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Abstract Resistin-like molecules (RELMs) are highly cysteine-rich proteins, including RELMα, RELMβ, Resistin, and RELMγ. However, RELMs exhibit significant differences in structure, distribution, and function. The expression of RELMs is regulated by various signaling molecules, such as IL-4, IL-13, and their receptors. In addition, RELMs can mediate numerous signaling pathways, including HMGB1/RAGE, IL-4/IL-4Rα, PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathways, and so on. RELMs proteins are involved in wide range of physiological and pathological processes, including inflammatory response, cell proliferation, glucose metabolism, barrier defense, etc., and participate in the progression of numerous diseases such as lung diseases, intestinal diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and cancers. Meanwhile, RELMs can serve as biomarkers, risk predictors, and therapeutic targets for these diseases. An in-depth understanding of the role of RELMs may provide novel targets or strategies for the treatment and prevention of related diseases. Video abstract

Lipid metabolism disorders are pivotal in the development of various lipid-related diseases, such as obesity, atherosclerosis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer. Celastrol, a bioactive compound extracted from the Chinese herb Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F, has recently demonstrated potent lipid-regulating abilities and promising therapeutic effects for lipid-related diseases. There is substantial evidence indicating that celastrol can ameliorate lipid metabolism disorders by regulating lipid profiles and related metabolic processes, including lipid synthesis, catabolism, absorption, transport, and peroxidation. Even wild-type mice show augmented lipid metabolism after treatment with celastrol. This review aims to provide an overview of recent advancements in the lipid-regulating properties of celastrol, as well as to elucidate its underlying molecular mechanisms. Besides, potential strategies for targeted drug delivery and combination therapy are proposed to enhance the lipid-regulating effects of celastrol and avoid the limitations of its clinical application.

Abstract Cancer stem cells (CSCs) are a subpopulation of cancer cells with stem cell properties that sustain cancers, which may be responsible for cancer metastasis or recurrence. Lipid rafts are cholesterol- and sphingolipid-enriched microdomains in the plasma membrane that mediate various intracellular signaling. The occurrence and progression of cancer are closely related to lipid rafts. Emerging evidence indicates that lipid raft levels are significantly enriched in CSCs compared to cancer cells and that most CSC markers such as CD24, CD44, and CD133 are located in lipid rafts. Furthermore, lipid rafts play an essential role in CSCs, specifically in CSC self-renewal, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, drug resistance, and CSC niche. Therefore, lipid rafts are critical regulatory platforms for CSCs and promising therapeutic targets for cancer therapy.

Background: Resistance to cell death, a protective mechanism for removing damaged cells, is a “Hallmark of Cancer” that is essential for cancer progression. Increasing attention to cancer lipid metabolism has revealed a number of pathways that induce cancer cell death. Scope of review: We summarize emerging concepts regarding lipid metabolic reprogramming in cancer that is mainly involved in lipid uptake and trafficking, de novo synthesis and esterification, fatty acid synthesis and oxidation, lipogenesis, and lipolysis. During carcinogenesis and progression, continuous metabolic adaptations are co-opted by cancer cells, to maximize their fitness to the ever-changing environmental. Lipid metabolism and the epigenetic modifying enzymes interact in a bidirectional manner which involves regulating cancer cell death. Moreover, lipids in the tumor microenvironment play unique roles beyond metabolic requirements that promote cancer progression. Finally, we posit potential therapeutic strategies targeting lipid metabolism to improve treatment efficacy and survival of cancer patient. Major conclusions: The profound comprehension of past findings, current trends, and future research directions on resistance to cancer cell death will facilitate the development of novel therapeutic strategies targeting the lipid metabolism.

