Subsidence in Coastal Cities Throughout the World Observed by InSAR

We measured subsidence rates in 99 coastal cities around the world between 2015 and 2020 using the PS Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar method and Sentinel-1 data. In most cities, part of the land is subsiding faster than sea level is rising. If subsidence continues at present rates, these cities will be challenged by flooding much sooner than projected by sea level rise models. The most rapid subsidence is occurring in South, Southeast, and East Asia. However, rapid subsidence is also happening in North America, Europe, Africa, and Australia. Human activity—primarily groundwater extraction—is likely the main cause of this subsidence. Expanded monitoring and policy interventions are required to reduce subsidence rates and minimize their consequences

The Weight of New York City: Possible Contributions to Subsidence From Anthropogenic Sources

New York City faces accelerating inundation risk from sea level rise, subsidence, and increasing storm intensity from natural and anthropogenic causes. Here we calculate a previously unquantified contribution to subsidence from the cumulative mass and downward pressure exerted by the built environment of the city. We enforce that load distribution in a multiphysics finite element model to calculate expected subsidence. Complex surface geology requires multiple rheological soil models to be applied; clay rich soils and artificial fill are calculated to have the highest post-construction subsidence as compared with more elastic soils. Minimum and maximum calculated building subsidence ranges from 0 to 600 mm depending on soil/rock physical parameters and foundation modes. We compare modeled subsidence and surface geology to observed subsidence rates from satellite data (Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar and Global Positioning System). The comparison is complicated because the urban load has accumulated across a much longer period than measured subsidence rates, and there are multiple causes of subsidence. Geodetic measurements show a mean subsidence rate of 1–2 mm/year across the city that is consistent with regional post-glacial deformation, though we find some areas of significantly greater subsidence rates. Some of this deformation is consistent with internal consolidation of artificial fill and other soft sediment that may be exacerbated by recent building loads, though there are many possible causes. New York is emblematic of growing coastal cities all over the world that are observed to be subsiding (Wu et al., 2022, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022GL098477), meaning there is a shared global challenge of mitigation against a growing inundation hazard

Optimization of microsatellite DNA Gelred fluorescence imaging technology

Gelred fluorescent dye has broader prospects of application in DNA experiment because of its high sensitivity, security and stability. In order to explore the best microsatellite DNA Gelred imaging technology, this study compared its dosage by using three methods; precasting gels method (PG), staining sample method (SS) and immersion gels method (IG). The results show that agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE) fluorescence imaging technology can use the first method (PG) and the concentration of Gelred was 1X, because of the best banding and easy operation. The polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) can use the third method (IG), for the advantages of clear and bright image, saving dye and easily redying to image. The orthogonal test showed that the parameters of IG method were: the concentration of Gelred was 2X, that of sodium chloride was 10% and immersion time was 40 min. The optimization of microsatellite DNA Gelred fluorescence imaging technology would lay a technical foundation in DNA banding related experiments.Key word: Agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE), polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), fluorescence imaging technology of Gelred, simple sequence repeat (SSR)

Clinical observation on Aralia echinocauIis Hand Mazz Capsula-2 in knee joint of osteoarthritis

目的  观测刺老苞胶囊-2号临床治疗膝关节骨性关节炎的效果。 方法  将2013～2014年门诊收治的膝关节骨性关节炎患者90例(男50例、女40例)分为：治疗-1组35例（男20例，女15例），治疗-2组20例（男10例，女10例），对照组35例（男20例，女15例）。治疗-1组口服刺老苞胶囊-2号，治疗-2组口服刺老苞胶囊-2号+芬必得胶囊，对照组口服芬必得胶囊。连续服药60d后，观察主要症状缓解情况，并按照膝关节功能评分标准比较各组治疗前后效果。 结果  与对照组（总有效率91.43%）相比，治疗-1组（总有效率85.71%）疗效稍逊，治疗-2组（总有效率95.00%）疗效稍好，但组间差异性均不显著（P＞0.05)。 结论  本实验室制备的刺老苞胶囊-2号对膝关节骨性关节炎有一定的治疗效果，如配合芬必得胶囊共同使用，临床疗效更好。Objective: To observe the effect of Aralia echinocauIis Hand. Mazz capsula-2 on the treatment of knee osteoarthritis．Method: 90 cases of knee osteoarthritis (Male 50 cases / Female 40 cases) were collected in 2013 and 2014, and they were divided into three groups. 35 persons (Male 20 cases / Female 15 cases) in treatment group-1 received Aralia echinocauIis Hand. Mazz capsula-2, 20 persons (Male 10 cases / Female 10 cases) in treatment group-2 received Aralia echinocauIis Hand. Mazz capsula-2 +finbid, 35 persons (Male 20 cases / Female 15 cases) in control group received finbid for 60 days in a course of treatment．Result: Compared with control group (91.43%), treatment group-1 ′s effective rate (85.71%) was lower and treatment group-2′s effective rate (95.00%) was higher, but the difference in different groups was no statistically significant (P＞0.05)．Conclusion: Aralia echinocauIis Hand. Mazz capsula-2 in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis showed good efficacy, joint pain could be shortened．If patients were cured by finbid with Aralia echinocauIis Hand. Mazz capsula-2 together, they would get better clinical curative effect

