The embedded carbon footprint of urban households in China and its evolution

This paper explores the embedded carbon footprint (ECF) that is associated with various activities of urban households in China. An input-output model for carbon emissions is constructed. Based on urban household data for the period of 2003-2009, we calculate individual ECF and analyze its structural evolution. The results of this analysis show that the total ECF emission intensity increases when an individual’s consumption is higher than 10000 yuan (which is the turning point). This implies that emission intensity increases with a luxury lifestyle whereas it is lower for lower-income households. As income continues to increase, China will continue to remain on a high carbon track. We hence suggest that, with increasing urban wealth there is a need for better policies, management and behavioural change in order to reduce the carbon emissions of households. This study provides some policy suggestions about establishing a carbon quota system to guide individual consumption

Data-driven model for the assessment of mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission in evolving demographic structures

In the case of tuberculosis (TB), the capabilities of epidemic models to produce quantitatively robust forecasts are limited by multiple hindrances. Among these, understanding the complex relationship between disease epidemiology and populations’ age structure has been highlighted as one of the most relevant. TB dynamics depends on age in multiple ways, some of which are traditionally simplified in the literature. That is the case of the heterogeneities in contact intensity among different age strata that are common to all airborne diseases, but still typically neglected in the TB case. Furthermore, while demographic structures of many countries are rapidly aging, demographic dynamics are pervasively ignored when modeling TB spreading. In this work, we present a TB transmission model that incorporates country-specific demographic prospects and empirical contact data around a data-driven description of TB dynamics. Using our model, we find that the inclusion of demographic dynamics is followed by an increase in the burden levels predicted for the next decades in the areas of the world that are most hit by the disease today. Similarly, we show that considering realistic patterns of contacts among individuals in different age strata reshapes the transmission patterns reproduced by the models, a result with potential implications for the design of age-focused epidemiological interventions

Human responses to environmental change on the southern coastal plain of the Caspian Sea during the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods

This paper presents results of a multidisciplinary research initiative examining human responses to environmental change at the intersection of the southern coastal plain of the Caspian Sea and the foothills of the Alborz Mountains during the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene. Our palaeo-environmental analysis of two sedimentary cores obtained from a lagoon in close proximity to four caves, occupied by human groups during the transition from hunting and gathering to food-producing ways of life in this region, confirms Charles McBurney's 1968 hypothesis that when Caspian Sea levels were high, Mesolithic hunters were reliant on seal and deer, but as water levels receded and a wide coastal plain emerged, hunters consumed a different range of herbivorous mammalian species. Palynological evidence obtained from these two cores also demonstrates that the cool and dry climatic conditions often associated with the Younger Dryas stadial do not appear to have been extreme in this region. Thus, increasingly sedentary hunting and gathering groups could have drawn on plant and animal resources from multiple ecological niches without suffering significant resource stress or reduced population levels that may have been encountered in neighbouring regions. Our analyses of botanical, faunal and archaeological remains from a recently-discovered open-air Mesolithic and aceramic Neolithic site also shows an early process of Neolithization in the southern Caspian basin, which was a very gradual, low-cost adaptation to new ways of life, with neither the abandonment of hunting and gathering, nor a climatic trigger event for the emergence of a low-level, food-producing society.This paper presents results of a multidisciplinary research initiative examining human responses to environmental change at the intersection of the southern coastal plain of the Caspian Sea and the foothills of the Alborz Mountains during the terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene. Our palaeo-environmental analysis of two sedimentary cores obtained from a lagoon in close proximity to four caves, occupied by human groups during the transition from hunting and gathering to food-producing ways of life in this region, confirms Charles McBurney's 1968 hypothesis that when Caspian Sea levels were high, Mesolithic hunters were reliant on seal and deer, but as water levels receded and a wide coastal plain emerged, hunters consumed a different range of herbivorous mammalian species. Palynological evidence obtained from these two cores also demonstrates that the cool and dry climatic conditions often associated with the Younger Dryas stadial do not appear to have been extreme in this region. Thus, increasingly sedentary hunting and gathering groups could have drawn on plant and animal resources from multiple ecological niches without suffering significant resource stress or reduced population levels that may have been encountered in neighbouring regions. Our analyses of botanical, faunal and archaeological remains from a recently-discovered open-air Mesolithic and aceramic Neolithic site also shows an early process of Neolithization in the southern Caspian basin, which was a very gradual, low-cost adaptation to new ways of life, with neither the abandonment of hunting and gathering, nor a climatic trigger event for the emergence of a low-level, food-producing society.status: publishe

Histone deacetylase inhibition alters histone methylation associated with heat shock protein 70 promoter modifications in astrocytes and neurons

