Exchange Rates and Competition for FDI

FDI, exchange rate, China, ASEAN-4

FERM domain-containing unconventional myosin VIIA interacts with integrin β5 subunit and regulates αvβ5-mediated cell adhesion and migration

AbstractUnconventional myosin VIIA (Myo7a) has been known to associate with hereditary deafness. Here we present a novel function of Myo7a by identifying that Myo7a directly interacts with integrin β5 subunit and regulates cell adhesion and motility in an integrin-dependent manner. We found that Myo7a bound to the cytoplasmic tail of integrin β5. Further, we pinpointed an integrin-binding domain at F3 of the first FERM domain and F1 of the second FERM domain. Functionally, Myo7a-induced cell adhesion and migration were mediated by integrin αvβ5. These findings indicated that Myo7a interacts with integrin β5 and selectively promotes integrin αvβ5-mediated cell migration

A suitable method for alpine wetland delineation: An example for the headwater area of the yellow river, Tibetan Plateau

Alpine wetlands are one of the most important ecosystems in the Three Rivers Source Area, China, which plays an important role in regulating the regional hydrological cycle and carbon cycle. Accordingly, Wetland area and its distribution are of great significance for wetland management and scientific research. In our study, a new wetland classification model which based on geomorphological types and combine object-oriented and decision tree classification model (ODTC), and used a new wetland classification system to accurately extract the wetland distributed in the Headwater Area of the Yellow River (HAYR) of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), China. The object-oriented method was first used to segment the image into several areas according to similarity in Pixels and Textures, and then the wetland was extracted through a decision tree constructed based on geomorphological types. The wetland extracted by the model was compared with that by other seven commonly methods, such as support vector machine (SVM) and random forest (RF), and it proved the accuracy was improved by 10%–20%. The overall classification accuracy rate was 98.9%. According to our results, the HAYR’s wetland area is 3142.3 km2, accounting for 16.1% of the study area. Marsh wetlands and flood wetlands accounted for 37.7% and 16.7% respectively. A three-dimensional map of the area showed that alpine wetlands in the research region are distributed around lakes, piedmont groundwater overflow belts, and inter-mountain catchment basin. This phenomenon demonstrates that hydrogeological circumstances influence alpine wetlands’ genesis and evolution. This work provides a new approach to investigating alpine wetlands

A sustainable biochar catalyst synergized with copper heteroatoms and CO2 for singlet oxygenation and electron transfer routes

We have developed a wood waste-derived biochar as a sustainable graphitic carbon catalyst for environmental remediation through catalytic pyrolysis under the synergistic effects between Cu heteroatoms and CO2, which for the first time are found to significantly enhance the oxygen functionalities, defective sites, and highly ordered sp2-hybridized carbon matrix. The copper-doped graphitic biochars (Cu-GBCs) were further characterized by XRD, FTIR, Raman, XPS, etc., revealing that the modified specific surface area, pore structure, graphitization, and active sites (i.e., defective sites and ketonic group) on the Cu-GBCs corresponded to the synergistic Cu species loading and Cu-induced carbon-matrix reformation in CO2 environment during pyrolysis. The catalytic ability of Cu-GBCs was evaluated using the ubiquitous peroxydisulfate (PDS) activation system for the removal of various organic contaminants (i.e., rhodamine B, phenol, bisphenol A, and 4-chlorophenol), and gave the highest degradation rate of 0.0312 min-1 in comparison with those of pristine GBCs and N2-pyrolyzed Cu-GBCs ranging from 0.0056 to 0.0094 min-1. The synergistic effects were attributed to the encapsulated Cu heteroatoms, evolved ketonic groups, and abundant unconfined π electrons within the carbon lattice. According to scavenger experiments, ESR analysis, and two-chamber experiments, selective and sustainable non-radical pathways (i.e., singlet oxygenation and electron transfer) mediated by the Cu-induced metastable surface complex were achieved in the Cu-GBC/PDS system. This study offers the first insights into the efficacy, sustainability, and mechanistic roles of Cu-GBCs as an emerging carbon-based catalyst for green environmental remediation

Risk of COVID-19 death for people with a pre-existing cancer diagnosis prior to COVID-19-vaccination : A systematic review and meta-analysis

