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Precise and efficient endocytosis is critical for sustained neurotransmission during continuous neuronal activity. Endocytosis is a prerequisite for maintaining the auditory function. However, the differences between the patterns of endocytosis in cochlear inner hair cells (IHCs) and outer hair cells (OHCs) remain unclear. Both IHCs and OHCs were obtained from adult C57 mice. Patterns of endocytosis in cells were estimated by analyzing the uptake of FM1-43, a fluorescent. The observations were made using live confocal imaging, fluorescence intensities were calculated statistically. Results revealed the details about following phenomenon, i) sites of entry: the FM1-43 dye was found to enter IHC at the apical area initially, the additional sites of entry were then found at basolateral membrane of the cells, The entry of the dye into OHCs initially appeared to be occurring around whole apical membranes area, which then diffused towards the other membrane surface of the cells, ii) capacity of endocytosis: fluorescence intensity in IHCs showed significantly higher than that of OHCs (P

In the context of population growth and increasingly scarce resources, the sustainability of water-energy-food nexus (WEFN) has been considered as a major global challenge. This study presented the evaluation index system of WEFN security based on the pressure-state-response (PSR) model. The set pair analysis and variable fuzzy sets (SPA-VFS) were supplied to evaluate WEFN security, which analyzed the situation and obstacles of WEFN security in Northwest China from 2008 to 2017. The results showed that, (1) In the WEFN, the pressure-subsystem in Shaanxi and Inner Mongolia was in a critical safe level; in the state-subsystem, the security level of Shaanxi was the best and the response-subsystem in Inner Mongolia and Gansu is in an unsafe level; (2) Over the years, the safety level of WEFN in the five provinces of Northwest China had obvious spatio-temporal characteristics, which was always between critical safety and unsafety, but the overall trend was positive. (3) The results of obstacle degree of three subsystems were compared as follows: pressure-subsystem state-subsystem response-subsystem. And, their obstacle factors were almost all related to water. The key to improving WEFN security in Northwest China in the future is to deal with the serious mismatch between water resources and energy resources.

In this paper, the definition of Water-energy-food system risk (WEF-R) was firstly defined based on stability, coordination and sustainability. Set pair analysis and risk matrix were applied to assess the spatio-temporal dynamics of WEF-R in China from 2008 to 2017. The research results showed that stability subsystem had the greatest influence on the WEF-R, and sustainability subsystem was an important factor affecting the WEF-R. According to the spatial-temporal analysis, the risk levels of coordination and sustainable subsystems showed a gradual downward trend, while that of stability subsystem showed small fluctuations from 2008 to 2017. In terms of the WEF-R level, it presented a decreasing trend of small fluctuations. In addition, the higher-risk areas of stability subsystem and lower-risk areas of sustainability subsystem, which were mainly centralized in southeast coastal and central regions, were consistent with the areas of good economic development level and high level of urbanization. While the lower-risk areas of stability subsystem and higher-risk areas of sustainability subsystem, which were mainly centralized in the northwest regions, brought into correspondence with the areas of good resource endowment but lower levels of economic development. Therefore, the spatial differences of economic development level and resource endowment were the main factors affecting the spatial pattern of the WEF-R level in China. Therefore, policy makers should focus on WEF-R and implement measures to improve the sustainable development of WEF nexus.

Water, energy, and food, as the basic material resources of human production and life, play a prominent role in social and economic development. As the imbalance between the supply and demand of water, energy, and food increases, a highly sensitive and fragile relationship gradually forms among water, energy, and food. In this paper, Inner Mongolia in China is selected as a research area. Firstly, synergy theory is applied to establish the framework of a water&ndash, energy&ndash, food system. Then, a multi-objective programming model is constructed, where the objective functions are defined to minimize the integrated deviation degree and pollutant emissions of the water&ndash, food system. Meanwhile, maximization of the water benefit, energy production, and food production is also considered. In addition, the model takes economy, environment, water, energy, and food as constraints. Finally, a genetic algorithm is designed for accurately assessing the most promising results. The results show that the cooperation degree of the water&ndash, food system in Inner Mongolia is getting better and better, and the pollutant emission from the water&ndash, food system is decreasing. In 2020, the proportion of agricultural water consumption fell by 1%, while that of industrial water consumption rose by 0.48%. The production of coal, natural gas, and power are all showing an increasing trend. Among them, the increase of natural gas production is as high as 38,947,730 tons of standard coal. However, the proportions of coal, natural gas, and power change inconsistently, where the proportions of coal and natural gas increase while that of power decreases. Corn production accounts for more than 80% of the total, which is in the eldest brother position in the food industry structure. Besides, there are differences between the planned values and optimal values of decision variables. Finally, suggestions are put forward to improve the sustainable development of water&ndash, food in Inner Mongolia.

