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As a novel material that can be used at subzero temperatures, anti-freezing hydrogels have been attracting extensive attention. Inspired by the freeze-tolerance phenomenon in seawater, which is achieved by mixing salts into water, an ionic compound (CaCl2) was used to gelatinize starch to form anti-freezing hydrogels. Native potato starch (NPS) anti-freezing hydrogels were formed at −10 °C, −18 °C, −30 °C, and − 50 °C with 6–9 kPa tensile strength and 100–230% elongation at break. The compressive stress of anti-freezing hydrogels at different environmental temperatures increased from 18.586 kPa to 36.551 kPa with the glass transform temperature of starch hydrogels dropped to −50 °C. The anti-freezing hydrogels showed excellent water retention ability, which could maintain a water content of 55% after 7 days at ambient temperature. The prototyping of anti-freezing starch hydrogels broadens the applications of starch in food, adhesives, medical materials, and intelligent materials.

PURPOSE This randomized controlled phase II study investigated the efficacy, safety and underlying mechanism of maxillofacial and oral massage (MOM) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients receiving intensity-modulated radiotherapy. METHODS A total of 158 NPC patients were randomly assigned 1:1 to routine oral care and medication (the control group) or that with additional MOM (the treatment group). The primary endpoint was the incidence of severe radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis (SRTOM). In addition, the time of initiation and duration of RTOM and SRTOM, adverse events, dynamic changes of lipid metabolites in peripheral blood were analyzed. RESULTS Seventy-six patients in the treatment group and seventy-nine in the control group completed the trial. The incidence of SRTOM in the treatment group was lower than the control (26.3% vs. 46.8%, P = 0.008). The median initiation time to RTOM and SRTOM was significantly longer in the treatment group than the control (RTOM:12 vs 10 days, hazard ratio [HR] 0.52, P

Contact engineering is of critical importance for two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD)-based devices. However, there are only a few solutions to overcome this obstacle because of the complexity of the TMD-contact interface. In this work, we propose a novel method using a soft plasma treatment followed by the seamless deposition of a metal electrode to reduce the contact resistance of MoS2 field effect transistors (FETs). The treated FETs exhibit three times higher mobility than the control FETs without plasma treatment. The soft plasma treatment can remove the facial sulfur atoms and expose the middle Mo atoms so that they come into direct contact with the metal electrode, thus greatly improving the contact behavior. First-principles calculation is also performed to support the experimental results. Our potentially scalable strategy can be extended to the whole family of TMD based FETs to provide a possible route of device processsing technology for 2D device application.

After gelatinization, starch is prone to retrograde during storage, and it is a notorious challenge to inhibit starch retrogradation in papermaking, textile, and construction fields. This work aimed to develop a new method for inhibiting the retrogradation of normal corn starch (CS) and waxy corn starch (WCS) by sodium borohydride (NaBH4). Differential scanning calorimetry analysis suggested that addition of 2.0% (at dry starch basis, w/w) NaBH4 can completely inhibit WCS retrogradation. X-ray diffraction results showed that, as the NaBH4 concentration increased, the crystallinity of CS and WCS gradually decreased. After seven days of storage at 4 °C, the relative crystallinity of CS and WCS with 2.0% NaBH4 decreased by 62.22% and 100%, respectively. Low field nuclear magnetic resonance analysis showed that the incorporation of NaBH4 remarkably affected the change of relaxation time(T2). The T2 changes in the gelatinized CS and WCS with 2.0% NaBH4 were much lower than gelatinized CS and WCS without NaBH4. The addition of NaBH4 led to a reduction in the hydrogen bonding of CS and WCS, which was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It was concluded that the addition of 2.0% NaBH4 can significantly inhibit the retrogradation of CS and WCS.

