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Excessive selenium (Se), especially selenite form exerts great toxicity to fish. Most studies have attached considerable attention to the adverse effects of Se on parental fish. However, the transgenerational toxicity of Se on fish has been rarely reported. In the present study, zebrafish embryos were exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations of Na₂SeO₃ (0, 12.5, 25, 50, and 100 μg/L) for 120 days. And the exposed zebrafish (F0) were allowed to spawn with normal zebrafish after sexual maturity. Subsequently, the offspring (F1) were cultured in clean water for 5 days. In the F0 generation, exposure to 100 μg/L Na₂SeO₃ significantly increased the Se content in the tissues (liver, brain and gonad) and decreased the body length and weight. After parental exposure to 100 μg/L Na₂SeO₃, the increased mortality, elevated malformation rate and reduced body length were measured in F1 zebrafish. The Se content was only significantly increased in F1 larvae derived from exposed females in the 100 μg/L exposure group. The contents of thyroid hormones (THs), growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF) significantly decreased in F0 and F1 zebrafish. The transcriptional levels of genes along the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid (HPT) axis and growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor (GH/IGF) axis were detected to further explore the possible mechanisms of Se-induced thyroid and growth hormone disruption. The results suggest that the toxicity of Se in zebrafish can be markedly transmitted to offspring. And the transgenerational development toxicity might be different due to the differences in gender of exposed parents.

Dissolved oxygen (DO) affects aquatic animals at a fundamental level so that the differences in its metabolic strategies under prolonged hypoxic conditions need an urgent exploration. In this experiment, largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) were chronically exposed (6 weeks) to severe hypoxia (S-HYP, DO: 2.0 ± 0.4 mg/L) and mild hypoxia (M-HYP, DO: 5.1 ± 0.4 mg/L). Compared to the control group (CON, DO:8.4 ± 0.4 mg/L), 1196 and 232 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained in S-HYP and M-HPY groups via transcriptome analysis, respectively. In S-HYP, lipolysis was promoted while anabolism was blocked. Meanwhile, significantly less fat droplet area was observed in the liver histology of S-HYP. Additionally, the cell cycle also responded to hypoxia, being blocked in the G1 phase with the suspension of DNA replication process. In M-HYP, the processing of protein in the endoplasmic reticulum and the synthesis of various aminoacyl t-RNA were inhibited, and a novel balance of the urea cycle might be established in the biosynthesis of arginine. The key DEGs involved in the above metabolic pathways, such as atgl, cpt1, arg1, etc., were validated by Q-PCR yielding results consistent with transcriptome data. This study indicates that the largemouth bass is prone to increase the proportion of lipid as an energy supply to adapt to the reprogramming of energy metabolism, while reducing the rate of cell proliferation to adapt to chronic severe hypoxia. This is also an undescribed observation in fish liver metabolism that largemouth bass may transform the synthesis and processing strategies of protein when exposed to chronic mild hypoxia.

Using data from the Yellow Sea, arrival times of the direct wave and surface/bottom reflections from explosive sources to a vertical hydrophone array are used to precisely determine each explosive source’s location, the source energy spectral density (SESD), and the water depth. Long-range propagation waveforms reveal modal dispersion: the ground wave, water wave, Airy phase, etc. There are two high-frequency (HF) groups of water waves. One propagates with the sound speed in the water below the thermocline, the other with a speed close to the sound speed in the water above the thermocline. The HF group arrival times offer a time reference for dispersion analyses, including the ground wave speed at the cutoff frequency and the group velocity at Airy frequency. Associated with a top layer oflow-velocity sediments (LVS), seafloor reflections have two pulses: one from the water-sediment interface, one from the sediment-basement interface; Long-range transmission loss (TL) exhibits abnormal peaks at selected frequencies. Above-mentioned physics characteristics and the SESD-normalized TL(r) and TL(f) in 50–5000 Hz range up to 27.6 km are used for observationally driven inferences of seafloor geo-acoustic parameters, such as the sound velocity and attenuation in the LVS layer, its thickness, the sound velocity in the basement, etc.

A comprehensive climate model assessment from multiple dimensions is critical for model selection to reduce uncertainties. Here, we evaluated the performance of seven models involved in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project-6 (CMIP6) by comparing the simulated meteorological variables at the near-surface (sea ice cover and sea surface temperature) and pressure levels (air temperature, specific humidity, zonal wind, meridional wind, and geopotential height at 850 hPa, 500 hPa, and 200 hPa) to those using ERA5 reanalysis data for the 1995-2014 period from the perspectives of climatological and interannual variability. Then, a comprehensive rating index approach was applied to rank the models. The results show that the CMIP6 models could mostly reproduce the spatial variability of the climatology. However, there were also systematic biases. The sea ice cover and sea surface temperature exhibited noticeable biases of approximately -13.2% and 0.6 °C, respectively. Additionally, all models underestimated air temperature and geopotential height, while overestimating specific humidity in the middle troposphere and zonal and meridional wind speeds in the upper troposphere. Regarding interannual variability, the CMIP6 models performed well for the variables at a pressure level of 850 hPa and with sea ice cover. Taken together, all variables showed that NorESM2-MM exhibited good performance in terms of climatology, while MPI-ESM1-2-LR exhibited good interannual variability. Overall, in regard to the comprehensive rate index, MPI-ESM1-2-LR performed the best among the seven models. This study provides valuable scientific references for selecting the available CMIP6 models as lateral boundary conditions towards dynamical downscaling over Asian-Pacific area.

In the context of global warming, a key scientific question for the sustainable development of the Arctic tourism industry is whether the region’s climate is becoming more suitable for tourism. Based on the ERA5-HEAT (Human thErmAl comforT) dataset from the European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), this study used statistical methods such as climatic tendency rate and RAPS to analyze the spatial-temporal changes in Arctic summer climate comfort zones from 1979 to 2019 and to explore the influence of changes in climate comfort on Arctic tourism. The results showed the following: (1) With the increase in the Arctic summer temperature, the universal thermal climate index (UTCI) rose significantly from 1979 to 2019 at a rate of 0.457 °C/10a. There was an abrupt change in 2001, when the climate comfort changed from “colder” to “cool”, and the climate comfort has remained cool over the past decade (2010–2019). (2) With the increase in Arctic summer temperatures, the area assessed as “comfortable” increased significantly from 1979 to 2019 at a rate of 2.114 × 105 km2/10a. Compared with the comfortable area in the 1980s, the comfortable area increased by 6.353 × 105 km2 over the past 10 years and expanded to high-latitude and high-altitude areas, mainly in Kola Peninsula, Putorana Plateau, and Verkhoyansk Mountains in Russia, as well as the Brooks Mountains in Alaska. (3) With the increase in Arctic summer temperatures, the number of days rated comfortable on 30% of the grid increased significantly from 1979 to 2019 (maximum increase: 31 days). The spatial range of the area with a low level of comfortable days narrowed and the spatial range of the area with a high level of such days expanded. The area with 60–70 comfortable days increased the most (4.57 × 105 km2). The results of this study suggest that global warming exerts a significant influence on the Arctic summer climate comfort level and provides favorable conditions for further development of regional tourism resources.

