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On August 8, 2017, an MW6.5 earthquake occurred in Jiuzhaigou County, Sichuan Province, China, on the eastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau. This study investigates the coseismic deformation field and fault model with ascending and descending Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images, aftershock distribution, and elastic half-space dislocation model. The regional fault slip pattern is then quantitatively examined using the boundary element method. The results show that the ascending and descending interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) coseismic deformation fields display an overall NNW–SSE trend, with more significant deformation on the southwest side of the fault. The coseismic fault geometry is divided into NW and SE sub-faults with strikes of 162.1° and 149.3°, respectively. The coseismic fault slip is dominated by a left-lateral strike-slip movement with an average rake of −2.31°, mainly occurring at a depth of 0–13.04 km with a shape of an approximately inverted triangle. The fault slip features two peak slip zones, with a maximum of 1.39 m. The total seismic moment is 6.34 × 1018 N·m (MW6.47). The boundary element calculation quantitatively indicates that the regional fault slip pattern may be mainly attributable to the changing strike and dip. The strike changes from NNW–SSE to nearly NS direction, and the dip gradually decreases from the Jiuzhaigou earthquake fault in the north to the Huya fault in the south. With these characteristics, the Huya and the Jiuzhaigou earthquake faults form the eastern boundary of the Minshan uplift zone and accommodate the accumulated deformation.

AbstractThis experiment was conducted to examine the effects of substituting mixed silage (fresh ramie: dry rice straw = 80: 20; kg: kg) composed of fresh forage ramie, also known as ‘China grass’, Boehmeria niveaL. Gaud (a nettle native to Asia) and rice straw for corn silage and alfalfa hay on the production performance, milk components, rumen fermentation parameters, and nutrient digestion in dairy cows. Thirty multiparous Chinese Holstein cows (629 ± 59.2 kg of BW, 25 ± 4.7 kg of milk yield, and 100 ± 18 DIM; mean ± SD) were randomly divided into three groups. The experimental treatments containing three diets, each consisting of differing proportions of mixed silage (0%, 10%, and 20%, designated as CON, MS1, and MS2, respectively) as a substitution for corn silage and alfalfa hay. There were no effects of mixed silage diets on dry matter intake (DMI), 3.5% fat-corrected milk (FCM) yield, milk protein percentage, milk somatic cell count, and milk urea nitrogen (MUN), but linearly increased total solids (p = .03) and milk fat percentage (p = .001) in cows fed the MS1 and MS2 diets. Feeding mixed silage diets linearly reduced milk yield (p = .01) and milk lactose percentage (p = .01), and had linearly increased rumen pH values (p = .01). There were no observable differences in other rumen fermentation parameters between the mixed silage and control diets. Mixed silage diets exhibited increased DM digestibility (linearly, p = .04; quadratically, p = .017) and linearly decreased crude protein digestibility (p = .05), but we observed no differences in the apparent total-tract digestibility of EE, NDF, and ADF between the control and mixed silage diets. In conclusion, using ramie and rice straw mixed silage proved beneficial by increasing milk fat percentage, milk solids, and DM digestibility, ramie could be used as a potential forage resource in dairy cow diets.HighlightsWe tested the effects of substituting alfalfa hay and corn silage with mixed silage composed of fresh forage ramie and rice straw on dairy cowsMixed silage diets had no effect on dry matter intake (DMI)Mixed silage diets reduced milk yield and milk lactose percentage

Cardiomyocyte apoptosis is thought to play an important role in sepsis-induced cardiodepression. Previous studies mainly focused on the role of exogenous TNF-a in sepsis-induced cardiac damage, however, the role of endogenous TNF-a is rarely known. Therefore, we hypothesized that endogenous TNF-a also contributed to sepsis-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Primary neonatal rat cardiomyocytes were time- and dose-dependently stimulated with BLP and TNF-a. In separate experiments, cells were treated with TNF-a antagonist and IL-10, respectively, to determine effects of endogenous TNF-a and exogenous IL-10 on BLP-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis. After treatment, apoptosis was evaluated by nuclear condensation, membrane permeability change, caspase-3 activation, and pro- to anti-apoptotic protein (bax to bcl-2) expression. Treatment of cardiomyocytes with BLP and TNF-a both significantly induced caspase-3 activation in a time- and dose-dependent manner and caused apparent nuclear condensation and increased membrane permeability. TNF-a antagonist pretreatment attenuated BLP-induced caspase-3 activation, and downregulated bax/bcl-2 ratio. In addition, administration of IL-10 inhibited TNF-a production and suppressed cardiomyocyte apoptosis induced by BLP. Our data suggest that endogenous TNF-a play an important role in BLP-induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis and IL-10 protect cardiomyocytes from BLP-induced apoptosis, an effect partially through inhibition of endogenous TNF-a production.