Background: Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly experience sensory abnormalities, including tactile sensation, in addition to social and repetitive restrictive behavior. This study aimed to evaluate the tactile response characteristics of children with ASD and its correlation with core phenotypes, as well as investigate the role of Piezo2 mechanically sensitive ion channels in the tactile behavior of BTBR mice. Additionally, the study explored the effects of tactile intervention on the neural function of key sensory and social brain regions in mouse model. Methods: A population questionnaire survey was conducted to compare the scores of the Short Sensory Profile (SSP) between children with ASD and typically developing children, and analyze the correlation between SSP and social response scales (SRS) and other clinical diagnostic tools in the ASD group. Behavioral tests such as Von Frey, three-chamber social test, open field, self-grooming, and Morris water maze were performed on BTBR and C57BL/6 mice to evaluate tactile and ASD characteristics. Expression of Piezo2 in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG), and the neural function in the mPFC/S1 brain region were detected in the whisker intervention group and the non-intervention group. Results: Children with ASD showed significant tactile sensitivity compared to typically developing children, and increased tactile abnormality was associated with greater social abnormality. In animal experiments, BTBR mice with tactile overreaction exhibited over-expression of Piezo2 protein and mRNA in the DRG. Tactile intervention relieved tactile sensitivity and ASD symptoms, and decreased the over-expression of Piezo2. Additionally, there was a significant increase in dendritic spine density in S1 and mPFC brain regions, and a decrease in the level of c-fos. Limitations: The causal relationship between ASD tactile sensitivity and social injury should be further clarified in future research. And clarify the neural mechanism of mild tactile stimulation affecting ASD symptoms.

Epidemiological studies have established the correlations between PM2.5 and a wide variety of pulmonary diseases. However, their underlying pathogeneses have not been clearly elucidated yet. In the present study, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype with enhanced proliferation and migration activity of human pulmonary epithelial cell line BEAS-2B was observed after exposure to low dose PM2.5 exposure (50 μg/ml) for 30 passages. Then, epithelial cells derived-exosomal micro-RNA (miRNA) and intracellular total RNA were extracted, and the differentially expressed exosomal miRNAs (DE-Exo-MiRs) as well as differentially expressed protein coding genes (DEGs) were identified by RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and transcriptome analysis. We found that chronic PM2.5 exposure stimulated the release of pulmonary epithelium derived exosomes. 45 DE-Exo-MiRs including 32 novelly predicted miRNAs and 843 DEGs between PM2.5 exposed group and the normal control were detected. The Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analyses showed that DEGs were significantly enriched in extracellular matrix organization, focal adhesion and cancer related terms. Besides, the enrichment analyses on 7774 mRNA targets of 27 DE-Exo-MiRs predicted by MiRanda software also revealed the potential regulatory role of exosomal miRNAs in pathways in cancer, Wingless/Integrated (Wnt) signaling pathway, focal adhesion related genes and other multiple pathogenic pathways. Moreover, the interactive exosomal miRNA-mRNA pair networks were constructed using Cytoscape software. Our results provided a novel basis for a better understanding of the mechanisms of chronic PM2.5 exposure induced pulmonary disorders including pulmonary fibrosis and cancer, in which exosomal miRNAs (Exo-MiRs) potentially functions by dynamically regulating gene expressions.

Background The relationship between environmental factors and allergic rhinitis (AR) has become a focal point recently. However, few studies have investigated the adverse effects of both high relative humidity (RH) and low relative humidity. Moreover, the laged effect and disease burden of RH on AR were also neglected. Objectives To explore the association of both high and low RH on daily AR hospital outpatients, and to quantify the corresponding disease burden attributable to RH. Methods In our study, we define 95th as high RH and 5th as low RH. A distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM) combined with a Poisson generalized linear regression model were applied to analyze the relationship between RH and hospital outpatients for AR. All patients were retrieved from Anhui Provincial Children's Hospital (n = 37,221) from January 2015 to December 2016. Daily meteorological and air pollutant data were collected by Hefei Meteorological Bureau and Environmental Protection Agency. Subgroup analyses were conducted by gender and occupational groups. Results Acute adverse effects of high and low RH on AR were explored respectively, with an increase of daily AR outpatients when encountered high and low RH. The low RH presented a risk effect at current day and lasted up to the eighth day. However, high RH began to appear a risk effect on the fourth day. Notably, the fraction of hospital outpatients attributable to low RH was 5.22% (95% CI: 1.92%, 8.33%) and high RH was 4.07% (95% CI: 1.13%, 7.30%) in the backward perspective. Additionally, male and students apparent to be more sensitive to the effects of low RH. Conclusion This study suggests that both high and low RH are potential trigger for AR hospital outpatients in Hefei, China. Our studies might offer valuable messages to health practitioners and useful direction to decisions-makers respectively.

