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Land use is an important factor in the change of carbon emissions, and predicting the spatial pattern of carbon emissions under different land use scenarios is of great significance to respond to the “double carbon” target of China. Based on the land use data of Nanjing city, Jiangsu Province, China in 2010, 2015 and 2020, this study used the Conversion of Land Use and its Effects at Small regional extent (CLUE-S) model to simulate the land use change pattern in 2030 under multiple scenarios, and predicted the carbon emissions of each subzone based on the simulation results. It also provides a carbon balance zoning from an economic and ecological point of view and proposes strategies tailored to each district. The results show that: (1) in 2030, under the ecological conservation scenario, ecological land all shows different degrees of increase, while under the cultivated land conservation scenario, construction land only increased by 1.47%. This indicates that the ecological and cultivated land protection perspectives can effectively curb the expansion of construction land. (2) The growth rate of carbon emissions in Nanjing from 2010–2030 decreased from 16.65–3.7%. This indicates that carbon emissions continue to rise, but the trend of growth is slowing down. (3) The spatial carbon emissions in Nanjing show an overall higher level in the north and lower in the center; the large expansion of building land and the concentration of industrial industries are the main reasons for the large increase in carbon emissions. Under the ecological protection scenario, the carbon emissions of Lishui, Pukou and Qixia districts were 11.05 × 104 t, 19.437 × 104 t and 10.211 × 104 t lower than those under the natural growth scenario, mainly because these three districts have more ecological land and the ecological protection effect is more significant. Under the cultivated land conservation scenario, the growth rate of carbon emissions slows down significantly. This indicates that the future structure of carbon emissions in Nanjing will vary significantly, and that ecological protection and arable land conservation play an important role in reducing carbon emissions. This study shows that it is difficult to reduce emissions in a concerted manner. Therefore, for different districts, differentiated land use optimization measures should be developed according to local conditions, and ecological protection and cultivated land protection scenarios should both be taken into account.

Background Sjögren’s Syndrome (SS) is also known as autoimmune exocrine gland disease. Previous studies have confirmed that adaptive immunity plays an important role in the development of this disease. But less is known about the role of the innate immune system. Methods To identify the core pathways, and local infiltrated immune cells in the local immune microenvironment of SS. We verified the activation of these core genes and core signaling pathways in SS model mice by in vivo experiment and transcriptome sequencing. Results Finally, we identified 6 core genes EPSTI1, IFI44L, MX1, CXCL10, IFIT3, and IFI44. All the 6 genes had good diagnostic value. Based on multi-omics sequencing results and experimental studies, we found that cGAS–STING signaling pathway is most relevant to the pathogenesis of SS. By in vivo experiments, we verified that autophagy is the key brake to limit the activation of cGAS–STING signaling pathway. Conclusions Maladaptive activation of autophagy and cGAS–STING signaling pathway are central contributors to the SG pathogenesis of pSS patient. Regulating autophagy by rapamycin may be a possible treatment for Sjögren's syndrome in the future.

This paper studied the formation mechanism of the differences of land incremental value among various regions by using the Shapley value decomposition framework. It was the first time to introduce inequality indexes to measure the differences in land incremental value in various regions, then a semi-logarithmic regression equation were constructed to determine the influencing factors, and finally the contribution of each factor was measured through the Shapley value decomposition model. The results indicated that: the regional inherent differences between cities and the differences in the residential land price per land area have a stable and strong impact on the differences in urban residential land value increment; the differences in completion value of residential buildings have a certain contribution on the expansion of regional differences in urban residential land incremental value, but they fluctuate greatly; the contribution of the differences of housing investment demand to the differences of urban residential land incremental value has gradually increased.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease characterized by synovitis and inflammatory cell infiltration. The traditional Chinese medicine prescription, Bitongqing (BTQ) exhibited significant efficacy in the clinical treatment of RA. However, the potential therapeutic mechanisms of BTQ in treating RA have not been fully investigated. This study aims to elucidate the effect of BTQ on collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) rat macrophage pyroptosis, providing a theoretical basis for treating RA. This research employed liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) to identify the primary components of BTQ. The therapeutic effects of BTQ were evaluated in a rat model of CIA. In vivo experiments were conducted using pathohistological staining, immunofluorescence, micro-CT, and Western blotting. Next, Mouse leukemia cells of monocyte macrophage cells (RAW264.7) were induced to undergo pyroptosis using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and the impact of BTQ on RAW264.7 macrophages was assessed through cell viability, immunofluorescence analysis, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) secretion measurement, and Western blotting. BTQ had a therapeutic effect on CIA rats, which was mainly manifested as a reduction in joint inflammation, foot swelling, bone erosion, and amelioration of pathological changes in these rats. Further studies revealed that BTQ inhibited the levels of cytokine production interleukin-18 (IL-18) and interleukin-1β (IL-1β), and likewise, it inhibited the expression of key proteins in the NOD-like receptor thermal protein domain associated protein 3 (NLRP3) mediated pyroptosis in the synovial tissues of CIA rats. The results of in vitro experiments demonstrated that BTQ attenuated LDH secretion, decreased IL-18 and IL-1β cytokine production, and downregulated expression of key proteins involved in the NLRP3-mediated pyroptosis on RAW264.7 macrophages. The therapeutic potential of BTQ in CIA lies in its ability to inhibit NLRP3-mediated macrophage pyroptosis, thereby suggesting a promising strategy for the treatment of RA.

