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Groundwater overexploitation in West Ordos necessitates sustainable irrigation practices. This study evaluated three irrigation levels—W1 (3300 m3 · ha−1), W2 (2850 m3 · ha−1), and W3 (2400 m3 · ha−1)—by modifying the wide-width planting pattern of maize. Additionally, two levels of straw mulch were analyzed: F1 (9000 kg · ha−1) and F2 (no mulch). The study aimed to investigate the effects of these treatments on corn growth dynamics, soil water temperature, soil enzyme activity, yield, grain quality, and water use efficiency. The results indicated a decline in growth indices, enzyme activities, grain quality, and yield under the limited irrigation levels W2 and W3 compared to W1. The highest corn yields were observed with W1F1 (6642.54 kg · ha−1) and W2F1 (6602.38 kg · ha−1), with the latter showing only a 0.6% decrease. Notably, water use efficiency in the W2F1 treatment improved by 4.69%, 12.08%, 10.27%, 12.59%, and 12.96% compared to W1F1, W3F1, W1F2, W2F2, and W3F2, respectively. Straw mulch (F1) significantly elevated the soil temperature, increasing the effective accumulated temperature during the growth period by 10.11~85.79 °C, and boosted the soil enzyme activity by 10–25%. Under limited irrigation, the W2 (2850 m3 · ha−1) and F1 (9000 kg · ha−1 straw) treatments achieved the highest water productivity of 2.48 kg·m−3, maintaining a high yield of 6602.38 kg · ha−1 while preserving nutrients essential to the corn's quality. This approach presents a viable strategy for wide-width corn planting in groundwater-depleted regions, offering a scientifically grounded and sustainable water management solution for efficient corn production in West Ordos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) are often referred to as the "living skin" of arid regions worldwide. Yet, the combined impact of BSCs on soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and enzyme activities remains not fully understood. This study identified, screened and reviewed 71 out of 2856 literature sources to assess the responses of soil C, N, P and enzyme activity to BSCs through a meta-analysis. The results indicated that BSC presence significantly increased soil C, N, P and soil enzyme activity, and this increasing effect was significantly influenced by the types of BSCs. Results from the overall effect showed that soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), available nitrogen (AN), total phosphorus (TP), and available phosphorus (AP) increased by 107.88%, 84.52%, 45.43%, 27.46%, and 54.71%, respectively, and four soil enzyme activities (Alkaline Phosphatase, Cellulase, Sucrase, and Urease) increased by 93.65–229.27%. The highest increases in SOC, TN and AN content occurred in the soil covered with lichen crusts and moss crusts, and significant increases in Alkaline Phosphatase and Cellulase were observed in the soil covered with moss crusts and mixed crusts, suggesting that moss crusts can synergistically enhance soil C and N pool and enzyme activity. Additionally, variations in soil C, N, P content, and enzyme activity were observed under different environmental settings, with more pronounced improvements seen in coarse and medium-textured soils compared to fine-textured soils, particularly at a depth of 5 cm from the soil surface. BSCs in desert ecosystems showed more significant increases in SOC, TN, AN, and Alkaline Phosphatase compared to forest and grassland ecosystems. Specifically, BSCs at low altitude (≤500 m) with an annual average rainfall of 0–400 mm and an annual average temperature ≤ 10 °C were the most conducive to improving soil C, N, and P levels. Our results highlight the role of BSCs and their type in increasing soil C, N, P and enzyme activities, with these effects significantly impacted by soil texture, ecosystem type, and climatic conditions. The implications of these findings are crucial for soil enhancement, ecosystem revitalization, windbreak, and sand stabilization efforts in the drylands of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is currently the most harmful greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. Obtaining long-term, high-resolution atmospheric column CO2 concentration (XCO2) datasets is of great practical significance for mitigating the greenhouse effect, identifying and controlling carbon emission sources, and achieving carbon cycle management. However, mainstream satellite observations provide XCO2 datasets with coarse spatial resolution, which is insufficient to support the needs of higher-precision research. To address this gap, in this study, we integrate spatial information with the extreme random trees model and develop a new machine learning model called spatial extreme random trees (SExtraTrees) to reconstruct a 1 km spatial resolution XCO2 dataset for China from 2016 to 2020. The results indicate that the predictive ability of spatial extreme random trees is more stable and has higher fitting accuracy compared to other methods. Overall, XCO2 in China shows an increasing trend year by year, with the spatial distribution revealing significantly higher XCO2 levels in eastern coastal regions compared to western inland areas. The contributions of this study are primarily in the following areas: (1) Considering the spatial heterogeneity of XCO2 and combining spatial features with the advantages of machine learning, we construct the spatial extreme random trees model, which is verified to have high predictive accuracy. (2) Using the spatial extreme random trees model, we reconstruct high-resolution XCO2 datasets for China from 2016 to 2020, providing data support for carbon emission reduction and related decision making. (3) Based on the generated dataset, we analyze the spatiotemporal distribution patterns of XCO2 in China, thereby improving emission reduction policies and sustainable development measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the impact of perioperative comprehensive nursing intervention on postoperative urinary incontinence, various aspects of patient well-being were assessed. The comprehensive group, that received the nursing intervention, demonstrated significant improvements in self-care skills, health knowledge level, self-care responsibility, and self-concept compared to the standard group. The findings indicate that perioperative comprehensive nursing intervention has a remarkable effect on patients undergoing laparoscopic radical prostatectomy. This nursing intervention not only effectively improves postoperative urinary incontinence and alleviates negative emotions, such as anxiety and depression. Therefore, the implementation of this nursing intervention model is highly recommended for clinical practice and wider application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mammalian kidney maintains fluid homeostasis through diverse epithelial cell types generated from nephron and ureteric progenitor cells. To extend a developmental understanding of the kidney's epithelial networks, we compared chromatin organization (single-nuclear assay for transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing [ATAC-seq]; 112,864 nuclei) and gene expression (single-cell/nuclear RNA sequencing [RNA-seq]; 109,477 cells/nuclei) in the developing human (10.6-17.6 weeks; n = 10) and mouse (post-natal day [P]0; n = 10) kidney, supplementing analysis with published mouse datasets from earlier stages. Single-cell/nuclear datasets were analyzed at a species level, and then nephron and ureteric cellular lineages were extracted and integrated into a common, cross-species, multimodal dataset. Comparative computational analyses identified conserved and divergent features of chromatin organization and linked gene activity, identifying species-specific and cell-type-specific regulatory programs. In situ validation of human-enriched gene activity points to human-specific signaling interactions in kidney development. Further, human-specific enhancer regions were linked to kidney diseases through genome-wide association studies (GWASs), highlighting the potential for clinical insight from developmental modeling., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests A.P.M. is a consultant or scientific advisor to Novartis, eGENESIS, Trestle Biotherapeutics, GentiBio, and IVIVA Medical., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)