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Background: Malignant tumours seriously threaten human life and health, and effective treatments for cancer are still being explored. The ability of SHC SH2 domain-binding protein 1 (SHCBP1) to induce cell cycle disturbance and inhibit tumour growth has been increasingly studied, but its dynamic role in the tumour cell cycle and corresponding effects leading to mitotic catastrophe and DNA damage have rarely been studied. Results: In this paper, we found that the nucleoprotein SHCBP1 exhibits dynamic spatiotemporal expression during the tumour cell cycle, and SHCBP1 knockdown slowed cell cycle progression by inducing spindle disorder, as reflected by premature mitotic entry and multipolar spindle formation. This dysfunction was caused by G2/M checkpoint impairment mediated by downregulated WEE1 kinase and NEK7 (a member of the mammalian NIMA-related kinase family) expression and upregulated centromere/kinetochore protein Zeste White 10 (ZW10) expression. Moreover, both in vivo and in vitro experiments confirmed the significant inhibitory effects of SHCBP1 knockdown on tumour growth. Based on these findings, SHCBP1 knockdown in combination with low-dose DNA-damaging agents had synergistic tumouricidal effects on tumour cells. In response to this treatment, tumour cells were forced into the mitotic phase with considerable unrepaired DNA lesions, inducing mitotic catastrophe. These synergistic effects were attributed not only to the abrogation of the G2/M checkpoint and disrupted spindle function but also to the impairment of the DNA damage repair system, as demonstrated by mass spectrometry-based proteomic and western blotting analyses. Consistently, patients with low SHCBP1 expression in tumour tissue were more sensitive to radiotherapy. However, SHCBP1 knockdown combined with tubulin-toxic drugs weakened the killing effect of the drugs on tumour cells, which may guide the choice of chemotherapeutic agents in clinical practice. Conclusion: In summary, we elucidated the role of the nucleoprotein SHCBP1 in tumour cell cycle progression and described a novel mechanism by which SHCBP1 regulates tumour progression and through which targeting SHCBP1 increases sensitivity to DNA-damaging agent therapy, indicating its potential as a cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Malignant tumours seriously threaten human life and health, and effective treatments for cancer are still being explored. The ability of SHC SH2 domain-binding protein 1 (SHCBP1) to induce cell cycle disturbance and inhibit tumour growth has been increasingly studied, but its dynamic role in the tumour cell cycle and corresponding effects leading to mitotic catastrophe and DNA damage have rarely been studied. Results: In this paper, we found that the nucleoprotein SHCBP1 exhibits dynamic spatiotemporal expression during the tumour cell cycle, and SHCBP1 knockdown slowed cell cycle progression by inducing spindle disorder, as reflected by premature mitotic entry and multipolar spindle formation. This dysfunction was caused by G2/M checkpoint impairment mediated by downregulated WEE1 kinase and NEK7 (a member of the mammalian NIMA-related kinase family) expression and upregulated centromere/kinetochore protein Zeste White 10 (ZW10) expression. Moreover, both in vivo and in vitro experiments confirmed the significant inhibitory effects of SHCBP1 knockdown on tumour growth. Based on these findings, SHCBP1 knockdown in combination with low-dose DNA-damaging agents had synergistic tumouricidal effects on tumour cells. In response to this treatment, tumour cells were forced into the mitotic phase with considerable unrepaired DNA lesions, inducing mitotic catastrophe. These synergistic effects were attributed not only to the abrogation of the G2/M checkpoint and disrupted spindle function but also to the impairment of the DNA damage repair system, as demonstrated by mass spectrometry-based proteomic and western blotting analyses. Consistently, patients with low SHCBP1 expression in tumour tissue were more sensitive to radiotherapy. However, SHCBP1 knockdown combined with tubulin-toxic drugs weakened the killing effect of the drugs on tumour cells, which may guide the choice of chemotherapeutic agents in clinical practice. Conclusion: In summary, we elucidated the role of the nucleoprotein SHCBP1 in tumour cell cycle progression and described a novel mechanism by which SHCBP1 regulates tumour progression and through which targeting SHCBP1 increases sensitivity to DNA-damaging agent therapy, indicating its potential as a cancer treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate system anomalies and intensified human disturbances have different impacts on the hydrological cycle at different scales, chiefly leading to prominent spatio-temporal heterogeneities in precipitation distributions. It is of great significance to accurately detect the non-stationary changes of precipitation. Focusing on the Inner Mongolia section of the Yellow River basin which is considered as the key ecological barrier in northern China, the best probabilistic model with time-varying moments was established to fit the wet-season precipitation series from 1988 to 2017 for 38 meteorological stations. Considering four three-parameter distributions, time was used as covariate to describe the linear or nonlinear change of each parameter, and model optimization was performed by Akaike Information Criterion. Combined with conventional methods including the Trend-Free Pre-Whitening Mann–Kendall trend test and Sen's slope estimator, the non-stationary behaviors of wet-season precipitation variability were quantitatively captured. Results showed that the generalized gamma distribution performed best in fitting the wet-season precipitation series in the study area, characterized with high skewness