Perceptions of ecosystem services, disservices and willingness-to-pay for urban green space conservation

While planning and management of urban green space (UGS) remain primarily driven by policymakers and expert knowledge, increasing attention has been paid to the general public's perception of and demand for UGS. This study was conducted to provide price-related outcomes to support UGS-related decision making and achieve an improved understanding of the causal relationships underpinning the residents' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for UGS conservation. An extensive survey with 3000 urban residents from three provincial capital cities in central China (i.e., Wuhan, Changsha and Nanchang) was conducted. We applied structural equation modelling to examine a range of hypothetical causal relationships among residents' perceptions about ecosystem services/disservices provided by UGS, frequency of UGS visits, socioeconomic status (SES) and WTP for the conservation of five different types of UGS. We found that residents had an average WTP of 202.4 CNY or 30.6 USD per year cross UGS types, with the attached green space having the greatest WTP (223.0 CNY or 33.7 USD per year), followed by park (215.4 CNY or 32.6 USD year), square (201.7 CNY or 30.5 USD year), suburban ecological (190.1 CNY or 28.7 USD year) and protective (182.0 CNY or 27.5 USD year) green spaces. Perceptions of UGS's ecosystem services had a positive causal impact on WTP, while perceptions of ecosystem disservices would have a negative impact. The frequency of UGS visits was found to amplify WTP at a limited level. It could further heighten and diminish the perceptions of ecosystem services and disservices. Participants with higher SES typically had greater perceptions of UGS's ecosystem services and WTP. Finally, we found that the structure of the causal relationships on WTP varied between cities, highlighting the importance of considering the fine-level impacts of biophysical environment jointly. Our results could help urban planners to understand better the ways urban green space was perceived and anticipate the likely effects of changing spatial patterns of UGS on the benefits and nuisances experienced by the general public

Fabrication and Characterization of Ni60A Alloy Coating on Copper Pipe by Plasma Cladding with Induction Heating

Plasma cladding coupled induction heating was developed and successfully used to fabricate Ni60A coating on the surface of copper pipe. By matching the swing arc with the rotating copper pipe, the cladding efficiency was as high as 32.72 mm2/s. From the head to the tail of the coating, the wear resistance changed from 4.5 to 1.8 times that of pure copper. During the cladding process with constant current, the surface temperature of the cladding zone and the bath depth gradually increased. The corresponding dilution ratio increased, accompanied by the widening of the interface transition zone and the growth of precipitated phases (CrB and Cr23C6). Due to the gradient change of composition, the coating can be regarded as an in situ synthesized gradient coating. The critical point of sudden change of temperature in cladding zone was 850 °C, at which point the wear mechanism changed from abrasive wear to adhesive wear. The proper surface temperature of cladding zone should be controlled within 600–850 °C, which can be achieved by matching the cladding current and induction heating power. Results indicated that plasma cladding coupled induction heating is a potentially effective method to prepare high-quality coating on the surface of a large-complex-curved copper component

HCG supplement did not accelerate tunica albuginea remodeling to facilitate penile growth

Abstract Penile size is closely concerned and short penis contributes serious sexual dysfunction and tremendous psychological problems to couples. Androgen is essential for penile development and testosterone replacement is recommended to patients with micropenis. We previously proved that inhibiting activity of lysyl oxidase (Anti-lysyl oxidase, Anti-LOX) combined with vacuum erectile device (VED) lengthened penis by remodeling tunica albuginea. We thus explored whether HCG supplement could accelerate tunica albuginea remodeling (induced by Anti-LOX + VED) to promote penile growth. Forty-two SD male rats (4 weeks old) were purchased and divided into 7 groups: control, Anti-LOX, HCG, VED (with a negative aspirated pressure of − 300 mmHg), Anti-LOX + VED, HCG + VED, and Anti-LOX + HCG + VED. After an intervention for 4 weeks, all rats’ penile length, exposed penile length, and erectile function were measured. Serum samples were collected to detect hormone levels and penile corpus cavernosum were harvested for histo-pathological analysis. All intervention groups showed significantly longer penis than controlled rats. Anti-LOX sharply increased penile length and exposed length by 15% and 9% respectively, this lengthening effect was more obvious in Anti-LOX + VED group (26% and 19%, respectively). Although HCG promoted penile length by 8%, this effect was slight for exposed length (3%). Moreover, Anti-LOX + HCG + VED dramatically increased penile length and exposed length by 22% and 18%, respectively, which was similar with that in Anti-LOX + VED (26% and 19%, respectively). HCG dramatically stimulated testosterone and dihydrotestosterone secretions than control group, whether with or without Anti-LOX and VED; while it induced more AR expression than other groups. Finally, all procedures did not improve or deteriorate normal erectile function. Although we verified that Anti-LOX + VED lengthened penis by inducing tunica albuginea remodeling, however, HCG supplement did not synergize with Anti-LOX + VED to accelerate albuginea remodeling to facilitate penile growth

TGF-β1 is Involved in Vitamin D-Induced Chondrogenic Differentiation of Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells by Regulating the ERK/JNK Pathway

Background/Aims: Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by degradation of cartilage, sole cell type of which is chondrocytes. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) possess multipotency and can be directionally differentiated into chondrocytes under stimulation. This study was aimed to explore the possible roles of vitamin D and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) in the chondrogenic differentiation of BMSCs. Methods: BMSCs were isolated from femurs and tibias of rats and characterized by flow cytometry. After stimulation with vitamin D, BMSC proliferation and migration were measured by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) and Transwell assays, respectively. Chondrogenic differentiation was estimated through expression levels of specific markers by qRT-PCR and Western blot analysis. After stable transfection, the effects of aberrantly expressed TGF-β1 on vitamin D-induced alterations, including BMSC viability, migration and chondrogenic differentiation, were all evaluated utilizing CCK-8 assay, Transwell assay, qRT-PCR and Western blot analysis. Finally, the phosphorylation levels of key kinases in the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathways were determined by Western blot analysis. Results: Vitamin D remarkably promoted BMSC viability, migration and chondrogenic differentiation. These alterations of BMSCs induced by vitamin D were reinforced by TGF-β1 overexpression while were reversed by TGF-β1 silencing. Additionally, the phosphorylation levels of ERK, JNK and c-Jun were enhanced by TGF-β1 overexpression but were reduced by TGF-β1 knockdown. Conclusion: Vitamin D promoted BMSC proliferation, migration and chondrogenic differentiation. TGF-β1 might be implicated in the vitamin D-induced alterations of BMSCs through regulating ERK/JNK pathway