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Accurate measurements of actual evapotranspiration (ETa) play an important role in understanding land surface processes and agricultural management. Two of the most commonly used and established methods for quantifying ETa are eddy covariance (EC) and weighable lysimeters measurements. Previous studies on hourly or daily basis indicated sometimes large differences between the ETa of the two methods (Δly-EC). It is still unclear which factors influence these differences. Here, we examine and compare half-hourly ETa measurements from EC (ETEC) and weighable lysimeters (ETly) at four different sites. The four sites span a climatic gradient from humid conditions at a pre-alpine (Fendt, DE) and a mid-mountain grassland (Rollesbroich, DE) to semi-arid conditions at two sites with a natural grass and shrub (Els Plans, ES) and a tree-grass ecosystem (Majadas de Tiétar, ES). We used a boosted regression tree method to identify environmental drivers of Δly-EC during day and night at the half-hourly resolution.Our results revealed that substantial differences were found with a mean annual Δly-EC of 117 mm, and Δly-EC displayed obvious spatiotemporal variabilities across the sites. Energy balance non-closure of EC was found to be the most important factor contributing to the large annual Δly-EC, especially at Majadas de Tiétar site. With the distinct climatic gradient, Δly-EC was negatively correlated with mean annual wind speed and vapor pressure deficit when they reached a specific level. Monthly ETEC and ETly agreed well with Δly-EC peaking in summer at the sites in Germany, while Δly-EC peaked earlier due to the different climate in Spain. Differences in grass height caused by field management and EC footprint also affected Δly-EC, especially at daily timescales for the pre-alpine and the mid-mountain grassland ecosystem. The relative impacts of different environmental variables to half-hourly ETEC and ETly were almost the same with soil water content (SWC) being more important for nighttime ETly. Meanwhile, we found that the dominant controlling factors of daytime Δly-EC changed with climatic conditions, but nighttime Δly-EC were mainly regulated by SWC. These findings provide a critical evaluation for the roles of climatic and land surface conditions on turbulent flux dynamics from different measurements, which has important implications for ecosystem water and energy balance.

Osteoarthritis (OA) gradually affects all joint tissues. Chondrocytes participate in osteoarthritis. However, the role and mechanism of MiR-144-3p on chondrocytes during the development of OA has not been elucidated. OA patients and normal bone and articular cartilage tissues were collected to measure MiR-144-3p level by Real-time PCR. Chondrocytes were divided into control group, LPS group (1 μg/ml lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was added to establish an osteoarthritis (OA) stimulation model, and MiR-144-3p inhibitor group which was transfected with MiR-144-3p inhibitor followed by analysis of cell proliferation by MTT, Caspase 3 activity, Wnt/β-catenin signaling protein expression by Western blot and TNF-α and IL-6 secretion by ELISA. MiR-144-3p was significantly upregulated in OA patients (P β-catenin signaling protein decreased, and TNF-α and IL-6 secretion increased (P β-catenin signaling protein expression, and reduce TNF-α and IL-6 secretion (P β-catenin signaling pathway.

Separation of dyes and antibiotics is particularly important in wastewater treatment. In this work, the hydrophilic modified polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes were prepared by deposition of halloysite nanotubes (HNTs), tannic acid (TA) and ferric chloride (FeCl3). The surface morphology of the modified membranes was studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). In addition, the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to evaluate the chemical compositions of the membrane. The measurements of water contact angle (CA) and pure water flux (Jw) show that the PVDF membrane has excellent permeability and hydrophilicity. The PVDF modified membrane has good separation performance for dyes, and the rejection ratios of methyl orange, methylene blue and rhodamine B were 98.2%, 94.6% and 96.9%, respectively. In addition, the rejection ratios of modified membrane for tetracyclines and bisphenol A were significantly improved. Most important of all, the TA-Fe(III)/HNTs/PVDF membrane has excellent antifouling performance after cycles tests. These results indicate that the TA-Fe(III)/HNTs/PVDF modified membranes have a great application prospect in dye and antibiotic wastewater treatment.

