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Ecosystem service changes associated with land use and land cover change (LULC) will provide an important indicator and an early warning of ecological changes. However, there have been few attempts to estimate the effects of LULC on ecosystem services in desert-oasis ecotones, which are recognized as critical ecological barriers and buffers that prevent deserts from expanding into oases. Here, we used Landsat image-based LULC maps (1988–2018) and a modified benefit transfer method to estimate the changes in ecosystem service value (ESV) in response to LULC in Dengkou County along the Yellow River, China. Our results showed that the most significant feature of LULC in Dengkou County was a large area expansion of cropland and a reduction in the area of desert. The total estimated ESV was nearly US $400 million year−1, of which 76% was derived from cropland, water bodies and rangelands. LULC resulted in a net increase in the total ESV by US$ 43.7 million during 1988–2018. Cropland expansion accounted for approximately 72% of the increase in the total ESV, thereby outweighing the huge decrease in ESV due to the expense of woodlands, rangelands and water bodies. Many low ESV clustering areas appeared in the central part of the county, resulting in ESV loss of approximately US $13.4 million, all of which was due to the conversion of water bodies to bare land and rangelands. Our results provide powerful evidence to make informed land use decisions for relevant managers and help fill the gap between the supply of ecosystem services and the societal demands for these services. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Triptolide has been used extensively in China for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and tumor for many centuries. Nevertheless, little is known about its exact immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory properties. Increasing recognition of the importance of renal tubular epithelial cells (TECs) in renal diseases raises the question whether triptolide can regulate TEC activity. In this study, various cultured human and murine TECs were exposed to tumor necrotic factor-α (TNF-α) and triptolide, followed to examine the expression of B7-H1 and B7-DC. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that B7-H1 but not B7-DC constitutively expresses on TECs, and the B7-H1 protein expression was profoundly up-regulated by the stimulation of TNF-α with a dose-dependent manner. However, triptolide under non-cytotoxic concentration could down-regulate B7-H1 expression on activated TECs at both mRNA and protein level. This effect was transcription factor NF-κB dependent. Interestingly, the significant damping effect of triptolide on B7-H1 signal could promote interleukin-2 production by T cell hybridoma (C10) after antigen presentation and enhance cytokine (IFN-γ and IL-2) secretion by anti-CD3 activated T cells. Our results indicated that triptolide could regulate TEC activity via B7-H1, in addition to previously reported it directly affects the production of some inflammatory factors by T cells, tumor cells and peripheral blood mononuclear cells. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] • PM 2.5 was associated with higher risk of incident OWOB. • PM 2.5 was associated with increased odds of being in larger BMI growth trajectories. • PM 2.5 was associated with increased odds of being in persistent OWOB trajectory. • Constituents including SO 4 2−, BC and OM are particularly relevant for these effects. The association of specific PM 2.5 chemical constituents with childhood overweight or obesity (OWOB) remain unclear. Furthermore, the long-term impacts of PM 2.5 exposure on the trajectory of children's body mass index (BMI) have not been explored. We conducted a longitudinal study among 1,450,830 Chinese children aged 6–19 years from Beijing and Zhongshan in China during 2005–2018 to examine the associations of PM 2.5 and its chemical constituents with incident OWOB risk. We extracted PM 2.5 mass and five main component exposure from Tracking Air Pollution in China (TAP) dataset. Cox proportional hazards models were applied to quantify exposure–response associations. We further performed principal component analysis (PCA) to handle the multi-collinearity and used quantile g-computation (QGC) approach to analyze the impacts of exposure mixtures. Additionally, we selected 125,863 children with at least 8 physical examination measurements and combined group-based trajectory models (GBTM) with multinomial logistic regression models to explore the impacts of exposure to PM 2.5 mass and five constituents on BMI and BMI Z-score trajectories during 6–19 years. We observed each interquartile range increment in PM 2.5 exposure was significantly associated with a 5.1 % increase in the risk of incident OWOB (95 % confidence Interval [CI]: 1.036–1.066). We also found black carbon, sulfate, organic matter, often linked to fossil combustion, had comparable or larger estimates of the effect (HR = 1.139–1.153) than PM 2.5. Furthermore, Exposure to PM 2.5 mass, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, organic matter and black carbon was significantly associated with an increased odds of being in a larger BMI trajectory and being assigned to persistent OWOB trajectory. Our findings provide evidence that the constituents mainly from fossil fuel combustion may have a perceptible influence on increased OWOB risk associated with PM 2.5 exposure in China. Moreover, long-term exposure to PM 2.5 contributes to an increased odds of being in a lager BMI and a persistent OWOB trajectories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Exposure to PM 2.5 could elevate asymptomatic adults' fasting plasma glucose. The impacts of long-term high exposure to PM 2.5 in workplace on glucose metabolism in asymptomatic working adults (AWAs) have rarely been explored. To assess the relationship between long-term exposure to workplace PM 2.5 and glucose metabolism in asymptomatic general working adults in heavily polluted regions. We used the baseline data of the asymptomatic working participants from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Medical Examination Cohort, which recruited adults undergoing medical examinations. A machine learning-based spatial–temporal model was used to estimate daily average PM 2.5 concentrations in the participants' workplaces. We assessed the association of long-term PM 2.5 concentrations (three years prior to the interview) and fasting plasma glucose (FPG) using generalized linear mixed-effects models (GLMM) with inclusion of potential confounders. Stratified analyses by sex, age, BMI and smoking status, and two pollutant models were further performed. A total of 37,619 individuals were interviewed and 28,865 were included in the analyses. The mean FPG was 5.20 (0.96) mmol/L, and the estimated three-year average concentration of PM 2.5 exposure was 69.51 (6.92) μg/m3. We detected a significant association of long-term exposure to workplace PM 2.5 and FPG, a 10 µg/m3 increase in the long-term workplace PM 2.5 exposure was associated with 0.075 (95%CI: 0.050–0.100) mmol/L elevated FPG and 25% (OR = 1.25, 95%CI: 1.05–1.50) elevated odds of abnormal fasting glucose metabolism with control of the potential confounding. The detected association between workplace PM 2.5 and FPG metabolism remained significant in males, individuals aged > 44 years, overweight and/or obese people, both smokers and non-smokers, and when NO 2 , SO 2 , O 3 , and CO were included in the model. Long-term exposure to workplace PM 2.5 was associated with elevated FPG and/or odds of abnormal glucose metabolism among AWAs. Male, middle-aged, overweight and/or obese AWAs were more susceptible to workplace PM 2.5 regardless of smoking status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]