Development and validation of a nomogram for predicting heterotopic ossification following spinal cord injury.

OBJECTIVE: Heterotopic ossification (HO) following spinal cord injury (SCI) can severely compromise patient mobility and quality of life. Precise identification of SCI patients at an elevated risk for HO is crucial for implementing early clinical interventions. While the literature presents diverse correlations between HO onset and purported risk factors, the development of a predictive model to quantify these risks is likely to bolster preventive approaches. This study is designed to develop and validate a nomogram-based predictive model that estimates the likelihood of HO in SCI patients, utilizing recognized risk factors to expedite clinical decision-making processes. METHODS: We recruited a total of 145 patients with SCI and presenting with HO who were hospitalized at the China Rehabilitation Research Center, Beijing Boai Hospital, from June 2016 to December 2022. Additionally, 337 patients with SCI without HO were included as controls. Comprehensive data were collected for all study participants, and subsequently, the dataset was randomly partitioned into training and validation groups. Using Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator regression, variables were meticulously screened during the pretreatment phase to formulate the predictive model. The efficacy of the model was then assessed using metrics including receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, calibration assessment, and decision curve analysis. RESULTS: The final prediction model incorporated age, sex, complete spinal cord injury status, spasm occurrence, and presence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Notably, the model exhibited commendable performance in both the training and validation groups, as evidenced by areas under the ROC curve (AUCs) of 0.756 and 0.738, respectively. These values surpassed the AUCs obtained for single variables, namely age (0.636), sex (0.589), complete spinal cord injury (0.681), spasm occurrence (0.563), and DVT presence (0.590). Furthermore, the calibration curve illustrated a congruence between the predicted and actual outcomes, indicating the high accuracy of the model. The decision curve analysis indicated substantial net benefits associated with the application of the model, thereby underscoring its practical utility. CONCLUSIONS: HO following SCI correlates with several identifiable risk factors, including male gender, youthful age, complete SCI, spasm occurrence and DVT. Our predictive model effectively estimates the likelihood of HO development by leveraging these factors, assisting physicians in identifying patients at high risk. Subsequently, correct positioning to prevent spasm-related deformities and educating healthcare providers on safe lower limb mobilization techniques are crucial to minimize muscle injury risks from rapid iliopsoas muscle extension. Additionally, the importance of early DVT prevention through routine screening and anticoagulation is emphasized to further reduce the incidence of HO.

Different policies constrained agricultural non-point pollutants emission trading management for water system under interval, fuzzy, and stochastic information.

Formulating suitable policies is essential for resources and environmental management. In this study, an agricultural pollutants emission trading management model driven by water resources and pollutants control is developed to search reasonable policies for agricultural water resources allocation under multiple uncertainties. Random-fuzzy and interval information in water resources system that have directly impact on the effectiveness of management schemes is reflected through interval two-stage stochastic fuzzy-probability programming. The model was root from regional agricultural water resources system in Jining City, China under considering the relationship among effective precipitation, crop water demand, and pollutants emission. Two types policies (water consumption-control and pollutants emission-control) are designed for searching the related interaction on water resources management and water quality improvement. The results indicated that water resources policies would be of water and environmental double benefits, and a large rainfall would reduce irrigation amount from water sources and lead to a larger pollutants emission trading. The results will help for defining scientific and effective water resources protection and management policies and analyzing the related interacted effects on water consumption, pollutants control and system benefit.

Regional bioethanol supply chain optimization with the integration of GIS-MCDM method and quantile-based scenario analysis.

This study presents a novel decision-support framework for the bioethanol supply chain network planning and management under uncertainties. Under the holistic framework, the most suitable sites for biorefineries are first screened out by adopting a GIS-based multi-criteria decision-making approach. Then, a mixed-integer linear programming model combined with quantile-based scenario analysis is developed to determine the strategic planning (i.e. locations and size of biorefineries) and tactical management (i.e. biomass purchasing, feedstock transportation, bioethanol production, and product delivery) under uncertainties. The model can effectively search for reliable solutions under uncertainties and achieve tradeoff solutions with the consideration of decision makers' risk tolerance. The proposed framework is demonstrated through a case study in China. It is suggested to build seven biorefineries with a capacity of 100 million liters in Zhumadian city. Utilizing 41% of local agricultural residues could satisfy the bioethanol requirement in the transportation sector under the E20 policy. However, the estimated production cost of bioethanol in Zhumadian is very high, about 1.11 $/L, which makes it lose cost advantage in the fuel market. Thus, currently, effective subsidies, mandatory energy substitution policies, along other environmental regulatory measures are desired to promote the bioethanol industry development.

