the preferable viscosity and viscosity stability accompanied by good wettability. Noteworthily, the adhesive had a short time of dry glue, which could be solved by combining it with soybean meal (SM) at the ratio of 30:10., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Praeruptorin A (PA) is a natural coumarin compound from the roots of Radix Peucedani and is commonly used in the treatment of certain respiratory diseases and hypertension. Although previous studies identified relaxant effects of PA on tracheal and arterial preparations, little is known about its vasodilative effects and underlying mechanisms. Here, an organ bath system and tension recording methods were used to prepare and analyze isolated rat thoracic aorta artery rings. Aorta artery rings were pre-contracted with phenylephrine and then incubated with PA, and the possible mechanism of relaxation was investigated by adding inhibitors of nitric oxide synthase (NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, L-NAME), endothelial nitric oxide synthase (L-NG-nitroarginine, L-NNA), cyclooxygenase (indomethacin), guanylyl cyclase (1 H-[1,2,4]oxadiazolo [4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one, ODQ), and KCa channels (tetraethylammonium, TEA). Our study showed that PA-induced vasodilation was blocked by L-NAME, L-NNA, and ODQ, while CaCl 2 -induced vasoconstriction was countered by PA. Thus, PA may exert a vasodilatory effect by influencing the amounts of endothelium-derived relaxing factors through endothelial-dependent NO-cGMP and prostacyclin pathways (such as NO and prostacyclin 2). In the rat thoracic aorta, PA reduces vasoconstriction by inhibiting Ca 2+ inflow.

Nanomaterials-based prodrug activation systems have been widely explored in cancer therapy, aiming at overcoming limited dosage formulation, systemic toxicity, and insufficient pharmacokinetic performance of parent drugs. For better delivery control, various stimuli systems, especially nanomaterials-based ones, have come to the forefront. Among them, near-infrared (NIR) light takes advantage of on-demand/site-specific regulation and non-invasiveness. In this review, we will address the developments of nanomaterials-based prodrug over the last decade, the activation mechanisms, and bioapplications under NIR light triggering. The advantages and limitations of NIR-triggered prodrug activation strategies and the perspectives of the next-generation prodrug nanomedicine will also be summarized. This article is categorized under: Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Nanomedicine for Oncologic Disease Therapeutic Approaches and Drug Discovery > Emerging Technologies., (© 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Enzymes have been used to direct the conversion of prodrugs in cancer therapy. However, non-specific distribution of endogenous enzymes seriously hinders their bioapplications. Herein, we developed a near-infrared-triggered locoregional chemo-photothermal therapy based on the exogenous enzyme delivery and remolded tumor mivroenvironment. The catalytic efficiency of enzymes was enhanced by the hyperthermia, and the therapeutic efficacy of photothermal therapy (PTT) was improved owing to the inhibition of heat shock protein 90 by chemotherapeutics. The locoregional chemo-phototherapy achieved a one-time successful cure in 4T1 tumor-bearing mice model. Thus, a mutually reinforcing feedback loop between PTT and chemotherapy can be initiated by the irradiation, which holds a promising future in cancer therapy., (© 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The Lhasa River basin is the economic and population center of Tibet and has abundant resources. Due to its harsh weather condition, high elevation, and inconvenient accessibility, few studies have focused on heavy metal distributions in this region. In the present study, to investigate the dissolved trace metal pollution and its controlling factors, 57 water samples from the Lhasa River and its tributaries were collected during three water flow regimes in 2016. The data on the dissolved fraction revealed that the Lhasa River basin appeared to have no to low pollution levels. However, the Lhasa River water showed alkaline characteristics which may affect the presence of heavy metal elements in a dissolved fraction. The concentration of heavy metal elements in colloidal or particulate matter therefore needs attention. Multivariate analyses were performed to determine the significant relationship between the data and to identify controlling factors for dissolved heavy metals in the study area. The results suggested that Mn, Cd, Cu, and Zn originated from a natural geological background, whereas Pb originated from mining drainage and As was influenced by geothermal flows. The concentration of dissolved heavy metals in the Meldromarchu tributary was greatly affected by the mining drainage water, while that in the Tölungchu tributary was greatly influenced by the geothermal water sources. This paper provides the first comprehensive analysis of dissolved heavy metal pollution characteristics and the controlling factors of pollution during the three different water flow regimes of the Lhasa River basin.

In this paper, we study finite-time stability of fractional differential systems with variable coefficients, which includes the homogeneous and nonhomogeneous delayed cases. Based on the theories of fractional differential equations, we obtain three theorems on the finite-time stability, which give some sufficient conditions on finite-time stability, respectively, for homogeneous systems without and with time delay and for the nonhomogeneous system with time delay.

This paper presents a brief overview of recent developments in chaos synchronization in coupled fractional differential systems, where the original viewpoints are retained. In addition to complete synchronization, several other extended concepts of synchronization, such as projective synchronization, hybrid projective synchronization, function projective synchronization, generalized synchronization and generalized projective synchronization in fractional differential systems, are reviewed.

The equivalent system for a multiple-rational-order (MRO) fractional differential system is studied, where the fractional derivative is in the sense of Caputo or Riemann-Liouville. With the relationship between the Caputo derivative and the generalized fractional derivative, we can change the MRO fractional differential system with a Caputo derivative into a higher-dimensional system with the same Caputo derivative order lying in (0,1). The stability of the zero solution to the original system is studied through the analysis of its equivalent system. For the Riemann-Liouville case, we transform the MRO fractional differential system into a new one with the same order lying in (0,1), where the properties of the Riemann-Liouville derivative operator and the fractional integral operator are used. The corresponding stability is also studied. Finally, several numerical examples are provided to illustrate the derived results.