Compared to diesel, liquefied natural gas (LNG), often used as an alternative fuel for marine engines, comes with significant advantages in reducing emissions of particulate matter (PM), SOx, CO2, and other pollutants. Promoting the use of LNG is of great significance for achieving carbon peaking and neutrality worldwide, as well as improving the energy structure. However, compared to diesel engines, medium- and high-speed marine LNG engines may produce higher methane (CH4) emissions and also have nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission issues. For the removal of CH4 and NOx from the exhaust of marine LNG engines, the traditional technical route of combining a methane oxidation catalyst (MOC) and an HN3 selective catalytic reduction system (NH3-SCR) will face problems, such as low conversion efficiency and high operation cost. In view of this, the technology of non-thermal plasma (NTP) combined with CH4-SCR is proposed. However, the synergistic mechanism between NTP and catalysts is still unclear, which limits the optimization of an NTP-CH4-SCR system. This article summarizes the synergistic mechanism of NTP and catalysts in the integrated treatment process of CH4 and NOx, including experimental analysis and numerical simulation. And the relevant impact parameters (such as electrode diameter, electrode shape, electrode material, and barrier material, etc.) of NTP reactor energy optimization are discussed. The work of this paper is of great significance for guiding the high-efficiency removal of CH4 and NOx for an NTP-CH4-SCR system.

The high level of serum cholesterol caused by the excessive absorption of cholesterol can lead to hypercholesteremia, thus promoting the occurrence and development of cancer. Ezetimibe is a drug that reduces cholesterol absorption and has been widely used for the treatment of patients with high circulating cholesterol levels for many years. Mechanistically, ezetimibe works by binding to NPC1L1, which is a key mediator of cholesterol absorption. Accumulating data from preclinical models have shown that ezetimibe alone could inhibit the development and progression of cancer through a variety of mechanisms, including anti-angiogenesis, stem cell suppression, anti-inflammation, immune enhancement and anti-proliferation. In the past decade, there has been heated discussion on whether ezetimibe combined with statins will increase the risk of cancer. At present, more and more evidence shows that ezetimibe does not increase the risk of cancers, which supports the role of ezetimibe in anti-cancer. In this review, we discussed the latest progress in the anti-cancer properties of ezetimibe and elucidated its underlying molecular mechanisms. Finally, we highlighted the potential of ezetimibe as a therapeutic agent in future cancer treatment and prevention.

Promoting the use of solar energy resources has always involved the challenges of instability and supply–demand mismatch. The key to solving these issues is to efficiently store and utilize solar energy resources using high-performance heat storage devices. This study designed a high-performance shell-and-tube phase-change thermal storage device and established a numerical model using ANSYS software to summarize the device’s dynamic melting law. To verify the accuracy of the numerical simulation, a performance testing platform for the phase-change thermal storage device was built to investigate the impact of various factors, such as the inlet water temperature, inlet water flow rate, type of heat storage, and initial temperature of the device, and to reveal the change law of the device’s performance. The results show that the inlet water temperature has the most significant impact on the device’s heat storage and release performance. When the device’s heat storage or release is used for heating, changing the inlet water flow rate has a weak and limited effect on the device’s performance. However, when the device’s heat release is used to provide domestic hot water, increasing the make-up water temperature and reducing the inlet water flow rate can significantly improve the device’s effective heat release. Furthermore, based on the experimental validation of the model’s correctness, this study further simulated and studied the impact of different factors on the device’s heat storage process to optimize its structural design and provide technical references for the device’s actual operation and installation. The results show that the placement of fins has a negligible effect on the performance of the heat storage device while reducing the fin spacing and increasing the fin thickness can significantly improve the melting efficiency of the phase-change material (PCM). Additionally, the heat storage characteristics of the device are significantly better in the vertical installation mode than in the horizontal installation mode. This study provides theoretical guidance and technical references for the design and use of phase-change thermal storage devices.