Different Influences on Tacrolimus Pharmacokinetics by Coadministrations of Zhi Ke and Zhi Shi in Rats

Tacrolimus, an immunosuppressant with narrow therapeutic window, has been used widely in transplant patients. Grapefruit juice and pomelo have been reported to increase the blood levels of tacrolimus. Zhi Ke and Zhi Shi, the ripe peels and unripe fruits of Citrus aurantium which is chemotaxonomically related to grapefruit and pomelo, are in wide use in clinical Chinese medicine. To investigate the possible interaction of these two Citrus herbs with tacrolimus, male Sprague-Dawley rats were orally given tacrolimus (1.5 mg/kg) with and without Zhi Ke and Zhi Shi decoctions in a cross-over design. Blood samples were withdrawn via cardiopuncture at specific time and quantitated by a microparticle enzyme immunoassay. In addition, to explore the mechanism of interaction, LS 180 cell line was used for the transport study of rhodamine 123, a typical substrate of P-glycoprotein (P-gp). The results showed that Zhi Shi significantly decreased the Cmax and AUC0−t of tacrolimus by 72.4% and 72.0%, respectively, whereas Zhi Ke did not affect tacrolimus pharmacokinetics. LS 180 cell line study indicated that Zhi Shi increased the efflux activity of P-gp, enabling us to explain the decreased oral bioavailability of tacrolimus caused by Zhi Shi. Hence, we suggest that Zhi Shi be contraindicated for transplant patients treated with tacrolimus to reduce the risk of allograft rejection

Toxicologic effects of gold nanoparticles in vivo by different administration routes

Gold nanoparticles have potential applications in biomedicine, but one of the important concerns is about their safety. Most toxicology data are derived from in vitro studies and may not reflect in vivo responses. Here, an animal toxicity study of 13.5 nm gold nanoparticles in mice is presented. Animal survival, weight, hematology, morphology, and organ index are characterized at different concentrations (137.5–2200 μg/kg) over 14–28 days. The results show that low concentrations of gold nanoparticles do not cause an obvious decrease in body weight or appreciable toxicity, even after their breakdown in vivo. High concentrations of gold nanoparticles induced decreases in body weight, red blood cells, and hematocrit. It was also found that gold nanoparticles administered orally caused significant decreases in body weight, spleen index, and red blood cells. Of the three administration routes, the oral and intraperitoneal routes showed the highest toxicity, and the tail vein injection showed the lowest toxicity. Combining the results of all of these studies, we suggest that targeted gold nanopartices by tail vein injection may be suitable for enhancement of radiotherapy, photothermal therapy, and related medical diagnostic procedures

Ultrathin MOF nanosheet assembled highly oriented microporous membrane as an interlayer for lithium-sulfur batteries

Abstract(#br)Lithium sulfur (Li-S) batteries are attracting increasing attentions as promising next-generation rechargeable batteries. However, the rapid capacity fading of sulfur cathodes caused by the shuttling of polysulfide intermediates between the cathodes and anodes restricts the application of Li-S batteries. In this work, a facile wet-chemistry method is developed for the direct synthesis of few-molecular-layer thin metal-organic framework (MOF) nanosheets without using surfactant. By assembling these ultrathin MOF nanosheets with a facile vacuum filtration method, a highly oriented and flexible MOF membrane with favorable mechanical properties is achieved for the first time. The excellent features make the as-prepared MOF nanosheets ideal to fabricate lightweight interlayer modified separators for suppressing the polysulfide shuttling of Li-S batteries. When using the MOF membrane modified separator, the Li-S batteries made from commercial carbon materials exhibits the significantly enhanced cycling stabilities. This work brings new opportunities for the synthesis and application of MOF materials

Relativistic Continuum Hartree Bogoliubov Theory for Ground State Properties of Exotic Nuclei

The Relativistic Continuum Hartree-Bogoliubov (RCHB) theory, which properly takes into account the pairing correlation and the coupling to (discretized) continuum via Bogoliubov transformation in a microscopic and self-consistent way, has been reviewed together with its new interpretation of the halo phenomena observed in light nuclei as the scattering of particle pairs into the continuum, the prediction of the exotic phenomena -- giant halos in nuclei near neutron drip line, the reproduction of interaction cross sections and charge-changing cross sections in light exotic nuclei in combination with the Glauber theory, better restoration of pseudospin symmetry in exotic nuclei, predictions of exotic phenomena in hyper nuclei, and new magic numbers in superheavy nuclei, etc. Recent investigations on new effective interactions, the density dependence of the interaction strengthes, the RMF theory on the Woods-Saxon basis, the single particle resonant states, and the resonant BCS (rBCS) method for the pairing correlation, etc. are also presented in some details.Comment: 79 pages. Prog. Part. Nucl. Phys. (2005) in pres