Background To investigate the clinical characteristics of essential hypertension (EH) and altitude-related hypertension (ARH) hospitalized in Qinghai, and to provide the relevant information for the prevention and treatment of ARH. Methods A total of 1,987 hypertensive patients from 3.0 to 4.5 km altitude areas, and hospitalized in Qinghai Cardio-Cerebrovascular Hospital were enrolled. Among them, 165 patients with elevated blood pressure (BP) (systolic BP ≥140 and/or diastolic BP ≥90 mm Hg) at high altitude and normal BP or BP reduction >20/10 mm Hg 2 weeks after arriving at Xining (altitude 2.26 km) were defined as ARH. Results Compared with EH, ARH patients at higher altitude had earlier onset age (48.0 ± 11.5 vs. 54.4 ± 9.8 years, P < 0.001), higher percentage of male patients (77.6% vs. 55.3%, P < 0.001), higher diastolic BP (115.8 ± 18.5 vs. 108.6 ± 15.4 mm Hg, P < 0.001), and lower systolic BP (165.9 ± 21.3 vs. 178.9 ± 24.4 mm Hg, P < 0.001). Erythrocytes, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and uric acid levels were higher in ARH patients than in EH patients (P < 0.05). Echocardiography showed that the right atrial and ventricular diameters were larger in ARH than EH (P < 0.05). The proportion of pulmonary artery hypertension in ARH was higher than EH (9.1% vs. 4.9%, P = 0.020), but there was no significant difference in the target organ damage and clinical complications of hypertension between the 2 groups. Logistic regression analysis showed that male, Han nationality, high-altitude living, elevated hemoglobin and uric acid, and obesity were associated with the occurrence of ARH. Conclusions ARH is prevalent in young and middle-aged men, and is associated with Han nationality, elevated hemoglobin, uric acid, and obesity.

Purpose: To investigate the role of dexmedetomidine in gastric ischemia/reperfusion injury using gastric mucosal epithelial cell (GES-1) model. Methods: GES-1 were subjected to oxygen-glucose deprivation conditions, followed by increasing dexmedetomidine concentrations (0.5, 1.0, or 1.5 μM) for 4 h of reoxygenation. Cell viability and apoptosis were determined using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazolium bromide and flow cytometry, respectively. Oxidative stress and inflammation were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Results: Oxygen-glucose deprivation conditions induced cytotoxicity in GES-1 by decreasing cell viability and increasing apoptosis. Dexmedetomidine treatment significantly increased the cell viability of hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced GES-1 (p < 0.01) but reduced apoptosis. Dexmedetomidine also attenuated the hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced increase in malondialdehyde and myeloperoxidase, but the decrease in superoxide dismutase and glutathione in GES-1. Moreover, upregulated tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-18 in hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced GES-1 was downregulated by dexmedetomidine treatment. Dexmedetomidine also enhanced IL-10 levels and inhibited proinflammatory factor production (p < 0.01). High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) protein in GES-1 was upregulated by hypoxia/reoxygenation but decreased by dexmedetomidine. HMGB1 over-expression attenuated the dexmedetomidine-induced increase in cell viability and the decrease in apoptosis, oxidative stress, and inflammation in hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced GES-1 (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Dexmedetomidine protects GES-1 against ischemia/reperfusion-induced apoptosis, inflammation, and oxidative stress by inhibiting HMGB1, thus providing a potential strategy for treating gastric ischemia/reperfusion injury. Keywords: Dexmedetomidine; gastric mucosal epithelial cells; Ischemia/reperfusion; Apoptosis; Inflammation; Oxidative stress; High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1)

This network meta-analysis was conducted to compare the predictive value of eight SNPs on the efficacy of antidepressants in major depressive disorder (MDD), including 5-HTTLPR, 5HTR2A (rs6311, rs6314, rs7997012 and rs6313), 5HTR2A (rs6295), BDNF (rs6265) and 5HTTSTin2. Databases were searched for related studies published up to December 2019. A total of 16 studies were included in this study. The predictive value were evaluated by the use of the odd ratios (OR) and drawing surface under the cumulative ranking curves (SUCRA). The pairwise meta-analysis indicated that in terms of overall response ratio, the SNPs were not associated with the efficacy of antidepressants in MDD. The result of this network meta-analysis suggested that there was no significant difference in predictive value of eight SNPs on the efficacy of antidepressants in MDD. More research is needed to explore the relationship between SNPs and antidepressant response.

Recently, favorable outcomes of primary anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) repair have been reported in patients with proximal tears and good tissue quality. If the tear involves the midsubstance of the ACL fibers or Sherman type II or III injury, independent primary repair will cause a higher failure rate at long-term follow-up. For these cases, we conduct primary repair and apply an internal brace and single-bundle reconstruction as hybrid augmentation. This hybrid repair technique encourages natural healing of the primary ligament by the internal brace and single-bundle graft as a provisional scaffold during the healing phase, as well as early mobilization. We describe our ACL hybrid repair technique, using a video and illustrations.

