Ecological-Based Mining:A Coal-Water-Thermal Collaborative Paradigm in Ecologically Fragile Areas in Western China

A substantial reduction in groundwater level,exacerbated by coal mining activities,is intensifying water scarcity in western China’s ecologically fragile coal mining areas.China’s national strategic goal of achieving a carbon peak and carbon neutrality has made eco-friendly mining that prioritizes the protection and efficient use of water resources essential.Based on the resource characteristics of mine water and heat hazards,an intensive coal-water-thermal collaborative co-mining paradigm for the duration of the mining process is proposed.An integrated system for the production,supply,and storage of mining companion resources is achieved through technologies such as roof water inrush prevention and control,hydrothermal quality improvement,and deep-injection geological storage.An active preventive and control system achieved by adjusting the mining technology and a passive system centered on multiobjective drainage and grouting treatment are suggested,in accordance with the original geological characteristics and dynamic process of water inrush.By implementing advanced multi-objective drainage,specifically designed to address the“skylight-type”water inrush mode in the Yulin mining area of Shaanxi Province,a substantial reduction of 50%in water drillings and inflow was achieved,leading to stabilized water conditions that effectively ensure subsequent safe coal mining.An integrated-energy complementary model that incorporates the clean production concept of heat utilization is also proposed.The findings indicate a potential saving of 8419 t of standard coal by using water and air heat as an alternative heating source for the Xiaojihan coalmine,resulting in an impressive energy conservation of 50.2%and a notable 24.2%reduction in carbon emissions.The ultra-deep sustained water injection of 100 m^(3)·h^(-1)in a single well would not rupture the formation or cause water leakage,and 7.87×10^(5)t of mine water could be effectively stored in the Liujiagou Formation,presenting a viable method for mine-water management in the Ordos Basin and providing insights for green and low-carbon mining.

Spatiotemporal Evolution of Ecological Quality in Typical Karst Ecologically Fragile Areas Based on Remote Sensing Ecological Indexes

Fast and effective remote sensing monitoring is an important means for analyzing the spatio-temporal changes in ecological quality in fragile karst regions.This study focuses on Guanling Autonomous County,a national-level demonstration county for comprehensive desertification control.Based on Landsat TM/OLI remote sensing image data from 2005,2010,2015,and 2020,remote sensing ecological indices were used to analyze the spatio-temporal changes in ecological quality in Guanling Autonomous County from 2005 to 2020.The results show that:①the variance contribution rates of the first principal component for the four periods were 66.31%,71.59%,63.18%,and 75.24%,indicating that PC1 integrated most of the characteristics of the four indices,making the RSEI suitable for evaluating ecological quality in karst mountain areas;②the remote sensing ecological index grades have been increasing year by year,with an overall trend of improving ecological quality.The area of higher-grade ecological quality has increased spatially,while fragmented patches have gradually decreased,becoming more concentrated in the low-altitude areas in the northwest and east,and there is a trend of expansion towards higher-altitude areas;③the ecological environment quality in most areas has improved,with the improvement in RSEI spatio-temporal variation becoming more noticeable with increasing slope.Areas of higher-grade quality appeared in 2010,and the range of higher-grade quality expanded with increasing slope.

New Fragile Watermarking Technique to Identify Inserted Video Objects Using H.264 and Color Features

The transmission of video content over a network raises various issues relating to copyright authenticity,ethics,legality,and privacy.The protection of copyrighted video content is a significant issue in the video industry,and it is essential to find effective solutions to prevent tampering and modification of digital video content during its transmission through digital media.However,there are stillmany unresolved challenges.This paper aims to address those challenges by proposing a new technique for detectingmoving objects in digital videos,which can help prove the credibility of video content by detecting any fake objects inserted by hackers.The proposed technique involves using two methods,the H.264 and the extraction color features methods,to embed and extract watermarks in video frames.The study tested the performance of the system against various attacks and found it to be robust.The evaluation was done using different metrics such as Peak-Signal-to-Noise Ratio(PSNR),Mean Squared Error(MSE),Structural Similarity Index Measure(SSIM),Bit Correction Ratio(BCR),and Normalized Correlation.The accuracy of identifying moving objects was high,ranging from 96.3%to 98.7%.The system was also able to embed a fragile watermark with a success rate of over 93.65%and had an average capacity of hiding of 78.67.The reconstructed video frames had high quality with a PSNR of at least 65.45 dB and SSIMof over 0.97,making them imperceptible to the human eye.The system also had an acceptable average time difference(T=1.227/s)compared with other state-of-the-art methods.

