Assessing progress towards sustainable development over space and time.

To address global challenges1-4, 193 countries have committed to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)5. Quantifying progress towards achieving the SDGs is essential to track global efforts towards sustainable development and guide policy development and implementation. However, systematic methods for assessing spatio-temporal progress towards achieving the SDGs are lacking. Here we develop and test systematic methods to quantify progress towards the 17 SDGs at national and subnational levels in China. Our analyses indicate that China's SDG Index score (an aggregate score representing the overall performance towards achieving all 17 SDGs) increased at the national level from 2000 to 2015. Every province also increased its SDG Index score over this period. There were large spatio-temporal variations across regions. For example, eastern China had a higher SDG Index score than western China in the 2000s, and southern China had a higher SDG Index score than northern China in 2015. At the national level, the scores of 13 of the 17 SDGs improved over time, but the scores of four SDGs declined. This study suggests the need to track the spatio-temporal dynamics of progress towards SDGs at the global level and in other nations.

Integrated self-injection-locked narrow linewidth laser based on thin-film lithium niobate.

Narrow linewidth lasers have a wide range of applications in the fields of coherent optical communications, atomic clocks, and measurement. Lithium niobate material possesses excellent electro-optic and thermo-optic properties, making it an ideal photonic integration platform for a new generation. The light source is a crucial element in large-scale photonic integration. Therefore, it is essential to develop integrated narrow linewidth lasers based on low-loss LNOI. This study is based on the multimode race-track type add-drop microring resonator with multimode interferometric coupler (MMRA-MRR) of the DFB laser self-injection-locked, to achieve the narrowing of linewidth to the laser. The microring external cavity was used to narrow the linewidth of the laser to 2.5 kHz. The output power of the laser is 3.18 mW, and the side-mode suppression ratio is 60 dB. This paper presents an integrated low-noise, narrow-linewidth laser based on thin-film lithium niobate material for the communication band. This is significant for achieving all-optical device on-chip integration of lithium niobate material in the future. It has great potential for use in high-speed coherent optical communication.

Research on ultrawideband photodetector module based on parasitic parameter regulation.

A four-channel ultrawideband photodetector (PD) module with a size of 26.1 mm ×33.2 mm × 8.5 mm has been demonstrated in our laboratory. We propose a method to improve the bandwidth of the PD module based on compensating parasitic parameters by dual resistance regulation on the P and N terminals of the PD chip. A small signal equivalent circuit model with package matching network is established for the PD module, and the effectiveness of the proposed method and the accuracy of the model are verified by experiments. A four-channel photodetector module with a -3 dB bandwidth of up to 67 GHz is fabricated by using photodetector chips with -3 dB bandwidths of 46 GHz, and the responsivity is up to 0.50A/W.

Mining threats in high-level biodiversity conservation policies.

Amid a global infrastructure boom, there is increasing recognition of the ecological impacts of the extraction and consumption of construction minerals, mainly processed as concrete, including significant and expanding threats to global biodiversity. We investigated how high-level national and international biodiversity conservation policies address mining threats, with a special focus on construction minerals. We conducted a review and quantified the degree to which threats from mining these minerals are addressed in biodiversity goals and targets under the 2011-2020 and post-2020 biodiversity strategies, national biodiversity strategies and action plans, and the assessments of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Mining appeared rarely in national targets but more frequently in national strategies. Yet, in most countries, it was superficially addressed. Coverage of aggregates mining was greater than coverage of limestone mining. We outline 8 key components, tailored for a wide range of actors, to effectively mainstream biodiversity conservation into the extractive, infrastructure, and construction sectors. Actions include improving reporting and monitoring systems, enhancing the evidence base around mining impacts on biodiversity, and modifying the behavior of financial agents and businesses. Implementing these measures could pave the way for a more sustainable approach to construction mineral use and safeguard biodiversity.

