Factors influencing householder self-evacuation in two Australian bushfires

The thesis investigated householder self-evacuation decision-making during bushfires in the Perth and Adelaide Hills in 2014 and 2015. It explored the factors that influenced householders’ decisions to evacuate, identified factors that predict self-evacuation and established the characteristics of self-evacuators. The Protective Action Decision Model (PADM) provided a conceptual framework for the research. Its theoretical and analytical usefulness in an Australian context, was assessed. A mixed methods research strategy was used involving quantitative telephone surveys of 457 bushfire-affected participants and face-to-face interviews of 109 participants in 59 households. The study concluded that environmental and social cues and warnings and householders’ perceptions of the threat, of hazard adjustments and of other stakeholders, influenced self-evacuation decision-making. Protective action perceptions, particularly the effectiveness of evacuating or not evacuating in protecting personal safety or property, were most important in predicting self-evacuation. Receipt of official warnings and the perception of likely impact of the bushfire on property were also important predictors. Undertaking long-run hazard adjustments, although not predictive of self-evacuation, was pivotal in shaping perceptions of the effectiveness of evacuating and remaining in protecting personal safety and property and indirectly influenced evacuation decisions. Seven archetypes that characterised householders’ self-evacuation attitudes and behaviour were identified. These included Threat, and Responsibility Deniers, Dependent, and Considered Evacuators, Community Guided and Experienced Independents all who took different decisional ‘rules of thumb’ and routes toward evacuating or remaining . The PADM needs to be split into two separate models to incorporate the influence of long-run hazard adjustments on protective action decision-making in an Australian bushfire. The findings suggest that future research on those who wait and see during a bushfire should take account of their decisional rules of thumb and that design and targeting of Australian bushfire safety policy should better account for self-evacuator characteristics

Chemical constituents from the rhizomes of <i>Polygonatum sibiricum</i> Red. and anti-inflammatory activity in RAW264.7 macrophage cells

<p>Chemical investigation of the rhizomes of <i>Polygonatum sibiricum</i> Red. led to the identification of 27 constituents. Among them, a total of 16 compounds were obtained from <i>Polygonatum</i> for the first time, in which, <b>3</b> and <b>4</b> were also firstly isolated as natural products. Anti-inflammatory activity studies on 13 isolated compounds showed that β-carboline constituents, especially compounds <b>1</b> and <b>2</b>, significantly inhibited the expression of NO, TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-1β in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-treated RAW264.7 macrophage cells. Moreover, western blotting analysis demonstrated that compound <b>1</b> significantly inhibited the expression of COX-2, iNOS and the activation of NF-κB, suggesting that β-carboline structures may play an important role in inhibition of NF-κB signaling pathway, which thereby inhibits the production of inflammatory factors. The present research may not only help further elucidation of the anti-inflammatory mechanism of <i>P. sibiricum</i> Red., but also provide the potential bioactive molecules for inflammatory diseases research.</p

Solubility of Racemic Potassium 2‑(1-Hydroxypentyl)-benzoate in Six Solvents at 298.15–333.15 K

The solubility of racemic potassium 2-(1-hydroxypentyl)-benzoate (<i>dl</i>-PHPB) in methanol, ethanol, <i>n</i>-propanol, isopropyl alcohol, ethyl acetate, and acetone from 298.15 to 333.15 K was measured by an equilibrium method. The solubility data of <i>dl</i>-PHPB in six different solvents was correlated by the modified Apelblat equation. The correlation coefficients were observed in the range of 0.993 to 0.998, indicating a good fit. The results showed that the mole fraction solubility of <i>dl</i>-PHPB in methanol (6.22 × 10^–2), ethanol (2.58 × 10^–2), <i>n</i>-propanol (2.39 × 10^–2), and isopropyl alcohol (6.72 × 10^–3) was significantly higher than in acetone (2.58 × 10^–4) and ethyl acetate (8.02 × 10^–5) at 298.15 K. The experiment data would be useful for optimizing purification and recrystallization processes of <i>dl</i>-PHPB in industry

Single-Site Nanozymes with a Highly Conjugated Coordination Structure for Antitumor Immunotherapy via Cuproptosis and Cascade-Enhanced T Lymphocyte Activity

The extracellular matrix (ECM) in the tumor microenvironment (TME) and upregulated immune checkpoints (ICs) on antitumor immune cells impede the infiltration and killing effect of T cells, creating an immunosuppressive TME. Herein, a cholesterol oxidase (CHO) and lysyl oxidase inhibitor (LOX-IN-3) co-delivery copper-dibenzo-[g,p]chrysene-2,3,6,7,10,11,14,15-octaol single-site nanozyme (Cu-DBCO/CL) was developed. The conjugated organic ligand and well-distributed Cu-O4 sites endow Cu-DBCO with unique redox capabilities, enabling it to catalyze O2 and H2O2 to ·O2– and ·OH. This surge of reactive oxygen species (ROS) leads to impaired mitochondrial function and insufficient ATP supply, impacting the function of copper-transporting ATPase-1 and causing dihydrolipoamide S-acetyltransferase oligomerization-mediated cuproptosis. Moreover, multiple ROS storms and glutathione peroxidase 4 depletion also induce lipid peroxidation and trigger ferroptosis. Simultaneously, the ROS-triggered release of LOX-IN-3 reshapes the ECM by inhibiting lysyl oxidase activity and further enhances the infiltration of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CD8+ T cells). CHO-triggered cholesterol depletion not only increases ·OH generation but also downregulates the expression of ICs such as PD-1 and TIM-3, restoring the antitumor activity of tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells. Therefore, Cu-DBCO/CL exhibits efficient properties in activating a potent antitumor immune response by cascade-enhanced CD8+ T cell viability. More importantly, ECM remodeling and cholesterol depletion could suppress the metastasis and proliferation of the tumor cells. In short, this immune nanoremodeler can greatly enhance the infiltration and antitumor activity of T cells by enhancing tumor immunogenicity, remodeling ECM, and downregulating ICs, thus achieving effective inhibition of tumor growth and metastasis

