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The naturalization and invasion of alien species have caused a serious impact on the global environment and social development, and have become a global problem faced by countries in biodiversity management and ecological conservation. China is one of the countries most seriously affected by alien invasion, and the situation is serious in the early warning, management and governance of alien invasion. Based on field surveys and literature research, Chenopodiastrum murale (L.) S. Fuentes, Uotila & Borsch, an alien invasive plant of Amaranthaceae sensu lato, is first reported for flora of China. C. murale is native to the Mediterranean region and has spread to more than 40 countries in Europe, America, Africa and Oceania. It is an invasive alien plant with great harm, and it is also clearly prohibited by customs and quarantine departments. This exotic invasive plant is now found in Chenggong District, Kunming City, Yunnan Province. This paper describes the morphological characteristics of the species in detail, as well as brief introduction of its taxonomical history, and provides field ecological photos for identification and comparison. In addition, the possible introduction route of C. murale was analyzed, and its potential harm and invasive risks were briefly assessed. This new record clearly demonstrate that the background survey of Chinese alien invasive plants is still insufficient.

Accurately estimating the reservoir evaporation loss is crucial for water resources management. The existing research on reservoir evaporation loss estimates primarily focuses on large spatiotemporal scales and neglects the rapid dynamic changes to reservoirs’ surface area. For reservoirs essential for frequent flood control and regular water supply, high spatiotemporal evaporation data are crucial. By integrating remote sensing and the evaporation model, this study proposes a new method for the high spatiotemporal estimation of the evaporation losses from reservoirs. The proposed method is applied to the largest artificial freshwater lake in Asia, i.e., Danjiangkou (DJK) Reservoir. The daily reservoir water surface area is extracted at a spatial resolution of 30 m during the period 2014–2018 based on the Enhanced Spatial and Temporal Adaptive Reflectance Fusion Model (ESTARFM). The daily evaporation rate is estimated at a spatial resolution of 100 m using the generalized complementary relationship (GCR). The results show that the water surface area of the DJK Reservoir exhibits rapid and frequent fluctuations from 2015 to 2018, with a multi-year average area of 731.9 km2 and a maximum and minimum difference of 304 km2. Significant seasonal variations are observed in both the evaporation rate and volume, with a multi-year average evaporation rate of 806 mm and evaporation volume of 595 million m3. The estimated results align well with three other independent estimates, indicating that the GCR is capable of water surface evaporation estimation. Further analysis suggests that the data resolution has a great influence on the evaporative water loss from the reservoir. The estimated mean annual evaporation volume based on the 1000 m resolution water surface area data is 14% lower than that estimated using the 30 m resolution water surface area data. This study not only provides a new method for the high spatiotemporal estimation of reservoir evaporation by integrating remote-sensing data and the GCR method but also highlights that reservoir evaporation water loss should be quantified using the volume rather than the rate and that the estimated loss is noticeably affected by the estimation spatial resolution.

Highlights The open hollow structure enhances the accessibility of atomically dispersed Ru sites and improves the diffusion efficiency of catalytic molecules The abundant atomically dispersed Ru sites on the surface of catalyst provide a large number of oxygen adsorption and Li2O2 nucleation sites The lithium–oxygen battery assembled with h-RuNC could catalyze the production of Li2O2 with better dispersion and improve the cycling stability.

It is reported that the use of nanomaterials can extend the vase life of fresh-cut flowers. Graphene oxide (GO) is one of these nanomaterials that aid in promoting water absorption and antioxidation during the preservation of fresh-cut flowers. In this investigation, the three mainstream brands of preservatives commercially available on the market (“Chrysal,” “Floralife,” and “Long Life”) in combination with low concentrations of GO (0.15 mg/L) were used to preserve fresh-cut roses. The results showed that the three brands of preservatives had different degrees of freshness retention. Compared to the preservatives used alone, the combination of low concentrations of GO with the preservatives, especially in the L+GO group (with 0.15 mg/L GO added in the preservative solution of “Long life”), further improved the preservation of cut flowers. L+GO group showed less level of antioxidant enzyme activities, lower ROS accumulation and cell death rate, and higher relative fresh weight than the other groups, implying a better antioxidant and water balance abilities. GO attached to the xylem duct of flower stem, and reduced the blockage of xylem vessels by bacteria, which were determined by SEM (scanning electron microscopy) and FTIR (Fourier transform infrared) analysis. XPS (X-ray photoenergy spectra) analysis results proved that GO could enter the interior of flower stem through xylem duct, and when combined with “Long Life,” the anti-oxidation protection ability of GO was enhanced, thus delaying ageing, and greatly extending the vase life of fresh-cut flowers. The study provides new insights into cut flower preservation using GO.

IQ motif-containing guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase)-activating protein 1 (IQGAP1) is a cytosolic scaffolding protein involved in cell migration. Our previous studies suggest sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P) triggers bone marrow (BM) mesenchymal stromal cells (BMSCs) to damaged liver, thereby promoting liver fibrosis. However, the role of IQGAP1 in S1P-induced BMSC migration and liver fibrogenesis remains unclear. Chimeric mice of BM cell labeled by EGFP were used to build methionine-choline-deficient and high-fat (MCDHF)-diet-induced mouse liver fibrosis. IQGAP1 small interfering RNA (siRNA) was utilized to silence IQGAP1 in vivo. IQGAP1 expression is significantly elevated in MCDHF-diet-induced mouse fibrotic livers. Positive correlations are presented between IQGAP1 and fibrosis hallmarks expressions in human and mouse fibrotic livers. In vitro, depressing IQGAP1 expression blocks S1P-induced motility and cytoskeleton remodeling of BMSCs. S1P facilitates IQGAP1 aggregating to plasma membrane via S1P receptor 3 (S1PR3) and Cdc42/Rac1. In addition, IQGAP1 binds to Cdc42/Rac1, regulating S1P-induced activation of Cdc42/Rac1 and mediating BMSC migration in concert. In vivo, silencing IQGAP1 reduces the recruitment of BMSCs to impaired liver and effectively alleviates liver fibrosis induced by MCDHF diet. Together, silencing IQGAP1 relieves liver fibrosis by blocking BMSC migration, providing an effective therapeutic strategy for liver fibrosis.

Most studies exploring abilities of hosts to detect brood parasitism are based on detecting colour and/or pattern differences among parasitic and host eggs or nestlings, while only few were focused on size differences. True recognition and recognition by discordancy are used to explain cognitive mechanisms of host egg recognition; however, only a few studies have found that hosts use recognition by discordancy. This study investigated: 1) whether egg and nestling recognitions in the Crested Myna (Acridotheres cristatellus) are based on size cues; 2) whether the egg cognitive mechanism is recognition by discordancy based on size cues; and 3) whether the longer the experiment time, the higher the egg recognition rate. Our results showed that the Crested Myna uses egg or nestling size as a recognition cue while the egg and nestling colour and patterning are not associated with egg or nestling rejection, thus the cognitive mechanism of egg recognition in the Crested Myna is recognition by discordancy based on egg size cues. Furthermore, there is a rejection delay in time of egg rejection behaviour of the Crested Myna. Therefore, we suggest that the periodicity of egg rejection experiments could be appropriately extended, especially for species with relatively low egg recognition ability.