Understanding the Relationship Between Shrinking Cities and Land Prices:Spatial Pattern,Effectiveness,and Policy Implications

Urban shrinkage has emerged as a widespread phenomenon globally and has a significant impact on land,particularly in terms of land use and price.This study focuses on 2851 county-level cities in China in 2005–2018(excluding Hong Kong,Macao,Taiwan,and‘no data’areas in Qinhai-Tibet Plateau)as the fundamental units of analysis.By employing nighttime light(NTL)data to identify shrinking cities,the propensity score matching(PSM)model was used to quantitatively examine the impact of shrinking cities on land prices,and evaluate the magnitude of this influence.The findings demonstrate the following:1)there were 613 shrinking cities in China,with moderate shrinkage being the most prevalent and severe shrinkage being the least.2)Regional disparities are evident in the spatial distribution of shrinking cities,especially in areas with diverse terrain.3)The spatial pattern of land price exhibits a significant correlated to the economic and administrative levels.4)Shrinking cities significantly negatively impact on the overall land price(ATT=–0.1241,P<0.05).However,the extent of the effect varies significantly among different spatial regions.This study contributes novel insights into the investigation of land prices and shrinking cities,ultimately serving as a foundation for government efforts to promote the sustainable development of urban areas.

THE EARLY RELATIVE BIOLOGICAL EFFECTIVENESS OF SINGLE DOSE OF FAST NEUTRONS（35MeV_（p→Be）） FOR BONE MARROW IN MICE

The early RBE of the bone marrow in mice after studied irradiation with fast neutrons(35 MeVp→Be) was studied.60Co-γ ray was used for referent beams.Using the dos.making 50% loss of the nucleated cells of bone marrow in mice relative to control group mice to calculated the RBE value which was 2.13±0.18.Meanwhile,the relationship of the RBE values and the dose of neutrons was noted.On log-log plot the RBE values decrease with increasing dose of fast neutrons and it is consistent with a slope of -0.39± 0.10.The α/β ratios were estimated from linear-quadratic model of cell survival,they are 14.4±1.30 Gy for fast neutrons and 0.83±0.10 Gy for γ-ray,respectively.

The Experimental Measurement of the Relative Biological Effectiveness of Carbon Ions with Different Qualities

The relative biological effectiveness （RBE） of carbon ions with linear energy transfer （LET） of 172 keV/μm and 13.7 keV/μm were determined in this study. The clonogenic survival and premature terminal differentiation were measured on normal human fibroblasts AG01522C and NHDF after exposure of the cells to 250 kV X-rays and carbon ions with different qualities. RBE was determined for these two biological end points. The results showed that the measured RBE10 with a survival fraction of 10% was 3.2 for LET 172 keV/μm, and 1.33 for LET 13.7 keV/μm carbon ions. RBE for a doubling of post-mitotic fibroblasts （PMF） in the population was 2.8 for LET 172 keV/μm, and 1 for LET 13.7 keV/μm carbon ions. For the carbon ion therapy, a high RBE value on the Bragg peak results in a high biological dose on the tumour. The tumour cells can be killed effectively. At the same time, the dose on healthy tissue would be reduced accordingly. This will lighten the late effect such as fibrosis on normal tissue.

Pore structure characteristics of the relative water-resisting layer on the top of the Ordovician in Longgu Coal Mine

In order to study the permeability and water-resisting ability of the strata on the top of the Ordovician in Longgu Coal Mine, this paper tested the permeability and porosity of the strata, investigated the fracture and pore structure features of the strata, and identified the main channels which govern the permeability and water-resisting ability of the strata. The permeability of the upper, central and lower strata shows as 2.0504 × 10^-3-2.782762× 10^-3, 4.1092 × 10^-3 -7.3387 × 10^-3 and 2.0891 ×10^-3-3.2705 × 10-3 μm^2, respectively, and porosity of that is 0.6786-0.9197%, 0.3109-0.3951% and 0.9829-1.8655%, respectively. The results indicate that： （I） the main channels of the relative water-resisting layer are the pore throats with a diameter more than 6 μm; （2） the major proportion of pore throats in the vertical flow channel and the permeability first increases and then sharply decreases; （3） the fractures occurring from the top to 20 m in depth of the strata were filled and there occurred almost no fracture under the depth of 40 m; and （4） the ratio of turning point of the main flow channel in the strata on top of Ordovician can be used to confirm the thickness of filled water-resisting lavers.

