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Due to the challenges of an increasing planetary temperature and limited natural resources, quantifying anthropogenic pressure on the natural environment is of increasingly great importance. Although “footprint” has been widely discussed for describing certain anthropogenic impacts on the environment, comprehensive analyses of multiple environmental footprints are seldom conducted. Hence, this study tries to evaluate consumption-based footprints covering water, greenhouse gasses, and pollutants by using the environmentally extended input-output table. Taking Japan as an example, six water sources, including potable water, non-potable water, underground water, green water, reclaimed water, and seawater, are thoroughly analyzed to determine the water footprint from production to consumption. In addition, the greenhouse gas footprint and pollutant footprint are also analyzed separately. The comprehensive insights from consumption-based accounting provide another picture of environmental burdens, which will benefit future consumption-based measurements.

Indoor air quality and human health have proven to be related, but for home environment air quality detection system equipment accuracy is not high problem. This paper designs an air quality detection system that effectively handles the information of indoor air pollution. The microcontroller unit (MCU) STC12C5A was taken as the core to realize the detection and display of particulate matter (PM) 2.5 concentration, temperature, and humidity. Compared with the measurements by standard instruments, our system was proved effective through tests: the relative error of PM2.5 concentration was smaller than 3μg/m3; the temperature error was within 1℃; the humidity error was below 5% relative humidity (RH). This research provides an effective way to detect indoor air quality. The results of this paper are suitable for home environment and have a good application prospect.

This investigation aimed to explore the underlying prognosis-associated microRNA (miRNA) biomarkers in endometrial cancer. Homo sapiens miRNA data set GSE35794 and miRNA data in TGGA database were downloaded and applied to screen the differentially expressed miRNAs (DE-miRNAs) using unpaired t-test in limma package in R. Basing on Venn analysis, the overlapped DE-miRNAs were screened and their potential targets were predicted according to miRWalk followed by target functional enrichment analyses and protein-protein interaction network visualized using Cytoscape. Finally, according to the information provided by the The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database, correlations between miRNAs or targets and patient prognosis were analyzed by survival package in R. A total of 24 overlapped DE-miRNAs were identified between endometrioid endometrial cancer samples and normal samples. Then, the miRNA-target regulatory network was constructed, including 11 upregulated miRNAs (e.g., miR-200a, miR-200b, and miR-200c) and five downregulated miRNAs (e.g., miR-449a, miR-145-5p, and miR-145-3p). Lymphocyte enhancer factor-1 (LEF1) was predicted to be a target of miR-449a and SOX11 was a target of miR-145-5p. Functional enrichment analyses of these targets were significantly related to the biological process of "negative regulation of transcription from RNA polymerase II promoter" and "positive regulation of transcription from RNA polymerase II promoter" (e.g., NOTCH1, LEF1, and SOX11). In addition, survival analysis showed that miR-449a, miR-145-5p, and LEF1 were approximately correlated with the overall survival prognosis of endometrial cancer patients. Downregulations of miR-449a and miR-145-5p might be involved in the pathogenesis of endometrial cancer and could act as prognostic biomarkers for endometrial cancer patients.

Understanding the behavior of consumers and especially the purchase-related behavior has been a focus of research for the past decades. Thus, researchers and practitioners are curious to know how purchase patterns are different under different conditions such as product category, price, feeling, and so on. The primary focus of this study was to examine how the price of the products influences the purchase behavior of consumers across hedonic and utilitarian categories under regulatory focus theory (RFT). The secondary insight was to examine how mood can moderate this impact. We conducted three experimental studies to examine these research questions regarding the preference of consumers of hedonic (utilitarian) products when the price is low (high) and at different mood conditions in this purchase process. The results confirmed our hypothesis that product category has a significant impact on purchase choice of products and mood can mediate this impact. In the last section, we discussed the theoretical contribution, strategic insights for product designers and marketers, and possible future research directions.

Liver X receptor α (LXRα) controls a set of key genes involved in cholesterol metabolism. However, the molecular mechanism of this regulation remains unknown. The regulatory role of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) in cholesterol metabolism in the liver was examined. Activation of PARP1 in the liver suppressed LXRα sensing and prevented upregulation of genes involved in HCD-induced cholesterol disposal. Mechanistically, LXRα was poly(ADP-ribosyl)ated by activated PARP1, which decreased DNA binding capacity of LXRα, thus preventing its recruitment to the target promoter. Intriguingly, we found that unactivated PARP1 was indispensable for LXRα transactivation and target expression. Further exploration identified unactivated PARP1 as an essential component of the LXRα-promoter complex. Taken together, the results indicate that activated PARP1 suppresses LXRα activation through poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation, while unactivated PARP1 promotes LXRα activation through physical interaction. PARP1 is a pivotal regulator of LXRα signaling and cholesterol metabolism in the liver.

