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The analysis of urban thermal environment based on Local Climate Zone (LCZ) is helpful to understand the fine structure of urban heat island (UHI), so as to provide a scientific basis for urban ecological environment management. This research focused on the three biggest cities, Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou, in Yangtze River Delta (YRD) and the UHI characteristics in a heatwave month (July 2017) were investigated. Based on the observations of automatic weather stations, the spatiotemporal characteristics of air temperature and canopy urban heat island intensity (UHII) of each LCZ in three cities under different weather conditions were compared and analyzed by using the LCZ clustering method, and the effects of water bodies, urban greening and sea breeze on urban heat island were discussed. Results show that the air temperature and urban heat island intensity of different LCZs would vary due to the differences in urban geometry, building materials, the proportion of impervious surface and anthropogenic heat. The LCZ based UHII in the three YRD typical cities showed similar characteristics: compact high-rise (LCZ 1), compact mid-rise (LCZ 2) and open mid-rise (LCZ 5) had higher UHII while sparsely built (LCZ 9) had lower UHII. The diurnal variation of UHII in the three cities are different: the UHII diurnal curves of Nanjing and Hangzhou were "U" type, while that of Shanghai was shallow "W" type, which was because Shanghai was vulnerable to sea breeze during the summer day. In addition to land and sea location, large water bodies and urban greening would also impact the spatiotemporal patterns of urban thermal environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Expert curation is essential to capture knowledge of enzyme functions from the scientific literature in FAIR open knowledgebases but cannot keep pace with the rate of new discoveries and new publications. In this work we present EnzChemRED, for Enzyme Chemistry Relation Extraction Dataset, a new training and benchmarking dataset to support the development of Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods such as (large) language models that can assist enzyme curation. EnzChemRED consists of 1,210 expert curated PubMed abstracts where enzymes and the chemical reactions they catalyze are annotated using identifiers from the protein knowledgebase UniProtKB and the chemical ontology ChEBI. We show that fine-tuning language models with EnzChemRED significantly boosts their ability to identify proteins and chemicals in text (86.30% F1 score) and to extract the chemical conversions (86.66% F1 score) and the enzymes that catalyze those conversions (83.79% F1 score). We apply our methods to abstracts at PubMed scale to create a draft map of enzyme functions in literature to guide curation efforts in UniProtKB and the reaction knowledgebase Rhea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Digit-tip amputation caused by crush injury is a common emergency scenario, and the management is full of challenges. The objective of this study was to demonstrate the application of the supermicrosurgery technique in replantation procedures for complex digit-tip amputations resulting from crush injuries, while also assessing functional and aesthetic outcomes. Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis of the data from 12 patients who underwent replantation of 15 digits in our department between July 2022 and June 2023. The outcomes of replantation, functional recovery (including return to work, cold tolerance, bone union, DASH score, VAS score, and two-point discrimination test), aesthetic results (including digit appearance, nail deformity, and pulp atrophy), and patient satisfaction were assessed. Results: The amputation of 7 digits occurred within Tamai zone I level, 8 digits within Tamai zone II level, while 4 digits occurred within Ishikawa zone I level, 3 digits within Ishikawa zone II level, 7 digits within Ishikawa zone III level, and 1 digit within Ishikawa zone IV level. The replanted digits all survived (100%) without any indications of arterial insufficiency or venous congestion. The follow-up procedures were conducted on all 12 patients, with an average duration of 9.6 months (range, 6 to 18 months). The fracture successfully underwent healing at 9.2 weeks (range, 8 to 13 weeks). The mean VAS score was 1.75 points (range 0 to 4 points), the mean two-point discrimination test result was 5.72 mm (range 4.0 to 7.0 mm), and the mean DASH score was 9.78 points (range 3.33 to 22.5 points). All patients demonstrated cold tolerance and successfully resumed their pre-injury occupational activities. The nail deformity was observed in one digit following replantation within Tamai zone I, and in three digits following replantation within Tamai zone II; moreover, eight digits exhibited varying degrees of pulp atrophy. All patients expressed satisfaction with both functional and aesthetic outcomes. Conclusion: The successful replantation of digit-tip amputation caused by crush injury can be achieved through the application of supermicrosurgery technique, resulting in improved functional and aesthetic outcomes. Digit-tip replantation is a favorable and meaningful procedure with high patient satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncaria rhynchophylla is an evergreen vine plant, belonging to the Rubiaceae family, that is rich in terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIAs) that have therapeutic effects on hypertension and Alzheimer’s disease. GATA transcription factors (TF) are a class of transcription regulators that participate in the light response regulation, chlorophyll synthesis, and metabolism, with the capability to bind to GATA cis-acting elements in the promoter region of target genes. Currently the charactertics of GATA TFs in U. rhynchophylla and how different light qualities affect the expression of GATA and key enzyme genes, thereby affecting the changes in U. rhynchophylla alkaloids have not been investigated. In this study, 25 UrGATA genes belonging to four subgroups were identified based on genome-wide analysis. Intraspecific collinearity analysis revealed that only segmental duplications were identified among the UrGATA gene family. Collinearity analysis of GATA genes between U. rhynchophylla and four representative plant species, Arabidopsis thaliana, Oryza sativa, Coffea Canephora, and Catharanthus roseus was also performed. U. rhynchophylla seedlings grown in either red lights or under reduced light intensity had altered TIAs content after 21 days. Gene expression analysis reveal a complex pattern of expression from the 25 UrGATA genes as well as a number of key TIA enzyme genes. UrGATA7 and UrGATA8 were found to have similar expression profiles to key enzyme TIA genes in response to altered light treatments, implying that they may be involved in the regulation TIA content. In this research, we comprehensively analyzed the UrGATA TFs, and offered insight into the involvement of UrGATA TFs from U. rhynchophylla in TIAs biosynthesis.Key message: Identify the GATA gene family from U. rhynchophylla and analyze the expression levels of key enzyme genes and UrGATA genes under different lights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Full activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome needs two sequential signals: a priming signal, followed by a second, assembly signal. Several studies have shown that the two signals trigger post-translational modification (PTM) of NLRP3, affecting activity of the inflammasome, however, the PTMs induced by the second signal are less well characterized. Here, we show