The relative age effect has no influence on match outcome in youth soccer

Purpose： In age-restricted youth sport, the over-selection of athletes born in the first quarter of the year and under-selection of athletes born in the last quarter of the year has been called the relative age effect （RAE）. Its existence in youth sports like soccer is well established. Why it occurs has not been identified, however, one thought is that older players, generally taller and heavier, are thought to improve the team＇s chances of winning. To test this assumption, birth dates and match outcome were correlated to see if teams with the oldest mean age had a systematic advantage against teams with younger mean ages. Methods： Player birth dates and team records （n = 5943 players on 371 teams; both genders; U11-U16） were obtained from the North Carolina Youth Soccer Association for the highest level of statewide youth competition. Results： The presence of an RAE was demonstrated with significant oversampling from players born in the I st vs. the 4th quarter （overall： 29.6% vs. 20.9% respectively, p 〈 0.0001）. Mean team age was regressed on match outcomes （winning %, points/match, points/goal, and goals for, against, and goal difference）, but there was no evidence of any systematic influence of mean team age and match outcomes, except possibly in U11 males. Conclusion： Selecting players based on physical maturity （and subsequently, on age） does not appear to have any systematic influence on match outcome or season record in youth soccer suggesting that the selection process should be focused on player ability and not on physical maturation.

Dependence of epoch-wise two-way nested ANOVA estimates of variances of unmodeled effects present in relative GPS positioning on satellite elevation cutoff angle and PDOP mask

Impact of satellite elevation cutoff angle and position dilution of precision(PDOP)mask change on epoch-wise variance components of unmodeled effects that accompany relative Global Positioning System(GPS)positioning is presented herein.Data used for this study refer to the winter and summer periods of the years with minimal(2008)and maximal(2013)solar activity.These data were collected every 30 s in static mode,at two permanent GPS stations located in Montenegro,establishing a mediumdistance(116-km-long)baseline with a height difference of approximately 760 m between its endpoints.The study showed that changing satellite elevation cutoff angle,with a fixed PDOP mask,affects epochwise two-way nested ANOVA estimates of variances related to the‘far-field’multipath(considered as the nested factor herein)and the combined unmodeled effect of tropospheric and ionospheric refraction(considered as the nesting factor herein).However,changing of PDOP mask,with a fixed satellite elevation cutoff angle,doesn’t affect epoch-wise two-way nested ANOVA estimate of variance of the combined unmodeled effect of tropospheric and ionospheric refraction,but,generally,affects the estimate of variance of the‘far-field’multipath(possibly mixed with a part of a‘shorter-term’ionospheric refraction),which is especially pronounced for the summer period.It should also be noted that there is a significant influence of satellite elevation cutoff angle change on both epoch-wise horizontal and vertical position accuracy,only for the summer period,especially in the presence of maximal solar activity,while there is no significant impact of PDOP mask change on epoch-wise positional accuracy.

Response of HD-V2 radiochromic film to argon ions

A two-dimensional dose detector for ion beam is required in many high energy density physics experiments.As a solid detector,the GAFChromic film offers a good spatial resolution and dosimetric accuracy.For an absolute dose measurement,the relative effectiveness,which represents the darkening efficiency of the film to a radiation source,needs to be taken into consideration.In this contribution,the dose-response of HD-V2 to argon ions is presented for the first time.The calibration was taken over the dose range of 65 Gy-660 Gy with 8-keV argon ions.The response of net optical density is from 0.01 to 0.05.Triple-color dose-response functions are derived.The relative effectiveness for the argon ion beams is about 5%,much lower than that of protons and carbon ions.To explain this effect,the inactivation probability based on track theory of ion bombardment is proposed.Furthermore,a theoretical prediction of the relative effectiveness for single ion is presented,showing the dependence of the darkening efficiency on the atomic number and the incident energy of ions.