A kitchen is an important part of a residence, and air quality in kitchens is a major factor affecting residents’ health and performance. Its influence is especially more evident in kitchens with typical Chinese cooking. Thus, it is important to understand distribution characteristics of oil fume particles in Chinese kitchens, and research on typical Chinese kitchen environments and movement characteristics of soot particles should be emphasized. Therefore, to understand the air pollution in kitchen environments, a full-scale experimental platform was built based on common Chinese-style residential kitchens to monitor the soot particles, explore the space–time distribution characteristics of the soot particles, and analyze the variation characteristics and distribution laws of number concentration (NC) and mass concentration (MC). The results indicated that NC0.3μm value fluctuated slightly during the whole cooking process, while NC0.3μm~0.5μm and NC0.5μm~1.0μm fluctuated sharply. During the peak period, NC0.3μm~0.5μm and NC0.5μm~1.0μm were significantly higher than those at the beginning and end of cooking (p < 0.05), and there was no significant difference between values of NC0.3μm~0.5μm and NC0.5μm~1.0μm at the beginning and end of cooking (p > 0.05 for both). NC0.3μm and NC0.3μm~0.5μm were significantly different between each position (p < 0.05 for all). There were also significant differences in NC0.3μm between pure meat dishes, pure vegetable dishes, and mixed dishes (p < 0.001). The proportion of cooking meat will significantly affect the composition and concentration of lampblack particles. Type of dishes is an important influencing factor for the emission rates of particulate pollutants. Small-sized lampblack particles were more likely to diffuse to the surroundings and affected the air quality of the whole room. Particulate matter in the kitchen space during the frying process is more harmful to the health of personnel.

The thermal analysis kinetic method was employed to solve the activation energies of the thermal decomposition reactions of urea and cyanuric acid, with the purpose of understanding the formation of deposits in the diesel engine SCR system. The deposit reaction kinetic model was established by optimizing the reaction paths and reaction kinetic parameters based on the thermal analysis test data of the key components in the deposit. The result shows that the established deposit reaction kinetic model can accurately describe the decomposition process of the key components in the deposit. Compared to the Ebrahimian model, the simulation precision of the established deposit reaction kinetic model is significantly improved above 600 K. The activation energies of the urea and cyanuric acid decomposition reactions are 84 kJ/mol and 152 kJ/mol, respectively, after model parameters identification. The identified activation energies were closest to those of the Friedman one-interval method indicating that the Friedman one-interval method is reasonable to solve the activation energies of deposit reactions.

Abstract Exosomes have been considered as novel and potent vehicles of intercellular communication, instead of “cell dust”. Exosomes are consistent with anucleate cells, and organelles with lipid bilayer consisting of the proteins and abundant lipid, enhancing their “rigidity” and “flexibility”. Neighboring cells or distant cells are capable of exchanging genetic or metabolic information via exosomes binding to recipient cell and releasing bioactive molecules, such as lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids. Of note, exosomes exert the remarkable effects on lipid metabolism, including the synthesis, transportation and degradation of the lipid. The disorder of lipid metabolism mediated by exosomes leads to the occurrence and progression of diseases, such as atherosclerosis, cancer, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), obesity and Alzheimer’s diseases and so on. More importantly, lipid metabolism can also affect the production and secretion of exosomes, as well as interactions with the recipient cells. Therefore, exosomes may be applied as effective targets for diagnosis and treatment of diseases. Video abstract

Lipid metabolism disorder is related to an increased risk of tumorigenesis and is involved in the rapid growth of cancer cells as well as the formation of metastatic lesions. Epidemiological studies have demonstrated that low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL) are closely associated with breast cancer, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, and other malignancies, suggesting that LDL and ox-LDL play important roles during the occurrence and development of cancers. LDL can deliver cholesterol into cancer cells after binding to LDL receptor (LDLR). Activation of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway induces transcription of the sterol regulatory element-binding proteins (SREBPs), which subsequently promotes cholesterol uptake and synthesis to meet the demand of cancer cells. Ox-LDL binds to the lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (LOX-1) and cluster of differentiation 36 (CD36) to induce mutations, resulting in inflammation, cell proliferation, and metastasis of cancer. Classic lipid-lowering drugs, statins, have been shown to reduce LDL levels in certain types of cancer. As LDL and ox-LDL play complicated roles in cancers, the potential therapeutic effect of targeting lipid metabolism in cancer therapy warrants more investigation.