The newly discovered Juyuan tungsten deposit is hosted in Triassic granite in the Beishan Orogen, NW China. The tungsten mineralization occurred as quartz veins, and the main ore minerals included wolframite and scheelite. The age, origin, and tectonic setting of the Juyuan tungsten deposit, however, remain poorly understood. According to the mineralogical assemblages and crosscutting relationships, three hydrothermal stages can be identified, i.e., the early stage of quartz veins with scheelite and wolframite, the intermediate stage of quartz veinlets with sulfides, and the late stage of carbonate-quartz veinlets with tungsten being mainly introduced in the early stage. Quartz formed in the two earlier stages contained four compositional types of fluid inclusions, i.e., pure CO2, CO2-H2O, daughter mineral-bearing, and NaCl-H2O, but the late-stage quartz only contained the NaCl-H2O inclusions. The inclusions in quartz formed in the early, intermediate, and late stages had total homogenization temperatures of 230–344 °C, 241−295 °C, and 184−234 °C, respectively, with salinities no higher than 7.2 wt.% NaCl equiv (equivalent). Trapping pressures estimated from the CO2-H2O inclusions were 33−256 MPa and 36−214 MPa in the early and intermediate stages, corresponding to mineralization depths of 3–8 km. Fluid boiling and mixing caused rapid precipitation of wolframite, scheelite, and sulfides. Through boiling and inflow of meteoric water, the ore-forming fluid system evolved from CO2-rich to CO2-poor in composition and from magmatic to meteoric, as indicated by decreasing δ18Owater values from early to late stages. The sulfur and lead isotope compositions in the intermediate-stage suggest that the Triassic granite was a significant source of ore metals. The biotite 40Ar/39Ar age from the W-bearing quartz shows that the Juyuan tungsten system was formed at 240.0 ± 1.0 Ma, coeval with the emplacement of granitic rocks at the deposit. Integrating the data obtained from the studies including regional geology, ore geology, biotite Ar-Ar geochronology, fluid inclusion, and C-H-O-S-Pb isotope geochemistry, we conclude that the Juyuan tungsten deposit was a quartz-vein type system that originated from the emplacement of the granites, which was induced by collision between the Tarim and Kazakhstan–Ili plates. A comparison of the characteristics of tungsten mineralization in East Tianshan and Beishan suggests that the Triassic tungsten metallogenic belt in East Tianshan extends to the Beishan orogenic belt and that the west of the orogenic belt also has potential for the discovery of further quartz-vein-type tungsten deposits.

Arterial media calcification is related to mitochondrial dysfunction. Protective mitophagy delays the progression of vascular calcification. We previously reported that lactate accelerates osteoblastic phenotype transition of VSMC through BNIP3-mediated mitophagy suppression. In this study, we investigated the specific links between lactate, mitochondrial homeostasis, and vascular calcification. Ex vivo, alizarin S red and von Kossa staining in addition to measurement of calcium content, RUNX2, and BMP-2 protein levels revealed that lactate accelerated arterial media calcification. We demonstrated that lactate induced mitochondrial fission and apoptosis in aortas, whereas mitophagy was suppressed. In VSMCs, lactate increased NR4A1 expression, leading to activation of DNA-PKcs and p53. Lactate induced Drp1 migration to the mitochondria and enhanced mitochondrial fission through NR4A1. Western blot analysis of LC3-II and p62 and mRFP-GFP-LC3 adenovirus detection showed that NR4A1 knockdown was involved in enhanced autophagy flux. Furthermore, NR4A1 inhibited BNIP3-related mitophagy, which was confirmed by TOMM20 and BNIP3 protein levels, and LC3-II co-localization with TOMM20. The excessive fission and deficient mitophagy damaged mitochondrial structure and impaired respiratory function, determined by mPTP opening rate, mitochondrial membrane potential, mitochondrial morphology under TEM, ATP production, and OCR, which was reversed by NR4A1 silencing. Mechanistically, lactate enhanced fission but halted mitophagy via activation of the NR4A1/DNA-PKcs/p53 pathway, evoking apoptosis, finally accelerating osteoblastic phenotype transition of VSMC and calcium deposition. This study suggests that the NR4A1/DNA-PKcs/p53 pathway is involved in the mechanism by which lactate accelerates vascular calcification, partly through excessive Drp-mediated mitochondrial fission and BNIP3-related mitophagy deficiency.