that the assembly signal involves acetylation of NLRP3 at lysine 24, which is important for the oligomerization and the actual assembly of NLRP3 without affecting its recruitment to dispersed trans-Golgi network (dTGN). Accordingly, NLRP3 inflammasome activation is impaired in NLRP3-K24R knock-in mice. We identify KAT5 as an acetyltransferase able to acetylate NLRP3. KAT5 deficiency in myeloid cells and pharmacological inhibition of KAT5 enzymatic activity reduce activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome, both in vitro and in vivo. Thus, our study reveals a key mechanism for the oligomerization and full activation of NLRP3 and lays down the proof of principle for therapeutic targeting of the KAT5-NLRP3 axis. The NLRP3 inflammasome is activated in two steps, priming and assembly, in response to endogenous, microbial, and other environmental danger signals. Here authors show that the assembly step is regulated by acetylation, and inhibition of this post-translational modification prevents full activation of the inflammasome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel molecular-imprinted polymer (MIP)–based enzyme-free biosensor was created for the selective detection of glycoprotein transferrin (Trf). For this purpose, MIP-based biosensor for Trf was prepared by electrochemical co-polymerization of novel hybrid monomers 3-aminophenylboronic acid (M-APBA) and pyrrole on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) modified with carboxylated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (cMWCNTs). Hybrid epitopes of Trf (C-terminal fragment and glycan) have been selected as templates. The produced sensor exhibited great selective recognition ability toward Trf under optimal preparation conditions, offering good analytical range (0.125–1.25 μM) with a detection limit of 0.024 μM. The proposed hybrid epitope in combination with hybrid monomer-mediated imprinting strategy was successfully applied to detect Trf in spiked human serum samples, with recoveries and relative standard deviations ranging from 94.7 to 106.0% and 2.64 to 5.32%, respectively. This study provided a reliable protocol for preparing hybrid epitopes and monomers-mediated MIP for the synergistic and effective determination of glycoprotein in complicated biological samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural wastes are inexpensive materials for soil remediation. However, the direct water extracts from these wastes showed low efficiency for Pb removal, thus limiting their application. In this study, citrus pericarp (CP) and pineapple peel (PP), as the common agricultural wastes, were inoculated with lactic acid bacteria to produce fermentation liquors (FCP and FPP) for improving Pb removal efficiency. Results showed that the Pb removal rates by FCP and FPP reached 37.3 and 43.6%, and increased by almost 50.0% than those by CP and PP. The ecological risk of Pb reduced by 83.0–88.2% after five times continuous washing with FCP and FPP, and the Pb concentrations conformed to soil remediation standard of China. Moreover, soil organic carbon 1.5 times increased in the washed soils, while total potassium improved by 40.7–68.0%. The mechanisms of Pb removal by these wastes involved in adsorption–desorption of Pb2+, complexation with organic ligands, and co-precipitation of Pb complexes. The increase of low molecular organic acids during the fermentation promoted dissolution of Pb and provided more hydroxyl, carboxyl, and amine groups to interact with Pb2+, thus improving its removal rate. Therefore, fermentation liquid from fruit wastes is a novel, effective, and ecofriendly bio-washing eluent for Pb removal from contaminated soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The optimal number of examined lymph nodes (ELNs) for older early-stage pulmonary carcinoid tumour (PC) patients is unknown. Aims: To explore the prognostic effect of the ELN count in older patients with stage T1N0M0 PC resection. Methods: Clinical data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database on stage T1N0M0 PC older patients (age ≥ 65 years) who underwent sublobar resection and lobectomy between 2000 and 2018 were retrospectively analysed for two ELNs-stratified (≥ 7 vs. < 7 ELNs) propensity score-matched (PSM) groups. Overall survival (OS) was calculated and compared with Kaplan–Meier analysis and log-rank test, respectively, and the independent prognostic factors were estimated using a Cox proportional hazard model. Results: Among 1077 participants (median dissected LN 4; mean ELNs 6.19 ± 7.04), 393 (36.49%) in the ≥ 7 ELNs group had better 5- and 10-year OS than the < 7 ELNs group (before PSM: 5-year OS = 93.01 vs. 85.22%, 10-year OS = 72.38 vs. 58.99%, p < 0.001; after PSM: 5-year OS = 93.12 vs. 85.97%, 10-year OS = 75.25 vs. 60.03%, p = 0.001). Subgroup analysis stratified by histologic type and surgical method showed a similar survival trend. Age-stratified analysis showed that, compared with the < 7 ELNs group, the ≥ 7 ELNs group had better 5- and 10-year OS but only better 5-year OS in participants > 75 years. Compared with the < 7 ELNs group, subgroup analysis by tumour size showed superior OS with 1.1–3.0 cm tumours in the ≥ 7 ELNs group, but no significant intergroup difference with tumours < 1.0 cm. Multivariate Cox analysis showed ≥ 7 ELNs was associated with improved OS. Conclusion: Higher ELNs correlated with increased long-term survival in older early‑stage PC patients, and a minimum of 7 ELNs are recommended for prognostication in these patients (especially those aged 65–75 years, with tumour size 1.1–3.0 cm). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding customer behavior is necessary to develop efficient marketing strategies or launch tailored programs with social value for the public. Customer segmentation is a critical task for understanding diverse and dynamic customer behavior. However, as the popularity of different products varies, building dynamic customer behavior models for products with few customers may overfit the data. In this paper, we propose a new Bayesian nonparametric model for dynamic customer segmentation—Hierarchical Fragmentation-Coagulation Processes (HFCP), which allows sharing behavior patterns across multiple products. We conduct comprehensive empirical evaluations using two real-world purchase datasets. Our results show that HFCP can: (i) determine the number of groups required to model diverse customer behavior automatically; (ii) capture the changes such as split and merge of customer groups over time; (iii) discover behavior patterns shared among products and identify products with similar or different purchase behavior impacted by promotion, brand choice and change of seasons; and (iv) overcome overfitting problems and outperform previous customer segmentation models on estimating behavior for unseen customers. Hence, HFCP is a flexible and accurate segmentation model that can be used by stakeholders to understand dynamic customer behavior and compare the purchase behavior for different products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of training convolutional neural networks, the training data is often insufficient to obtain ideal performance and encounters the overfitting problem. To address this issue, traditional data augmentation (DA) techniques, which are designed manually based on empirical results, are often adopted in supervised learning. Essentially, traditional DA techniques are in the implicit form of feature engineering. The augmentation strategies should be designed carefully, for example, the distribution of augmented samples should be close to the original data distribution. Otherwise, it will reduce the performance