Objective This study aims to identify serum microRNAs (miRNAs) related to ovarian cancer. Study design MiRNA profiling data (GSE79943) were generated from the Gene Expression Omnibus, including 3 serum samples from healthy individuals and 4/3/16/6 serum samples from patients with ovarian cancer stage I/II/III/IV. Differentially expressed miRNAs (DEmiRNAs) were identified between controls and ovarian cancer stage I/II/III/IV by using limma package (p-value Results Between stage I/II/III/IV and control, 39/143/29/39 DEmiRNAs were identified, which were regarded as key miRNAs. Between 4 DEmiRNA sets, 15 common DEmiRNAs were identified (e.g. up-regulated hsa-miR-1181 and hsa-miR-4314). Hsa-miR-1181 participated in “Jak-STAT signaling pathway” and “miRNAs in cancer”; hsa-miR-4314 took part in cancer-related pathways. STAT3 and KRAS, known marker genes of ovarian cancer, were targeted by hsa-miR-1181 and hsa-miR-4314, respectively. Besides, FOXP1 was targeted by hsa-miR-1181; FOXP1-AS1 and FOXP1-IT1 were down-regulated in ovarian cancer. GRWD1, IP6K1, and NEGR1 were targeted by hsa-miR-4314; GRWD1, IP6K1, and NEGR1 were down-regulated in ovarian tumor. Conclusion MiR-1181 and miR-4314 might promote ovarian tumorigenesis via down-regulating FOXP1 and GRWD1/IP6K1/NEGR1, respectively. In addition, the 15 common DEmiRNAs might provide directions for ovarian cancer diagnosis.

Background This study was aimed at screening out the potential key genes and pathways associated with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Methods The GSE70493 dataset used for this study was obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the placental tissue of women with GDM in relation to the control tissue samples were identified and submitted to protein-protein interaction (PPI) network analysis and subnetwork module mining. Functional enrichment analyses of the PPI network and subnetworks were subsequently carried out. Finally, the integrated miRNA–transcription factor (TF)–DEG regulatory network was analyzed. Results In total, 238 DEGs were identified, of which 162 were upregulated and 76 were downregulated. Through PPI network construction, 108 nodes and 278 gene pairs were obtained, from which chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 9 (CXCL9), CXCL10, protein tyrosine phosphatase, receptor type C (PTPRC), and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) were screened out as hub genes. Moreover, genes associated with the immune-related pathway and immune responses were found to be significantly enriched in the process of GDM. Finally, miRNAs and TFs that target the DEGs were predicted. Conclusions Four candidate genes (viz., CXCL9, CXCL10, PTPRC, and HLA) are closely related to GDM. miR-223-3p, miR-520, and thioredoxin-binding protein may play important roles in the pathogenesis of this disease.

This study investigates the reflectance of the defective mode (DM) and the lateral shift of reflected beam in defective photonic crystals incorporated with single-layer graphene by the transfer matrix method (TMM). Graphene, treated as an equivalent dielectric with a thickness of 0.34 nm, was embedded in the center of a defect layer. The reflectance of the DM was greatly enhanced as the intraband transition of electrons was converted to an interband transition in graphene. The reflectance of the DM could be further enhanced by increasing the Bragg periodic number. Furthermore, a large lateral shift of the reflected beam could also be induced around the DM. This study may find great applications in highly sensitive sensors.

This study investigated effects of longan seed polyphenols (LSPs) on the structure and digestion properties of starch, and discussed the interaction mechanism between starch and LSPs. The results showed cooking with 20 % LSPs did not change amylopectin chain length distribution of normal maize starch, however, the amylose content was reduced from 21.60 to 14.03 %. This suggests LSPs may interact with starch via non-covalent bond. Isothermal titration microcalorimetry and XRD results confirmed the existence of non-covalent interaction, and indicated that LSPs may enter the hydrophobic cavity of amylose, forming V-type inclusion complex. LSPs did not affect gelatinization temperatures of maize starch, whereas 20 % LSPs decreased the enthalpy change by about 26 %. The digestion results indicate significant inhibition effect of LSPs on the digestion of cooked starch, attributing to the interaction of LSPs with starch. These suggest potential applications of LSPs as functional ingredients in modulating postprandial glycemic response of starchy food.