The mood-stabilizing and anticonvulsant drug valproic acid (VPA) inhibits histone deacetylases (HDACs). The aim of the present study was to determine the effect of HDAC inhibition on overall and target gene promoter-associated histone methylation in rat cortical neurons and astrocytes. We found that VPA and other HDAC inhibitors, including sodium butyrate (SB), trichostatin A (TSA), and the Class I HDAC inhibitors MS-275 and apicidin all increased levels of histone 3 lysine 4 dimethylation and trimethylation (H3K4Me2 and H3K4Me3); these processes are linked to transcriptional activation in rat cortical neurons and astrocytes. VPA, SB, TSA, MS-275, and apicidin also upregulated levels of the neuroprotective heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) in rat astrocytes. Moreover, Class I HDAC inhibition by VPA and MS-275 increased H3K4Me2 levels at the HSP70 promoter in astrocytes and neurons. We also found that VPA treatment facilitated the recruitment of acetyltransferase p300 to the HSP70 promoter and that p300 interacted with the transcription factor NF-Y in astrocytes. Taken together, the results suggest that Class I HDAC inhibition is key to upregulating overall and gene-specific H3K4 methylation in primary neuronal and astrocyte cultures. In addition, VPA-induced activation of the HSP70 promoter in astrocytes appears to involve an increase in H3K4Me2 levels and recruitment of p300. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled 'Trends in neuropharmacology: in memory of Erminio Costa'

Barred Galaxies in the Coma Cluster

We use ACS data from the HST Treasury survey of the Coma cluster (z~0.02) to study the properties of barred galaxies in the Coma core, the densest environment in the nearby Universe. This study provides a complementary data point for studies of barred galaxies as a function of redshift and environment. From ~470 cluster members brighter than M_I = -11 mag, we select a sample of 46 disk galaxies (S0--Im) based on visual classification. The sample is dominated by S0s for which we find an optical bar fraction of 47+/-11% through ellipse fitting and visual inspection. Among the bars in the core of the Coma cluster, we do not find any very large (a_bar > 2 kpc) bars. Comparison to other studies reveals that while the optical bar fraction for S0s shows only a modest variation across low-to-intermediate density environments (field to intermediate-density clusters), it can be higher by up to a factor of ~2 in the very high-density environment of the rich Coma cluster core.Comment: Proceedings of the Bash symposium, to appear in the Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series, eds. L. Stanford, L. Hao, Y. Mao, J. Gree