on the test set. Instead of designing augmentation strategies manually, we propose to learn the data distribution directly. New samples can then be generated from the estimated data distribution. Specifically, a deep DA framework is proposed which consists of two neural networks. One is a generative adversarial network, which is used to learn the data distribution, and the other one is a convolutional neural network classifier. We evaluate the proposed model on a handwritten Chinese character dataset and a digit dataset, and the experimental results show it outperforms baseline methods including one manually well-designed DA method and two state-of-the-art DA methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, to reduce the consumption of natural sand and improve the utilization rate of desert sand in western China, while preparing 14 groups of samples, desert sand is used to replace natural sand by the ratio of 20%, 40%, and 60%, and steel fiber is mixed with volume fraction 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0%. The mechanical properties of the specimens, including compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, and axial compressive strength were tested. Besides, the microstructures of the samples were analyzed by SEM, XRD, and acoustic emission detection technologies to identify the damage process. The results show that the desert sand can refine the microstructure and fill the pores, and it has good comprehensive properties at a 40% substitution rate. The compression properties of specimens are not apparently improved, but the tensile strength and deformation properties are significantly improved. The steel fiber with 1.5 vol% content behaves better, and the 28d compressive strength of the optimized group reaches 58.7 MPa. As a result, the polynomial fitting degree of total AE hits and stress level receives a more incredible goodness (R2) value than 0.96. The strength characteristics of steel fiber-desert sand concrete (SFDSC) can meet the demands of C40 concrete, and this research can provide a reference for engineers using desert sand in their designs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background : There have been cases reporting anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and associated serious gastrointestinal (GI) adverse drug reactions (gastrointestinal obstruction, perforation, and ulceration). These adverse drug reactions are not in the drug package inserts, and the drug relationships are not proven in the literature. Aim: We aimed to examine the potential association between GI obstruction, perforation, and ulceration, and ALK-TKIs by data mining of the US FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). Method : We conducted a disproportionality analysis of GI obstruction, perforation, and ulceration by estimating the reporting odds ratios (ROR) and the information component (IC) with 95% confidence intervals. Results : A total of 279 cases of ALK-TKI-associated GI obstruction, perforation, and ulceration from January 1, 2011, to December 31, 2020, were identified. GI obstruction, perforation, and ulceration cause 16% of cases of death. A significantly increased reporting rate for GI obstruction [ROR 1.77 (1.45–2.15); IC 0.82 (0.53–2.03)] and perforation [ROR 1.61 (1.28–2.02); IC 0.68 (0.35–1.92)] was observed for ALK-TKIs as a drug class. The signal of GI ulceration was detected only in crizotinib [ROR 1.23 (1.01–1.50); IC 0.29 (0.01–1.51)]. A statistically significant ROR and IC emerged for the site of the esophagus. Conclusion : Overall, the pharmacovigilance study of the FAERS indicates slightly increased reporting of GI obstruction and perforation, which may cause severe or even fatal outcomes among ALK-TKIs users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An aerobic 15N microcosmic experiment was conducted to compare the inhibitory effects of the biological nitrification inhibitor (BNI), methyl 3-(4-hydroxyphenyl) propionate (MHPP) at rates of 500 and 1000 mg kg−1 with the synthetic nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) at 1% of applied NH4+, on the gross nitrification rate (n_gross) and on the abundance and community composition of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) of two contrasting soils (pH: 5.10 vs. 8.15, clay content 17.8 vs. 30.8). DMPP inhibited 56.6% of n_gross in the acidic soil and 50.3% in the calcareous soil, whereas MHPP inhibited 18.3–55.5% of n_gross in the acidic soil and 14.1–20.2% in the calcareous soil. MHPP used at the high rate showed the same inhibition on n_gross as DMPP in the acidic soil but not in the calcareous soil. DMPP and MHPP likely regulated n_gross by causing niche differentiation between AOA and AOB. Moreover, the community composition of AOB was more sensitive to nitrification inhibitor application than that of AOA, particularly in the acidic soil. However, the response of AOB community composition was less sensitive to the application of MHPP than to that of DMPP. MHPP mainly targeted Nitrosospira clusters 3a.2, 3b.2, and 9 of the AOB in the acidic soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil washing with environmentally friendly eluents is a rapid remediation technique for farmland polluted by heavy metals. In this study, polyepoxysuccinic acid (PESA), ethylenediamine tetra (methylene phosphonic acid) sodium (EDTMPS), and phosphonyl carboxylic acid copolymer (POCA) were applied to remedy paddy and arid soils polluted by Pb and Cd. At the same time, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) was used as a control eluent. PESA showed comparable removal of soil Pb and Cd (over 80.0%) with EDTA, and EDTMPS and POCA removed two heavy metals by 35.2–50.3%. For labile fractions, PESA significantly removed Pb by 93.5–96.7% and Cd by 84.9–90.3% in two soils. EDTMPS and POCA removed Pb by 75.5–85.8% in two soils, while they only removed Cd by 11.7–42.2% in paddy soil, and 76.3–81.7% in arid soil. The risks of total heavy metal concentrations were reduced from the high risk to low risk in paddy soil, and to considerable risk in arid soil, while only dropped to considerable or even had no change by EDTMPS and POCA leaching. The risks of the two soils reduced from high to low or considerable level after PESA washing based on labile fraction change, and to considerable or high level after EDTMPS and POCA leaching, respectively. Therefore, PESA is an ecological benefit eluent for remediating the farmland polluted by heavy metals, and the risk assessment based on labile fraction more easily identifies the dynamic change of heavy metal during the washing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three phase brushless DC motor has the characteristics of high power density, simple structure and excellent speed regulation performance, which is widely used in the field of electric drive. Open-end winding brushless DC motor has no neutral point, and each phase winding is electrically isolated, which can realize the independent control of each phase winding. Compared with Y-connected brushless DC motor, the open-end winding brushless DC motor has a wider range of speed regulation under the same voltage, and has certain fault-tolerant performance, which is suitable for the application of low voltage and large current. Compared with the multiphase fault-tolerant motor, open-end winding brushless DC motor has simpler structure and higher winding utilization rate. However, the open-end winding brushless DC motor still has torque ripple, among which the cogging torque is related to the motor body structure, while commutation torque ripple is affected by the mutual inductance of the winding and the current freewheeling loop. The