Why Chinese airlines haven’t become leading cargo carriers - analyzing air freight network and international trade drivers for mainland China

In contrast to the tremendous growth in the passenger sector, Chinese airlines and logistics operators still play relatively minor roles in the world’s air cargo market. This study investigates the air freight network within mainland China using complex network analysis, and identifies the key drivers for international trade delivered by air with an augmented gravity model. Our network analysis suggests that domestic air freights flow through a relatively small point-to-point network. Demands are concentrated in the catchments of metropolitan regions, where passenger hubs have not served as cargo gateways. International air cargo flow is more balanced than China’s overall merchandise trade. As a result, foreign carriers can cherry-pick the most lucrative markets and link them to their global networks. Gravity model estimation suggests that for China’s international trade by air, the composition of the economy is a more important driver than the simple size of the economy. Therefore, air freight demand in China was not as high as past GDP numbers suggested, but is likely to outpace overall economic growth in the years to come. This should help Chinese airlines to achieve their cargo ambitions in the long term

miR-199a-5p inhibits aortic valve calcification by targeting ATF6 and GRP78 in valve interstitial cells

Calcific aortic valve disease (CAVD) is an important cause of disease burden among aging populations. Excessive active endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) was demonstrated to promote CAVD. The expression level of miR-199a-5p in patients with CAVD was reported to be downregulated. In this article, we aimed to investigate the function and mechanism of miR-199a-5p in CAVD. The expression level of miR-199a-5p and ERS markers was identified in calcific aortic valve samples and osteogenic induction by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), immunohistochemistry, and western blotting (WB). Alizarin red staining, RT-qPCR, and WB were used for the verification of the function of miR-199a-5p. The dual luciferase reporter assay and rescue experiment were conducted to illuminate the mechanism of miR-199a-5p. In our study, the expression level of miR-199a-5p was significantly decreased in calcified aortic valves and valve interstitial cells’ (VICs) osteogenic induction model, accompanying with the upregulation of ERS markers. Overexpression of miR-199a-5p suppressed the osteogenic differentiation of VICs, while downregulation of miR-199a-5p promoted this function. 78 kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP78) and activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6), both of which were pivotal modulators in ERS, were potential targets of miR-199a-5p. miR-199a-5p directly targeted GRP78 and ATF6 to modulate osteoblastic differentiation of VICs. miR-199a-5p inhibits osteogenic differentiation of VICs by regulating ERS via targeting GRP78 and ATF6

A New Method for Analysing the Pressure Response Delay in a Pneumatic Brake System Caused by the Influence of Transmission Pipes

This study aims to propose an analysis method for resolving the pressure response of a pneumatic brake circuit considering the effect of a transmission pipe. Pneumatic brake systems (PBS) are widely used in commercial vehicles. The pressure response characteristic of the PBS is the key factor affecting braking performance. By using the thermodynamics of a variable-quality system, the pressure response model of the brake chamber is established, which includes the dynamic model of the pipe considering the unsteady friction and heat transfer. The partial-differential control equations of pipe are solved by introducing the constrained interpolation profile (CIP) method, and a virtual chamber model is proposed to set the boundary condition so as to solve the pressure response in the brake chamber simultaneously. Thus, the regularity of the brake pressure response is obtained by considering the influence of the pipe. Lastly, the model is verified experimentally. The present study indicates that the main factors that affect the pressure response delay are the pipe length and the combination forms of the sonic conductances of the orifices inlet and outlet. Furthermore, it helps to verify that the CIP method is an effective way of solving the pressure response of a brake circuit because of its high accuracy. The present study serves as a foundation for the design and analysis of a PBS

Review of history and research on airport collaborative decision making

The airport collaborative decision making can effectively improve the operational efficiency of airports， so as to improve the operational efficiency of the whole civil aviation transportation network. The relevant standards，policy files and research papers of collaborative decision making are compiled in this paper. The development history of in airports and the current situation of research and application on collaborative decision making in academia and industry，both in China and abroad are collated. The future development trend of collaborative decision making in airports and the challenges faced by collaborative decision making in the current period are discussed and analyzed. Some suggestions for the development of collaborative decision making in airports based on the actual situation in China are given. The theoretical support and basis for improving the operational efficiency and economic benefits of airports and the whole air transportation network are summarized. The study in this paper can provide theoretical support and basis for operational efficiency and economic efficiency of the whole air traffic network

