Identifying primary energy requirements in structural path analysis: A case study of China 2012

Primary energy requirements have close interaction with resource, technology, environment, infrastructure, as well as the socio-economic development. This study links the entire supply chain of the Chinese economy from energy extraction to final consumption by using input-output analysis and structural path analysis. The results show that the domestic primary energy input amounted to 3318.7 Mtce in 2012, of which 49.5% was induced by investment demands. Despite being one of the world's largest energy importers, embodied energy uses (EEUs) in China’s exports were equivalent to about one fourth of its total domestic supply. All Manufacturing sectors accounted for 44.3% of the total EEUs, followed by Construction for 33.3%, Services for 11.6% and Power & Heat for 3.9%. After examining the embodied energy paths, critical economic sectors such as Construction of Buildings, Construction Installation Activities, Transport Via Road, Production and Supply of Electricity and Steam and Processing of Steel Rolling Processing, and supply chain routes starting from final uses to resource extraction such as “Capital formation → Construction of Buildings → Production and Supply of Electricity and Steam → Production and Supply of Electricity and Steam → Mining and Washing of Coal”, were identified as the main contributors to China’s raw coal and other primary energy requirements. Restructuring Chinese economy from manufacturing industries to construction and services with huge economic costs cannot fundamentally conserve energy, owing to their almost identical structures in higher production tiers; more appropriate policies on technology efficiency gains, energy mix improvement, economic structure adjustment and green consumption deserve to be considered in the light of upstream and downstream responsibilities from a systematic viewpoint

Expressions of IGFBP-5, cFLIP in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, cervical carcinoma and their clinical significances: a molecular pathology

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Insulin-like growth factor binding protein (IGFBPs) have been as potential tumor suppressors in the occurrence and development of tumors. Cellular Fas-associated death domain-like interleukin-1β-converting enzyme (FLICE)-like inhibitory protein (cFLIP) contains a death effect domain (DED), which blocks death receptor pathway and inhibits apoptosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We collected normal cervical tissues from 28 subjects, CIN samples from 37 patients, and cervical cancer tissues from 40 patients. In these samples, we then measured the expression levels of IGFBP-5 and cFLIP via RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, and we detected the presence of high-risk HPV by Hybrid capture II assays in cervical secretions provided by the subjects.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>significant differences in the expression of IGFBP-5 protein among the normal, CIN, and CC tissues (P < 0.05). The highest expression of IGFBP-5 protein was found in CIN stage II and III tissues, whereas the expression of IGFBP-5 in CC samples was decreased relative to controls. The expression level was affected by factors such as clinical stage, pathological differentiation, and lymph node metastasis. Relative to the controls, IGFBP-5 mRNA content was higher in the CC group and lower in the CIN group (P < 0.05). No expression of cFLIP protein or mRNA was detected in normal cervical tissues. However, the degree of pathological changes correlated with increasing expression of cFLIP protein and mRNA, and significant differences were therefore detected between groups (P < 0.05). The HPV infection rates in the CIN and CC groups were much higher than in the normal group (P < 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>IGFBP-5 expression is up-regulated in response to progression of CIN and down-regulated in invasive cervical carcinoma. Detection of IGFBP-5 and cFLIP expression levels, may prove particularly useful for diagnosing and differentiating CIN and CC.</p

Molecular mechanism of fluoroquinolones resistance in Mycoplasma hominis clinical isolates

