Short-term night lighting disrupts lipid and glucose metabolism in Zebra Finches:Implication for urban stopover birds

Night lighting has been shown to affect wild animals.To date,the effects of night lighting on the metabolic homeostasis of birds that spend short time in urban environments remain unclear.Using model bird species Zebra Finch(Taeniopygia guttata),we investigated the effects of short-term night lighting on liver transcriptome,blood glucose,triglyceride,and thyroxine(T4 and T3)levels in birds exposed to two different night lighting duration periods(three days and six days).After three days of night lighting exposure,the expression of genes involved in fat synthesis in the liver was upregulated while the expression of genes involved in fatty acid oxidation and triglyceride decomposition was downregulated.There was also a reduction in blood triglyceride,glucose,and T3 concentrations.However,after six days of night lighting,the expression of genes associated with fatty acid decomposition and hyperglycemia in the liver was upregulated,while the expression of genes involved in fat synthesis was downregulated.Simultaneously,blood glucose levels and T3 concentration increased.These findings indicate that short-term exposure to night lighting can disrupt the lipid and glucose metabolism of small passerine birds,and longer stopovers in urban area with intense night lighting may cause birds to consume more lipid energy.

Strategies for Applying LED Lights in Night Space Lighting for Bridges

LED lights have been widely used in urban night space lighting in recent years as they are small,energy-saving,and efficient.This article explores the use of LEDs in bridge night space lighting and their application strategies.The aim is to offer valuable insights and references for urban planners and bridge lighting designers in China.By advancing the application of LED technology in bridge night lighting,the goal is to enhance the city’s nighttime ambiance,making the bridge an iconic landmark and a defining feature of the city.

Impact of air pollution on urbanization:evidence at China’s city level

This paper investigates the effect and transmission mechanism of air pollution on urbanization based on data from China’s 107 cities during 2005–2018.In order to identify the impact of air pollution on China’s urbanization,we utilized night light data to represent the level of urbanization and used temperature inversion as an instrumental variable to mitigate endogeneity within the two-stage least squares framework.The results suggest that air pollution significantly slowed China’s urbanization process with economic growth acting as the transmission mechanism.The heterogeneity analyses revealed that air pollution had a greater negative impact on urbanization in northern regions than that in southern regions,and a greater negative impact in resource-oriented cities than that in non-resource-based cities.We also find that air pollution was to the detriment of urbanization in larger cities,which have more than 3 million residents,while it did not have a significant impact on Type II large cities,which have fewer than 3 million residents.

Light at night and lung cancer risk:A worldwide interdisciplinary and time-series study

Background:Light at night(LAN)has become a concern in interdisciplinary research in recent years.This global interdisciplinary study aimed to explore the exposure-lag-response association between LAN exposure and lung cancer incidence.Methods:LAN data were obtained from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program’s Operational Linescan System.Data of lung cancer incidence,socio-demographic index,and smoking prevalence of populations in 201 countries/territories from 1992 to 2018 were collected from the Global Burden of Disease Study.Spearman correlation tests and population-weighted linear regression analysis were used to evaluate the correlation between LAN exposure and lung cancer incidence.A distributed lag nonlinear model(DLNM)was used to assess the exposure-lag effects of LAN exposure on lung cancer incidence.Results:The Spearman correlation coefficients were 0.286-0.355 and the population-weighted linear regression correlation coefficients were 0.361-0.527.After adjustment for socio-demographic index and smoking preva-lence,the Spearman correlation coefficients were 0.264-0.357 and the population-weighted linear regression correlation coefficients were 0.346-0.497.In the DLNM,the maximum relative risk was 1.04(1.02-1.06)at LAN exposure of 8.6 with a 2.6-year lag time.After adjustment for socio-demographic index and smoking prevalence,the maximum relative risk was 1.05(1.02-1.07)at LAN exposure of 8.6 with a 2.4-year lag time.Conclusion:High LAN exposure was associated with increased lung cancer incidence,and this effect had a specific lag period.Compared with traditional individual-level studies,this group-level study provides a novel paradigm of effective,efficient,and scalable screening for risk factors.

Research Progress on the Relationship among Circadian Rhythm, Melatonin and Aging

It is generally believed that aging is a gradual decline in the efficiency of our biological metabolism, which eventually leads to the deterioration of individual physiological function and the development of a series of age-related degenerative diseases.The circadian clock machinery orchestrates the normal metabolism of the organism in order to assure that individual growth,development and reproduction are adapted to the changes of diurnal environmental variations. The circadian rhythm in the elderly is attenuated with age and is accompanied by the onset of metabolic syndrome, the accumulation of genomic or epigenomic instability, the decline of metabolic tissue homeostasis and the change of natural feeding behavior. Existing results corroborate that light at night(LAN) and melatonin inhibition affect genomic integrity and normal metabolic function. In several animal models,LAN accelerated aging by inhibiting melatonin production in the pineal gland and promoting age-related carcinogenesis. This paper reviews the effects of the circadian rhythm on aging and discusses the complex relationship among circadian rhythms, melatonin and aging in different models of organisms, which may provide clues for prolonging human life and maintaining health.