Can nature help limit warming below 1.5°C?

Nature-based efforts could further climate mitigation and help limit warming to 1.5°C, given that proper and immediate solutions are implemented with similar ambition as in energy and industry sectors; however, omission of natural solutions or delays in overall climate action would substantially undermine the climate target of Paris Agreement.

The impacts of COVID-19 outbreak on mental health in general population in different areas in China.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to explore the impacts of COVID-19 outbreak on mental health status in general population in different affected areas in China. METHODS: This was a comparative study including two groups of participants: (1) general population in an online survey in Ya'an and Jingzhou cities during the COVID-19 outbreak from 10-20 February 2020; and (2) matching general population selected from the mental health survey in Ya'an in 2019 (from January to May 2019). General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), Self-rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), and Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) were used. RESULTS: There were 1775 participants (Ya'an in 2019 and 2020: 537 respectively; Jingzhou in 2020: 701). Participants in Ya'an had a significantly higher rate of general health problems (GHQ scores ⩾3) in 2020 (14.7%) than in 2019 (5.2%) (p < 0.001). Compared with Ya'an (8.0%), participants in Jingzhou in 2020 had a significantly higher rate of anxiety (SAS scores ⩾50, 24.1%) (p < 0.001). Participants in Ya'an in 2020 had a significantly higher rate of depression (SDS scores ⩾53, 55.3%) than in Jingzhou (16.3%) (p < 0.001). The risk factors of anxiety symptoms included female, number of family members (⩾6 persons), and frequent outdoor activities. The risk factors of depression symptoms included participants in Ya'an and uptake self-protective measures. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of psychological symptoms has increased sharply in general population during the COVID-19 outbreak. People in COVID-19 severely affected areas may have higher scores of GHQ and anxiety symptoms. Culture-specific and individual-based psychosocial interventions should be developed for those in need during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Rotation cropping and organic fertilizer jointly promote soil health and crop production.

Identifying field management practices to promote crop production, while conserving soil health is essential to maintain long-term food production in a changing world. Also, providing experimental evidence to support the use of traditional agricultural practices is necessary to secure sustainable agriculture. Here, we conducted a long-term 12-year experiment to investigate the impact of different combinations of fertilization type (control, inorganic fertilizer, organic fertilizer) and cropping regimes (continuous cropping and rotation cropping) on the crop (tobacco) production and multiple soil attributes associated with soil health, including proportions of soil-borne pathogens and decomposers, soil microbial diversity, microbial network stability and biomass, nutrient pools and microbial resource limitations. Our long-term experiment supports that the combination of organic fertilizer with rotation cropping increased crop production by at least 40% compared to the other management combinations and improved soil nutrient pools (e.g. the content of soil organic matter), improved the relative proportion of soil decomposers, and promoted bacterial and fungal network stability and biodiversity. Furthermore, this combination treatment relieved microbial resource limitation and reduced the abundance of potential fungal plant pathogens by at least 20% compared to other management combinations. In summary, we provide experimental evidence to support that the combined use of organic fertilization and rotation cropping management can help maintain long-term soil health, crop production, and economic outputs.

A novel project portfolio selection framework towards organizational resilience: Robust Ordinal Priority Approach.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the world's economic condition significantly, and construction projects have faced many challenges and disruptions as well. This should be an alarm bell for project-oriented organizations to be prepared for such events and take necessary actions at the earliest time. In this regard, project-oriented organizations should establish their business based on the resilience concept, making them flexible in dealing with risks and decreasing the recovery time after disruptions. The current study proposes a practical conceptual framework for project-oriented organizations to select the most appropriate portfolio based on organizational resilience strategy. First, portfolios are identified, and the projects are clustered based on organizational resilience strategy using the Elbow and Fuzzy C-Means methods. The projects' scores are then determined employing the stakeholders' opinions and Robust Ordinal Priority Approach (OPA-R), which can handle the uncertainty of the input data. After that, each portfolio's score is determined using the obtained scores of the projects, and the best portfolio linked to the organizational resilience strategy is selected. The application of the proposed method to a project-oriented organization is examined, and its usage for the managers of project-oriented organizations is discussed in detail.

Performance measurement of construction suppliers under localization, agility, and digitalization criteria: Fuzzy Ordinal Priority Approach.