Overwhelming evidence indicates that climate change, caused in large part by human activities, is already adversely impacting all people, with the very real prospect of worse to come. Nevertheless, a global treaty to curb carbon emissions remains elusive. In East Asia, all middle-income countries have set national targets for energy efficiency and renewable energy, and some even have targets for carbon reduction. This report focuses on recent experiences in applying public financing instruments and tries to draw the lessons to date: when and how to use the instruments, which instrument to select, and how to design and implement them. The wide range of financial instruments designed to support and catalyze clean energy investment over the last decade is truly remarkable. Such instruments include credit lines and risk guarantees designed to increase both the capacity and confidence of commercial banks for clean energy lending; dedicated funds and concessional financing mechanisms to kick-start new technologies; mezzanine and equity financing targeted at start-ups; small and medium enterprises and energy service companies; and various consumer financing instruments designed to lower the upfront costs of clean energy equipment. This report systematically reviews the successes and failures of innovative interventions and distills the lessons of applying them. This report is organized in following four parts: part one gives overview; part two focuses on financing energy efficiency; part three focuses on financing renewable energy; and part four focuses on clean energy financing case studies.

Unmanned surface vessels may encounter unknown surface obstacles when sailing. Accurate detection has a significant impact on the subsequent decision-making process. In order to deal with the complex water environment, this paper proposes an object detection framework based on the fusion of LiDAR and camera. The detection framework can achieve real-time and accurate water surface object detection without training, and has strong anti-interference ability. The detection framework achieves the data fusion of LiDAR and camera through external calibration and then uses the detection algorithm of sky–sea boundary (SSB) to establish a clear search area for LiDAR. Then, a two-stage clustering algorithm based on point cloud attributes and distribution information achieves more accurate segmentation. The region of interest (RoI) is obtained from the detection results by image projection. Finally, the region of interest is finely segmented by the saliency object detection algorithm. The experimental results show the effectiveness and robustness of the algorithm.

Tri-metallofullerenes, specifically M3@C80 where M denotes rare-earth metal elements, are molecules that possess intriguing magnetic properties. Typically, only one metal element is involved in a given tri-metallofullerene molecule. However, mixed tri-metallofullerenes, denoted as M1xM23-x@C80 (x = 1 or 2, M1 and M2 denote different metal elements), have not been previously discovered. The investigation of such mixed tri-metallofullerenes is of interest due to the potential introduction of distinct properties resulting from the interaction between different metal atoms. This paper presents the preparation and theoretical analysis of mixed rare-earth tri-metallofullerenes, specifically YxDy3−x@C80 (x = 1 or 2). Through chemical oxidation of the arc-discharge produced soot, the formation of tri-metallofullerene cations, namely Y2Dy@C80+ and YDy2@C80+, has been observed. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations have revealed that the tri-metallofullerenes YxDy3−x@C80 (x = 1 or 2) exhibit a low oxidation potential, significantly lower than other fullerenes such as C60 and C70. This low oxidation potential can be attributed to the relatively high energy level of a singly occupied orbital. Additionally, the oxidized species demonstrate a large HOMO-LUMO gap similar to that of YxDy3−xN@C80, underscoring their high chemical stability. Theoretical investigations have uncovered the presence of a three-center two-electron metal–metal bond at the center of Y2DY@C80+ and YDy2@C80+. This unique multi-center bond assists in alleviating the electrostatic repulsion between the metal ions, thereby contributing to the overall stability of the cations. These mixed rare-earth tri-metallofullerenes hold promise as potential candidates for single-molecule magnets.

