Informal Transfers in Comparisons of Monetary Welfare and Its Distribution

The Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) data is expanding to cover "middle income" countries that supplement the large, existing sample of countries which are "high income" in the LIS Database. Developing countries tend to have social protection systems that are less formalized, and financial transfers often flow between households. Inter-household financial transfers may play a significant role on a household's economic resources. These differences in transfers mean that comparisons of countries' poverty profiles and inequality levels can be heavily influenced by how such payments are taken into account. This research looks at the level of payments of transfers in both formal and informal ways and how the transfers affect the international and subnational comparison of inequality in China, Peru, Dominican Republic, Germany, United Kingdom and United States. Based on the data from the LIS Database, this paper addresses how important inter-household transfers are to the household's overall income, the differences discounting such transfers makes to the comparison of monetary welfare across countries and to the national distributions and how the comparisons of the welfare of specific sub-groups are affected by discounting such transfers

Effects of Biochar Amendment on Tomato Bacterial Wilt Resistance and Soil Microbial Amount and Activity

Bacterial wilt is a serious soilborne disease of Solanaceae crops which is caused by Ralstonia solanacearum. The important role of biochar in enhancing disease resistance in plants has been verified; however, the underlying mechanism remains not fully understood. In this study, two different biochars, made from peanut shell (BC1) and wheat straw (BC2), were added to Ralstonia solanacearum-infected soil to explore the interrelation among biochar, tomato bacterial wilt, and soil microbial properties. The results showed that both BC1 and BC2 treatments significantly reduced the disease index of bacterial wilt by 28.6% and 65.7%, respectively. The populations of R. solanacearum in soil were also significantly decreased by biochar application. Ralstonia solanacearum infection significantly reduced the densities of soil bacteria and actinomycetes and increased the ratio of soil fungi/bacteria in the soil. By contrast, BC1 and BC2 addition to pathogen-infected soil significantly increased the densities of soil bacteria and actinomycetes but decreased the density of fungi and the ratios of soil fungi/bacteria and fungi/actinomycetes. Biochar treatments also increased soil neutral phosphatase and urease activity. Furthermore, higher metabolic capabilities of microorganisms by biochar application were found at 96 and 144 h in Biolog EcoPlates. These results suggest that both peanut and wheat biochar amendments were effective in inhibiting tomato bacterial wilt caused by R. solanacearum. The results suggest a relationship between the disease resistance of the plants and the changes in soil microbial population densities and activity

Evaluation of peripapillary choroidal distribution in children by enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography

Abstract Background To evaluate the peripapillary choroidal thickness (PPCT) in Chinese children aged 6 to 12 years old and to analyze correlative factors. Methods PPCT was measured with enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) in 154 children (76 myopes and 78 emmetropia) aged 6 to 12 years, with spherical equivalent refractive errors between + 0.50 and − 5.50 diopters(D). Peripapillary choroidal imaging was performed using circular scans of a diameter of 3.4 mm around the optic disc. PPCT and the corresponding peripapillary retinal thickness (PPRT) were measured by EDI-OCT at nine positions: I, inferior; IN, inferonasal; IT, inferotemporal; N, nasal; T, temporal; S, superior; SN, superonasal; ST, superotemporal, and the Fovea Centralis. Results The mean global PPCT was 165.80 ± 39.86 μm.The mean global PPRT was 101.47 ± 10.74 μm. The Inferior had the thinnest PPCT but the thickest PPRT (p < 0.001), while the Nasal had thickest PPCT but the thinnest PPRT (p < 0.001). Significant differences in RT between the myopic group and the emmetropic group were found at all positions except T, TS, S and the fovea. Myopic group had thinner choroidal thickness (CT) than that of emmetropic group at all measured positions. Choroidal thickness had negative relation with the corresponding retinal thickness, age and axial length. Conclusion The peripapillary choroid was thicker nasally and thinner inferiorly, while the peripapillary retina was thickest inferiorly and thinnest nasally. Myopic group had thinner PPCT. The axial length was found to be negatively correlated to PPCT

Integrated Ecohydrological Models in Aquatic Ecosystems

As a critical component of the global environment, aquatic ecosystems support a wide range of organisms, including bacteria, fungi, algae, invertebrates, plants, and fish [...

Integrated Ecohydrological Models in Aquatic Ecosystems

As a critical component of the global environment, aquatic ecosystems support a wide range of organisms, including bacteria, fungi, algae, invertebrates, plants, and fish [...

Significant Synergy Effects of Biochar Combined with Topdressing Silicon on Cd Reduction and Yield Increase of Rice in Cd-Contaminated Paddy Soil

Pot and field trials were conducted to explore the combined effect of biochar (BC) with topdressing silicon (Si) on Cd uptake by rice and grain yield in Cd-contaminated paddy soil. The treatments, including BC applied before transplanting (TBC), topdressing Si applied in the soil at the jointing stage (JSi) and BC combined with topdressing Si (TBC + JSi), were designed in a complete random block, and treatment without application of BC and Si was used as a control (CK). Results showed that Cd concentration in milled rice treated with TBC + JSi was decreased by 34.62%, 22.73% and 10.53%, respectively, when compared to CK, TBC and JSi, with the concentration being only 0.17 mg·kg−1. At rice maturity, available Cd in the soil was reduced by 7.98% (TBC), 4.76% (JSi) and 6.02% (TBC + JSi) when compared with CK, while the concentrations of total Cd were 32.07% (TBC), 27.85% (JSi) and 35.44% (TBC + JSi) higher than CK. Moreover, BC and Si increased the Cd sequestrated by leaves markedly, especially for TBC + JSi, which was much higher than TBC and JSi. Therefore, the transfer of Cd from leaf to milled rice was greatly decreased by TBC + JSi. In addition, a synergy effect of TBC + JSi on rice yield was also found. Compared with CK, the grain yields of TBC, JSi and TBC+ JSi were increased by 8.35%, 8.20% and 18.74%, respectively. Nutrient contents in soil and rice plants were also elevated by the application of BC and Si to a certain extent; for example, the contents of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K) and Si in soil treated with TBC + JSi were raised by 8.96–60.03% when compared with CK. Overall, the combined application of BC with topdressing Si not only increases soil nutrients significantly, promotes their uptake by rice and boosts grain yield, but also effectively inhibits Cd transfer and reduces its accumulation in rice, which ultimately guarantees milled rice security. These results also imply that the combined application of biochar with topdressing silicon might be considered as an effective agronomic measure to decrease the milled-rice Cd in Cd-contaminated paddy soil, which would guarantee food security