As a trace element, selenium (Se) has been widely added to food to maintain the physiological homeostasis of the organism. The adverse effects of Se on the reproduction of zebrafish have been investigated, however, the effects of Se on the maturation and apoptosis of zebrafish oocytes remain unclear. In this study, zebrafish embryos (2 h post fertilization, hpf) were exposed to 0, 12.5, 25, 50, and 100 μg Se/L for 120 days. The results demonstrated that exposure to selenite decreased the gonad-somatic index (GSI) and cumulative production of eggs, inhibited oocyte maturation (OM), and increased oocyte apoptosis in females. Exposure to selenite decreased the contents of sex hormones (E2) in the serum and increased the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) in the ovary. Furthermore, exposure to selenite downregulated the transcription level of genes on the HPG axis, decreased the phosphorylation level of CyclinB and the protein content of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (Pka), and upregulated the expression of genes (eif2s1a and chop) and proteins (Grp78, Chop) related to endoplasmic reticulum stress (ERS) and apoptosis. Moreover, maternal exposure to selenite resulted in the apoptosis of offspring and upregulated the content of ROS and the transcription level of genes related to ERS and apoptosis.

Microplastics (MPs) released into aquatic environment interact with other pollutants that already exist in water, potentially altering their toxicity, which poses a new problem for aquatic ecosystems. In the present study, we first evaluated the effects of polystyrene MPs (mPS) on copper (Cu) toxicity to the protozoan Euglena gracilis using three methods based on 96-h acute toxicity, orthogonal test and 12-d sub-acute toxicity data. Thereafter, the 12-d sub-acute exposure was employed to investigate protozoan growth, photosynthetic parameters and pigments, soluble protein, total antioxidant capacity and trace metal accumulation in E. gracilis after exposure to either 1.5 mg/L of Cu, 75-nm mPS (1 and 5 mg/L) or a combination therein, with the objective to understand the underlined mechanisms. The results show that the concentration and exposure time are key factors influencing the effects of the mPS on Cu toxicity. A mPS concentration of 5 mg/L caused significantly more dissipation energy, which is used for photosynthesis and thus decreased photosynthetic efficiency, but this effect weakened after 12 d of exposure. Exposure to Cu alone resulted in significantly high Cu accumulation in the cells and inhibited uptake of manganese and zinc. The presence of mPS did not influence the effects of Cu on trace metal accumulation. Our result suggests that application of multiple methods and indices could provide more information for a comprehensive understanding of the effects of mPS on toxicity of other pollutants. In addition, long-term exposure seems necessary for evaluating mPS toxicity.

The Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA, AD950-1250) is the most recent warm period lasting for several hundred years and is regarded as a reference scenario when studying the impact of and adaptation to global and regional warming. In this study, we investigated the characteristics of temperature variations on decadal-centennial scales during the MCA for four regions (Northeast, Northwest, Central-east, and Tibetan Plateau) in China, based on high-resolution temperature reconstructions and related warm-cold records from historical documents. The ensemble empirical mode decomposition method is used to analyze the time series. The results showed that for China as a whole, the longest warm period during the last 2000 years occurred in the 10th–13th centuries, although there were multi-decadal cold intervals in the middle to late 12th century. However, in the beginning and ending decades, warm peaks and phases on the decadal scale of the MCA for different regions were not consistent with each other. On the inter-decadal scale, regional temperature variations were similar from 950 to 1130; moreover, their amplitudes became smaller, and the phases did not agree well from 1130 to 1250. On the multi-decadal to centennial scale, all four regions began to warm in the early 10th century and experienced two cold intervals during the MCA. However, the Northwest and Central-east China were in step with each other while the warm periods in the Northeast China and Tibetan Plateau ended about 40–50 years earlier. On the multi-centennial scale, the mean temperature difference between the MCA and Little Ice Age was significant in Northeast and Central-east China but not in the Northwest China and Tibetan Plateau. Compared to the mean temperature of the 20th century, a comparable warmth in the MCA was found in the Central-east China, but there was a little cooling in Northeast China; meanwhile, there were significantly lower temperatures in Northwest China and Tibetan Plateau.

Incorporating private and working lands into protected area networks could mitigate the isolation state of protected areas (PAs) and improve the efficiency of conservation. But how to select patches of land for conservation is still a troublesome issue. In this study, the MaxEnt model and irreplaceability index were applied to guide marsh conservation in the Nenjiang River Basin, Northeast China. According to the high accuracy of the MaxEnt model predictions (i.e., the average AUC value = 0.933), the Wuyuer River and Zhalong marshes in the downstream reaches of Wuyuer River are the optimal habitat for the Red-crowned crane and migratory waterfowls. There are 22 marsh patches selected by the patch irreplaceability index for conservation, of which 12 patches had been included in the current network of protected areas. The other 10 patches of marsh (amounting to 1096 km2) far from human disturbances with high NDVI (up to 0.8) and close distance to water (less than 100 m), which are excluded from the existing network of PAs, should be implemented conservation easement programs to improve the protection efficiency of conservation. Specifically, the marshes at Taha, Tangchi, and Lamadian should be given priority for conservation and restoration to reintroduce migratory waterfowls, as this would lessen the current isolation state of the Zhalong National Nature Reserve.

