Towards a generalisation of the relationship between nocturnal surface and canopy urban heat islands using urban meteorological network

The Urban Heat Island (UHI) as a result of urbanisation processes remains a compelling focus of urban climate research. With the advance of thermal remote sensing, surface urban heat island (sUHI) quantified by the land surface temperature from satellite observations becomes more prevalent in studying the UHI effects. The difference and the physical linkage between sUHI and urban canopy air heat island (aUHI) measured by Urban Meteorological Network (UMN) intrigue the whole urban climate community. The complicated relationship between the intensity of sUHI and aUHI across cities limits the application of the thermal remote sensing in urban environment. This thesis explores the relationship between nocturnal sUHI and aUHI (the sUHI-aUHI relationship) by applying a transferable method, using MODIS satellite and UMN in Oklahoma City, US and Birmingham, UK. Specific patterns of the sUHI-aUHI relationship under different seasons, wind speed conditions and land characteristics are found in both cities. The comparisons between the two cities highlight the strong controls of the local climate and the configurations of the UMN on the differences of the sUHI-aUHI relationship across cities, which are considerable factors in order to generalise this relationship globally

A loss-of-function allele of OsHMA3 associated with high cadmium accumulation in shoots and grain of Japonica rice cultivars

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Peer reviewedPostprin

China's energy consumption and economic activity at the regional level

Since 2013, China's economy has undergone a series of major structural changes under the new normal. This study aimed to research China's plateauing regional-level energy consumption at this stage by analysing socioeconomic factors driving energy consumption changes from 2002 to 2019 through decomposition analysis and regional value chains. The results indicate that the annual growth rate of China's energy consumption dropped from 10% between 2002 and 2013 to 2% between 2013 and 2019, mainly attributable to energy efficiency enhancement offsetting the −27% increase from 2013 to 2019 and structural changes. At the regional level, the three structural drivers were closely related, including the regional structure, industrial structure and energy structure. Under the new normal, the −2.58% contribution of the regional structure to energy consumption growth was mainly made by regions with a high energy efficiency; one way to improve the energy efficiency was to upgrade the regional industrial structure, leading to the slowdown by 0.26%; and industrial transition could be accompanied by adjustment of the energy structure towards relatively clean energy, thereby offsetting growth by −0.13%. The energy consumption required to create value-added outflows along regional value chains varied greatly across regions, sectors and years

NMI inhibits cancer stem cell traits by downregulating hTERT in breast cancer.

N-myc and STAT interactor (NMI) has been proved to bind to different transcription factors to regulate a variety of signaling mechanisms including DNA damage, cell cycle and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. However, the role of NMI in the regulation of cancer stem cells (CSCs) remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the regulation of NMI on CSCs traits in breast cancer and uncovered the underlying molecular mechanisms. We found that NMI was lowly expressed in breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs)-enriched populations. Knockdown of NMI promoted CSCs traits while its overexpression inhibited CSCs traits, including the expression of CSC-related markers, the number of CD44+CD24- cell populations and the ability of mammospheres formation. We also found that NMI-mediated regulation of BCSCs traits was at least partially realized through the modulation of hTERT signaling. NMI knockdown upregulated hTERT expression while its overexpression downregulated hTERT in breast cancer cells, and the changes in CSCs traits and cell invasion ability mediated by NMI were rescued by hTERT. The in vivo study also validated that NMI knockdown promoted breast cancer growth by upregulating hTERT signaling in a mouse model. Moreover, further analyses for the clinical samples demonstrated that NMI expression was negatively correlated with hTERT expression and the low NMI/high hTERT expression was associated with the worse status of clinical TNM stages in breast cancer patients. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the interaction of YY1 protein with NMI and its involvement in NMI-mediated transcriptional regulation of hTERT in breast cancer cells. Collectively, our results provide new insights into understanding the regulatory mechanism of CSCs and suggest that the NMI-YY1-hTERT signaling axis may be a potential therapeutic target for breast cancers

Genetic variants in the vitamin D pathway genes VDBP and RXRA modulate cutaneous melanoma disease-specific survival

Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the vitamin D pathway genes have been implicated in cutaneous melanoma (CM) risk, but their role in CM disease-specific survival (DSS) remains obscure. We comprehensively analyzed the prognostic roles of 2669 common SNPs in the vitamin D pathway genes using data from a published genome-wide association study (GWAS) at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) and then validated the SNPs of interest in another GWAS from the Nurses' Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Among the 2669 SNPs, 203 were significantly associated with DSS in MDACC dataset (P C was associated with a better DSS [combined hazards ratio (HR) = 0.66]; and the same for RXRA rs7850212 C > A (combined HR = 0.38), which were further confirmed by the Fine and Gray competing-risks regression model. Further bioinformatics analyses indicated that these loci may modulate corresponding gene methylation status

A wafer-scale two-dimensional platinum monosulfide ultrathin film via metal sulfurization for high performance photoelectronics

2D nonlayered materials have attracted enormous research interests due to their novel physical and chemical properties with confined dimensions. Platinum monosulfide as one of the most common platinum-group minerals has been less studied due to either the low purity in the natural product or the extremely high-pressure conditions for synthesis. Recently, platinum monosulfide (PtS) 2D membranes have emerged as rising-star materials for fundamental Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectral analysis as well as device exploration. However, a large-area homogeneous synthesis route has not yet been proposed and released. In this communication, we report a facile metal sulfurization strategy for the synthesis of a 4-inch wafer-scale PtS film. Enhanced characterization tools have been employed for thorough analysis of the crystal structure, chemical environment, vibrational modes, and atomic configuration. Furthermore, through theoretical calculations the phase diagram of the Pt–S compound has been plotted for showing the successful formation of PtS in our synthesis conditions. Eventually, a high-quality PtS film has been reflected in device demonstration by a photodetector. Our approach may shed light on the mass production of PtS films with precise control of their thickness and homogeneity as well as van der Waals heterostructures and related electronic devices

Elevated Serum Human Epididymis Protein 4 Is Associated With Disease Activity and Systemic Involvements in Primary Sjögren’s Syndrome

BackgroundWe aimed to investigate the clinical utility of human epididymis protein 4, a tumor biomarker being widely utilized in clinical practice in the diagnosis of ovarian cancer, in primary Sjögren’s Syndrome (pSS).MethodsA total of 109 pSS patients and 113 healthy controls (HCs) were included in the study. HE4 were determined by Roche Cobas E601 electrochemical luminescence analyzer. Clinical and laboratory findings were reviewed, and the relationships between HE4 and clinical parameters were determined by Spearman’s correlation test. The European league against rheumatism Sjögren’s syndrome disease activity index (ESSDAI) was utilized to evaluate disease activity.FindingsThe levels of HE4 were significantly elevated in patients with pSS compared to HCs (103.65 pmol/L vs. 46.52 pmol/L, p<0.001). The levels of HE4 were positively correlated with ESSDAI scores (r=0.462, p<0.001). Significant positive correlations between the levels of HE4 with pulmonary involvements (r=0.442, p<0.001) and renal involvements (r=0.320, p=0.001) were observed. Receiver operating curve (ROC) analysis revealed an optimal cut-off value of 104.90 pmol/L and 128.05 pmol/L for distinguishing patients with pulmonary and renal involvements, with the areas under the ROC curve (AUCs) of 0.778 (95%CI 0.685-0.870, p<0.001) and 0.768 (95%CI 0.646-0.891, p=0.001), respectively. Among patients with pulmonary involvement, the levels of HE4 were positively correlated with the semiquantitative HRCT grade (r=0.417, p=0.016), and negatively correlated with the percentage of forced vital capacity (FVC) (r= -0.460, p=0.047) and diffusing capacity of the lung for carbon monoxide (DLco) (r= -0.623, p=0.004). For patients with renal involvement, HE4 was positively correlated with creatinine (r=0.588, p=0.021) and negatively correlated with estimated glomerular filtration rate (r= -0.599, p=0.030).ConclusionsOur findings demonstrated a novel role of HE4 in clinical stratification of pSS, suggesting that introducing HE4 to the current pSS test panel may provide additional diagnostic value, particularly in evaluating disease activity and pulmonary/renal involvements