Search

Watersheds are the fundamental Earth surface functioning units that connect the land to aquatic systems. Many watershed-scale models represent hydrological processes but not biogeochemical reactive transport processes. This has limited our capability to understand and predict solute export, water chemistry and quality, and Earth system response to changing climate and anthropogenic conditions. Here we present a recently developed BioRT-Flux-PIHM (BioRT hereafter) v1.0, a watershed-scale biogeochemical reactive transport model. The model augments the previously developed RT-Flux-PIHM that integrates land-surface interactions, surface hydrology, and abiotic geochemical reactions. It enables the simulation of (1) shallow and deep-water partitioning to represent surface runoff, shallow soil water, and deeper groundwater and of (2) biotic processes including plant uptake, soil respiration, and nutrient transformation. The reactive transport part of the code has been verified against the widely used reactive transport code CrunchTope. BioRT-Flux-PIHM v1.0 has recently been applied in multiple watersheds under diverse climate, vegetation, and geological conditions. This paper briefly introduces the governing equations and model structure with a focus on new aspects of the model. It also showcases one hydrology example that simulates shallow and deep-water interactions and two biogeochemical examples relevant to nitrate and dissolved organic carbon (DOC). These examples are illustrated in two simulation modes of complexity. One is the spatially lumped mode (i.e., two land cells connected by one river segment) that focuses on processes and average behavior of a watershed. Another is the spatially distributed mode (i.e., hundreds of cells) that includes details of topography, land cover, and soil properties. Whereas the spatially lumped mode represents averaged properties and processes and temporal variations, the spatially distributed mode can be used to understand the impacts of spatial structure and identify hot spots of biogeochemical reactions. The model can be used to mechanistically understand coupled hydrological and biogeochemical processes under gradients of climate, vegetation, geology, and land use conditions.

Climate models predict amplified warming at high elevations in low latitudes, making tropical glacierized regions some of the most vulnerable hydrological systems in the world. Observations reveal decreasing streamflow due to retreating glaciers in the Andes, which hold 99 % of all tropical glaciers. However, the timescales over which meltwater contributes to streamflow and the pathways it takes – surface and subsurface – remain uncertain, hindering our ability to predict how shrinking glaciers will impact water resources. Two major contributors to this uncertainty are the sparsity of hydrologic measurements in tropical glacierized watersheds and the complication of hydrograph separation where there is year-round glacier melt. We address these challenges using a multi-method approach that employs repeat hydrochemical mixing model analysis, hydroclimatic time series analysis, and integrated watershed modeling. Each of these approaches interrogates distinct timescale relationships among meltwater, groundwater, and stream discharge. Our results challenge the commonly held conceptual model that glaciers buffer discharge variability. Instead, in a subhumid watershed on Volcán Chimborazo, Ecuador, glacier melt drives nearly all the variability in discharge (Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.89 in simulations), with glaciers contributing a broad range of 20 %–60 % or wider of discharge, mostly (86 %) through surface runoff on hourly timescales, but also through infiltration that increases annual groundwater contributions by nearly 20 %. We further found that rainfall may enhance glacier melt contributions to discharge at timescales that complement glacier melt production, possibly explaining why minimum discharge occurred at the study site during warm but dry El Niño conditions, which typically heighten melt in the Andes. Our findings caution against extrapolations from isolated measurements: stream discharge and glacier melt contributions in tropical glacierized systems can change substantially at hourly to interannual timescales, due to climatic variability and surface to subsurface flow processes.

Growing demand for an efficient land use above and below the ground is motivating cadastre and land management systems to move from traditional 2D systems toward three dimensional ones. Airborne laser technology offers direct acquisition of dense and accurate 3D data. In order to get 3D road this paper proposes a hierarchical algorithm to extract terrain point from LIDAR data. We stratify the raw LiDAR data according to the height, judge terrain points and non-terrain points by the connectivity. In the case of road network, it indicates the morphological characteristics of network structure with a certain length continuous strip and small difference in intensity. All these information, including elevation information, the intensity information, the morphological characteristics and other local features, are used for extracting the road network from DTM. Local morphological filtering method is implementing for finding clear boundaries and rich details of the road profile. Following the presentation of the algorithm results for this approach are shown and evaluated