Using multiple proxy data of historical hydroclimate variations, this study first selects the five heaviest megadrought decades in North China during the last millennium and then depicts the spatial pattern of hydroclimate over the Northern Hemisphere through these five megadrought decades. The results shows that abnormally dry conditions existed in East Asia, North America, and Europe when megadroughts in North China during the last millennium. The intensity of dry conditions in North America was stronger than that in Europe. Then, through comparing the spatial patterns of hydroclimate from proxy data with ensemble modeling of nine CMIP5/PMIP3 models, we find that such megadroughts in North China, and the contemporaneously abnormal dry conditions over the Northern Hemisphere were very likely mainly induced by external forcing, i.e., large volcanic eruptions and weakened solar irradiation. These external forcing may lead to climate cooling and, hence, air motion downward at mid-lower layer of troposphere, inducing a much more stable troposphere; as well as, the land-ocean pressure differences were weakened, and, hence, there would be decreased water vapor flux from ocean to land. Both of intensified stability of troposphere and weakened vapor transportations to land would lead to precipitation decline and, as a result, would be favorable for drought. It is therefore necessary to consider these external forcing into future climate change predicting to improve our ability of predicting megadrought.

Since the mid-19th century, the global atmospheric CO2 concentration (ACC) has increased dramatically due to the burning of fossil fuels. Because of unequal population growth and economic development among regions, the ACC increases possess strong spatial variability. Particularly, the increase in ACC has been larger in the mid-latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) than that at high- and low-latitudes. It is widely accepted that the ACC increase is the main reason for climate change, but the potential impacts of its spatial distribution on the climate system remain unclear. Therefore, we carried out two groups of 150-year experiments with the Community Earth System Model (CESM), using both spatially inhomogeneous (hereafter the SIC experiment) and homogenous (hereafter the SHC experiment) ACC increases in their settings. We found that the models’ divergences occurred over the NH mid-latitudes, the Arctic and the western part of the tropical Pacific. SHC overestimated (underestimated) climate warming over the Artic (mid-latitudes), which may be induced by the intensified westerly and weakened meridional heat exchange between mid- and high latitudes in the NH. Over the tropical Pacific, the overestimation of climate warming may be induced by intensified Walker circulation coupled with the La Niña climate mode. For the entire NH, relative to SIC, SHC overestimated the climate warming from 1850 to 1999 by ~10%. Meanwhile, the SHC experiment also overestimated the interannual variabilities in temperature and precipitation, resulting in more serious extreme events. These findings suggest that human contributions to climate warming and increased extreme events since the industrial revolution may be overestimated when using a spatially homogenous ACC.

We identified regional differences over China of winter temperature response to large volcanic eruptions with different latitudes and seasons from 1956 to 2005, and investigated atmospheric circulations for corresponding spatial patterns of winter temperature anomalies using reanalysis data and simulations by the Community Earth System Model. Both observations and simulations show that spatial patterns of winter temperature anomalies over China are related to the latitudes and seasons of the eruptions. Tropical volcanic eruptions during summer led to winter temperature decreases of 0.4–1.6 °C in eastern China due to the increase of height gradient. Winter volcanic eruptions led to extensive warming over Tibet. Following summer volcanic eruptions at low latitude, there were warm winters in eastern China because of a weak Siberian high. An anomalous southerly wind caused slight warming over most of China following winter eruptions. With the typical “trough–ridge–trough” at high latitude of the Northern Hemisphere, the winter temperature decreased in northeastern China and increased in western China following summer eruptions at mid-latitude. However, temperature generally increased after winter eruptions. For summer eruptions at high latitude, winter temperature showed a coherent decrease over northwest and east-central China due to an intensified Siberian High and East Asian trough. The widespread warming occurred over China because of the meridional circulation between 65°N and 45°N was weaker following winter volcanic eruptions.

In this study, bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis) were exposed to waterborne Cr6+ of 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 5 mg/L for 14 days and subsequently transferred to clean water for another 14 days. The Cr6+ contents in some edible parts, such as dorsal muscle, ventral muscle and head were detected. The Cr6+ concentrations in the three parts were in the order of: head > ventral muscle > dorsal muscle with significant increase during exposure period and remarkable decrease when kept at clean water during depuration stage. The head contained higher fat than that of muscle and the Cr6+ levels of these parts showed significantly positive correlation with fat content, however, the Cr6+ contents in the separated fat were extremely low. The Cr6+ levels determined in tissues can tell a real story rather than the correlation coefficient. Fish head poses a higher potential health risk than muscle due to heavy metals pollution.

Changes in Earth’s albedo due to vegetation dynamics, snow cover, and land cover change have attracted much attention. However, the effects of vegetation dynamics on albedo have not been comprehensively documented according to its spatial (regional), temporal (within growing season), and spectral (visible, near-infrared, and shortwave) characteristics. This study examined the effects of vegetation greenness on albedo from 2000 to 2014 in China’s grasslands, which have considerable intra- and inter-annual variations, using remote sensing-based albedo and two-band Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI2) data. Generally, we found an insignificant negative correlation between the shortwave (SW) albedo and EVI2 for grasslands in China. However, the visible (VIS) albedo was more sensitive to changes in vegetation greenness than near-infrared (NIR) albedo in China’s grasslands. The relationship between the NIR albedo and EVI2 was more complicated, especially in the Tibetan Plateau (TP), where the correlation was negative in the early growing season and positive in the late growing season; while the correlation between the NIR albedo and EVI2 was always negative in main part of Inner Mongolia (IM). The different albedo-EVI2 relationships in IM and TP may be related to differences in soil albedos. The higher sensitivity of the SW albedo to vegetation greenness change in IM, the stronger effect on land surface radiation budget. Our finding about vegetation-induced changes in albedo differ in space, time and spectral bands is expected to contribute to the improvement of land surface models.

Global historical land use scenarios are widely used to model human-induced climate change from the regional to global scales. It is necessary to conduct regional scale assessments of these global scenarios, identifying their uncertainties and pointing out directions for improvement. Based on the regional reconstruction Li-dataset, remotely sensed dataset, and grazing intensity dataset, the uncertainties of land use area and geographical distribution in HYDE3.1, HYDE3.2, and SAGE (a global land dataset from the Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment) scenarios for the Qinghai–Tibet Area (QTA) are evaluated. The comparisons show that the cropland areas on the QTA in HYDE3.2 for 1900–2000 are close to those of the Li-dataset, whereas HYDE3.1 underestimated and SAGE overestimated the cropland areas significantly. Spatially, HYDE3.1, HYDE3.2, and SAGE have large uncertainties, which cannot reflect the distribution of cropland on the QTA and its changes for 1900–2000 well, and too much cropland is allocated to southeastern Tibet. HYDE3.1 and HYDE3.2 overestimated the pasture area and its distribution on the QTA significantly. The distribution of pasture in SAGE showed overall an agreement with the spatial pattern for grazing intensity, but changes in grazing intensity for 2000–2010 was not reflected in SAGE. The FAO pasture definition and estimates and the method of using population as a proxy for pasture area are not appropriate for the QTA. Methodology which uses the pasture inventory data to calibrate satellite-based grassland maps to obtain the current pasture maps may also not be appropriate because of the lacking differentiation between natural and anthropogenic grasslands in remotely sensed data. More regional level land use estimates with concise definitions, define the land use more clearly, and stratification reconstruction based on differences in agro-climatic conditions and resource endowments may be used to improve global maps.