commutation process of the open-winding brushless DC motor is analyzed, and it is concluded that the current change rates of the turn-off phase and turn-on phase are equal under the ideal back electromotive force(back-EMF), which can ensure that the non-commutation phase current and the electromagnetic torque kept constant. The overlapping commutation with phase current closed-loop method is proposed to suppress the commutation torque ripple of open-end winding BLDC motor, and the applied voltage on turn-off phase and delayed time of turn-off phase in overlapping commutation are derived, the sliding mode observer is used to calculate the electromagnetic torque. MATLAB simulation and experimental results verify the effectiveness of this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The most direct means of glaucoma screening is to use cup-to-disc ratio via colour fundus photography, the first step of which is the precise segmentation of the optic cup (OC) and optic disc (OD). In recent years, convolution neural networks (CNN) have shown outstanding performance in medical segmentation tasks. However, most CNN-based methods ignore the effect of boundary ambiguity on performance, which leads to low generalization. This paper is dedicated to solving this issue. Methods: In this paper, we propose a novel segmentation architecture, called BGA-Net, which introduces an auxiliary boundary branch and adversarial learning to jointly segment OD and OC in a multi-label manner. To generate more accurate results, the generative adversarial network is exploited to encourage boundary and mask predictions to be similar to the ground truth ones. Results: Experimental results show that our BGA-Net system achieves state-of-the-art OC and OD segmentation performance on three publicly available datasets, i.e., the Dice scores for the optic disc/cup on the Drishti-GS, RIM-ONE-r3 and REFUGE datasets are 0.975/0.898, 0.967/0.872 and 0.951/0.866, respectively. Conclusion: In this work, we not only achieve superior OD and OC segmentation results, but also confirm that the values calculated through the geometric relationship between the former two are highly related to glaucoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlled release fertilizer (CRF) has been shown to increase crop yield and N use efficiency (NUE) compared with traditional chemical fertilizer (TF). However, few studies examined the effects of CRF on CH4, N2O, and NO emissions simultaneously in alkaline paddy fields under rice–wheat rotation. In the present study, we conducted a 2-year field experiment to compare the effects of different CRF application strategies on these gas emissions with those of TF and explored the effects of CRF on global warming potential (GWP), crop yields, and greenhouse gas emission intensity (GHGI). Results showed that CRF can reduce 0.98–14.3%, 13.3–21.1%, and 8.22–16.3% of CH4, N2O, and NO emissions, respectively, in the studied alkaline paddy field. CRF reduce CH4 emission probably by regulating soil NH4+ concentration. CRF reduce N2O and NO emissions probably by regulating inorganic N content in the studied alkaline paddy soil. CRF had the same effect on annual crop yield as TF, especially when CRF was applied twice in each season and had the same N application rate as TF. Annual crop yields and the agronomic efficiency of N (AEN) increased by 8.24% and 21.6%, respectively. On the average of the two rice–wheat rotation cycles, GHGI significantly decreased by up to 14.1% after the application of CRF as relative to that after the application of TF (P < 0.05). These results suggest that CRF is an environment-friendly N fertilization strategy for mitigating GWP and ensuring high crop yield in an alkaline paddy field under rice–wheat rotation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we used the stop-action technique to experimentally investigate the material flow and microstructural evolution of al-clad 2A12-T4 aluminum alloy during refill friction stir spot welding. There are two material flow components, i.e., the inward- or outward-directed spiral flow on the horizontal plane and the upward- or downward-directed flow on the vertical plane. In the plunge stage, the flow of plasticized metal into the cavity is similar to that of a stack, whereby the upper layer is pushed upward by the lower layer. In the refill stage, this is process reversed. As such, there is no obvious vertical plasticized metal flow between adjacent layers. Welding leads to the coarsening of S (Al2CuMg) in the thermo-mechanically affected zone and the diminishing of S in the stir zone. Continuous dynamic recrystallization results in the formation of fine equiaxed grains in the stir zone, but this process becomes difficult in the thermo-mechanically affected zone due to the lower deformation rate and the pinning action of S precipitates on the dislocations and sub-grain boundaries, which leads to a high fraction of low-angle grain boundaries in this zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hydraulic conductivity k, one of the most important engineering properties of soft clay, plays a great role during the whole life cycle of underwater tunnel. Therefore, it is necessary to systematically study the responses of k to the dynamic load under the background of the great development of geotechnical engineering in the world. In this study, a series of seepage tests after cyclic loading were conducted on reconstituted kaolin clay using a modified hollow cylinder apparatus. The influence of cyclic load on the permeability characteristics of soft clay was illustrated in two aspects. The cumulative axial deformation of clay induced by cyclic loading resulted in the smaller hydraulic conductivity of the specimens, and also, the dynamic load reconstructed the microstructure of clay and made the number of large pores getting decreased and the small pores increased. There was a positive correlation between the deformation of soil and the change of hydraulic conductivity, but the reconstruction effect was irregular with the frequency of dynamic load. The measured k values got affected at the beginning, this phenomenon appropriately explains the positive correlation between the number of cycles of dynamic load and the change of hydraulic conductivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two greenhouse experiments using soils from long-term field plots were carried out to test whether and how soil factors modulated by organic amendments feed back to rice plant growth and defense against an aboveground herbivore, the planthopper Nilaparvata lugens. Using factorial combinations of sterilized soil and soil inocula obtained from chemically amended plots (i.e., control treatment) or chemically plus organically amended plots (i.e., organic treatment), we disentangled the effects of biotic and abiotic soil properties on plant and planthopper performance. We found that, compared with abiotic soil properties, soil biological factors were the main drivers in regulating plant growth performance. Specifically, soil biota that are shaped by the organic treatment had high microbial abundance and diversity and enhanced rice plant tolerance (i.e., increasing plant total biomass) and resistance (i.e., decreasing amino acid and sugar concentrations) to planthoppers. Moreover, the organic treatment simultaneously increased plant growth and defense against planthoppers, which could be explained by high soil nutrient availability driven by soil biota. Our results demonstrate the importance of synergistic effects of soil biota and soil abiotic factors on plant growth and resistance to herbivory. These findings are important for better understanding the mechanisms