A growing body of evidence indicates that exposure to environmental chemicals can contribute to the etiology of obesity by inappropriately stimulating adipogenesis as well as perturbing lipid metabolism and energy bal...A growing body of evidence indicates that exposure to environmental chemicals can contribute to the etiology of obesity by inappropriately stimulating adipogenesis as well as perturbing lipid metabolism and energy balance. One potential mechanism by which chemical exposure can influence lipid metabolism is through disturbance of circadian rhythms, endogenously-driven cycles of roughly 24 hr in length that coordinate biochemical, physiological, and behavioral processes in all organisms. Here we show for the first time that exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds（EDCs）, including the pesticide tributyltin, two commercial flame retardants, and a UV-filter chemical found in sunscreens,can perturb both circadian clocks and lipid metabolism in vertebrates. Exposure of developing zebrafish to EDCs affects core clock activity and leads to a remarkable increase in lipid accumulation that is reminiscent of the effects observed for longdaysin, a known disruptor of circadian rhythms. Our data reveal a novel obesogenic mechanism of action for environmental chemicals, an observation which warrants further research. Because circadian clocks regulate a wide variety of physiological processes, identification of environmental chemicals capable of perturbing these systems may provide important insights into the development of environmentally-induced metabolic disease.展开更多
Mitigating the disaster risk of transportation infrastructure networks along the Belt and Road is crucial to realizing the area’s high trade potential in the future.This study assessed the exposure and risk of existi...Mitigating the disaster risk of transportation infrastructure networks along the Belt and Road is crucial to realizing the area’s high trade potential in the future.This study assessed the exposure and risk of existing and planned railway assets to river flooding and earthquakes.We found that about 9.3%of these railway assets are exposed to a one in 100 year flood event,and 22.3%are exposed to a one in 475 year earthquake event.The combined flood and earthquake risk of physical damage to railway assets,expressed by expected annual damage(EAD),is estimated at USD 1438(between 966 and 2026)million.Floods contribute the majority of the risk(96%).China has the highest EAD for both floods and earthquakes(between USD 240 and 525 million in total).Laos and Cambodia are the countries with the highest EAD per km from flooding(USD 66,125–112,154 and USD 31,954–56,844 per km,respectively),while Italy and Myanmar have the highest EAD per km from earthquakes(USD 1000–3057 and USD 893–3019 per km,respectively).For the newly built and planned projects along the Belt and Road,the EAD is estimated at USD 271(between 205 and 357)million.The China–Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor and China–Pakistan Economic Corridor have the highest absolute EAD and EAD per km,with EADs reaching USD 95 and USD 67 million,and USD 18 and USD 17 thousand per km,on average,respectively.For railway segments with high risks,we found that if the required adaptation cost within 20 years to realize a 10%increase of the railway quality is below 8.4%of the replacement cost,the benefits are positive.展开更多
Earthquakes pose a great risk to railway systems and services around the world.In China alone,earthquakes caused 88 rail service disruptions between 2012 and 2019.Here,we present a first-of-its-kind methodology to ana...Earthquakes pose a great risk to railway systems and services around the world.In China alone,earthquakes caused 88 rail service disruptions between 2012 and 2019.Here,we present a first-of-its-kind methodology to analyze the seismic risk of a railway system using an empirically derived train service fragility curve.We demonstrate our methodology using the Chinese railway system.In doing so,we generate a set of stochastic earthquake scenarios for China based on a national-scale seismicity model.Using disruption records,we construct an empirically grounded fragility curve that relates the failure probability of train services to peak ground acceleration.By combining the simulated earthquakes,the fragility curve,and empirical train flow data from 2016,we quantitatively assess the seismic impact and the risk faced by the Chinese railway system.The maximum train trip loss could reach 2400 trips in response to a single seismic event,accounting for 34%of the national daily train trips.Due to the spatially uneven daily train flow and seismicity distribution,the seismic impact on the railway system in different seismic zones is highly heterogeneous and does not always increase when the hazard intensity increases.More specifically,the results show that the railway lines located in the Qinghai-Tibet and Xinjiang seismic zones exhibit the highest risk.The generated impact curves and the risk map provide a basis for railway planning and risk management decisions.展开更多
