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This research estimates the climate change in mainland China between 1951 and 2010, and empirically analyzes the mechanism of climate change’s impact on population migration in mainland China using individual micro-data from China’s 2010 census. The study found that temperature has a significant positive effect on population migration, as the higher the temperature increases, the more likely people are to make the decision to migrate; on the contrary, rainfall has a significant negative impact on population migration, as the more the rainfall decreases, the more likely people are to make the decision to migrate. Conversely, the interaction term results show that when facing increasing temperature, females, ethnic minorities, married individuals and rural residents are more likely to migrate, while highly educated people will tend not to move out. In terms of rainfall, females, highly educated people and ethnic minorities are more likely to make migration decisions; while married individuals and rural residents are less likely to make migration decisions. The couple-matching model found that the migration decisions between couples are significantly influenced upon climate change. With the continuous rise of the Chinese government’s rural revitalization strategy, how to maintain rural residents becomes a focal issue. Rural residents are more vulnerable to climate change than urban residents, so how to effectively reduce the impact of climate change and stabilize rural residents’ production and life have become a policy-challenging issue.
The gut microbiome (GM) has become a crucial factor that can affect the progression of osteoporosis. A number of studies have demonstrated the impact of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) on GM and bone metabolism. In this review, we summarize the potential mechanisms of the relationship between osteoporosis and GM disorder and introduce several natural Chinese medicines that exert anti-osteoporosis effects by modulating the GM. It is underlined that, through the provision of the microbial associated molecular pattern (MAMP), the GM causes inflammatory reactions and alterations in the Treg–Th17 balance and ultimately leads to changes in bone mass. Serotonin and many hormones, especially estrogen, may play a crucial role in the interaction of the GM with bone metabolism. Additionally, the GM may affect the absorption of specific nutrients in the intestine, particularly minerals like calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. Several natural Chinese herbs, such as Sambucus Williamsii, Achyranthes bidentata Blume, Pleurotus ostreatus and Ganoderma lucidum mushrooms, Pueraria Lobata, and Agaricus blazei Murill have exhibited anti-osteoporosis effects through regulating the distribution and metabolism of the GM. These herbs may increase the abundance of Firmicutes, decrease the abundance of Bacteroides, promote the GM to produce more SCFAs, modulate the immune response caused by harmful bacteria, and increase the proportion of Treg–Th17 to indirectly affect bone metabolism. Moreover, gut-derived 5-HT is an important target for TCM to prevent osteoporosis via the gut-bone axis. Puerarin could prevent osteoporosis by improving intestinal mucosal integrity and decrease systemic inflammation caused by estrogen deficiency.
Intestinal fibrosis, a common complication of inflammatory bowel disease, in particular in Crohn’s disease, arises from chronic inflammation, leading to intestinal narrowing, structural damage, and functional impairment that significantly impact patients’ quality of life. Current treatment options for intestinal fibrosis are limited, with surgery being the primary intervention. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has emerged as a promising approach in preventing and treating intestinal fibrosis. However, there is a scarcity of literature summarizing the mechanisms underlying TCM’s efficacy in this context. To address this gap, we conducted a comprehensive review, uncovering multiple mechanisms through which TCM mitigates intestinal fibrosis. These mechanisms include immune cell balance regulation, suppression of inflammatory responses, reduction of inflammatory mediators, alleviation of colon tissue damage, restoration of intestinal function, modulation of growth factors to inhibit fibroblast activation, dynamic regulation of TIMPs and MMPs to reduce extracellular matrix deposition, inhibition of epithelial–mesenchymal transition and endothelial–mesenchymal transition, autophagy modulation, maintenance of the intestinal mucosal barrier, prevention of tissue damage by harmful factors, and regulation of cell proliferation and apoptosis. This study aims to bridge existing knowledge gaps by presenting recent evidence supporting the utilization of TCM in both clinical and experimental research settings.
Stem cell therapy has been tested for cardiac disease therapy for decades. Initially, researchers only considered stem cells’ differentiative ability to repair damaged cardiac tissue. However, studies have now uncovered novel mechanisms contributing to stem cell healing properties to repair injured cardiac tissue, including via paracrine signaling and exosome secretions, leading to amelioration of cardiac remodeling and enhancement of proliferation, regeneration and survival of stem cell-derived cardiac cells. Understanding these underlying mechanisms could help researchers utilize stem cells as a therapeutic strategy for cardiac disease effectively and address the current limitations, mainly surrounding its survival and differentiative ability in the cardiac milieu. This review will discuss the known potential mechanisms underlying the role of stem cells in contributing to and for the treatment of heart diseases.
Antimicrobial resistance poses one of the most serious global challenges of our age. Cyclodextrins (CDs) are widely utilized excipients in formulations because of their solubilizing properties, low toxicity, and low inflammatory response. This review summarizes recent investigations of antimicrobial agents involving CDs and CD-based antimicrobial materials. CDs have been employed for antimicrobial applications either through formation of inclusion complexes or by chemical modification of their hydroxyl groups to tailor pharmaceutically active compounds. Applications of these CD inclusion complexes include drug delivery, antimicrobial coatings on materials (e.g., biomedical devices and implants) and antimicrobial dressings that help to prevent wound infections. There are relatively limited studies of chemically modified CDs with antimicrobial activity. The mechanism of action of antimicrobial CD inclusion complexes and derivatives needs further elucidation, but activity of CDs and their derivatives is often associated with their interaction with bacterial cell membranes.