Performance-based design of all-grade strain hardening cementitious composites with compressive strengths from 40 MPa to 120 MPa

A systematic study of the tensile properties of all-grade strain hardening cementitious composite (SHCC) from normal strength to high strength was conducted in the present research. The compressive strengths of the cylinder specimens ranged from 43 MPa to 115 MPa. Different combinations of fiber volume fractions and fiber aspect ratios (fiber length/diameter) were employed to investigate the effects of the fiber reinforcement index (the product of fiber volume fraction and fiber aspect ratio) on the tensile properties of SHCC, including mechanical properties and crack patterns. The relationships between the fiber reinforcement index and tensile properties were established at all compressive strengths and compared with the previous experimental values. Moreover, a performance-based design concept was proposed for designing SHCC based on the required mechanical and crack pattern properties, corresponding to the ultimate limit state and serviceability limit state, respectively

Exploring New Structural Features of the 18β-Glycyrrhetinic Acid Scaffold for the Inhibition of Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase

Novel 18&beta;-glycyrrhetinic acid derivatives possessing a carbamate moiety and structurally similar ester derivatives were developed and evaluated for their efficacy as antitumor inhibitors. In the cellular assays, most of the N-substituted carbamate derivatives at the C3-position exhibited potent activities. The results of SAR investigation revealed that the introduction of the morpholine group at the C30-COOH led to a significant loss of the inhibitory potency. Among the ester derivatives, the ester group at C3-position also determined a noticeable reduction in the efficacy. Compound 3j exhibited the most prominent antiproliferative activity against six human cancer cells (A549, HT29, HepG2, MCF-7, PC-3, and Karpas299). Furthermore, compound 3j exerted a moderate inhibiting effect on the ALK. The results of molecular docking analyses suggested that it could bind well to the active site of the receptor ALK, which was consistent with the biological data. These results might inspire further structural optimization of 18&beta;-glycyrrhetinic acid aiming at the development of potent antitumor agents. The structures 4d, 4g, 4h, 4j, and 4n were studied by X-ray crystallographic analyses

Nanoparticles (NPs)-mediated Siglec15 silencing and macrophage repolarization for enhanced cancer immunotherapy

T cell infiltration and proliferation in tumor tissues are the main factors that significantly affect the therapeutic outcomes of cancer immunotherapy. Emerging evidence has shown that interferon-gamma (IFNγ) could enhance CXCL9 secretion from macrophages to recruit T cells, but Siglec15 expressed on TAMs can attenuate T cell proliferation. Therefore, targeted regulation of macrophage function could be a promising strategy to enhance cancer immunotherapy via concurrently promoting the infiltration and proliferation of T cells in tumor tissues. We herein developed reduction-responsive nanoparticles (NPs) made with poly (disulfide amide) (PDSA) and lipid-poly (ethylene glycol) (lipid-PEG) for systemic delivery of Siglec15 siRNA (siSiglec15) and IFNγ for enhanced cancer immunotherapy. After intravenous administration, these cargo-loaded could highly accumulate in the tumor tissues and be efficiently internalized by tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). With the highly concentrated glutathione (GSH) in the cytoplasm to destroy the nanostructure, the loaded IFNγ and siSiglec15 could be rapidly released, which could respectively repolarize macrophage phenotype to enhance CXCL9 secretion for T cell infiltration and silence Siglec15 expression to promote T cell proliferation, leading to significant inhibition of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) growth when combining with the immune checkpoint inhibitor. The strategy developed herein could be used as an effective tool to enhance cancer immunotherapy

Micro-Nanostructured Polyaniline Assembled in Cellulose Matrix via Interfacial Polymerization for Applications in Nerve Regeneration

Conducting polymers have emerged as frontrunners to be alternatives for nerve regeneration, showing a possibility of the application of polyaniline (PANI) as the nerve guidance conduit. In the present work, the cellulose hydrogel was used as template to in situ synthesize PANI via the limited interfacial polymerization method, leading to one conductive side in the polymer. PANI sub-micrometer dendritic particles with mean diameter of ∼300 nm consisting of the PANI nanofibers and nanoparticles were uniformly assembled into the cellulose matrix. The hydrophobic PANI nanoparticles were immobilized in the hydrophilic cellulose via the phytic acid as “bridge” at presence of water through hydrogen bonding interaction. The PANI/cellulose composite hydrogels exhibited good mechanical properties and biocompatibility as well as excellent guiding capacity for the sciatic nerve regeneration of adult Sprague–Dawley rats without any extra treatment. On the basis of the fact that the pure cellulose hydrogel was an inert material for the neural repair, PANI played an indispensable role on the peripheral nerve regeneration. The hierarchical micro-nanostructure and electrical conductivity of PANI could remarkably induce the adhesion and guiding extension of neurons, showing its great potential in biomedical materials