A unified deep learning framework for water quality prediction based on time-frequency feature extraction and data feature enhancement.

Deep learning methods exhibited significant advantages in mapping highly nonlinear relationships with acceptable computational speed, and have been widely used to predict water quality. However, various model selection and construction methods resulted in differences in prediction accuracy and performance. Hence, a unified deep learning framework for water quality prediction was established in the paper, including data processing module, feature enhancement module, and data prediction module. In the established model, the data processing module based on wavelet transform method was applied to decomposing complex nonlinear meteorology, hydrology, and water quality data into multiple frequency domain signals for extracting self characteristics of data cyclic and fluctuations. The feature enhancement module based on Informer Encoder was used to enhance feature encoding of time series data in different frequency domains to discover global time dependent features of variables. Finally, the data prediction module based on the stacked bidirectional long and short term memory network (SBiLSTM) method was employed to strengthen the local correlation of feature sequences and predict the water quality. The established model framework was applied in Lijiang River in Guilin, China. The maximum relative errors between the predicted and observed values for dissolved oxygen (DO), chemical oxygen demand (CODMn) were 12.4% and 20.7%, suggesting a satisfactory prediction performance of the established model. The validation results showed that the established model was superior to all other models in terms of prediction accuracy with RMSE values 0.329, 0.121, MAE values 0.217, 0.057, SMAPE values 0.022, 0.063 for DO and CODMn, respectively. Ablation tests confirmed the necessity and rationality of each module for the established model framework. The established method provided a unified deep learning framework for water quality prediction.

Survival nomogram for osteosarcoma patients: SEER data retrospective analysis with external validation.

This study aimed to develop a nomogram based on the clinicopathological factors affecting the prognosis of osteosarcoma patients to help clinicians predict the overall survival of osteosarcoma patients. A total of 1362 patients diagnosed with osteosarcoma were enrolled in this study, among which, 1081 cases were enrolled from the SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) database as training group, while 281 patients from two Clinical Medicine Center database were used in validation group. Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses were performed to identify the independent prognostic factors for overall survival. Nomogram predicting the 3- and 5-year overall survival probability was constructed and validated. Multiple validation methods, including calibration plots, consistency indices (C-index), and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) were used to validate the accuracy and the reliability of the prediction models. Decision curve analysis (DCA) was conducted to validate the clinical application of the prediction model. Furthermore, all patients were divided into low- and high-risk groups based on their nomogram scores. Kaplan-Meier (KM) curves were applied to compare the difference in survival between the two groups. Predictors in the prediction model included age, sex, tumor size, primary site, grade, M stage, and surgery. Our results showed that the model displayed good prediction ability, and the calibration plots demonstrated great power both in the training and the validation groups. In the training group, C-index was 0.80, and the 3- and 5-year AUCs of the nomogram were 0.82 and 0.81, respectively. In the validation group, C-index was 0.79, and the 3- and 5-year AUCs of the nomogram were 0.85 and 0.83, respectively. Furthermore, DCA data indicated the potential clinical application of this model. Therefore, our prediction model could help clinicians evaluate prognoses, identify high-risk individuals, and provide individualized treatment recommendation for patients with osteosarcoma.

Source or sink role of an urban lake for microplastics from Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao greater bay area, China.

Plastic production and consumption in China are larger than others in the world, and the challenge of microplastic pollution is widespread. With the development of urbanization in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, China, the environmental pollution of microplastics is becoming an increasingly prominent issue. Here, the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics, sources, and ecological risks of microplastics were analyzed in water from an urban lake, Xinghu Lake, as well as the contribution of rivers. Importantly, the roles of urban lakes for microplastics were demonstrated through the investigations of contributions and fluxes for microplastic in rivers. The results showed that the average abundances of microplastics in water of Xinghu Lake were 4.8 ± 2.2 and 10.1 ± 7.6 particles/m3 in wet and dry seasons, and the average contribution degree of the inflow rivers was 75%. The size of microplastics in water from Xinghu Lake and its tributaries was concentrated in the range of 200-1000 µm. In general, the average comprehensive potential ecological risk indexes of microplastics in water were 247 ± 120.6 and 273.1 ± 353.7 in wet and dry seasons, which the high ecological risks of them were found through the adjusted evaluation method. There were also mutual effects among microplastic abundance, the concentrations of total nitrogen and organic carbon. Finally, Xinghu Lake has been a sink for microplastics both in wet and dry seasons, and it would be a source of microplastics under the influence of extreme weather and anthropogenic factors.

