Sunlight perception and outdoor thermal comfort in college campuses: a new perspective.

The thermal comfort of outdoor spaces in colleges and universities is crucial for promoting outdoor activities and relieving psychological pressure. To evaluate outdoor thermal comfort from a new perspective, this study investigated subjects' sunlight perception through physical measurements and questionnaires. Sunlight perception was delineated through a combination of subjective assessments and objective measurements. Subjective assessments encapsulated thermal comfort and sensation votes, and sunlight sensitivity. Objective measurements incorporated physical environmental data such as temperature, humidity, wind speed, illumination, and solar radiation. The Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) was used to examine the thermal sensation of subjects under different sun perceptions to reveal the effect of sunshine sensitivity on subjects. The results showed that in terms of subjective perception, the proportion of people who felt hot outdoors increased with the increase in sunlight perception. Additionally, with the change of sunlight perception, the expected temperature of the crowd also changed. As the sunlight perception changed from weak to strong, the desired temperature of the winter population changed from 21.2 °C to 17.7 °C, and the desired temperature of the autumn population changed from 23.8 °C to 19.8 °C. Appropriately increasing shade outdoors in autumn would enhance the comfort of the crowd, while appropriately increasing the light place in the winter outdoors would enhance the comfort of the crowd. These findings provide valuable insights for thermal comfort design and future research in colleges located in cold areas.

Inosine enhances tumor mitochondrial respiration by inducing Rag GTPases and nascent protein synthesis under nutrient starvation.

Metabolic heterogeneity of tumor microenvironment (TME) is a hallmark of cancer and a big barrier to cancer treatment. Cancer cells display diverse capacities to utilize alternative carbon sources, including nucleotides, under poor nutrient circumstances. However, whether and how purine, especially inosine, regulates mitochondrial metabolism to buffer nutrient starvation has not been well-defined yet. Here, we identify the induction of 5'-nucleotidase, cytosolic II (NT5C2) gene expression promotes inosine accumulation and maintains cancer cell survival in the nutrient-poor region. Inosine elevation further induces Rag GTPases abundance and mTORC1 signaling pathway by enhancing transcription factor SP1 level in the starved tumor. Besides, inosine supplementary stimulates the synthesis of nascent TCA cycle enzymes, including citrate synthesis (CS) and aconitase 1 (ACO1), to further enhance oxidative phosphorylation of breast cancer cells under glucose starvation, leading to the accumulation of iso-citric acid. Inhibition of the CS activity or knockdown of ACO1 blocks the rescue effect of inosine on cancer survival under starvation. Collectively, our finding highlights the vital signal role of inosine linking mitochondrial respiration and buffering starvation, beyond serving as direct energy carriers or building blocks for genetic code in TME, shedding light on future cancer treatment by targeting inosine metabolism.

The difference in thermal comfort between southern and northern Chinese living in the Xi'an cold climate region.

A year-long longitudinal survey regarding perceptions of outdoor thermal conditions and thermal comfort was conducted in Xi'an, a City in a Chinese cold region. The survey included micrometeorological measurements and a longitudinal questionnaire. The thermal comfort and adaptability of southern Chinese (people from Changsha and Guangzhou) and northern Chinese (people from Xi'an) in Xi'an were studied from the three aspects of psychological, physiological, and behavioral differences. The results of similar studies in other regions were compared with those of this study. Regarding psychological differences, northerners were more adapted to Xi'an's climate than southerners, with an expected temperatures of 20.7℃ and 24.1℃ for northerners and for southerners, respectively. Regarding physiological differences, the neutral temperature of the northern population was 22.12℃, while that of the southern population was 21.12℃. The neutral temperature for the southern population in Xi'an is similar to that of northern people living in Xi'an. Regarding behavioral differences, northerners were more likely than southerners to maintain their thermal comfort by adjusting their clothing when they experienced a change in the outdoor environment. This study not only indicates that there were differences regarding the thermal comfort of people originating different regions but also provided support for fully explaining the mechanism of climate adaptation of human thermal comfort. In addition, this work provides basic data regarding formulating outdoor thermal comfort standards and provided data support for personalized thermal comfort.

Extracellular Vesicles, New Players in Sepsis and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Sepsis refers to a complex syndrome associated with physiological, pathological, and biochemical abnormalities resulted from infection. Sepsis is the major cause of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are serving as new messengers to mediate cell-cell communication in vivo. Non-coding RNAs, proteins and metabolites encapsulated by EVs could result in either pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory effects in the recipient cells. Pathogens or host cells derived EVs play an important role in pathogens infection during the occurrence and development of sepsis and ARDS. Additionally, we summarize the potential application for EVs in diagnosis, prevention and treatment for sepsis and ARDS.

Sorbent and solvent co-enhanced direct analysis in real time-mass spectrometry for high-throughput determination of trace pollutants in water.

A sorbent and solvent co-enhanced direct analysis in real-time mass spectrometry (SSE-DART-MS) method was developed for high-throughput determination of trace pollutants in water. The use of sorbent for preconcentration and solvents for assisting desorption and ionization synergistically enhanced the signals from the trace pollutants detected by DART-MS. Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) were used as model analytes to validate the SSE-DART-MS method. Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4)-based materials with two morphologies and six organic solvents were used to systematically evaluate the enhancement effect by the sorbent and solvent. A better analytical performance was achieved with the two-dimensional (2D) g-C3N4, compared to three-dimensional (3D) g-C3N4/C, indicating that the morphologies of sorbents played a key role in SSE-DART-MS analysis. The MS signals of all the analytes were increased by 10-100 times for the two materials in the presence of the selected solvents. With the SSE-DART-MS method, concentration limits of detection for water samples in the range 0.07-0.94 ng L-1, and recovery in the range 82.8-119% using g-C3N4, were obtained for the PAEs. This work not only provides a reliable method for the coupling of solid phase extraction technique with DART-MS, but also presents valuable information for conducting other DART-MS analyses.

Dispersive Magnetic Solid-Phase Extraction Coupled to Direct Analysis in Real Time Mass Spectrometry for High-Throughput Analysis of Trace Environmental Contaminants.

Coupling dispersive magnetic solid-phase extraction (DMSPE) to direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS) with a newly developed metal iron probe enables high-throughput, sensitive detection of herbicides such as triazine in environmental waters. Magnetic graphene oxide was used as a dispersive sorbent because it increased adsorption capacity in the DMSPE process. The planar structure and excellent thermal conductivity of graphene oxide facilitated the desorption and ionization of target analytes in DART-MS analysis. The iron probe, which is designed to fit into the moving trail of the DART interface, served as the sorbent collector as well as the support for the magnetic graphene oxide after DMSPE, and was put directly into the DART system. The ratio of magnetic core to graphene oxide in the nanoparticles and other key parameters in DMSPE and DART-MS procedures were systematically investigated and optimized. In addition, the presence of water on the sorbent proves to have a significant effect on DART-MS analysis. No organic solvents are used in this method, and the reusable iron probe is of low cost. Under the optimal conditions, limits of detection were found in the range of 1.6-152.1 ng/L for the triazines. Recovery and reproducibility were found to be in the ranges of 87.5-115.0% and 1.9-10.2%, respectively, for the six herbicides studied. The analytical performance of the DMSPE-DART-MS method indicated that applications for trace analysis of other compounds in liquid samples are also possible.