Tibet University

Zhang X., Zhang Y., Chen Z., Chen L., Li X., Wang G.

Perchlorate (ClO

Tang D., Zhang Y., Zhang N., Xiang Y., Hu Y., Qian W., Baima Y., Ding X., Wang Z., Yin J., Xiao X., Zhao X.

Background:Biological aging exhibits heterogeneity across multi-organ systems. However, it remains unclear how is lifestyle associated with overall and organ-specific aging and which factors contribute most in Southwest China.Methods:This study involved 8396 participants who completed two surveys from the China Multi-Ethnic Cohort (CMEC) study. The healthy lifestyle index (HLI) was developed using five lifestyle factors: smoking, alcohol, diet, exercise, and sleep. The comprehensive and organ-specific biological ages (BAs) were calculated using the Klemera–Doubal method based on longitudinal clinical laboratory measurements, and validation were conducted to select BA reflecting related diseases. Fixed effects model was used to examine the associations between HLI or its components and the acceleration of validated BAs. We further evaluated the relative contribution of lifestyle components to comprehension and organ systems BAs using quantile G-computation.Results:About two-thirds of participants changed HLI scores between surveys. After validation, three organ-specific BAs (the cardiopulmonary, metabolic, and liver BAs) were identified as reflective of specific diseases and included in further analyses with the comprehensive BA. The health alterations in HLI showed a protective association with the acceleration of all BAs, with a mean shift of –0.19 (95% CI −0.34, –0.03) in the comprehensive BA acceleration. Diet and smoking were the major contributors to overall negative associations of five lifestyle factors, with the comprehensive BA and metabolic BA accounting for 24% and 55% respectively.Conclusions:Healthy lifestyle changes were inversely related to comprehensive and organ-specific biological aging in Southwest China, with diet and smoking contributing most to comprehensive and metabolic BA separately. Our findings highlight the potential of lifestyle interventions to decelerate aging and identify intervention targets to limit organ-specific aging in less-developed regions.Funding:This work was primarily supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 82273740) and Sichuan Science and Technology Program (Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province, Grant No. 2024NSFSC0552). The CMEC study was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFC0907305, 2017YFC0907300). The sponsors had no role in the design, analysis, interpretation, or writing of this article.

Tang D., Zhang Y., Zhang N., Xiang Y., Hu Y., Qian W., Baima Y., Ding X., Wang Z., Yin J., Xiao X., Zhao X.

Background:Biological aging exhibits heterogeneity across multi-organ systems. However, it remains unclear how is lifestyle associated with overall and organ-specific aging and which factors contribute most in Southwest China.Methods:This study involved 8396 participants who completed two surveys from the China Multi-Ethnic Cohort (CMEC) study. The healthy lifestyle index (HLI) was developed using five lifestyle factors: smoking, alcohol, diet, exercise, and sleep. The comprehensive and organ-specific biological ages (BAs) were calculated using the Klemera–Doubal method based on longitudinal clinical laboratory measurements, and validation were conducted to select BA reflecting related diseases. Fixed effects model was used to examine the associations between HLI or its components and the acceleration of validated BAs. We further evaluated the relative contribution of lifestyle components to comprehension and organ systems BAs using quantile G-computation.Results:About two-thirds of participants changed HLI scores between surveys. After validation, three organ-specific BAs (the cardiopulmonary, metabolic, and liver BAs) were identified as reflective of specific diseases and included in further analyses with the comprehensive BA. The health alterations in HLI showed a protective association with the acceleration of all BAs, with a mean shift of –0.19 (95% CI −0.34, –0.03) in the comprehensive BA acceleration. Diet and smoking were the major contributors to overall negative associations of five lifestyle factors, with the comprehensive BA and metabolic BA accounting for 24% and 55% respectively.Conclusions:Healthy lifestyle changes were inversely related to comprehensive and organ-specific biological aging in Southwest China, with diet and smoking contributing most to comprehensive and metabolic BA separately. Our findings highlight the potential of lifestyle interventions to decelerate aging and identify intervention targets to limit organ-specific aging in less-developed regions.Funding:This work was primarily supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 82273740) and Sichuan Science and Technology Program (Natural Science Foundation of Sichuan Province, Grant No. 2024NSFSC0552). The CMEC study was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2017YFC0907305, 2017YFC0907300). The sponsors had no role in the design, analysis, interpretation, or writing of this article.

Mu Y., Zhang L., Chen Z., Zheng J., Wu Z.

An Y., Li Y., Yang C., Yangjin Z., Yuan L.

WANG L., KONG L., ZENG X., YU Q.

Liu Y., Song F., Zeng X., Yang S., Zhai Z., Wang Z., Naz W., Yousaf T., Sun J., Zhang Y., Zhou Y., Guo M., Shi Y., Tian G., Sun G.

Cao Z., Aharonian F., Axikegu, Bai Y. ., Bao Y. ., Bastieri D., Bi X. ., Bi Y. ., Bian W., Bukevich A. ., Cao Q., Cao W. ., Cao Z., Chang J., Chang J. ., et. al.

Zeng T., Xu M., Shi L., Zhang M., Su R., Wang C., Liu W., Peng P., Ma H., Li H.

Wang T., Jiang B., Guo T., Yongzong S., Huang H., Fang M., Tu Y., Wang C., Sas G.

Bian Y., Zhang X., Luosang G., Renzeng D., Renqing D., Ding X.