Background Some studies have discovered that low ambient temperatures were associated with increased risk of the incidence of ischemic stroke. Although the frequency of extreme weather events is increasing, few studies have studied the effects of cold wave on ischemic stroke. Objective The purpose of this study was to explore the association between cold waves and ischemic stroke onset and further to explore how this association was modified by cold spell characteristics and individual-level factors. Methods A Poisson regression with a distributed lag nonlinear model was used to investigate the association between cold spells under 9 different definitions and daily admissions of ischemic stroke in 2013–2015 in Hefei. Results By comparing the attribution risk and the results of the sensitivity analysis of different models, the local optimal cold spell was defined as the day between November to March when daily mean temperature was less than 10th for 2 or more consecutive days (backward attributable risk fraction (b-AF) = 4.19%, 95% empirical confidence intervals (eCI): 0.87%, 6.66%, backward attributable number (b-AN) = 278). On the basis of optimal model, the single-day effect of cold waves on ischemic stroke occurred on 5th day after exposure and continued until 17th day, and the maximum effect appeared on the 5th day with relative risk (RR) = 1.050 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.008, 1.094). The significant cumulative effect lasted from day 9 after exposure to cold spells to day 21. The maximum cumulative effect was observed on the 21st day with RR = 2.378 (95% CI = 1.304, 4.337). The female and the young and middle-aged people were susceptible to the local cold waves. Conclusion This study suggests that cold spell is a risk factor for ischemic stroke in Hefei, and there is a certain lag effect. Targeted measures should be taken to protect susceptible populations during cold spell days, including women and young and middle-aged people.

A velocity filtered density function (VFDF) transport equation is derived to solve the interaction between the gas and solid particles, in which the sub-grid scale turbulence encountered by the particles is included. The stochastic collision (SC) model is developed to deal with collision between particles based on the kinetic theory, in which the instantaneous collision rate at every time interval is obtained. Together with the large eddy simulation (LES) which is used to model the fluid flow, the LES/VFDF/SC model is developed for dense gas-particle flows. It is for the first time to consider both the SGS effect and the influence of particle collision on the particle motion in LES of dense gas-particle. Numerical simulations of 2D and 3D fluidized beds are carried out with the developed model, in which the CFD software FLUENT is applied to simulate the flow field with the LES, and the VFDF/SC model is implemented in the self-developed code with the tool of user-defined functions (UDFs) in FLUENT. Comparisons between the numerical results and the experimental data show that the dense gas-particle flow in present cases can be well predicted with the developed model.

Epidemiological studies have revealed positive correlation between particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of

Land use change affects ecosystem services by changing the structure and function of ecosystems. Carbon flows throughout natural and socioeconomic systems can effectively reveal this process. The Manas River Basin has experienced rapid oasis expansion for decades, and land use change in the basin is very typical. Oasis expansion has caused a large amount of cropland to invade natural vegetation, thus affecting ecosystem services. This study used a biomass-based ecosystem service estimation model to assess changes in ecosystem services in the Manas River Basin. The carbon flow model was constructed using energy systems language, and the future development of ecosystem services was simulated based on different land use scenarios. The results show the following: (1) From 1980 to 2015, the river basin provisioning service was continuously optimized, while the regulating, supporting and cultural services were reduced. (2) If the expansion of cropland continues, then carbon will be transferred from the natural ecosystem to the cropland. Regulation, support and cultural services in the basin continue to decrease. Due to the shortage of water resources in the basin, the growth of provisioning services is limited. (3) If the project of returning cropland to grassland is implemented, then the carbon in the natural ecosystem will gradually recover. The regulating, supporting and cultural services of the river basin are rising, but provisioning services are gradually decreasing. In general, the model based on energy systems language can reflect the ecological process within the system and effectively reveal the carbon flow process between ecosystems. The use of carbon to quantify ecosystem services can harmonize dimensions, facilitate comparisons, and mitigate errors in outcomes due to different evaluation criteria or subjective factors. Therefore, this study combines energy systems language with carbon flow, which helps to more rationally explore the impact of land use change on ecosystem services, thereby providing valuable information for river basin management.

