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Satellite-based measurements of the artificial nighttime light brightness (NTL) have been extensively used for studying urbanization and socioeconomic dynamics in a temporally consistent and spatially explicit manner. The increasing availability of geo-located big data detailing human population dynamics provides a good opportunity to explore the association between anthropogenic nocturnal luminosity and corresponding human activities, especially at fine time/space scales. In this study, we used Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) day/night band (DNB)–derived nighttime light images and the gridded number of location requests (NLR) from China’s largest social media platform to investigate the quantitative relationship between nighttime light radiances and human population dynamics across China at four levels: the provincial, city, county, and pixel levels. Our results show that the linear relationship between the NTL and NLR might vary with the observation level and magnitude. The dispersion between the two variables likely increases with the observation scale, especially at the pixel level. The effect of spatial autocorrelation and other socioeconomic factors on the relationship should be taken into account for nighttime light-based measurements of human activities. Furthermore, the bivariate relationship between the NTL and NLR was employed to generate a partition of human settlements based on the combined features of nighttime lights and human population dynamics. Cross-regional comparisons of the partitioned results indicate a diverse co-distribution of the NTL and NLR across various types of human settlements, which could be related to the city size/form and urbanization level. Our findings may provide new insights into the multi-level responses of nighttime light signals to human activity and the potential application of nighttime light data in association with geo-located big data for investigating the spatial patterns of human settlement.

Satellite-derived nighttime light images are increasingly used for various studies in relation to demographic, socioeconomic and urbanization dynamics because of the salient relationships between anthropogenic lighting signals at night and statistical variables at multiple scales. Owing to a higher spatial resolution and fewer over-glow and saturation effects, the new generation of nighttime light data derived from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) day/night band (DNB), which is located on board the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (Suomi-NPP) satellite, is expected to facilitate the performance of nocturnal luminosity-based investigations of human activity in a spatially explicit manner. In spite of the importance of the spatial connection between the VIIRS DNB nighttime light radiance (NTL) and the land surface type at a fine scale, the crucial role of NTL-based investigations of human settlements is not well understood. In this study, we investigated the pixel-level relationship between the VIIRS DNB-derived NTL, a Landsat-derived land-use/land-cover dataset, and the map of point of interest (POI) density over China, especially with respect to the identification of artificial surfaces in urban land. Our estimates suggest that notable differences in the NTL between urban (man-made) surfaces and other types of land surfaces likely allow us to spatially identify most of the urban pixels with relatively high radiance values in VIIRS DNB images. Our results also suggest that current nighttime light data have a limited capability for detecting rural residential areas and explaining pixel-level variations in the POI density at a large scale. Moreover, the impact of non-man-made surfaces on the partitioned results appears inevitable because of the spatial heterogeneity of human settlements and the nature of remotely sensed nighttime light data. Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve-based analysis, we obtained optimal thresholds of the nighttime light radiance, by equally weighting the sensitivity and specificity of the identification results, for extracting the nationwide distribution of lighted urban man-made pixels from the 2015 annual composite of VIIRS DNB data. Our findings can provide the basic knowledge needed for the further application of current nighttime light data to investigate spatiotemporal patterns in human settlements.

Drug resistance is mainly responsible for cancer recurrence and poor prognosis. Epigenetic regulation is a heritable change in gene expressions independent of nucleotide sequence changes. As the common epigenetic regulation mechanisms, DNA methylation, histone modification, and non-coding RNA regulation have been well studied. Increasing evidence has shown that aberrant epigenetic regulations contribute to tumor resistance. Therefore, targeting epigenetic regulators represents an effective strategy to reverse drug resistance. In this review, we mainly summarize the roles of epigenetic regulation in tumor resistance. In addition, as the essential factors for epigenetic modifications, histone demethylases mediate the histone or genomic DNA modifications. Herein, we comprehensively describe the functions of the histone demethylase family including the lysine-specific demethylase family, the Jumonji C-domain-containing demethylase family, and the histone arginine demethylase family, and fully discuss their regulatory mechanisms related to cancer drug resistance. In addition, therapeutic strategies, including small-molecule inhibitors and small interfering RNA targeting histone demethylases to overcome drug resistance, are also described.