Influence of Reservoir on Groundwater Environment in the Ecologically Fragile Area, Northwest of China

As the research proposed reservoirs after impact on the surrounding ecological fragile areas of groundwater level and scope, through the proposed reservoir area and its surrounding data collecting, hydrogeology survey and related test, for Modflow system simulation platform, through to the boundary conditions, initial conditions and source sink term and related hydrogeological parameters, the model identification and verification, The model of hydrogeological parameters in the study area is constructed. The simulation results show that the groundwater depth near the reservoir area will be higher than the critical value (1.8 m) of secondary salinization of soil. At the same time, according to the investigation and experiment, if the reservoir does not do seepage treatment, the water infiltration in the reservoir will aggravate the environmental hydrogeological problems in the ecologically fragile area.

Sustainable Development of Agriculture in Northwestern Ecologically Fragile Desert Oasis——A case study of Guazhou County of Gansu Province

Guazhou County of Gansu Province is a typical ecological fragile area lying in the transition area of desert and oasis.The development of its agricultural economy is highly dependent on natural resources and environment.Contradiction of resources characterized agriculture and the fragile ecological environment has become one of the main barriers to log the impact of local agriculture to achieve sustainable development.Aiming at fragile ecological environment and limiting factors of agricultural sustainable development,thoughts and countermeasures of realizing agricultural sustainable development have been proposed.

Socio-Economic and Political Analysis of a Fragile State:A Reflection on Ethiopia

A review of the literature indicates that,currently,Ethiopia is now beyond the bounds of fragility.The purpose of the study was to investigate whether Ethiopia was experiencing fragility.After a review of the literature on fragility,a theoretical framework lens on fragility was developed to empirically test Ethiopia’s current condition.A longitudinal analysis indicates that before 2018,Ethiopia was regarded as the central economic engine of sub-Saharan Africa.However,as the current regime reversed Ethiopia’s developmental state model and moved to follow a neo-liberal model,Ethiopia’s economy has gradually diminished.More specifically,during the current regime,Ethiopia has experienced a decline in its Gross Domestic Product,faced rampant unemployment,and encountered an increase in inflation.Its foreign exchange currency reserves have declined below the three-month threshold of hard currency required for a country to import goods and services,and its external debt has extended beyond the country’s GDP.By encouraging armed conflict and widespread insurgencies,the current regime has caused social tension and deep humanitarian crises in Ethiopia-resulting in devastation of health and school facilities and causing more than five million Ethiopians to be displaced.Finally,failing to provide leadership to his people,the current regime in Ethiopia has willingly allowed the incursion of Ethiopia’s sovereignty by foreign forces.The conclusion of the study is that,when observed through the lens of fragility using a longitudinal framework,currently,Ethiopia has traversed beyond fragility and seems to be heading toward balkanization.

