Emission drivers of cities at different industrialization phases in China

As cities are the center of human activity and the basic unit of policy design, they have become the focus of carbon dioxide reduction, especially metropolitan areas that are high energy consumers and carbon dioxide emitters in countries such as China. The fact cities differ in their levels of development and stages of industrialization points to the need for tailor-made low-carbon policies. This study is the first to consider cities' different phases of industrialization when analyzing city-level emission patterns and drivers, as well as the decoupling statuses between economic growth and their emission levels in China. The results of 15 representative cities at different phases of industrialization show that various decoupling statuses, driving factors and decoupling efforts exist among cities, and that heterogeneity among these factors also exists among cities at the same industrialization phase. For further decomposition, energy intensity contributed the most to emissions reduction during the period 2005 to 2010, especially for cities with more heavy manufacturing industries, whereas industrial structure was a stronger negative emission driver during the period 2010 to 2015. Based on those findings, we suggest putting into practice a diversified carbon-mitigation policy portfolio according to each city's industrialization phase rather than a single policy that focuses on one specific driving factor. This paper sets an example on emissions-reduction experience for other cities undergoing different industrialization phases in China; it also sheds light on policy initiatives that could be applied to other cities around the world

The antimicrobial, mechanical, physical and structural properties of chitosan-gallic acid films

Chitosan films incorporated with various concentrations of gallic acid were prepared and investigated for antimicrobial, mechanical, physical and structural properties. Four bacterial strains that commonly contaminate food products were chosen as target bacteria to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of the prepared gallic acid-chitosan films. The incorporation of gallic acid significantly increased the antimicrobial activities of the films against Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhimurium, Listeria innocua and Bacillus subtilis. Chitosan films incorporated with 1.5 g/100 g gallic acid showed the strongest antimicrobial activity. It was also found that tensile strength (TS) of chitosan film was significantly increased when incorporating 0.5 g/100 g gallic acid. Inclusion of 0.5 g/100 g gallic acid also significantly decreased water vapor permeability (WVP) and oxygen permeability (OP). Microstructure of the films was investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and it was found that gallic acid was dispersed homogenously into the chitosan matrix

Expression and characterization of keratinase from Deinococcus gobiensis I-0

Keratin is a nonnutritious hard protein widely distributed in feather, wool, animal hoof, horn, and toenail. The disulfide bond interacts to form a dense structure of keratin, which is difficult to be degraded and utilized. Keratinase is a kind of enzymes that can destroy the dense structure of keratin to achieve the degradation, and has a good application prospect. In order to further tap the important gene resources of keratinase, improve its hydrolytic activity，and provide theoretical basis for industrial production, this experiment cloned a gene encoding keratinase from Deinococcus gobiensis I-0 isolated from Gobi desert of Xinjiang and named it as Kerdg. Prokaryotic expression vector pET-22B-Kerdg was constructed and then induced, expressed and purified in vitro, the optimal temperature and pH of the crude enzyme solution were determined through the hydrolysis activity to feathers. Results showed that the first 50 amino acids of N terminal had a great influence on the expression and purification of protein Kerdg. The crude enzyme solution of recombinant strain completely decomposed feathers in three days. The transparent circle on milk powder plate appeared more notable in crude enzyme solution of recombinant strain than that of empty strain. Kerdg adapted to a wide range of temperatures and pH，among which the optimal temperature was 60℃ and the optimal pH was 5.0. The Kerdg can degrade feathers and thus will have great application space in the future industrial production and treatment of waste feathers. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Incontinentia Pigmenti: Case Report

Incontinentia pigmenti (IP) or Bloch-Sulzberger syndrome, is a rare X linked dominant disorder with characteristic skin, hair, eye, dental and neurological abnormalities mostly affecting females. We reported two cases of newborn female children exhibiting characteristic cutaneous and neurological findings with one year follow-up.</p

The Clinical Relevance of Serum NDKA, NMDA, PARK7, and UFDP Levels with Phlegm-Heat Syndrome and Treatment Efficacy Evaluation of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Acute Ischemic Stroke

According to the methods of Patient-Reported Outcome (PRO) based on the patient reports internationally and referring to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guide, some scholars developed this PRO of stroke which is consistent with China’s national conditions, and using it the feel of stroke patients was introduced into the clinical efficacy evaluation system of stoke. “Ischemic Stroke TCM Syndrome Factor Diagnostic Scale (ISTSFDS)” and “Ischemic Stroke TCM Syndrome Factor Evaluation Scale (ISTSFES)” were by “Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Program) (number 2003CB517102).” ISTSFDS can help to classify and diagnose the CM syndrome reasonably and objectively with application of syndrome factors. Six syndrome factors, internal-wind syndrome, internal-fire syndrome, phlegm-dampness syndrome, blood-stasis syndrome, qi-deficiency syndrome, and yin-deficiency syndrome, were included in ISTSFDS and ISTSFES. TCM syndrome factor was considered to be present if the score was greater than or equal to 10 according to ISTSFDS. In our study, patients with phlegm-heat syndrome were recruited, who met the diagnosis of both “phlegm-dampness” and “internal-fire” according to ISTSFDS. ISTSFES was used to assess the syndrome severity; in our study it was used to assess the severity of phlegm-heat syndrome (phlegm-heat syndrome scores = phlegm-dampness syndrome scores + internal-fire syndrome scores)