The relationship between sunlight hours, temperature, and suicide has been investigated in many previous studies, but with inconsistent findings. We conducted this meta-analysis aiming at providing clear evidence about whether sunlight hours and temperature can affect the risk of suicide.Relevant literature published before 7 Jul 2018 was searched in three electronic database of PubMed, Web of science and Cochrane. Between-study heterogeneity in the effect estimates were examined by study design (i.e., exposure time resolution, temperature measure and suicide classification) and population vulnerability (i.e., sex, national income level, climate zone and study location).Regarding temperature-suicide association, we identified 14 studies that provided 23 effect estimates for meta-analysis. Our random-effects model showed that each 1 °C increase in temperature was significantly associated with a 1% increase in the incidence of suicide (Incidence Rate Radio (IRR) = 1.01; 95%CI = 1.00-1.02; p 0.05). As for sunlight duration and suicide, 11 effect estimates from 4 studies were pooled using a fixed-effects model. Significant association between sunlight duration (per 1 h increase) and the risk of suicide was not observed, and the pooled IRR was 1.00 (95%CI = 0.99-1.01; p 0.05). There was significant heterogeneity between previous studies' effect estimates, and significantly lower heterogeneity was noted for the female group, for studies that did analyses at daily scale, and for studies using mean temperature as the exposure indicator.Our findings suggest a significant and positive association between temperature rises and incidence of suicide, and a non-significant association between sunlight duration and incidence of suicide. Populations living in tropical and temperate zones or at middle-income level may be particularly vulnerable to temperature increase.

Changes in land use intensity and types can affect the structure and function of ecosystems, and thus ecosystem services (ESs) as well as their interactions. However, the impacts of changes in land use intensity on ESs remain poorly understood. Through four different land use scenarios, we distinguished the independent contribution of changes in agricultural land use intensity and types to grain production (GP), water purification (WP), and their trade-offs in the Dongting Lake Basin. The results showed that from 1990 to 2015, GP increased across 58.07% of the total area, but WP decreased across 64.81% of the study area. The two ESs simultaneously increased or decreased across 41.93% of the total area. Watersheds covering 48.72% of the study area where GP increased and WP decreased were mainly distributed in areas with increased land use intensity. The other regions where GP decreased and WP increased were mainly distributed in areas with decreased land use intensity. The scenario analysis of GP, WP, and their trade-offs showed that the areas where agricultural land use intensity was the dominant factor were as large as 1.95 times, 2.38 times, and 2.43 times those dominated by land use type respectively, under the same climate conditions. This study highlighted the importance of changes in agricultural land use intensity on ES, which provided further supporting to ES-based land use management.

With the increasing contradiction between water demand and supply in a telecoupled society where nature and human interplay intensively over distance, virtual water trade (VWT) plays an indispensable role in global water use sustainability. There has been little quantitative analysis of global water use sustainability depicting both overall system characteristics and flows between subsystems. In such a context, the extent to which virtual water transfer deviates from possible ideal expectations (i.e., virtual water flows from water-abundant regions to water-scarce ones), and its impact on global water use sustainability, are not well evaluated. Therefore, the global VWT vulnerability framework is proposed to delineate the gap between the real VWT and the possible optimal scenario, providing potential space for future optimization and regulation. Represented by the ratio of weighted total virtual water volume to the original one, the vulnerability is assessed from 2005 to 2015 based on the Eora input-output database and Virtual Water Transfer Multiplier which assigns differentiated weights to per unit volume of virtual water transfer based on the water stress levels of importers and those of exporters. Results show that the global VWT vulnerability has increased by 18.9% during the study period, with Africa and Southern and Central Asia making the biggest contribution. Developed countries contributed around 80% of the increased global VWT vulnerability. However, the proportion has fallen a bit, in terms of the conventional view of developed countries taking the approach of transferring responsibility to developing countries. Instead, the proportions of transferring responsibility between developing countries have rose by 10% to 30% during 2005-2015, partially due to stronger trade ties among developing countries. Our findings support policy decisions on tracing environmental responsibility for water scarcity and call for action to prevent water ecological downsides due to international trade.

