The pathway to the natural gas industry: Financial development, coal consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions in P.R. China.

This paper revisits the causal links between financial development, coal consumption, and CO2 emissions in P.R. China over the 1977-2017 period to validate the development of its natural gas industry. It uses a Bootstrap ARDL bound test with structural breaks to establish stationarity, short- and long-run dynamics, and causality of the series. The results show there are no long-run relationships among these three variables, but a Granger causality test does indicate the presence of both a two-way Granger causality between coal consumption and CO2 emissions, and a one-way Granger causality running from financial development to both coal consumption and CO2 emissions. These results have important policy implications for the Chinese government's efforts to meet its commitment at the 75th UN General Assembly to achieve carbon neutrality. In that context, the promotion of its natural gas industry, including carbon pricing mechanisms and taxation schemes while enacting environmentally friendly energy abatement policies become a must.

DESIGN, CONSTRUCTION AND TEST OF GAMMA IONIZATION CHAMBERS.

Ionization chamber is considered as the golden standard for the dosemeter. This work fabricated one graphite-walled and two polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)-walled ionization chambers, tested respectively and compared their characteristic parameters. The performance of graphite-walled chamber was similar to that of the PMMA-walled chamber. The relative energy response of ionization chambers was lower than 4% from 50 keV to 50 MeV based on the FLUKA code simulation results. The experimental data showed that the ionization chambers performed well in linearity and repeatability. Assuming the chambers sensitive volume and HV bias was constant, the measured maximum saturation absorbed dose of ionization chambers changed with the diameter variation of chambers anode based on the comparison results of two PMMA-walled ionization chambers.

Revisit causal nexus between financial development and environmental quality in China: a structural shift panel data analysis.

Climate change is a challenge for all of humanity. Should financial be environmentally responsible? This paper uses the Toda-Yamamoto test and the extended Fourier Toda-Yamamoto test re-examine the relationship between financial development and environmental quality in 31 provinces and municipalities in China during the period 2000-2018. We find that financial development in certain regions has effectively reduced the concentration of PM2.5, which indicates that it has a significantly positive effect on environmental quality, though with regional differences. After considering structural shifts, the relationship between financial development and environmental improvement is found to be significant in more regions, indicating that China has undergone structural shifts in these aspects. The aforementioned conclusions are also supported by further robustness tests. China can consequently utilize the positive impact of finance for advocating carbon emission reduction and improving environment quality, therefore contributing to the response to global climate change.

Prediction of the Interface Shear Strength between Ultra-High-Performance Concrete and Normal Concrete Using Artificial Neural Networks.

The bond strength between ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) and normal-strength concrete (NC) plays an important role in governing the composite specimens' overall behaviors. Unfortunately, there are still no widely accepted formulas targeting UHPC-NC interfacial strength, either in their specifications or in research papers. To this end, this study constructs an experimental database, consisting of 563 and 338 specimens for splitting and slant shear tests, respectively. Moreover, an additional 35 specimens for "improved" slant shear tests were performed, which could circumvent concrete crushing and trigger interfacial debonding. Additionally, for the first time in our tests, the effect of casting sequence on UHPC-NC bond strength was identified. Based on the database, an artificial neural network (ANN) model is proposed with the following inputs: namely, the normal stress perpendicular to the interface, the interface roughness, and the compressive strengths of the UHPC and NC materials. Based on the ANN analyses, the explicit expression of UHPC-NC bond strength is proposed, which significantly lowers the prediction error. To be fully compatible with the specifications, the conventional shear-friction formula is modified. By splitting the total force into adhesion and friction forces, the modified formula additionally takes the casting sequence into account. Although sacrificing accuracy to some extent compared to the ANN model, the modified formula relies on a solid physical basis and its accuracy is enhanced significantly compared to the existing formulas in specifications or research papers.

CRIP1 expression in monocytes related to hypertension.

Hypertension is a complex and multifactorial disorder caused by lifestyle and environmental factors, inflammation and disease-related genetic factors and is a risk factor for stroke, ischemic heart disease and renal failure. Although circulating monocytes and tissue macrophages contribute to the pathogenesis of hypertension, the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Cysteine rich protein 1 (CRIP1) is highly expressed in immune cells, and CRIP1 mRNA expression in monocytes associates with blood pressure (BP) and is up-regulated by proinflammatory modulation suggesting a link between CRIP1 and BP regulation through the immune system. To address this functional link, we studied CRIP1 expression in immune cells in relation to BP using a human cohort study and hypertensive mouse models. CRIP1 expression in splenic monocytes/macrophages and in circulating monocytes was significantly affected by angiotensin II (Ang II) in a BP-elevating dose (2 mg/kg/day). In the human cohort study, monocytic CRIP1 expression levels were associated with elevated BP, whereas upon differentiation of monocytes to macrophages this association along with the CRIP1 expression level was diminished. In conclusion, CRIP1-positive circulating and splenic monocytes seem to play an important role in hypertension related inflammatory processes through endogenous hormones such as Ang II. These findings suggest that CRIP1 may affect the interaction between the immune system, in particular monocytes, and the pathogenesis of hypertension.

Genetic transformation of Pinellia ternata with Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated sHSP genes / 中国中药杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To establish an efficient genetic transformation system of Pinellia ternata.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>With petioles from test-tube seedlings of P. ternata as explants, Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediation method was adopted to explore the effect of phenolic substances, A. tumefaciens's concentration, infection time, pre-incubation time and co-cultivation time on genetic transformation efficiency of P. ternata.</p><p><b>RESULT AND CONCLUSION</b>The genetic transformation efficiency could be effectively enhanced by infecting in A. tumefaciens culture containing AS 40 mg x L(-1) for 15 min for three days. The petioles were put into the differentiation medium containing 150 mg x L(-1) Kan and 350 mg x L(-1) Carb to screening and cultivation. After around 30 days, microtubers could be observed at both sides of the petioles. Gus staining and PCR verification on the regenerated plants showed that the exogenous gene sHSP had been integrated into genome of P. ternata.</p>

Development and validation of molecular markers for characterization of Boehmeria nivea var. nivea and Boehmeria nivea var. tenacissima.

BACKGROUND: The root of Boehmeria spp (ramie) is a hepatoprotective Chinese herbal medicine. Medicinal properties vary between Boehmeria nivea var. nivea and Boehmeria nivea var. tenacissima, which are local species found in Taiwan. As commercial preparations may use either species, there is a need for a rapid and simple assay to identify variants for quality control. METHODS: Four methods were developed and tested for their applicability in differentiating the two species. These methods were random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD); sequence characterized amplified regions (SCAR); single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and cleaved amplified polymorphic sequences (CAPS). RESULTS: Three RAPD markers were developed that produced unique bands in B. nivea var. tenacissima and B. nivea var. nivea. Based on sequenced RAPD bands, one SCAR marker was developed that produced a single DNA band in B. nivea var. nivea. Two SNP markers differentiated between B. nivea var. nivea and B. nivea var. tenacissima based on single nucleotide substitutions. A pair of CAPS oligonucleotides was developed by amplifying a 0.55-kb DNA fragment that exhibited species-specific digestion patterns with restriction enzymes Alf III and Nde I. Consistent results were obtained with all the four markers on all tested Boehmeria lines. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrates the use of the RAPD, SCAR, SNP and CAPS markers for rapid identification of two closely related Boehmeria species.