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Abstract Intense grazing may lead to grassland degradation on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, but it is difficult to predict where this will occur and to quantify it. Based on a process-based ecosystem model, we define a productivity-based stocking rate threshold that induces extreme grassland degradation to assess whether and where the current grazing activity in the region is sustainable. We find that the current stocking rate is below the threshold in ~80% of grassland areas, but in 55% of these grasslands the stocking rate exceeds half the threshold. According to our model projections, positive effects of climate change including elevated CO2 can partly offset negative effects of grazing across nearly 70% of grasslands on the Plateau, but only in areas below the stocking rate threshold. Our analysis suggests that stocking rate that does not exceed 60% (within 50% to 70%) of the threshold may balance human demands with grassland protection in the face of climate change.

Despite the natural abundance and promising properties of Si, there are few examples of crystalline Si-based catalysts. Here, the authors report an epitaxial growth method to construct Co single atoms on Si for light driven CO2 reduction to syngas.

Carbon dioxide emissions from oxic-anoxic transitional soil layers in a drained peatland are less sensitive to warming than emissions from oxic surface and anoxic deep soil layers, according to a laboratory-based incubation experiment of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau peatland soils.

Abstract Zoonotic malaria due to Plasmodium knowlesi infection in Southeast Asia is sometimes life-threatening. Post-mortem examination of human knowlesi malaria cases showed sequestration of P. knowlesi-infected red blood cells (iRBCs) in blood vessels, which has been proposed to be linked to disease severity. This sequestration is likely mediated by the cytoadhesion of parasite-iRBCs to vascular endothelial cells; however, the responsible parasite ligands remain undetermined. This study selected P. knowlesi lines with increased iRBC cytoadhesion activity by repeated panning against human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). Transcriptome analysis revealed that the transcript level of one gene, encoding a Schizont Infected Cell Agglutination (SICA) protein, herein termed SICA-HUVEC, was more than 100-fold increased after the panning. Transcripts of other P. knowlesi proteins were also significantly increased, such as PIR proteins exported to the iRBC cytosol, suggesting their potential role in increasing cytoadhesion activity. Transgenic P. knowlesi parasites expressing Myc-fused SICA-HUVEC increased cytoadhesion activity following infection of monkey as well as human RBCs, confirming that SICA-HUVEC conveys activity to bind to HUVECs.

Advanced security applications require materials responsive to different stimuli with remarkable stability. Here, Sargent et al. introduce Ge homogenously into a silica scaffold and obtain a colourtuned germanium silicon oxide with ultra-long phosphorescence and delayed fluorescence across a broad temperature range.