Dynamic characteristics of microplastics under tidal influence and potential indirect monitoring methods.

Rivers are an important channel for the transport of microplastics from inland areas to the ocean. It is of great significance to explore the dynamic changes in microplastic pollution characteristics under tidal fluctuations to understand the exchange of microplastics between rivers and oceans. In this study, the occurrence of microplastics in typical tidal channels in the lower reaches of the Dong River was investigated during the wet and dry weather seasons, and high frequency continuous dynamic monitoring of microplastics was carried out in a typical tidal cross section during a tidal cycle. The abundances of microplastics during wet and dry weather seasons were 3.97-102.87 ± 28.63 item/m3 and 5.43-56.43 ± 14.32 item/m3, respectively. The microplastics generally exhibited a fluctuating growth pattern, with low contents in the upstream area and high contents in the downstream area, and the abundance of microplastics differed greatly in the different functional zones. The dynamic monitoring results showed that the abundance of microplastics was clearly affected by the tides, in that it increased during the flood tide and decreased during the ebb tide, with abundances ranging from 11.15 to 95.26 item/m3. In addition, there was a significant linear relationship between the abundance of microplastics and flow in the typical tidal cross section. The relationship between the response of microplastic pollution characteristics and tides combined with local hydrometeorological factors may be a potentially effective real-time monitoring method for assessing microplastic pollution indirectly.

Can platelet-rich plasma enhance the effect of meniscus repair? A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials Platelet-rich plasma and meniscus repair.

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that platelet-rich plasma (PRP) can enhance the effect of meniscus repair, but some studies have suggested different views on the role of PRP. PURPOSE: To determine whether PRP can enhance the effect of meniscus repair with respect to pain reduction and improved functionality and cure rate in patients with meniscus injury. METHODS: By searching PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library databases, clinicaltrials.gov, and the CNKI database from their inception till December 1, 2020, we performed a meta-analysis of RCTs reporting the results of the Pain Visual Analog Scale (VAS), the pain of Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), Lysholm score, the International Knee Documentation Committee (IKDC), healing rate, and adverse events. The risk of bias is assessed using Cochrane's collaborative tools. The summary results are expressed with effect size and 95% confidence interval, and sensitivity were performed. RESULTS: The meta-analysis included 9 RCTs and 345 patients. In general, compared with the control group, used of PRP during meniscus surgery significantly improved the pain (SMD: -0.95, p < 0.00001,95% CI: -1.22 to -0.69, I2 = 42%) and knee joint function (SMD: 1.00, p = 0.01.95% CI: 0.22 to 1.79, I2 = 89%) of patients with meniscus injury at 6 months after treatment. However, both PRP and non-PRP showed improvements in the pain and knee joint function, with no significant difference between the groups at 1 months and beyond 12 months. The PRP enhancement technique showed benefit in improving the cure rate of meniscus repair (RR:1.44; p < 0.0001, 95% CI: 1.20-1.73). No serious adverse events were reported in any study. CONCLUSION: As an enhancement program for meniscus repair, PRP is worthy of further consideration in improving the function and pain of patients during the mid-term follow-up after surgery, and PRP can further improve the healing rate of meniscus repair. However, the evidence still needs to be interpreted carefully because of the quantity and quality of the included studies.

Preliminary Study of Vagus Nerve Magnetic Modulation in Patients with Prolonged Disorders of Consciousness.

