C5aR1 shapes a non-inflammatory tumor microenvironment and mediates immune evasion in gastric cancer

C5a receptor 1 (C5aR1) is associated with various inflammatory processes, the pathogenesis of immune diseases, and tumor growth. However, its role in the tumor microenvironment of gastric cancer (GC) remains unclear. In this study, the expression of C5aR1 in GC and normal gastric mucosa tissues was compared using data retrieved from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases, and the results were validated by in vitro qRT-PCR and immunohistochemical analyses. The relationship between C5aR1 expression and the overall survival of patients with GC was analyzed using the Kaplan–Meier method. Subsequently, enrichment analysis was performed, and the signaling pathways were screened. C5aR1 expression was also correlated with genes related to the immune checkpoint and immune cell infiltration. The results revealed that C5aR1 expression was enhanced in GC tissues compared to normal gastric tissues, and that patients with high expression of C5aR1 had a worse 10-year overall survival compared to those showing low expression of C5aR1. Functional analysis revealed that C5aR1 is a gene related to theimmune system and may play a crucial role in inflammatory and tumor immune responses. Additionally, C5aR1 showed a positive correlation with most immune checkpoint-related genes and a negative correlation with natural killer cells, dendritic cells, and CD8+ T cells. Immune evasion risk was observed to be significantly greater in patients with higher expression of C5aR1 than in those with lower expression. The results of this study reveal that C5aR1 shapes a non-inflammatory tumor microenvironment in GC and mediates immune evasion

Sciences for The 2.5-meter Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST)

The Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST) is a dedicated photometric survey facility under construction jointly by the University of Science and Technology of China and Purple Mountain Observatory. It is equipped with a primary mirror of 2.5m in diameter, an active optical system, and a mosaic CCD camera of 0.73 Gpix on the main focus plane to achieve high-quality imaging over a field of view of 6.5 square degrees. The installation of WFST in the Lenghu observing site is planned to happen in the summer of 2023, and the operation is scheduled to commence within three months afterward. WFST will scan the northern sky in four optical bands (u, g, r, and i) at cadences from hourly/daily to semi-weekly in the deep high-cadence survey (DHS) and the wide field survey (WFS) programs, respectively. WFS reaches a depth of 22.27, 23.32, 22.84, and 22.31 in AB magnitudes in a nominal 30-second exposure in the four bands during a photometric night, respectively, enabling us to search tremendous amount of transients in the low-z universe and systematically investigate the variability of Galactic and extragalactic objects. Intranight 90s exposures as deep as 23 and 24 mag in u and g bands via DHS provide a unique opportunity to facilitate explorations of energetic transients in demand for high sensitivity, including the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational-wave events detected by the second/third-generation GW detectors, supernovae within a few hours of their explosions, tidal disruption events and luminous fast optical transients even beyond a redshift of 1. Meanwhile, the final 6-year co-added images, anticipated to reach g about 25.5 mag in WFS or even deeper by 1.5 mag in DHS, will be of significant value to general Galactic and extragalactic sciences. The highly uniform legacy surveys of WFST will also serve as an indispensable complement to those of LSST which monitors the southern sky.Comment: 46 pages, submitted to SCMP

Spatial–Temporal Changes and Driving Force Analysis of Ecosystems in the Loess Plateau Ecological Screen