Research Funding National Health and Medical Research Council. Grant Number: APP1194679 World Health Organization Article Funding Open access publishing facilitated by The University of Sydney, as part of the Wiley - The University of Sydney agreement via the Council of Australian University Librarians.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Risk of COVID-19 death for people with a pre-existing cancer diagnosis prior to COVID-19-vaccination:A systematic review and meta-analysis

While previous reviews found a positive association between pre-existing cancer diagnosis and COVID-19-related death, most early studies did not distinguish long-term cancer survivors from those recently diagnosed/treated, nor adjust for important confounders including age. We aimed to consolidate higher-quality evidence on risk of COVID-19-related death for people with recent/active cancer (compared to people without) in the pre-COVID-19-vaccination period. We searched the WHO COVID-19 Global Research Database (20 December 2021), and Medline and Embase (10 May 2023). We included studies adjusting for age and sex, and providing details of cancer status. Risk-of-bias assessment was based on the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Pooled adjusted odds or risk ratios (aORs, aRRs) or hazard ratios (aHRs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were calculated using generic inverse-variance random-effects models. Random-effects meta-regressions were used to assess associations between effect estimates and time since cancer diagnosis/treatment. Of 23 773 unique title/abstract records, 39 studies were eligible for inclusion (2 low, 17 moderate, 20 high risk of bias). Risk of COVID-19-related death was higher for people with active or recently diagnosed/treated cancer (general population: aOR = 1.48, 95% CI: 1.36-1.61, I2 = 0; people with COVID-19: aOR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.41-1.77, I2 = 0.58; inpatients with COVID-19: aOR = 1.66, 95% CI: 1.34-2.06, I2 = 0.98). Risks were more elevated for lung (general population: aOR = 3.4, 95% CI: 2.4-4.7) and hematological cancers (general population: aOR = 2.13, 95% CI: 1.68-2.68, I2 = 0.43), and for metastatic cancers. Meta-regression suggested risk of COVID-19-related death decreased with time since diagnosis/treatment, for example, for any/solid cancers, fitted aOR = 1.55 (95% CI: 1.37-1.75) at 1 year and aOR = 0.98 (95% CI: 0.80-1.20) at 5 years post-cancer diagnosis/treatment. In conclusion, before COVID-19-vaccination, risk of COVID-19-related death was higher for people with recent cancer, with risk depending on cancer type and time since diagnosis/treatment.</p

Tailored design of graphitic biochar for high-efficiency and chemical-free microwave-assisted removal of refractory organic contaminants

Energy-saving, chemical-free, and high-efficiency microwave (MW)-assisted water treatment can be greatly facilitated via tailored design of an economical, sustainable, and ‘green’ carbonaceous catalyst. In this study, various biochars (BC) were pyrolyzed from two lignocellulosic waste biomasses, oak (O) and apple tree (A), at a high temperature (900 °C) and under different gases (N2 and CO2). The holistic characterization by advanced spectroscopic techniques demonstrated that CO2 pyrolysis of feedstock with more lignin (i.e., oak), produced biochar with increased aromaticity and degree of carbonization. CO2 modification created a hierarchical porous structure, improved surface hydrophilicity, polarity, and acidity, and provided higher densities of near-surface functionalities of the biochar. Without MW irradiation, ABC-900C (1 g L−1) provided the highest adsorption (52.6%, 1 min) of 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) ascribed to large specific surface area, high micropore content, appropriate pore size, and abundant active groups. OBC-900C (1 g L−1) enabled significantly increased 2,4-D removal (81.6%, 1 min) under MW irradiation (90 °C) in contrast with an oil bath (55.7%, 90 °C, 1 min) and room temperature (33.9%, 1 min) conditions, due to its highest graphitization degree and medium-developed microporous structure. The MW-induced thermal effect formed “hot spots” on the biochar surface as evidenced by elevated temperature of the bulk solution and lowered energy consumption of the MW reactor in the presence of OBC-900C, compared to those of the other biochars. The scavenging tests suggested that the generation of highly oxidative hydroxyl (•OH), anionic superoxide (O2 •−), and singlet oxygen (1O2) radicals contributed to the removal of 2,4-D. This study has demonstrated that biochar with customized structure and high organic adsorption capacity can act as an effective MW absorber suitable for rapid and improved removal of toxic organics

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead