Long non-coding RNA Linc00657 up-regulates Skp2 to promote the progression of cervical cancer through lipid reprogramming and regulation of immune microenvironment.

More and more evidence shows that long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) plays an important role in the biological behavior of many kinds of malignant tumors, but the specific function of lncRNA Linc00657 in cervical cancer is still unknown. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of Linc00657 on the malignant progression of cervical cancer and its potential mechanism. In two kinds of cervical cancer cell lines and normal cervical epithelial cells, qRT-PCR showed increased expression of Linc00657 in cervical cancer cells. Through MTT, clone formation test, flow cytometry, wound healing test and Transwell test, it has been found that overexpression of Linc00657 could promote the proliferation,migration and invasion of cervical cancer cells，and inhibit apoptosis. Through the StarBase database, it was found that there may be a mutual regulatory relationship between Linc00657 and Skp2, and Skp2 may be the downstream target of Linc00657. QRT-PCR detection confirmed that the expression of Skp2 was increased in cervical cancer cells with overexpression of Linc00657. TIMER2 database found that Skp2 was associated with lipid metabolic enzymes and immune cell infiltration. It was found that Linc00657 knockdown inhibited tumor growth and metastasis and inhibited the expression of Skp2 in vivo. In short, our research shows that Linc00657 has carcinogenic properties in cervical cancer, and LINC00657 promotes the occurrence of cervical cancer by up-regulating the expression of Skp2. We predict that Linc00657/mir30s/Skp2 axis plays a role in the malignant progression of cervical cancer. In addition, Skp2 may participate in cancer immune response and promote lymph node metastasis of cervical cancer through lipid reprogramming. These findings also provide promising targets for the diagnosis and treatment of cervical cancer.

Multicity comparative assessment and optimized management path of sustainability of the economy-energy-environment system: A case study of core cities in China's three major economic circles.

Coordinated and stable development of economy-energy-environment (3E) systems represents a long-term strategy for the sustainable development of humankind. Following the research idea of "indicator system construction-3E system evaluation-obstacles identification-optimization management," this article innovatively constructs a multiangle and comparable methodology system for evaluation and optimized management of the 3E system and considers the core cities of three economic circles in China as cases for empirical research. The results show that all the coordination degree levels were of good or high quality, which was at the highest level in the country. The sustainability degree of the three cities showed an upward trend; of these, Beijing had the highest sustainability degree, followed by Guangzhou and Shanghai. Obstacle degree analysis shows that technology investment and energy factors were common factors hindering sustainable development of the 3E systems of the three cities, and each city also had its own unique factors that acted as obstacles. On this basis, this article formulates region-specific policy recommendations in order to provide a useful reference for top-level design for the government. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:875-887. © 2023 SETAC.

An amorphous Ni-Fe catalyst for electrocatalytic dehydrogenation of alcohols to value-added chemicals.

As for the hydrogen production process via electrocatalytic water splitting, the green and sustainable electro-oxidation of organic molecules at the anode is thermodynamically more favourable than the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Here, we proposed for the first time to replace the OER process by the oxidation of N-Boc-4-piperidine methanol (BPM), via a parallel reaction, which finally leads to the green production of N-Boc-4-piperidine carboxaldehyde (BPC). The amorphous NiFeO(OH) nanospheres with rich valence states were adopted as the anode catalyst, with creation of more active sites. The gas chromatography results showed that nearly all the BPM converted to BPC after 15 h reaction. The electrochemical tests showed that the Faraday efficiency (FE) approaches nearly 100% when the charge transfer is approximately equal to the theoretical charge. This work reports a new process for the alcohol oxidation, providing a valuable green organic synthesis process.