The great difference of electron mobility between TiO2 electron transport layers and perovskite layers in planar perovskite solar cells may lead to serious electron stacking in their interfaces, which further results in high electron recombination rates and photocurrent density-voltage hysteresis. The surface modification of TiO2 electron transport layers is an effective way to overcome the problem. Here, we report the successful fabrication of high efficiency and negligible hysteresis planar perovskite solar cells through modifying the TiO2 electron transport layers with p-type NiO nanocrystals. We find that the NiO nanocrystals form large numbers of NiO islands rather than homogeneous NiO films on the TiO2 electron transport layers. This special island-like morphology is propitious to maintain high light transmittance and induce large crystal grains and high crystallinity of perovskite layers. Furthermore, the device with NiO nanocrystals modification shows more effective electron extraction and lower charge accumulation than the pristine one. The champion device can achieve forward-scanned and reverse-scanned efficiencies of 19.22% and 19.42%, respectively. Hence, it is a novel guideline toward facile surface modification of TiO2 electron transport layers for efficient and hysteresis-free planar perovskite solar cells.

This paper was envisaged to provide deeper insights of the hydraulic jump value in pumping well in the loess aquifer. Herein, we discussed the research status and problems of the value, compared the differences between the analytical solution method and the empirical formula method. Subsequently, we proposed a fitting method with improvement and the tangent method to estimate the hydraulic jump value, and quantitatively analyzed the linear variation rule of the water level curve around the well. The results show that the value calculated by the traditional empirical formula was about one tenth of the theoretical value in constant flow and the water level around the well was found to be logarithmic in the range of N1∼N3. When the range was extended, the water level curve changed to a parabolic nature and power function in turn. The hydraulic jump value obtained by h-r extension of the modified water level curve fitting equation was improved greatly, and the average error was found to be less than 1 m. The stability of the hydraulic jump value using the tangent method was poor, and the estimated horizontal distance was larger than 3 m. The results show that the reliability of the improved curve fitting method was better, while the empirical formula method and the tangent method exhibited a larger error and poor stability. When the error correction was performed, the improved curve fitting method could be used to estimate the hydraulic jump value under the same conditions, and can replace the theoretical calculation value.

The nutritional selenium (Se) has been demonstrated to have health-boosting effects on fish. However, its effect on fish energy metabolism remains unclear. This study explores the effect and underlying mechanism of the action of nutritional Se on energy metabolism in fish. Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were fed a basal diet (0 mg Se/kg diet) and a diet containing an already established nutritional Se level (2 mg Se/kg diet, based on Se-yeast) for 30 days. After the feeding experiment, the plasma and liver biochemical profiles and liver transcriptome were analyzed. The results showed that the present nutritional level of Se significantly increased liver triglyceride, total cholesterol, and plasma total cholesterol contents (P 0.05) compared with the control. Transcriptome analysis showed that 336 and 219 genes were significantly upregulated and downregulated, respectively. Gene enrichment analysis showed that many differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were associated with lipid metabolism pathways (fatty acid biosynthesis, fatty acid elongation, and unsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis), carbohydrate metabolism pathways (glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway, and the citrate cycle), and the oxidative phosphorylation pathway. Real-time quantitative PCR (Q-PCR) validation results showed that the expression profiles of 15 genes exhibited similar trends both in RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and Q-PCR analysis. These results reveal that optimum dietary Se activates glucose catabolic processes, fatty acid biosynthetic processes, and energy production and hence produces higher liver lipid content. This study concludes that the previously established level of nutritional Se (Se-yeast) (2 mg/kg diet, fed basis) for rainbow trout promotes energy storage in the liver, which may benefit fish growth to some extent.

The long-term variations in meteorological drought and its large-scale climate patterns in each season in Central Asia from 1901 to 2015 remain unclear. Here, this issue is addressed using meteorology measurements and reanalysis data through correlation and composite analyses. The drought intensity index (DII) and extent index (DEI) do not exhibit significant linear trends from 1901 to 2015 but do exhibit interannual to interdecadal variations. Both the DII and DEI are highly correlated with the tropical Nino 4 sea surface temperature (SST) and extratropical atmospheric teleconnections, including the East Atlantic (EA) pattern, the East Atlantic/West Russia (EAWR) pattern, and the Arctic oscillation (AO), but with seasonal discrepancies in terms of the degree of influence. The winter drought is strongly linked to both the negative EA and negative EAWR patterns, while spring and autumn drought are strongly linked to the negative EAWR and negative EA patterns, respectively. In the winter, spring, and autumn, drought is also closely linked to below normal Nino 4 SST. The links to EA and EAWR patterns are mainly derived from their impacts on precipitation in the central and northern sectors, while the link to Nino 4 SST is mainly derived from its impacts on precipitation in the southern sector. By considering both drought intensity and drought extent, the ten extreme drought years for each season are selected and, through composite analysis, their large-scale climate patterns are studied. The extreme drought generally occurs in the contexts of a negative EA pattern in winter, a negative EAWR pattern in spring, and a negative AO pattern in autumn. As an exception, summer drought is weakly correlated with Nino 4 SST and is not correlated with extratropical atmospheric teleconnections.

Proxy-based reconstructions are essential for investigating precipitation change in Asia on multidecadal to centennial timescales. Thus far, a total of four gridded precipitation/drought datasets for the past half millennium have been developed, including reconstructed Asian summer precipitation (RAP), May–September precipitation in China (IGGPRE), warm season precipitation for Asia (WSP), and Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas (MADA). This study uses some independent evidence to evaluate and compare the four reconstructions and then examine the spatial patterns of precipitation under different phase combinations of the Atlantic multidecadal oscillation (AMO) and Pacific decadal oscillation (PDO). The results suggest that RAP and IGGPRE capture most variance of observations in eastern China, WSP performs better in central Asia and India, while MADA shows skill over Mongolia and the eastern Tibet Plateau. When proxies are evenly distributed in space, increasing the sample size contributes more to the explained variance than increasing the signal-to-noise ratio. In terms of the responses to the multidecadal oscillations, the spatial correlation coefficients are all negative between pairs of patterns, with only one of the oscillations residing in opposite phase. This means that all four reconstructed datasets capture the reverse spatial pattern when the phase of multidecadal oscillation changes. The WSP is the only dataset that shows positively correlated spatial patterns when the AMO and the PDO reverse together. The RAP and IGGPRE are more sensitive to the AMO than to the PDO, because the negative correlations caused by the AMO exhibit higher confidence levels. The spatial pattern in history is similar to that in the twentieth century when the PDO and AMO are both in positive phase, which indicates that the mechanism in this situation is stable over the long-term period.

Objective To explore the pharmacodynamic (PD) characteristics of propofol during anesthetic recovery period with target-controlled infusion (TCI), and to identify the clinical variables related to the PD parameters. Materials and methods 20 patients scheduled for otolaryngology surgery were enrolled. After the surgery was finished, target effect site concentration was gradually decreased, blood samples were measured at 7 time points and the differences between the target and measured plasma concentration were compared. Observer's assessment of alertness/sedation (OAA/S) and Narcotrend index (NI) were used as two PD indicators by fitting sigmoid Emax model. Correlations between PD parameter and clinical variables were evaluated. Results Performance of the TCI system showed a positive bias at the end of the anesthesia sedation period and a negative bias in the anesthetic recovery period. PD parameters (EC50, r) calculated with OAA/S and NI were significantly different, EC50 of OAA/S was lower than EC50 of NI (1.53 ± 0.70 vs. 2.16 ± 0.99 µg/mL), r of OAA/S was higher than r of NI (57.07 ± 56.39 vs. 4.35 ± 4.42). Propofol dosage and hemodynamic parameters were significantly correlated with EC50 (OAA/S), lean body weight and gender were significantly correlated with EC50 (NI). Conclusion NI provided a more stable and adequate assessment of the depth of anesthesia than OAA/S, and the influence factors should be taken into account for precise dosing.

BACKGROUND Selenium (Se) status is closely related to skeletal muscle physiological status. However, its influence on skeletal muscle growth has not been well studied. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to analyze the impacts of overall Se status (deficient, adequate, and high) on skeletal muscle growth using a growing zebrafish model. METHODS Zebrafish (1.5-mo-old) were fed graded levels of Se (deficient: 0.10 mg Se/kg; marginally deficient: 0.22 mg Se/kg; adequate: 0.34 mg Se/kg; high: 0.44, 0.57, and 0.69 mg Se/kg) as Se-enriched yeast for 30 d. Zebrafish growth, and Se accumulation, selenoenzyme activity, selenotranscriptome profiles, and oxidative status in the whole body, and selenotranscriptome profiles, histological characteristics, biochemicals, and gene and protein expression profiles related to muscle growth in the skeletal muscle were analyzed by model fitting and/or 1-factor ANOVA. RESULTS Se status biomarkers within the whole body and skeletal muscle indicated that 0.34 mg Se/kg was adequate for growing zebrafish. For biomarkers related to skeletal muscle growth, compared with 0.34 mg Se/kg, 0.10 mg Se/kg decreased the white muscle cross-sectional area (WMCSA) and the mean diameter of white muscle fibers (MDWMF) by 14.4%-15.1%, inhibited protein kinase B-target of rapamycin complex 1 signaling by 63.7%-68.5%, and stimulated the autophagy-lysosome pathway by 1.07 times and the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (UPP) by 96.0% (P

Understanding the local sources of atmospheric formaldehyde (HCHO) is a key step in accurately determining the inversion of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs). This study aims to clarify the main sources and emission patterns of local total HCHO column densities over Ethiopia and Kenya. Between 2005 and 2015, the total monthly HCHO varied from 3.7 x 10(15) molecules/cm(2) to 7.7 x 10(15) molecules/cm(2). Monthly HCHO showed a strong seasonal pattern with annual peaks on March, July (small peak) and October, which well matched with the rainy seasons in Ethiopia and Kenya. Natural sources contributed 36% to the total HCHO in the study area. Grassland and savannas showed high column densities in the long rainy season starting from March, with the monthly average emission value of 5.6 x 10(15) molecules/cm(2). Multiple regression result showed that vegetation contributed 3.5 x 10(13) molecules/cm(2) to monthly HCHO, with grassland and forest in eastern Kenya and the boundary of Ethiopia and Kenya were the main contributors in these regions. Biomass burning and methane contributed to HCHO emission in the western and northern Ethiopia with a magnitude of 1.4 x 10(14) molecules/cm(2) and 6.2 x 10(16) molecules/cm(2) per month, respectively. Economic activities showed negative response to HCHO columns, except over the two small-scale regions of Addis Ababa City and Nairobi City. This study quantified the HCHO from various sources and suggested that natural sources produce more HCHO than anthropogenic sources over Ethiopia and Kenya.

To investigate the roles of cytoskeleton-associated protein 2 (CKAP2) in proliferation, apoptosis, and migration in liver cancer cells and the potential mechanisms.Human normal hepatocyte L02 and liver cancer cell lines HepG2, Huh7, and SMMC-7721 were cultured. The CKAP2 expression was detected by real-time PCR and Western blotting. HepG2 cells were randomly divided into a control group, a negative control (NC) group, and a CKAP2 silencing (siCKAP2) group. CCK-8 and BrdU assays were used to evaluate cell viability and proliferation, respectively. Transwell assay was employed to determine cell migration and invasion. The protein levels of cleaved-caspase 3, Bax, E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Vimentin, phosphorylated Janus kinase 2 (p-JAK2), and phosphorylated signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (p-STAT3) were determined by Western blotting.Compared with normal hepatocyte L02, CKAP2 was highly expressed in liver cancer cell lines HepG2, Huh7, and SMMC-7721 (allCKAP2 gene silence inhibits proliferation, migration, and invasion, and promotes apoptosis in liver cancer cells, while JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway may be involved in these processes.