We combine measurements of ground deformation from Synthetic Aperture Radar images, high‐rate Global Navigation Satellite System and tele‐seismic waveforms to study the rupture kinematics of the Madoi Earthquake, which occurred in eastern Tibet on 21 May 2021 and reached a moment magnitude Mw7.4. The data show nearly pure left‐lateral motion along a 170 km long rupture and a total duration of 36 s. The earthquake initiated near the middle of the main segment and evolved in a bilateral slip pulse rupture which propagated at a sub‐Rayleigh speed of 2.6–2.8 km/s. In our model, slip is concentrated at depth of less than ∼15 km and reaches a maximum of 4.2 m. The rupture arrested ∼10 s after branching on the extensional splay faults at both extremities. The branching onto the splay faults and the eventual arrest of the rupture is used to provide constraints on the fault frictional properties. The M7.4 Madoi Earthquake, which occurred in eastern Tibet on 21 May 2021 is the largest event since the 2008, M8.0 Wenchuan earthquake. It therefore generated widespread interests among the Chinese public and scientific community. Here, we model the temporal evolution of fault slip during the earthquake using geodetic and seismic observations. Our study reveals a slip‐pulse that ruptured a 170 km long fault system, extending from the surface to about 15 km at depth, with horizontal shear slip of up to 4.2 m. The rupture initiated near the middle of the ruptured fault, propagated bi‐laterally along the fault trace, and ended after branching on splay‐faults. Forking seems to have arrested the rupture. The Madoi Earthquake relates to the eastward extrusion of Tibet which is driven by the northward indentation of India into Eurasia. The 2021 Mw7.4 Madoi Earthquake ruptured bilaterally for about 170 km with most of slip being concentrated at less than 15 km depthThe rupture was arrested after propagating on splay faultsPropagation along the most misoriented splay fault suggests a dynamic friction possibly as low as 0.05 The 2021 Mw7.4 Madoi Earthquake ruptured bilaterally for about 170 km with most of slip being concentrated at less than 15 km depth The rupture was arrested after propagating on splay faults Propagation along the most misoriented splay fault suggests a dynamic friction possibly as low as 0.05

The present trial was performed to reveal the regulatory effects of L-theanine on the levels of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) endotoxin within different biofluids, as well as relevant inflammatory responses of dairy cattle under heat stress conditions. Thirty lactating Chinese Holstein dairy cattle (189 ± 47 days in milk, and 2 ± 1 parities) were allocated in a completely randomized design to each of 3 dietary treatments: the control (CON, 0 g/d per cow L-theanine), the low L-theanine dosage treatment (LL, 16 g/d per cow L-theanine), and the high L-theanine dosage treatment (HL, 32 g/d per cow L-theanine). This trial consisted of 38 d (7 d for adaption and 31 d for data and sample collection), and sample collection for rumen liquid, blood plasma or serum, and milk were conducted on the d 27 and 38, respectively. Dairy cattle were constantly exposed to environmental heat stress during this experiment according to the recorded temperature-humidity index (THI). In the LL treatment, LPS concentration in rumen liquid was higher (P< 0.05), whilst LPS densities in plasma and milk were lower (P< 0.05) than those of the CON. Supplementing L-theanine at 2 dosages both significantly lowered (P< 0.05) the level of interleukin (IL)-1β in the serum. Results of the present study suggested that L-theanine could be a promising additive in reducing the detrimental effects of heat stress on dairy cows, and L-theanine supplementation at 16 g/d per cow is preferred since it reduced the LPS translocation into the peripheral blood and LPS accumulation in the milk, as well as mitigated LPS-induced inflammatory reactions in dairy cows during heat stress. Further studies are necessitated to investigate the underlying mechanisms of L-theanine in LPS alteration and inflammation alleviation.