Impact of artificial intelligence on carbon emission efficiency: evidence from China.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been extensively used as a revolutionary and versatile technology in various fields. However, scholars have not given substantial consideration to the impact of AI on the environment, particularly carbon emission efficiency (CEE). This study adopts the global super-efficiency slacks-based model to evaluate CEE of 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2019. Thereafter, the current study investigates the impact mechanism of AI on CEE using the stochastic impact of population, affluence, and technology (STIRPAT) model. The empirical analysis provides the following valuable research findings. First, AI, represented by industrial robots, can significantly improve CEE. Second, AI can enhance CEE by promoting technological innovation and upgrading industrial structures. Lastly, the relationship between AI and CEE is influenced by marketization and government intervention.

What role does digital finance play in low-carbon development? Evidence from five major urban agglomerations in China.

In the epoch of the digital economy, digital finance (DF) has become an indispensable engine driving the high-quality development of the Chinese economy. The issues of how DF can be used to alleviate environmental pressure and how a long-term governance mechanism for carbon emissions reduction be formed have become particularly important. Based on the panel data of five national urban agglomerations in China from 2011 to 2020, this study utilizes the panel double fixed-effects model and chain mediation model to verify the impact mechanism of DF on carbon emissions efficiency (CEE). Some valuable findings are drawn below. First, the overall CEE of the urban agglomerations has potential for improvement, and the CEE and DF development level of each urban agglomeration have regional heterogeneity. Second, a U-shaped correlation is observed between DF and CEE. Technological innovation and industrial structure upgrading have a chain mediating effect in DF affecting CEE. In addition, the breadth and depth of DF have a notable negative impact on CEE, and the digitalization degree of DF shows a significant positive correlation with CEE. Third, the influencing factors of CEE have regional heterogeneity. Finally, this study provides relevant suggestions based on the empirical conclusions and analysis.

State transition of carbon emission efficiency in China: empirical analysis based on three-stage SBM and Markov chain models.

Assessing China's carbon emission efficiency (CEE) and analyzing efficiency state transition trends are necessary to accelerate the promotion of carbon emission reduction and achieve low carbon goals. This study evaluates China's economic and social environments by using the entropy weight method. The CEE of 30 Chinese provinces from 2006 to 2020 is measured using the three-stage slack-based model with an undesirable output. Then, this study introduces a Markov chain to explore the state transition trend of China's CEE. The research conclusions are as follows. First, compared with the social environment, the economic environment has a more significant impact on CEE. Second, the CEE of the eastern region is the highest, followed by that of the central region and the western region, which has the worst CEE. Third, the inefficiency of the central and western regions pulls down the overall CEE of China. Fourth, the state of China's CEE is gradually shifting to a high level; however, achieving a leapfrog shift is difficult.

Activation of α7nAChR preserves intestinal barrier integrity by enhancing the HO-1 / STAT3 signaling to inhibit NF-κB activation in mice.

BACKGROUND: Activation of alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR) can inhibit a systemic inflammatory response and preserve intestinal barrier integrity. This study aimed at elucidating the molecular mechanisms by which α7nAChR activation could inhibit intestinal barrier injury and cholestatic liver fibrosis in mice following bile duct ligation (BDL). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The intestine-specific heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) knockout VillinCreHmox1-/- and control Hmox1flox/flox C57BL/6 mice were subjected to the BDL procedure. The therapeutic effects of GST-21, a specific ligand for α7nAChR, on systemic and intestinal inflammation, intestinal barrier integrity, liver fibrosis and injury, HO-1 expression, STAT3, AKT and NF-κBp65 activation were examined in these mice and intestinal epithelial cells after being co-cultured with macrophages. RESULTS: Compared with the vehicle-injected BDL group, treatment with GST-21 to activate α7nAChR decreased intestinal and liver injury and fibrosis in BDL mice, accompanied by reducing serum cytokine levels. In addition, activation of α7nAChR preserved the levels of tight junction protein expression and intestinal epithelial barrier integrity in BDL mice and epithelial cells following co-cultured with macrophages. The therapeutic effects of α7nAChR activation were mediated by enhancing HO-1 expression and STAT3 phosphorylation, and reducing the NF-κBp65 activation in intestinal tissues and epithelial cells co-cultured with macrophages. Finally, activation of α7nAChR induced HO-1 expression and STAT3 phosphorylation in an interdependent manner, independent of the PI3K/AKT signaling. CONCLUSION: Activation of α7nAChR enhanced HO-1 expression and STAT3 signaling to inhibit NF-κB activation, preserving the intestinal barrier integrity, and reducing inflammation and liver fibrosis in cholestatic mice. Therefore, targeting α7nAChR may be a promising interventional strategy for primary biliary cholangitis.