Enzymes secreted during fermentation by lactic acid bacteria (LAB) may induce structural changes, e.g., promote the transformation of polyphenols in fruits and vegetables and thus influence their bioavailability and antioxidant capacity. This study describes the effects of fermentation by different LAB types (Streptococcus lactis and Pediococcus pentosaceus) and simulated gastrointestinal digestion on the biotransformation and antioxidant capacity of blueberry phenolics, revealing that upon the digestion of fermented samples, antioxidant capacity increases with increasing biotransformation extent because of the concomitant formation of more potent antioxidants. Moreover, the fermentation of blueberry puree increases the bioavailability and bioacceptability of phenolics and thus promotes the survival of LAB after digestion. The best results are obtained for S. lactis, and this LAB type is therefore concluded to hold great promise for the food industry.

Trans fatty acids (TFAs), associated with the risks of coronary heart disease and diabetes, are formed by isomerization of unsaturated fatty acids during refining of linseed oils. In this study, TFAs and the chemical characteristics (acid value, peroxide value, carbonyl compounds, bioactive minor components and fatty acids) in 32 commercial linseed oils were investigated, and the correlation among them were further analyzed. Results showed that C18:3 TFAs were predominant TFAs in linseed oils and about 9% of the samples had TFA contents above 2 g/100 g fat, as well as the average level of TFA in the refined samples was higher than that in the unrefined oils. The correlation analyses suggested C18:3 TFAs exhibited significant negative correlations with acid value, levels of acetone, trans-2-nonenal, campesterol and α-linolenic acid. These results provided a comprehensive insight of TFAs in linseed oil and had important implications for consumers and linseed oil industry.

Clarifying the spatial and temporal changes in the ecosystem services (ES) supply and demand helps in providing comprehensive supporting information for ecological governance decisions. However, spatial mismatches of the ES supply and demand changes are often overlooked, thereby resulting in the lack of targeted decision-making. In this study, the spatiotemporal variations of ES supply and demand in Guangdong Province during 2000-2015 were quantitatively analyzed at watershed scale. Ecological zoning was conducted on the basis of the temporal changes of ES supply and demand. Spatial correlation of ES supply and demand changes in different zones was further explored. The results showed that, the changes of ES supply and demand showed obvious spatial heterogeneity. The changes in the Pearl River Delta were significant, with ES supply decreasing and ES demand increasing. The ES supply changes were significantly affected by the ES demand changes. All of the ES supply would be significantly affected in the “high supply change–high demand change” zone; grain production, tropical cyclone mitigation, flood mitigation and habitat quality have been significantly affected in the “low supply change–middle demand change” zone; carbon sequestration, landscape recreation, grain production, flood mitigation and habitat quality have been significantly affected in the “low supply change–low demand change” zone. The increase in the land use change may promote the impact of the ES demand changes on the ES supply changes. This study helped in integrating the change of ES supply and demand and its correlation into the ecological protection and restoration system, thus providing a new perspective and approach for a regional sustainable management.

Space bone loss is the most serious medical problem experienced by astronauts during mid- and long-term flights. Previous reports had shown that miRNAs were associated in bone remodeling and space bone loss. The present study is addressed screening and identify novel miRNAs associated with the skeletal response to gravity changes which play important roles in the regulation of bone formation. Tail-suspension and cell clinorotation were used to simulate microgravity. sRNA deep sequencing, bioinformatics analysis and clone technique were performed to find potential novel gravity-response miRNAs in the bone femur after 28 days’ rat tail-suspension. Six candidate novel miRNAs were selected and analyzed their expression in simulated microgravity and fluid shear stress conditions by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The expression of five novel miRNAs (RN4, RN21, RN43, RN48 and RN50) were changed in tail-suspended rat femurs and clinorotated UMR-106 cells, and up-regulated in UMR-106 after fluid force stress stimulation. Furthermore, The prediction and their enrichment analysis of miRNA targets showed the potential pathways by which RN4, RN43 and RN50 affected osteoblast differentiation and proliferation. Subsequently, we performed and identified the effects of RN4, RN43 and RN50 on the differentiation and proliferation of UMR-106. Taken together, we identified 3 novel miRNAs in bone which may respond to gravity change and regulate osteoblast differentiation or proliferation.