Structural Analysis of Peptides of PSⅡ Light-harvesting Complexes in Siphonous Green Algae, Codium fragile

Peptide composition and arrangement of 4 major light-harvesting complexes LHCP 1-3 and LHCP 3′ isolated from siphonous green algae (Codium fragile (Sur.) Hariot.) were investigated. LHCP 1 showed five main peptides, 34.4, 31.5, 29.5, 28.2 and 26.5 kD in SDS-PAGE, the 34.4 and 31.5 kD peptides were never found in higher plants. LHCP 3 contained the other four kinds of LHCP 1 peptides except 34.4 kD, while LHCP 3′ consisted of only 28.2 and 26.5 kD peptides. We found that 34.4, 28.2 and 26.5 kD peptides were easy to decompose from LHCP 1 when subjected to SDS-PAGE without pretreatment. They might be located at the exterior of LHCP 1, while the 31.5 and 29.5 kD peptides were at the central part. The 28.2 and 26.5 kD peptides often occurred in CPa, the center complex of PSⅡ. They are possibly the LHCⅡ peptides tightly associated with CCⅡ. According to the results described above, a peptide map of LHCP 1 was sketched.

Exploration of Eco-economic Development in Ecological Fragile Region——A Case Study on Wuqi County in Shaanxi Province

[Objective] The aim was to explore eco-economy in ecological fragile region with Wuqi County in Shaanxi Province as an example. [Method] Eco-economy development and major environmental problems in Wuqi County in Shaanxi Province were researched based on local social and economic conditions, population of impoverished people and environment vulnerability. [Result] The areas with vulnerable environment and backward economy should establish a virtuous circle between economy and environment and a sustainable model of economic development. [Conclusion] It is significant to change the severe situation of environment deterioration and to promote ecological civilization.

Expression of fragile histidine triad in primary hepatocellular carcinoma and its relation with cell proliferation and apoptosis

AIM: To evaluate the expression of fragile histidine triad (FHIT) gene protein, product of a candidate tumor suppressor, and to investigate the relationship between FHIT, cell apoptosis and proliferation, and pathological features of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: Forty-seven HCC and ten normal liver specimens were collected during surgical operation between 2001 and 2003. FHIT and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression were detected by immunohistochemistry, and apoptotic level was evaluated by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) assay on the tissue sections. RESULTS: All normal liver tissues showed a strong expression of FHIT, whereas 28 of 47 (59.6%) carcinomas showed a significant loss or absence of FHIT expression (P= 0.001). The proportion of reduced FHIT expression in those carcinomas at stages Ⅲ-Ⅳ (70.6%) and in those with extrahepatic metastasis (86.7%) showed an increasing trend compared with those at stages HI (30.8%, P= 0.013) and those without metastasis (46.9%, P = 0.010) respectively. Apoptotic incidence in advanced TNM stage carcinoma and those with positive FHIT expression was higher than that in early stage carcinoma (P=0.030) and in those with negative FHIT expression (P=0.044) respectively. The proliferating potential of hepatocellular carcinoma was associated with FHIT expression (P= 0.016) and the aggressive feature (P = 0.019). Kaplan-Meier analysis demonstrated that the survival time of these 47 patients correlated with TNM stage, FHIT expression and metastasis. CONCLUSION: There is marked loss or absence of FHIT expression, as well as abnormal apoptosis-prdiferation balance in HCC. FHIT may play an important role in carcinogenesis and development of HCC.

Fragile X syndrome and epilepsy

Fragile X syndrome （FXS） is one of the most prevalent mental retardations. It is mainly caused by the loss of fragile X mental retardation protein （FMRP）. FMRP is an RNA binding protein and can regulate the translation of its binding RNA, thus regulate several signaling pathways. Many FXS patients show high susceptibility to epilepsy. Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder which is characterized by the recurrent appearance of spontaneous seizures due to neuronal hyperactivity in the brain. Both the abnormal activation of several signaling pathway and morphological abnormality that are caused by the loss of FMRP can lead to a high susceptibility to epilepsy. Combining with the research progresses on both FXS and epilepsy, we outlined the possible mechanisms of high susceptibility to epilepsy in FXS and tried to give a prospect on the future research on the mechanism of epilepsy that happened in other mental retardations.