Noise-induced hearing loss is sensory deafness caused by long-term exposure of the auditory system to a noisy environment. Auditory fatigue is an early symptom of noise-induced hearing loss, and hearing can gradually recover after people leave a noisy environment. However, if people remain in a noisy environment for a prolonged period of time, their hearing will be permanently impaired. Societal changes mean that people are more likely to be exposed to noise. The hearing loss and tinnitus caused by noise seriously affect people's quality of life and lead to huge economic loss. The pathogenesis of noise-induced hearing loss is complex. Various theories try to explain this, such as the oxidative stress theory, but none perfectly explains the occurrence of noise-induced hearing loss. There is no treatment which can completely reverse the damage. More research is required to explore the pathogenesis and to better guide clinical practice. Preventative strategies, such as educating the public about hearing health, should be adopted to reduce the harm of noise-induced hearing loss.

Water, energy, and food are the most important basic resources for economic and social development. In the context of global population growth, environmental degradation, and resource shortages, the interrelationship between the water, energy, and food has become increasingly important. In this paper, the city of Ordos in China was selected as a study area. Firstly, this paper sorted out relevant research literature and fully understood the concept of water-energy-food (WEF) nexus. Then, an optimization model of WEF system was constructed based on interval number multi-objective programming, which took the comprehensive coordination deviation degree of the WEF system security and carbon dioxide emission minimization as the target. At the same time, the optimization model was constructed with full consideration of constraints such as economic benefit, water resource consumption, energy production, food production and environmental pollution emission. The results showed that the production of coal, thermal power, hydropower, wind power, and food all show an upward trend. Among them, the production of hydropower has the largest change, and the food production has the smallest change. In terms of water resource utilization, food production has the largest allocation of water resources accounting for nearly 80%, followed by coal production, thermal power generation and hydropower generation. The smallest allocation is natural gas. In particular, the allocation of water for coal production and hydroelectric power generation has increased significantly. Finally, the policy recommendations were put forward to promote the sustainable development of WEF system in Ordos. The optimization research on the WEF system can help to ensure the WEF system security in Ordos and promote the sustainable development of WEF system, which also can provide reference for other regions.

To investigate whether there are more quantitative pre-synaptic ribbons formed in the cochlear region corresponding to middle-frequency in cochlea of mice.Counts of pre-synaptic ribbons were performed using immunostaining and laser confocal microscopy. Hearing thresholds and function of ribbon synapses were estimated by auditory brain response (ABR) and compound action potential (CAP). Cochlear mapping has been achieved to match the frequencies and corresponding regions along the cochlear spiral.The number of pre-synaptic ribbons in per inner hair cell (IHC) has been found to increase gradually from the base turn, the maximal quantity appeared at the region of 50-70% from the apex. Next, ABR thresholds showed that there was the lowest ABR threshold in the frequency around 8-16 kHz, corresponding to the region of 50-70% from the apex according to the cochlear mapping. Further, CAP amplitudes were estimated, and the maximal value identified at the same frequency (8-16 kHz).Maximal number of pre-synaptic ribbons is formed in the cochlear region of middle frequency in mice, coupling with the lowest ABR threshold and highest CAP amplitudes. Our study shows that the middle frequency (8-16 kHz) could be the most sensitive region to sound stimuli in mice.

With the supply of water, energy and food facing severe challenges, there has been an increased recognition of the importance of studying the regional water&ndash, energy&ndash, food nexus. In this paper, Inner Mongolia, including 12 cities in China, was selected as a research case. A super-efficiency slack based measure (SBM) model that considered the undesirable outputs was adopted to calculate the regional total factor productivity (TFP) and the Malmquist&ndash, Luenberger index was used to investigate the change trend of the TFP from 2007 to 2016 based on understanding the water&ndash, food nexus. Finally, influential factors of the TFP were explored by Tobit regression. The results show that the 12 Inner Mongolia cities are divided into higher, moderate and lower efficiency zones. The higher efficiency zone includes Ordos, Hohhot, Xing&rsquo, an, and Tongliao, and the lower efficiency zone includes Chifeng, Xilin Gol, Baynnur, Wuhai and Alxa. There is a serious difference in TFP between Inner Mongolia cities. During the study period, the TFP of the water&ndash, food nexus in Inner Mongolia cities shows a rising trend, which is mainly driven by the growth of technical progress change. However, the average ML values of the lower and moderate efficiency zones were inferior to the higher efficiency zone in six of the ten years, so the difference between Inner Mongolia cities is growing. According to the Tobit regression, the mechanization level and degree of opening up have positive effects on the TFP, while enterprise scale and the output of the third industry have negative effects on the TFP. Government support does not have any significant impact on the TFP. Finally, suggestions were put forward to improve the TFP of the water&ndash, food nexus in Inner Mongolia cities.