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Vegetation feedbacks on climate, on the subannual time scale, are examined across six monsoon regions with a fully coupled atmosphere-ocean-ice-land model with dynamic vegetation. Initial value ensemble experiments are run in which the total vegetation cover fraction across the six monsoon regions is reduced and the climatic response assessed. Consistent responses among the regions include reductions in leaf area index, turbulent fluxes, and atmospheric moisture; enhanced subsidence; and increases in ground and surface air temperature. The most distinct changes in vertical motion, precipitable water, and precipitation occur along the flanks of the monsoon season, with small changes in midmonsoon rainfall. Unique responses to reduced vegetation cover are noted among the monsoon regions. While the monsoon is delayed and weaker over north Australia owing to diminished leaf area, it occurs earlier over China and the southwest United States. The subtropical monsoon regions are characterized by a larger decrease in sensible heat than latent heat flux, while the opposite is true for tropical monsoon regions. North Australia experiences the most substantial decline in both moisture flux convergence and precipitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetation feedbacks on climate, on the subannual time scale, are examined across six monsoon regions with a fully coupled atmosphere-ocean-ice-land model with dynamic vegetation. Initial value ensemble experiments are run in which the total vegetation cover fraction across the six monsoon regions is reduced and the climatic response assessed. Consistent responses among the regions include reductions in leaf area index, turbulent fluxes, and atmospheric moisture; enhanced subsidence; and increases in ground and surface air temperature. The most distinct changes in vertical motion, precipitable water, and precipitation occur along the flanks of the monsoon season, with small changes in midmonsoon rainfall. Unique responses to reduced vegetation cover are noted among the monsoon regions. While the monsoon is delayed and weaker over north Australia owing to diminished leaf area, it occurs earlier over China and the southwest United States. The subtropical monsoon regions are characterized by a larger decrease in sensible heat than latent heat flux, while the opposite is true for tropical monsoon regions. North Australia experiences the most substantial decline in both moisture flux convergence and precipitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The functions and related signal pathways of the IFIT3 gene in the skin lesions of patients with psoriasis were explored through bioinformatics methods to determine the potential specific molecular markers of psoriasis., Methods: The "limma" R package was used to analyze three datasets from the Gene Expression Omnibus database (GSE13355, GSE30999 and GSE106992), and the differential genes were screened. The STRING database was used for gene ontology (GO) enrichment analysis, Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) pathway enrichment analysis, and protein-protein interaction network integration. Then, the IFIT3 subnetwork was extracted and analyzed by gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) using the Metascape database to verify the effectiveness of gene differentiation and disease tissue identification., Results: In this study, 426 differential genes were obtained, of which 322 were significantly upregulated and 104 were significantly downregulated. GO enrichment analysis showed that the differential genes were mainly involved in immunity and metabolism; the KEGG pathway enrichment analysis mainly included the chemokine signal pathway, PPAR signal pathway, and IL-17 signal pathway, among others. Based on the IFIT3 subnetwork analysis, it was found that IFIT3 was mainly involved in the biological processes of viruses, bacteria, and other microorganisms. The pathways obtained by GSEA were mainly related to immunity, metabolism, and antiviral activities. IFIT3 was highly expressed in psoriatic lesions and may thus be helpful in the diagnosis of psoriasis., Conclusion: The differential genes, biological processes, and signal pathways of psoriasis, especially information related to and diagnostic efficiency of the IFIT3 gene, were obtained by bioinformatics analysis. These results are expected to provide the theoretical basis and new directions for exploring the pathogenesis of psoriasis, in addition to helping with finding diagnostic markers and developing drug treatment targets., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Chen, Chen, Duan, Zhang and Bai.)

The past Asian precipitation δ 18 O (δ 18 O p ) records from stalagmites and other deposits have shown significant orbital-scale variations, but their climatic implications and regional differences are still not fully understood. This study, as the first attempt of a 300-kyr transient stable isotope-enabled simulation, investigated the characteristics and mechanisms of the orbital-scale δ 18 O p variations in three representative regions of Asia: arid Central Asia (CA), monsoonal South Asia (SA) and monsoonal East Asia (EA). The modelling results showed that the variations in the CA, SA and EA annual δ 18 O p exhibited significant but asynchronous 23-kyr precession cycles. Further analyses revealed that although the precession-induced insolation variation was the ultimate cause of the δ 18 O p variation in all three regions, the dominant mechanisms and the involved physical processes were distinct among them. For the CA region, the rainy-season (November-March) temperature effect and water vapour transport by the westerly circulation were identified as the key precession-scale processes linking the October-February boreal mid-latitude insolation to the rainy-season or annual δ 18 O p . In the SA region, the rainy-season (June-September) precipitation amount effect and upstream depletion of the monsoonal water vapour δ 18 O served as the main mechanisms linking the rainy-season or annual δ 18 O p to the April-July insolation variation at the precession scale. For the EA region, however, the precession-scale annual δ 18 O p was mainly controlled by the late-monsoon (August-September) and pre-monsoon (April-May) water vapour transport patterns, which were driven by the July-August insolation and the global ice volume, respectively. These results suggest that the climatic implications of the orbital-scale Asia δ 18 O p variations are sensitive to their geographic locations as determined by the combined effects of insolation and regional circulation patterns associated with the respective rainy seasons. This study provides new insights into understanding the regional differences and formation mechanisms of the Asian orbital-scale δ 18 O p variations., (© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of China Science Publishing & Media Ltd.)

It has been recently shown that loureirin A (LA), a major active component of resina draconis, might be effective in the prevention and treatment of liver fibrosis. We examined whether LA could inhibit the formation of keloids. To investigate the pharmacological effects of loureirin A on keloid formation and the underlying mechanisms. CellTiter-Blue viability assays were used to examine the proliferation of keloid fibroblasts (KFs) that were treated with LA. Fibroblast migration was evaluated using a cell migration assay. Immunofluorescence staining was used to measure the expression of α -SMA in KFs. RT-qPCR was used to evaluate the mRNA expression of Col-I, Col-III, α -SMA, Bax, and Caspase-3, while Western blotting was used to evaluate the protein expression of Col-I, Col-III, α -SMA, Bax, Caspase-3, p-Smad2, and p-Smad3. LA inhibited the proliferation of KFs and suppressed the migration and TGF- β 1-induced myofibroblast differentiation of KFs. In addition, LA downregulated the mRNA and protein levels of Col-I, Col-III, and α -SMA while promoting the mRNA and protein levels of Bax and Caspase-3. Moreover, LA downregulated the protein levels of p-Smad2 and p-Smad3 in cultured TGF- β 1-treated KFs ex vivo. These results show that LA has an antikeloid effect on KFs by suppressing the TGF- β 1/Smad signalling pathway. Our findings suggest that LA may be a potential candidate drug for the prevention and treatment of keloids., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper., (Copyright © 2022 Hui Ma et al.)