Dynamic Lidar Ratio Calculation and Aerosol Vertical Extinction Coefficient Retrieval Based on Observed Visibility

Micropulse lidar (MPL) cannot directly retrieve the aerosol extinction coefficient under cloudy conditions and at night. Therefore, we used ground visibility, Fernald’s near-end solution method, and the linear correlation between the near-end lidar signal (photons) and ground aerosol extinction coefficient (correlation coefficient = 0.98), to calculate the lidar constant and lidar ratio (LR). We compared the aerosol optical depth (AOD) retrieved from MPL and the AOD retrieved from the multifilter rotating shadowband radiometer (MFRSR-7) at the same band (532 nm). The correlation coefficient was 0.77. The vertical distribution of aerosols in daytime and nighttime during summer was obtained from lidar in July at 00:00 and 12:00 Beijing time (UTC+8). In daytime, under clear sky conditions, the distribution displayed a unimodal and peak at approximately 2000 m. The distribution at night was more complicated than that in the day, with three results. The first was monotonically decreasing from ground to upper layer, with a peak at 600 m and two peaks at approximately 1200 m. In general, the aerosol extinction coefficient at nighttime is higher than that at daytime below 1200 m. The near-ground extinction coefficient at night is higher than in the day

Novel lung imaging biomarkers and skin gene expression subsetting in dasatinib treatment of systemic sclerosis-associated interstitial lung disease.

BackgroundThere are no effective treatments or validated clinical response markers in systemic sclerosis (SSc). We assessed imaging biomarkers and performed gene expression profiling in a single-arm open-label clinical trial of tyrosine kinase inhibitor dasatinib in patients with SSc-associated interstitial lung disease (SSc-ILD).MethodsPrimary objectives were safety and pharmacokinetics. Secondary outcomes included clinical assessments, quantitative high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the chest, serum biomarker assays and skin biopsy-based gene expression subset assignments. Clinical response was defined as decrease of >5 or >20% from baseline in the modified Rodnan Skin Score (MRSS). Pulmonary function was assessed at baseline and day 169.ResultsDasatinib was well-tolerated in 31 patients receiving drug for a median of nine months. No significant changes in clinical assessments or serum biomarkers were seen at six months. By quantitative HRCT, 65% of patients showed no progression of lung fibrosis, and 39% showed no progression of total ILD. Among 12 subjects with available baseline and post-treatment skin biopsies, three were improvers and nine were non-improvers. Improvers mapped to the fibroproliferative or normal-like subsets, while seven out of nine non-improvers were in the inflammatory subset (p = 0.0455). Improvers showed stability in forced vital capacity (FVC) and diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide (DLCO), while both measures showed a decline in non-improvers (p = 0.1289 and p = 0.0195, respectively). Inflammatory gene expression subset was associated with higher baseline HRCT score (p = 0.0556). Non-improvers showed significant increase in lung fibrosis (p = 0.0313).ConclusionsIn patients with SSc-ILD dasatinib treatment was associated with acceptable safety profile but no significant clinical efficacy. Patients in the inflammatory gene expression subset showed increase in skin fibrosis, decreasing pulmonary function and worsening lung fibrosis during the study. These findings suggest that target tissue-specific gene expression analyses can help match patients and therapeutic interventions in heterogeneous diseases such as SSc, and quantitative HRCT is useful for assessing clinical outcomes.Trial registrationClinicaltrials.gov NCT00764309

Study on multi-period palaeotectonic stress fields simulation and fractures distribution prediction in Lannigou gold mine, Guizhou

A significant controlling factor for gold mineralisation is the tectonic stress field, and the fractures formed under its action are the migration channels and ore-holding spaces of ore-forming fluids, which often directly control the migration and accumulation of ore-forming fluids. Therefore, performing quantitative prediction research on the distribution of fractures in the Guizhou, Lannigou gold deposit in order to identify potential fluid flow pathways is of utmost importance for ore prospecting in practical. In this study, a 3D geological entity model was generated based on the GOCAD platform by analysing and processing the geological data of the studied area, as well achieved is the accurate characterisation of the study area’s geometric model. By integrating regional tectonic evolution history analysis, geological interpretation, rock mechanics experiments and acoustic emission testing, the finite element method was utilised to create a 3D geomechanical model of the research area, the paleotectonic stress field after the Indosinian and Yanshanian movements were superimposed was simulated, in associated with the rock failure criterion, the comprehensive fracture rate parameter (Iz) is introduced to predict the fracture distribution. The results show that the research area’s maximum principal stress is primarily distributed between 153.85 and 189.53 MPa, and the maximum shear stress is between 83.53 and 98.42 MPa. The spatial distribution of faults influences the stress distribution characteristics significantly, and the stress level is relatively high at the intersection of the fault, the end of the fault and the vicinity of the fault zone, and the stress value between the faults is relatively low. The tectonic stress field primarily controls the distribution and development of fractures, which is usually consistent with the areas with high values of maximum principal stress and maximum shear stress. Using the combined modeling technique of GOCAD and midas GTS to realize the conversion from 3D geological model to geomechanical model, a set of comprehensive fracture distribution prediction technique for the superposition of multi-stage tectonic stress fields of mineral deposits in complex tectonic areas has been formed, and provide a reference for the prediction of fracture distribution in similar complex structural areas.This study was supported by the program of China Scholarships Council (No. 202006670005); the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project Nos. 51964007, 52264004, 52104080, 41962008); the Guizhou Province Science and Technology Support Program Project (Number: QIANKEHE Support [2021] General 516); Scientific and Technological Innovation Talents Team in Guizhou Province (Project No. [2019]5619); the Guizhou Province Highlevel Innovative Talents Training Project (Grant No. JZ2016-4011). Major Collaborative Innovation Project for Strategic Action of Mineral Search Breakthrough in Guizhou Province ([2022] ZD005); Natural Science Special (Special Post) Scientific Research Fund Project of Guizhou University (Project No. Guizhou University Special Post (2021) 51).Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