The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of a small dose of aspirin on a quantitative test of 24-h urinary protein in patients with hypertension in pregnancy. In total, 224 patients with hypertension in pregnancy were continuously selected and were randomly divided into the control group (50 cases with conventional therapy), aspirin 50 mg/day group (60 cases), aspirin 75 mg/day group (58 cases), and aspirin 100 mg/day group (56 cases). Clinical effects were compared from 16 gestational weeks to childbirth. According to the comparison in the four groups, there was no statistical difference in the mean arterial pressure, pre-eclampsia rate, gestational weeks, and caesarean section rate (p>0.05). The 24-h urinary protein and endothelin-1 (ET-1) level were significantly decreased following treatment, and were less than the control and 50 mg/day groups. The superoxide dismutase (SOD) level was significantly increased, and higher than the control and 50 mg/day groups. In terms of the 75 and 100 mg/day, control and 50 mg/day groups, there was no statistical difference (p>0.05). A comparison of the complication rate in the four groups of fetuses during the perinatal period, no statistical difference was observed (p>0.05). Thus, the results show that, regarding patients with hypertension in pregnancy, 75 mg/day aspirin can decrease the 24-h urinary protein, SOD, and ET-1 level. However, the results remain to be confirmed to improve maternal and infant outcome in delivery.

Understanding the role of contacts and interfaces between ferromagnetic metals and semiconductors is a critical step for spin injection and transport. Here, high performance solid electrolyte gated ZnO field-effect-transistors (FETs) with ferromagnetic Co contacts as the source and drain electrodes were demonstrated. Solid electrolyte gating provides a large electric field in the FETs that leads to an ohmic contact between the Co electrode and the ZnO film. The contact resistance can be tuned by the gate voltage and reduced to 66 Ω cm. Compared with FETs using a traditional SiO2 dielectric, an improved transistor performance is achieved with a current on/off ratio of 106 and a field-effect mobility of 5.24 cm2 V−1 s−1. The magnetoresistance calculation based on a spin diffusion model indicates that the on-state contact resistance of the solid electrolyte gated FETs falls in the optimal range for the injection and detection of spin-polarized charge carriers. These results reveal that the electrolyte gating allows for engineering the contacts for nanoelectronic and spintronic devices.

We explored exceptional points (EPs) in one dimensional non-Hermitian photonic crystals incorporated with a defect. The defect was asymmetric with respect to the center. Two EPs could be derived by modulating the normalized frequency and the gain-loss coefficient of defect. The reflection coefficient complex phase changed dramatically around EPs, and the change in complex phase was &pi, at EPs. The electric field of EPs was mainly restricted to the defect, which can induce a giant Goos&ndash, H&auml, nchen (GH) shift. Moreover, we found a coherent perfect absorption-laser point (CPA-LP) in the structure. A giant GH shift also existed around the CPA-LP. The study may have found applications in highly sensitive sensors.

Objective The aim of this study was to identify key genes associated with endometriosis. Study design Microarray data GSE7846 was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus. The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in human endometrial endothelial cells derived from eutopic endometrium of patients with endometriosis compared with controls without endometriosis were identified using Linear Models for Microarray Data (LIMMA) package in R. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway and gene ontology (GO) enrichment analyses were performed using DAVID. Moreover, the protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed by STRING and subsequently significantly enriched modules were mined by ClusterONE. Finally, protein domains and KEGG pathway enrichment analyses were performed for PPI modules. Results A total of 687 DEGs were identified, including 584 up- and 103 down-regulated genes. The up-regulated DEGs, such as epidermal growth factor (EGF) and interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) were significantly enriched in KEGG pathways of focal adhesion, ECM–receptor interaction and calcium signaling pathway. Similarly, only one module was obtained form PPI network, and the genes, like angiotensin II receptor, Type 1 (AGTR1) in the module were mainly enriched in protein domain of rhodopsin-like G protein-coupled receptors and most altered pathways of neuroactive ligand–receptor interaction, calcium signaling pathway and vascular smooth muscle contraction. Conclusions Our findings indicate that EGF, IL-1β and AGTR1 may play important roles in the pathogenesis of endometriosis.