Background: The number of patients with prolonged disorders of consciousness (pDOC) is increasing. However, its clinical treatment remains challenging. To date, no studies have reported the effect of vagus nerve modulation (VNM) using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in patients with pDOC. We aimed to evaluate the effect of vagus nerve magnetic modulation (VNMM) on pDOC patients. Methods: We performed VNMM in 17 pDOC patients. The Revised Coma Recovery Scale (CRS-R), Glasgow scale (GCS), somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) and brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) were assessed before and after treatment. Results: Both CRS-R and GCS results showed significant improvement in p DOC patients after VNMM treatment. The CRS-R improved from 7.88 ± 2.93 to 11.53 ± 4.94. The GCS score also improved from 7.65 ± 1.9 to 9.18 ± 2.65. The number of BAEP grades I increased from 3 to 5 after treatment. The number of BAEP grades I increased from 3 to 5, grade II increased by 1, and grade III decreased from 4 to 1. Conclusion: This study provides a preliminary indication of the potential of VNMM in the rehabilitation of pDOC patients. It provides the basis for a Phase 2 or Phase 3 study of VNMM in patients with pDOC.

Towards low-carbon domestic circulation: Insights from the spatiotemporal variations and socioeconomic determinants of emissions embedded within cross-province trade in China.

For a country like China with unbalanced development pattern among provinces, domestic circulation (i.e., cross-province trade) is important for the long-term stability and prosperous development of economic market. However, with the rapid advance of integration of domestic regional economy, while expanding the internal market scale and deepening the provincial division of labor network for promoting the economic growth, the carbon emissions embedded within the cross-province traded products and services cannot be underestimated. Under the background of climate-trade dilemma, it is necessary to exploring the spatiotemporal variations and socioeconomic determinants of provincial "invisible" carbon emissions for a better understanding of trade-induced eco-environmental effects. To that end, this study developed an environmental-economic system model through integrating the environmentally extended multiregional input-output method and weighted average structural decomposition analysis technique to explore the trade-related emissions at the provincial level and generate the mitigation-management strategies for decisionmakers. Overall, more than half the emissions were embedded within cross-province goods and services trade over the whole study period. Furthermore, the distribution of traded emissions showed obvious spatial heterogeneity and great unbalance was existed between provincial imports and exports. Among all provinces, carbon surplus provinces were always more than deficit ones and the trading patterns of approximately 65% regions remained unchanged during 2007-2017. Remarkably, the emissions trading pattern undergone transition from carbon deficit to carbon surplus in provinces like Henan, Hubei, Guizhou, and so on. Conversely, provinces like Jilin, Shanghai, and Xinjiang showed opposite change. With the prevalence of online payment and electronic commerce in the future, the central and sub-national government could consider launching a pilot project for the design and creation of personal carbon consumption account in the carbon surplus provinces such as Guangdong, Henan, and Jiangsu. Meanwhile, for the provinces with larger carbon exports, it is necessary to establish the horizontal high technical transfer channels and vertical compensation mechanisms such as financial subsidies for improving the low-carbon production level. Our findings provided a holistic depict of national traded emissions at the provincial level, highlighting the importance of cross-province emission effect in exploring ways to promote the low-carbon transition of domestic circulation and fulfill the high-quality development of 'dual circulation' new pattern and successful achievement of 'double carbon' solemn commitment.

Potential Life-Cycle Environmental Impacts of the COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Test.

Massive diagnostic testing has been performed for appropriate screening and identification of COVID-19 cases in the ongoing global pandemic. However, the environmental impacts of COVID-19 diagnostics have been least considered. In this paper, the environmental impacts of the COVID-19 nucleic acid diagnostics were assessed by following a full cradle-to-grave life-cycle approach. The corresponding life-cycle anthology was established to provide quantitative analysis. Moreover, three alternative scenarios, i.e., material substitution, improved waste treatment, and electric vehicle (EV)-based transportation, were further proposed to discuss the potential environmental mitigation and conservation strategies. It was estimated that the life cycle of a single COVID-19 nucleic acid diagnostic test in China would lead to the emission of 612.9 g CO2 equiv global warming potential. Waste treatment, as a step of life cycle, worsen the environmental impacts such as global warming potential, eutrophication, and ecotoxicity. Meanwhile, diesel-driven transportation was considered as the major contributor to particulate air. Even though COVID-19 diagnostics are of the greatest importance to end the pandemic, their environmental impacts should not be ignored. It is suggested that improved approaches for waste treatment, low-carbon transportation, and a reliable pool sampling strategy are critical for the achievement of sustainable and green diagnostics.

Comparison of the effects of autologous and allogeneic purified platelet-rich plasma on cartilage damage in a rabbit model of knee osteoarthritis.

