AHP-DEMATEL Based Research on the Influencing Factors of the Daily Maintenance Costs of China's National and Provincial Trunk Highways

Highway maintenance is equally crucial across borders; this paper first conducts statistics and case study research on daily federal and provincial highway maintenance costs in China's principal influencing factors. Finally, it looks at those results with the tools of AHP-DEMAT. Yet, the overall degree of influence of each factor of influence is collected to classify the significant influence factors. The results found that: the main factors influencing the daily maintenance costs of national and provincial trunk highways are: highway grade, traffic flow, service life, structure type, topography, pavement thickness, and pavement width; the influence of climate factors on costs can be adequately considered when formulating standards for daily maintenance costs for provinces/regions with a broad geographic range

A high-resolution map of reactive nitrogen inputs to China

To feed an increasingly affluent population, reactive nitrogen (Nr) inputs to China’s lands and waters have substantially increased over the past century. Today, China’s Nr emissions account for over one third of global total emissions, leading to serious environmental pollution and health damages. Quantifying the spatial variability of Nr inputs is crucial for the identification of intervention points to mitigate Nr pollution, which, however, is not well known. Here, we present a database describing Nr inputs to China for the year 2017 with a 1 km × 1 km resolution, considering land use and Nr sources, compiled by using the CHANS model. Results show that the North China Plain, the Sichuan Basin and the Middle-Lower Yangtze River Plain are hotspots of Nr inputs, where per hectare Nr input is an order of magnitude higher than that in other regions. Cropland and surface water bodies receive much higher Nr inputs than other land use types. This unique database will provide basic data for research on environmental health and global change modelling

Research of TE behaviour and compression property of porous Ni–Al–Cr intermetallic compounds in the β phase region

Ni–Al–Cr alloys in the β phase (B2–NiAl) region exhibit remarkable stability and mechanical property. Through thermal explosion (TE) reaction, Ni–Al–Cr intermetallic compounds with high porosity can be obtained. In this study, the focus lies on analyzing the macroscopic morphology, microstructure, phase distribution, TE behaviour, and the mechanical property of porous Ni–Al–Cr in the β phase region. Following the TE reaction, the Al-rich sintered product demonstrates a uniform phase composition and high porosity, reaching 44.39%. The vigorous TE reaction promotes the formation of interconnected pores, while the high porosity structure compromises the mechanical properties of the sample. Conversely, the Al-poor sintered product, due to a moderate TE reaction and low porosity structure, maintains its complete morphology and exhibits excellent compression resistance (yield stress reaching 538 MPa). This study offers valuable insights for the fabrication of porous Ni–Al–Cr materials with exceptional structure and performance

Ammonia mitigation campaign with smallholder farmers improves air quality while ensuring high cereal production

Reducing cropland ammonia (NH3) emissions while improving air quality and food supply is a challenge, particularly in China with millions of smallholder farmers. We tested the effectiveness of a tailored nitrogen (N) management strategy applied to wheat-maize cropping systems in “Demonstration Squares” across Quzhou county in North China Plain. The N management techniques included optimal N rates, deep fertilizer placement and application of urease inhibitors, implemented through cooperation between government, researchers, businesses and smallholders. Compared with conventional local smallholder practice, our NH3 mitigation campaign reduced NH3 volatilization from wheat and maize by 49% and 39%, and increased N use efficiency by 28% and 40% and farmers’ profitability by 25% and 19%, respectively, with no detriment to crop yields. County-wide atmospheric NH3 and PM2.5 concentrations decreased by 40% and 8%, respectively. County-wide net benefits were estimated at $7.0 million. Our “Demonstration Square” approach demonstrates that cropland NH3 mitigation and improved air quality and farm profitability can be achieved simultaneously by coordinated actions at county level

PM2.5 pollution is substantially affected by ammonia emissions in China

Urban air quality in China has been declining substantially in recent years due to severe haze episodes. The reduction of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions since 2013 does not yet appear to yield substantial benefits for haze mitigation. As the reductions of those key precursors to secondary aerosol formation appears not to sufficient, other crucial factors need to be considered for the design of effective air pollution control strategies. Here we argue that ammonia (NH3) plays a - so far - underestimated role in the formation of secondary inorganic aerosols, a main component of urban fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations in China. By analyzing in situ concentration data observed in major cities alongside gridded emission data obtained from remote sensing and inventories, we find that emissions of NH3 have a more robust association with the spatiotemporal variation of PM2.5 levels than emissions of SO2 and NOx. As a consequence, we argue that urban PM2.5 pollution in China in many locations is substantially affected by NH3 emissions. We highlight that more efforts should be directed to the reduction of NH3 emissions that help mitigate PM2.5 pollution more efficiently than other PM2.5 precursors. Such efforts will yield substantial co-benefits by improving nitrogen use efficiency in farming systems. As a consequence, such integrated strategies would not only improve urban air quality, but also contribute to China's food-security goals, prevent further biodiversity loss, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and lead to economic savings

Crystalline structures and crystallization behaviors of poly(L-lactide) in poly(L-lactide)/graphene nanosheet composites

GNS existence in PLLA favors α′ crystal formation more than α crystal formation resulting in a shift of α′–α crystal formation transition toward high Tcs.</p

DNMTs Play an Important Role in Maintaining the Pluripotency of Leukemia Inhibitory Factor-Dependent Embryonic Stem Cells.

