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[Objective] Sustainable Development Goal 15.3.1 (SDG 15.3.1) is one of the important indicators to characterize land degradation.Exploring the impact of land use change and ecosystem service values (ESVs) on SDG 15.3.1 is a key factor to improve land degradation. [Methods] Based on land use and carbon stock changes, a new evaluation rule was established for SDG15.3.1 index, and the completion of SDG 15.3.1 was evaluated. The equivalent factor method was used to calculate the value of ecosystem services to quantitatively analyse the impact of land use change on ESV. [Results] (1) The land use type change was frequent in the study area, which mainly showed that high forest land, water body and construction land increased, cultivated land, grassland and shrub decreased, and unused land remained basically unchanged; (2) The spatial distribution pattern of ESV was high in the middle, low arround, high in the west and low in the east; From 2000 to 2020, the total ESV loss was 7.32×108 yuan. From 2000 to 2010, the ESV loss of land degradation area was 3.03×109 yuan. From 2010 to 2020, the ESV loss in land degradation areas was 2.28×109 yuan. (3) According to the evaluation results of SDG15.3.1, the indicators of SDG15.3.1 for 2000—2010 and 2010—2020 are 5.22 percent and 4.77 percent, respectively, while the net land restoration area was -1.62×105 hm2 and -2.4×105 hm2. The SDG15.3.1 target had improved, but the zero land degradation growed target is still not achieved. [Conclusion] The research results provided a reference for the impact of land use change on ecosystem services in the process of achieving SDG 15.3.1 in plateau urban agglomerations.

Land use conflict is an inevitable and objective phenomenon during regional development, with significant impacts on both regional economic growth and ecological security. Scientifically assessing the spatiotemporal evolution of these conflicts is essential to optimize land use structures and promote sustainable resource utilization. This study employs multi-period land use/land cover remote sensing data from China to develop a model for the measurement of land use conflict from the perspective of the landscape ecological risk. By applying the optimal landscape scale method to determine the most appropriate analysis scale, this research investigates the spatiotemporal evolution characteristics of land use conflicts in the Central Yunnan Urban Agglomeration from 2000 to 2020. Furthermore, by integrating the Patch-Generating Land Use Simulation (PLUS) model with the Multi-Objective Programming (MOP) algorithm, this study simulates the spatial patterns of land use conflict in 2030 under four scenarios: Natural Development (ID), Economic Development (ED), Ecological Conservation (PD), and Sustainable Development (SD). The findings reveal that, from 2000 to 2020, the proportion of areas with strong and moderately strong conflict levels in the Central Yunnan Urban Agglomeration increased by 2.19%, while the proportion of areas with weak and moderately weak conflict levels decreased by 1.45%, underscoring the growing severity of land use conflict. The predictions for 2030 suggest that the spatial pattern of conflict under various scenarios will largely reflect the trends observed in 2020. Under the ID scenario, areas with weak and moderately weak conflict levels constitute 57.5% of the region; this increases by 0.85% under the SD scenario. Conversely, areas experiencing strong and moderately strong conflict levels, which stand at 33.02% under the ID scenario, decrease by 1.04% under the SD scenario. These projections indicate that the SD scenario, which aims to balance ecological conservation with economic development, effectively mitigates land use conflict, making it the most viable strategy for future regional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cell-free (CF) networks can reduce cell boundaries by densely deploying base stations (BSs) with additional hardware costs and power sources. Integrating a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) into CF networks can cost-effectively increase the capacity and coverage of future wireless systems. This paper considers an RIS-aided CF system where each user is supported by a devoted RIS and can establish connections with multiple BSs for coherent transmission. Specifically, each RIS can enhance signal transmission between users and their selected BSs through passive beam-forming, but also randomly scattered signals from other non-selected BSs to users, causing additional signals and interference in the network. To gain