Se, an essential biological trace element, is required for fish growth. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Protein deposition in muscle is an important determinant for fish growth. This study was conducted on juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to explore the nutritional effects of Se on protein deposition in fish muscle by analysing the postprandial dynamics of both protein synthesis and protein degradation. Trout were fed a basal diet supplemented with or without 4 mg/kg Se (as Se yeast), which has been previously demonstrated as the optimal supplemental level for rainbow trout growth. After 6 weeks of feeding, dietary Se supplementation exerted no influence on fish feed intake, whereas it increased fish growth rate, feed efficiency, protein retention rate and muscle protein content. Results of postprandial dynamics (within 24 h after feeding) of protein synthesis and degradation in trout muscle showed that dietary Se supplementation led to a persistently hyperactivated target of rapamycin complex 1 pathway and the suppressive expression of numerous genes related to the ubiquitin-proteasome system and the autophagy-lysosome system after the feeding. However, the ubiquitinated proteins and microtubule-associated light chain 3B (LC3)-II:LC3-I ratio, biomarkers for ubiquitination and autophagy activities, respectively, exhibited no significant differences among the fish fed different experimental diets throughout the whole postprandial period. Overall, this study demonstrated a promoting effect of nutritional level of dietary Se on protein deposition in fish muscle by accelerating postprandial protein synthesis. These results provide important insights about the regulatory role of dietary Se in fish growth.

It is verified that the interface engineering is an effective way to achieve highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells. However, the typical interface engineering of using insulating polymer or metal oxide to fabricate tunneling layers has an obvious drawback that is their thickness must be exactly controlled (usually

Microcystin-LR (MC-LR) is regarded as one of the most toxic microcystins (MCs) isoforms. Microcystins could cause multiple organs dysfunction, and more attention has been drawn to the toxic effects on the gastrointestinal disorder. By using ex vivo everted gut sac model in 6 fish (Carassius auratus, Megalobrama amblycephala, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, Aristichthys nobilis, Ctenopharyngodon idellus and Cyprinus carpio) and determining the accumulation of MC-LR in zebrafish intestine, we found a dose-dependent manner in the absorption and accumulation of MC-LR. Until now, little studies have been reported concerning the gut microbiota composition caused by different MC-LR exposure. The present study is the first time characterized the phylogenetic composition and taxonomic of the bacterial communities growth in the intestines of zebrafish treated with MC-LR using 16S rRNA pyrosequencing. After 30 days of treatment with 0, 1, 5 or 20 μg/L MC-LR, the alpha and beta diversity did not generate significant differences, indicating the existence of a core microbiota. However, db-RDA analysis showed that treatment with 20 μg/L MC-LR changed the characteristics of high abundances microbiota. The expression of Oatp2b1, stress related enzyme activities in gut and their associations with gut microbiota were also determined. The identified phylotypes including Actinobacteria, Lactobacillus and some opportunistic pathogens highlight the increasing risks of pathogen invasion and recovery tendency via potential probiotics resistance in zebrafish exposed to MC-LR.

As a nutritionally essential trace element, selenium (Se) is crucial for fish growth. However, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Fish somatic growth relies on the white muscle growth. This study aimed to explore the effects and underlying mechanisms of Se on fish white muscle growth using a juvenile rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) model. Fish were fed a basal diet unsupplemented or supplemented with selenium yeast at nutritional dietary Se levels (2 and 4 mg/kg Se, respectively) for 30 days. Results showed that dietary Se supplementation significantly enhanced trout somatic growth. Histological and molecular analysis of trout white muscle tissues at the vent level showed that dietary Se supplementation elevated the total cross-sectional area of white muscle, mean diameter of white muscle fibers, protein content, nuclei number, and DNA content of individual muscle fiber, and suppressed the activities of calpain system and ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. Overall, this study demonstrated that dietary Se within the nutritional range inhibits calpain- and ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation and promotes the fusion of myoblasts into the existed muscle fibers to promote the hypertrophic growth of white muscle, thereby accelerating the somatic growth of rainbow trout. Our results provide a mechanistic insight into the regulatory role of Se in fish growth.

In this study, the concentrations of 14 types of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and 7 types of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in four freshwater fish species (Ctenopharyngodon idella, Cyprinus carpio, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and Hypophthalmichthys nobilis) collected from nine lakes in Anhui Province were determined. Among these contaminants, only hexachlorobenzene (HCB), heptachlor, hexachlorocyclohexane (β- and γ-HCH), dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p'-DDE) and PCB 101 were detected, and HCB had the highest measured concentrations while the heptachlor showed the lowest concentrations. In the four fish species, C. carpio preferred to accumulate more OCPs and PCBs than C. idellus. Moreover, the health risk assessments demonstrated that consumption of these fish species may pose both non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks, especially for children at high exposure level (95th). As the concentrations of contaminants in ventral muscle were higher than that in dorsal muscle, the consumption of ventral muscle should be limited to avoid the potential risk of OCPs and PCBs.

This study established a random forest regression model (RFRM) using terrain factors, climatic and river factors, distances to the capitals of provinces, prefectures (Fu, in Chinese Pinyin), and counties as independent variables to predict the population density. Then, using the RFRM, we explicitly reconstructed the spatial distribution of the population density of Gansu Province, China, in 1820 and 2000, at a resolution of 10 by 10 km. By comparing the explicit reconstruction with census data at the township level from 2000, we found that the RFRM-based approach mostly reproduced the spatial variability in the population density, with a determination coefficient (R2) of 0.82, a positive reduction of error (RE, 0.72) and a coefficient of efficiency (CE) of 0.65. The RFRM-based reconstructions show that the population of Gansu Province in 1820 was mostly distributed in the Lanzhou, Gongchang, Pingliang, Qinzhou, Qingyang, and Ningxia prefecture. The macro-spatial pattern of the population density in 2000 kept approximately similar with that in 1820. However, fine differences could be found. The 79.92% of the population growth of Gansu Province from 1820 to 2000 occurred in areas lower than 2500 m. As a result, the population weighting in the areas above 2500 m was ~9% in 1820 while it was greater than 14% in 2000. Moreover, in comparison to 1820, the population density intensified in Lanzhou, Xining, Yinchuan, Baiyin, Linxia, and Tianshui, while it weakened in Gongchang, Qingyang, Ganzhou, and Suzhou.

This study aimed to investigate the formation of odor properties in surimi products by exploring changes in aroma compounds and their precursors at setting (40 °C) and gelling (90 °C) stages during surimi gel formation by solvent-assisted flavor evaporation, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, and ultra performance liquid chromatography. Results revealed a gradual increase in the contents of most aldehydes, alcohols, and phenolics during surimi gel formation, while a decrease in the contents of (E)-2-pentenal, (E)-2-hexnenal, (Z)-4-heptenal, (E)-2-heptenal, and most ketones at gelling stage. During thermal process, 50 % decrease was observed in the contents of some unsaturated fatty acids (palmitoleic acid, oleic acid, etc.), and the contents of tyrosine, phenylalanine, methionine, isoleucine, and leucine decreased significantly (P 0.05) at gelling stage. Moreover, lipoxygenase activity reached 4.19-4.81 U/min·g at setting stage. Overall, amino acid degradation and lipid auto-oxidation mainly occurred at gelling stage to promote the formation of related compounds.