Remotely sensed artificial lighting radiances at night can provide spatially explicit proxy measures of the magnitude of human activity. Satellite-derived nighttime light images, mainly provided by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) and the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) day/night band (DNB), have been increasingly used to study demographic and socioeconomic activities for a wide range of issues—for instance, human population dynamics, economic growth, and urbanization process—at multiple scales. In practice, the lack of texture information regarding man-made surfaces would usually lead to substantial difficulty in delineating the spatial dynamics in human settlements due to the diverse distributions of artificial nocturnal lighting sources, which are closely related to the predominant land-use/land-cover (LULC) types and their evolutions. An understanding of how nighttime lighting signals respond to synchronous anthropogenic LULC changes, therefore, is crucially important for the spatiotemporal investigations of human settlement dynamics. In this study, we used DMSP-derived nighttime light (NTL) data and Landsat-derived LULC maps to quantitatively estimate the pixel-level responses of NTL signals to different types of human-induced LULC conversions between 1995 and 2010 across China. Our results suggest that the majority (>70%) of pixel-level LULC conversions into artificial lands (including urban, rural, and built-up lands) might show a statistically significant increase in nighttime brightness with an average >20 (in digital number, DN) step change in nighttime lights (dNTL), both of which are distinctly higher than that in the LULC conversions into non-man-made surfaces on the whole. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve-based analysis implies that we might have an average chance of ~90% to identify the nationwide LULC conversions into man-made surfaces from all types of conversions through the observed changes in artificial nocturnal luminosity signals. Moreover, ROC curve-based analyses also yield two nation-level optimal dNTL thresholds of 4.8 and 7.8 DN for recognizing newly emerged three types of artificial lands and urban lands between 1995 and 2010 across the entire country, respectively. In short, our findings reveal fundamental insights into the quantitative connections between the anthropogenic LULC changes and the corresponding responses of synchronous nightlight signals at the pixel-level, which are generally essential for further applications of satellite-derived nocturnal luminosity data in the spatiotemporal investigations of human settlement dynamics.

Global Positioning System (GPS) spoofing poses a significant threat to the reliability of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) navigation systems that rely heavily on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). To address this challenge, we propose a detection framework named PIR–PSO–XGBoost, which integrates Physics-Informed Residual (PIR) modeling with Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost). Unlike existing detection frameworks that rely on handcrafted features or deep black box models, the proposed method introduces a physically interpretable residual construction process that captures signal inconsistencies by enforcing temporal and carrier level consistency across GNSS observables. These residuals, combined with conventional navigation features, are used to train an XGBoost-based classifier, while PSO is employed to perform global hyperparameter tuning to enhance model generalization and robustness across diverse spoofing scenarios. This design improves interpretability and computational efficiency, addressing the limitations of traditional feature engineering and deep learning-based detectors. Experimental results on a real-world GPS spoofing dataset demonstrate that the proposed framework achieves a classification accuracy of 95.26% and an F1-score of 95.28%, significantly outperforming conventional learning baselines. These findings confirm that combining physics-guided feature construction with swarm optimized learning yields a robust, efficient, and deployable solution for GPS spoofing detection in UAV applications.