Amenazas de la minería a las políticas de alto nivel para la conservación de la biodiversidad Resumen Enmedio del auge global del desarrollo de infraestructura, hay un mayor reconocimiento de los impactos ecológicos de la extracción y consumo de materiales para construcción, procesados predominantemente como concreto. Estos materiales representan amenazas significativas y en expansión para la biodiversidad global. Investigamos cómo son abordadas las amenazas de la minería por las políticas nacionales e internacionales de alto nivel para la conservación de la biodiversidad, con enfoque especial en los minerales para construcción. Realizamos una revisión exhaustiva y cuantificamos el grado en el cual son abordadas las amenazas de la extracción de estos minerales en los objetivos y metas para la biodiversidad bajo estrategias 2011­2020 y post 2020, las estrategias y planes de acción nacionales para la biodiversidad, y las evaluaciones de la Plataforma Intergubernamental Científico­normativa sobre Diversidad Biológica y Servicios de los Ecosistemas. La minería raramente apareció en los objetivos nacionales, pero fue más frecuente en las estrategias nacionales. Sin embargo, fue abordada superficialmente en la mayoría de los países. La cobertura de minería de agregados fue mayor que la cobertura de la minería de caliza. Describimos ocho componentes clave, adaptados para una amplia gama de actores, para incorporar eficazmente la conservación de la biodiversidad en los sectores extractivo, desarrollo de infraestructura y construcción. Las acciones incluyen la mejora de los sistemas de informes y monitoreo, el reforzamiento de la base de evidencias en torno a los impactos de la minería sobre la biodiversidad y la modificación del comportamiento de los agentes financieros y comerciales. La implementación de estas medidas podría allanar el camino para un enfoque más sostenible en el uso de minerales para la construcción y la salvaguarda de la biodiversidad.

The signaling pathways involved in non-coding RNA regulation during osteogenic differentiation of periodontal tissue-derived cells in the field of periodontitis.

Periodontitis is a prevalent oral disease caused by chronic inflammation of the periodontal tissues surrounding the teeth, which can lead to bone loss, tooth loosening, and even tooth loss. This inflammation has a negative impact on the osteogenic differentiation capacity of periodontal tissue-derived cells. Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are a class of RNA molecules that do not encode proteins but can regulate various physiological processes. In this review, we summarized the critical signaling pathways that ncRNAs modulate in osteogenic differentiation of periodontal tissue-derived cells, such as the Wnt, BMP/Smad, NF-κB, and PI3-K/Akt/mTOR pathways. This comprehensive exploration of ncRNA-mediated modulation offers fresh and promising insights for prospective approaches in the management of periodontitis and the advancement of periodontal regeneration therapies.

Effect of different antibacterial agents doping in PET-based electrospun nanofibrous membranes on air filtration and antibacterial performance.

In order to reduce the particulate matter pollution to human health in producing environments, series of polyethylene terephthalate/polyvinyl alcohol (PET/PVA) based nanofibrous membranes were fabricated and investigated the dust collection and antibacterial activity. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), berberine (Ber) and titanium oxide nanoparticles (TiO2NPs) were selected as antibacterial agents. These novel membranes were well-characterized using SEM, FTIR, TG, etc. techniques. Results of the dust filtration showed that PET/PVA/Ag membrane had the best filtration efficiency of 99.87% for sodium chloride (NaCl) and 99.89% for dioctyl sebacate (DEHS), held low pressure drop of 160.1 Pa for NaCl and 165.3 Pa for DEHS, and posed a high tensile strength of 4.91 MPa. The bacteriostasis studies exhibited that PET/PVA/TiO2 and PET/PVA/Ag membrane showed the highest bacteriological effect on Escherichia coli (98.7%) and Staphylococcus aureus (95.9%), respectively. Meanwhile, in vitro cytotoxicity test indicated no potential cytotoxicity existed in the cell culture process of these two antibacterial membranes. Moreover, the charge distribution in the nanofibers was increased by these antibacterial agents to improve the filtration performance. The dust filtration process synergistically promoted with the antibacterial process in the antibacterial membranes. It was expected that these membranes could be efficient filter medias with broad application prospects in the field of individual protection.

Broadband photoelectric fusion transceiver-multiplexed conversion system with high spurious rejection.