Decreased fragile histidine triad expression in colorectal cancer and its association with apoptosis inhibition

AIM： To detect the expression of fragile histidine triad （FHIT） in normal colorectal tissue, colorectal adenoma and colorectal cancer （CRC） tissue, and to analyze its relationship with the clinicopathological features of CRC, and apoptosis-associatecl proteins （Bcl-2, Bax, survivin） and apoptosis in colorectal cancer. METHODS： FHIT mRNA analysis was performed by nested reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction （RT-PCR） assay. Tissue microarray （TMA） was established to detect the expression of FHIT, Bcl-2, Bax and survivin genes in 80 CRC tissue specimens, 16 colorectal adenoma tissue specimens and 16 hemorrhoid （PPH） tissue specimens during the same period of time as the control. Citrate-microwave-SP was used as immunohistochemical method. The relationship between clinicopathological factors, such as differentiation grades and 5-year survival rate was observed. TUNEL assay was used to detect the apoptosis index in 80 CRC tissue specimens. RESULTS： Ten out of 26 （38.5%） CRC tissue specimens expressed aberrant FHIT transcripts, none of the aberrant FHIT transcripts was observed in the matchednormal tissue and colorectal adenoma tissue by nested RT-PCR assay. The positive rate of FHIT gene expression in normal colorectal tissue, colorectal adenoma and carcinoma tissue was 93.75%, 68.75% and 46.25%, respectively. Clinicopathological analysis of patients showed that the decreased FHIT gene expression was not associated with age, sex, serum CEA levels, tumor site and size, histological classification. However, the expression of FHIT was correlated with differentiation grades, pathological stages, lymph node metastases and 5-year survival rate after operation. The positive rate of apoptosis-associated proteins （Bax, Bcl-2 and survivin） in CRC tissue was 72.50%, 51.25% and 77.50%, respectively. The expression of these apoptosisassociated proteins in CRC tissue was correlated with the expression of FHIT. The mean apoptosis index in FHIT negative tumors was significantly lower than that in FHIT- positive tumors （5.41 ± 0.23 vs 0.56 ± 0.10, P 〈 0.01）. CONCLUSION： The FHIT gene plays an important role in the regulation of apoptosis and decreased FHIT expression plays a key role in the initiation and progression of colorectal carcinoma.

Effect of fragile histidine triad gene transduction on proliferation and apoptosis of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells

AIM:To evaluate the inhibitory effects of human fragile histidine triad(FHIT) gene on cell proliferation and apoptosis in human hepatocellular carcinoma line Hep3B in vitro. METHODS:A recombinant pcDNA3.1(+) /FHIT including the functional region of FHIT gene was constructed and transferred into human hepatocellular carcinoma cells in vitro. mRNA and protein expression of the FHIT gene in the transfected cells was detected by RT-PCR and Western blot,respectively. The effect of FHIT on proliferation was detected by MTT assay. Changes in cell cycle and apoptosis were assayed by flow cytometry. Five mice received subcutaneous transplantation of Hep3B-FHIT;5 mice received subcutaneous transplantation of normal Hep3B and Hep3B-C as controls. The body weight of nude mice and tumor growth were measured. RESULTS:RT-PCR and Western blot analysis showed that the expression level of FHIT-mRNA and FHIT protein was higher in Hep3B cells after infection withpcDNA3.1(+) /FHIT. The growth of Hep3B cells treated with pcDNA3.1(+) /FHIT was significantly inhibited. The pcDNA3.1(+) /FHIT-transfected Hep3B cells showed a significantly higher cell rate at G0-G1 phase and increased apoptosis in comparison with controls(P < 0.05) . The growth of transplanted tumor was inhibited markedly by FHIT. Tumors arising from the Hep3B-FHIT cells occurred much later than those arising from the Hep3B and Hep3B-C cells. The growth of Hep3B-FHIT cells was slow and the tumor volume was low. CONCLUSION:Transduction of FHIT gene inhibits the growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells and induces cell apoptosis in vivo and in vitro.