and impacts of ecological intensification as well as the potential of steering soil communities to reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides and further optimize crop production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scalar tensor theory contains a coupling function connecting the quantities in the Jordan and Einstein frames, which is constrained to guarantee a transformation rule between frames. We simulate the supernovae core collapse with different choices of coupling functions defined over the viable region of the parameter space and find that a generic inverse-chirp feature of the gravitational waves in the scalar tensor scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, frequent oily wastewater pollution has become one of the most concerning environmental issues. Typically, such a global challenge calls for the development of efficient and durable separation materials for oil spill cleanups. Inspired by hydrogels, the physical crosslinking of PVP with chitosan was utilized in this work to enhance the surface properties; in addition, a facile approach was described to prepare the superhydrophilic/superoleophobic surface for oil–water separation on various substrates through one-step spraying. The surface morphology, elementary composition, and wettability were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (XEDS), and contact angle measurement, respectively. The results suggested that the coating exhibited both superhydrophilicity and superoleophobicity on the stainless steel mesh (SSM), glass, and copper mesh. Particularly, the contact angle (CA) of edible oil on SSM reached up to 156°. The as-prepared coating also possessed excellent mechanical and chemical durability. Furthermore, the separating efficiencies of three kinds of oil–water mixtures, including diesel oil, edible oil, and lubricating oil, were higher than 98%, 97%, and 94%, respectively, at various oil–water ratios. Of note, the separation efficiency remained 96% after 15 separation cycles, indicating that the surface might serve as a promising repeatable material for oily wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern sugarcane is an unusually complex heteroploid crop, and its genome comprises two or three subgenomes. To reduce the complexity of sugarcane genome research, the ploidy level and number of chromosomes can be reduced using flow chromosome sorting. However, a cell cycle synchronization (CCS) protocol for Saccharum spp. is needed that maximizes the accumulation of metaphase chromosomes. For flow cytometry analysis in this study, we optimized the lysis buffer, hydroxyurea(HU) concentration, HU treatment time and recovery time for sugarcane. We determined the mitotic index by microscopic observation and calculation. We found that WPB buffer was superior to other buffers for preparation of sugarcane nuclei suspensions. The optimal HU treatment was 2 mM for 18 h at 25 °C, 28 °C and 30 °C. Higher recovery treatment temperatures were associated with shorter recovery times (3.5 h, 2.5 h and 1.5 h at 25 °C, 28 °C and 30 °C, respectively). The optimal conditions for treatment with the inhibitor of microtubule polymerization, amiprophos-methyl (APM), were 2.5 μM for 3 h at 25 °C, 28 °C and 30 °C. Meanwhile, preliminary screening of CCS protocols for Badila were used for some main species of genus Saccharum at 25 °C, 28 °C and 30 °C, which showed that the average mitotic index decreased from 25 °C to 30 °C. The optimal sugarcane CCS protocol that yielded a mitotic index of >50% in sugarcane root tips was: 2 mM HU for 18 h, 0.1 X Hoagland's Solution without HU for 3.5 h, and 2.5 μM APM for 3.0 h at 25 °C. The CCS protocol defined in this study should accelerate the development of genomic research and cytobiology research in sugarcane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To explore the relationships between the aqueous and vitreous levels of vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A), interleukin-8 (IL-8), placental growth factor (PlGF) and erythropoietin (EPO) in proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and neovascular glaucoma (NVG). Methods: Aqueous and vitreous samples were obtained from patients with PDR and NVG during surgery. Aqueous and vitreous concentrations of VEGF-A, IL-8, PlGF and EPO were measured via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: No correlation between the aqueous and vitreous levels of VEGF-A, IL-8, PlGF or EPO was found in both the PDR and the NVG eyes. Aqueous VEGF-A was significantly higher in the NVG group (317.55 ± 36.25 pg/ml, n = 15) than that in the PDR group (256.23 ± 46.11 pg/ml, n = 17, P < 0.001). The level of VEGF-A in aqueous (317.55 ± 36.25 pg/ml, n = 15) was significantly higher than that in vitreous (224.74 ± 60.32 pg/ml, n = 15, P < 0.001) in NVG patients. The level of IL-8 in aqueous (76.55 ± 10.88 pg/ml, n = 17) was significantly higher than that in vitreous (63.55 ± 10.74 pg/ml, n = 17, P = 0.001) in PDR patients. The level of EPO in aqueous (18.62 ± 2.87 mIU/ml, n = 15) was significantly higher than that in vitreous (15.97 ± 3.11 mIU/ml, n = 15, P = 0.022) in NVG patients. The ratio of aqueous versus vitreous for VEGF-A was significantly higher in the NVG group (1.475 ± 0.289, n = 15) than that in the PDR group (0.996 ± 0.227, n = 17, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Aqueous levels of VEGF-A, IL-8, PlGF and EPO do not correlate with vitreous levels of those proteins. The relationship between protein levels in aqueous humor and vitreous might be dependent on different disease status or protein types investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leukocyte common antigen-related receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases (LAR-RPTPs) are cell adhesion molecules involved in mediating neuronal development. The binding of LAR-RPTPs to extracellular ligands induces local clustering of LAR-RPTPs to regulate axon growth and synaptogenesis. LAR-RPTPs interact with synaptic liprin-α proteins via the two cytoplasmic phosphatase domains, D1 and D2. Here we solve the crystal structure of LAR_D1D2 in complex with the SAM repeats of liprin-α3, uncovering a conserved two-site binding mode. Cellular analysis shows that liprin-αs robustly promote clustering of LAR in cells by both the liprin-α/LAR interaction and the oligomerization of liprin-α. Structural analysis reveals a unique homophilic interaction of LAR via the catalytically active D1 domains. Disruption of the D1/D1 interaction diminishes the liprin-α-promoted LAR clustering and increases tyrosine dephosphorylation, demonstrating that the phosphatase activity of LAR is negatively regulated by forming clusters. Additionally, we find that the binding of LAR to liprin-α allosterically regulates the liprin-α/liprin-β interaction. Leukocyte common antigen-related receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases (LAR-RPTPs) mediate guided axon growth and synapse formation and liprin-α proteins are their intracellular binding partners. Here the authors present the crystal structure of the phosphatase domains from the LAR-RPTP family member LAR bound to the SAM repeats of liprin-α3 and show that liprin-α binding enhances LAR cluster formation and reduces LAR phosphatase activity in cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aimed to test the hypothesis that readily degradable Carbon (C) has contrasting effect on soil N autotrophic and heterotrophic nitrification, can stimulate nitrous oxide (N2O) emission. The knowledge can improve our understanding of the effect of readily degradable C on soil N nitrification and the related N2O emission. Materials and methods: 15N tracing technique