No abstract

Urban parks and public transport are indispensable elements of a compact megacity for their environmental and social values. However, few measures of urban park accessibility have considered the public transport travel mode. Based on the framework of geographic information systems (GIS) network analysis, this study proposes an innovative method to incorporate public transport travel mode into urban park accessibility evaluations. Taking Shanghai, China, as the study area, we measured home to park and park from home travel times on multi-modal transport networks, calculated the accessibilities by multiple equations, and compared accessibilities for different districts. These methods extend current accessibility measures by calculating accessibility at a realistic level, and provide a measure of public transport service for urban parks. The results for Shanghai show that approximately 99.95% of home to park routes might include public transport. The distribution of home to park public transport accessibility of the city was uneven. The patches with best accessibility tend to be distributed in the built-up area in the city centre. Public transport access to urban parks is inhomogeneous for different districts, because of urban park locations, road network characteristics, and uneven public transport supply. The distribution of park from home public transport accessibility has no significant correlation with district development stage. Public transport service in Shanghai takes no account of the factors of park star rating or size. Positive actions are required to improve the equity of public transport access to the important public health resources of urban parks.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been identified as critical players in multiple cancers and lncRNAs are tightly linked to cancer progression. However, only little amount of lncRNAs have been identified to participate in the molecular mechanisms of the progression of hepatocellular carcinoma. In this study, we found that lncRNA-AK058003 is down-regulated in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and it is associated with the relapse and metastasis of the cancer. Furthermore, lncRNA-AK058003 acts as a tumor suppressor, suppressing hepatocellular carcinoma cell proliferation and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. lncRNA-AK058003 can reduce mRNA stabilizing protein HuR, which results in the inhibition of the expression of γ-synuclein. In addition, a bioinformatics study indicated that γ-synuclein is a target of miR-15a. To verify whether lncRNA-AK058003 plays a role in miR-15a-mediated inhibition of γ-synuclein, we demonstrated that lncRNA-AK058003 is very likely to be a precursor of miR-15a. Collectively, lncRNA-AK058003 can reduce the expression of mRNA stabilizing protein HuR and act as a precursor of miR-15a to suppress γ-synucleinmediated cell proliferation and the metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Abstract. Trinitrotoluene (TNT), a commonly used explosive for military and industrial applications, can cause serious environmental pollution. 28-day laboratory pot experiment was carried out applying bioaugmentation using laboratory selected bacterial strains as inoculum, biostimulation with molasses and cabbage leaf extract, and phytoremediation using rye and blue fenugreek to study the effect of these treatments on TNT removal and changes in soil microbial community responsible for contaminant degradation. Chemical analyses revealed significant decreases in TNT concentrations, including reduction of some of the TNT to its amino derivates during the 28-day tests. The combination of bioaugmentation-biostimulation approach coupled with rye cultivation had the most profound effect on TNT degradation. Although plants enhanced the total microbial community abundance, blue fenugreek cultivation did not significantly affect the TNT degradation rate. The results from molecular analyses suggested the survival and elevation of the introduced bacterial strains throughout the experiment. Keywords: TNT, bioaugmentation, biostimulation, phytoremediation, microbial community.

Good walking accessibility and an adequate supply of urban parks is critical for the physical and mental well-being of people living in cities, especially citizens residing in compact megacities. The service area from residences to urban parks in different areas were measured according to Accessible Natural Greenspace Standards by way of network analysis in the geographic information system. Multiple regression models were used to calculate the average weighted walking times from road junctions and community entrances to urban park entrances to assess the walking accessibility to urban parks in Shanghai. A statistical analysis of parks, communities and neighbourhood socio-economic status was conducted to analyse the uneven distribution and social inequity of urban park accessibility and supply. Park service area, walking accessibility and supply efficiency varied greatly in different districts for different categories of parks. The majority of areas with good park accessibility were located in old towns rather than in the new districts. The consistency between park access distribution and population distribution did not translate to equality in park supply. Positive actions are needed to redress the social inequity of access to this important public health resource.