Naive pluripotency can be maintained in medium with two inhibitors plus leukemia inhibitory factor (2i/LIF) supplementation, which primarily affects canonical WNT, FGF/ERK, and JAK/STAT3 signaling. However, whether one of these three supplements alone is sufficient to maintain naive self-renewal remains unclear. Here we show that LIF alone in medium is sufficient for adaptation of 2i/L-ESCs to embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in a hypermethylated state (L-ESCs). Global transcriptomic analysis shows that L-ESCs are close to 2i/L-ESCs and in a stable state between naive and primed pluripotency. Notably, our results demonstrate that DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) play an important role in LIF-dependent mouse ESC adaptation and self-renewal. LIF-dependent ESC adaptation efficiency is significantly increased in serum treatment and reduced in Dnmt3a or Dnmt3l knockout ESCs. Importantly, unlike epiblast stem cells, L-ESCs contribute to somatic tissues and germ cells in chimeras. L-ESCs cultured under such simple conditions as in this study would provide a more conducive platform to clarify the molecular mechanism of ESCs in in vitro culture

Activin A and BMP4 Signaling Expands Potency of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells in Serum-Free Media.

Inhibitors of Mek1/2 and Gsk3β, known as 2i, and, together with leukemia inhibitory factor, enhance the derivation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and promote ground-state pluripotency (2i/L-ESCs). However, recent reports show that prolonged Mek1/2 suppression impairs developmental potential of ESCs, and is rescued by serum (S/L-ESCs). Here, we show that culturing ESCs in Activin A and BMP4, and in the absence of MEK1/2 inhibitor (ABC/L medium), establishes advanced stem cells derived from ESCs (esASCs). We demonstrate that esASCs contributed to germline lineages, full-term chimeras and generated esASC-derived mice by tetraploid complementation. We show that, in contrast to 2i/L-ESCs, esASCs display distinct molecular signatures and a stable hypermethylated epigenome, which is reversible and similar to serum-cultured ESCs. Importantly, we also derived novel ASCs (blASCs) from blastocysts in ABC/L medium. Our results provide insights into the derivation of novel ESCs with DNA hypermethylation from blastocysts in chemically defined medium

Mutations in WNT10B Are Identified in Individuals with Oligodontia

Supplemental Data Supplemental Data include six figures and three tables and can be found with this article online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2016.05.012. Supplemental Data Document S1. Figures S1–S6 and Tables S1–S3 Download Document S2. Article plus Supplemental Data Download Web Resources Allen Brain Atlas, http://www.brain-map.org/ Eurexpress, http://www.eurexpress.org/ee/ ExAC Browser, http://exac.broadinstitute.org/ GEO Profiles, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geoprofiles HGMD, http://www.biobase-international.com/product/hgmd MutationTaster, http://www.mutationtaster.org/ OMIM, http://www.omim.org RefSeq, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/refseq/ Tooth agenesis is one of the most common developmental anomalies in humans. Oligodontia, a severe form of tooth agenesis, is genetically and phenotypically a heterogeneous condition. Although significant efforts have been made, the genetic etiology of dental agenesis remains largely unknown. In the present study, we performed whole-exome sequencing to identify the causative mutations in Chinese families in whom oligodontia segregates with dominant inheritance. We detected a heterozygous missense mutation (c.632G>A [p.Arg211Gln]) in WNT10B in all affected family members. By Sanger sequencing a cohort of 145 unrelated individuals with non-syndromic oligodontia, we identified three additional mutations (c.569C>G [p.Pro190Arg], c.786G>A [p.Trp262∗], and c.851T>G [p.Phe284Cys]). Interestingly, analysis of genotype-phenotype correlations revealed that mutations in WNT10B affect the development of permanent dentition, particularly the lateral incisors. Furthermore, a functional assay demonstrated that each of these mutants could not normally enhance the canonical Wnt signaling in HEPG2 epithelial cells, in which activity of the TOPFlash luciferase reporter was measured. Notably, these mutant WNT10B ligands could not efficiently induce endothelial differentiation of dental pulp stem cells. Our findings provide the identification of autosomal-dominant WNT10B mutations in individuals with oligodontia, which increases the spectrum of congenital tooth agenesis and suggests attenuated Wnt signaling in endothelial differentiation of dental pulp stem cells