The suppliers' performance plays a vital role, with a domino effect, in project success, organizational competitiveness, protecting supply chain and construction industry from disruptions and PESTEL risks (political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal). Therefore, measuring the performance of the construction suppliers has become the primary focus of project-oriented organizations and the core of business decision-making, especially during global megatrends. The question that may arise here is, "How can the performance of the construction suppliers be determined under uncertainties considering the post-COVID-19 era?" Organizations need eligible suppliers for the rapid recovery of the supply chain and construction sector at this critical stage. Given the importance of the issue, this study aims to propose a novel approach for measuring the performance of construction suppliers using the fuzzy ordinal priority approach (OPA-F). OPA-F is a recent development in multiple criteria decision-making (MCDM) that can determine the criteria weights for performance measurement using fuzzy linguistic variables. We do not always have access to a complete data set in real-world situations and business environments. Nevertheless, OPA-F can handle this dilemma, even with incomplete input data. This research intends to consider three main aspects of the construction suppliers, known as (L-A-D) capabilities, including localization, agility, and digitalization. In this regard, we bring up a case study from the construction industry to demonstrate the application of the proposed framework. The findings show that the most critical criterion is "digitalization" for the case study. This criterion covers "supply chain automation" and "virtualization and dematerialization" of services/products. The proposed approach is practical and straightforward, particularly for academicians and decision-makers; it can also incorporate uncertainties.

Managing urban citizens' panic levels and preventive behaviours during COVID-19 with pandemic information released by social media.

Reducing citizens' panic and promoting their preventive behaviours are critical parts of pandemic management for the government. However, the effects of pandemic information types (daily statistical vs. detailed case information) and sources (official vs. unofficial social media accounts) on the psychological states and behaviours of urban citizens need to be explored further. Furthermore, the heterogeneity of these effects for citizens from areas with different epidemic levels also needs further investigation. Therefore, we conducted a survey during the COVID-19 outbreak in mainland China in March 2020, and 1298 urban citizens (592 from Wuhan) offered reliable data. Results of linear regression analysis indicated that non-Wuhan urban citizens who were more concerned about detailed case information (e.g., patients' movement paths) exhibited more preventive behaviours than those concerned about daily statistical information (e.g., case numbers) and did not show higher panic levels. Additionally, regarding social media information sources, unofficial social media caused both Wuhan and non-Wuhan urban citizens to have higher levels of panic than official media but had no significant impacts on their preventive behaviours. These findings contribute to urban management through the discovery of the effects of different information types and social media information sources on urban citizens during pandemics.

RNF220 promotes the proliferation of leukaemic cells and reduces the degradation of the Cyclin D1 protein through USP22.

Ring finger proteins contain a characteristic ring finger motif and perform a wide range of biological functions in living organisms. These genes are abnormally expressed in many cancers. We found that the expression level of Ring finger protein 220 (RNF220) was negatively correlated with the disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) patients. Moreover, the mRNA level of this gene is significantly higher in the bone marrow cells of AML patients than in the mobilized peripheral blood haematopoietic stem cells of healthy donors. The overexpression of RNF220 promotes the proliferation of AML cells and accelerates the transition from G1 phase to S phase. Increased protein levels and decreased ubiquitylation levels of Cyclin D1 were observed in the nuclei of cells overexpressing RNF220 compared to those of control cells. The protein level of USP22 was also increased in cells overexpressing RNF220. RNF220 cannot enhance the stability of the Cyclin D1 protein without increased expression of the USP22 protein. Our study provided proof of principle to show that RNF220 promotes stabilization of the Cyclin D1 protein via USP22.

The development of novel cytochrome P450 2J2 (CYP2J2) inhibitor and the underlying interaction between inhibitor and CYP2J2.

Human Cytochrome P450 2J2 (CYP2J2) as an important metabolic enzyme, plays a crucial role in metabolism of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Elevated levels of CYP2J2 have been associated with various types of cancer, and therefore it serves as a potential drug target. Herein, using a high-throughput screening approach based on enzymic activity of CYP2J2, we rapidly and effectively identified a novel natural inhibitor (Piperine, 9a) with IC50 value of 0.44 µM from 108 common herbal medicines. Next, a series of its derivatives were designed and synthesised based on the underlying interactions of Piperine with CYP2J2. As expected, the much stronger inhibitors 9k and 9l were developed and their inhibition activities increased about 10 folds than Piperine with the IC50 values of 40 and 50 nM, respectively. Additionally, the inhibition kinetics illustrated the competitive inhibition types of 9k and 9l towards CYP2J2, and Ki were calculated to be 0.11 and 0.074 µM, respectively. Furthermore, the detailed interaction mechanism towards CYP2J2 was explicated by docking and molecular dynamics, and our results revealed the residue Thr114 and Thr 315 of CYP2J2 were the critical sites of action, moreover the spatial distance between the carbon atom of ligand methylene and Fe atom of iron porphyrin coenzyme was the vital interaction factor towards human CYP2J2.

