Small is big: micro-regeneration of abandoned urban voids - reactivating community

Màster universitari en Estudis Avançats en Arquitectura-BarcelonaArch. MBARCH ETSAB UPC: The contemporary projectOver the past 30 years, Chinese cities have followed mainly a function-oriented modernist planning approach. The rapid and large-scale urban construction mode conforms to the space production mode under the operation of power and capital, and the urban space has undergone tremendous changes. At the same time, it has also caused enormous damage and waste. With the continuous advancement of modernist urbanization, China's urban space is generally in a state of contradiction and chaos. While people are building physical spaces at an astonishing rate, they are also unconsciously producing a lot of urban voids. As a famous ancient city in China, Xi'an has preserved a thousand-year-old historical culture and traditional urban pattern. As a subculture residential area, the Muslim community has distinct characteristics in the city. Faced with such problems of urban space development, the research context and urban space background have been established for the author's subsequent research. In order to solve the problems of insufficient public space and unreasonable utilization of the remaining urban space in high-density communities, the research needs to take the various spaces in the city that have been squeezed and forgotten by functionalism as the research objects and take "Urban Voids" and "Urban Regeneration" as the research object. "Theory as the theoretical basis, in-depth study of the emerging urban community "micro-renewal" urban development theory, and combined with related theories such as Jan Gehl's "City for people" and David Sim's "Soft City". This research attempts to respond to some existing spatial deficiencies in urban communities through a progressive urban micro-renewal strategy, transforming neglected spaces into spatial opportunities for rejuvenating public life. Through the micro-renewal of different types of "urban gaps" in Xi'an's Muslim communities, it becomes an emerging model of "urban infill". This will stimulate urban vitality, improve the quality of architectural space, initiate community participation, and strengthen the public sphere. The original urban void is used as a catalyst for the development of urban space, enhancing the public nature and well-being of the entire community.Award-winnin

VAT Reform, Regional Ownership Structure, and Industrial Upgrading:Evidence From Firms in Northeast China

We estimate the extent of the moderating effect of varying regional ownership structures on the relationship between the VAT reform and industrial upgrading in a panel differences-in-differences framework, using a natural experiment of the China’s 2004 value-added tax (VAT) reform pilot that introduces a permanent 17%-tax credit for fixed investment in six industries in the North-eastern regions. Results reveal that the VAT reform helps firms increase their capital-to-labor ratio, labor input, and labor productivity, indicating the positive effect of VAT reform on fixed asset renewal and industrial structure upgrading in the region. As for the role of regional ownership structure, the positive effects of the VAT reform on labor input and labor productivity are significantly suppressed in areas with large market shares of state-owned enterprises. In another words, the VAT reform significantly promotes industrial upgrading in areas with market-sensitive economies.</p

AMS measurement of 53Mn and its initial application at CIAE

The determination of cosmogenic 53Mn in terrestrial archives has important applications, such as burial ages, exposure age and erosion rates. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) is the most sensitive technique to detect minute amounts of 53Mn. 53Mn measurements were developed at the China Institute of Atomic nergy (CIAE) using the DE-Q3D equipped AMS system. This approach was recently optimized with the goal to reach the sensitivity required for AMS measurements of 53Mn in deep-sea ferromanganese crust (DSFC) samples. Based on these improvements of sample preparation, current beam transmission and so on, 53Mn in two samples of DSFC was measured by AMS. The ratios of 53Mn/Mn corresponding to an age of 3.77 ± 0.42 and 13.73 ± 2.74 Ma by 129I dating method are (5.01 ± 2.15) 10 13 and (1.90 ± 0.96) 10 13. The ratios are close to the experimental reference values, deduced from the previous research. The experimental progress, performances and results are presented in this contribution.This work was mainly supported by the National Natural Science Foundations of China (NSFC), under Grant No. 11075221, and a partly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 10705054, 41073044 and 11265005

The protective effect and its mechanism for electrolyte additives on the anode interface in aqueous zinc-based energy storage devices

Aqueous-electrolyte-based zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs), which have significant advantages over other batteries, including low cost, high safety, high ionic conductivity, and a natural abundance of zinc, have been regarded as a potential alternative to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). ZIBs still face some critical challenges, however, especially for building a reversible zinc anode. To address the reversibility of zinc anode, great efforts have been made on intrinsic anode engineering and anode interface modification. Less attention has been devoted to the electrolyte additives, however, which could not only significantly improve the reversibility of zinc anode, but also determine the viability and overall performance of ZIBs. This review aims to provide an overview of the two main functions of electrolyte additives, followed by details on six reasons why additives might improve the performance of ZIBs from the perspectives of creating new layers and regulating current plating/stripping processes. Furthermore, the remaining difficulties and potential directions for additives in aqueous ZIBs are also highlighted

Therapeutic effect of adipose‐derived stem cells injected into pericardial cavity in rat heart failure