A systematic review of objective factors influencing behavior in public open spaces

As a significant part of outdoor built-environment, public open spaces are closely associated with people's daily lives. Studies of outdoor behavior in these spaces can shed light on users' environmental perceptions and contribute to the promotion of physiological and psychological health. Many recent studies are case studies focused where observations, surveys and interviews have been conducted to understand the factors influencing people's behavior on one or few sites or city environments. There have been few reviews related to this topic, and none have been based on the systematic understanding of influencing factors. This paper presents a systematic review of interactions between behavior and the built environment in public open spaces, and highlights the impacts of diverse and objective influencing factors. Followed the rules of PRISMA method (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses), 109 papers published in 2000–2021 were selected and reviewed. The distribution of the studied interactions is analyzed, and the impacts of four distinct factors: personal background, location and context, environmental component, and climate stimuli, are extracted, categorized, and specified. Moreover, outdoor health benefits are discussed based on which, crucial factors that require emphasis after the outbreak of COVID-19 are identified. Throughout this paper, behavioral influencing processes, including objective influencing factors, subjective feedback, and the relationships involved, are considered to provide a comprehensive picture. With the robust classification of existing factors, architects, urban designers, policy makers and fellow researches could be easier to get a more comprehensive trend from the past. This paper also provides guidance for future research, especially given that COVID-19 has created huge changes to outdoor needs and customary behavior

Behaviour in public open spaces: A systematic review of studies with quantitative research methods

Public open spaces are important assets that play a significant role in city lives, based on which a great number of behaviour-based studies are being conducted. These studies often use one or more case studies to observe people's preferences and usage habits and to investigate their influencing factors such as outdoor thermal comfort, environmental conditions, urban configuration, and local settings. Because the subject is complex and falls within the purview of multiple academic disciplines, it is a challenging task to understand the current status and development trends of existing studies. To fill this gap, this article presents a systematic review of quantitative evidence-based behaviour studies in public open spaces. Following the PRISMA method and searching using eight academic search engines, full texts of 116 research articles have been included for this review. The main contributions of this review are that: (1) it proposed a relatively complete system that categorizes people's behaviour in public open spaces; (2) it introduced outdoor subjective influencing procedure including behaviour, feeling and health impacts; (3) the review illustrated the distribution of existing research as well as research trends; and finally (4) the article also timely discussed the influence of the COVID-19 on people's behaviour in public open spaces. The authors consider this article to be useful as it can facilitate further behaviour-based studies in public open spaces. With a robust classification and future trend discussion of factors associated, fellow researchers, urban designers, city managers, and policymakers are easier to integrate and use the knowledge learned

Photocatalytic Degradation of Organic Pollutants in Water Using Graphene Oxide Composite

Developing sustainable and less-expensive technique is always challenging task in water treatment process. This chapter explores the recent development of photocatalysis technique in organic pollutant removal from the water. Particularly, advantages of graphene oxide in promoting the catalytic performance of semiconductor, metal nanoparticle and polymer based photocatalyst materials. Owing to high internal surface area and rapid electron conducting property of graphene oxide fostering as backbone scaffold for effective hetero-photocatalyst loading, and rapid photo-charge separation enables effective degradation of pollutant. This chapter summaries the recent development of graphene oxide composite (metal oxide, metal nanoparticle, metal chalcogenides, and polymers) in semiconductor photocatalysis process towards environmental remediation application

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure fl ux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defi ned as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (inmost higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium ) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the fi eld understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation it is imperative to delete or knock down more than one autophagy-related gene. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways so not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field