Applying the Water Footprint and dynamic Structural Decomposition Analysis on the growing water use in China during 1997–2007

China has experienced rapid economic development during the recent years. In the meantime, the total water use in China has greatly increased, causing considerably severe water shortage. To quantify how the social-economic development drives the change of water use is of great importance for Chinese government. This study aims to quantitatively investigate the determinants of the growing water use in China during 1997–2007. China's water usages in 1997–2007 are indicated by the Internal Water Footprint (IWF), External Water Footprint (EWF), and Exported Virtual Water (ExVW) using an input–output based WF analysis. A dynamic Structural Decomposition Analysis (SDA) model is employed to decompose the changes in the total WFs (TWF) into five social-economic determinants. The dynamic SDA model, which uses a nonlinear path function to simulate the real paths followed by determinants, is a further development of a path-based SDA algorithm. To validate the dynamic SDA, a comparison study is carried out against the commonly used mean decomposition model. The results from the WF analysis show that, during 1997–2007, the increase of China's water use is dominated by the ExVW, which increases significantly due to the expansion of exports. While the changes in the IWF and EWF tend to help mitigating the water pressure. The dynamic decomposition results indicate that the consumption level is the dominant factor of China's water use growth, and the changes in water-saving technology and final demand pattern contribute largely to offsetting the water use growth. The model comparison shows that the dynamic SDA model is more advanced in obtaining reliable results and addressing the static issue of traditional SDA models. This study provides a robust framework for understanding the water use situation from the social-economic perspectives, which benefits sustainable water management.     

Investigating the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in seven regions: The role of renewable energy

The aim of this research is to investigate how renewable energy consumption effects pollution and whether the relationship between income and pollution formulates the inverted U-shaped relationship which signals the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). To realize the aims of this study, non-stationary panel data techniques were utilized to examine the seven selected regions. According to Pedroni and Fisher type cointegration tests, the variables were cointegrated. Moreover, the dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) and the vector error correction model Granger causality revealed that renewable energy consumption has a significant negative effect on pollution in Central and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, East Asia and the Pacific, South Asia, and the Americas. However, the tests revealed that renewable energy consumption has no significant effect on pollution in the Middle East and North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, the results in general indicated that the existence of the EKC hypothesis is determined by the significance of the renewable energy consumption. Therefore, the EKC hypothesis was only found in the regions where their renewable energy has a significant correlation with pollution in both the short run and the long run. Furthermore, a number of policy recommendations were provided for the investigated regions.     

Probing the geometric constraints of RNA binding via dynamic covalent chemistry

Dynamic Combinatorial Chemistry (DCC) has proven to be a reliable method for identifying hit compounds for target nucleic acid (DNA and RNA) sequences. Typically, these hit compounds are subjected to a lengthy process of optimization via traditional medicinal chemistry. Here, we examine the potential of DCC to also generate and test variations on a hit compound as a method for probing the binding site of an RNA-targeted compound. Specifically, we demonstrate that addition of linker dithiols to a disulfide library containing a known binder to the HIV-1 frameshift-stimulatory RNA (a critical regulator of the HIV life cycle) can yield a mixture of new bridged structures incorporating the dithiol, depending on dithiol structure. Equilibration of this library with the HIV FSS RNA resulted in selection of the original disulfide in preference to bridged structures, suggesting incorporation of the bridge is not compatible with this particular binding site. Application of this strategy to other RNA targets should allow for rapidly profiling the affinity of modified compounds.     

Computational evaluation of load carriage effects on gait balance stability

Evaluating the effects of load carriage on gait balance stability is important in various applications. However, their quantification has not been rigorously addressed in the current literature, partially due to the lack of relevant computational indices. The novel Dynamic Gait Measure (DGM) characterizes gait balance stability by quantifying the relative effects of inertia in terms of zero-moment point, ground projection of center of mass, and time-varying foot support region. In this study, the DGM is formulated in terms of the gait parameters that explicitly reflect the gait strategy of a given walking pattern and is used for computational evaluation of the distinct balance stability of loaded walking. The observed gait adaptations caused by load carriage (decreased single support duration, inertia effects, and step length) result in decreased DGM values (p < 0.0001), which indicate that loaded walking motions are more statically stable compared with the unloaded normal walking. Comparison of the DGM with other common gait stability indices (the maximum Floquet multiplier and the margin of stability) validates the unique characterization capability of the DGM, which is consistently informative of the presence of the added load.     

动力髋螺钉与股骨近端髓内钉内固定治疗股骨粗隆间骨折患者的疗效及安全性和关节功能对比观察

目的:比较动力髋螺钉(DHS)与股骨近端髓内钉(PFNA)内固定治疗股骨粗隆间骨折患者的疗效及安全性和关节功能。方法:选取滁州市第一人民医院于2013年3月～2018年4月期间收治的160例股骨粗隆间骨折患者,根据内固定方式的不同将患者分为DHS组(n=80,采用DHS内固定)和PFNA组(n=80,采用PFNA内固定),比较两组临床疗效,采用髋关节功能Harris评分评价所有患者关节功能恢复情况,比较两组患者术前及术后相关指标,并观察患者术后并发症发生情况。结果:PFNA组患者临床总有效率为90.00%,高于DHS组患者的68.75%(P0.05)。两组患者Harris评分的优良率比较差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。PFNA组患者手术时间、卧床时间、骨折愈合时间、切口长度均短于DHS组(P0.05),术中出血量、术后引流量均少于DHS组(P0.05)。两组患者术后并发症总发生率比较无统计学差异(P0.05)。结论:DHS与PFNA内固定治疗股骨粗隆间骨折在术后关节功能恢复、安全性方面效果相当,但与DHS内固定治疗比较,PFNA内固定治疗的临床疗效更佳,手术时间更短,出血量更少,患者术后恢复更快,是治疗股骨粗隆间骨折较理想的手术方式。     

Effect of curcumin-nanoemulsion associated with photodynamic therapy in breast adenocarcinoma cell line

Curcumin, a natural compound has several antineoplastic activities and is a promising natural photosensitizer used in photodynamic therapy. However, its low solubility in physiological medium limit the clinical use of curcumin. This study aimed to analyze the action of curcumin-nanoemulsion, a new and well-designed Drug Delivery System (DDS+) molecule, used as a photosensitizing agent in photodynamic therapy in an in vitro breast cancer model, MCF-7 cells. The empty nanoemulsion fulfils all necessary requirements to be an excellent DDS. Furthermore, the use of curcumin-nanoemulsion in photodynamic therapy resulted in a high phototoxic effect after activation at 440?nm, decreasing to <10% viable tumor cells after two irradiations and increasing the reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. The use of curcumin-nanoemulsion associated with photodynamic therapy resulted in an increase in the levels of caspase 3/7 activity for the studied MCF-7 cell model, indicating that this therapy triggers a cascade of events that lead to cell death, such as cellular apoptosis. In conclusion, curcumin-nanoemulsion proved to be efficient as a photosensitizing agent, had phototoxic effects, significantly decreased the proliferation of MCF-7 cells and stimulating the ROS production in combination with photodynamic therapy, so, this formulation has a great potential for use in treatment of breast cancer.