Objective Endometrial cancer is a prevalent cancer, and its metastasis causes low survival rate. This study aims to utilize DNA methylation data to investigate the mechanism of the development and metastasis of endometrial cancer. Study design Methylation profiling data were down-loaded from Gene Expression Omnibus, including 8 hyperplasias, 33 primary and 53 metastatic endometrial cancers. COHCAP package and annotation files were utilized to identify differentially methylated genes (DMGs) and CpG islands between the three different endometrial diseases. STRING database and Cytoscape were used to analyze and visualize protein–protein interactions (PPIs) between DMGs. CytoNCA plugin was utilized to identify key nodes in PPI network. Results A total of 610, 1076, and 501 DMGs were identified between primary endometrial cancer and hyperplasia, metastatic endometrial cancer and hyperplasia, as well as metastatic and primary endometrial cancers, respectively. For the three DMG sets, 53 common hypermethylated DMGs (e.g. PAX6 and INSR) and 6 common hypomethylated DMGs (e.g. PRDM8, KLHL14, and DUSP6) were found. For primary-hyperplasia DMG set and metastasis-hyperplasia DMG set, 527 common DMGs were found. For these common DMGs, a PPI network involving 692 PPIs was constructed. For DMGs between metastatic and primary endometrial cancers, a PPI network involving 673 PPIs was established, with PAX6 and INSR in the top 20 DMGs in both networks. PRDM8, KLHL14, and DUSP6 had hypomethylated CpG islands. Conclusion DMGs comparison, PPI network analysis, and analysis of differentially methylated CpG islands indicated that PAX6, INSR, PRDM8, KLHL14, and DUSP6 might participate in the development and metastasis of endometrial cancer.

Complex anti-parity-time symmetric periodic lattices, in a wide frequency band, can act as unidirectional invisible media. The reflection from one end is suppressed while it is enhanced from the other. Furthermore, unidirectional laser points (ULPs) which correspond to the poles of reflection from one end, arise in the parameter space composed of the permittivity and angular frequency. The phase of the reflection coefficient changes sharply near the ULPs. Subsequently, large lateral shift which is proportional to the slope of phase could be induced for the reflected beam. The study may find great applications in unidirectional invisibility, unidirectional lasers and highly sensitive sensors.

Farnesoid X receptor α (FXR) is highly expressed in the liver and regulates the expression of various genes involved in liver repair. In this study, we demonstrated that activated poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) promoted hepatic cell death by inhibiting the expression of FXR-dependent hepatoprotective genes. PARP1 could bind to and poly(ADP-ribosyl)ate FXR. Poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation dissociated FXR from the FXR response element (FXRE), present in the promoters of target genes, and suppressed FXR-mediated gene transcription. Moreover, treatment with a FXR agonist attenuated poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of FXR and promoted FXR-dependent gene expression. We further established the CCl4-induced acute liver injury model in wild-type and FXR-knockout mice and identified an essential role of FXR poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation in CCl4-induced liver injury. Thus, our results identified poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation of FXR by PARP1 as a key step in oxidative-stress-induced hepatic cell death. The molecular association between PARP1 and FXR provides new insight into the mechanism, suggesting that inhibition of PARP1 could prevent liver injury.

Solution-processed thin-film transistors (TFTs) are the essential building blocks for manufacturing the low-cost and large-area consumptive electronics. Herein, solution-processed TFTs based on the composites of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were fabricated by the methods of spin-coating and doctor-blading. Through controlling the weight of SWCNTs, the ZnO/SWCNTs TFTs fabricated by spin-coating demonstrated a field-effect mobility of 4.7 cm2/Vs and a low threshold voltage of 0.8 V, while the TFTs devices fabricated by doctor-blading technique showed reasonable electrical performance with a mobility of 0.22 cm2/Vs. Furthermore, the ion-gel was used as an efficient electrochemical gate dielectric because of its large electric double-layer capacitance. The operating voltage of all the TFTs devices is as low as 4.0 V. The research suggests that ZnO/SWCNTs TFTs have the potential applications in low-cost, large-area and flexible consumptive electronics, such as chemical–biological sensors and smart label.

Lithium-doped zinc oxide (Li-ZnO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated by solution process at the low temperatures ranged from 100 to 300 °C. Li-ZnO TFTs fabricated at 300 °C under nitrogen condition showed a mobility of 1.2 cm2/Vs. Most importantly, the mobility of Li-ZnO TFT devices fabricated at 100 °C could be increased significantly from 0.08 to 0.4 cm2/Vs by using double spin-coated and UV irradiation-treated Li-ZnO film, and the on-/off-current ratio is in the order of 106. Notably, the XPS analyses proved that the performance improvement was originated from the chemical composition or stoichiometry evolution, in which the hydroxide was converted into metal oxide and accelerated the formation of the oxygen vacancies. Furthermore, low-voltage operating Li-ZnO TFTs were demonstrated by using a high-capacitance ion gel gate dielectrics. The Li-ZnO TFTs with an operating voltage as low as 2 V exhibited the carrier mobilities of 2.1 and 0.65 cm2/Vs for the devices treated at 300 and 100 °C, respectively. The low-temperature, solution-processed Li-ZnO TFTs showed greatly potential applications in flexible displays, smart label, and sensors.