Sintilimab-induced autoimmune diabetes:A case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND With the widespread application of immune checkpoint inhibitor(ICI)therapy,the number of immune-related adverse effects(irAEs)has increased over the years.Autoimmune diabetes mellitus(DM)is a rare irAEs of ICIs and can be troublesome and life threatening.CASE SUMMARY We report a 78-year-old woman with no history of diabetes who presented with hyperglycemia up to 23.4 mmol/L(random blood glucose level)after 14 courses of sintilimab.Hemoglobin A1c was 8.2%,fasting insulin was 0.29 mIU/mL,and fasting C-peptide was decreased to a level with negative autoantibodies.Combing her medical history and laboratory examination,she was diagnosed with programmed cell death(PD)-1-inhibitor-induced,new-onset autoimmune DM.After controlling her blood glucose,she was treated with daily insulin by subcutaneous injection.She was allowed to continue anti-PD-1 therapy and she still obtained some therapeutic efficacy.We also reviewed some published cases(n=36)of PD-1/PD-ligand 1(PD-L1)inhibitor-induced DM.We also discuss potential pathogenic mechanisms,clinical features,prognostic markers(βcell antibodies,human leukocyte antigen type,PD-L1 Level)of this rare adverse effect.CONCLUSION It is important for all clinicians to be aware of DM as an irAEs of ICIs.

Complex Effective Relative Permittivity of Soil Samples from the Taunus Region (Germany)

The most important parameter affecting ground-penetrating radar （GPR） measurements is the complex effective relative permittivity εr^＊,eff because it controls the propagation velocity and the reflection of GPR pulses. Knowing εr^＊,eff of soils passed through by electromagnetic waves increases accuracy in soil thickness and interface identification. Complex effective relative permittivity εr^＊,eff= εr^＊,eff - jεr^＊,effof 25 soil samples with textures ranging from loamy sand to silty clay was measured using the two-electrode parallelplate method. The measurements were conducted at defined water contents for frequencies from 1 MHz to 3 GHz. The results confirm the frequency dependence of εr^＊,eff and show that the dielectric behavior of soil-water mixtures is a function of water content. Applying the experimental data of this study with predictions based on the empirical model by Toppet aL （1980）, we find that Topp et aL＇s curve tends to underestimate the real part of εr^＊,eff measured. Along with frequency and water content, soil texture and organic matter affect soil permittivity. Moreover, the real part of εr^＊,eff increases at higher dry bulk densities. Output from our calibration model enables us to predict εr^＊,eff for the soil samples which were tested under the actual in situ soil water content. This results in high accuracy of soil thickness prediction.

Tuning Martensitic Phase Transition by Non-Magnetic Atom Vacancy in MnCoGe Alloys and Related Giant Magnetocaloric Effect

The effects of non-magnetic atom vacancy on structural, martensitic phase transitions and the corresponding magnetocMoric effect in MnCoGel-x alloys are investigated using x-ray diffraction and magnetic measurements. The introduction of non-magnetic atom vacancy leads to the decrease of the martensitic transition temperature and realizes a temperature window where magnetic and martensitic phase transitions can be tuned together. Moreover, the giant magnetocaloric effect accompanied with the coupled magnetic-structural transition is ob- tained. It is observed that the peak values of magnetic entropy change of MnCoGeo.97 are about -13.9, -35.1 and -47.4J.kg-1K-1 for △H = 2, 5, 7T, respectively.

A NEW METHOD FOR STABILITY ANALYSIS OF UNDERGROUND OPENING USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK

The stability of underground opening is strongly constrained by a variety of factors. These include initial stress, structure of rock mass, and underground water, etc. A new approach proposed in this paper aims at revealing the degree of significance of them in order to catch the key factors. This new approach utilizes the mapping potentiality of artificial neural network and works out the sophisticated interactions among those factors from sample set. As a demonstration, an example is given for the application of this method to an underground opening. All results of this paper prove the efficiency of artificial neural network in stability analysis of underground opening.

