High-resolution assessment of environmental benefits of dockless bike-sharing systems based on transaction data

Dockless bike-sharing systems (DLBS) have gained much popularity due to their environmentally friendly features. This study puts forward a distinctive framework for assessing the environmental influences of DLBS in high resolution based on DLBS transaction data. The proposed framework firstly estimates the transport mode substituted by DLBS for each recorded bike-sharing trip by utilizing the route planning techniques of online maps and a well-calibrated discrete choice model. Afterward, greenhouse gases (GHG) emission reductions in every recorded DLBS trip are quantified using Life Cycle Analysis. The proposed framework is applied to an empirical dataset from Shanghai, China. The empirical results reveal that the substitution rates of DLBS to different transport modes have substantial spatiotemporal variances and depend strongly on travel contexts, highlighting the necessity of analyzing the environmental impacts of DLBS at the trip level. Moreover, each DLBS trip is estimated to save an average 80.77 g CO2-eq GHG emissions versus than the situations without DLBS in Shanghai. The annual reduced GHG emissions from DLBS are estimated to be 117 kt CO2-eq, which is substantial and equals to the yearly GHG emissions of over 25,000 typical gasoline passenger vehicles. Additionally, the associations among built environments and GHG emission reductions from DLBS are quantitatively investigated to shed light on the spatial variances in the environmental impacts of DLBS. The results can efficiently support the benefit-cost analysis, planning, and management of DLBS.ISSN:0959-652

Comprehensive comparison of e-scooter sharing mobility: Evidence from 30 European cities

Although e-scooter sharing has become increasingly attractive, little attention has been paid to a comprehensive comparison of e-scooter sharing mobility in multiple cities. To fill this gap, we conduct a comparative study to reveal the similarity and difference of e-scooter sharing mobility by collecting and analyzing vehicle availability data from 30 European cities during post COVID-19 pandemic. The comparisons are implemented from four perspectives, including temporal trip patterns, statistical characteristics (i.e., trip distance and duration), utilization efficiency, and wasted electricity during idle time. Results suggest that the similarity and difference co-exist between e-scooter sharing services in the cities, and utilization efficiency is significantly related with the number of e-scooters per person and per unit area. Surprisingly, on average nearly 33% of electricity are wasted during idle time in these cities. These research findings can be beneficial to further optimizing e-scooter sharing mobility services for transportation planners and micro-mobility operators.ISSN:1361-9209ISSN:1879-234

Exploration of tissue fixation methods suitable for digital pathological studies of the testis

Abstract Background The way of testicular tissue fixation directly affects the correlation and structural integrity between connective tissue and seminiferous tubules, which is essential for the study of male reproductive development. This study aimed to find the optimal fixative and fixation time to produce high-quality testicular histopathological sections, and provided a suitable foundation for in-depth study of male reproductive development with digital pathology technology. Methods Testes were removed from both sides of 25 male C57BL/6 mice. Samples were fixed in three different fixatives, 10% neutral buffered formalin (10% NBF), modified Davidson’s fluid (mDF), and Bouin’s Fluid (BF), for 8, 12, and 24 h, respectively. Hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, periodic acid Schiff-hematoxylin (PAS-h) staining, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to evaluate the testicle morphology, staging of mouse seminiferous tubules, and protein preservation. Aperio ScanScope CS2 panoramic scanning was used to perform quantitative analyses. Results H&E staining showed 10% NBF resulted in an approximately 15–17% reduction in the thickness of seminiferous epithelium. BF and mDF provided excellent results when staining acrosomes with PAS-h. IHC staining of synaptonemal complexes 3 (Sycp3) was superior in mDF compared to BF-fixed samples. Fixation in mDF and BF improved testis tissue morphology compared to 10% NBF. Conclusions Quantitative analysis showed that BF exhibited a very low IHC staining efficiency and revealed that mouse testes fixed for 12 h with mDF, exhibited morphological details, excellent efficiency of PAS-h staining for seminiferous tubule staging, and IHC results. In addition, the morphological damage of testis was prolonged with the duration of fixation time

Circular RNA circTRPS1-2 inhibits the proliferation and migration of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by reducing the production of ribosomes

Abstract Circular RNAs play important roles in many cancers, including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC), but the precise functions of most circular RNAs are poorly understood. Here we detected significant downregulation of circTRPS1-2 in ESCC based on high-throughput sequencing of three pairs of ESCC tissue and adjacent normal tissue, followed by PCR validation with another 30 tissue pairs. Patients with ESCC whose circTRPS1-2 expression was below the median level for the sample showed significantly shorter median overall survival (13 months) than patients whose circTRPS1-2 expression was above the median (36 months). Overexpressing circTRPS1-2 in the human ESCC cell lines K150 and E109, which express low endogenous levels of circTRPS1-2, inhibited cell proliferation and migration. Conversely, knocking down circTRPS1-2 using short interfering RNA promoted cell proliferation and migration. Similar results were observed in mice bearing K150 xenografts in which circTRPS1-2 was overexpressed or knocked down. Several ribosomal proteins co-immunoprecipitated with circTRPS1-2 from K150 cells in culture, and K150 cells overexpressing circTRPS1-2 showed reduced numbers of ribosomes by A260 absorbance measure and electron microscopy. Our results suggest that circTRPS1-2 can inhibit ESCC proliferation and migration by reducing the production of ribosomes, establishing its potential usefulness in ESCC treatment and prediction of prognosis