Changes in Air Quality during the Period of COVID-19 in China.

This paper revisits the heterogeneous impacts of COVID-19 on air quality. For different types of Chinese cities, we analyzed the different degrees of improvement in the concentrations of six air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, SO2, NO2, CO, and O3) during COVID-19 by analyzing the predictivity of air quality. Specifically, we divided the sample into three groups: cities with severe outbreaks, cities with a few confirmed cases, and cities with secondary outbreaks. Ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD), recursive plots (RPs), and recursive quantitative analysis (RQA) were used to analyze these heterogeneous impacts and the predictivity of air quality. The empirical results indicated the following: (1) COVID-19 did not necessarily improve air quality due to factors such as the rebound effect of consumption, and its impacts on air quality were short-lived. After the initial outbreak, NO2, CO, and PM2.5 emissions declined for the first 1-3 months. (2) For the cities with severe epidemics, air quality was improved, but for the cities with second outbreaks, air quality was first enhanced and then deteriorated. For the cities with few confirmed cases, air quality first deteriorated and then improved. (3) COVID-19 changed the stability of the air quality sequence. The predictability of the air quality index (AQI) declined in cities with serious epidemic situations and secondary outbreaks, but for the cities with a few confirmed cases, the AQI achieved a stable state sooner. The conclusions may facilitate the analysis of differences in air quality evolution characteristics and fluctuations before and after outbreaks from a quantitative perspective.

The impact of urbanization on air quality in Africa from time and spatial perspectives.

The problem of air pollution caused by urbanization in fast-growing countries has begun to receive widespread attention. Africa is facing serious air pollution problem and is experiencing rapid urbanization. However, due to the backward economy and the difficulty of obtaining data, there have been few studies on the impact of urbanization on air quality in Africa. In this paper, we use remote sensing data aerosol optical depth (AOD) to characterize air quality, and night lights to characterize urbanization. We aim to analyze the characteristics of air quality distribution in Africa and investigate the relationship between urbanization and AOD from the perspective of time by random forest and space by adopting the geographically weighted regression models (GWR). The results show that (1) in the past 10 years, though not obvious, the AOD in the African region has a slight downward trend from 2011 to 2020. And a significant spatial correlation between urbanization and AOD is confirmed; (2) treating Africa as a whole, AOD has spatial spillover effects and could be affected significantly and positively by urbanization; (3) locally, taking each country as the scale, urbanization could have different impacts on AOD for different countries. In Central Africa, the increase in urbanization will bring about an increase in AOD; and in Western Africa, the increase in urbanization will help reduce AOD; (4) improving power facilities, increasing per capita income, and strengthening commodity trade are conducive to improving air quality in Africa.

The differential presence of human polyomaviruses, JCPyV and BKPyV, in prostate cancer and benign prostate hypertrophy tissues.

BACKGROUND: Studies have shown that human polyomavirus infection may be associated with various human cancers. We investigated the potential relationship between the prevalence of JCPyVor BKPyV and prostate cancer (PC) in patients from Taiwan. METHODS: Patients with PC and benign prostate hypertrophy (BPH; 76 and 30 patients, respectively) were recruited for this study. Paraffin-embedded tissues and clinical information of the patients were obtained. The tissue sections were used for viral DNA detection and immunohistochemistry analysis was performed for examining viral large T (LT) and VP1 proteins. Regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationship between the clinical characteristics of the patients and the risk of JCPyV/BKPyV infection. RESULTS: The prevalence of JCPyV/BKPyV DNA was different in PC and BPH tissues (27/76 [35.52%] and 2/30 [6.7%], respectively, p = 0.003)]. The LT and VP1 proteins were detected in 27 (35.52%) and 29 PC (38.2%) specimens, respectively, but neither protein was detected in BPH samples (p < 0.001). PC cells were more susceptible to JCPyV infection than BPH tissues [odds ratio (OR) 7.71, 95% CI: 1.71-34.09, p = 0.003). Patients with PC showing high levels of prostate-specific antigen and high Gleason scores were associated with a high risk of viral infection (ORs 1.1, 95% CI 1.000-1.003; p = 0.045 and ORs 6.18, 95% CI 1.26-30.33, p = 0.025, respectively). The expression of LT protein associated with the risk of PC increased 2923.39-fold (95% CI 51.19-166,963.62, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that JCPyV infection in PC cells may be associated with prostate cancer progression and prognosis.

