Does the low-carbon city pilot contribute to the blue sky defense? Evidence from China.

China's goal of ecological civilization construction simultaneously faces the dual strategic tasks of pollution control and carbon reduction (PCCR). In addition to carbon reduction, does the low-carbon city pilot (LCCP) further contribute to the blue sky defense? This study investigates the impact of the LCCP on air pollution by employing a multiperiod difference-in-differences (DID) model based on data from 276 Chinese cities. The results show the following: (1) Compared with nonpilot areas, the LCCP reduces PM2.5 levels in pilot areas by approximately 1.50% on average, which is achieved by "industrial restructuring", "government investment in science and technology (S&T)", and "green lifestyle". (2) The LCCP has heterogeneous effects on air quality across cities with different resource endowments and industrial attributes, showing a greater air quality improvement in nonresource-based cities (NREB cities) and old industrial base cities (OIB cities) than in other city types. (3) The positive impact of the LCCP on air improvement in the pilot areas is derived from "pollution control effects" rather than "pollution transfer effects". This study provides useful policy implications for the comprehensive green transition and exploration of synergistic governance for PCCR in China.

Official promotion and extreme environmental regulation: Evidence from prefecture-level cities in China.

Under the background of Chinese decentralization, avoiding the shortsightedness of local officials has become the policy focus of the central government's environmental regulation. In recent years, with the achievement of environmental protection gradually becoming a necessity for promotion, local officials increasingly prefer to implement extreme environmental regulation (EER) to quickly control environmental deterioration. Based on this specific fact, this paper constructs a systematic GMM model, trying to study whether the promotion of officials can fully explain the executive logic of EER under the influence of limited tenure and geographical rotation. It is found that EER and limited tenure have a U-shaped relationship, and geographical rotation can inhibit EER during the limited tenure. In addition, China has not formed an "environment-only" promotion tournament. Heterogeneity analysis showed that in areas with high bureaucratic compliance, local officials are late in strengthening EER during their tenure while the inhibition effect of geographical rotation is poor; Compared with older officials, young officials have stronger motivation to implement EER, and the inhibition of geographical rotation is obvious. To sum up, our research shows that the green promotion system only enhances officials' demands for environmental achievements, but it does not restrict officials' short-sighted governance strategies. The central government should start by expanding environmental protection assessment indicators and improving the quality of official rotation to narrow the implementation space of EER, thereby encouraging local governments to promote stable and sound environmental governance in a compliant and long-term manner.

Recurrent Implication of Striatal Cholinergic Interneurons in a Range of Neurodevelopmental, Neurodegenerative, and Neuropsychiatric Disorders.

Cholinergic interneurons are "gatekeepers" for striatal circuitry and play pivotal roles in attention, goal-directed actions, habit formation, and behavioral flexibility. Accordingly, perturbations to striatal cholinergic interneurons have been associated with many neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative, and neuropsychiatric disorders. The role of acetylcholine in many of these disorders is well known, but the use of drugs targeting cholinergic systems fell out of favor due to adverse side effects and the introduction of other broadly acting compounds. However, in response to recent findings, re-examining the mechanisms of cholinergic interneuron dysfunction may reveal key insights into underlying pathogeneses. Here, we provide an update on striatal cholinergic interneuron function, connectivity, and their putative involvement in several disorders. In doing so, we aim to spotlight recurring physiological themes, circuits, and mechanisms that can be investigated in future studies using new tools and approaches.

[Clinical observation on treating diabetic macular edema with intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide and laser].

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide(IVTA) combining with retinal laser treating for diabetic macular edema(DME). METHODS: Twenty five patients(32 eyes) with DME who has microangioma in macula lutea were randomly divided into group A, B,C and D(8 eyes each group). Eyes in group A were treated with laser photocoagulation. Eyes in group B were treated with multiplier-532 laser photocoagulation and transpupillary thermotherapy. Eyes in group C were treated with multiplier-532 laser photocoagulation and intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide. Eyes in group D were treated with multiplier-532 laser, transpupillary thermotherapy plus triamcinolone acetonide injection. Intravitreal injection of 4 mg triamcinolone acetonide was done 1 week after laser photocoagulation in group C and D. The visual acuity, intraocular pressure, macular thickness (foveal thickness) of the eyes in 4 groups were observed before and 1, 3 and 6 months after treatment. RESULTS: The visual acuity, intraocular pressure and foveal thickness of the 4 groups before treatment showed no significant difference(p> ). The visual acuity, intraocular pressure, macular thickness of eyes in group A, B were better than those of group C, D at 1, 3 and 6 months after treatment, and they had significant difference(p<0.05), while they didn't show significant difference between group A and B, group C and D(p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The effect of laser photocoagulation and intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide, laser photocoagulation combining with transpupillary thermotherapy plus triamcinolone acetonide injectionvisual treating for DME was better than laser photocoagulation alone, laser photocoagulation combining with transpupillary thermotherapy.