In this paper, a broadband photoelectric fusion transceiver-multiplexed system is proposed to realize a frequency converter. The system achieves a high spurious suppression ratio through two frequency conversions that utilize the advantages of microwave and photonics technology simultaneously to reduce the complexity of the system and improve the effective spectrum utilization. In addition, the core components, such as the Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM), are multiplexed in the up and down frequency conversion link. High-frequency local oscillator (LO) signals are used to keep image frequency signals and various kinds of spurious signals obtained by beating frequency outside the system bandwidth. Experimental results demonstrate that the operating frequency ranges from 2 to 18 GHz with high performance for both transmitter and receiver. The image rejection is 57.35 dB for up-conversion and 46.56 dB for down-conversion, and the in-band spurious suppression achieves at least 55.02 dB. At the same time, the spurious-free dynamic range (SFDR) can reach at least 89.11d B⋅H z 2/3.

Spot position scheme on a quadrant detector for a spaceborne laser communication system.

The paper proposes a spot positioning method based on a four-quadrant detector for the limited computing power and memory of spaceborne laser communication, in which the adaptive interpolation segmentation (AIS) algorithm is used to fit the theoretical position curve. The algorithm uses linear operations though the fitting process and the simulated result indicates that it has higher positioning accuracy in the center area of the quadrant detector. A spot receiving and positioning system was built for experimentation and the final location of the spot was calculated. The positioning error is analyzed to evaluate the performance of the whole system. It is shown that the positioning accuracy is highest in the stable communication area of the system. In result, the scheme achieves high accuracy with simple operations, which is more suitable for spaceborne laser communication systems to release more performance for communication.

LncRNA in periodontal tissue-derived cells on osteogenic differentiation in the periodontitis field.

OBJECTIVE: Periodontitis can lead to the destruction of periodontal tissues and potentially tooth loss. Numerous periodontal tissue-derived cells display osteogenic differentiation potential. The presence of differentially expressed long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in these cells indicate their ability to regulate the process of osteogenic differentiation. We aim to elucidate the various lncRNA-mediated regulatory mechanisms in the osteogenic differentiation of periodontal tissue-derived cells in the field of periodontitis at epigenetic modification, transcriptional, and post-transcriptional levels. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We systematically searched the PubMed, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect databases to identify relevant literature in the field of periodontitis discussing the role of lncRNAs in regulating osteogenic differentiation of periodontal tissue-derived cells. The identified literature was subsequently summarized for comprehensive review. RESULTS: In this review, we have comprehensively summarized the regulatory mechanisms of lncRNAs in the osteogenic differentiation of periodontal tissue-derived cells in the field of periodontitis and discussed how these lncRNAs provide novel perspectives for understanding the pathogenesis and progression of periodontitis. CONCLUSION: These results indicate the pivotal role of lncRNAs as regulators in the osteogenic differentiation of periodontal tissue-derived cells, providing a solid basis for future investigations on the role of lncRNAs in the periodontitis field.

Optimal resilience of modular interacting networks.

Coupling between networks is widely prevalent in real systems and has dramatic effects on their resilience and functional properties. However, current theoretical models tend to assume homogeneous coupling where all the various subcomponents interact with one another, whereas real-world systems tend to have various different coupling patterns. We develop two frameworks to explore the resilience of such modular networks, including specific deterministic coupling patterns and coupling patterns where specific subnetworks are connected randomly. We find both analytically and numerically that the location of the percolation phase transition varies nonmonotonically with the fraction of interconnected nodes when the total number of interconnecting links remains fixed. Furthermore, there exists an optimal fraction [Formula: see text] of interconnected nodes where the system becomes optimally resilient and is able to withstand more damage. Our results suggest that, although the exact location of the optimal [Formula: see text] varies based on the coupling patterns, for all coupling patterns, there exists such an optimal point. Our findings provide a deeper understanding of network resilience and show how networks can be optimized based on their specific coupling patterns.

Machine-Learning-Assisted Instantaneous Frequency Measurement Method Based on Thin-Film Lithium Niobate on an Insulator Phase Modulator for Radar Detection.