Herein, a composite membrane was synthesized by adding β-cyclodextrin modified Fe3O4/GO (β-MGO) to polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), in the presence or absence of magnetic field via the combination of magnetic field induction and phase conversion techniques. FT-IR, Raman, XRD, TEM, XPS and hysteresis loop results indicate β-MGO was synthesized successfully. By analyzing the characterization results of the membrane, β-MGO can be adsorbed onto the surface of the membrane under magnetic field (M-β-MGO) conditions. The changes of pure water flux, BSA rejection, hydrophilicity, porosity, pore size and anti-pollution performance of M-β-MGO and β-MGO membrane were discussed with the content of β-MGO. The M-β-MGO membrane shows the best performance when the β-MGO content is 0.7%. In addition, our experimental results on the removal of heavy metal Cu2+ show that after five cycles, the rejection rate and adsorption capacity of Cu2+ are still as high as 75% and 0.94 mg/g. Meanwhile, it is find that pH > 6 can significantly increase the removal rate of Cu2+, and the membrane is suitable for removing Cu2+ concentrations below 30 mg/L. Therefore, this study presents a novel strategy for developing high-performance hybrid membranes via manipulating the migration of nanomaterials to the membrane surface.

The novel Bi2WO6/r-GO/Bi25FeO40 Z-scheme system composite photocatalyst was synthesized by hydrothermal method. The crystal structure, elemental composition, surface morphology, optical and photoelectrochemical properties of the synthesized composite photocatalyst were tested. Compared with pure Bi2WO6, Bi25FeO40 and Bi2WO6/Bi25FeO40, Bi2WO6/r-GO/Bi25FeO40 composite photocatalyst has good degradation effect on methylene blue under visible light irradiation for 30 min. The synthetic Bi2WO6/r-GO/Bi25FeO40 photocatalyst norfloxacin also has a certain degradation capacity. The effects of catalyst dosage and norfloxacin concentration on the degradation were investigated. The catalytic mechanism of Bi2WO6/r-GO/Bi25FeO40 composite photocatalyst can be well explained by the Z-scheme system. The results show that the effective charge separation, better light absorption and larger surface area of Bi2WO6/r-GO/Bi25FeO40 composite photocatalyst contribute to excellent photocatalytic performance.

Osteogenic differentiation of VSMC is one of the main causes of diabetic vascular calcification, and AGEs accumulation accelerates the calcification of VSMCs in diabetic patients. Autophagy has also been found to play an important role in the process of vascular calcification. However, the potential link between AGEs, autophagy and vascular calcification is still unclear and was investigated in this study. Primary VSMCs were isolated from the thoracic aorta of Sprague Dawley rats and cultured with AGEs-BSA to induce osteogenic differentiation. VSMCs calcification was evaluated by measuring the calcium content, RUNX2 protein levels, and by Alizarin red S staining. We demonstrated that treatment of VSMCs with AGE-BSA increased the expression of HIF-1α and PDK4. AGE-BSA treatment increased LC3-II and decreased p62 protein levels. AGE-BSA exposure enhanced autophagic flux determined by mRFP-GFP-LC3 adenovirus, induced co-localization of LC3-II and LAMP-1, and increased the number of autophagasome under TEM. HIF-1α/PDK4 pathway was activated during AGEs-induced autophagy of VSMCs. In addition, autophagy played a protective role during AGE-induced calcification of VSMCs. In conclusion, AGEs enhance autophagy via the HIF-1α/PDK4 signaling pathway, and autophagy helps attenuate AGE-induced calcification of VSMCs.

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes were surface-modified via a simple coating method for improvement of the hydrophilicity performance. In this work, TP/PEI/PVDF modified membrane was successfully prepared by using tea polyphenol as a multifunctional coating. The physicochemical properties of membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray energy-dispersive spectrometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The water contact angle, pure water flux and methylene blue rejection ratio of membranes were investigated in detail. Compared with the pristine membrane, the water contact angle of the modified membrane decreased to 48.8°, and the rejection ratios were increased to 95.2% when the modified membrane was used to separate methylene blue. In addition, the modified membrane showed excellent antifouling performance in the experiment, and the flux recovery ratio still reached 84.6% after three fouling/washing cycles. In the oxidation experiment, the modified membranes were immersed in KMnO4 solution for 6 h, and the results show that the water contact angle, pure water flux and methylene blue rejection of the modified membranes only have changed slightly. Therefore, this study could have a great potential for widening the application of membranes in the treatment of dye wastewater containing oxidants.