This study aimed to investigate the influencing factors for the water jump and the research status of the solution. Using the in-situ pumping test, the analytic solution method, the curve-fitting method, and the method for determining the water-level difference of the main and auxiliary wells were put forward to calculate the characteristics of the water jump under the condition of constant flow. The water jump values obtained by different methods were compared. The duration change of the water jump value under three constant-flow pumping conditions was analyzed. Also, the relationship between the water jump value and the duration of the flow rate under three unstable flow conditions was examined. The results showed that, with reference to the analytical solution of the jump value, the value calculated by the difference method of primary and secondary water levels was about 17% and that calculated by the curve-fitting method was about 10% under the condition of constant-flow pumping. When the pumping amount increased to a certain value, the jump value was stable in a certain period of time. When the pumping volume increased to a certain value, a linear relationship was found between the pumping volume and the water jump value for a certain period of time under the condition of unsteady-flow pumping, but this relationship did not repeat completely. The results showed that it was difficult to calculate the magnitude of the water jump under the in-situ test strip. Further, the method for determining the water-level difference between the main and auxiliary wells could be used to approximate the water jump of the pumping well. It was confirmed that a linear relationship existed between the water jump value of the main well and the pumping amount under certain conditions during the pumping process. This linear relationship was affected by various factors and did not always exist.

In this paper, the theoretical basis for flow calculation in an injection well was discussed. It proposed that the flow rate of an injection well could be calculated referring to pumping theory and method. A mathematical model of the rising curve of water level around a radial well was established and the equation for calculating the rising curve was given. The calculation equations selected for the water absorption capacity of injection wells were explained and examples were verified and compared. The results indicated that, under the same injection conditions, the water level value calculated by the analysis method was slightly larger, but the error between the analysis method and the semi-theoretical and semi-empirical methods was small. In the processes of steady flow injection and unsteady flow injection, there was a small difference of water absorption capacity, and the former was slightly larger. The measured values of water absorption capacity were only about one-third of the calculated values based on pumping theory. Overall, the analytical solution method for predicting the rising curve of water level has priority in well injection. The semi-theoretical and semi-empirical equation for calculating water absorption capacity sifted first has priority in steady flow injection, the equation sifted second has priority in unsteady flow injection.

Obtaining oocytes from the adult female zebrafish (Danio rerio) ovary has enormous importance in the studies of developmental biology, toxicology, and genetics. It is vital to establish a simple and effective approach to ensure the quantity and quality of oocytes, which will enable the success of follow-up experimental investigation finally. Usually, oocytes are separated with mechanical or enzymatic methods, however, little studies have been done with concerns about the comparative effects. The present study separated zebrafish oocytes of Stage III with five frequently used methods, including stripping, pipetting, hyaluronidase (1.6 mg/ml), collagenase (0.4 mg/ml), and trypsin (0.1%). The cell viability, oxidative stress, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) protein phosphorylation, and apoptosis levels were selected as main biomarkers to evaluate the oocytes health status. The results showed that both trypsin and hyaluronidase isolation significantly upregulated germinal vesicle breakdown (GVBD) rates and downregulated p38 MAPK activity simultaneously. GVBD rates and survival rates were decreased notably in oocytes separated by the collagenase method. Above results indicate that zebrafish oocytes in vitro are sensitive to enzymatic treatments and the enzymatic isolation is not the suitable mean for collecting zebrafish oocytes although it is time-saving. The mechanical strategy of pipetting remarkably increased the reactive oxygen species and malondialdehyde level in isolated oocytes. Interestingly, oocytes separated with stripping show less physiological and biochemical damages. Therefore, stripping isolation is comparatively recommended as the optimum method for separating and collecting numerous intact and healthy zebrafish oocytes in vitro for the subsequent developmental research.

Microcystin-LR (MC-LR) released by Microcystis blooms degradation usually co-exists with a chemical called nitrite, posing a serious harm to aquatic organisms. To assess the single and combined effects of MC-LR and nitrite on the reproductive endocrine system, a fully factorial experiment was designed and adult male zebrafish (Danio rerio) were exposed to 9 treatment combinations of MC-LR (0, 3, 30 μg/L) and nitrite (0, 2, 20 mg/L) for 30 d. The results showed that both MC-LR and nitrite caused concentration-dependent effects including the growth inhibition, decreased gonad index as well as testicular injuries with widen intercellular spaces and seminiferous epithelium deteriorations. And testicular pathological changes in the co-exposure groups of MC-LR and nitrite were similar but more serious than those in single-factor exposure groups. Concurrently, exposure to MC-LR or nitrite alone could significantly decrease T levels by downregulating gene expressions (gnrh2, lhβ, ar, lhr) in the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal-liver-axis (HPGL-axis), and there were significant interactions between MC-LR and nitrite on them. In contrast, E2 levels as well as transcriptional levels of cyp19a1b, cyp19a1a and vtg1 showed significant inductions with increasing MC-LR concentrations, indicating an estrogen-like effect of MC-LR. Our findings illustrated that co-exposure of MC-LR and nitrite synergistically cause reproductive dysfunction by interfering with the HPGL axis in male fish, which prompt us to focus more on the potential risks in fish reproduction and even population dynamics due to the wide occurrence of toxic cyanobacterial blooms.