A simple microwave photonic, reconfigurable, instantaneous frequency measurement system based on low-voltage thin-film lithium niobate on an insulator phase modulator is put forward and experimentally demonstrated. Changing the wavelength of the optical carrier can realize the flexibility of the frequency measurement range and accuracy, showing that during the ranges of 0-10 GHz, 3-15 GHz, and 12-18 GHz, the average measurement errors are 26.9 MHz, 44.57 MHz, and 13.6 MHz, respectively, thanks to the stacked integrated learning models. Moreover, this system is still able to respond to microwave signals of as low as -30 dBm with the frequency measurement error of 62.06 MHz, as that low half-wave voltage for the phase modulator effectively improves the sensitivity of the system. The general-purpose, miniaturized, reconfigurable, instantaneous frequency measurement modules have unlimited potential in areas such as radar detection and early warning reception.

A pilot restoration of Enhalus acoroides by transplanting dislodged rhizome fragments and its effect on the microbial diversity of submarine sediments.

Enhalus acoroides, the largest seagrass species in terms of morphology, has been observed to be declining significantly. In an effort to restore seagrass meadows, we conducted a transplantion utilizing dislodged rhizome fragments of E. acoroides as the donor materials. The growth of transplanted seagrass was monitored over a period of three years, and the impact of seagrass recolonization on sedimentary environment was assessed through analysis of sediment microbial diversity. The transplanted plants displayed notable growth, resulting in the successful recolonization of experimental plots by seagrass. The 3-year data also revealed the following findings: 1) the new shoot recruitment rate (per year) (NSR) of transplanted seagrass was 2.33 in the first year, 1.36 in the second year, and 0.83 in the third year, indicating a rapid initial growth rate of E. acoroides that subsequently slowed down; 2) the numbers of shoots and aboveground biomass of transplanted seagrass had increased by 13.0 and 15.9-fold, respectively, whereas only 3.3 and 5.3-fold increases of the natural seagrass were observed, suggesting that the transplantation of seagrass leads to a significantly accelerated recovery compared to its natural regeneration process. Furthermore, the restoration of E. acoroides resulted in a higher microbial diversity in the submarine sediments within the restoration area, as compared to the adjacent unvegetated area. This suggests that the re-vegetation of E. acoroides has a positive influence on the overall health of the sedimentary environment. This study strongly advocates for the active transplantation of dislodged E. acoroides plants resulting from human activities as a potential approach for future coastal management, specifically for the restoration of E. acoroides meadows.

Pathways for achieving conservation targets under metacoupled anthropogenic disturbances.

Enhancing connectivity between protected areas stands as a paramount objective in advancing global conservation goals, particularly in coastal regions grappling with escalating human disruptions. However, little attention has been given to quantitative assessment of human-nature interactions within and among protected areas. Here, we endeavored to model the connectivity between protected areas in rapidly urbanizing regions in China, drawing on insights from the framework of metacoupling based on connected corridors at short and long distances. In alignment with the overarching global conservation aim of increasing the overall coverage of protected areas, we found that adding new site to the protected area system yields superior connectivity gains compared to merely expanding the boundaries of the existing sites. Within the connectivity network between protected areas, we discerned specific sites acting as stepping stones, pivotal in enhancing connectivity among the chosen protected areas. Our study propounds a pragmatic methodology for prioritizing local protection initiatives and underscores the criticality of incorporating connectivity conservation strategies. This approach is vital for attaining regional biodiversity targets, given the dual perspective encompassing both human activities and the natural environment, particularly in the face of mounting anthropogenic disturbances.

Impacts of irrigation with treated livestock wastewater on the accumulation characteristic of ARGs in the farmland soil: a case study in Hohhot, China.