Electroacupuncture Ameliorates Intestinal Barrier Destruction in Mice With Bile Duct Ligation-Induced Liver Injury by Activating the Cholinergic Anti-Inflammatory Pathway.

OBJECTIVES: Electroacupuncture (EA) at Zusanli (ST36) can attenuate inflammation in different rodent models. However, the therapeutic mechanisms underlying its action in inhibiting intestinal barrier destruction and liver injury in cholestasis mice have not been clarified. This study aimed at investigating whether EA at ST36 could activate the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway to inhibit intestinal barrier destruction and liver injury in cholestasis mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Male Hmox1floxp/floxp C57BL/6 mice were randomized and subjected to a sham or bile duct ligation (BDL) surgery. The BDL mice were randomized and treated with, or without (BDL group), sham EA at ST36 (BDL+sham-ST36) or EA at ST36 (BDL+ST36), or received α-bungarotoxin (α-BGT), a specific inhibitor of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor α7 subunit (α7nAChR), before stimulation (BDL+ST36+α-BGT). These mice, together with a group of intestine-specific heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) knockout (KO) Villin-Cre-HO-1-/- mice, were monitored for their body weights before and 14 days after BDL. The levels of plasma cytokines and liver injury-related alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) were measured by enzyme-linked immunoassay, and pathological changes in the intestinal mucosa and liver fibrosis as well as intestinal barrier permeability in individual mice were examined by histology and immunohistochemistry. The levels of α7nAChR, HO-1, ZO-1, Occludin, Claudin-1, and NF-κBp65 expression and NF-κBp65 phosphorylation in intestinal tissues were quantified. RESULTS: Compared with the sham group, BDL significantly increased the levels of plasma interleukin (IL)-1ß, IL-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor α, ALT, and AST and caused intestinal mucosal damages, high permeability, and liver fibrosis in mice, which were remarkably mitigated, except for further increased levels of plasma IL-10 in the BDL+ST36 group of mice. Similarly, EA at ST36 significantly up-regulated α7nAChR and HO-1 expression; mitigated the BDL-decreased ZO-1, Occludin, and Claudin-1 expression; and attenuated the BDL-increased NF-κBp65 phosphorylation in intestinal tissues of mice. The therapeutic effects of EA at ST36 were significantly abrogated by pretreatment with α-BGT or HO-1 KO. CONCLUSION: EA at ST36 inhibits the BDL-induced intestinal mucosal damage and liver fibrosis by activating the HO-1 cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway in intestinal tissues of mice.

Analysis of resource allocation and environmental performance in China's three major urban agglomerations.

This study focuses on the analysis of optimal energy allocation and environmental performance of China's three major urban agglomerations. Specifically, this paper first uses a fixed-input DEA model to obtain the optimal allocation of energy input. Then, an evaluation model based on the optimal allocation of energy input is proposed to evaluate environmental performance. Finally, these models are applied to the empirical analysis of the three major urban agglomerations in China. This article mainly draws the following conclusions. First, energy is wasted in most cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region. Second, from 2012 to 2016, the environmental performance of each urban agglomeration showed a downward trend and then an upward trend. Third, the overall environmental performance of the three major urban agglomerations is not high. Some specific regions, such as Handan, Anyang, Xingtai, and Baoding, behave not well in protecting the environment.

1-(4-Methyl-benzyl-ideneamino)pyridinium iodide.

The title compound, C(13)H(13)N(2) (+)·I(-), is a derivative of 1-amino-pyridinium iodide. The pyridine and benzene rings are oriented at a dihedral angle of 45.78 (3)°. In the crystal structure, weak inter-molecular C-H⋯I hydrogen bonds link the mol-ecules.