Role of public and private investments for green economic recovery in the post-COVID-19

This study evaluates the outlook of government expenditure through public and private financing for the green economic revitalization after COVID-19 in Canada. The various econometric estimations are used to measure the impact of government expenditure on green economic recovery. The implementation of public investment is explicitly associated with private funding. The results suggest that the government policy incentives and non-government financing influence fossil fuel energy sources proportions on non-government investment, which is additional than the feed-in tariffs. According to fixed effects results, the distribution of fossil fuel energy sources is an essential obstacle in solar energy investment. In contrast, the presence of varied types of renewable energy encourages non-government climate investment. Throughout the study period after the breakout of the pandemic phase, neither fossil fuel energy sources nor economic policy is marginally efficient. The different macroeconomic programs in green economic recovery might be ideal for attaining the needed impact. The critical policy conclusion of the results of this research is that an influential role of the public and private investment may be part of an optimal firm innovation plan for green economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 period

Regression of Gastric Cancer by Systemic Injection of RNA Nanoparticles Carrying Both Ligand and siRNA

Gastric cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. RNA nanotechnology has recently emerged as an important field due to recent finding of its high thermodynamic stability, favorable and distinctive in vivo attributes. Here we reported the use of the thermostable three-way junction (3WJ) of bacteriophage phi29 motor pRNA to escort folic acid, a fluorescent image marker and BRCAA1 siRNA for targeting, imaging, delivery, gene silencing and regression of gastric cancer in animal models. In vitro assay revealed that the RNA nanoparticles specifically bind to gastric cancer cells, and knock-down the BRCAA1 gene. Apoptosis of gastric cancer cells was observed. Animal trials confirmed that these RNA nanoparticles could be used to image gastric cancer in vivo, while showing little accumulation in crucial organs and tissues. The volume of gastric tumors noticeably decreased during the course of treatment. No damage to important organs by RNA nanoparticles was detectible. All the results indicated that this novel RNA nanotechnology can overcome conventional cancer therapeutic limitations and opens new opportunities for specific delivery of therapeutics to stomach cancer without damaging normal cells and tissues, reduce the toxicity and side effect, improve the therapeutic effect, and exhibit great potential in clinical tumor therapy

Inducible T-Cell Co-Stimulator Impacts Chronic Graft-Versus-Host Disease by Regulating Both Pathogenic and Regulatory T Cells

The incidence of chronic graft-versus-host disease (cGVHD) is on the rise and still the major cause of morbidity and mortality among patients after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT). Both donor T and B cells contribute to the pathogenesis of cGVHD. Inducible T-cell co-stimulator (ICOS), a potent co-stimulatory receptor, plays a key role in T-cell activation and differentiation. Yet, how ICOS regulates the development of cGVHD is not well understood. Here, we investigated the role of ICOS in cGVHD pathogenesis using mice with germline or regulatory T cell (Treg)-specific ICOS deficiency. The recipients of ICOS−/− donor grafts had reduced cGVHD compared with wild-type controls. In recipients of ICOS−/− donor grafts, we observed significant reductions in donor T follicular helper (Tfh), Th17, germinal center B-cell, and plasma cell differentiation, coupled with lower antibody production. Interestingly, Tregs, including follicular regulatory T (Tfr) cells, were also impaired in the absence of ICOS. Using ICOS conditional knockout specific for Foxp3+ cells, we found that ICOS was indispensable for optimal survival and homeostasis of induced Tregs during cGVHD. Furthermore, administration of anti-ICOS alleviated cGVHD severity via suppressing T effector cells without affecting Treg generation. Taken together, ICOS promotes T- and B-cell activation and differentiation, which can promote cGVHD development; however, ICOS is critical for the survival and homeostasis of iTregs, which can suppress cGVHD. Hence, ICOS balances the development of cGVHD and could offer a potential target after allo-HCT in the clinic

Diversification and Molecular Evolution of ATOH8, a Gene Encoding a bHLH Transcription Factor