Community Needs Assessment in Relation to Urban Heat Effects: A Study in Greater Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Urban areas usually experience higher temperatures compared with their rural surroundings; this is characterized as urban heat islands （UHIs）, which are the result of environmental overheating due to anthropic activities. Urban areas,which are characterised by massive construction that reduce local vegetation coverage, are subject to the absorption of a large amount of solar radiation,which is only partially released into the atmosphere by radiation in the thermal infrared.

Blood and Histopathological Biomarkers of Immune-related Adverse Effects of Treatment with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Immune checkpoint inhibitors have been a recent major breakthrough in the management of tumors.They have broadened the scope of management in medical oncology,which has been heavily dependent on chemotherapy.Immune checkpoint inhibitors have renewed the hope of many patients for a more effective treatment.However,Immune checkpoint inhibitors are also associated with a variety of adverse effects,most commonly immunerelated adverse events,and these are often different from the known chemotherapy-induced toxicities.Hence,there is a need to identify specific biomarkers which are able to predict or diagnose these immune-related adverse events.

Heterogeneous uptake of NO_2 on soils under variable temperature and relative humidity conditions

Heterogeneous reactions of nitrogen dioxide （NO2） on soils collected from Dalian （S 1） and Changsha （S2） were investigated over the relative humidity （RH） range of 5%-80% and temperature range of 278-328 K using a horizontal coated-wall flow tube. The initial uptake coefficients of NO2 on S2 exhibited a decreasing trend from （10 ± 1.3） × 10-8 to （3.1 ± 0.5） x 10-8 with the relative humidity increasing from 5% to 80%. In the temperature effect studies, the initial uptake coefficients of S1 and S2 decreased from （10± 1.2） × 10-8 to （3.8 ± 0.5） × 10-8 and from （16± 2.2） × 10-8 to （3.8 ±0.4） × 10-8 when temperature increased from 278 to 288 K for S1 and from 278 to 308 K for S2, respectively. As the temperature continued to increase, the initial uptake coefficients of S1 and S2 returned to （7.9 ± 1.1）× 10-8 and （20 ± 3.1） × 10-8 at 313 and 328 K, respectively. This study shows that relative humidity could influence the uptake kinetics of NO2 on soil and temperature would impact the heterogeneous chemistry of NO2.

Toward a data analytics -based approach for computing and predicting context- sensitive teaching effectiveness

The traditional student-oriented course evaluation has been the major assessment method on teaching effectiveness worldwide.Useful as it is,it has been widely and continuously criticized for not being a fair,accurate,and reliable measurement.In search of a more objective assessment method on teaching effectiveness that also reflects the impacts of context-based learning,we propose a theoretical approach from a unique perspective that recognizes teaching effectiveness as a result of the interplays between teacher,student,and context.The approach can be used to compute as well as to predict teaching effectiveness using machine and deep learning technologies,which brings strategical benefits to institutional management.In addition,we install into the approach a mechanism using tokens as incentives to assure the quality of subjective data input.The application framework for the approach is proposed leveraging blockchain.Each implementation of the framework by an establishment is a decentralized application that runs on its chosen blockchain.It is envisioned that the implementations together will form a collective ecology on context-based relative teaching effectiveness,which has the potential to fundamentally impact other academic practices besides teaching effectiveness measurement.The theoretical approach provides a common language to delineate teaching effectiveness from the context-based relative perspective and is customizable during implementation.The teaching effectiveness assessment using the approach downplays the roles played by bias(subjectity)and hence is more objective than that by traditional student-oriented course evaluation.

Large electrocaloric effect in BaTiO_3 based multilayer ceramic capacitors

The electrocaloric effect(ECE) of multilayer ceramic capacitor(MLCC) of Y5 V type was directly measured via a differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) method and a reference resistor was used to calibrate the heat flow due to the heat dissipation. The results are compared with those calculated from Maxwell relations by using the polarization data obtained from the polarization–electric field hysteresis loops. The direct method shows a larger ECE temperature change, which is accounted for the situation approaches an ideal condition. For the indirect method using Maxwell relations, only the polarization projection along the electric field was taken into account, which will be less than the randomly distributed real polarizations that contribute to the ECE. The MLCCs exhibit a broad peak of ECE around 80 C, which will be favorite for the practical ECE cooling devices.