Background: Purified platelet-rich plasma (P-PRP) is gradually being used in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA), and its sources are mainly divided into autologous and allogeneic blood. However, it is unclear whether autologous PRP is more effective or allogeneic PRP is superior. Objective: In this study, autologous and allogeneic P-PRP was injected at early stage of KOA in rabbits, and then the differences in the efficacy of the two P-PRPs against KOA were compared from several perspectives, including pathological histology and immunohistochemistry. Method: Experimental rabbits were divided into normal group (n = 8), model group (n = 8), autologous P-PRP group (n = 8), and allogeneic P-PRP group (n = 8) using a random number table method. The normal and model groups did not receive any treatment, and the autologous P-PRP and allogeneic P-PRP groups received intra-articular injections of autologous and allogeneic P-PRP, respectively, to observe the changes in the gross specimens of the knee joints of the experimental rabbits in each group. The histopathological changes of chondrocytes were also observed by HE-stained sections of articular cartilage, and the expression of chondrocytes Bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) and Sox9 were detected by immunohistochemistry. Results: Compared with the allogeneic P-PRP group, the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.05) in the gross specimens and pathological histological findings in the autologous PRP group. Immunohistochemical results showed that the expression of BMP-2 and Sox9 was elevated in both the autologous P-PRP group and the allogeneic P-PRP group compared with the model group, and the expression of BMP-2 was higher in the autologous P-PRP group than in the allogeneic P-PRP group, with a statistically significant difference (P < 0.05), while there was no difference in the expression of Sox9 between the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Intra-articular injection of autologous P-PRP activated the expression of BMP-2 and Sox9 in chondrocytes and effectively improved KOA cartilage repair and reduced bone redundancy and joint fluid formation, and its efficacy was superior to that of intra-articular injection of allogeneic P-PRP.

Effect of platelet-rich plasma on meniscus repair surgery: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that platelet-rich plasma (PRP) can enhance the effect of meniscus repair, but some studies have suggested different views on the role of PRP. Therefore, a meta-analysis was conducted to determine whether PRP can enhance the effect of meniscus repair with respect to pain reduction and improved functionality and cure rate in patients with meniscus injury. METHODS: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library Databases, clinicaltrials.gov, and the CNKI Database were searched from their inception till December 1, 2020. The RCTs reporting the outcomes of the Pain Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Lysholm score, healing rate, and adverse events were included. The risk of bias was assessed using Cochrane collaborative tools. The simulated results were expressed with effect size and 95% confidence interval, and sensitivity and subgroup analysis were performed. RESULTS: The meta-analysis included 8 RCTs and 431 participants. Compared with the control group, use of PRP during meniscus surgery significantly improved the VAS (SMD: -0.40, P = .002, 95%CI: -0.66 to -0.15) and Lysholm score (MD: 3.06, P < .0001, 95%CI: 1.70-4.42) of meniscus injury, but the PRP showed no benefit in improving the healing rate of meniscus repair (RR: 1.22, P = .06, 95%CI: 0.99-1.51). No serious adverse events were reported in any study. CONCLUSIONS: PRP is safe and effective in improving the effect of meniscus repair as augment. High quality RCTs with long follow-up and definitive results are needed in the future to confirm the use and efficacy of PRP in meniscus tears.

Water-carbon nexus relationship and interaction mechanism analysis within Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration.

As the total water resources consumption control and carbon mitigation continuous improvement, the weak water-carbon incorporate management is increasingly exposed. In this study, a water-carbon nexus assessment framework is proposed to analyze the nexus relationship between water consumption and carbon emission, and distinguishes the coupled water-carbon transmission intensity and the transfer paths under regional and industrial scales. According to the practical input-output table, water consumption, and carbon emission information, the framework is applied to Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration (BTHUA), a population, resource, and trade intensive area of China. Inter-regional/intra-regional water consumption and carbon emission transfer fluxes between sectors, the pairwise ecological relationship, and the water-carbon nexus were analyzed. Results indicated that the water-carbon transfer indexes from Hebei to Beijing and Tianjin were 161.85 kg/m3 and 113.88 kg/m3 in the study period, along with the most water consumption and carbon emission, and the worst water-carbon nexus. From the industrial perspective, electricity and gas supplying industry provided 7.8% and 29.1% of the total carbon transfer in Tianjin and Hebei, as the most key node sectors on the water-carbon nexus in the BTHUA. The research provides valuably supporting the adjustment of the existing urban agglomeration water-carbon nexus management schemes.

