LCA-emergy and carbon footprint analysis in a steel industry reporting system: A case study of a Chinese steel company.

The steel industry is one of the heavy industries with significant global environmental impacts, and China, as the largest steel-producing country, holds representative significance for global sustainability in the steel production company. This study, based on data from China's largest steel company, quantitatively researched sustainability using a whole life cycle emergy approach and carbon footprint method from 2012 to 2022. The results indicate that, analyzing unit emergy values (UEVs) types, foundational UEVs are the lowest.

Ecological sustainability assessment of building glass industry in China based on the point of view of raw material emergy and chemical composition.

Severe environmental destruction is being driven by excessive resource consumption in the industrial production process. Therefore, there is a necessity to evaluate the sustainability of the production system. In this study, the emergy method has been adopted to assess the flat building glass production in China based on raw material and chemical composition.

Adaptive Renewal of Mountainous Historical Towns Based on the Stability of the Social Network Structure: A Case Study in Chongqing, China.

The stability of social network structure (SSNS) in historical towns is influenced by changes in built environments and demographic factors. The historical towns in China have evolved into massive rural-urban migration under the rapid urbanization over the past forty years. In this context, many of these historical towns experienced "declining built environment and disintegrating social networks," which does not contribute to the adaptive renewal of the built environment and social networks in historical towns, as well as the psychological health of residents.

The edible Lactobacillus paracasei X11 with Konjac glucomannan promotes intestinal motility in zebrafish.

Background: Constipation is a gastrointestinal symptom with high incidence rate and large number of patients. It is becoming one of the urgent medical problems. Poor intestinal motility is one of the important causes of constipation.

Konjac glucomannan with probiotics acts as a combination laxative to relieve constipation in mice by increasing short-chain fatty acid metabolism and 5-hydroxytryptamine hormone release.

Objectives: Various probiotics and natural products can help to relieve constipation. This study aimed to explore the constipation-relieving effects and potential mechanism of a combination laxative of konjac glucomannan and probiotics.

Methods: This study evaluated the gastrointestinal-tract viability of probiotics in vitro.

YRL577 ameliorates markers of non-alcoholic fatty liver and alters expression of genes within the intestinal bile acid pathway.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has become the main cause of end-stage liver disease. Probiotics have the potential effect of alleviating NAFLD. The aim of this study was to explore functional probiotics and their underlying mechanisms.

YRL577 combined with plant extracts reduce markers of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in mice.

Probiotics and plant extracts are considered to prevent the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The present study explores the effects of using both probiotics and plant extracts on NAFLD. The present study evaluated the effects of plant extracts on lipid droplet accumulation and the growth of probiotics in vitro.

Study of gastrointestinal tract viability and motility via modulation of serotonin in a zebrafish model by probiotics.

The relationship between bacterial strains and serotonin regulation was studied via the in vitro screening of the strains. Using the transparent visibility of zebrafish, the strains for intestinal peristalsis were quickly screened. The methods and results were as follows: (1) 18 strains with outstanding gastrointestinal viability via their surface hydrophobicity, self-aggregation ability, acid tolerance, bile tolerance, simulated gastric digestion and intestinal fluid tolerance were determined from 54 unpublished strains.

Screening of intestinal peristalsis-promoting probiotics based on a zebrafish model.

Based on the difference of the intestinal tract fluorescence intensity of zebrafish, the precise screening of strains with high retention capacity in vivo was completed and probiotics for intestinal peristalsis were quickly screened from strains with high retention capacity using the transparent visibility of zebrafish. In order to study the relationship between probiotic retention and intestinal peristalsis and develop constipation-resistant probiotics, this study used 2 types of strain and 6 potential functional strains and screened them based on the fluorescence intensity and intestinal peristalsis-promoting in the zebrafish model. The methods and results were as follows: (1) the zebrafish were immersed in the strains labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC), and the intestinal fluorescence intensity was taken as the index.

Polymersome-hydrogel composites with combined quick and long-term antibacterial activities.

We present an antibacterial polymersome-hydrogel composite that combines the advantages of both antimicrobial peptides and antibiotics. The polymersomes are self-assembled from poly(ε-caprolactone)-block-poly(lysine-stat-phenylalanine) [PCL-b-P(Lys-stat-Phe)], exhibiting long-acting intrinsic antibacterial capabilities against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. In addition, penicillin is encapsulated into the polymersomes, showing quick and enhanced antibacterial activities.

Blended learning with Moodle in medical statistics: an assessment of knowledge, attitudes and practices relating to e-learning.

Background: Blended learning that combines a modular object-oriented dynamic learning environment (Moodle) with face-to-face teaching was applied to a medical statistics course to improve learning outcomes and evaluate the impact factors of students' knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) relating to e-learning.

Methods: The same real-name questionnaire was administered before and after the intervention. The summed scores of every part (knowledge, attitude and practice) were calculated using the entropy method.

Rationally Separating the Corona and Membrane Functions of Polymer Vesicles for Enhanced T₂ MRI and Drug Delivery.

It is an important challenge to in situ grow ultrafine super-paramagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) in drug carriers such as polymer vesicles (also called polymersomes) while keeping their biodegradability for enhanced T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and drug delivery. Herein, we present a new strategy by rationally separating the corona and membrane functions of polymer vesicles to solve the above problem. We designed a poly(ethylene oxide)-block-poly(ε-caprolactone)-block-poly(acrylic acid) (PEO43-b-PCL98-b-PAA25) triblock copolymer and self-assembled it into polymer vesicle.