Tunable Plasmon–Phonon Polaritons in Layered Graphene–Hexagonal Boron Nitride Heterostructures

We use infrared spectroscopy to explore the hybridization of graphene plasmons and hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) phonons in their heterostructures with different compositions. We show that the degree of plasmon–phonon hybridization and the slowing of the light group velocity within the infrared transparency window due to the plasmon–phonon destructive interference are dominated by hBN phonon oscillating strength, which can be tuned by varying the hBN thickness in a layer-by-layer manner. However, the plasmon oscillating strength in metallic graphene governs the magnitude of infrared extinction, which exceeds 6% at around 7 μm in a graphene/hBN/graphene heterostructure due to the strong plasmon dipole–dipole coupling. Our work demonstrates that the infrared optical responses of graphene–hBN heterostructures can be engineered by controlling the coupling strength of plasmon–phonon hybridization and the overall plasmon oscillating strength simultaneously, thus opening the avenue for the light manipulation and detection in the mid-infrared regime based on such layered heterostructures

Additional file 1: Table S1. of Influence of presence/absence of thyroid gland on the cutoff value for thyroglobulin in lymph-node aspiration to detect metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma

Detailed surgical methods used in patients treated at our hospital. There are thirty-seven patients who underwent surgery in our hospital. The details of their operations are shown in Additional file 1: Table S1. (DOC 29 kb

Superior strength–ductility combination in Al alloys via dislocation gradient structure

The precipitation hardening is widely applied to strengthen Al alloys. Here, we report an alternative way to achieve high-strength Al alloys via forming the dislocation gradient through pre-torsion. Remarkably, the gradient Al alloys exhibit a sharp increase in ultimate tensile strength up to 605 MPa yet nearly without reducing the uniform elongation, thereby outperforming their counterparts. The superior strength–ductility combination is ascribed to the excellent strengthening and strain hardening effects stemming from the substantial hetero-deformation-induced hardening in the coarse-grained gradient Al alloys. Our study thus paves a new way to improve the mechanical properties of Al alloys. The gradient distribution of dislocations significantly increases the strength of the Al alloy with the neglectable reduction in uniform elongation, which enables exceptional mechanical properties that outperform the peak-aged counterpart.</p

Additional file 1 of Assessing soil microbes that drive fairy ring patterns in temperate semiarid grasslands

Additional file 1: Figure S1. Leymus chinensis biomassproduction under different Stoichiometric ratios in greenhouse experiment

New α-pyrone and phthalide from the Xylariaceae fungus

<div><p>A new α-pyrone xylaripyrone A (<b>1</b>) and a new phthalide xylariphthalide A (<b>2</b>) were isolated from the Xylariaceae fungus (no. 63-19-7-3), along with four related known phthalides (<b>3</b>–<b>6</b>): 4-[(acetyloxy)methyl]-7-methoxy-6-methyl-1(3<i>H</i>)-isobenzofuranone (<b>3</b>), convolvulol (<b>4</b>), 7-methoxy-4,6-dimethyl-3<i>H</i>-isobenzofuran-1-one (<b>5</b>), and convolvulanic acid B (<b>6</b>). Their structures were determined on the basis of IR, MS, and NMR spectroscopic analyses.</p></div

Spatiotemporal variation of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms in China based on literature and media information

Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (CyanoHABs) in inland waters are now among the most pressing environmental issues worldwide, especially in China. Satellite remote sensing has limitations in monitoring CyanoHABs in small water bodies due to spatial and temporal resolution limitations. While literature and news media have the potential to supplement satellite remote sensing in monitoring CyanoHABs, they have currently not received sufficient attention. In this study, we combined information on the distributions of CyanoHABs from literature and media for the first time to comprehensively assess the spatiotemporal variation in CyanoHABs in China. We collected, cleaned, validated, and organized data from literature and media on CyanoHABs in China, resulting in the establishment of a comprehensive database on CyanoHABs in China's inland waters (ChinaCyanoDB) covering 198 water bodies, 525 records for 1950–2021. The majority of water bodies with CyanoHABs (CyanoWaters) are located in the eastern China, mainly concentrated in the middle and lower Yangtze region, with a clear upward trend in their number over the last four decades. The ChinaCyanoDB and analytical results can provide valuable data support for monitoring and managing CyanoHABs in China while the database construction method may also be applied to other countries and regions.</p