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Ethyl pyruvate promotes wound healing in elastase-induced lung injury in mice as assessed by hyperpolarized 129Xe magnetic resonance imaging
Get PDFPurpose
Wound healing process in lung injury involves the activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway. In this study, we investigated the role of the MAPK pathway in wound healing in a murine model of emphysema using hyperpolarized 129Xe (HP 129Xe) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Procedures
Porcine pancreatic elastase was administered intratracheally to 25 mice to induce lung injury. Temporal changes in pulmonary gas exchange function were monitored using HP 129Xe MRI, revealing a significant decline in function one day after elastase administration. Treatments with ethyl pyruvate (EP) and nicorandil (Nic), which upregulate and downregulate the MAPK pathway, respectively, were initiated in 12 and 7 of the 25 mice, respectively, and continued for 20 days. Over the 21-day period, HP 129Xe MRI was performed to monitor the disease progression and treatment efficacy through changes in the metrics of gas exchange and fractional ventilation.
Results
HP 129Xe MRI showed that EP significantly improved gas exchange function 14 days after elastase administration, whereas Nic did not show any improvement. Ventilatory function also improved in the EP group, but not in the Nic group, 14 days after elastase administration. Histological analysis showed that EP repaired tissue damage to a level similar to that observed in healthy mice, whereas Nic did not.
Conclusions
In the present study, we provide some insight into the role of the MAPK pathway in wound healing in elastase-induced lung injury, as assessed using the HP 129Xe MRI protocol
Investigating the effects of energy export options and policies on consumers’ electric vehicle preferences in a low-uptake country
Get PDFElectric vehicles (EVs) are pivotal for decarbonising the transport sector, yet adoption rates in many countries fall short of what is needed to meet climate targets. Existing research on consumer preferences for EVs predominantly examines high-adoption regions, focusing on established EV attributes and policies. However, as EV technologies evolve and the policy landscape shifts, understanding their impact on shaping consumer preferences in low-adoption markets is critical. This study investigates the influence of advanced energy export capabilities – Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) – and emerging policies on consumers’ EV preferences in a low-adoption market. We use stated preference data collected from a nationally representative sample in Australia. Notably, this is also the first study to quantify the impact of EV-specific road user charges on consumer preferences. The findings reveal that V2G and V2H capabilities significantly enhance consumer appeal, increasing willingness to pay by up to AUD 8991. This is comparable to the willingness to pay increase of AUD 10,006 associated with a purchase subsidy of AUD 5000. Moreover, favourable monetary incentives deliver greater perceived value to consumers. Conversely, non-favourable policies, such as EV-exclusive road user charges, diminish consumer interest, with a 1 cent per km charge reducing willingness to pay by AUD 5415. These findings underscore the transformative potential of EV energy export features to drive adoption, comparable to the effect of financial incentives, while highlighting the necessity of balanced, consumer-focused policy frameworks to accelerate EV adoption in low-adoption markets
Mapping the margins: a decolonial exploration of Kenyan women's encounters with violent extremism
Get PDFThis article explores violent extremism (VE) through an embodied, bottom-up lens, using body-mapping with Muslim women in Kenya. Drawing on two selected body maps, we critically interrogate the use of VE is as a framework for analysing the harm experienced by women. Our participants used the terminology of VE to refer not only to Al-Shabaab-related violence but also to gender-based violence, gang violence, and state violence. These insights highlight a key tension in critical scholarship on VE: while often critiqued from a distance, VE is actively reappropriated by those most affected. We argue that, as a community disproportionately targeted by countering violent extremism (CVE) initiatives, our participants employed the language of VE as a form of adaptive resistance—challenging both the violent policing of CVE and the patriarchal violence embedded in their daily lives. This article contributes to feminist decolonial critiques of VE by centring the voices of those most impacted, and by questioning critiques that overlook lived experiences. Additionally, by sharing our arts-based methodology, we contribute to emerging literature on decolonial research practices. Finally, we raise critical questions about the intersections of gender-based violence, gang violence, state violence, and VE in Kenya and beyond
The contribution of digitalization to non-inclusive growth in Japan. A Régulationist perspective on post-industrial dynamics
No full textWhile inclusive growth has been considered a major characteristic of post-war Japan, this is no more the case since the early 1990s as the country transitioned to a post-industrial economy. This paper seeks to explain that digitalization is a primary drive of growing inequalities in post-industrial Japan and argues for incorporating the digital divide into the investigation of changing economic structures and growth patterns. We mobilize the Régulation theoretical framework, which posits that the impact of technology on growth and inequality regimes is not homogenous across countries and over time. Our empirical investigation combines macro-level data and institutional perspective with case study of the hospitality sector, in line with the Régulationist concept of the ‘anthropogenic’ mode of development. Our major conclusion is that digitalization, in the specific Japanese context, is leading to non-inclusive growth patterns through its effects on the wage-labour nexus, in an idiosyncratic way
The effect of Peer-to-Peer lending on financial exclusion: Evidence from China
No full textThe association of financial technology (fintech) and financial exclusion has attracted attention since rapid growth of fintech innovation. This study investigates the funding probability of the financial excluded borrower in a large P2P lending platform. Using loanlevel data from a lending Chinese P2P company, we find there is a negative indirect effect of financial exclusion on funding success through credit score. In a moderated mediation analysis,
we also find new business model such as offline authentication and education qualification positively moderates the linkage between the financial excluded and credit score and therefore negative indirect effect of financial exclusion on funding success is overturned when the excluded borrower has conducted offline authentication and obtained higher education qualification. Lastly, we examine the determinants of offline authentication decision. We find the borrowers in a city with better financial infrastructure are more willing to conduct authentication. However, the financial excluded borrowers are less likely to conduct offline authentication
Green Bond Returns and the Dynamics of Green and Traditional Financial Markets: A Thick Pen Analysis
Get PDFThis paper analyses the relationship between green bond markets and both green and traditional financial markets using the Thick Pen Measure of Association, a visually interpretable tool for analysing co-movement across different time scales. It finds, first, that the relationships between these markets shift over time, with a strong influence of events like COVID-19 and the Ukraine war. Second, green bond returns closely track benchmark bonds but show weaker, sometimes declining, links to stocks, which underscores their diversification potential. Short-term green bond moves, however, remain tied to the stock market's long-term environment, especially in times of stres
Using the COM-B model to identify barriers and facilitators of long-term participation in a dance programme to increase physical activity in older adults.