We first consider a supply chain with one manufacturer and one retailer where there is only one product with stochastic demand. The retailer is risk averse with Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR) as her risk measure and the manufacturer is a risk-neutral agent. We model the problem as a Nash-bargaining problem where the manufacturer and the retailer negotiate about the wholesale price and order quantity. We show that there exists a Nash-bargaining equilibrium for the wholesale price and order quantity with equal and unequal bargaining power. We also find that even for the equal bargaining power between the two agents, the retailer's bargaining power for the supply chain profit increases as she becomes more risk averse. We then extend the model to the case where demand is endogenous and can be manipulated by setting the retail price. We show that there exists a Nash-bargaining equilibrium for the wholesale price, retail price and the order quantity under equal bargaining power.

In recent years, membrane technologies have been developed to address water shortage and energy crisis. Forward osmosis (FO), as an emerging membrane-based water treatment technology, employs an extremely concentrated draw solution (DS) to draw water pass through the semi-permeable membrane from a feed solution. DS as a critical material in FO process plays a key role in determining separation performance and energy cost. Most of existing DSs after FO still require a regeneration step making its return to initial state. Therefore, selecting suitable DS with low reverse solute, high flux, and easy regeneration is critical for improving FO energy efficiency. Numerous novel DSs with improved performance and lower regeneration cost have been developed. However, none reviews reported the categories of DS based on the energy used for recovery up to now, leading to the lack of enough awareness of energy consumption in DS regeneration. This review will give a comprehensive overview on the existing DSs based on the types of energy utilized for DS regeneration. DS categories based on different types of energy used for DS recovery, mainly including direct use based, chemical energy based, waste heat based, electric energy based, magnetic field energy based, and solar energy based are proposed. The respective benefits and detriments of the majority of DS are addressed respectively according to the current reported literatures. Finally, future directions of energy applied to DS recovery are also discussed.

This paper mainly studied the video streaming transimission in 802.11b/e wireless network and proposed two methods of quality assessment: one is objective quality assessment method based on PSNR and the other is the method based on the decodable frame ratio model. In order to analyze the effect of transmission, this paper building simulation model in ns2 and verify the performance of video streaming transimission in wireless networks. The method of the simulation analysis provides the beneficial reference for the wireless network of more effectively in multimedia data transmission.

We consider a channel bargaining problem in a two-echelon supply chain in this paper. Employing a loss-aversion utility function, we model the decision-making behavior of a loss-averse retailer and a risk-neutral manufacturer which is very common in practice. By investigating the equilibrium optimal order quantity and the equilibrium optimal wholesale price, we find that there exit equilibria for the equal bargaining power problem as well as for the unequal bargaining power problem. By analyzing the impacts on the equilibria and profit allocations and assuming the stochastic demand follows a uniform distribution with support over [0, b], we find that equilibrium wholesale price and the manufacturer's share of supply chain are not changing with the uniform demand distribution upper bound. However, equilibrium order quantity is strictly increasing with the uniform demand distribution upper bound.

Copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) nanostructure crystals, including nanoflower, nanoribbon, and nanowire, were controllably fabricated by temperature gradient physical vapor deposition (TG-PVD) through controlling the growth parameters. In a controllable growth system with carrier gas N2, nanoflower, nanoribbon, and nanowire crystals were formed in a high-temperature zone, medium-temperature zone, and low-temperature zone, respectively. They were proved to be β-phase, coexist of α-phase and β-phase, and α-phase respectively based on x-ray diffraction results. Furthermore, ultralong CuPc nanowires up to several millimeters could be fabricated by TG-PVD without carrier gas, and they were well-aligned to form large-area CuPc nanowire crystal arrays by the Langmuir-Blodgett method. The nanostructure crystals showed unusual optical absorption spectra from the ultraviolet-visible to near-infrared range, which was explained by the diffraction and scattering caused by the wavelength-sized nanostructures. These CuPc nanostructure crystals show potential applications in organic electronic and optoelectronic devices.