The presence of multiple phases/ components within a nanocomposite material impacts the properties of a nanomaterial. Therefore, there is a need to estimate the phase fraction of each component present in a sample. Spurr-Myers proposed a valuable formula for estimating the rutile and anatase phase fraction of a TiO2 sample from X-ray diffraction. However, this formula is dedicated to TiO2 and is inapplicable to samples that contains more than two phases. The present research work proposed a simple method for quantifying the phase fraction of all types of nanomaterials that consist of two or more phases. Precision/ accuracy test carried out by multiplying the grand total intensity of all the diffraction peaks present in a sample with the value of the phase fraction of individual components showed that the proposed method gave precision values that were equivalent to the sum of the intensity of the peaks of each component. Whereas the S-M gave precision values that were significantly inconsistent with the sum of the intensity of the peaks of each component. The study showed that the proposed method was valid for a wide range of 2 values and can be deployed to obtain reasonable and reliable values of phase fraction that could assist to understand the material phase fraction-properties relationship.

The analytical solution of approximate natural frequencies for the free vibration of cylindrical shells of GFRP (glass fiber reinforced plastic) with Navier boundary conditions is presented using the Rayleigh-Ritz method, while the winding angle varies. Frequency variations for different vibration modes with certain shell's geometrical parameters are discussed. The effect of shell's geometrical parameters is also investigated on natural frequencies.

In the present paper results of definition of natural frequencies of simply supported-clamped thin cylindrical shells from the focused fiberglass considered as homogeneous monolithic anisotropic material are presented. Constants of elasticity of a material of a shell depend on an angle of winding of fiber glass. Natural frequencies of a shell are found in the assumption, that central lines have the spiral form. Constructions of dependences of frequencies from an angle of winding of fiber glass for various parameters of wave formation and the geometrical sizes of a shell are executed.

الملخص: أهداف البحث: تهدف هذه الدراسة إلى تحسين تكوين حبيبات هلامة ''ألجينات الأغاروز'' وعوامل التذويب الخاصة بها لاستخدامها المحتمل في نقل الخلايا الجذعية. طرق البحث: تم اختبار تركيزات مختلفة من الأغاروز والألجينات وكلورايد الكالسيوم لبناء حبيبات هلامة مائية. تم تسجيل معدل التحلل ونسبة الانتفاخ لكل عينة هلامة مائية. تم استخدام هلامة ''ألجينات الأغاروز'' المحسنة لتغليف الخلايا الجذعية من أسنان بشرية لبنية متساقطة (شيد). تم أيضًا إجراء تحسين عوامل الإذابة واختبارها باستخدام الخلايا المغلفة بالهلامة المائية. النتائج: تم إثبات أن التركيز المختار لمكونات هلامة ''ألجينات الأغاروز'' نجح في تغليف ''شيد'' والتي تظل قابلة للحياة حتى اليوم العاشر. تم تسجيل متوسط دقيقتين لتحلل الهلامة المائية التي تغلف ''شيد''، باستخدام عامل إذابة يتكون من 100 ملي سيترات الصوديوم و 100 ملي مولار من إيديتات الكالسيوم ثناي الصوديوم (إيديتا). تم تسجيل صلاحية خلية ''شيد'' التي تم إطلاقها بعد اليوم العاشر من التغليف بنسبة 29.1٪. الاستنتاجات: أوضحت الدراسة الحالية أن تركيزات كل من الأغاروز والألجينات وكلورايد الكالسيوم ترتبط بمعدل تحلل حبيبات الهلامة المائية ونسبة الانتفاخ. يمكن لـ ''شيد'' البقاء على قيد الحياة في بيئة هلامة مائية لمدة 10 أيام على الأقل دون تغيير وسط الاستزراع. يسمح تحسين عامل الذوبان بالتفكك المناسب لهيكل الهلامة المائية، مما يؤدي إلى إطلاق الخلايا الجذعية من حبيبات هلامة ''ألجينات الأغاروز'' بعد فترة النقل مع السماح للخلايا بالبقاء قابلة للحياة. Abstract: Hydrogels have potential uses in various biological applications because of their unique characteristics. Fine-tuning of agarose–alginate (Ag–Al) hydrogel components improves the mechanical characteristics of the final construct for cell encapsulation and transportation. Formulation of suitable dissolving agents may enable the release of encapsulated cells for further applications in laboratory or clinical settings. Objectives: This study aimed at optimizing the composition of Ag–Al hydrogel beads and their dissolving agents for potential use in the transportation of stem cells. Methods: Various agarose, alginate, and CaCl2 concentrations were tested to construct hydrogel beads. The degradation rate and swelling ratio of each hydrogel sample were recorded. The optimized Ag–Al hydrogels were used for encapsulation of stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth (SHED). Optimization of dissolving agents was performed and tested with the hydrogel-encapsulated cells. Data were statistically analyzed in SPSS. Results: The selected concentration of Ag–Al hydrogels components was successfully demonstrated to encapsulate SHED, which remained viable until day 10. An average of 2 min was required for degradation of the hydrogel with encapsulated SHED by a dissolving agent consisting of 100 mM sodium citrate and 100 mM EDTA. The cell viability of SHED released after day 10 of encapsulation was 29.1%. Conclusion: Alteration of Ag-Al components has considerable influence on the mechanical properties of the constructed hydrogel. The feasibility of performing the optimized cell encapsulation protocol, as well as the dissolving step, may provide a useful guide for the transportation of viable cells between countries, for medical research.