Get PDF‘Dance On’ is a community-based dance programme designed to engage older adults, especially females, and those of a low socioeconomic status, in regular physical activity. Data showed those that those who engage with ‘Dance On’ report a sustained increased in physical activity and wellbeing over 12 months. In this study we aim to explore older adults’ perspectives on factors that help or hinder continued engagement with ‘Dance On’ in relation to both the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation and Behaviour (COM-B) model and the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). Semi-structured interviews with 18 older people who had participated in ‘Dance On’ for more than 12 months were conducted. Data analysis involved deductive thematic analysis using the COM-B to identify overarching behavioural influences, and then the domains of the TDF were mapped onto the elements of the COM-B to permit a more detailed examination of the psychological, social, and environmental factors underpinning behaviour. Eleven of the 14 TDF domains, mapped onto the COM-B domains. Environmental context and resource, especially location and cost and social influences, including social support and the inclusive nature of the sessions were particularly important to sustain. The leadership of the dance classes was also seen as a key factor in sustained participation. Three of the TDF were not mentioned by participants including knowledge, optimism and behavioural regulation. Sustained adherence to community-based programmes like ‘Dance On’ can be meaningfully supported by the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) that draws upon both the COM-B and TDF
Rethinking ecosystem service trade-offs through perceived synergies and prioritisation: evidence from Haizhu National Wetland Park
Get PDFContextMultifunctional urban nature areas conserve biodiversity while delivering cultural ecosystem services (ESs), yet intensive use can create conflicts between them. While most studies address trade-offs at broader landscape scales, less is known about perceptions at the meso-scale, where people directly experience them. Such perceptions are key for aligning conservation with public values.ObjectivesThis study aims to examine how visitors perceive trade-offs and synergies among biodiversity, aesthetics, and recreation in a multifunctional wetland park. It further seeks to advance understanding of ES interactions by complementing scale perspectives and rethinking trade-offs through public perceptions.MethodsHaizhu National Wetland Park, the public-accessible part of the Ramsar-listed Haizhu Wetlands in Guangzhou, China, was selected as a case study for its ecological value and intensive visitation. Visitor perceptions were assessed through discrete choice experiments, participatory mapping, and interviews.ResultsA biodiversity-sensitive subgroup (17%) benefits from biodiversity gains and is harmed by losses, while others are more sensitive to costs or aesthetics and may tolerate biodiversity decline if scenic quality is preserved. Scenarios expanding recreation while degrading both biodiversity and aesthetics consistently reduce welfare. Strong synergies between aesthetics and biodiversity or recreation suggest that aesthetics may act as a mediator, enabling improvements in aesthetics and biodiversity to sustain overall welfare without enhancing recreation at the expense of biodiversity.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that prioritising biodiversity-sensitive, aesthetically enriched habitats may yield greater welfare gains than enhancing all services equally and underscore the importance of incorporating heterogeneous human preferences regarding ES relationships into urban nature conservation
BICC1 interacts with PKD1 and PKD2 to drive cystogenesis in ADPKD
Get PDFAutosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is primarily of adult-onset and caused by pathogenic variants in PKD1 or PKD2 . Yet, disease expression is highly variable and includes very early-onset PKD presentations in utero or infancy. In animal models, the RNA-binding molecule Bicc1 has been shown to play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of PKD. To study the interaction between BICC1, PKD1, and PKD2, we combined biochemical approaches, knockout studies in mice and Xenopus, genetic engineered human kidney cells carrying BICC1 variants, as well as genetic studies in a large ADPKD cohort. We first demonstrated that BICC1 physically binds to the proteins Polycystin-1 and -2 encoded by PKD1 and PKD2 via distinct protein domains. Furthermore, PKD was aggravated in loss-of-function studies in Xenopus and mouse models, resulting in more severe disease when Bicc1 was depleted in conjunction with Pkd1 or Pkd2 . Finally, in a large human patient cohort, we identified a sibling pair with a homozygous BICC1 variant and patients with very early onset PKD (VEO-PKD) that exhibited compound heterozygosity of BICC1 in conjunction with PKD1 and PKD2 variants. Genome editing demonstrated that these BICC1 variants were hypomorphic in nature and impacted disease-relevant signaling pathways. These findings support the hypothesis that BICC1 cooperates functionally with PKD1 and PKD2, and that BICC1 variants may aggravate PKD severity, highlighting RNA metabolism as an important new concept for disease modification in ADPKD
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