Although cigarette smoking is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, inconsistent results have been published in the literature on its impacts on the cardiovascular health of patients after coronary revascularization with a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). We performed a comprehensive electronic database search through July 2018. Studies reporting the risk estimates of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular outcomes in patients after coronary revascularization with PCI or CABG on the basis of smoking status were selected. Multivariate-adjusted relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled using random-effects models with inverse variance weighting. Data from 37 records including 126 901 participants were finally collected. Overall, the pooled RR (95% CI) associated with cigarette smoking was 1.26 (95% CI: 1.09-1.47) for all-cause mortality, 1.08 (95% CI: 0.92-1.28) for major adverse cardiovascular events, 0.96 (95% CI: 0.69-1.35) for cardiovascular mortality and 1.15 (95% CI: 0.81-1.64) for myocardial infarction. The increased risk of all-cause mortality was also observed in former smokers compared with those who had never smoked (RR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.03-1.38). Furthermore, the negative effects of cigarette smoking on all-cause mortality were also observed in most subgroups. Cigarette smoking has been shown to increase the likelihood of all-cause mortality in patients after coronary revascularization with PCI or CABG. Smoking cessation is essential for PCI or CABG patients to manage their coronary artery disease.

A novel Bi2MoO6/reduced graphene oxide/BiOBr (Bi2MoO6/RGO/BiOBr) composite was successfully synthesized via a facile solvothermal synthesis and precipitation method. The Bi2MoO6/RGO/BiOBr composite was characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, UV–vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–vis DRS) and photoelectrochemical measurements. The photocatalytic properties were explored for removal of methylene blue (MB) and norfloxacin (NFX) under visible-light irradiation. The Bi2MoO6/RGO/BiOBr composite exhibits the highest degradation rate compared with Bi2MoO6, BiOBr and Bi2MoO6/BiOBr composite, and that removal ratios of MB and NFX were 96.93% and 78.12%, respectively. A Z-scheme catalytic mechanism suitable for the system was proposed based on the results of UV–vis DRS, free radical trapping experiments and M–S carve analysis, in which RGO as an electronic medium can accelerate electron transfer. It is noteworthy that the close contact interface structure promotes the separation of electrons and holes and improves the photocatalytic performance.

A novel photocatalyst Ag3PO4/PDA (Polydopamine)/r-GO (reduced-graphene oxide) has been successfully prepared by a solvent hydrothermal method. The composite photocatalytic material was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectra, X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS) and X-ray energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS). Ag3PO4/PDA/r-GO showed a significantly enhanced photocatalytic activity in the degradation experiment of MB and RhB aqueous solution compared with pure Ag3PO4. The degradation rates of MB (Methylene blue) and RhB (Rhodamine B) aqueous solution were 96.8% and 92% in the examination with 15 min under visible light, respectively. At the same time the stability of composite material was higher than pure Ag3PO4. The improvement in photocatalytic performance is attributed to the larger specific surface area, higher absorption capability for visible-light, and most important, the r-GO could act as a charge bridge to accelerate the transfer of electron. This work is expected to provide a promising approach for improving the photocatalytic performance and further utilization of photosensitive semiconductors.

Objective The correlation between the signal/noise quotient values of an anterior cruciate ligament graft and the International Knee Documentation Committee Subjective Knee Form 2000 scores after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction was evaluated. Design Magnetic resonance imaging and clinical evaluation using International Knee Documentation Committee scores were used to calculate the signal intensity of the graft maturity at the 6-mo and 12-mo follow-up points postoperatively. The associations between the signal/noise quotient values at the 6-mo follow-up point and International Knee Documentation Committee scores at the 12-mo follow-up point were evaluated. Results A total of 42 male patients completed our trial and returned to normal activity level before the surgery. The mean ± SD age of these patients was 29.07 ± 8.11 yrs (range, 17-47 yrs). The mean ± SD body mass index was 26.00 ± 2.59 kg/m. Notably, the Pearson correlation analysis showed that the International Knee Documentation Committee scores obtained at 12 mos were significantly associated with the signal/noise quotient values measured in the sixth month and twelfth month, respectively (r = -0.454, P = 0.003; r = -0.478, P = 0.001). Conclusions According to this study, early measurement of graft maturity might predict the clinical outcome afterward. The sensitive predictive value of signal/noise quotient could be used to maximize the patient outcomes.

In this work, composite nanofiber membranes were prepared by adding modified nano-sized Al2O3-particles to a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) solution (17 wt %) through an electrospinning process. Th...