Using fear appeal theories to understand the effects of location information of patients on citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding the effects of location information of patients has significant theoretical and practical implications for public crisis management and health communication. Based on fear appeal theories, this research proposed a chain reaction model that links physical distance to the nearest patients, which is informed by the location information of patients, citizens' anxiety, attention to information and preventive behaviors. To test the hypothesized model, we conducted a study during the COVID-19 outbreak in mainland China in March 2020. The survey of 2061 people from 244 cities across 30 provinces showed that physical distance to confirmed cases has a significant influence on citizens' anxiety, which in turn can improve their preventive behaviors through the mediating factor of attention to information. In addition, this research also revealed the twofold effects of vertical collectivism as a personality trait on anxiety. These findings will provide support to help governments take actions to reduce citizens' anxiety and promote preventive behaviors.

Depletion interaction forces contribute to erythrocyte-endothelial adhesion in diabetes.

Abnormal adhesion of red blood cells (RBC) to the endothelium has been linked to the pathophysiology of several diseases associated with vascular disorders. Various biochemical changes on the outer membrane of RBC, as well as plasma protein levels, have been identified as possibly playing key roles, but the detailed interplay between plasma factors and cellular factors often remains unclear. In this work, we identified an alternative pathway by demonstrating that non-adsorbing macromolecules can also have a marked impact on the adhesion efficiency of RBC from patients with type 2 Diabetes (T2DM) to endothelial cells (EC). RBC isolated from blood samples of T2DM patients were suspended in isotonic solutions of dextran in order to mimic the impact of non-adsorbing macromolecules. Static and continuous flow adhesion assays were used to determine the adhesion behavior of T2DM RBC with EC and the results compared with those of normal controls. We found that the presence of non-adsorbing molecules promotes an increase in T2DM RBC - EC adhesion and that these RBC exhibit much greater adhesion than normal red cells. Our results thus suggest that the depletion mechanism might be an alternative phenomenon through which plasma proteins could cause enhanced RBC-EC adhesion in diabetes mellitus. These findings contribute towards the comprehensive understanding of pathophysiological mechanisms of vascular complications in diabetes and other diseases with similar vascular sequelae.

Threshold secret sharing scheme based on phase-shifting interferometry.

We propose a new method for secret image sharing with the (3,N) threshold scheme based on phase-shifting interferometry. The secret image, which is multiplied with an encryption key in advance, is first encrypted by using Fourier transformation. Then, the encoded image is shared into N shadow images based on the recording principle of phase-shifting interferometry. Based on the reconstruction principle of phase-shifting interferometry, any three or more shadow images can retrieve the secret image, while any two or fewer shadow images cannot obtain any information of the secret image. Thus, a (3,N) threshold secret sharing scheme can be implemented. Compared with our previously reported method, the algorithm of this paper is suited for not only a binary image but also a gray-scale image. Moreover, the proposed algorithm can obtain a larger threshold value t. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method.

Asymmetric optical cryptosystem based on coherent superposition and equal modulus decomposition: comment.

I comment on the recent Letter by Cai et al. [Opt. Lett.40, 475 (2015).], in which the authors claimed that the method can resist the special attack. However, I think their attack analysis and algorithm are ill-considered and worth discussing.

Enhanced Shewanella biofilm promotes bioelectricity generation.

Electroactive biofilms play essential roles in determining the power output of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). To engineer the electroactive biofilm formation of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1, a model exoelectrogen, we herein heterologously overexpressed a c-di-GMP biosynthesis gene ydeH in S. oneidensis MR-1, constructing a mutant strain in which the expression of ydeH is under the control of IPTG-inducible promoter, and a strain in which ydeH is under the control of a constitutive promoter. Such engineered Shewanella strains had significantly enhanced biofilm formation and bioelectricity generation. The MFCs inoculated with these engineered strains accomplished a maximum power density of 167.6 ± 3.6 mW/m(2) , which was ∼ 2.8 times of that achieved by the wild-type MR-1 (61.0 ± 1.9 mW/m(2) ). In addition, the engineered strains in the bioelectrochemical system at poised potential of 0.2 V vs. saturated calomel electrode (SCE) generated a stable current density of 1100 mA/m(2) , ∼ 3.4 times of that by wild-type MR-1 (320 mA/m(2) ).

