HONGHUA EXTRACT MEDIATED POTENT INHIBITION OF COVID‑19 HOST CELL PATHWAYS

Honghua (Carthami flos) and Xihonghua (Croci stigma) have been used in anti-COVID-19 as Traditional Chinese Medicine, but the mechanism is unclear. In this study, we applied network pharmacology by analysis of active compounds and compound-targets networks, enzyme kinetics assay, signaling pathway analysis and investigated the potential mechanisms of anti-COVID-19. We found that both herbs act on signaling including kinases, response to inflammation and virus. Moreover, crocin likely has an antiviral effect due to its high affinity towards the human ACE2 receptor by simulation. The extract of Honghua and Xihonghua exhibited nanozyme/herbzyme activity of alkaline phosphatase, with distinct fluorescence. Thus, our data suggest the great potential of Honghua in the development of anti-COVID-19 agents

NETWORK PHARMACOLOGY WITH EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF THE MECHANISMS OF RHIZOMA POLYGONATI AGAINST PROSTATE CANCER WITH ADDITIONAL HERBZYMATIC ACTIVITY

A combination therapy of Rhizoma Polygonati (RP) with goji (Lycium chinense) has earned a long history in the prescriptions to promote male health. However, the mechanisms at both molecular and nanoscale quantum levels are unclear. Here, we found that processed RP extract induces apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in cancer cells, thereby inhibiting prostate cancer cell proliferation enhanced by processed goji extract associated with an augment of the nanoscale herbzyme of phosphatase. For network pharmacology analysis, RP-induced PI3K-AKT pathways are essential for both benign prostatic hyperplasia and prostate cancer, and the RP/goji combination induces potent pathways which include androgen and estrogen response, kinase regulation, apoptosis, and prostate cancer singling. In addition, the experimental investigation showed that the prostate cancer cells are sensitive to RP extract for inhibiting colony formation. Finally, the natural compound baicalein found in RP ingredients showed a linked activity of top-ranked signaling targets of kinases including MAPK, AKT, and EGFR by the database of cMAP and HERB. Thus, both the nanozyme and ingredients might contribute to the RP in anti-prostate cancer which can be enhanced by goji extract. The proposed nanoscale RP extract might be of significance in developing novel anti-prostate cancer agents by combining goji compositions and targeted therapy compounds

Identify Important Cities in the Belt and Road Comprehensive Traffic Network

The Belt and Road has developed rapidly in recent years. Constructing a comprehensive traffic network is conducive to promoting the development of the the Belt and Road. To optimize the layout of the Belt and Road comprehensive traffic network, this paper identifies important cities. First, a weighted super adjacency matrix is defined, which includes sea, air, railway transportation and trans-shipment transportation between these transportation modes. With this matrix, the Belt and Road comprehensive traffic network (B&RCTN) is constructed. To identify important node cities, this paper proposes a method to calculate multi-layer centrality which considers inter-layer relationships. With the results of the above four centrality indexes, the Entropy Weight TOPSIS is used to synthesize the evaluation of the four indexes. Finally, the multi-layer comprehensive centrality rank of node cities is obtained. Result shows that there are 72 important cities in B&RCTN. These important cities are mainly distributed in the east and west of Eurasia. Eastern cities are located in East Asia and Southeast Asia, including 36 cities such as Singapore, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Western cities are concentrated in West Asia, Western Europe and North Africa along the Mediterranean coast, including 31 cities such as Istanbul, Dubai, Vienna, Trieste and Koper. There are few important cities in central Eurasia, except Almaty in Central Asia and Colombo in South Asia. In addition, important cities also include Moscow in Eastern Europe, Lagos and Lome in West Africa. Finally, based on the distribution of important cities, this paper puts forward some suggestions on the development of the Belt and Road comprehensive transportation

PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN COASTAL CITIES - A CASE STUDY OF HUANGPU DISTRICT, GUANGZHOU

To help local governments to scientifically formulate renewable energy (RE) development goals and implement them effectively, the study in this paper developed the renewable energy planning and implementation methodology and applied this method in Huangpu district of Guangzhou for demonstration and application in practical settings. To evaluate the potential of Huangpu from the perspective of renewable energy, quantitative analysis has been carried out by using the GIS method, followed by a multi-criteria assessment and the Delphi Method to screen out applicable technologies in this region. The solar photovoltaic (PV) technology installed on the industrial building rooftop is identified as the suitable solar PV technology development in the target region. The potential of solar resource is also higher than the government's PV development target of 177MW. In addition, the cost-benefit investment analysis based on three typical sizes of solar PV projects has also been carried out using the financial analysis method along with social and environmental benefits. It has been estimated that by 2025, a total of 1001 GWh energy can be generated while carbon emissions can be reduced by 851000 tons of CO2 equivalent (tCO(2)e) in the case of the implementation of all 320MW PV projects. The program will contribute to the addition of 163 PV systems in the local PV development market

PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY IN COASTAL CITIES - A CASE STUDY OF HUANGPU DISTRICT, GUANGZHOU

To help local governments to scientifically formulate renewable energy (RE) development goals and implement them effectively, the study in this paper developed the renewable energy planning and implementation methodology and applied this method in Huangpu district of Guangzhou for demonstration and application in practical settings. To evaluate the potential of Huangpu from the perspective of renewable energy, quantitative analysis has been carried out by using the GIS method, followed by a multi-criteria assessment and the Delphi Method to screen out applicable technologies in this region. The solar photovoltaic (PV) technology installed on the industrial building rooftop is identified as the suitable solar PV technology development in the target region. The potential of solar resource is also higher than the government's PV development target of 177MW. In addition, the cost-benefit investment analysis based on three typical sizes of solar PV projects has also been carried out using the financial analysis method along with social and environmental benefits. It has been estimated that by 2025, a total of 1001 GWh energy can be generated while carbon emissions can be reduced by 851000 tons of CO2 equivalent (tCO(2)e) in the case of the implementation of all 320MW PV projects. The program will contribute to the addition of 163 PV systems in the local PV development market

Evolution of Solar Photovoltaic Policies and Industry in China

Abstract China has experienced a rapid growth of both SPV manufacturing capacity and installed capacity in the last twenty-five years. However, this growth has followed a very erratic path. This study identifies policies issued through this period for a closer look on the impact of these policies to the solar photovoltaic (SPV) industry development in China. This paper examines five stages in China’s SPV policy from mid-1990s to 2019. Each stage has implemented different combinations of policy program. These changes in government policy and the effects to the SPV sector are attributed to three main sets of variables. First and foremost, the events that influence the policy and strategy priorities of Chinese government. Secondary factors include the government’s poor management of the policy impacts to the SPV manufacturing industry and the domestic SPV market at early days, as well as policymaking and problems coping within government. The subsidy, FIT policies and other programs had stimulated the deployment of SPV in a large scale but brings several problems such as subsidy reliance. The fundamental measure to improve SPV development into a grid parity era is the technological advancement of photovoltaic in efficiency and manufacturing

An adaptive relay node selection algorithm based on opportunity

Abstract The collaborative relay network plays an important role in a smart grid application thanks to its high efficiency. However, energy and bandwidth management need to be further improved to extend network life cycle and reduce potential network segmentation. Aiming to balance the network energy consumption, this paper proposes an adaptive relay node selection algorithm based on the opportunity (OAR). In OAR, the potential relay nodes are chosen to act as candidates based on bit error rate (BER) estimation, and then, the relay is adaptively and opportunistically determined for packet forwarding. Residual energy is considered to avoid fast energy exhaustion for some certain nodes. The simulation results show that the proposed OAR algorithm improves the network performance by deferring the earliest death time of the nodes and extending the network life cycle

Understanding Hazardous Materials Transportation Accidents Based on Higher-Order Network Theory

In hazardous materials transportation systems, accident causation analysis is important to transportation safety. Complex network theory can be effectively used to understand the causal factors of and their relationships within accidents. In this paper, a higher-order network method is proposed to establish a hazardous materials transportation accident causation network (HMTACN), which considers the sequences and dependences of causal factors. The HMTACN is composed of 125 first- and 118 higher-order nodes that represent causes, and 545 directed edges that denote complex relationships among causes. By analyzing topological properties, the results show that the HMTACN has the characteristics of small-world networks and displays the properties of scale-free networks. Additionally, critical causal factors and key relationships of the HMTACN are discovered. Moreover, unsafe tank or valve states are important causal factors; and leakage, roll-over, collision, and fire are most likely to trigger chain reactions. Important higher-order nodes are discovered, which can represent key relationships in the HMTACN. For example, unsafe distance and improper operation usually lead to collision and roll-over. These results of higher-order nodes cannot be found by the traditional Markov network model. This study provides a practical way to extract and construct an accident causation network from numerous accident investigation reports. It also provides insights into safety management of hazardous materials transportation

Stable Carbon Isotope Analysis of Hexachlorocyclohexanes by Liquid–Liquid Extraction Gas Chromatography Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry: Method Evaluation and Applications

Compound specific isotope analysis (CSIA) and enantiomer specific isotope analysis (ESIA) are powerful tools for assessing the fate of hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs) in the environment. However, there is no systematic study on the CSIA and ESIA analysis test methods of the carbon isotopes of HCHs in water and soil environments, in particular the isotope fractionation in the pre-concentration process. We endeavored to test the compatibility of CSIA and ESIA with the liquid–liquid extraction method of HCHs in water. The results showed that there were negligible changes in the δ13C of HCHs after extraction, indicating that liquid–liquid extraction can be used as a pre-concentration method for the determination of δ13C of HCHs in water. The optimized method was validated and then applied to differentiate three HCHs from different manufacturers, to identify in situ degradation of HCHs of groundwater from a contaminated site and to resolve the carbon isotope fractionation occurring in the α-HCH oxidation by CaO2/Fe(II) Fenton system. The results showed that the same reagents from different manufacturers have different carbon isotope compositions, and different isomers from the same manufacturer also have different isotope compositions, showing useful evidence in identifying the source of HCHs. The more enriched δ13C in the down-gradient wells indicated that HCHs have undergone biodegradation or/and chemical reactions in the groundwater system of the site. Carbon isotopic enrichment factors (εC) of −1.90 ± 0.10‰ were obtained in the oxidation process. Hence, the method validated in this study has great potential as a method for identifying the degradation of HCHs in a water environment