In this work, the versatile filler (HNTs) consisted of a halloysite nanotube as skeleton and intermediate magnetic nanoparticles coating poly(dopamine + 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane) derivate layer were prepared. PVDF membranes were then manufactured by incorporating a series of ratios of HNTs. The Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and transmission electron microscope (TEM) results proved that the modified materials were successfully achieved. The morphologies of membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atom force microscope (AFM). Meanwhile the PVDF hybrid membranes exhibited a stronger hydrophilicity (contact angle is 53°), higher bovine serum albumin (BSA) rejection (99%) than pure membrane (87°and 54%), and hybrid membranes maintain a higher flux recovery rate (FRR) that attains 85.3% after two cycles. Besides, the composite membrane showed a good removal rate (97.2%) of methylene blue. According to above experimental parameters, the 6% (based on PVDF mass) HNTs composite membrane was defined as the experimental optimal selection, and it could provide a promising candidate for methylene blue solution separation.

Endothelial cell dysfunction and diabetic vascular complications are intrinsically linked. Although BDNF plays a protective role in cerebral microvascular complications caused by diabetes, the mechanisms of this activity are not fully clear. In this study, we investigated the role of BDNF in the hyperglycemic injury of BMECs and its associated intracellular signal transduction pathways. BMECs were treated with 33 mM glucose to imitate the endothelium under hyperglycemic conditions. The high-glucose treatment caused cell dysfunction, as evaluated by oxidative stress and cell apoptosis, which could be alleviated by BDNF. In addition, BDNF preserved mitochondrial function as assessed by mPTP opening, mitochondrial membrane potential, calcium content, and mitochondrial biogenesis markers. Western blot analysis of LC3-II, p62, and TOMM20 and the detection of mRFP-GFP-LC3 adenovirus for autophagy flux revealed that BDNF enhanced autophagy flux. Furthermore, BDNF activated mitophagy, which was confirmed by the observed colocalization of LC3-II with BNIP3 and from transmission electron microscopy observations. The HIF-1α/BNIP3 signaling pathway was associated with BDNF/TrkB-induced mitophagy. In addition, BDNF-induced mitophagy played a protective role against BMEC damage under hyperglycemia. Thus, the results of this study suggest that BDNF/TrkB/HIF-1α/BNIP3-mediated mitophagy protects BMECs from hyperglycemia.

Understanding daytime (ETD) and nighttime (ETN) evapotranspiration is critical for accurately evaluating terrestrial water and carbon cycles. However, unlike ETD, the factors influencing ETN remain poorly understood. Here, long-term ETD and ETN data from five FLUXNET sites along a climate gradient in Northern Australia were analyzed to compare their responses to environmental drivers at different temporal scales. Across the sites, mean annual ETN/ETD ranged between 5.1% and 11.7%, which was mainly determined by ETD variations. Both vegetation and climatic conditions were closely related to mean annual ETD, while the primary controls on mean annual ETN were air temperature and net radiation (Rn). At site levels, monthly ETD and ETN showed better correlations with meteorological and vegetation variables than annual ETD and ETN, and the coupling of ETD and ETN was also stronger at monthly timescales, particularly under drier climatic conditions. At daily timescales, leaf area index and soil water content (SWC) controlled ETD with SWC being more important at drier sites; whereas, SWC was the dominant factor controlling ETN. At half-hourly timescales, the boosted regression tree method quantitively showed that ETD and ETN were controlled by Rn and SWC, respectively. Overall, the results showed that ETN was less responsive to environmental variables, illustrating that ETD and ETN responded differently to diverse climate regimes and ecosystems at varying temporal scales.

Objective The aim of this review is to identify and summarize factors that are associated with public attitudes towards people with various disabilities systematically. Methods An electronic search of three databases was performed (Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane) covering the period from 1950 to present. A comprehensive search strategy was developed and the lists of citations were screened for potential eligible studies. Only quantitative studies using valid measurements were included, and the methodological quality of included studies was appraised based on three criteria (sample, measurement, analysis) by two independent reviewers. Results The initial electronic search yielded 995 articles after duplicates removed, and 27 studies met the eligibility criteria were included in the study. Three categories of the factors were found to be associated with the public attitudes, which are related to the attitude provider, disabled people, and society respectively. Specifically, the more people know about disabilities, the more likely they were to have positive attitude; and the frequency and quality of the contact with the disabled are also proved to be influential to the attitudes. Meanwhile, the type of disability is also closely correlated to the public’s attitude towards the disabilities. Conclusion People’s knowledge of the disability and their contact with individuals with disabilities are the main influential factors in public attitudes towards persons with disabilities.