Functional Analysis of Two Novel Mutations in TWIST1 Protein Motifs Found in Ventricular Septal Defect Patients.

The aim of this study was to investigate the possible genetic effect of sequence variations in TWIST1 on the pathogenesis of ventricular septal defect in humans. We examined the coding region of TWIST1 in a cohort of 196 Chinese people with non-syndromic ventricular septal defect patients and 200 healthy individuals as the controls. We identified two novel potential disease-associated mutations, NM_000474.3:c.247G>A (G83S) and NM_000474.3:c.283A>G (S95G). Both of them were identified for the first time and were not observed in the 200 controls without congenital heart disease. Using a dual-luciferase reporter assay, we showed that both of the mutations significantly down-regulated the repressive effect of TWIST1 on the E-cadherin promoter. Furthermore, a mammalian two-hybrid assay showed that both of the mutations significantly affected the interaction between TWIST1 and KAT2B. New mutations in the transcription factor TWIST1 that affect protein function were identified in 1.0 % (2/196) of Chinese patients with ventricular septal defect. Our data show, for the first time, that TWIST1 has a potential causative effect on the development of ventricular septal defect.

The impact of environmental stimuli on the psychological and behavioral compliance of international construction employees.

Introduction: This study explores the overlooked psychological and behavioral dynamics of employees in compliance management, applying the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework to assess environmental stimuli's impact on employees in international construction projects. Methods: A scenario-based survey involving 270 international construction employees was analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA), focusing on the relationship between environmental stimuli and compliance intentions. Results: Findings categorize environmental influences on compliance into internal and external organizational dimensions, highlighting the significant impact of internal factors on compliance intentions. Key determinants identified for high compliance intention include individual traits and organizational climate, while project pressures, rules and regulations, and cultural differences show variable influence. Conclusion: This study enhances the understanding of the psychological factors driving non-compliant behaviors and introduces a binary micro-ecological approach to compliance management, effectively integrating individual and project organizational elements. In contrast to traditional corporate governance approaches, this strategy emphasizes the role of project organizational micro-ecology in the management of international construction projects. The strategy aims to improve compliance management among international contractors by influencing the psychological and behavioral compliance of frontline employees.

Root exudates and rhizosphere microbiota in responding to long-term continuous cropping of tobacco.

Soil sickness a severe problem in tobacco production, leading to soil-borne diseases and reduce in tobacco yield. This occurs as a result of the interaction between root exudates and rhizosphere microorganisms, which is however, little studied until now. By combining the field investigation and pot experiment, we found the output yield consistently decreased during the first 10 years of continuous cropping in a tobacco field, but increased at the 15th year (15Y). The root exudate and rhizosphere bacterial community was further analyzed to reveal the underlying mechanism of the suppressive soil formation. Root exudate of 15Y tobacco enriched in amino acids and derivatives, while depleted in the typical autotoxins including phenolic acids and alkaloids. This was correlated to the low microbial diversity in 15Y, but also the changes in community composition and topological properties of the co-occurrence network. Especially, the reduced autotoxins were associated with low Actinobacteria abundance, low network complexity and high network modularity, which significantly correlated with the recovered output yield in 15Y. This study revealed the coevolution of rhizosphere microbiota and root exudate as the soil domesticated by continuous cropping of tobacco, and indicated a potential role of the autotoxins and theirs effect on the microbial community in the formation of suppressive soil.

Influence of Fracturing on a Coal Structure during Coalbed Methane Stimulation.

The impact of fracturing on coal seams includes not only mechanical alterations but also physical and chemical alterations. The coupling of these alterations plays an important role in the recovery of coalbed methane (CBM). 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and molecular models were conducted on coals with different degrees of fracturing to study the alterations in the coal structure during CBM stimulation. The 13C NMR results show that some aliphatic chains and oxygen-containing functional groups were shed, and some aliphatic rings were broken due to the effects of fracturing, which cause an increase in the relative content of aromatic carbon. The HRTEM and XRD results indicate that fracturing will result in a decrease in the interlayer spacing d002, an increase in the stacking height Lc, and a slight increase in the layer size La. Moreover, the orientation distribution in fractured coal was more intensive. The construction of molecular models also verified the variation of surface functional groups and interlayer spacing. Based on these analyses and molecular models, the alteration mechanism of functional groups and aromatic structures under fracturing was demonstrated. This study clarifies the alteration of the coal structure by fracturing and has important implications for the recovery of CBM.