Atmospheric plasma sprayed W coating/Detonation sprayed W-steel composite coating/steel substrate-based coating system for the tokamak first wall

To study the manufacturing method of the tungsten armored first wall of tokamak devices, the W-316 L steel (W-SS) composite coatings were fabricated on 316 L steel substrates by detonation spraying (DS) as the interlayer of pure tungsten coatings manufactured by atmospheric plasma spraying (APS). The main characteristics and performance under transient heat shocks of the APS W/DS W-SS /substrate-based three-layer coating system were studied and compared with the APS W/substrate-based coating system. The results showed the porosity of the DS W-SS was about 1.9% with most of the pores smaller than 70 nm. In contrast, the porosity of the APS W reached about 8.6% and most of the pores were up to hundreds of nanometers. The bonding strength tests proved that both the adhesions of APS W to DS W-SS and DS W-SS to the substrate were much higher (almost 1.5 times) than the adhesion of APS W to the substrates. The three-layer specimens performed much better than the APS W/substrate specimens during the transient heat shock tests as expected. Besides, a special microstructure variation occurred on the three-layer specimens before its damage under the tests which was considered helpful to prolong its life-span under high heat flux. In a conclusion, the DS W-SS interlayer improved the service performance of the APS W/substrate-based coating significantly and demonstrates its potential for application in current tokamak experimental devices

Photoinhibition-like damage to the photosynthetic apparatus in plant leaves induced by submergence treatment in the dark.

Submergence is a common type of environmental stress for plants. It hampers survival and decreases crop yield, mainly by inhibiting plant photosynthesis. The inhibition of photosynthesis and photochemical efficiency by submergence is primarily due to leaf senescence and excess excitation energy, caused by signals from hypoxic roots and inhibition of gas exchange, respectively. However, the influence of mere leaf-submergence on the photosynthetic apparatus is currently unknown. Therefore, we studied the photosynthetic apparatus in detached leaves from four plant species under dark-submergence treatment (DST), without influence from roots and light. Results showed that the donor and acceptor sides, the reaction center of photosystem II (PSII) and photosystem I (PSI) in leaves were significantly damaged after 36 h of DST. This is a photoinhibition-like phenomenon similar to the photoinhibition induced by high light, as further indicated by the degradation of PsaA and D1, the core proteins of PSI and PSII. In contrast to previous research, the chlorophyll content remained unchanged and the H2O2 concentration did not increase in the leaves, implying that the damage to the photosynthetic apparatus was not caused by senescence or over-accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). DST-induced damage to the photosynthetic apparatus was aggravated by increasing treatment temperature. This type of damage also occurred in the anaerobic environment (N2) without water, and could be eliminated or restored by supplying air to the water during or after DST. Our results demonstrate that DST-induced damage was caused by the hypoxic environment. The mechanism by which DST induces the photoinhibition-like damage is discussed below

The urban-rural disparities and factors associated with the utilization of public health services among diabetes patients in China

Abstract Background Basic public health services for diabetes play an essential role in controlling glycemia in patients with diabetes. This study was conducted to understand the urban-rural disparities in the utilization of basic public health services for people with diabetes and the factors influencing them. Methods The data were obtained from the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) with 2976 diabetes patients. Chi-square tests were used to examine the disparities in the utilization of diabetes physical examination and health education between urban and rural areas. Logistic regression was performed to explore the factors associated with the utilization of diabetes public health services. Results Among all participants, 8.4% used diabetes physical examination in the past year, and 28.4% used diabetes health education services. A significant association with age (OR = 0.64, 95% CI:0.49–0.85; P < 0.05) was found between patients’ use of health education services. Compared with diabetes patients living in an urban area, diabetes patients living in a rural area used less diabetes health education. (χ2= 92.39, P < 0.05). Patients’ self-reported health status (OR = 2.04, CI:1.24–3.35; P < 0.05) and the use of glucose control (OR = 9.33, CI:6.61–13.16; P < 0.05) were significantly positively associated with the utilization of diabetes physical examination. Patients with higher education levels were more likely to use various kinds of health education services than their peers with lower education levels (OR = 1.64, CI:1.21–2.22; P < 0.05). Conclusion Overall, urban-rural disparities in the utilization of public health services existed. Vulnerable with diabetes, such as those in rural areas, are less available to use diabetes public health services. Providing convenient health service infrastructure facilitates the utilization of basic public health services for diabetes in older patients with diabetes, especially in rural areas