Effect of Ag substitution on structural,magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Pr_(0.6)Sr_(0.4–x)Ag_xMnO_3 manganites

A systematic investigation on the structural, magnetic and magnetocaloric properties of Pr_（0.6）Sr_（0.4-x）Ag_xMnO_3（x=0.05 and 0.1） manganites was reported. Rietveld refinements of the X-ray diffraction patterns confirmed that all samples were single phase and crystallized in the orthorhombic structure with Pnma space group. Magnetic measurements in a magnetic applied field of 0.01T revealed that the ferromagnetic-paramagnetic transition temperature T_C decreased from about 293 to 290 K with increasing silver content from x=0.05 to 0.1. The reported magnetocaloric entropy change and relative cooling power for both samples were considerably remarkable with a △S_（max） value of 1.9 J/（kg·K）and maximum RCP values of 100 J/kg, under a magnetic field change（？μ0H） equal to 1.8T. The analysis of the universal curves gave an evidence of a second order magnetic transition for the studied samples. The magnetic field influence on both the magnetic entropy change and the relative cooling power was also studied and discussed.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans and polychlorinated biphenyls in surface soil from the Tibetan Plateau

Concentrations of Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans（PCDD/Fs） and polychlorinated biphenyls（PCBs） in soil samples from Tibetan Plateau were determined. The average concentration of total 2,3,7,8-PCDD/Fs was（2.30 ± 1.02） pg/g, and World Health Organization Toxicity Equivalency（WHO-TEQ） average concentration was（0.013 ± 0.010）pg WHO-TEQ/g. The average concentration of ∑PCBs（7 indicator PCB and 12 dioxin like-PCB congeners） was（16.2 ± 9.25） pg/g, and WHO-TEQ average concentration was 0.043 ±0.049 pg WHO-TEQ/g. Comparing to previous studies in similar environmental conditions,PCDD/Fs and PCBs in this study showed a relatively lower concentration. The altitude dependences of PCDD/Fs and PCBs were also studied. Total organic carbon（TOC） normalized concentrations presented a quadratic relation with the altitudes, and an inflection could be found on the parabola of the total concentrations and some congeners of high concentration.The concentrations decreased with altitudes below about 4500 m above sea level（a.s.l.）, while they increased with altitudes above it. These phenomena indicate that cold condensation of PCDD/Fs and PCBs would happen above 4500 m a.s.l, on the Tibetan Plateau.

Sensitivity of MCF-7 mammosphere CSCs to neutron radiation

Aim:Cancer stem cells(CSCs)are highly resistant to chemotherapy andγ-irradiation.Neutrons have a high linear energy transfer,which can lead to extensive damage to the DNA of tumor cells and CSCs.The aim of this work was to compare the sensitivity of MCF-7 human breast adenocarcinoma cells and CSCs toγ-andγ,n-irradiation.Methods:To increase the number of CSCs,MCF-7 cells were cultured as mammospheres.γ-irradiation was carried out in a GUT-200M device(^(60)Co source)in the dose range of 1-8 Gy at a dose rate of 0.75 Gy/min.γ,n-irradiation was carried out in an IR-8 reactor in the dose range of 0.05-2 Gy at a dose rate of 0.06 Gy/min.DNA DSB formation was assessed by the level ofγH2AX foci using fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry.CSCs were identified by flow cytometry as CD44^(+)/CD24^(-/low) cells.Results:We showed thatγ,n-irradiation induced the formation ofγH2AX foci of a larger size than didγ-irradiation and led to more severe DNA damage per 1 Gy.Moreover,γ,n-radiation was found to have a high relative biological effectiveness(RBE)as assessed by the cell survival rate,the number of CSCs in culture,and the ability of CSCs to repopulate.The highest RBE of neutron radiation was observed at low doses,when cell survival rate decreased by only 5%-10%.With an increase in the radiation dose,the RBE value decreased for all studied parameters,but it remained as high as 5.Conclusion:γ,n-radiation is highly effective against CSCs.Our results explain the efficacy of neutron therapy for resistant forms of breast cancer.