Brain-machine interface-based training for improving upper extremity function after stroke: A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.

Background: Upper extremity dysfunction after stroke is an urgent clinical problem that greatly affects patients' daily life and reduces their quality of life. As an emerging rehabilitation method, brain-machine interface (BMI)-based training can extract brain signals and provide feedback to form a closed-loop rehabilitation, which is currently being studied for functional restoration after stroke. However, there is no reliable medical evidence to support the effect of BMI-based training on upper extremity function after stroke. This review aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of BMI-based training for improving upper extremity function after stroke, as well as potential differences in efficacy of different external devices. Methods: English-language literature published before April 1, 2022, was searched in five electronic databases using search terms including "brain-computer/machine interface", "stroke" and "upper extremity." The identified articles were screened, data were extracted, and the methodological quality of the included trials was assessed. Meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.4.1 software. The GRADE method was used to assess the quality of the evidence. Results: A total of 17 studies with 410 post-stroke patients were included. Meta-analysis showed that BMI-based training significantly improved upper extremity motor function [standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.62; 95% confidence interval (CI) (0.34, 0.90); I 2 = 38%; p < 0.0001; n = 385; random-effects model; moderate-quality evidence]. Subgroup meta-analysis indicated that BMI-based training significantly improves upper extremity motor function in both chronic [SMD = 0.68; 95% CI (0.32, 1.03), I 2 = 46%; p = 0.0002, random-effects model] and subacute [SMD = 1.11; 95%CI (0.22, 1.99); I 2 = 76%; p = 0.01; random-effects model] stroke patients compared with control interventions, and using functional electrical stimulation (FES) [SMD = 1.11; 95% CI (0.67, 1.54); I 2 = 11%; p < 0.00001; random-effects model]or visual feedback [SMD = 0.66; 95% CI (0.2, 1.12); I 2 = 4%; p = 0.005; random-effects model;] as the feedback devices in BMI training was more effective than using robot. In addition, BMI-based training was more effective in improving patients' activities of daily living (ADL) than control interventions [SMD = 1.12; 95% CI (0.65, 1.60); I 2 = 0%; p < 0.00001; n = 80; random-effects model]. There was no statistical difference in the dropout rate and adverse effects between the BMI-based training group and the control group. Conclusion: BMI-based training improved upper limb motor function and ADL in post-stroke patients. BMI combined with FES or visual feedback may be a better combination for functional recovery than robot. BMI-based trainings are well-tolerated and associated with mild adverse effects.

Changes of vegetational cover and the induced impacts on hydrological processes under climate change for a high-diversity watershed of south China.

Understanding the changes in hydrological process is a key subject for water resource management of a high-diversity watershed. In this paper, through an establishment of a SWAT-based model, the effects of climate change and its induced vegetation change on hydrological process were analyzed in the East River Basin. The model could well simulate the hydrological processes of the basin including surface runoff (SURQ), groundwater (GWQ), lateral flow (LATQ), total water yield (WYLD), actual evapotranspiration (ET), and groundwater recharge (PERC). Under the vegetation change induced by temperature increase, the effects of the vegetation change on hydrological process were larger than that of the temperature change. Under the vegetation change caused by the increase of temperature and precipitation, the vegetation change enhanced the effects of climate change on annual SURQ, LATQ, GWQ, WYLD, and PERC of the basin. Under spatial scale, when the temperature and precipitation changed simultaneously, the increase of precipitation could promote the increase of annual ET in sub-watersheds. Also, the annual SURQ, WYLD, GWQ and ET in western sub-watersheds were more sensitive to the cumulative changes of vegetation and climate. This work can provide useful information to decision makers in water resource management of watersheds.

Analysis of Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1α Expression and Its Effects on Glycolysis of Esophageal Carcinoma.