insights into the system performance, we first derive the average signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) received by each user in a closed-form expression. Subsequently, we formulate an optimization problem aimed at maximizing the weighted sum-SINR of all users in the RIS-CF network. This optimization considers both BS transmit power allocation and BS selections as variables to be jointly optimized. To tackle the complexity of this nonconvex optimization problem, we develop an innovative two-layer iterative approach that offers both efficiency and efficacy. This algorithm iteratively updates the transmit power allocation and BS selections to converge to a locally optimal solution. Numerical results demonstrate significant performance improvement for the RIS-CF network using our proposed scheme. These results also highlight the effectiveness of jointly optimizing BS transmit power allocation and BS selections in the RIS-CF network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(−)‐Epigallocatechin‐3‐gallate (EGCG) has been shown antibacterial activity against Campylobacter jejuni; however, the relevant antibacterial mechanism is unknown. In this study, phenotypic experiments and RNA sequencing were used to explore the antibacterial mechanism. The minimum inhibitory concentration of EGCG on C. jejuni was 32 µg/mL. EGCG‐treated was able to increase intracellular reactive oxygen species levels and decline bacterial motility. The morphology and cell membrane of C. jejuni after EGCG treatment were observed collapsed, broken, and agglomerated by field emission scanning electron microscopy and fluorescent microscopy. The RNA‐seq analysis presents that there are 36 and 72 differential expressed genes after C. jejuni was treated by EGCG with the concentration of 16 and 32 µg/mL, respectively. EGCG‐treated increased the thioredoxin expression, which was a critical protein to resist oxidative stress. Moreover, downregulation of the flgH and flgM gene in flagellin biosynthesis of C. jejuni was able to impair the flagella, reducing cell motility and virulence. The primary antibacterial mechanism revealed by RNA‐seq is that EGCG with iron‐chelating activity competes with C. jejuni for iron, causing iron deficiency in C. jejuni, which potentially impacts the survival and virulence of C. jejuni. The results suggested a new direction for exploring the activity of EGCG against C. jejuni in the food industry. Practical Application: A deeper understanding of the antibacterial mechanism of EGCG against C. jejuni was more beneficial in improving the food safety, eliminating concerns about human health caused by C. jejuni in future food, and promoting the natural antibacterial agent EGCG application in the food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emerging studies have focused on ways to treat cancers by modulating T cell activation. However, whether B cell receptor signaling in the tumor microenvironment (TME) can be harnessed for immunotherapy is unclear. Here, we report that an Asia-specific variant of human IgG1 containing a Gly396 to Arg396 substitution (hIgG1-G396R) conferred improved survival of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Mice with knockin of the murine functional homolog mIgG2c-G400R recapitulated the alleviated tumorigenesis and progression in murine colon carcinoma models. Immune profiling of the TME revealed broad mobilizations of [IgG1.sup.+] plasma cells, [CD8.sup.+] T cells, [CD103.sup.+] DCs, and active tertiary lymphoid structure formation, suggesting an effective antitumor microenvironment in hIgG1-G396R CRC patients. Mechanistically, this variant potentiated tumorassociated antigen-specific (TAA-specific) plasma cell differentiation and thus antibody production. These elevated TAA-specific IgG2c antibodies in turn efficiently boosted the antibody-dependent tumor cell phagocytosis and TAA presentation to effector [CD8.sup.+] T cells. Notably, adoptive transfer of TAA-specific class-switched memory B cells harboring this variant exhibited therapeutic efficacy in murine tumor models, indicating their clinical potential. All these results prompted a prospective investigation of hIgG1-G396R in patients with CRC as a biomarker for clinical prognosis and demonstrated that manipulating the functionality of [IgG1.sup.+] memory B cells in tumors could improve immunotherapy outcomes., Introduction Effective immune responses are indispensable for optimal cancer treatment; however, tumor cells often evade immune clearance by inhibiting neoantigen presentation and inducing immune silencing in the tumor microenvironment (TME) [...]