Investigating the historical dynamics, interactions and driving factors of multiple ecosystem services (ES) is crucial to realize ES sustainability. The mountain-oasis-desert system (MODS) is a coupled socio-ecological system, and the Manas River Basin is a typical representative of the MODS and faces a sharp conflict between socioeconomic development and ecological conservation. Based on historical documents, meteorological data, hydrological data and remote sensing data, we identified long temporal variations (approximately 60 years) and relationships of eight ES in the study area. A gray relational analysis (GRA) was applied to quantify the influence of climate and anthropogenic factors on eight ES. The results showed, since the large-scale reclamation of the study area in 1949, that the provisioning services (i.e., grain, cotton and livestock) and most regulating services (i.e., sandstorm control and climate regulation) improved markedly, but the supporting services (i.e., soil conservation and habitats) had declined. The linear fit charts indicated the synergies between the provisioning services and most regulating services but tradeoffs between provisioning services and supporting services (especially the habitats service). The dramatic population growth and intensified human activities (e.g., large-scale reclamation and the deforestation) were the main drivers of most ES, while climate fluctuation (e.g., temperature and strong wind days) was the main factor affecting certain regulating services (e.g., hydrological regulation and sandstorm control). The declines in supporting services and ES tradeoffs caused by the intensified human activities threatened the sustainability of other ES and should attract close attention. Investigating the ES historical dynamic in the Manas River Basin can help us further understand the socio-ecological system development of the typical mountain-oasis-desert region and provide valuable information for ES management.

Develop circular agriculture is an effective way to reduce pollution and achieve sustainable agricultural development. At present, both the government and scholars have stressed employing agricultural wastes at multiple levels and extending the industrial chain as much as possible. However, whether the abovementioned strategy is environmentally friendly is worth consideration. To address this issue, by using the evaluation method of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and taking the circular agriculture industry company of Xingyuan, Fuqing, Fujian as an example, this paper analyzes different circular agriculture models and explores the environmental loads and environmental benefits of each sub-industrial chain from the environmental and economic-environmental viewpoints. The results show that, from the LCA perspective, a longer industrial chain of circular agriculture is not better and at different evaluation angles, different optimal combinations of the industrial chain models of circular agriculture can achieve the minimum environmental load or the highest environmental benefit. This study will be useful for newly built enterprises or sector-integrated park to design new recycling networks from the life cycle and economic-environmental impact perspectives.

Understanding the relationship between land use change and ecosystem services is critical for achieving sustainable ecosystem services and for developing scientifically effective eco-conservation policies. The Zhifanggou watershed is a typical hill and gully region on the Loess Plateau that has experienced a process of serious damage and rapid recovery in recent decades, and the accompanying land use changes have been dramatic. Taking the Zhifanggou watershed as an example, this study built an energy flow model for the watershed considering croplands, woodlands and grasslands as components. This study evaluated the changes in ecosystem service values before and after the implementation of a Grain for Green (GFG) program using the method of equivalent value factor per-unit of ecosystem area. Then changes in ecosystem service values in the Zhifanggou watershed were simulated. The results were as follows: (1) the total value of ecosystem services showed a linear increase (P