Predictive factors for the development of post-operative fibrinous exudation

Всяка хирургична процедура в офталмологията е предмет на дебат, относно своите приложения, ефикасност, рискови фактори, противипоказания и др. Налице е обаче недискутируем и непреходен консенсус за това, че постоперативното възпаление след всяка хирургична интервенция трябва да бъде минимално1. Честотата на възпалителната реакция в предната камера след катарактна хирургия може да достигне до 30%, варирайки по тежест2. Преднокамерната възпалителна реакция е сигнификанша поради факта, че може да доведе до повишаване на вътреочното налягане (ВОН), корнеален едем, ендотелна увреда, фибринова ексудация и мембрана в предната очна камера, задни синехии, кистоиден макулеи оток, хроничен преден увеит и др. Изследване и анализ на различни фактори, които оказват влияние върху фибриновата преднокамерна ексудация, биха поставили нови въпроси за дискусия, относно пред- , интра- и постоперативния терапевтичен алгоритъм.ЦелДа изследваме и анализираме различни фактори, които биха могли да бъдат в корелационни взаимоотношения с развитието на фибринова реакция в предната очна камера след факоемулсификационна хирургия. Да представим, също така, нашия клиничен опит в терапията на остро настъпилата фибринова ексудация.Материал и методиДизайнът на настоящето клинично проучване е ретроспективен и обсервационен, с период на проследяване 04.01 - 15.12.2017r. Критериите за включване в изследването са стандартно протекла факоемулсификация на леща, без интраоперативни компликации и имплантация на ВОЛ в капсулния сак.Изключващите критерии, които се взеха предвид, с цел обособяване на рисковите фактори само за факоемулсификацията като хирургичен метод, са извършване на едноетапна, комбинирана хирургична процедура (факоемулсификация с трабекулектомия, факоемулсификация с парс плана витректомия).Извършеният предоперативен набор изследвания включва обстойно офталмологично изследване, индиректна офталмоскопия, Goldmann тонометрия, кератометрия и биометрична, ултразвукова А ехография.На всички 191 участници в изследването, от които 67 мъже (35,1 %) и 124 жени (64,9%), на средна възраст ~ 68г., в планов порядък, е извършена факоемулсификация на леща с имплантация на вътреочна изкуствена леща (ВОЛ). Всички операции са извършени в 3то отделение на Клиниката по очни болести, УМБАЛ "Александровска", от един хирург, по една и съща, утвърдена в клиниката, методика.РезултатиНа всички 191 пациента (191 очи) е извършена факоемулсификация на леща с имплантация на ВОЛ, по утвърдена в отделението методика, без компликации. 78 (40,8%) от участниците са с хидрофобен, акрилен, асферичен имплант, докато останалата група от 113 души (59,2%) са с хидрофилен, акрилен, асферичен вариант на ВОЛ. Пациентите с конвенционална монофокална ( хидрофилна и хидрофобна) ВОЛ са 162 (84,8%), a при 29 (15,2%) е имплантирана хидрофилна ВОЛ с разширена дълбочина на фокуса (EDOF). Фибринова ексудация в предната очна камера (ПК), през ранния постоперативен период, е установена при пет пациента (2,4%) от изследваната кохорта. След проведена локална терапия с противовъзпалителни средства (кортикостероиди) фибриновата мембрана при всеки от петте пациента се резорбира напълно. Отчетено бе, че наличието на захарен диабет (80% от пациентите с ексудация), като придружаващо заболяване, и имплантацията на монофокална хидрофилна ВОЛ (1 ОО% от пациентите с ексудация) са факторите с най-висока предиктивна стойност за развитие на патологична фибринова реакция.ЗаключениеСтарческата катаракта е сред основните възрастово-свързани очни заболявания. Нейната честота нараства с напредване на възрастта 3. В национален и световен мащаб факоемулсификацията е най-често извършваната хирургична интервенция в офталмологията 4. Разнообразието на видовете вътреочни изкуствени лещи в днешно време е огромно, опитвайки се да задоволи постоянно повишаващите се изисквания и стандарти в офталмохирургията. Покачващата се честотата на захарния диабет поставя нови и важни въпроси относно кой тип ВОЛ са най-подходящи и препоръчителни при пациентите със системни придружаващи заболявания.IntroductionEach surgical procedure in ophthalmology is a subject of debate about its applications, efficiency, risk factors, contraindications, etc. There is, however, an indiscriminate and persistent consensus that post-operative inflammation after each surgical intervention should be minimal. The incidence of inflammation in the anterior chamber after cataract surgery may reach 30%, varying in severity. The anterior chamber inflammatory response is significant due to the fact that it can lead to elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), corneal edema, endothelial damage, fibrinous exudation and membrane in the anterior chamber, posterior synechiae, cystoid macular edema, chronic anterior uveitis and others. Investigation and analysis of various factors influencing fibrinous pre-chamber exudation would pose new questions for discussion about the pre-, intra- and postoperative therapeutic algorithm.AimTo investigate and analyze various factors that might be in correlation relationship with the development of fibrinous reaction in the anterior chamber after phacoemulsification surgery. Let`s also present our clinical experience in the treatment of acute fibrinous exudation.Material and methodsThe design of the present clinical study is retrospective and observational, with tracked period 04.01- 15.12.2017. Criteria for inclusion in the study were standard phacoemulsification of the lens without intraoperative complications and implantation of IOL into the capsuler bag. The exclusion criteria taken into account for the purpose of differentiating the risk factors only for the phacoemulsification as a surgical method are executing the one-step combined surgical procedure (phacoemulsification with trabeculectomy, phacoemulsification with pars plan vitrectomy). The preoperative set of studies performed includes a thorough ophthalmologic exam, indirect ophthalmoscopy, Goldmann tonometry, keratometry and biometric ultrasonic A echography. To all 191 participants in the study, of which 67 men (35.1%) and 124 women (64.9%), with average age ô€‚§ 68 years, by planned order was assigned a phacoemulsification of the lens with implanted intraocular artificial lens (IOL). All operations were performed in the 3rd ward of the Ophthalmology Clinic, University Hospital `Aleksandrovska`, by one surgeon, according to the same methodology approved in the clinic.ResultsTo all 191 patients (191 eyes) was accomplished phacoemulsification of the lens and implanted an IOL, according to a methodology approved in the ward without any complications. 78 (40.8%) of the participants had a hydrophobic, acrylic, aspheric implant, while the other group of 113 (59.2%) participants had a hydrophilic, acrylic, aspheric IOL. The patients with conventional monofocal (hydrophilic and hydrophobic) IOL were 162 (84.8%) and 29 (15.2%) were with implanted hydrophilic IOL with extended depth of focus. Fibrinous exudation in the anterior chamber during the early postoperative period was found in five patients (2.4%) of the studied cohort. After local therapy with anti-inflammatory drugs (corticosteroids), the fibrinous membrane in each of the five patients is completely absorbed. It was reported that the presence of diabetes mellitus (80% of the patients with exudation) as an accompanying disease and the implantation of monofocal hydrophilic IOL (for 100% of patients with exudation) were the factors with the highest predictive value for developing a pathological fibrinous reaction.ConclusionSenile cataract is among the main age-related eye diseases. Its frequency increases as the age advances. In the national and world scale, phacoemulsification is the most commonly performed surgical intervention in ophthalmology. The variety of intraocular artificial lenses nowadays is enormous, aiming to satisfy the ever-increasing demands and standards in ocular surgery. The rising incidence of diabetes mellitus poses new and important questions about which type of IOL are the most appropriate and recommended in patients with systemic accompanying diseases