The effect of heterogeneous environmental regulations on the employment skill structure: The system-GMM approach and mediation model.

Environmental regulation has played an essential function in reducing pollution and it also influences the flow of labor. Although studies on employment and environmental regulation have gained prominence, most researches ignore the heterogeneity of regulatory tools and its discrepant impacts on different skilled labor; moreover, few literatures have explored how environmental regulations affect employment. Therefore, this study creatively incorporates environmental regulation, industrial green transformation and employment skill structure into a unified analytical framework, categorizing environmental regulations into command-and-control type, market-incentive type and voluntary type and analyzing the heterogeneous influences of environmental regulations on employment skill structure. Meanwhile, we explore the indirect impact of environmental regulations on the employment skill structure from the mediating role of industrial green transformation. The following are the research findings: (1) From a national perspective, both command-and-control and market-incentive types present a U-shaped association with employment skill structure, and their intensity has not surpassed the turning point yet; while the voluntary type is positively connected with the employment skill structure. (2) From the regional analysis, the findings in central and western areas are consistent with the national results; while the market-incentive and voluntary types show a reciprocal U-shaped connection with employment skill structure in eastern, and their regulatory intensity is in the rising stage of the curve. (3) Industrial green transformation acts as a partly mediator between market-incentive type and employment skill structure, but presents a suppression effect between command-and-control type, voluntary type, and employment skill structure. This paper takes industrial green transformation as the mediating variable, which emphasizes the importance of industrial green transformation and enhances the understanding on the mechanism of environmental regulation influencing employment skill structure. The research results provide theoretical support and significant reference for China in formulating policies to facilitate industrial green transformation, mitigate pollution, and optimize employment skill structure.

The impact of urban population spatial distribution on CO2 emissions in China from the perspective of individual and interactive effects.

As China's rapid urbanization continues, uneven urban population spatial distribution (UPSD) has a profound impact on its CO2 emissions. To understand how UPSD shapes CO2 emissions in China, this study employs geographic detectors to analyze the spatial stratified heterogeneity patterns of urban CO2 emissions and explore the spatial individual and interactive effects of UPSD in 2005 and 2015. Results show that CO2 emissions increased significantly from 2005 to 2015, especially in developed cities and resource-based cities. The spatial individual effect of UPSD on spatial stratified heterogeneity pattern of CO2 emissions has gradually increased in the North Coast, South Coast, the Middle Yellow River, and the Middle Yangtze River. The interaction of UPSD and urban transportation infrastructure, urban economic development, and urban industrial structure plays a more important role on the North Coast and East Coast than in other city groups in 2005. In 2015, the interaction between UPSD and urban research and development was the traction of mitigating CO2 emissions in developed city groups, especially on the North Coast and East Coast. Moreover, the spatial interaction between the UPSD and urban industrial structure has gradually weakened in developed city groups, which means UPSD drives the prosperity of the service industry, thus contributing to the low-carbon development of Chinese cities.

A systematic scoping review of environmental and socio-economic effects of COVID-19 on the global ocean-human system.

The global outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has strongly affected human lives. The restrictions taken to slow down the spread of the virus impact socio-economic activities and the environment. A comprehensive review of these COVID-19 impacts on the ocean-human system is lacking. The current study fills this gap by synthesizing the environmental and socio-economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global ocean by conducting a systemic scoping review of 92 published articles. From a geospatial perspective, the studies covered a total of 37 countries, mainly from Asia, Europe, and North America, with a particular focus on the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. From an environmental perspective, both positive and negative effects on global oceans were summarized. Notably, improved coastal water quality and reduced underwater noise were reported. On the other hand, the increasing COVID-19-related medical waste such as personal protective equipment leads to severe pollution, which threatens the marine ecosystem and wildlife. From a socioeconomic perspective, the impacts of the pandemic were negative throughout with marine tourism and the fishery industry being severely disrupted. Coastal communities suffered from loss of income, unemployment, inequalities and health problems. The COVID-19 pandemic offers an opportunity for transformation of management and economic practices in order to save our ocean and boost progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14). Future research should include other sectors such as marine biodiversity, marine renewable energy, climate change, and blue economy development of Small Island Developing States. Effective policies and strategies across land and ocean around the world need to be developed and implemented to enhance resilience of the human-ocean system and to achieve post-pandemic global sustainable ocean development.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of new parbendazole derivatives for the treatment of HNSCC.

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a lethal disease with a terrible prognosis, accounting for more than 900,000 new cases and 500,000 deaths each year, nevertheless, its pharmacotherapy is rather limited. Parbendazole was previously identified as a potential HNSCC therapy candidate in our research. Herein, we report the discovery of two series of parbendazole derivatives as tubulin inhibitors. Structure-activity relationship (SAR) analyses led to the discovery of compound 9q with the best pharmacological activities and pharmacokinetic properties. This compound exhibited reasonable inhibition activity on cell proliferation (HN6, CAL-27, Fadu) and tubulin polymerization, induced cell apoptosis, blocked cell cycle and suppressed cell migration and invasion. Compound 9q also displayed low toxicity and a favorable therapeutic effect on a xenograft tumor, indicating that it is a promising starting point for further research.

Discovery of small-molecule fluorescent probes for C-Met.

C-mesenchymal-epithelia transition factor (c-Met) is highly expressed in various solid tumors such as gastric cancer, liver cancer, and lung cancer, playing a pivotal role in the growth, maintenance, and development of different tumor cells. In this study, three small-molecule fluorescent probes (5, 11, 16) targeting c-Met were developed, and their design strategies were also initially explored. In general, the fluorescence properties of the probes themselves could meet the imaging requirements, and they have shown sufficient inhibitory activities against c-Met, especially probe 16, reflecting the targeting and acceptance. Also, fluorescence polarization assays and flow cytometry analysis verified the binding between the probes and c-Met. Cell imaging confirmed that these probes could be used to label c-Met on living cells. It is of positive significance for the development of c-Met kinase inhibitors and tumor pathology research.