The ecological degradation caused by unreasonable development and prolonged utilization threatens economic development. In response to the development crisis triggered by ecological degradation, the Chinese government launched the National Barrier Zone (NBZ) Construction Program in 2006. However, few in-depth studies on the Loess Plateau Ecological Screen (LPES) have been conducted since the implementation of that program. To address this omission, based on the remote sensing image as the primary data, combined with meteorological, soil, hydrological, social, and economic data, and using GIS spatial analysis technology, this paper analyzes the change characteristics of the ecosystem pattern, quality, and dominant services of the ecosystem in the LPES from 2005 to 2015. The results show that from 2005 to 2015, the ecosystem structure in the study area was relatively stable, and the area of each ecosystem fluctuated slightly. However, the evaluation results based on FVC, LAI, and NPP showed that the quality of the ecosystem improved. The vegetation coverage (FVC) increased significantly at a rate of 0.91% per year, and the net primary productivity (NPP) had increased significantly at a rate of 6.94 gC/(m2∙a) per year. The leaf area index (LAI) in more than 66% of the regions improved, but there were still about 8% of the local regions that were degraded. During these 10 years, the soil erosion situation in LPES improved overall, and the amount of soil conservation (ASC) of the ecosystem in the LPES increased by about 0.18 billion tons. Grassland and forest played important roles in soil conservation in this area. Pearson correlation analysis and redundancy analysis showed that the soil conservation services (SCS) in the LPES were mainly affected by climate change, economic development, and urban construction. The precipitation (P), total solar radiation (SOL), and temperature (T) can explain 52%, 30.1%, and 17% of the change trends of SCS, respectively. Construction land and primary industry were negatively correlated with SCS, accounting for 22% and 8% of the change trends, respectively. Overall, from 2005 to 2015, the ecological environment of LPES showed a gradual improvement trend, but the phenomenon of destroying grass and forests and reclaiming wasteland still existed

The design of experimental courses in safety culture

To promote the application of safety culture in experimental courses that educate safety engineering majors and help students understand the concept and meaning of safety culture more deeply, this paper designed 10 experimental courses in safety culture from the perspective of the definition of safety culture using literature co-occurrence analysis and certain review methods. First, according to the literature research and keyword analysis, the definitions of safety culture can currently be divided into three categories: “the embodiment of safety concepts”; “the synthesis of safety concepts and behaviors”; and “the comprehensive theory of safety culture”. Then, based on the study of the definitions, 10 experimental courses were designed and the basis was listed. The final results include 10 safety culture experiments and the relationship between them. The purpose, significance, contents and steps of the 10 experiments are designed to help students better understand the meaning of safety culture and try to transform scientific research achievements of safety culture into teaching

Bibliometric Analysis on the Influencing Factors of International Courses’ Effectiveness from the Perspective of Sustainable Development Education

Sustainable development education is a dynamic and developing process. In recent years, the rapid development of international courses has made great contributions to sustainable development education. The effectiveness of international courses is influenced by many factors. To promote the sustainable development of education and to improve the effectiveness of international courses, this paper studied the influencing factors on international courses by using literature analysis, system dynamics analysis, questionnaire survey, and correlation analysis methods. First, based on the literature analysis, 27 factors affecting course effectiveness were initially obtained. Second, using system dynamics to study the relationship between each factor, five additional factors were added, namely, learning motivation, social focus, lesson planning, class time, and class location. A total of 32 factors influencing course effectiveness were obtained and classified into three categories, namely, students, teachers, and external factors, and a relationship model of the 32 factors influencing course effectiveness was constructed. Finally, a questionnaire survey was conducted to quantify the 32 influencing factors, and a correlation analysis was performed on all undergraduates majoring in safety engineering enrolled in 2018 and 2019 in a university in 2019 and 2020. The results show that among the 32 influencing factors in the three categories of students, teachers, and external factors proposed, there were 7 strong correlations, 22 moderate correlations, and 3 weak correlations. All of the strong correlations belonged to the student dimension, thereby indicating that the effectiveness of international online courses is mainly influenced by student factors. In addition, these influencing factors can not only impact course effectiveness directly, but also indirectly through the interaction between factors. The relationship model of the influencing factors can provide a reference for improving the effectiveness of international programs and realizing the sustainable development research for international courses

Bibliometric Analysis on the Influencing Factors of International Courses’ Effectiveness from the Perspective of Sustainable Development Education