Identifying the links among ecosystem services (ES) supply, social demand and human well-being is important to realize sustainability, especially in mountain–oasis–desert (MOD) areas, which are facing an intense conflict between socioeconomic development and ecological conservation. Using a biophysical model, we mapped six ES in the Manas River Basin, which is a typical MOD area. A questionnaire survey was employed to evaluate social demand for ES and human well-being in four different regional units (i.e., high mountain, low hills, oasis and desert) in our site. Spider diagrams were applied to identify the links among ES supply, social demand and human well-being. The results showed that a high supply of provisioning services occurred in the oasis, while a high supply of regulating services existed in the high mountain region. The ES social demand was not completely accordant with the biophysical supply in spatial distribution, and the factors from the supply side and demand side could both cause ES supply–demand mismatches. The total well-being level of all indicators was higher in the oasis and desert than in the upstream areas (i.e., the high mountain region and low hills region), but some indicators (e.g., water consumption) were the inverse. The supply–demand mismatches in provisioning services had a strong impact on human well-being, while the supply–demand mismatches in regulating services had a low impact on human well-being. This can be explained by the ES social demand questionnaire results, which showed that the level of social importance was higher for provisioning services than for regulating services at our site. In accordance with our results, we recommended several policies to promote ecological conservation and improve human well-being in the Manas River Basin, and these policies could also be applied in other MOD areas.

Low temperature and air exposure were the key attributes for waterless transportation of fish and shrimp. In order to investigate the oxidative stress and antioxidant responses of the live shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei in the mimic waterless transportation, live shrimp were cooled at 13 °C for 3 min, stored in oxygen at 15 °C for 12 h, and then revived in water at 25 °C. The survival rate of shrimp under this waterless transportation system was over 86.67%. The ultrastructure of hepatopancreas cells were observed while activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), antisuperoxide anion free radicals (ASAFR), total antioxidant capacity (TAOC), reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, content of malondialdehyde (MDA) and relative mRNA expressions of CAT and GSH-Px in the hemolymph and hepatopancreas were determined. Slight distortions of some organelles in hepatopancreas cells was reversible upon the shrimp revived from the cold shock. The activities of SOD, POD, CAT, GSH-Px, TAOC, ROS production and relative mRNA expressions of CAT and GSH-Px increased following the cold shock and reached peak levels after 3 or 6 h of storage, and then decreased gradually. There was no significant difference between the fresh and the revived shrimp in SOD, POD, GSH-Px, TAOC, ROS, MDA and relative mRNA expressions of CAT and GSH-Px. The oxidative stress and antioxidant responses were tissue-specific because hepatopancreas seemed to have a greater ability to defend against organelle damage and was more sensitive to stress than hemolymph based on the results of SOD activity, MDA content and GSH-Px mRNA expression. These results revealed that low temperature and air exposure caused significant oxidative and antioxidant responses, but did not lead to irreversible damages in this waterless system.

2D Cu-BDC MOF nanosheets were designed and synthesized by controlling the reaction time, and then annealed at different pyrolysis temperatures; the final MOF-derived carbons C500 (Final product at 500 °C) and C700 (Final product at 700 °C) were obtained by acid etching. Both carbon derivatives possessed abundant mesoporous structures which could facilitate ion migration and be conducive to the storage of lithium/potassium ions. C500 and C700 exhibited different dominant kinetic behaviors in lithium ion/potassium ion batteries. C500, which was controlled by diffusion process, showed better performance when used as anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). The C500 anode exhibited a reversible specific capacity of 690.4 mAhg−1 at a current density of 0.1 Ag−1. Even after 500 cycles at a current density of 5.0 Ag−1, the high specific capacity of 210.3 mAhg−1 was still maintained. C700, which was dominated by surface capacitance contribution, was a superior anode material for potassium-ion batteries (PIBs). The reversible specific capacity of C700 anode was maintained at 286.2 mAhg−1 at the current density of 0.1 Ag−1 after 100 cycles. Even after 500 cycles at a current density of 1.0 A g−1, C700 anode still maintained 170.8 mAhg−1.