Understanding the greenhouse gas emissions from China's wastewater treatment plants: Based on life cycle assessment coupled with statistical data.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are significant contributors to energy consumption and anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. For achieving carbon reduction in the wastewater treatment industry, the direct and indirect GHG emissions generated by WWTPs need to be understood from a holistic perspective. This study estimated GHG emissions from WWTPs at the country scale by integrating process-based life cycle assessment and statistical data. On-site data were collected from 17 WWTPs of various regions in China. Uncertainty analysis based on Monte Carlo was also performed, so as to provide more reliable results. The results show that life cycle GHG emissions generated from the wastewater treatment process vary from 0.29 kg CO2 eq/m3 to 1.18 kg CO2 eq/m3 based on 17 sample WWTPs. The key factors contributing to overall GHG emissions are also identified as carbon dioxide (fossil) and methane (fossil) to air mainly generated from electricity generation, and methane (biogenic) and nitrous oxide (biogenic) to air mainly generated from wastewater treatment. National average GHG emissions was evaluated with the value of 0.88 kg CO2 eq/m3, with on-site GHG emissions and off-site electricity-based GHG emissions accounting for 32% and 34%, respectively. The total GHG emissions generated from wastewater treatment are 56.46 billion kg CO2 eq in 2020, with Guangdong province having the dominant contribution. Policy suggestions (e.g., further adjusting the electricity grid toward a low carbon structure, improving technology to promote treatment efficiency and energy recovery) were highly recommended so that national GHG emissions of WWTPs can be reduced. In order to achieve the synergy of pollutant removal and GHG emission reduction, policy-making on wastewater treatment should be tailored to specific local conditions.

The Impact of Environmental Regulations on Pollution and Carbon Reduction in the Yellow River Basin, China.

Based on data from 69 cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2006-2018, this paper examines the impact of environmental regulations on the integrated management of air pollution and CO2 emissions and its mechanism of action using a two-way stationary model. The results found that: (1) The impact of environmental regulations on air pollution and CO2 emissions in the Yellow River Basin has an inverted U-shaped trend, the intensity of regulation is still on the left side of the inverted U-shaped curve, and the inflection point has not yet appeared. (2) Environmental regulations suppressed air pollution and CO2 emissions by adjusting industrial structure, promoting technological innovation, and improving energy efficiency, but the current intensity of regulation is not sufficient to make the three paths fully effective. (3) The pollution and carbon reduction effects of environmental regulations are more significant in areas with higher marketization and resource dependence, national urban agglomerations, and the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin. However, environmental regulations in other regions only show significant pollution reduction effects, and there is still more room for improving carbon reduction governance. Therefore, the Yellow River Basin should strengthen environmental regulations to promote ecological governance and high-quality development.

The effect of optimizing chemical fertilizers consumption structure to promote environmental protection, crop yield and reduce greenhouse gases emission in China.

To ensure food security, simultaneously achieving environmental protection and greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction has become a significant challenge in the sustainable development of China's chemical fertilizers (CFs) industry. Hence, this work attempt to construct a multi-objective optimization model (MOOM) based on crop yield, environment protection, and GHG emissions to adjust and optimize China's CFs structure (nitrogen, phosphate, potash, and compound fertilizers). The findings revealed that it's impossible to achieve the coordinated development of the three objectives only through the adjustment of CFs structure. Different optimization measures were sequentially integrated with the MOOM to innovatively obtain the most suitable optimization schemes and the quantitative adjustment interval (which was compared with those in 2018) of the CFs structure. The following are the specific conclusions. First, compared with 2018, the appropriate increase interval for the total CFs consumption was 9 %-21 %, in which the proportion intervals of nitrogen, phosphate, potash, and compound fertilizers were 18 %-25 %, 12 %-18 %, 7 %-12 %, 48 %-60 %, respectively. Second, the reduction ranges of environmental impact and GHG emissions were 1.1 %-12 % and 12.2 %-16.4 %, respectively, under the optimal scheme (combination of the synergy of organic fertilizer substitution and technology improvement with the MOOM), and the growing range of crop yield was 0.2 %-52 %. The main contribution of this work is to build a methodology system for the adjustment and optimization of CFs consumption structure. The findings of the study could be used by the government to develop relevant policies and by other sectors to perform multi-objective optimization.