along with acetylene inhibition was used to determine the effect of different doses of glucose-C addition on the rates of total nitrification (ntot), autotrophic nitrification (na), heterotrophic nitrification (nh), and N2O production in two soils. Soils were collected from Glenormiston (GN) and Terang (TR), Victoria, Australia and incubated at soil moisture content of 60% water-filled pore space (WFPS) and at 25 °C. Results and discussion: The addition of mixed C and N substrates with wide C/N ratio (> 25) promoted heterotrophic nitrification by 2.84- to 3.33-folds but inhibited autotrophic nitrification by 30.4–54.8%, thereby resulting in high ntot and NO3− accumulation compared with the soil samples under the control treatment. The mechanism of glucose inhibition of na might be caused by increasing the microbial immobilization of NH4+ and not by affecting the gene copy numbers of ammonia-oxidizing archea and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. The glucose addition stimulated N2O production in soil, which might be caused by promoting heterotrophic nitrification and denitrification. Conclusions: The stimulating effect of degradable C application on the contribution of heterotrophic nitrification to total nitrification, NO3− accumulation, and N2O production should be considered, especially in soils with low pH and high organic C content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Updating the urban land cover information has been proved a necessary method for the numerical studies of urban climate and urban atmospheric environment in China, a fast urbanizing country. However, there are uncertainties in the urban land use/cover (ULUC) information in different datasets due to the uncertainties in raw data sources and produce methods. In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting model is used to simulate the summer climate over the Yangtze River Delta in July and August 2013, when a heatwave episode occurred. Five numerical experiments are designed; one is the baseline experiment (non-urban land cover (NOURB)) in which all urban land covers are removed, and different urban land use/cover (ULUC) experiments from four different global land cover datasets are used in other four experiments. The differences between the ULUC experiments and the NOURB experiment are used to observe the urbanization effects. The results show a remarkable urbanization effect in all the ULUC experiments, and the urbanization influences are most different over the union-urban area, which defined as the area marked as urban area by at least one land cover dataset, because the uncertainties in urban land cover information are greatest in this area. All the ULUC experiments show the regional influence of urbanization as well, which means urbanization effects are not limited in cities. The Climate Change Initiative (CCI) experiment using the European Space Agency CCI 2013 dataset showed the greatest urbanization influence and the highest effect index in all analyzed variables, because of the largest urban land cover area in the analysis domain. The urban land cover area in the Global Land Cover experiment is the smallest among the ULUC experiments, but it distributes in a more concentrated way than in other experiments; it indicates that both city size and city shape affect the regional influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the potential mechanisms that curcumin reverses 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) multidrug resistance (MDR). Methods: Cell growth and the inhibitory rate of curcumin (2–25 μg/mL) and/or 5-FU (0.05–1000 μg/mL) on human colon cancer HCT-8 and HCT-8/5-FU (5-FU-resistant cell line) were determined using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay. Apoptosis and cell cycle after 5-FU and/or curcumin treatment were detected by flow cytometry (FCM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The expression of the multidrug resistance related factors p-glycoprotein (P-gp) and heat shock protein 27 (HSP-27) genes and proteins were analyzed by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting (WB), respectively. Results: The inhibitory rate of curcumin or 5-FU on HCT-8 and HCT-8/5-FU cells proliferation at exponential phase were in a dosedependent manner, HCT-8 cell line was more sensitive to curcumin or 5-FU when compared the inhibitory rate of HCT-8/5-FU. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of combination 5-FU and curcumin (4.0 μg/mL) in HCT-8/5-FU was calculated as 179.26 μg/mL, with reversal fold of 1.85. Another IC50 of combination 5-FU and curcumin (5.5 μg/mL) in HCT-8/5-FU was calculated as 89.25 μg/mL, with reversal fold of 3.71. Synergistic effect of 5-FU and curcumin on HCT-8 and HCT-8/5-FU cells were found. The cell cycle analysis performed by FCM showed that HCT-8 and HCT-8/5-FU cells mostly accumulated at G0/G1 phase, which suggested a synergistic effect of curcumin and 5-FU to induce apoptosis. FCM analysis found that the percentage of apoptosis of cells treated with curcumin, 5-FU and their combination were significantly increased compared to the control group (P<0.05), and the percentage of apoptosis of the combination groups were slightly higher than other groups (P<0.05). The mRNA levels of P-gp (0.28±0.02) and HSP-27 (0.28±0.09) in HCT-8/5-FU cells treated with combination drugs were lower than cells treated with 5-FU alone (P-gp, 0.48±0.07, P=0.009; HSP-27, 0.57±0.10, P=0.007). The protein levels of P-gp (0.25±0.06) and HSP-27 (0.09±0.02) in HCT-8/5-FU cells treated with combination drugs were decreased when compared to 5-FU alone (P-gp, 0.46±0.02, P=0.005; HSP-27, 0.43±0.01, P=0.000). Conclusions: Curcumin can inhibit the proliferation of human colon cancer cells. Curcumin has the ability of reversal effects on the multidrug resistance of human colon cancer cells lines HCT-8/5-FU. Down-regulation of P-gp and HSP-27 may be the mechanism of curcumin reversing the drug resistance of HCT-8/5-FU to 5-FU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-level ditch area is a major component of the hydrographic net of plain area, China. Given the high concentration of nitrogen (N) in the surface water and vigorous biogeochemical interactions, ditch is likely to be the hot spots of N2O emission. However, N2O emission flux and emission factor (EF5r) of multi-level ditches have not been determined. To address this knowledge gap, a 1-year field work in three ditches with different levels in Chengdu Plain was conducted. It is found that the annual flux of N2O emission and EF5r was higher in the lateral (0.0020 and 83.94 μg m−2 h−1) and field ditches (0.0019 and 110.75 μg m−2 h−1) than in the branch ditch (0.0016 and 46.38 μg m−2 h−1, P < 0.05). It is found that parameters of groundwater level, discharge, precipitation, and NH4+ were the primary factors, and these parameters can model the N2O flux well. Furthermore, the content of NH4+ in the surface water of ditches presented better correlation with the emission of N2O than the content of NO3−. Therefore, controlling NH4+ emission and lessening fertilizer usage in summer may be key solutions for indirect reduction of N2O in Chengdu Plain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioturbation and bioirrigation induced by burrowing macrofauna are recognized as important processes in aquatic sediment since macrofaunal activities lead to the alteration of sediment characteristics. However, there is a lack of information on how macrofauna influence microbial abundance and extracellular enzyme activity in mangrove sediment. In this study, the environmental parameters, extracellular enzyme activities, and microbial abundance were determined and their