Irrigation with treated livestock wastewater (TWW) is a promising strategy for reusing resources. However, TWW irrigation might introduce antibiotic resistant genes (ARGs) into the soil, posing environmental risks associated with antibiotic resistance. This study focuses on investigating the influence of irrigation amounts and duration on the fate of ARGs and identifies key factors driving their changes. The results showed that there were 13 ARGs in TWW, while only 5 ARGs were detected in irrigated soil. That is some introduced ARGs from TWW could not persistently exist in the soil. After 1-year irrigation, an increase in irrigation amount from 0.016 t/m2 to 0.048 t/m2 significantly enhanced the abundance of tetC by 29.81%, while ermB and sul2 decreased by 45.37% and 76.47%, respectively (p < 0.01). After 2-year irrigation, the abundance of tetC, ermB, ermF, dfrA1, and total ARGs significantly increased (p < 0.05) when the irrigation amount increased. The abundances of ARGs after 2-year irrigation were found to be 2.5-34.4 times higher than 1 year. Obviously, the irrigation years intensified the positive correlation between ARGs abundance and irrigation amount. TetC and ermF were the dominant genes resulting in the accumulation of ARGs. TWW irrigation increased the content of organic matter and total nitrogen in the soil, which affected microbial community structure. The changes of the potential host were the determining factors driving the ARGs abundance. Our study demonstrated that continuous TWW irrigation for 2 years led to a substantial accumulation of ARGs in soil.

Investigating the effect of volatility on the hygroscopicities of acetate nanoparticle aerosols by surface plasmon resonance microscopy.

Under high relative humidity (RH) conditions, the release of volatile components (such as acetate) has a significant impact on the aerosol hygroscopicity. In this work, one surface plasmon resonance microscopy (SPRM) measurement system was introduced to determine the hygroscopic growth factors (GFs) of three acetate aerosols separately or mixed with glucose at different RHs. For Ca(CH3COO)2 or Mg(CH3COO)2 aerosols, the hygroscopic growth trend of each time was lower than that of the previous time in three cyclic humidification from 70% RH to 90% RH, which may be due to the volatility of acetic acid leading to the formation of insoluble hydroxide (Ca(OH)2 or Mg(OH)2) under high RH conditions. Then the third calculated GF (using the Zdanovskii-Stokes-Robinson method) for Ca(CH3COO)2 or Mg(CH3COO)2 in bicomponent aerosols with 1:1 mass ratio were 3.20% or 5.33% lower than that of the first calculated GF at 90% RH. The calculated results also showed that the hygroscopicity change of bicomponent aerosol was negatively correlated with glucose content, especially when the mass ratio of Mg(CH3COO)2 to glucose was 1:2, the GF at 90% RH only decreased by 4.67% after three cyclic humidification. Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrum (ICP-AES) based measurements also indicated that the changes of Mg2+concentration in bicomponent was lower than that of the single-component. The results of this study reveal thatduring the efflorescence transitions of atmospheric nanoparticles, the organic acids diffusion rate may be inhibited by the coating effect of neutral organic components, and the particles aging cycle will be prolonged.

Strategies for Achieving Ultra-Long ORR Durability-Rh Activates Interatomic Interactions in Alloys.

The stability of platinum-based alloy catalysts is crucial for the future development of proton exchange membrane fuel cells, considering the potential dissolution of transition metals under complex operating conditions. Here, we report on a Rh-doped Pt3Co alloy that exhibits strong interatomic interactions, thereby enhancing the durability of fuel cells. The Rh-Pt3Co/C catalyst demonstrates exceptional catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) (1.31 A mgPt -1 at 0.9 V vs. the reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) and maintaining 92 % of its mass activity after 170,000 potential cycles). Long-term testing has shown direct inhibition of Co dissolution in Rh-Pt3Co/C. Furthermore, tests on proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) have shown excellent performance and long-term durability with low Pt loading. After 50,000 cycles, there was no voltage loss at 0.8 A cm-2 for Rh-Pt3Co/C, while Pt3Co/C experienced a loss of 200 mV. Theoretical calculations suggest that introducing transition metal atoms through doping creates a stronger compressive strain, which in turn leads to increased catalytic activity. Additionally, Rh doping increases the energy barrier for Co diffusion in the bulk phase, while also raising the vacancy formation energy of the surface Pt. This ensures the long-term stability of the alloy over the course of the cycle.