Objective This study is to investigate the factors that influence functional autonomy outcomes in children who have undergone rehabilitation for spinal cord injury. The aim is to enhance the clinical guidance provided to inpatients at the China Rehabilitation Research Center, Beijing Bo-ai Hospital. Furthermore, the objective is to optimize rehabilitation interventions and establish a scientific basis. Methods This study employed a retrospective survey method for data collection and analysis. Descriptive analysis, one-way ANOVA analysis, and Multiple logistic regression analysis were utilized to examine the influencing factors associated with the prognosis of functional independence outcomes in children with SCI. The degree of influence of each independent variable on functional independence outcomes was ultimately determined. Results The total score of SCIM-III at admission was 41.48 ± 4.089, and the total score of SCIM-III at discharge was 50.05 ± 25.028, resulting in a significant difference in the total score of SCIM-III was (8.57 ± 7.000, p  < 0.001).In one-way ANOVA analysis, Self-care: injury segments, damage plane, ASIA, assistive devices, complications, rehabilitation duration treatment, WISCI-II, UEMS and LEMS, BI, and 6WMD groups were statistically significant ( p  < 0.001). Respiratory and sphincter management: injury segments, ASIA, complications, injury to recovery time interval, rehabilitation duration treatment, WISCI-II, UEMS and LEMS, BI, and 6WMD groups were statistically significant ( p  < 0.05). Move: age, injury segments, damage plane, rehabilitation duration treatment, WISCI-II, UEMS and LEMS groups were statistically significant ( p  < 0.05). SCIM-III total score: age, AISA, assistive devices, injury to recovery time interval, rehabilitation duration treatment were statistically significant ( p  < 0.05). Multiple logistic regression analysis, revealed that the injury to recovery time interval had a negative correlation with the total difference in SCIM-III scale (t = −9.893, p  < 0.001; 95%CI-12.006~-7.780), while the duration of rehabilitation treatment (t = 4.245, p  < 0.001, 95%CI 2.636 ~ 5.854) had a positive correlation with different age groups (t = 4.002, p  < 0.001, 95%CI 2.421 ~ 5.583). Conclusion The shorter the interval between the time of spinal cord injury and the time of intervention for rehabilitation, the more favorable the functional recovery of the children. Children with SCI who were hospitalized for rehabilitation and achieved 3-month daily functional independence scores were more successful. It is recommended that rehabilitation interventions for children with SCI in this institution should be initiated as early as possible and maintained over time. Among the subjects, the prognosis of functional independence was more favorable in the school-age group (6-18y) than in the preschool group (3–6 y).

Rice agriculture is the foundation of Asian civilizations south of the Yangtze River. Although rice history is well documented for its lower Yangtze homeland area, the early southward expansion of paddy rice farming is poorly known. Our study investigates this process using a compilation of paleoenvironmental proxies from coastal sediment cores fromsoutheast China to Thailand and Island Southeast Asia.We propose that a shortage of land suitable for paddy fields, caused by marine transgression, constrained rice agriculture during the mid-Holocene. Rapid expansion of coastal plains, particularly in deltaic basins, over the past three millennia has coincided with increases in land suitable for rice cultivation. Our study also helps explain the past population movements of rice farmers.

Objective To explore the effect of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)-assisted training on lower limb motor function in children with hemiplegic cerebral palsy (HCP). Method Thirty-one children with HCP who met the inclusion criteria were selected and randomly divided into a control group ( n  = 16) and an experimental group ( n  = 15). The control group received routine rehabilitation treatment for 30 min each time, twice a day, 5 days a week for 4 weeks. Based on the control group, the experimental group received rTMS for 20 min each time, once a day, 5 days a week for 4 weeks. The outcome measures included a 10-metre walk test (10MWT), a 6-minute walk distance (6MWD) test, D- and E-zone gross motor function measurements (GMFM), the symmetry ratio of the step length and stance time and the muscle tone of the triceps surae and the hamstrings (evaluated according to the modified Ashworth scale), which were obtained in both groups of children before and after treatment. Results After training, the 10MWT ( P  < 0.05), 6MWD ( P  < 0.01), GMFM ( P  < 0.001) and the symmetry ratio of the step length and stance time of the two groups were significantly improved ( P  < 0.05), there was more of an improvement in the experimental group compared with the control group. There was no significant change in the muscle tone of the hamstrings between the two groups before and after treatment ( P  > 0.05). After treatment, the muscle tone of the triceps surae in the experimental group was significantly reduced ( P  < 0.05), but there was no significant change in the control group ( P  > 0.05). Conclusion Repetitive TMS-assisted training can improve lower limb motor function in children with HCP.