The peak age of onset of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is continually increasing worlwide. This study aims to evaluate whether there exists any significant difference in the clinicopathological features between younger- and elderly-HCC.1082 Consecutive patients with HCC who underwent liver resection at Liver Cancer Institute, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University from 1995 to 1998 were studied. The patients were divided into elderly-HCC (>/=65 years of age) and younger-HCC (< 65 years of age). Important clinicopathological features of the patients and postoperative survival rates were compared between these two groups. Among 1082 patients studied, 108 were elderly-HCC and 974 were younger-HCC. The resection rate of the elderly-HCC was significantly higher than that of the younger-HCC. The 1, 3 and 5-year survival rates of the elderly-HCC were not significantly different from those of the younger-HCC. Compared with the younger-HCC, the elderly-HCC had (1) less HBsAg-positive rate; (2) more frequent anti-HCV positivity ; (3) lower proportion with AFP value >/=400mug/dl; (4) a relatively small tumor diameter; (5) higher proportion of stage I-II patients; (6) a relatively low metastasis rate. However, there were no statistically significant differences in other clinicopathological features (including gender, symptoms, tumor number, tumor venous invasion, tumor differentiation, capsular formation, type of cirrhosis) between the two groups. There is a certain extent difference in clinicopathological features between elderly and younger-HCC patients, but the postoperative survival rate is comparable between the two groups. JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc. 2008 Jul-Sep;47(171):132-135.

Study Design: Retrospective single-center multi-surgeon cohort study., Objectives: Compare the post-operative changes in the compensatory mechanisms of the sagittal balance according to the type of pelvic fixation: S2-Alar-iliac screws (S2AI) vs iliac screws (IS) in patients with Adult spine deformity (ASD)., Methods: ASD patients who underwent spino-pelvic fixation and remained with a PI-LL >10° mismatch post-operatively were included. Pre-operative and 1-year-follow-up PI, Lumbar lordosis (LL), pelvic tilt (PT), sacral slope (SS), thoracic kyphosis (TK), femur obliquity angle (FOA), knee flexion angle (KFA) and ankle flexion angle (AFA) were analyzed on EOS imaging. Patients were categorized based on their pelvic fixation type (S2AI vs IS), and the pre-operative to 1-year-post-operative changes (ΔX°) in the compensatory mechanisms were compared between groups., Results: Patients with S2AI ( n = 53) and those with IS ( n = 26) screws were comparable at baseline. ΔSS averaged 9.87° in the S2AI compared to 13.2° in the IS ( P = .001), whereas the ΔKFA reached 6.01° in the S2AI as opposed to 3.06° in the IS ( P = .02). The ΔPT was comparable between both groups (6.35°[S2AI group] vs 5.21°[ISgroup], P = .42). ΔTK, ΔLL, ΔFOA and ΔAFA were comparable between both groups., Conclusion: The type of pelvic fixation impacts significantly the post-operative compensatory mechanisms in patients with ASD. Patients with S2AI screws are more likely to compensate their remaining post-operative PI-LL mismatch through their knees and less likely through their pelvis compared to patients with IS, despite similar changes in PT. This could be explained by an increased SI joint laxity in ASD patient and the lower resistance of the iliac connectors to the junctional mechanical stresses, allowing for sacro-iliac joint motion in patients with IS., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Microtus fortis (M. fortis) is the only mammal known in China that is intrinsically resistant to Schistosoma japonicum (S. japonicum) infection. Nevertheless, the underlying resistance mechanism of M. fortis against schistosomes are still unclear. In this study, we detected and compared colon aqueous extracts and serum metabolic profiles between M. fortis and ICR mice before and after S. japonicum infection using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS). We identified 232 specific colon aqueous extract metabolites and 79 specific serum metabolites of M. fortis infected with or without S. japonicum at two weeks compared with those of ICR mice, which might be closely correlated with the time-course of schistosomiasis progression and could also be used as indicators for the M. fortis against S. japonicum, for example, nonadecanoic acid, hesperetin, glycocholic acid, 2-Aminobenzoic acid, 6-hydroxydaidzein and spermidine. And the enriched pathways were further identified, our findings revealed that S. japonicum infection induced the metabolic changes involved in a variety of metabolic pathways including amino acid metabolism, lipid metabolism, ABC transporters, central carbon metabolism in cancer and bile secretion. These results indicated that the colon aqueous extracts and serum metabolic profiles were significantly different between M. fortis and ICR mice before and after S. japonicum infection and will provide new insights into the underlying resistance mechanism of M. fortis against S. japonicum infection and identify promising candidates for the use of drugs against schistosomes., Competing Interests: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2025. The Author(s).)

