CNS targets of adipokines

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from American Physiological Society via the DOI in this record.Our understanding of adipose tissue as an endocrine organ has been transformed over the last twenty years. During this time a number of adipocyte-derived factors or adipokines have been identified. This paper will review evidence for how adipokines acting via the central nervous system (CNS) regulate normal physiology and disease pathology. The reported CNS-mediated effects of adipokines are varied and include the regulation of energy homeostasis, autonomic nervous system activity, the reproductive axis, neurodevelopment, cardiovascular function, and cognition. Due to the wealth of information available and the diversity of their known functions, the archetypal adipokines leptin and adiponectin will be the focused on extensively. Other adipokines with established CNS actions will also be discussed. Due to the difficulties associated with studying CNS function on a molecular level in humans, the majority of our knowledge, and as such the studies described in this paper, comes from work in experimental animal models; however, where possible the relevant data from human studies are also highlighted

Credit Constraint, Interlinked Insurance and Credit Contract and Farmers’ Adoption of Innovative Seeds-Field Experiment of the Loess Plateau

The interlinked insurance and credit contract is an emerging model of agricultural insurance in China. However, the development of interlinked insurance and credit contract and farmers’ demands for it are poorly understood. Based on the wheat farmers on the Loess Plateau in China, a field experiment is employed to obtain dynamic choice data from 415 farmers. We empirically analyzed the inhibitory effect of credit constraint on farmers’ adoption behavior of innovative seeds and also explored the heterogeneity of farmers’ innovative seeds adoption due to the availability of interlinked insurance and credit contract. The results illustrate that credit constraint can hinder farmers’ innovative seeds adoption significantly, and interlinked insurance and credit contracts can encourage farmers to adopt innovative seeds effectively by dispersing natural risks and alleviating credit rationing. Further, constrained by low education levels in China’s rural areas, providing interlinked insurance and credit contract to farmers is not beneficial to enhance farmers’ innovative seeds adoption. In addition, farmers who are relatively poor may underestimate the benefits of innovative seeds at the beginning of planting, making their adoption behavior have some delayed effect. This research provides a new perspective for promoting the spread of innovative technology in rural areas

Refractory petrochemical wastewater treatment by K2S2O8 assisted photocatalysis

The K2S2O8 assisted photocatalytic system was applied for treating refractory petrochemical wastewater. Co-TiO2/zeolite catalyst synthesized by sol-gel method was demonstrated to possess a good activity towards mineralization of the refractory petrochemical wastewater in the K2S2O8 assisted photocatalytic system. Orthogonal design was employed to optimize the reaction parameters, according to the results, K2S2O8 dosage was the most prominent impact factor. More experiments were conducted to further enhance the COD removal efficiency. In consideration of both efficiency and costs, the petrochemical wastewater was treated in the K2S2O8 assisted photocatalytic system at pH 4, K2S2O8 dosage 2.03 g/L, catalyst amount 250 g/L with irradiation by 1 lamp and aeration. The COD removal efficiency reached up to 93.4% with a rate constant of 1.14 × 10−2 per min, and Co-TiO2/zeolite showed a good stability towards the K2S2O8 assisted photocatalytic degradation of petrochemical wastewater. Keywords: Refractory petrochemical wastewater, K2S2O8 assisted photocatalysis, Co-TiO2/zeolite, Sulfate radica

Unequal Times: Social Structure, Temporal Perspective, and Time Allocation in Poland

This study explored the links between individual’s time perspective and their structural position as well as related this perspective to how people spend their time. Time perspective was defined by individual’s scores on two distinct factors—future-orientation and clock-orientation. These factors were analysed jointly in order to account for how people organized their time within a short-term (clock-orientation) and a long-term (future-orientation) horizon. Temporal orientations were socially differentiated, primarily by education and income. Better educated individuals were more future-oriented, while those with higher income showed preference for more rigid clock-based organization of time on a daily basis. Both orientations were also related to how time was spent. Clock-oriented individuals allocated significantly more time to paid work and less time to social life or personal time. Future-oriented respondents spent more time on personal life and physical exercise. These findings suggest that temporal orientations are linked to how much time individuals allocate to both market and non-market activities, net of their other social characteristics. The study casts light on the much overlooked dimension of social inequality—the temporal one, and links individual’s structural position, attitudes towards time, and time-use patterns