Neuro-inspired computing has made significant progress in recent years. However, its computation efficiency and hardware cost still lag behind the biological nervous system, especially during the training stage. This work targets to understand this gap from a neural motif perspective, particularly the feedforward inhibitory motif. Such a motif has been found in many cortical systems, presenting a vital role in sparse learning. This work first establishes a neural network model that emulates the insect's olfactory system, and then systematically studies various effects of the feedforward inhibitory motif. The performance and efficiency of the neural network models are evaluated through the handwritten digits recognition task, with and without the feedforward inhibitory motif. As demonstrated in the results, the utilization of the feedforward inhibitory motif is able to reduce the network size by > 3X at the same accuracy of 95% in handwritten digits recognition. Further simulation experiments reveal that the feedforward inhibition not only dynamically regulates the firing rate of excitatory neurons, promotes and stabilizes the sparsity, but also provides a coarse categorization of the inputs, which improves the final accuracy with a smaller, cascade structure. These results differentiate the feedforward inhibition path from previous understanding of the feedback inhibition, illustrating its functional importance for high computation and structure efficiency.

We identify that reversible formation/decomposition of lithium oxide, pulverization of Fe3O4 nanoparticles, and electrolyte reactions, are contributors to the enhanced capacity observed in the Fe3O4 electrode upon long cycling. Introducing three-dimensional graphene foam to form a composite with Fe3O4 nanoparticles largely increases the capacity (~ 1220 mA h g−1 vs. ~ 690 mA h g−1) and promotes the cycling induced capacity enhancement (an earlier capacity rise and a faster rising rate) of the Fe3O4 electrode. Together with Fe3O4 nanoparticles, the presence of graphene effectively promotes the electrolyte reactions and reversible formation/decomposition of lithium oxide. At the same time, activation of GF also occurs in the presence of Fe3O4 nanoparticles, further increases the capacity of the nanocomposite.

The relationship between LUCC (land-use and land-cover change), ecosystem services and human well-being is not only an important cross topic in studies of natural ecological and social economic systems but also the key research direction and content of the GLP (Global Land Project) and Future Earth program, indicating its significance to the development of regional policy and the promotion of regional sustainable development. In the present study,“3S” (GIS, RS, GPS) technology, the Equivalence Factor Evaluation Method of Ecosystem Services and the Index System Evaluation Method of Human Well-being were separately used to analyze land use changes, ecosystem services and human well-being in the Manas River Basin in 2003 and 2013 and to characterize the relationship between these factors. The following conclusions were drawn: 1. In the past ten years, driven by the market economy, the structure of land use in the basin has obviously changed. Croplands and developed lands markedly increased, leading to a marked reduction in aquatic, grassland and woodland regions. 2. The land use changes resulted in a large increase in human economic income, in contrast with the obvious decrease in the value of climate regulation, gas regulation and other various types of ecosystem services influenced by the decrease in grasslands, woodlands and aquatic regions. 3. Most aspects of human well-being were improved. The most important aspect was the economic income well-being as a result of land use changes. However, the well-being associated with natural ecological resources showed a significant decline. 4. The extreme increase of croplands and developed lands has resulted in a structural imbalance of the ecosystem services and abnormal development of the structure of human well-being. Thus, to enhance the stability of the “nature-society-economy” system of the basin and pursue sustainable development, it is imperative to slow down or even stop the existing development trend of land use, and it is urgent to improve the structure of ecosystem services and human well-being.

Limited publications were designed to examine the Water-Energy-Carbon (WEC) efficiency of different regions. This study is the first to seek to identify the regional embodied WEC efficiency of China, including 31 of 34 provinces, using the Multiregional Input-Output approach. The provincial embodied WEC coefficients, total amount of embodied WEC, embodied amount of WEC per capita are explored. Results show that: i) Xinjiang (33 Gt/k€), Hebei (34 MJ/€) and Ningxia (5 t/k€) separately dominate the lists of provincial embodied water consumption coefficients, energy consumption coefficients and CO2 emission coefficients; ii) Shandong and Jiangsu consume the most embodied water at 109 Gm3 and 105 Gm3, embodied energy at 21 EJ and 20 EJ, and emit the most CO2 emissions at 2.7 Gt and 2.2 Gt. However, as the more developed province and with higher GDP, Guangdong has lower embodied WEC amount and higher WEC efficiency; ⅲ) The regions that have larger values of embodied WEC per capita, mainly located at the east and north-west of China, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang. This study targets the contribution to understanding the regional WEC efficiency performance, highlighting the spots and economies that deserve the uppermost attention for emissions reduction.