Lithium chloride ameliorates learning and memory ability and inhibits glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta activity in a mouse model of fragile X syndrome

In the present study,Fmr1 knockout mice （KO mice） were used as the model for fragile X syndrome.The results of step-through and step-down tests demonstrated that Fmr1 KO mice had shorter latencies and more error counts,indicating a learning and memory disorder.After treatment with 30,60,90,120,or 200 mg/kg lithium chloride,the learning and memory abilities of the Fmr1 KO mice were significantly ameliorated,in particular,the 200 mg/kg lithium chloride treatment had the most significant effect.Western blot analysis showed that lithium chloride significantly enhanced the expression of phosphorylated glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta,an inactive form of glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta,in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of the Fmr1 KO mice.These results indicated that lithium chloride improved learning and memory in the Fmr1 KO mice,possibly by inhibiting glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta activity.

STUDY ON METHOD OF QUANTITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF FRAGILE ENVIRONMENT

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Aberrant crypt focus and fragile histidine triad protein in sporadic colorectal carcinoma

AIM:To characterize aberrant crypt focus (ACF) in adjoining mucosa in sporadic colorectal carcinoma and to evaluate fragile histidine triad (Fhit) protein and Ki67. METHODS:ACF was identified grossly and classified histologically in 75 resected specimens. ACF was typed into hyperplastic ACF (HACF) and dysplastic ACF (DACF). Sections of ACF, carcinoma and normal colonic mucosa as control were studied for Fhit and Ki67 expressions by immunohistochemistry and were grouped according to staining intensity and the number of positive stained cells observed in different histological groups. Comparison was done between the different groups by Pearson's χ 2 test and γ test for the ordinal data. P value < 0.05 was considered as significant.RESULTS:Age range was 40 to 86 years in males (mean = 43.36) and 45 to 70 years in females (mean = 56). HACF was identified in all cases studied in the non-tumorous colonic mucosa; ACF was observed as non-contiguous scattered foci, which supports the hypothesis of acquisition of single focus monoclonality by colonic epithelial cells in tumor generation. Twenty-four (32%) had DACF and were observed as closure to carcinoma foci. Intensity of Fhit expression:(1) HACF 40% exhibited strong intensity, similar to normal, moderate in 36% and weak in 24%; (2) DACF strong in 25%, moderate in 37.5% and weak in 37.5%; and (3) carcinoma negative in 16%, strong in 43% and moderate and weak in 28.5% each. Significant difference was observed in intensity of the Fhit protein expressions by HACF and DACF (P < 0.05). Tumor in older patients showed a stronger Fhit intensity compared to younger patients (P = 0.036). Vegetarian diet intake and nonsmokers showed stronger Fhit intensities. Advanced stage tumor, non-vegetarian diet and younger age was associated with loss of Fhit protein. Ki67 positivity was an extended crypt pattern in HACF and DACF showed extension up to the neck region of the crypts and surface epithelium. Carcinomas showed a marked increase in Ki67 expression (P < 0.05). Fhit protein had an inverse association with Ki67 expression. CONCLUSION:Weaker Fhit intensity was associated with smoking, non-vegetarian diet intake and increasing Ki67 expression. Loss of Fhit protein expression is possibly influenced by environmental factors like smoking and non-vegetarian diet intake.

Fragile histidine triad gene alterations are not essential for hepatocellular carcinoma development in South Korea

AIM: To establish the role of FHIT in the pathogenesis hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: We examined genomic alterations, as well as, mRNA and protein expression patterns from the FHIT gene, in 48 surgically resected hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues. Additionally, p53 mutations were analyzed. RESULTS: Aberrant FHIT transcripts were detected in 11 of 48 surrounding non-tumor liver tissues and 27 of 48 HCC samples (22.9% vs 56.3%, P = 0.002). No point mutations were identified within the open reading frame region of FHIT. Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of the FHIT locus was detected in 4 of 42 informative cases for D3S1300, and 3 of 29 informative cases for D3S1313. Reduced expression of FHIT protein (Fhit) was observed in 8 (16.7%) of 48 HCC samples, with complete loss of Fhit in only 1 case. There were no associations with abnormal transcripts, LOH, and Fhit expression. p53 mutations were identified in 9 of the 48 HCC cases. However, none of the cases displayed a G to T transversion at p53 codon 249. CONCLUSION: Aberrant FHIT transcripts were more common in HCC tissues as compared to non-cancerous liver tissues. However, Fhit expression was lost or reduced in a minor fraction of HCC tissues, while it was strongly expressed in non-cancerous liver tissues.Therefore, our study suggests that FHIT plays a role in relatively few HCC cases in South Korea.