We investigated the regulatory effects of hypoxia-inducible factor-1a (HIF-1α) on glycolysis metabolism in esophageal carcinoma (ESCA) cells. A series of bioinformatics databases and tools were used to investigate the expression and role of HIF-1α in ESCA. The expression of HIF-1a in ESCA tissues and adjacent tissues was validated by real-time PCR. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) was used to inhibit HIF-1α-related genes in human ESCA cells (Eca109 and KYSE150). Cell proliferation was detected by the CCK-8 assay. The expression of HIF-1α and glycolytic enzymes were investigated by real-time PCR and Western blot. HIF-1α is highly expressed in ESCA and is involved in many biological processes such as cell hypoxia reaction, glucose metabolic process. Further in vitro experiments showed that expression of HIF-1α in Eca109 and KYSE150 significantly increased under hypoxia compared with normoxia conditions. Also, the glucose uptake and lactate production under hypoxia were higher. The expression levels of hexokinase 2 (HK2) and pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1), glycolysis-related genes, were significantly increased under hypoxia. After siRNA knockdown of HIF-1a in Eca109 and KYSE150, the glucose uptake and lactate production, as well as cell proliferation were significantly decreased under hypoxia, and HK2 and PDK1 were significantly downregulated. HIF-1α promotes glycolysis of ESCA cells by upregulating the expression of HK2 and PDK1 under hypoxia.

Dual risk-aversion programming for regional industrial structure adjustment with water-energy nexus: A case study of Tianjin, China.

The water-energy nexus (WEN) system is a large-scale complex system that comes with diverse forms of risks owing to many challenges in the process of maintaining economic-resource-environmental sustainability. First, the rapidly increasing demand for water and energy subjects many regions to the high risk of water and energy shortages. Second, decision makers face difficulties in weighing system benefits and loss risks under a series of stricter water-energy policies. To handle the aforementioned dual risks of WEN, in this study we propose copula-based stochastic downside risk-aversion programming (CSDP) for regional water-energy management. CSDP integrates the superiority of the copula analysis method and downside risk-aversion programming into a framework, which can not only reveal the risk interactions between water resources and energy demand by using copula functions under different probability distributions, even previously unknown correlations, but also control economic risk, tackle systemic uncertainties, and provide an effective linkage between system stability and conflicting economic benefits. The proposed model was applied to a water-energy system case study in Tianjin City, China. Optimal solutions for various water resources and energy demand copulas associated with different scenarios and hierarchical risk levels were examined in the CSDP model. The results showed that water resources have a greater influence than energy on industrial structure adjustment in Tianjin, with consequent effects on system benefits, optimal output value schemes, and environmental protection strategies. In addition, the tertiary industry provides a new opportunity for economic growth based on a large amount of water-energy consumption, and its potential resources and water-air pollution risks also deserve extensive attention.

Exploring the embodied carbon flow interactive relationships in China from an ecological network perspective: a model framework and application at provincial level.

Energy-related carbon emissions take a large proportion in China, and the interregional trade caused by provincial disparities has led to significant differences in carbon footprint (CF) and embodied carbon flows among provinces that make great bottlenecks for the balance of economic development and carbon mitigation. In this study, we developed an embodied carbon flow-based ecological network (ECFEN) model with economic trade and emission data through combining the multi-regional input-output model and ecological network analysis approach. The developed ECFEN model was applied to 30 provinces in China to quantify the interprovincial flow of carbon embodied in final goods and services and identify the ecological utility (competitive, exploitative, and exploited) and control/dependence relationships between different regions. The main findings can be summarized as follows: Firstly, Jiangsu had the highest total CF with amount of 906 Mt, which was approximately 24.5 times than that of Hainan (37 Mt). Especially, the local CF in Shandong was the largest among all of the provinces with an amount of 683 Mt. Secondly, 13 pairs of embodied carbon flow paths exceeded 20 Mt, and the remarkable embodied carbon flowed from resource-oriented regions (e.g., Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Hebei) to economically developed eastern coastal provinces and municipalities (e.g., Jiangsu, Guangdong, Beijing, Chongqing). Metallurgy and electricity, water, and gas contributed 30-80% of the total embodied carbon import and export for each province. Thirdly, the exploitative and exploited relationship dominated the ecological relationship between provinces. Meanwhile, the resource-oriented regions played the role of controllers while economically developed provinces were dependents. On the one hand, the central government could take vertical compensation measures such as financial subsidies for major exporter and controllers. On the other hand, it is necessary to take horizontal technical transfer especially from economically developed southeast coastal provinces to western underdeveloped inland area. The obtained results and policy implications are expected to provide reasonable insights for decision-makers to formulate carbon mitigation strategies under the domestic circulation strategy.