Proxy-based reconstructions of the Asian Summer Monsoon exhibit variability over multiple scales, from inter-annual to centennial. The relationship between East Asia Summer Monsoon (EASM) variability and the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) over the last millennium remains unclear and a focus of current research. This study investigates this relationship using observations, reanalysis data, proxy-based reconstructions, and a control simulation using the Community Earth System Model (CESM). The results derived from both the observation/reanalysis/proxy-based reconstruction and the simulation show consistently that the relationship between EASM strength and Nino3.4 SST is divergent. The observation/reanalysis data illustrate strong negative correlations between Nino3.4 SST and EASM strength at an annual scale in the 1920s-1930s and 1980s-1990s, with weak correlations during other periods. The proxy-based reconstruction demonstrates strong negative correlations at inter-decadal scales from the 1360s to the 1530s, with either weak correlations or positive correlations during other periods. Moreover, the simulations reveal positive correlations in some periods and negative or weak correlations in other periods. The simulations demonstrate that the divergent relationship may be derived from multi-decadal variations in Pacific SST caused by internal variability in the climate system, likely due to the Inter-decadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO). The EASM variation is usually in (out of) phase with Nino3.4 SST during the positive (negative) phase of the IPO. In the positive phase of the IPO, there is a tripolar pattern expressed in a cyclone-anticyclone-cyclone arrangement at pressure level of 850 hPa from the tropics to mid-latitudes over the northwest Pacific. Warming of the Nino3.4 strengthens the tropical cyclone by weakening the trade winds and subsequently strengthening the subtropical anticyclone, leading to a strong Meiyu front, which suggests a strong EASM. However, in the negative phase of the IPO, a huge cyclone occupies the northwest Pacific. Warming of the Nino3.4 strengthens the cyclone by weakening the trade winds, which leads to a weak Meiyu front, which suggests a weak EASM. These results may be helpful in further understanding the mechanisms through which the ENSO and IPO impact the atmospheric circulations in the Asian Pacific, especially regarding the long-term variations in EASM at inter-annual to inter-decadal scales.

Low-temperature solution-processed method is a kind of low-energy-consuming and simple methodology for preparing cost-effective planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs). A key factor affecting photovoltaic performance of planar PSCs is the quality of electron-transporting layers (ETLs) in the devices. Although TiO2 is the most widely used material for preparing ETLs, it has drawbacks such as low electron mobility and ultraviolet light induced photocatalysis. So the replacement of TiO2 in ETLs is an important strategy to improve the stability and photovoltaic performance of PSCs. Here, the fabrication of high-performance planar PSCs based on low-temperature solution-processed well-crystalline SnO2 nanorods ETLs is reported. The sophisticated solvothermal method with the aid of oleic acid (OA) ligands is used to synthesize high aspect ratio and well crystalline SnO2 nanorods. And then the OA-capped SnO2 nanorods are directly used to fabricate ETLs without complex treatments. The planar PSCs based on OA-capped SnO2 nanorods ETLs achieve a champion power conversion efficiency of 18.62%, which is much higher than that of the ones based on OA-capped TiO2 nanorods ETLs (14.27%). Compared to the OA-capped TiO2 nanorods, the insulating OA ligands show weaker influence on the electronic properties of SnO2 nanorods, owing to the high electron mobility character of SnO2.

To investigate the utility of 13N-ammonia PET/CT imaging in the differential diagnosis of gliomas and brain inflammations. 13N-ammonia PET/CT imaging data of 77 patients with gliomas and 34 patients with brain inflammations were retrospectively analyzed. No patients received any treatment before 13N-ammonia imaging. All the patients were diagnosed by stereotactic biopsy or clinical follow-up. Visual and semi-quantitative analysis was performed to analyze the results of 13N-ammonia imaging. Finally, the uptake ratios of each lesion were calculated and its differences among different groups were tested with one-way ANOVA. 29.4% inflammations, 51.6% low-grade gliomas and 91.3% high-grade gliomas were positive by visual analysis in 13N-ammonia imaging. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy for the diagnosis of gliomas were 75.3%, 55.8% and 67.8%, respectively. As for semi-quantitative analysis, the T/G ratios of inflammatory lesions, low-grade gliomas and high-grade gliomas were 0.88 ± 0.24, 1.04 ± 0.43 and 1.43 ± 0.49, respectively. One-way ANOVA revealed that the T/G ratios of high-grade gliomas were significantly higher than those of low-grade gliomas and inflammations (P 0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the optimal cut-off value of T/G ratio in distinguishing gliomas from inflammations was 1.21 with the AUC 0.78. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV and NPV were 52.9%, 94.4%, 65.3%, 95.7% and 45.9%, respectively. ROC curve analysis showed that the optimal cut-off value of T/G ratio in distinguishing high-grade gliomas from low-grade gliomas was 1.06 with the AUC 0.78. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV and NPV were 81.5%, 67.7%, 76.5%, 81.5% and 67.7%, respectively. ROC curve analysis showed that the optimal cut-off value of T/G ratio in distinguishing high-grade gliomas from low-grade gliomas and inflammations was 1.19 with the AUC 0.84. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, PPV and NPV were 70.4%, 85.1%, 78.5%, 79.2% and 78.1%, respectively. 13N-ammonia imaging is effective in distinguishing high-grade gliomas from low-grade gliomas and inflammations, but its role in the differential diagnosis of low-grade gliomas and brain inflammatory lesions is limited, and the accuracy needs to be improved.

This study presents the precipitation changes of the Heihe River Basin (HRB), Northwest China, using a long-term (1980–2014) and highly resolved modeling (up to 3 km by 3 km) with the Regional Integrated Environment Modeling System (RIEMS) forced by ERA-Interim reanalysis data. Firstly, the added value of high-resolution RIEMS simulation nested with ERA-Interim reanalysis was presented by comparisons among the RIEMS simulation results, site-based ground measurements, satellite-retrieved precipitation from TRMM 3B43 (V7), and the EAR-interim reanalysis data. The bias of the ERA-Interim reanalysis was largely corrected by the RIEMS simulation, although a little bias existed in the RIEMS simulation. RIEMS simulation showed that there was an increasing trend in the precipitation of the HRB from 1980 to 2014 with a rate of increase of approximately 3%/year for summer and 5%/year for autumn in the southeast part of the HRB. The increased precipitation mainly resulted from more precipitation days and the strengthening of daily precipitation. Upward motion from strengthened convergence over the eastern part of the HRB was the common reason for increased precipitation in summer and autumn, which was partly offset by decreased water vapor supply in summer while it was strengthened by increased water vapor supply in autumn. This paper presents precipitation changes for the HRB associated with global warming since 1980 and provides a higher-resolution climatological data set useful for reference climate impact studies.

Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element for fish growth and performs its physiological functions mainly through incorporating into selenoproteins. It is well known that dietary Se regulates fish growth by controlling the synthesis of deiodinase, a kind of selenoproteins. However, recently, as many as 41 selenoproteins have been characterized in teleost fish. We propose a hypothesis if other selenoproteins, besides deiodinase, could also involve in the regulation of fish growth. In the present study, rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were fed diets supplemented with or without graded levels of Se (2, 4 or 6 mg/kg, from selenium yeast, Se-yeast) for 10 weeks. At the end of the feeding trial, fish growth and the expressions of a total of 28 selenoprotein genes in tissues have been evaluated. Results showed that dietary Se-yeast supplementation significantly increased fish growth (P