ATOH8 is a bHLH domain transcription factor implicated in the development of the nervous system, kidney, pancreas, retina and muscle. In the present study, we collected sequence of ATOH8 orthologues from 18 vertebrate species and 24 invertebrate species. The reconstruction of ATOH8 phylogeny and sequence analysis showed that this gene underwent notable divergences during evolution. For those vertebrate species investigated, we analyzed the gene structure and regulatory elements of ATOH8. We found that the bHLH domain of vertebrate ATOH8 was highly conserved. Mammals retained some specific amino acids in contrast to the non-mammalian orthologues. Mammals also developed another potential isoform, verified by a human expressed sequence tag (EST). Comparative genomic analyses of the regulatory elements revealed a replacement of the ancestral TATA box by CpG-islands in the eutherian mammals and an evolutionary tendency for TATA box reduction in vertebrates in general. We furthermore identified the region of the effective promoter of human ATOH8 which could drive the expression of EGFP reporter in the chicken embryo. In the opossum, both the coding region and regulatory elements of ATOH8 have some special features, such as the unique extended C-terminus encoded by the third exon and absence of both CpG islands and TATA elements in the regulatory region. Our gene mapping data showed that in human, ATOH8 was hosted in one chromosome which is a fusion product of two orthologous chromosomes in non-human primates. This unique chromosomal environment of human ATOH8 probably subjects its expression to the regulation at chromosomal level. We deduce that the great interspecific differences found in both ATOH8 gene sequence and its regulatory elements might be significant for the fine regulation of its spatiotemporal expression and roles of ATOH8, thus orchestrating its function in different tissues and organisms

Assessing the Effect of a Crop-Tree Intercropping Program on Smallholders’ Incomes in Rural Xinjiang, China

Governments in developing counties often promote intercropping (crops intercropped with fruit trees on cultivated land) schemes in order to improve smallholders’ income. However, the implementation of such schemes is often hindered by inappropriate institutional environments and inefficient project management. It is important to assess the impacts of such intercropping programs, especially since such a cultivation strategy can often align closely with smallholders’ livelihood strategies, particularly in poor and remote rural regions. This paper attempts to assess the impact of an intercropping program on participants’ incomes in rural Xinjiang (China), and to explore the possible shortcomings in the program’s design and implementation. We apply a propensity score matching method, based on a survey dataset of 352 households, supplemented with descriptive analysis based on our anecdotal field observations. The findings demonstrate that the intercropping program had negative effects on the incomes that participants derived from farming, their off-farm income and their gross income. Overall, participants experienced significant losses of income. Anecdotal observations show that land tenure insecurity played a crucial role in negating the anticipated income improvement effect of this program. Farmer’s perceptions that they have limited security of tenure made them reluctant to invest the necessary time and resources to make the new cropping systems a success, while the available subsidies only partially covered the costs involved. In addition, the program led to a significant drop in yields of field crops as the trees were competing for a limiting and fixed supply of irrigation water

The Analysis of Cavitation Flow and Pressure Pulsation of Bi-Directional Pump

A bi-directional pump is designed by using S-shaped hydrofoil, is the most convenient way to achieve bi-directional operation. In this paper, high-speed photography is used to visualize the flow field characteristics of the bidirectional pump under different cavitation numbers, and the flow field changes caused by cavitation are quantitatively analyzed in combination with the pressure pulsation sensor. The results show that the operation efficiency of the bidirectional pump in reverse operation is lower than that in forward operation. Tip clearance cavitation occurs on both suction and pressure surfaces of the impeller under reverse operation and large flow. In reverse operation, the influence of guide vane on the main frequency of pressure pulsation in the impeller is obvious. The quasi-periodic vertical cavitation flow phenomenon increases the amplitude of pressure pulsation in the impeller and becomes the main component of the internal flow in the bidirectional axial flow pump

c-Jun-N-terminal phosphorylation regulates DNMT1 expression and genome wide methylation in gliomas

High-grade gliomas (HGG) are the most common brain tumors, with an average survival time of 14 months. A glioma-CpG island methylator phenotype (G-CIMP), associated with better clinical outcome, has been described in low and high-grade gliomas. Mutation of IDH1 is known to drive the G-CIMP status. In some cases, however, the hypermethylation phenotype is independent of IDH1 mutation, suggesting the involvement of other mechanisms. Here, we demonstrate that DNMT1 expression is higher in low-grade gliomas compared to glioblastomas and correlates with phosphorylated c-Jun. We show that phospho-c-Jun binds to the DNMT1 promoter and causes DNA hypermethylation. Phospho-c-Jun activation by Anisomycin treatment in primary glioblastoma-derived cells attenuates the aggressive features of mesenchymal glioblastomas and leads to promoter methylation and downregulation of key mesenchymal genes (CD44, MMP9 and CHI3L1). Our findings suggest that phospho-c-Jun activates an important regulatory mechanism to control DNMT1 expression and regulate global DNA methylation in Glioblastoma