To evaluate the molecular mechanism of fluoroquinolones resistance in Mycoplasma hominis (MH) clinical strains isolated from urogenital specimens. 15 MH clinical isolates with different phenotypes of resistance to fluoroquinolones antibiotics were screened for mutations in the quinolone resistance-determining regions (QRDRs) of DNA gyrase (gyrA and gyrB) and topoisomerase IV (parC and parE) in comparison with the reference strain PG21, which is susceptible to fluoroquinolones antibiotics. 15 MH isolates with three kinds of quinolone resistance phenotypes were obtained. Thirteen out of these quinolone-resistant isolates were found to carry nucleotide substitutions in either gyrA or parC. There were no alterations in gyrB and no mutations were found in the isolates with a phenotype of resistance to Ofloxacin (OFX), intermediate resistant to Levofloxacin (LVX) and Sparfloxacin (SFX), and those susceptible to all three tested antibiotics. The molecular mechanism of fluoroquinolone resistance in clinical isolates of MH was reported in this study. The single amino acid mutation in ParC of MH may relate to the resistance to OFX and LVX and the high-level resistance to fluoroquinolones for MH is likely associated with mutations in both DNA gyrase and the ParC subunit of topoisomerase IV

A Sodium laser guide star coupling efficiency measurement method

Large telescope's adaptive optics (AO) system requires one or several bright artificial laser guide stars to improve its sky coverage. The recent advent of high power sodium laser is perfect for such application. However, besides the output power, other parameters of the laser also have significant impact on the brightness of the generated sodium laser guide star mostly in non-linear relationships. When tuning and optimizing these parameters it is necessary to tune based on a laser guide star generation performance metric. Although return photon flux is widely used, variability of atmosphere and sodium layer make it difficult to compare from site to site even within short time period for the same site. A new metric, coupling efficiency is adopted in our field tests. In this paper, we will introduce our method for measuring the coupling efficiency of a 20W class pulse sodium laser for AO application during field tests that were conducted during 2013-2015

Trojan Horse nanotheranostics with dual transformability and multifunctionality for highly effective cancer treatment.

Nanotheranostics with integrated diagnostic and therapeutic functions show exciting potentials towards precision nanomedicine. However, targeted delivery of nanotheranostics is hindered by several biological barriers. Here, we report the development of a dual size/charge- transformable, Trojan-Horse nanoparticle (pPhD NP) for delivery of ultra-small, full active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) nanotheranostics with integrated dual-modal imaging and trimodal therapeutic functions. pPhD NPs exhibit ideal size and charge for drug transportation. In tumour microenvironment, pPhD NPs responsively transform to full API nanotheranostics with ultra-small size and higher surface charge, which dramatically facilitate the tumour penetration and cell internalisation. pPhD NPs enable visualisation of biodistribution by near-infrared fluorescence imaging, tumour accumulation and therapeutic effect by magnetic resonance imaging. Moreover, the synergistic photothermal-, photodynamic- and chemo-therapies achieve a 100% complete cure rate on both subcutaneous and orthotopic oral cancer models. This nanoplatform with powerful delivery efficiency and versatile theranostic functions shows enormous potentials to improve cancer treatment

Novel DNA Aptamers for Parkinson’s Disease Treatment Inhibit a-Synuclein Aggregation and Facilitate its Degradation

Parkinson\u27s disease (PD) is one of the most prevalent forms of synucleinopathies, and it is characterized neuropathologically by the presence of intracellular inclusions composed primarily of the protein α-synuclein (α-syn) in neurons. The previous immunotherapy targeting the α-syn in PD models with monoclonal antibodies has established α-syn protein as an effective target for neuronal cell death. However, due to the essential weaknesses of antibody and the unique features of aptamers, the aptamers could represent a promising alternative to the currently used antibodies in immunotherapy for PD. In this study, the purified human α-syn was used as the target for in vitro selection of aptamers using systematic evolution by exponential enrichment. This resulted in the identification of two 58-base DNA aptamers with a high binding affinity and good specificity to the α-syn, with KD values in the nanomolar range. Both aptamers could effectively reduce α-syn aggregation in vitro and in cells and target the α-syn to intracellular degradation through the lysosomal pathway. These effects consequently rescued the mitochondrial dysfunction and cellular defects caused by α-syn overexpression. To our knowledge, this is the first study to employ aptamers to block the aberrant cellular effects of the overexpressed α-syn in cells