Are cities greener because of innovation?Independent innovation policy and green economic efficiency

The national independent innovation demonstration zone(NIIDZ)is an independent innovation policy that plays a crucial role in implementing strategies.Given the importance of the NIIDZ,this study uses panel data of 278 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2020 and empirically examines the effect and internal mechanism of the NIIDZ on green economic efficiency(GEE)using the difference-in-difference model(DID).The results show that the NIIDZ effectively enhances the growth of GEE,and the results remain valid through several robustness tests,such as year-by-year propensity score matching.The transmission mechanism suggests that the NIIDZ indirectly drives GEE by accelerating scientific and technological investment,promoting talent concentration,and optimizing the industrial structure.Moreover,heterogeneity analysis reveals that the promotion effect of the NIIDZ on GEE is more prominent in the eastern region and high green development level areas.The study’s findings can serve as a reference for China to further utilize the policy effectiveness of the NIIDZ and accelerate the high-quality development of the green economy in the future.

Recurrent ascites due to spontaneous intraperitoneal bladder rupture after pelvic radiation therapy for cervical cancer

Radiation cystitis is one of the major complications following radiotherapy for cervical cancer. However, spontaneous intraperitoneal bladder rupture as a result of radiation cystitis following radiotherapy for cervical cancer is extremely rare. Case presentation: We report a 52-year-old patient who received radiation therapy for cervical cancer 15 years prior to presentation. Eight years prior to presentation, she developed recurrent abdominal distension, oliguria, and ascites. Following ascites drainage and supportive treatment, all symptoms were relieved. However, all symptoms subsequently recurred every few months. The patient underwent exploratory laparotomy twice. The first exploratory laparotomy in July 2015 found no specific abnormalities. The second exploratory laparotomy in November 2016 found an intraperitoneal bladder rupture, and the patient underwent surgical repair. The ascites subsequently resolved. Conclusion: The occurrence of spontaneous intraperitoneal bladder rupture after radiation therapy for cervical cancer is rare. The prognosis is good when diagnosis and treatment are prompt.

Protective effects of IRG1/itaconate on acute colitis through the inhibition of gasdermins-mediated pyroptosis and inflammation response

Inflammatory bowel disease(IBD)is a chronic relapsing gastrointestinal disorder,while the treatment effect is not satisfactory.Immune responsive gene 1(IRG1)is a highly ex-pressed gene in macrophage in response to inflammatory response and catalyzes the production of itaconate.Studies have reported that IRG1/itaconate has a significant antioxidant effect.This study aimed to investigate the effect and mechanism of IRG1/itaconate on dextran sulfate so-dium(DSS)-induced colitis in vivo and in vitro.In vivo experiments,we found IRG1/itaconate ex-erted protective effects against acute colitis by increasing mice weight,the length of colon,reducing disease activity index and colonic inflammation.Meanwhile,IRG1 deletion aggravated the macrophages/CD4+/CD8+T-cell accumulation,and increased the release of interleukin(IL)-1b,tumor necrosis factor-a(TNF-a),IL-6,the activation of nuclear factor-kB(NF-kB)/mitogen-activated protein kinase(MAPK)signaling pathway,and gasdermin D(GSDMD)mediated pyrop-tosis.Four-octyl itaconate(4-OI),a derivative of itaconate,attenuated these changes,therefore relieved DSS-induced colitis.In vitro experiment,we found 4-OI inhibited the reactive oxygen species production,thereby inhibiting the activation of MAPK/NF-kB signaling pathway in RAW264.7 and murine bone-marrow-derived macrophages.Simultaneously,we found 4-OI inhib-ited caspase1/GSDMD-mediated pyroptosis to reduce the release of cytokines.Finally,we found anti-TNF-a agent reduced the severity of DSS-induced colitis and inhibited gasdermin E(GSDME)-mediated pyroptosis in vivo.Meanwhile,our study revealed that 4-OI inhibited caspase3/GSDME-mediated pyroptosis induced by TNF-a in vitro.Taken together,IRG1/itaconate exerted a pro-tective role in DSS-induced colitis by inhibiting inflammatory response and GSDMD/GSDME-medi-ated pyroptosis,which could be a promising candidate for IBD therapy.