Abstract Aims There are few studies on the treatment of heart failure by injecting stem cells into the pericardial cavity. Can the cells injected into the pericardial cavity migrate through the epicardium to the myocardial tissue? Whether there is therapeutic effect and the mechanism of therapeutic effect are still unclear. This study investigated the therapeutic efficacy and evidence of cell migration of adipose‐derived stem cells (ADSCs) injected into the pericardial cavity in rat heart failure. The aim of this study is to demonstrate the effectiveness and mechanism of treating heart failure by injecting stem cells into the pericardial cavity, laying an experimental foundation for a new approach to stem cell therapy for heart disease in clinical practice. Methods and results The inguinal adipose tissue of male SD rats aged 4–6 weeks was taken, ADSCs were isolated and cultured, and their stem cell surface markers were identified. Forty rats aged 6–8 weeks were divided into sham operation group, heart failure group, and treatment group; there were 15 rats in the heart failure group and 15 rats in the treatment group. The heart failure model was established by intraperitoneal injection of adriamycin hydrochloride. The heart function of the three groups was detected by small animal ultrasound. The model was successful if the left ventricular ejection fraction < 50%. The identified ADSCs were injected into the pericardial cavity of rats in the treatment group. The retention of transplanted cells in pericardial cavity was detected by small animal in vivo imaging instrument, and the migration of transplanted cells into myocardial tissue was observed by tissue section and immunofluorescence. Western blotting and immunohistochemical staining were used to detect brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), α‐smooth muscle actin (α‐SMA), and C‐reactive protein (CRP). ADSCs express CD29, CD44, and CD73. On the fourth day after injection of ADSCs into pericardial cavity, they migrated to myocardial tissue through epicardium and gradually diffused to deep myocardium. The cell density in the pericardial cavity remains at a high level for 10 days after injection and gradually decreases after 10 days. Compared with the heart failure group, the expression of BNP and α‐SMA decreased (P < 0.05 and P < 0.001, respectively), and the expression of CRP in the treatment group was higher than that in the heart failure group (P < 0.0001). A small amount of BNP, α‐SMA, and CRP was expressed in the myocardium of the sham operation group. After injection of ADSCs, interleukin‐6 in myocardial tissue was significantly lower than that in heart failure myocardium (P < 0.01). After treatment, vascular endothelial growth factor A was significantly higher than that of heart failure (P < 0.01). Conclusions Pericardial cavity injected ADSCs can penetrate the epicardium, migrate into the myocardium, and have a therapeutic effect on heart failure. Their mechanism of action is to exert therapeutic effects through anti‐inflammatory, anti‐fibrosis, and increased angiogenesis

Dietary supplementation with selenium nanoparticles-enriched Lactobacillus casei ATCC 393 alleviates intestinal barrier dysfunction of mice exposed to deoxynivalenol by regulating endoplasmic reticulum stress and gut microbiota

Deoxynivalenol (DON), a secondary product of Fusarium metabolism, is common in wheat, corn, barley and other grain crops, posing a variety of adverse effects to environment, food safety, human and animal health. The absorption of DON mainly occurs in the proximal part of the small intestine, which can induce intestinal mucosal epithelial injury, and ultimately affect the growth performance and production performance of animals. This study was conducted to investigate the protective effects of selenium nanoparticles (SeNPs)-enriched Lactobacillus casei ATCC 393 (L. casei ATCC 393) on intestinal barrier function of C57BL/6 mice exposed to DON and its association with endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) and gut microbiota. The results showed that DON exposure increased the levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-8 (IL-8), decreased the levels of interleukin-10 (IL-10) and transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), caused a redox imbalance and intestinal barrier dysfunction, decreased the mRNA levels of endoplasmic reticulum- resident selenoproteins, activated ERS-protein kinase R-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) signaling pathway, altered the composition of the gut microbiota and decreased short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) content. Dietary supplementation with SeNPs-enriched L. casei ATCC 393 can effectively protect the integrity of intestinal barrier function by reducing inflammatory response, enhancing the antioxidant capacity, up-regulating the mRNA levels of endoplasmic reticulum-resident selenoproteins, inhibiting the activation of PERK signaling pathway, reversing gut microbiota dysbiosis and increasing the content of SCFAs in mice exposed to DON. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with SeNPs-enriched L. casei ATCC 393 effectively alleviated intestinal barrier dysfunction induced by DON in C57BL/6 mice, which may be closely associated with the regulation of ERS and gut microbiota

Yeast-Derived Sulfur Host for the Application of Sustainable Li–S Battery Cathode

A porous carbon structure (PCS) is considered as an ideal electrode material for lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries, owing to its flexible texture, large surface area, and high electrical conductivity. In this work, we use food-grade yeast as the carbon precursor, which is proliferated in glucose solution, carbonized with a NaCl template to yield a sheet-like carbon structure, and reactivated at different temperatures with KOH. The porous carbon material is then applied as the sulfur host of the Li–S battery cathode, and the electrode is systematically characterized by means of SEM, TEM, XRD, Raman, XPS, thermogravimetric (TG), nitrogen gas adsorption–desorption, and electrochemical measurements. The results show that the PCS obtained at 800 °C has an ultra-high surface area of 2410 m2 g−1 and exhibits excellent performance for a Li–S battery cathode. The initial discharge capacity of the PCS-800/S cathode is 1502 mAh g−1, which accounts for 90% of the theoretical capacity value

A Novel Ivermectin-Derived Compound D4 and Its Antimicrobial/Biofilm Properties against MRSA

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and its biofilms infection is still a serious threat to global health. It is urgent to develop efficient drugs by repositioning or designing drugs to solve this problem. In this study, the antibacterial/biofilm activity and mechanisms of ivermectin (D) and its 4″-position amino substitution derivative (D4) against MRSA were investigated. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of D was 20 μg/mL, which is four times higher than D4 (MIC = 5 μg/mL). The mechanism research demonstrated that D4 was more potent than D at destroying bacterial cell wall, permeating cell membrane (6.25–36.0% vs 1.92–6.04%) and binding to MRSA genomic DNA. Moreover, after incubation with 10–40 μg/mL D4 for 24 h, the percentages of biofilm decreased by 21.2–92.9%, which was more effective than D (no significant change at 40 μg/mL). The antibiofilm effect is achieved by regulating the expression of related genes (RSH, relQ, rsbU, sigB, spA, and icaD). Additionally, though the higher hemolysis makes D4 a safety risk for intravenous injection, other administration options could be considered as well. Therefore, all the results have indicated that D4 may be a potential candidate compound for the treatment of MRSA and its biofilm infections