Modelling cointegration and Granger causality network to detect long-term equilibrium and diffusion paths in the financial system.

Microscopic factors are the basis of macroscopic phenomena. We proposed a network analysis paradigm to study the macroscopic financial system from a microstructure perspective. We built the cointegration network model and the Granger causality network model based on econometrics and complex network theory and chose stock price time series of the real estate industry and its upstream and downstream industries as empirical sample data. Then, we analysed the cointegration network for understanding the steady long-term equilibrium relationships and analysed the Granger causality network for identifying the diffusion paths of the potential risks in the system. The results showed that the influence from a few key stocks can spread conveniently in the system. The cointegration network and Granger causality network are helpful to detect the diffusion path between the industries. We can also identify and intervene in the transmission medium to curb risk diffusion.

Pharmacokinetics of kadsurenone and its interaction with cyclosporin A in rats using a combined HPLC and microdialysis system.

Kadsurenone is a neolignan with specific antagonistic activity of platelet-activating factor, and is derived from the stems of Piper kadsura. To investigate the mechanism of hepatobiliary excretion of kadsurenone and its association with P-glycoprotein (P-gp), and to explore whether the hepatobiliary excretion of kadsurenone was associated with P-gp, a microdialysis system coupled with HPLC was developed to measure free-form kadsurenone in rat blood and bile. This study design was parallel in the following groups: six rats received kadsurenone alone (20 and 30 mg/kg, i.v.) as control group and the treated-group rats were co-administered with kadsurenone and CsA; P-gp inhibitor. The microdialysis probes were respectively inserted into the jugular vein toward right atrium and bile duct of male Sprague-Dawley rats for blood and bile sampling. CsA (20mg/kg) was administered 10 min prior to kadsurenone administration through the femoral vein and the collected samples were analyzed by a HPLC system. The analytes were separated by a C18 column (150 x 4.6 mm I.D., 5 microm) with a mobile phase of acetonitrile-water (50:50, v/v) at a flow-rate of 1 mL/min. The UV detection wavelength was set 235 nm. The calibration curve was linear over the concentration range of 0.05-10 microg/mL with the coefficient of determination of 0.997. The inter- and intra-assay accuracy and precision of the method ranged from -9.53% to 6.75%. The limit of detection and the limit of quantification were 0.01 and 0.05 microg/mL, respectively. The hepatobiliary excretion ratio of kadsurenone was defined by dividing the values of the area under the drug concentration curve (AUC) for bile and blood (AUC(bile)/AUC(blood)). The results indicated that the hepatobiliary excretion ratio of kadsurenone on the CsA treated-group was 1.2+/-0.1, which was not significantly different from the group of kadsurenone alone (1.3+/-0.2). This fact indicates that kadsurenone went through hepatobiliary excretion but might not be regulated by P-gp.

Effect of cyclosporin A on the brain regional distribution of doxorubicin in rats.

Doxorubicin (DOX) is an anthracycline antibiotic that possesses broad-spectrum antineoplastic activity, and is one of the most important anticancer agents. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of cyclosporine A (CsA) on the brain regional distribution of DOX and its liposome DOX formulation (Lipo-Dox). Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) was used to measure DOX in rat plasma and in various brain regions (cerebral cortex, hippocampus, striatum, midbrain, cerebellum, and the rest of brain). Good linearity was achieved over the 5-5000ng/mL range, with coefficients of correlation greater than 0.995. The limit of quantification for doxorubicin was 5ng/mL. This study was divided into the following four groups: DOX alone, DOX+CsA, Lipo-Dox alone and Lipo-Dox+CsA. After administering DOX (5mg/kg, i.v.) alone and DOX+CsA (10mg/kg, i.v.), it was undetectable in various brain regions. When the same dose of Lipo-Dox (5mg/kg, i.v.) and Lipo-Dox+CsA (10mg/kg, i.v.) were given individually, the plasma level and the brain regional level of DOX were much greater than those of DOX given alone. These results indicate that Lipo-Dox prolongs the DOX level in plasma and enhances brain distribution of DOX. The disposition of DOX might be regulated by P-glycoprotein.