LncRNA SCAMP1 disrupts the balance between miR-26a-5p and ZEB2 to promote osteosarcoma cell viability and invasion.

Osteosarcoma often occurs in children and adolescents and affects their health. The survival rate of osteosarcoma patients is unsatisfactory due to the lack of early detection and metastasis development and drug resistance. Hence, dissection of molecular insight into osteosarcoma initiation and progression is pivotal to provide the new therapeutic strategy. In recent years, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have burst into stage in osteosarcoma development and malignant behaviors. LncRNA SCAMP1 has been discovered to play an essential role in carcinogenesis and progression. However, the mechanisms of lncRNA SCAMP1-involved tumorigenesis have not been reported in human osteosarcoma. In this study, we utilized multiple cellular biological approaches to determine the function of lncRNA SCAMP1 in osteosarcoma cells. Moreover, we performed several molecular biological approaches to define the mechanism by which lncRNA SCAMP1 regulated cell viability and invasion in osteosarcoma. We dissected that lncRNA SCAMP1 promoted progression of osteosarcoma via modulation of miR-26a-5p/ZEB2 axis. In conclusion, targeting lncRNA SCAMP1 and its downstream targets, miR-26a-5p and ZEB2, might be a useful approach for osteosarcoma therapy.

Electrocatalytic N2 Reduction on FeS2 Nanoparticles Embedded in Graphene Oxide in Acid and Neutral Conditions.

The development of stable, low-cost, and highly efficient electrocatalysts for the N2 reduction reaction (NRR) process is challenging but crucial for ammonia production. Herein, we demonstrate the synthesis of pyrite nanoparticles wrapped by graphene oxide (FeS2@GO) acting as a highly efficient NRR catalyst in a wide pH range. The FeS2 nanoparticles are uniformly dispersed across the GO nanosheet, thus leading to the fine exposure of active sites, the promotion of charge transfer, and the increment of a contact surface area, which are all beneficial for a desired catalyst. In the meantime, the low-coordinated Fe atoms are activated as highly active sites, which is in favor of the enhanced electrochemical performance for the NRR. Furthermore, density functional theory (DFT) calculations illustrated that the high activity of N2 reduction over the FeS2@GO catalyst arises from the well-exposed Fe active sites and the increment of charge density at the valence band edge. Benefiting from the well-optimized interface, the barrier of the addition of the first hydrogen atom to N2 forming *NNH species as the potential-determining step is as low as 0.93 eV in N2 electroreduction. The electrochemical test results reveal that, as expected, FeS2@GO exhibits high Faradaic efficiencies (4.7% in 0.1 M HCl solution and 6.8% in 0.1 M Na2SO4 solution) and advanced NH3 yields (78.6 and 27.9 µg h-1 mgcat.-1 in 0.1 M HCl and 0.1 M Na2SO4 solutions, respectively) in both acid and neutral conditions. This work offers a new avenue for exploring novel electrocatalysts, which has great promise to accelerate the practical application of the NRR.

Different distribution patterns of microorganisms between aquaculture pond sediment and water.