Energy loss and performance deterioration caused by the stack effect are emerging issues in high-rise office buildings (HROB). However, a single countermeasure may not completely remove the stack effect problems, so combinations of countermeasures are often considered in building commissioning or retrofit projects to achieve the desired results. Therefore, a comprehensive study on combinations is necessary for the final decision-making. In this study, a multi-criteria decision-making model is proposed, which is utilized to calculate the ranking of countermeasure combinations for the final decision-making index by assigning weights and conducting comprehensive analysis on four criteria: infiltration energy loss, maximum pressure difference, investment cost, and implementation resistance. Based on a two-level Fractional-Factorial design (FFD), the interaction effects between countermeasures were verified, and the regression models of infiltration energy loss and maximum pressure difference were obtained as well. The investment cost and implementation resistance were defined according to the investigation and survey. An Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was applied to establish the weights of each criterion. A weighted Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) method was applied to establish the decision-making index. Through the case study of a HROB located in northern China, it was concluded that the ideal combination can reduce infiltration and pressure difference by 26.88% and 87.58%, respectively, with low-level investment costs and implementation resistance. The results indicate that the multi-criteria model provides a comprehensive ranking of countermeasure combinations, which can serve as a quantitative basis for the final decision-making. Furthermore, this multi-criteria decision-making approach can be extended to other buildings in other regions.

With the rapid increase in demand for the construction and development of island cities in the South China Sea, the urban heat island phenomenon in such cities should become a key factor to be considered in future urban planning. This paper took Sanya, China as a typical case, and long-term field experiments were conducted in the Mangrove Bay Area in summer and winter. An innovative urban green space cooling model was proposed, using the “green space cooling index” to quantitatively characterize the green space cooling effect, and aiming to minimize the intensity of urban heat islands. This paper studied the optimization method of green space planning and layout under the constraint of a centralized green space total area. Moreover, a genetic algorithm was adopted to optimize the calculation and the layout of the urban green space. The experimental results showed that the urban heat island intensity was more significant at night and was less effective in the daytime during summer. In winter, the urban heat island intensity had a greater effect in the daytime and was less influential at night. Finally, optimization results indicated that the average urban heat island intensity in summer was reduced by 8.8% under the optimal layout urban green space of 0.025 km2. The maximum reduction in heat island intensity occurred at 7:00 am (0.48 °C). When 0.0625 km2 urban green space was planned, the average urban heat island intensity index in summer was reduced to 0.27 °C, with a decrease of 20.5%.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is characterized by abnormal lipid accumulation. Celastrol is a pentacyclic triterpene extracted from Tripterygium wilfordii Hook F with anti-cancer activity. In the present study, the anticancer effects of celastrol on ccRCC and the underlying mechanisms were studied. Patients with reduced high density lipoprotein (HDL) and elevated levels of triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein (LDL) was found to have higher risk of ccRCC. In ccRCC clinical samples and cell lines, caveolin-1 (CAV-1) was highly expressed. CAV-1 was identified as a potential prognostic biomarker for ccRCC. Celastrol inhibited tumor growth and decreased lipid deposition promoted by high-fat diet in vivo. Celastrol reduced lipid accumulation and caveolae abundance, inhibited the binding of CAV-1 and lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (LOX-1) in ccRCC cells. Furthermore, celastrol attenuated stemness through blocking Wnt/β-catenin pathway after knockdown of CAV-1 and LOX-1. Therefore, the findings suggest that celastrol may be a promising active ingredient from traditional Chinese medicine for anti-cancer therapy.

As fossil fuels continue to be extracted and used, issues such as environmental pollution and energy scarcity are surfacing. For the transportation industry, the best way to achieve the goal of “carbon neutrality” is to research efficient power systems and develop new alternative fuels. As the world’s largest product of chemicals, ammonia is a new renewable fuel with good combustion energy. It can be used as an alternative fuel to reduce carbon emissions because of its proven production process, low production and transportation costs, safe storage, the absence of carbon-containing compounds in its emissions, and its future recyclability. This paper firstly introduces the characteristics of ammonia fuel engine and its problems; then it summarizes the effects of various ammonia-blended fuels on the combustion and emission characteristics of the engine from the combustion problem of ammonia-blended engine; then the fuel storage of ammonia-blended hydrogen is discussed, the feasibility of hydrogen production instead of hydrogen storage is introduced.

