High-Speed Railway Opening and Urban Innovation Dividend—A Case Study of Guangzhou Zhuhai Intercity High-Speed Railway

Based on the panel data of 41 cities along and around the Guangzhou Zhuhai intercity railway (GZR) from 2005 to 2018 and taking the opening of the GZR as a natural experimental scenario, the difference-in-difference (DID) method was used to empirically test the impact of the opening of the GZR on the innovation of cities along the line. The research results show that the opening of GZR has had a statistically positive effect on the innovation of cities along the route—that is, the innovation dividend of high-speed railway (HSR)cities exists, which improves the level of urban innovation—and further, there is time dynamics and regional heterogeneity in the innovation dividend. The research results of this paper have significant policy implications for optimizing China’s HSR network

Therapeutic potential of boosting NAD+ in aging and age-related diseases

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+) is an essential cofactor in all living cells that is involved in fundamental biological processes. NAD+ depletion has been associated with hallmarks of aging and may underlie a wide-range of age-related diseases, such as metabolic disorders, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Emerging evidence implicates that elevation of NAD+ levels may slow or even reverse the aspects of aging and also delay the progression of age-related diseases. Here we discuss the roles of NAD+-synthesizing and -consuming enzymes in relationships to aging and major age-related diseases. Specifically, we highlight the contribution of NAD+ depletion to aging and evaluate how boosting NAD+ levels may emerge as a promising therapeutic strategy to counter aging-associated pathologies and/or accelerated aging. Keywords: NAD+, Aging, Age-related diseases, Autophagy, Alzheimer's disease, Neurodegeneration, Therapeutic potentia

A Study of Failure Strength for Fiber-Reinforced Composite Laminates with Consideration of Interface

Composite laminates can exhibit the nonlinear properties due to the fiber/matrix interface debonding and matrix plastic deformation. In this paper, by incorporating the interface stress-displacement relations between fibers and matrix, as well as the viscoplastic constitutive model for describing plastic behaviors of matrix materials, a micromechanical model is used to investigate the failure strength of the composites with imperfect interface bonding. Meanwhile, the classic laminate theory, which provides the relation between micro- and macroscale responses for composite laminates, is employed. Theory results show good consistency with the experimental data under unidirectional tensile conditions at both 23°C and 650°C. On this basis, the interface debonding influences on the failure strength of the [0/90]s and [0/±45/90]s composite laminates are studied. The numerical results show that all of the unidirectional (UD) laminates with imperfect interface bonding provide a sharp decrease in failure strength in the σxx-σyy plane at 23°C. However, the decreasing is restricted in some specific region. In addition, for [0/90]s and [0/±45/90]s composite laminates, the debonding interface influences on the failure envelope can be ignored when the working temperature is increased to 650°C

Preparation of Magnetic Fe3O4/MIL-88A Nanocomposite and Its Adsorption Properties for Bromophenol Blue Dye in Aqueous Solution

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are considered as good materials for the adsorption of many environmental pollutants. In this study, magnetic Fe3O4/MIL-88A composite was prepared by modification of MIL-88A with magnetic nanoparticles using the coprecipitation method. The structures and magnetic property of magnetic Fe3O4/MIL-88A composite were characterized and the adsorption behavior and mechanism for Bromophenol Blue (BPB) were evaluated. The results showed that magnetic Fe3O4/MIL-88A composite maintained a hexagonal rod-like structure and has good magnetic responsibility for magnetic separation (the maximum saturation magnetization was 49.8 emu/g). Moreover, the maximum adsorption amount of Fe3O4/MIL-88A composite for BPB was 167.2 mg/g and could maintain 94% of the initial adsorption amount after five cycles. The pseudo-second order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm models mostly fitted to the adsorption for BPB suggesting that chemisorption is the rate-limiting step for this monomolecular-layer adsorption. The adsorption capacity for another eight dyes (Bromocresol Green, Brilliant Green, Brilliant Crocein, Amaranth, Fuchsin Basic, Safranine T, Malachite Green and Methyl Red) were also conducted and the magnetic Fe3O4/MIL-88A composite showed good adsorption for dyes with sulfonyl groups. In conclusion, magnetic Fe3O4/MIL-88A composite could be a promising adsorbent and shows great potential for the removal of anionic dyes containing sulfonyl groups

Solid Waste Disposal and Its Relationship with Economic Development in Rural China

Applied a recently collected household data in 6 provinces in rural China, the purpose of this paper is to analyze solid waste disposal and its relationship with economic development in rural China. Domestic solid waste disposal per capita is about 1.07 kg/daily, or about 390 kg/year, and varies across regions and components. Major findings support the existence of the environmental Kuznets curves for domestic solid waste disposal with the estimated turning point of 17, 446 RMB per capita income

Circular RNAs in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: From Biomarkers to Therapeutic Targets

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most lethal gynecological cancer, and more than 70% of patients are diagnosed at advanced stages. Despite the application of surgery and chemotherapy, the prognosis remains poor due to the high relapse rate. It is urgent to identify novel biomarkers and develop novel therapeutic strategies for EOC. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of noncoding RNAs generated from the “back-splicing” of precursor mRNA. CircRNAs exert their functions via several mechanisms, including acting as miRNA sponges, interacting with proteins, regulating transcription, and encoding functional proteins. Recent studies have identified many circRNAs that are dysregulated in EOC and may be used as diagnostic and prognostic markers. Increasing evidence has revealed that circRNAs play a critical role in ovarian cancer progression by regulating various cellular processes, including proliferation, apoptosis, metastasis, and chemosensitivity. The circRNA-based therapy may be a novel strategy that is worth exploring in the future. Here, we provide an overview of EOC and circRNA biogenesis and functions. We then discuss the dysregulations of circRNAs in EOC and the possibility of using them as diagnostic/prognostic markers. We also summarize the role of circRNAs in regulating ovarian cancer development and speculate their potential as therapeutic targets