With their ultrathin characteristics as well as the powerful and flexible capabilities of wavefront modulation, optical metasurfaces have brought a new understanding of the interaction between light and matter and provided a powerful way to constrain and manage light. However, the unmodifiable structures and the immutable materials used in the construction lead to the unsatisfactory applications in most functional devices. The emergence of tunable optical metasurfaces breaks the aforementioned limitations and enables us to achieve dynamic control of the optical response. The work in recent years has focused on achieving tunability of optical metasurfaces through material property transition and structural reconfiguration. In this review, some tunable optical metasurfaces in recent years are introduced and summarized, as well as the advantages and limitations of various materials and mechanisms used for this purpose. The corresponding applications in functional devices based on tunability are also discussed. The review is terminated with a short section on the possible future developments and perspectives for future applications.

Tri-metallofullerenes, specifically M[sub.3]@C[sub.80] where M denotes rare-earth metal elements, are molecules that possess intriguing magnetic properties. Typically, only one metal element is involved in a given tri-metallofullerene molecule. However, mixed tri-metallofullerenes, denoted as M1[sub.x]M2[sub.3-x]@C[sub.80] (x = 1 or 2, M1 and M2 denote different metal elements), have not been previously discovered. The investigation of such mixed tri-metallofullerenes is of interest due to the potential introduction of distinct properties resulting from the interaction between different metal atoms. This paper presents the preparation and theoretical analysis of mixed rare-earth tri-metallofullerenes, specifically Y[sub.x]Dy[sub.3−x]@C[sub.80] (x = 1 or 2). Through chemical oxidation of the arc-discharge produced soot, the formation of tri-metallofullerene cations, namely Y[sub.2]Dy@C[sub.80] [sup.+] and YDy[sub.2]@C[sub.80] [sup.+], has been observed. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations have revealed that the tri-metallofullerenes Y[sub.x]Dy[sub.3−x]@C[sub.80] (x = 1 or 2) exhibit a low oxidation potential, significantly lower than other fullerenes such as C[sub.60] and C[sub.70]. This low oxidation potential can be attributed to the relatively high energy level of a singly occupied orbital. Additionally, the oxidized species demonstrate a large HOMO-LUMO gap similar to that of Y[sub.x]Dy[sub.3−x]N@C[sub.80], underscoring their high chemical stability. Theoretical investigations have uncovered the presence of a three-center two-electron metal–metal bond at the center of Y[sub.2]DY@C[sub.80] [sup.+] and YDy[sub.2]@C[sub.80] [sup.+]. This unique multi-center bond assists in alleviating the electrostatic repulsion between the metal ions, thereby contributing to the overall stability of the cations. These mixed rare-earth tri-metallofullerenes hold promise as potential candidates for single-molecule magnets.

Symbiotic fungi with plants are important for plant nutrient uptake and resource redistribution. High-throughput sequencing was used to investigate the composition and driving factors of fungal communities in three rhizocompartments (root endosphere, rhizosphere soil, and non-rhizosphere soil) of different halophyte life forms in the National Nature Reserve of Ebinur Lake Wetland in Xinjiang, China. (1) The α-diversity index differed significantly among the three rhizocompartments of halophytes with different life forms ( < 0.05), and α and β-diversity were mainly driven by rhizocompartments. (2) Ascomycota and Basidiomycota were the dominant communities across various rhizocompartments in the different life forms. and were the dominant fungal genera in the root endosphere of all three plant life forms. was dominant in both rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils in herb. and were the dominant in the rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils in shrub, respectively. While and were dominant in both rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils in abor. (3) The complexity of the fungal co-occurrence network varied among plant life forms; the highest complexity was found in the rhizosphere soil of herb (11.102), the root endosphere of shrub (23.837) and in the non-rhizosphere soil of arbor (9.920). Furthermore, the co-occurrence networks of the three plant life forms in the three rhizocompartments were mainly positively correlated (86.73%-97.98%). (4) Root-associated fungal communities were significantly and strongly correlated with soil and root water content, soil and root total nitrogen, root and leaf total phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, nitrate nitrogen and salt content in herb. While in shrub, root-associated fungal communities were strongly correlated with soil water content, available phosphorus, catalase and total phosphorus. However, arbor exhibited no significant correlations with soil and plant physicochemical factors. These results provide a theoretical foundation for understanding the complex interaction mechanism between desert halophytes and fungi and are of great significance for strengthening desert vegetation management and vegetation restoration in arid areas.