There are still many unsolved mysteries in the thermal decomposition process of urea. This paper studied the thermal decomposition process of urea at constant temperatures by the thermal gravimetric–mass spectrometry analysis method. The results show that there are three obvious stages of mass loss during the thermal decomposition process of urea, which is closely related to the temperature. When the temperature was below 160 °C, urea decomposition almost did not occur, and molten urea evaporated slowly. When the temperature was between 180 and 200 °C, the content of biuret, one of the by-products in the thermal decomposition of urea, reached a maximum. When the temperature was higher than 200 °C, the first stage of mass loss was completed quickly, and urea and biuret rapidly broke down. When the temperature was about 240 °C, there were rarely urea and biuret in residual substance; however, the content of cyanuric acid was still rising. When the temperature was higher than 280°C, there was a second stage of mass loss. In the second stage of mass loss, when the temperature was higher than 330 °C, mass decreased rapidly, which was mainly due to the decomposition of cyanuric acid. When the temperature was higher than 380 °C, the third stage of mass loss occurred. However, when the temperature was higher than 400 °C, and after continuous heating was applied for a sufficiently long time, the residual mass was reduced to almost zero eventually.

To enhance the energy performance of a central air-conditioning system, an effective control method for the chilled water system is always essential. However, it is a real challenge to distribute exact cooling energy to multiple terminal units in different floors via a complex chilled water network. To mitigate hydraulic imbalance in a complex chilled water system, many throttle valves and variable-speed pumps are installed, which are usually regulated by PID-based controllers. Due to the severe hydraulic coupling among the valves and pumps, the hydraulic oscillation phenomena often occur while using those feedback-based controllers. Based on a data-calibrated water distribution model which can accurately predict the hydraulic behaviors of a chilled water system, a new Model Predictive Control (MPC) method is proposed in this study. The proposed method is validated by a real-life chilled water system in a 22-floor hotel. By the proposed method, the valves and pumps can be regulated safely without any hydraulic oscillations. Simultaneously, the hydraulic imbalance among different floors is also eliminated, which can save 23.3% electricity consumption of the pumps.

For the National VI heavy-duty diesel vehicles, NOx emission regulations are becoming more and more stringent, and the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system has become a necessary device. The design of the adblue nozzle in the SCR system is especially critical, directly affecting the NOx conversion efficiency and deposit formation. According to the structure of a National VI diesel engine exhaust pipe and SCR system, the nozzle is optimized by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method to avoid the collision between the urea droplets and the exhaust pipe wall, to ensure that the exhaust gas and the urea droplets are as much as possible in full contact to ensure a sufficient urea pyrolysis. With the optimized nozzle, the NH3 distribution uniformity of the inlet face of the SCR catalyst can increase from 0.58 to 0.92. Additionally, test verifications are implemented based on the spray particle size test and the engine bench tests; the results show that the Sauter mean diameter of the optimized nozzle is more decreased than the initial nozzle and that the NOx conversion efficiency of the World Harmonized Transient Cycle (WHTC) and World Harmonized Stationary Cycle (WHSC) cycle improves by nearly 3%; additionally, it can also avoid deposit formation.

Promoting energy efficiency (EE) requirements for new residential buildings has been proven to be an effective way to slow down the rapid increase of energy consumption. Its successful implementation relies significantly on the attitudes and participation of various stakeholders within the industry, yet they are normally taken for granted. This paper explores and reports both the consensus among and the diversity of the attitudes of frontline stakeholders toward future EE requirements in the new residential building sector via a nationwide Delphi questionnaire distributed to 29 institutes and 25 experts. Results indicate that promotion of approximately 30% EE every five years until 2030 is suggested and that 20% EE promotion every five years is the most likely to be achieved. In addition, China should progressively adopt the energy intensity index into the current building EE evaluation system. This paper also gives a detailed description of opinions from frontline stakeholders. The findings are expected to help researchers and policymakers better understand the true attitudes of stakeholders, thereby enabling the formation of a proper outlook for new residential building EE promotion.