Integrated metabolomic and metagenomic strategies shed light on interactions among planting environments, rhizosphere microbiota, and metabolites of tobacco in Yunnan, China.

Changes in climatic factors and rhizosphere microbiota led plants to adjust their metabolic strategies for survival under adverse environmental conditions. Changes in plant metabolites can mediate crop growth and development and interact with rhizosphere microbiota of the plant rhizosphere. To understand the interactions among environmental factors, rhizosphere microbiota, and metabolites of tobacco, a study was conducted by using integrated metagenomic and metabolomic strategies at four typical representative tobacco planting sites in Yunnan, China. The results showed that the agronomical and biochemical traits were significantly affected by temperature, precipitation (PREP), soil pH, and altitude. Correlation analyses revealed a significant positive correlation of temperature with length, width, and area of the leaf, while PREP correlated with plant height and effective leaf numbers. Furthermore, total sugar and reducing sugar contents of baked leaves were significantly higher, while the total nitrogen and total alkaloid levels were lower in tobacco leaves at site with low PREP. A total of 770 metabolites were detected with the highest number of different abundant metabolites (DMs) at Chuxiong (CX) with low PREP as compared to the other three sites, in which secondary metabolites were more abundant in both leaves and roots of tobacco. A total of 8,479 species, belonging to 2,094 genera with 420 individual bins (including 13 higher-quality bins) harboring 851,209 CDSs were detected. The phyla levels of microorganisms such as Euryarchaeota, Myxococcota, and Deinococcota were significantly enriched at the CX site, while Pseudomonadota was enriched at the high-temperature site with good PREP. The correlation analyses showed that the metabolic compounds in low-PREP site samples were positively correlated with Diaminobutyricimonas, Nissabacter, Alloactinosynnema, and Catellatospora and negatively correlated with Amniculibacterium, Nordella, Noviherbaspirillum, and Limnobacter, suggesting that the recruitment of Diaminobutyricimonas, Nissabacter, Alloactinosynnema, and Catellatospora in the rhizosphere induces the production and accumulation of secondary metabolites (SMs) (e.g., nitrogen compounds, terpenoids, and phenolics) for increasing drought tolerance with an unknown mechanism. The results of this study may promote the production and application of microbial fertilizers and agents such as Diaminobutyricimonas and Alloactinosynnema to assemble synthetic microbiota community or using their gene resources for better cultivation of tobacco as well as other crops in drought environments.

Microbiome-mediated alleviation of tobacco replant problem via autotoxin degradation after long-term continuous cropping.

Continuous cropping often results in severe "replant problem," across various crops due to the autotoxins accumulation, soil acidification, pathogens proliferation, and microbial dysfunction. We unveiled a groundbreaking phenomenon that long-term continuous cropping (LTCC) can alleviate the tobacco replant problem. This mitigation occurs through the enrichment of autotoxin-degrading microbes, and the transformative impact is evident with even a modest application (10%) of LTCC soil to short-term continuous cropping (STCC) soil. Our investigation has pinpointed specific autotoxin-degrading bacteria, particularly the Pseudomonas and Burkholderia species, which exhibit the capacity to alleviate the tobacco replant problem in STCC soil. Their autotoxin-degrading mechanism using axenic culture and soil samples was also conducted via comprehensive analyses of microbiome and transcriptome approach. This research sheds light on the potential of LTCC as a strategic approach for sustainable agriculture, addressing replant problems and promoting the health of cropping systems. UV, ultraviolet; OD, optical density.

Security improvement for asymmetric cryptosystem based on spherical wave illumination.

We propose an improvement method for an asymmetric cryptosystem based on spherical wave illumination. Compared with the phase-truncated Fourier transform-based cryptosystem and the reported improving methods, the encryption process uses a spherical wave to illuminate the encryption system, rather than a uniform plane wave. As a result, the proposed method can avoid various types of the currently existing attacks and maintain the asymmetric characteristic of the cryptosystem. Moreover, due to only changing the illuminating mode, the proposed method can be easily implemented in optics compared with the reported improving methods. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the feasibility and the security performance of the proposed method.