Aquatic microorganisms in the sediment and water column are closely related; however, their distribution patterns between these two habitats still remain largely unknown. In this study, we compared sediment and water microeukaryotic and bacterial microorganisms in aquaculture ponds from different areas in China, and analyzed the influencing environmental factors as well as the inter-taxa relationships. We found that bacteria were significantly more abundant than fungi in both sediment and water, and the bacterial richness and diversity in sediment were higher than in water in all the sampling areas, but no significant differences were found between the two habitats for microeukaryotes. Bacterial taxa could be clearly separated through cluster analysis between the sediment and water, while eukaryotic taxa at all classification levels could not. Spirochaetea, Deltaproteobacteria, Nitrospirae, Ignavibacteriae, Firmicutes, Chloroflexi, and Lentimicrobiaceae were more abundantly distributed in sediment, while Betaproteobacteria, Alphaproteobacter, Cyanobacteria, Roseiflexaceae, Dinghuibacter, Cryomorphaceae, and Actinobacteria were more abundant in water samples. For eukaryotes, only Cryptomonadales were found to be distributed differently between the two habitats. Microorganisms in sediment were mainly correlated with enzymes related to organic matter decomposition, while water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and nutrient levels all showed significant correlation with the microbial communities in pond water. Intensive interspecific relationships were also found among eukaryotes and bacteria. Together, our results indicated that eukaryotic microorganisms are distributed less differently between sediment and water in aquaculture ponds compared to bacteria. This study provides valuable data for evaluating microbial distributions in aquatic environments, which may also be of practical use in aquaculture pond management.

Organic Matter Regulates Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacterial and Archaeal Communities in the Surface Sediments of Ctenopharyngodon idellus Aquaculture Ponds.

Ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) and archaea (AOA) play important roles in nitrogen removal in aquaculture ponds, but their distribution and the environmental factors that drive their distribution are largely unknown. In this study, we collected surface sediment samples from Ctenopharyngodon idellus ponds in three different areas in China that practice aquaculture. The community structure of AOB and AOA and physicochemical characteristics in the ponds were investigated. The results showed that AOA were more abundant than AOB in all sampling ponds except one, but sediment AOB and AOA numbers varied greatly between ponds. Correlation analyses indicated a significant correlation between the abundance of AOB and arylsulfatase, as well as the abundance of AOA and total nitrogen (TN) and arylsulfatase. In addition, AOB/AOA ratio was found to be significantly correlated with the microbial biomass carbon. AOB were grouped into seven clusters affiliated to Nitrosospira and Nitrosomonas, and AOA were grouped into six clusters affiliated to Nitrososphaera, Nitrososphaera sister group, and Nitrosopumilus. AOB/AOA diversity in the surface sediments of aquaculture ponds varied according to the levels of total organic carbon (TOC), and AOB and AOA diversity was significantly correlated with arylsulfatase and ß-glucosidase, respectively. The compositions of the AOB communities were also found to be significantly influenced by sediment eutrophic status (TOC and TN levels), and pH. In addition, concentrations of acid phosphatase and arylsulfatase in surface sediments were significantly correlated with the prominent bacterial amoA genotypes, and concentrations of TOC and urease were found to be significantly correlated with the prominent archaeal amoA genotype compositions. Taken together, our results indicated that AOB and AOA communities in the surface sediments of Ctenopharyngodon idellus aquaculture ponds are regulated by organic matter and its availability to the microorganisms.

Numerical simulation of pollutant transport in soils surrounding subway infrastructure.

With continued urbanization, public transport infrastructure, e.g., subways, is expected to be built in historically industrial areas. To minimize the transfer of volatile organic compounds and metalloids like arsenic from industrial areas into subway environments and reduce their impact on public health, the transport of pollutants in soil was simulated in this study. During numerical simulations of a contaminated site, the pollutant (arsenic) was transported from layers of higher to lower concentration, and concentration changes were particularly evident in the early simulation stages. The pollutant was transported in soil along the direction of groundwater flow and spread from the center to the periphery of the contaminated zone without inputs from pollution sources. After approximately 400 days, the concentration of all layers became uniform, with slow decreases occurring over time. The pollutant supply rate had a major influence on the pollutant diffusion distance. When other conditions were kept constant, higher supply rates resulted in longer diffusion distances. The simulation results show that a diaphragm wall of a certain depth can effectively control the diffusion of pollutants in soil. These results can be used to improve environmental assessments and remediation efforts and inform engineering decisions during the construction of urban infrastructure at sites affected by historical pollution.