Flavonoids, a major component of plant root exudates, play a crucial role in mediating plant-microbe interactions. However, the mechanisms by which flavonoids are perceived and trigger downstream signaling events in microbes remain largely unknown. In this study, we characterized AefR, a flavonoid-sensing transcriptional regulator from Pseudomonas fluorescens 2P24, a plant growth-promoting rhizobacterium (PGPR) known for its biocontrol properties. AefR was found to repress the expression of the mexEF-oprN efflux pump, which putatively exports N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs). This repression attenuates the PcoR/PcoI quorum-sensing system, leading to decreased production of the antibiotic mupirocin in P. fluorescens 2P24. Furthermore, quantitative proteomic analysis revealed that the PcoR/PcoI quorum-sensing system regulates a diverse range of physiological processes, including mupirocin production and denitrification. Collectively, these findings demonstrate a quorum-quenching role of flavonoids in a PGPR strain, establishing that flavonoids can disrupt quorum-sensing by enhancing the efflux of quorum-sensing signaling molecules. These findings have practical implications for the development of sustainable biocontrol strategies, where leveraging natural plant-microbe interactions could enhance the suppression of plant pathogens without the use of synthetic chemicals.IMPORTANCEFlavonoids are key mediators of plant-microbe interactions; however, their role in regulating microbial signaling remains poorly understood. This study identifies AefR as a flavonoid-sensing regulator in Pseudomonas fluorescens 2P24, revealing a novel quorum-quenching mechanism where flavonoids enhance the efflux of quorum-sensing signals. These findings shed light on the molecular basis of flavonoid-mediated microbial regulation and offer new strategies for sustainable plant health management.

Microwave radiation, a prevalent environmental stressor, significantly impacts human health. Based on previous studies, we hypothesize that microwave-induced cognitive impairments and vulnerability in the hippocampal dentate gyrus (DG) region are due to abnormal synaptic plasticity regulated by both newborn and mature neurons derived from neural stem cells (NSCs). Epigenetics links external factors to organisms, offers insights into the health effects of environmental influences. To explore the molecular mechanisms underlying the effects of microwave radiation on neuronal synaptic plasticity from the perspective of mRNA N 6 -methyladenosine (m 6 A) modification. We first assessed the impact of microwave radiation on cognitive memory abilities in rats through behavioral tests. Immunofluorescence staining were applied to clarify the influence of microwave radiation on both neurons and NSCs. Molecular mechanisms were investigated by ELISA, q-PCR, Western blot, MeRIP-seq, and RNA pull-down experiments. The microwave radiated rat model exhibiting learning and memory deficits. Impaired synaptic plasticity in mature hippocampal neurons alongside hindered NSCs proliferation and development were observed. Using our established non-contact co-culture model, we replicated the in vivo adverse effects of microwave radiation. Down-regulated HNRNPA2B1 leads to reduced binding of TrkB m 6 A and promoted TrkB degradation. This feedback loop results in low BDNF expression, ultimately causing cognitive impairments. Our study emphasizes the neurotoxicity of microwave radiation and identifies TrkB m 6 A modification as a potential target for protecting against cognitive damage induced by electromagnetic radiation., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)