Sustainable development education is a dynamic and developing process. In recent years, the rapid development of international courses has made great contributions to sustainable development education. The effectiveness of international courses is influenced by many factors. To promote the sustainable development of education and to improve the effectiveness of international courses, this paper studied the influencing factors on international courses by using literature analysis, system dynamics analysis, questionnaire survey, and correlation analysis methods. First, based on the literature analysis, 27 factors affecting course effectiveness were initially obtained. Second, using system dynamics to study the relationship between each factor, five additional factors were added, namely, learning motivation, social focus, lesson planning, class time, and class location. A total of 32 factors influencing course effectiveness were obtained and classified into three categories, namely, students, teachers, and external factors, and a relationship model of the 32 factors influencing course effectiveness was constructed. Finally, a questionnaire survey was conducted to quantify the 32 influencing factors, and a correlation analysis was performed on all undergraduates majoring in safety engineering enrolled in 2018 and 2019 in a university in 2019 and 2020. The results show that among the 32 influencing factors in the three categories of students, teachers, and external factors proposed, there were 7 strong correlations, 22 moderate correlations, and 3 weak correlations. All of the strong correlations belonged to the student dimension, thereby indicating that the effectiveness of international online courses is mainly influenced by student factors. In addition, these influencing factors can not only impact course effectiveness directly, but also indirectly through the interaction between factors. The relationship model of the influencing factors can provide a reference for improving the effectiveness of international programs and realizing the sustainable development research for international courses

Quantitative Study on Human Error in Emergency Activities of Road Transportation Leakage Accidents of Hazardous Chemicals

The emergency rescue process of road transportation leakage accidents involving hazardous chemicals is complex and includes various emergency activities. A quantitative study of human errors in emergency activities is conducive to seeking the focus of the emergency rescue process. To quantitatively analyze human error in emergency activities during the emergency rescue process of road transportation leakage accidents of hazardous chemicals, sequentially timed events plotting (STEP) and the cognitive reliability and error analysis method (CREAM), were used. First, STEP was used to analyze six laws, regulations and standards, as well as 54 accident cases, to derive 24 emergency activities in the emergency rescue process. Then, CREAM was used to analyze and obtain the probability of human error for each emergency activity. Two high error level emergency activities, five medium error level emergency activities, and seventeen low error level emergency activities were identified after the human error levels of the emergency activities were classified. The results show that two emergency activities, the initial handling of the accident, and cleanup of the leakage site, should be prioritized in the emergency rescue process of road transportation leakage accidents of hazardous chemicals

Copper homeostasis and cuproptosis in tumor pathogenesis and therapeutic strategies

Copper is an indispensable micronutrient for the development and replication of all eukaryotes, and its redox properties are both harmful and beneficial to cells. An imbalance in copper homeostasis is thought to be involved in carcinogenesis. Importantly, cancer cell proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis cannot be separated from the effects of copper. Cuproposis is a copper-dependent form of cell death that differs from other existing modalities of regulatory cell death. The role of cuproptosis in the pathogenesis of the nervous and cardiovascular systems has been widely studied; however, its impact on malignant tumors is yet to be fully understood from a clinical perspective. Exploring signaling pathways related to cuproptosis will undoubtedly provide a new perspective for the development of anti-tumor drugs in the future. Here, we systematically review the systemic and cellular metabolic processes of copper and the regulatory mechanisms of cuproptosis in cancer. In addition, we discuss the possibility of targeting copper ion drugs to prolong the survival of cancer patients, with an emphasis on the most representative copper ionophores and chelators. We suggest that attention should be paid to the potential value of copper in the treatment of specific cancers

Delay-Range-Dependent Robust Constrained Model Predictive Control for Industrial Processes with Uncertainties and Unknown Disturbances

A delay-range-dependent robust constrained model predictive control is proposed for discrete-time system with uncertainties and unknown disturbances. The dynamic characteristic of the discrete-time system is established as a new extended state space model in which state variables and output tracking error are integrated and regulated independently. It is used as the design of control law of system, which cannot only guarantee the convergence and tracking performance but also offer more degrees of freedom for designed controller. Unlike the traditional robust model predictive control (RMPC), the novel, less conservative, and more simplified delay-range-dependent stable conditions are derived by linear matrix inequality (LMI) theory and some relaxed technologies, which make use of the information of the upper and lower bounds of the time-varying delay. Meanwhile, the H∞ performance index is introduced in the RMPC controller design, which can reject any unknown bounded disturbances. As a result, the design controller has better abilities of both tracking and disturbance rejection. The control results on the liquid level of tank system show that the proposed control method is effective and feasible