A gene based combination test using GWAS summary data.

BACKGROUND: Gene-based association tests provide a useful alternative and complement to the usual single marker association tests, especially in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The way of weighting for variants in a gene plays an important role in boosting the power of a gene-based association test. Appropriate weights can boost statistical power, especially when detecting genetic variants with weak effects on a trait. One major limitation of existing gene-based association tests lies in using weights that are predetermined biologically or empirically. This limitation often attenuates the power of a test. On another hand, effect sizes or directions of causal genetic variants in real data are usually unknown, driving a need for a flexible yet robust methodology of gene based association tests. Furthermore, access to individual-level data is often limited, while thousands of GWAS summary data are publicly and freely available. RESULTS: To resolve these limitations, we propose a combination test named as OWC which is based on summary statistics from GWAS data. Several traditional methods including burden test, weighted sum of squared score test [SSU], weighted sum statistic [WSS], SNP-set Kernel Association Test [SKAT], and the score test are special cases of OWC. To evaluate the performance of OWC, we perform extensive simulation studies. Results of simulation studies demonstrate that OWC outperforms several existing popular methods. We further show that OWC outperforms comparison methods in real-world data analyses using schizophrenia GWAS summary data and a fasting glucose GWAS meta-analysis data. The proposed method is implemented in an R package available at https://github.com/Xuexia-Wang/OWC-R-package CONCLUSIONS: We propose a novel gene-based association test that incorporates four different weighting schemes (two constant weights and two weights proportional to normal statistic Z) and includes several popular methods as its special cases. Results of the simulation studies and real data analyses illustrate that the proposed test, OWC, outperforms comparable methods in most scenarios. These results demonstrate that OWC is a useful tool that adapts to the underlying biological model for a disease by weighting appropriately genetic variants and combination of well-known gene-based tests.

Blocking Accretion Enables Dimension Reduction of Metal-Organic Framework for Photocatalytic Performance.

The evolution and formation process of two-dimensional metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) primarily arise from the anisotropic growth of crystals, leading to variations in photocatalytic performance. It is crucial to achieve a synergistic combination of anisotropic electron transfer direction and dimension reduction strategies. In this study, a novel approach that effectively blocks crystal growth accretion through the coordination of solvent molecules is presented, achieving the successful synthesis of impurity-free two-dimensional nanosheet Zn-PTC with exceptional hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) performance (15.4 mmol g-1  h-1 ). The structural and photophysical characterizations validate the successful prevention of crystal accretion, while establishing correlation between structural anisotropy and intrinsic charge transfer mode through transient spectroscopy. These findings unequivocally demonstrate that electron transfer along the [001] direction plays a pivotal role in the redox performance of nano-Zn-PTC. Subsequently, by coupling the photocatalytic performance and density functional theory (DFT) simulation calculations, the carrier diffusion kinetics is explored, revealing that effective dimension reduction along the ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) direction is the key to achieving superior photocatalytic performance.

Generalized Encapsulations of ZIF-Based Fe-N-C Catalysts with Controllable Nitrogen-Doped Carbon for Significantly-Improved Stability Toward Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

The vigorous development of efficient platinum group metal-free catalysts is considerably important to facilitate the universal application of proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Although nitrogen-coordinated atomic iron intercalated in carbon matrix (Fe-N-C) catalysts exhibit promising catalytic activity, the performance in fuel cells, especially the short lifetime, remains an obstacle. Herein, a highly-active Fe-N-C catalyst with a power density of >1 w cm-2 and prolonged discharge stability with a current density of 357 mA cm-2 after 40 h of constant voltage discharge at 0.7 V in H2 -O2 fuel cells using a controllable and efficient N-C coating strategy is developed. It is clarified that a thicker N-C coating may be more favorable to enhance the stability of Fe-N-C catalysts at the expense of their catalytic activity. The stability enhancement mechanism of the N-C coating strategy is proven to be the synergistic effect of reduced carbon corrosion and iron loss. It is believed that these findings can contribute to the development of Fe-N-C catalysts with high activity and long lifetimes.