Special issue on land reclamation in ecological fragile areas

Coal is the most important energy in China, accounting for about 60% of energy consumption, which is about half of the total coal output in the world. With the excavation of coal resources, a lot of land was damaged and serious environmental problems were produced.

Application of Matter-element Model in Soil Nutrient Evaluation of Ecological Fragile Region

On the basis of the soil environment investigation in Da＇an City, Jilin Province, China, 40 soil samples from main land use types were obtained and tested by standard method. Soil organic matter （SOM）, total N （TN）, total P （TP）, total K （TK）, available N （AN）, available P （AP） and available K （AK） were chosen as the evaluation factors. A regional soil nutrient evaluation model was developed based on the matter-element model. The results show that the soil samples with nutrient grade Ⅱ-Ⅴ respectively account for 10%, 30%, 32.5% and 27.5%, and those with grade Ⅳ and Ⅴ account for 60% in all samples. The relationship between soil nutrients and land types indicates that the nutrients of farmland are relatively good, with 41.7% of soil samples with the nutrient grade Ⅳ and Ⅴ. The nutrients of saline-alkali land and sandy land are the worst, with 100% of soil samples with the nutrient grade IV and V. And the ratios of soil samples grade IV and V in grassland and wasteland are respectively 62.5 % and 54.55%. Generally speaking, the soil nutrients status in Da＇an City is poor, 60% of soil samples are in poor and extremely poor conditions, indicating that the soil has been severely eroded. Being a relatively superior evaluation method with more accurate resuits and spatial distribution consistency, matter-element analysis is more suitable for regional soil nutrient evaluation than previous models.

Loss of fragile histidine triad protein expression in inflammatory bowel disease

AIM： To investigate the expression of fragile histidine triad （FHIT） protein in 64 patients with ulcerative colitis （UC） and Crohn＇s disease （CD）, and its relation with clinicopathological data. METHODS： Rabbit-anti-FHIT antibody was used to detect FHIT protein expression in 64 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue specimens of inflammatory bowel disease （IBD） by citrate-microwave-streptavidin （SP）-HRP immunohistochemical method. RESULTS： The positive FHIT protein expression was 22.79% ± 16.16%, 42.14% ± 16.82% in active and remittent phases of UC, 36.07% ± 19.23% in CD, and 57.05% ±8.86% in normal colon mucosa. Statistically significant differences in FHIT protein expression were observed between the active and remittent phases of UC, between the active phase of UC and normal colon mucosa, as well as between the remittent phase of UC and normal colon mucosa, and between CD and normal colon mucosa. CONCLUSION： Our results show that FHIT protein expression is completely absent or reduced in IBD, suggesting that the FHIT gene might be associated with the oncogenesis and progression of IBD, an early event from inflammatory conditions to carcinoma in IBD.

A Scheme of Fragile Watermarking Based on SVD and 2D Chaotic Mapping

This paper proposed a novel fragile watermarking scheme based on singular value decomposition (SVD) and 2D chaotic mapping. It obtains chaotic initial values from the image blocks singular value decomposition and the user’s key, then uses the chaotic mapping to get the chaotic sequence and inserts the sequence into the LSBs of the image blocks to get the watermarked image blocks. The paper reconstructed the watermarked image from all the embedded blocks. The analysis and experimental results show that the scheme is pretty fragile to tampering, and it can localize the tampering position accurately, reach 3×3 blocks.