relationships were explored. Sediment samples were taken from the surface (S) and lower layer (L) without burrow, as well as crab burrow wall (W) and bottom of crab burrow (B) located at the Mai Po Nature Reserve, Hong Kong. The results showed that the burrowing crabs could enhance the activities of oxidase and hydrolases. The highest activities of phenol oxidase and acid phosphatase were generally observed in B sediment, while the highest activity of N-acetyl-glucosaminidase was found in W sediment. The enzymatic stoichiometry indicated that the crab-affected sediment had similar microbial nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) availability relative to carbon (C), lower than S but higher than L sediment. Furthermore, it was found that the highest abundance of both bacteria and fungi was shown in S sediment, and B sediment presented the lowest abundance. Moreover, the concentrations of phosphorus and soluble phenolics in crab-affected sediment were almost higher than the non-affected sediment. The alterations of phenolics, C/P and N/P ratios as well as undetermined environmental factors by the activities of crabs might be the main reasons for the changes of enzyme activity and microbial abundance. Finally, due to the important role of phenol oxidase and hydrolases in sediment organic matter (SOM) decomposition, it is necessary to take macrofaunal activities into consideration when estimating the C budget in mangrove ecosystem in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characteristics and dynamics associated with the distribution, intensity, and triggering factors of local severe precipitation in Zhejiang Province induced by Super Typhoon Soudelor (2015) were investigated using mesoscale surface observations, radar reflectivity, satellite nephograms, and the final (FNL) analyses of the Global Forecasting System (GFS) of the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). The rainfall processes during Soudelor’s landfall and translation over East China could be separated into four stages based on rainfall characteristics such as distribution, intensity, and corresponding dynamics. The relatively less precipitation in the first stage resulted from interaction between the easterly wind to the north flank of this tropical cyclone (TC) and the coastal topography along the southeast of Zhejiang Province, China. With landfall of the TC in East China during the second stage, precipitation maxima occurred because of interaction between the TC’s principal rainbands and the local topography from northeastern Fujian Province to southwestern Zhejiang Province. The distribution of precipitation presented significant asymmetric features in the third stage with maximal rainfall bands in the northeast quadrant of the TC when Soudelor’s track turned from westward to northward as the TC decayed rapidly. Finally, during the northward to northeastward translation of the TC in the fourth stage, the interaction between a mid-latitude weather system and the northern part of the TC resulted in transfer of the maximum rainfall from the north of Zhejiang Province to the north of Jiangsu Province, which represented the end of rainfall in Zhejiang Province. Further quantitative calculations of the rainfall rate induced by the interaction between local topography and TC circulation (defined as “orographic effects”) in the context of a one-dimensional simplified model showed that orographic effects were the primary factor determining the intensity of precipitation in this case, and accounted for over 50% of the total precipitation. The asymmetric distribution of the TC’s rainbands was closely related to the asymmetric distribution of moisture resulted from changes of the TC’s structure, and led to asymmetric distribution of local intense precipitation induced by Soudelor. Based on analysis of this TC, it could be concluded that local severe rainfall in the coastal regions of East China is closely related to changes of TC structure and intensity, as well as the outer rainbands. In addition, precipitation intensity and duration will increase correspondingly because of the complex interactions between the TC and local topography, and the particular TC track along large-scale steering flow. The results of this study may be useful for the understanding, prediction, and warning of disasters induced by local extreme rainfall caused by TCs, especially for facilitating forecasting and warning of flooding and mudslides associated with torrential rain caused by interactions between landfalling TCs and coastal topography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) predisposes to ventricular arrhythmia due to altered Ca homeostasis and can arise from ryanodine receptor ( RyR2) mutations including RyR2-P2328S. Previous reports established that homozygotic murine RyR2- P2328S ( RyR2) hearts show an atrial arrhythmic phenotype associated with reduced action potential (AP) conduction velocity and sodium channel (Na1.5) expression. We now relate ventricular arrhythmogenicity and slowed AP conduction in RyR2 hearts to connexin-43 (Cx43) and Na1.5 expression and Na current ( I). Stimulation protocols applying extrasystolic S2 stimulation following 8 Hz S1 pacing at progressively decremented S1S2 intervals confirmed an arrhythmic tendency despite unchanged ventricular effective refractory periods (VERPs) in Langendorff-perfused RyR2 hearts. Dynamic pacing imposing S1 stimuli then demonstrated that progressive reductions of basic cycle lengths (BCLs) produced greater reductions in conduction velocity at equivalent BCLs and diastolic intervals in RyR2 than WT, but comparable changes in AP durations (APD) and their alternans. Western blot analyses demonstrated that Cx43 protein expression in whole ventricles was similar, but Na1.5 expression in both whole tissue and membrane fractions were significantly reduced in RyR2 compared to wild-type (WT). Loose patch-clamp studies similarly demonstrated reduced I in RyR2 ventricles. We thus attribute arrhythmogenesis in RyR2 ventricles resulting from arrhythmic substrate produced by reduced conduction velocity to downregulated Na1.5 reducing I, despite normal determinants of repolarization and passive conduction. The measured changes were quantitatively compatible with earlier predictions of linear relationships between conduction velocity and the peak I of the AP but nonlinear relationships between peak I and maximum Na permeability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract.: We develop a new dynamical model to study the drying process of a droplet of soft matter solutions. The model includes the processes of solute diffusion, gel-layer formation and cavity creation. A new scheme is proposed to handle the diffusion dynamics taking place in such processes. In this scheme, the dynamics is described by the motion of material points taken on solute. It is convenient to apply this scheme to solve problems that involve moving boundaries and phase changes. As an example, we show results of a numerical calculation for a drying spherical droplet, and discuss how initial concentration and evaporation rate affect the structural evolution of the droplet. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have shown that the sensitivity of apamin-sensitive K(+) current (I KAS, mediated by apamin-sensitive small conductance calcium-activated potassium channels subunits) to intracellular Ca(2+) is increased in heart failure (HF), leading to I KAS upregulation, action potential duration shortening, early after depolarization, and recurrent spontaneous ventricular fibrillation. We hypothesized that casein kinase 2 (CK2) interacted with small conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (SK) is decreased in HF, and protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is increased on the opposite, upregulating the sensitivity of I KAS to intracellular Ca(2+) in HF. Rat model of volume-overload HF was established by an abdominal arteriovenous fistula procedure. The expression of SK channels, PP2A and CK2 was detected by Western blot analysis. Interaction and colocalization of CK2 with SK channel were detected by co-immunoprecipitation analysis and double immunofluorescence staining. In HF rat left ventricle, SK3 was increased by 100 % (P < 0.05), and SK2 was not significantly changed. PP2A protein was increased by 94.7 % in HF rats (P < 0.05), whereas the level of CK2 was almost unchanged. We found that CK2 colocalized with SK2 and SK3 in rat left ventricle. With anti-CK2α antibody, SK2 and SK3 were immunoprecipitated, the level of precipitated SK2 decreased by half, whereas precipitated SK3 was almost unchanged. In conclusion, the increased expression of total PP2A and decreased interaction of CK2 with SK2 may underlie enhanced sensitivity of I KAS to intracellular Ca(2+) in volume-overload HF rat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transcription factors (TFs) are crucial modulators of gene expression during the development and progression of gastric carcinoma. Helicobacter pylori ( H. pylori) is one of the most significant risk factors of gastric carcinoma, and it is widely known that chronic inflammation with H. pylori infection triggers gastric carcinogenesis through inflammation- carcinoma chain [gastric carcinogenesis stages: non-atrophic gastritis, chronic atrophic gastritis, intestinal metaplasia, dysplasia and gastric carcinoma (GC)], but its mechanism regarding changed TFs remains unknown. In this study, we investigated the expressional profiles of 345 transcription factors in gastric mucosa of healthy volunteers and patients at different gastric carcinogenesis stages using protein/DNA array-based approach. The data demonstrated the up-regulated TFs such as GATA-3, AP4, c-Myc and Pbx1 in the gastric mucosa of GC patients compared with the healthy volunteers, while other TFs, particularly CCAAT and CACC, showed the consistently decreasing trend along the gastric carcinogenesis. The increased expressions of AP4, Pbx1 and C/EBPα were further validated by quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot in various H. pylori-infected models such as clinical gastric tissues, gastric epithelial cell lines and Mongolian gerbils. This study provides insights into and potential laws for gene transcriptional regulation by identifying potential TFs targets against the development of H. pylori-associated gastric carcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the diversity and abundance of bacterial lacasse-like genes in different particle size fractions, namely sand, silt, and clay of sediments in a subtropical mangrove ecosystem. Moreover, the effects of nutrient conditions on bacterial laccase-like communities as well as the correlation between nutrients and, both the abundance and diversity indices of laccase-like bacteria in particle size fractions were also studied. Compared to bulk sediments, Bacteroidetes, Caldithrix, Cyanobacteria and Chloroflexi were dominated in all 3 particle-size fractions of intertidal sediment (IZ), but Actinobacteria and Firmicutes were lost after the fractionation procedures used. The diversity index of IZ fractions decreased in the order of bulk > clay > silt > sand. In fractions of mangrove forest sediment (MG), Verrucomicrobia was found in silt, and both Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes appeared in clay, but no new species were found in sand. The declining order of diversity index in MG fractions was clay > silt > sand > bulk. Furthermore, the abundance of lacasse-like bacteria varied with different particle-size fractions significantly ( p < 0.05), and decreased in the order of sand > clay > silt in both IZ and MG fractions. Additionally, nutrient availability was found to significantly affect the diversity and community structure of laccase-like bacteria ( p < 0.05), while the total organic carbon contents were positively related to the abundance of bacterial laccase-like genes in particle size fractions ( p < 0.05). Therefore, this study further provides evidence that bacterial laccase plays a vital role in turnover of sediment organic matter and cycling of nutrients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Permafrost degradation triggered by a warming climate induces significant changes in soil conditions, and further contributes to apparent impacts on vegetation. However, much less is known regarding the difference in net primary productivity (NPP) and the relationships between NPP and warming temperature among different vegetation types and various types of permafrost zone on the Tibetan Plateau. Consequently, remotely sensed land surface temperature (LST) and NPP from the MODIS platform were used to investigate the response of vegetation NPP to warming climate, and the correlations were scaled up for the study region. Our results indicated a notable increase of NPP from west to east, and significantly increased annual NPP along with the increased LST from 2000 to 2010 in the permafrost zone of the Tibetan Plateau. Meanwhile, the increased NPP for various vegetation types and in different types of permafrost zone with relation to warming temperature was revealed. NPP in the continuous permafrost zone had the greatest sensitivity to the changing LST, and forest NPP presented the most obvious response. Positive correlations between NPP and LST at various scales indicated the enhanced effects of warming LST on vegetation carbon sequestration in the permafrost zone of the Tibetan Plateau. In view of the notable response of NPP to warming temperature on this plateau, remote sensing needs to be further employed to reveal the status of permafrost degradation and its related effects on vegetation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies in subcortical ischemic vascular disease (SIVD) suggest the involvement of white matter (WM) abnormalities underlying the pathogenesis of cognitive function impairment. Here, we performed magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) on detecting WM damage and to investigate the correlations between DTI measures and cognitive dysfunction in SIVD patients. Fifty right-handed SIVD patients were recruited and divided into vascular cognitive impairment on dementia (VCIND) group and normal cognition (NC) group. Twenty-two VCIND patients and 28 NC patients underwent DTI scanning and neuropsychological assessment. Atlas-based analysis (ABA) was performed on each subject for extracting FA and MD measures from supratentorial tracts. Among VCIND, as compared to NC patients, decreased FA and increased MD were observed in all projection fibers (bilateral anterior, posterior limb, and retrolenticular part of internal capsule, anterior, superior, and posterior corona radiata and posterior thalamic radiation), association fibers (bilateral sagittal stratum, external capsule, cingulum, fornix, and stria terminalis, superior longitudinal fasciculus, superior fronto-occipital fasciculus, and uncinate fasciculus), and commissural fibers (genu, body, splenium, and bilateral tapetum of corpus callosum). Furthermore, we also found that MoCA scores correlated with DTI values in all supratentorial WM tracts. The results suggested that SIVD patients demonstrated abnormal WM connectivity in all supratentorial regions. Moreover, the severity of damage in WM tracts correlated with cognitive dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]