基金financial support of the European Union(FP7-PEOPLE-IEF,03197 Obesity and Light)the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research(VIDI/864.09.005 and ASPASIA/015.006.018)
文摘A growing body of evidence indicates that exposure to environmental chemicals can contribute to the etiology of obesity by inappropriately stimulating adipogenesis as well as perturbing lipid metabolism and energy balance. One potential mechanism by which chemical exposure can influence lipid metabolism is through disturbance of circadian rhythms, endogenously-driven cycles of roughly 24 hr in length that coordinate biochemical, physiological, and behavioral processes in all organisms. Here we show for the first time that exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds（EDCs）, including the pesticide tributyltin, two commercial flame retardants, and a UV-filter chemical found in sunscreens,can perturb both circadian clocks and lipid metabolism in vertebrates. Exposure of developing zebrafish to EDCs affects core clock activity and leads to a remarkable increase in lipid accumulation that is reminiscent of the effects observed for longdaysin, a known disruptor of circadian rhythms. Our data reveal a novel obesogenic mechanism of action for environmental chemicals, an observation which warrants further research. Because circadian clocks regulate a wide variety of physiological processes, identification of environmental chemicals capable of perturbing these systems may provide important insights into the development of environmentally-induced metabolic disease.
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Number 41771538)the National Key Research and Development Plan(Grant Number 2017YFC1502901)The financial support is highly appreciated.
文摘Mitigating the disaster risk of transportation infrastructure networks along the Belt and Road is crucial to realizing the area’s high trade potential in the future.This study assessed the exposure and risk of existing and planned railway assets to river flooding and earthquakes.We found that about 9.3%of these railway assets are exposed to a one in 100 year flood event,and 22.3%are exposed to a one in 475 year earthquake event.The combined flood and earthquake risk of physical damage to railway assets,expressed by expected annual damage(EAD),is estimated at USD 1438(between 966 and 2026)million.Floods contribute the majority of the risk(96%).China has the highest EAD for both floods and earthquakes(between USD 240 and 525 million in total).Laos and Cambodia are the countries with the highest EAD per km from flooding(USD 66,125–112,154 and USD 31,954–56,844 per km,respectively),while Italy and Myanmar have the highest EAD per km from earthquakes(USD 1000–3057 and USD 893–3019 per km,respectively).For the newly built and planned projects along the Belt and Road,the EAD is estimated at USD 271(between 205 and 357)million.The China–Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor and China–Pakistan Economic Corridor have the highest absolute EAD and EAD per km,with EADs reaching USD 95 and USD 67 million,and USD 18 and USD 17 thousand per km,on average,respectively.For railway segments with high risks,we found that if the required adaptation cost within 20 years to realize a 10%increase of the railway quality is below 8.4%of the replacement cost,the benefits are positive.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan(2018YFC1508802)National Natural Science Foundation of China(41771538)China Scholarship Council(CSC)during a visit of the first author(File No.20190604188)to Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam。
文摘Earthquakes pose a great risk to railway systems and services around the world.In China alone,earthquakes caused 88 rail service disruptions between 2012 and 2019.Here,we present a first-of-its-kind methodology to analyze the seismic risk of a railway system using an empirically derived train service fragility curve.We demonstrate our methodology using the Chinese railway system.In doing so,we generate a set of stochastic earthquake scenarios for China based on a national-scale seismicity model.Using disruption records,we construct an empirically grounded fragility curve that relates the failure probability of train services to peak ground acceleration.By combining the simulated earthquakes,the fragility curve,and empirical train flow data from 2016,we quantitatively assess the seismic impact and the risk faced by the Chinese railway system.The maximum train trip loss could reach 2400 trips in response to a single seismic event,accounting for 34%of the national daily train trips.Due to the spatially uneven daily train flow and seismicity distribution,the seismic impact on the railway system in different seismic zones is highly heterogeneous and does not always increase when the hazard intensity increases.More specifically,the results show that the railway lines located in the Qinghai-Tibet and Xinjiang seismic zones exhibit the highest risk.The generated impact curves and the risk map provide a basis for railway planning and risk management decisions.