This study investigates the high-quality data processing technology, immersive experience mechanisms, and large-scale access in the Metaverse, concurrently ensuring robust privacy and security. We commence with a comprehensive analysis of the Metaverse’s service requirements, followed by an exploration of its principal technologies. Furthermore, we evaluate the feasibility and potential benefits of integrating semantic communication to enhance the service quality of the Metaverse. A federated semantic communication framework is proposed, integrating semantic data transmission, semantic digital twins, and a Metaverse construction model trained through federated learning. We proceed to assess the performance of our proposed framework through simulations, highlighting the notable enhancements in transmission efficiency, recovery effectiveness, and intelligent recognition ability afforded by semantic communication for the Metaverse. Notably, the framework achieves outstanding compression efficiency with minimal information distortion (0.055), which decreases transmission delays and improves the immersion quality within the Metaverse. Finally, we identify future challenges and propose potential solutions for advancing semantic communication, federated learning, and Metaverse technologies.

Xin X., Li P., Tang L., Xu A.

This paper investigates the influence of expanding free compulsory education on regional entrepreneurial activities, exploring both theoretical and empirical aspects. Our research comprises two main parts. Initially, we employ a novel economic geography model to theoretically assess the effect of extending free compulsory education on regional entrepreneurial endeavors, proposing four hypotheses for further examination. Subsequently, we empirically test these hypotheses using balanced panel data collected from 2528 districts and counties in China spanning from 2000 to 2021. The findings indicate that the expansion of free compulsory education indeed stimulates regional entrepreneurial activity. However, this policy’s impact is influenced by the local industrial structure and the knowledge level of residents. Notably, the effect becomes visible only after the third year of the policy’s enactment, and it demonstrates a certain spatial spillover. Our conclusions remain consistent even after accounting for various endogenous factors. Our research has the potential to offer invaluable countermeasures for other developing countries, enabling them to advance sustainable development by enhancing their obligations.

Basang Z., Zhang S., Ke X., Duoji Z., Yang L., Qiangba D., De Y., Gesang D., Hu Z., Ma Y., Hao M., Fan R., Han L., Lin Z., Li Y., et. al.

High-altitude polycythemia (HAPC) is a prevalent chronic condition affecting individuals at high altitudes, including both highland and plains populations. This study, involving 2248 participants, explored genetic susceptibility to HAPC among ethnic groups, with 898 HAPC patients (450 Han, 448 Tibetan). The Genome-wide Association Study, encompassing 198 cases (100 Han, 98 Tibetan), identified eight Tibetan HAPC-susceptibility single-nucleotide polymorphisms and four in Han individuals. The common polymorphism locus rs7618658 (SNX4, pcombine < 5 × 10–8) was validated in both populations. The investigation of Tibetan EPAS1 revealed the rs1374749 locus, along with linked loci, as a potential prevalence factor for HAPC. The GGTAC haplotype containing this locus emerged as a Protect haplotype for HAPC (p = 2.461 × 10–12, OR = 0.344). Enrichment analysis revealed that Tibetans exhibited susceptibility in oxygen-sensing pathways, such as EPAS1, associated with phenotypes like hemoglobin and platelets. In contrast, Han Chinese showed significant sensitivity in cell differentiation and angiogenesis, closely linked to hemoglobin, hematocrit, and platelets.

Siddiqui J.A., Fan R., Liu Y., Syed A.H., Benlin Y., Chu Q., Ding Z., Ghani M.I., Liu X., Wakil W., Liu D., Chen X., Cernava T., Smagghe G.

AbstractSpodoptera frugiperda (fall armyworm) poses a substantial risk to crops worldwide, resulting in considerable economic damage. The gut microbiota of insects plays crucial roles in digestion, nutrition, immunity, growth and, sometimes, the degradation of insecticides. The current study examines the effect of synthetic insecticides on the gut microbiome of third instar S. frugiperda larvae using both culture‐dependent techniques and 16S rRNA gene sequencing for bacterial community profiling and diversity analysis. In untreated larvae, the sequencing approach revealed a diverse microbiome dominated by the phyla Firmicutes, Proteobacteria and Bacteroidota, with key genera including Bacteroides, Faecalibacterium and Pelomonas. In parallel, 323 bacterial strains were isolated and assigned to the orders Bacillales, Burkholderiales, Enterobacterales, Flavobacteriales, Lactobacillales, Micrococcales, Neisseriaies, Pseudomonadales, Sphingobacteriales and Xanthomonadales. The prevailing culturable species included Serratia marcescens, Klebsiella variicola and Enterobacter quasiroggenkampii. Treatment with sublethal concentrations of three insecticides (broflanilide, spinosad and indoxacarb) caused significant changes in gut microbiome diversity and composition. Treated larvae showed a shift towards increased Proteobacteria abundance and decreased Firmicutes. Specifically, Acinetobacter and Rhodococcus were dominant in treated samples. Functional predictions highlighted significant metabolic versatility involving nutrient processing, immune response, detoxification, xenobiotic metabolism, and stress response, suggesting microbial adaptation to insecticide exposure. Network correlation analysis highlighted disrupted microbial interactions and altered community structures under insecticide treatment. These findings enhance our understanding of how insecticides impact the gut microbiota in S. frugiperda and may inform future strategies for managing pest resistance through microbiome‐based approaches.

Yang J., Wang X., Ma X., Zhang D., Yan S., Ilyas A., Cai Y.