The cell‐to‐cell transfer of α‐synuclein (α‐Syn) greatly contributes to Parkinson's disease (PD) pathogenesis and underlies the spread of α‐Syn pathology. During this process, extracellular α‐Syn can activate microglia and neuroinflammation, which plays an important role in PD. However, the effect of extracellular α‐Syn on microglia autophagy is poorly understood. In the present study, we reported that extracellular α‐Syn inhibited the autophagy initiation, as indicated by LC3‐II reduction and p62 protein elevation in BV2 and cultured primary microglia. The in vitro findings were verified in microglia‐enriched population isolated from α‐Syn‐overexpressing mice induced by adeno‐associated virus (AAV2/9)‐encoded wildtype human α‐Syn injection into the substantia nigra (SN). Mechanistically, α‐Syn led to microglial autophagic impairment through activating toll‐like receptor 4 (Tlr4) and its downstream p38 and Akt‐mTOR signaling because Tlr4 knockout and inhibition of p38, Akt as well as mTOR prevented α‐Syn‐induced autophagy inhibition. Moreover, inhibition of Akt reversed the mTOR activation but failed to affect p38 phosphorylation triggered by α‐Syn. Functionally, the in vivo evidence showed that lysozyme 2 Cre (Lyz2cre)‐mediated depletion of autophagy‐related gene 5 (Atg5) in microglia aggravated the neuroinflammation and dopaminergic neuron losses in the SN and exacerbated the locomotor deficit in α‐Syn‐overexpressing mice. Taken together, the results suggest that extracellular α‐Syn, via Tlr4‐dependent p38 and Akt‐mTOR signaling cascades, disrupts microglial autophagy activity which synergistically contributes to neuroinflammation and PD development. Autophagy‐dependent and independent machinery synergistically contribute to hα‐Syn‐caused neuroinflammation in PD. The basal autophagy activity restricts microglia inflammation. Extracellular hα‐Syn interacts with and activates Tlr4, resulting in inflammatory responses, as well as autophagy suppression in microglia via Tlr4‐dependent p38 and Akt/mTOR signaling cascades. This impairs the inhibitory effect of autophagy on inflammation, and thus aggravating hα‐Syn‐induced inflammatory responses.

Pharmacological strategies that boost intracellular NAD + are highly coveted for their therapeutic potential. One approach is activation of nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) to increase production of nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN), the predominant NAD + precursor in mammalian cells. A high-throughput screen for NAMPT activators and hit-to-lead campaign yielded SBI-797812, a compound that is structurally similar to active-site directed NAMPT inhibitors and blocks binding of these inhibitors to NAMPT. SBI-797812 shifts the NAMPT reaction equilibrium towards NMN formation, increases NAMPT affinity for ATP, stabilizes phosphorylated NAMPT at His247, promotes consumption of the pyrophosphate by-product, and blunts feedback inhibition by NAD + . These effects of SBI-797812 turn NAMPT into a “super catalyst” that more efficiently generates NMN. Treatment of cultured cells with SBI-797812 increases intracellular NMN and NAD + . Dosing of mice with SBI-797812 elevates liver NAD + . Small molecule NAMPT activators such as SBI-797812 are a pioneering approach to raise intracellular NAD + and realize its associated salutary effects. Nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (NAMPT) catalyzes the rate determining step for NAD + synthesis and is of interest as a drug target. Here the authors identify and characterize a small molecule NAMPT activator SBI-797812, elucidate its mode of action and show that it increases intracellular NMN and NAD + levels in cultured cells and elevates liver NAD + in mice.