The energy-efficiency promotion of new residential buildings in China has achieved great progress in the past three decades. However, the expected policy outcomes cannot be fully achieved due to the barriers in the policy-making and implementation process. Whereas governments play a critical role in policy formation, perceptions of stakeholders involved in the building life cycle and the industrial value chain (such as developers, design institutes and relevant material manufactures) are fundamental to the successful implementation. To collect and identify the barriers of significant influence on the industry from stakeholders’ perspectives, this paper used a nationwide institutes’ questionnaire to collect stakeholders’ voices regarding the barriers, the corresponding popularity and the severity. All the barriers were categorized according to institutions’ scorings through cluster analysis. The relationships between barriers were also analyzed according to the framework based on policy cycle and policy environment. Results indicated that the core problem is the ineffectiveness translating energy savings into benefits and profits. Accordingly, three major barriers were identified, namely the (1) unsatisfied policy design and implementation; (2) stakeholders’ lack of implementation capacity in developing and constructing high-performance new residential building projects and adopting relevant technologies; and (3) insufficient legalization of relevant market. Other identified barriers either were those not agreed by all institutions, or those could be eliminated easily after the removal of the above three barriers.

Nationwide energy efficiency (EE) promotion of new residential buildings is affected by multiple factors regarding policies, markets, technologies, capacities, and economics. The perceived influences of these factors by stakeholders are crucial to the effectiveness evaluation of current policies and the selection of policy instruments. However, they are normally assumed or taken for granted. The knowledge gap between stakeholders’ perceptions and research assumptions may lead to researchers’ recognition bias. Correspondingly, this paper aims to identify the significant factors, perceived by frontline stakeholders, influencing nationwide EE promotion of new residential buildings before 2020 and 2030. Factors were collected through literature review and their influence were evaluated via Analytical Hierarchy Process based on the data collected in the questionnaires distributed to 32 institutes. The theory of Nested Policy Design Framework and Policy Environment was used to structure the hierarchy and generate policy implications. Results indicate that (1) policy factors are of the greatest influence before 2020 and market perfection factors will have great influences from 2020 to 2030, indicating the transformation of governance arrangement to “market-based” and “network-based” from the current legal-based system; and (2) factors regarding market needs are of significant influence in both terms, revealing the way the transformation should be accomplished.

Lipid disorder and inflammation play critical roles in the development of atherosclerosis. Reverse cholesterol transport is a key event in lipid metabolism. Caveolae and caveolin-1 are in the center stage of cholesterol transportation and inflammation in macrophages. Here, we propose that reverse cholesterol transport and inflammation in atherosclerosis can be integrated by caveolae and caveolin-1.

In this study, we proposed an efficient algorithm (X-LD) for estimating linkage disequilibrium (LD) patterns for a genomic grid, which can be of inter-chromosomal scale or of small segments. Compared with conventional methods, the proposed method was significantly faster, dropped from O(nm2) to O(n2m)—n the sample size and m the number of SNPs, and consequently we were permitted to explore in depth unknown or reveal long-anticipated LD features of the human genome. Having applied the algorithm for 1000 Genome Project (1KG), we found (1) the extended LD, driven by population structure, universally existed, and the strength of inter-chromosomal LD was about 10% of their respective intra-chromosomal LD in relatively homogeneous cohorts, such as FIN, and to nearly 56% in admixed cohort, such as ASW. (2) After splitting each chromosome into upmost of more than a half million grids, we elucidated the LD of the HLA region was nearly 42 folders higher than chromosome 6 in CEU and 11.58 in ASW; on chromosome 11, we observed that the LD of its centromere was nearly 94.05 folders higher than chromosome 11 in YRI and 42.73 in ASW. (3) We uncovered the long-anticipated inversely proportional linear relationship between the length of a chromosome and the strength of chromosomal LD, and their Pearson’s correlation was on average over 0.80 for 26 1KG cohorts. However, this linear norm was so far perturbed by chromosome 11 given its more completely sequenced centromere region. Uniquely chromosome 8 of ASW was found most deviated from the linear norm than any other autosomes. The proposed algorithm has been realized in C++ (called X-LD) and is available at https://github.com/gc5k/gear2, and can be applied to explore LD features in any sequenced populations.