and heavy tails. The non-stationary characteristics of the wet-season precipitation were obvious in most areas during the past 30 years, especially in the central region. The non-stationarities of wet-season precipitation manifested in a downward trend in the mean value, an increase in dispersion degree and significant changes in distribution shape with time, consequently adding the uncertainty to wet-season precipitation process and raising the risk of extreme conditions. The findings of this study provide scientific references to water resources management, drought resistance, and disaster reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge gain in the characteristics and mechanisms of drought propagation is indispensable for timely drought early warning and risk reduction over the grassland eco-region. This study focused on the Xilin River basin, which is a typical inland river basin located in the Inner Mongolia temperate steppe, China. The characteristics of meteorological and hydrological drought were assessed by applying the standardized precipitation index and standardized streamflow index. The propagation relationship between meteorological and hydrological droughts was then investigated from both static and dynamic perspectives, and the possible reasons for its temporal dynamics were discussed by considering environmental factors. Our results showed that the Xilin River basin has suffered from more serious meteorological drought than hydrological drought during the past 60 years, with a stationary evolution of meteorological drought but an overall drying trend in hydrological drought. The propagation from meteorological to hydrological droughts exhibited obvious seasonality, characterized by stronger intensity and shorter response time in the wet season. Nonstationary behaviors were identified for the temporal patterns of drought propagation time, especially showing a significant trend in April, May, and August. The dynamic changes in propagation time affected by regional forces were principally ruled by the precipitation variation positively and strongly, and they were moderately controlled by temperature, vegetation cover, and deep-layer soil moisture, with season-dependent effects. The effects of low-frequency atmospheric anomalies on drought propagation will be further investigated in future studies, which are expected to provide a better understanding of the physical mechanism of the large-scale climate forcing on local drought condition. Significance Statement: A new research approach was proposed to assess the propagation relationship between meteorological and hydrological drought from both static and dynamic perspectives, and the possible reasons for the temporal dynamics were discussed by considering environmental factors. Focusing on an inland river basin over the Inner Mongolia typical steppe, the propagation from meteorological to hydrological droughts showed obvious seasonality. Nonstationary behaviors were identified for the temporal patterns of drought propagation time, which could be explained by the regional hydrometeorological conditions. The advanced understanding of drought propagation provides a scientific base for water resources planning and drought management within a grassland region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, field spectroradiometer and aboveground biomass (AGB) data were acquired at the harvest stage at two sites in semiarid grasslands in Inner Mongolia, China. Four forms of commonly used vegetation indices (VIs) using all possible combinations of narrow-band first derivative (FDR) and raw reflectance (RR) were calculated, and the best FDR-VIs and RR-VIs were chosen by a linear regression analysis against AGB. The stepwise multiple linear regression (SMLR) models using the optimal FDR-VIs, RR-VIs, and both FDR-VIs and RR-VIs as input variables were developed for estimating the AGB. Results demonstrated that the estimation performance using the best FDR-VIs were comparable with the best RR-VIs, while the accuracy has been further improved by combining the best FDR-VIs and RR-VIs (maximum decrease in RMSE of 44% and minimum RMAE of 4.7%). The approach was found to be an important step for more accurate and effective grassland AGB estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The typical steppe in Inner Mongolia is an important component of the Eurasian steppes. It plays a dominant role in preventing desertification and against sandstorms, but highly sensitive and vulnerable to climate change. Based on long-term observed precipitation data and remotely sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) images, the non-stationary behavior of summer precipitation and its linkage with vegetation change were investigated, by means of incorporating time-varying and physical based explanatory covariates in non-stationary modeling. Results indicated that time-dependent models exhibited good performance to reproduce the temporal variations of eco-hydrological variables. The non-stationarity of summer precipitation was prominently visible for the majority of sites during the period from 1957 to 2017, with the mean behavior described as a linear or nonlinear time-varying pattern. In general, the steppe has experienced a decreasing trend in summer precipitation, but whether the decline tends to maintain or weaken or strengthen depends on the spatial location of the site studied. Differences appeared in the changes of vegetation in summer from 1998 to 2017 in different sub-regions. Evidences for the presence of stationary evolution was found in most sub-regions in the middle part, together with a linear increase in the westernmost sub-regions while a non-linear decrease in the easternmost sub-regions. Covariate analyses further highlighted the role of precipitation variabilities in the modeling of the NDVI-related vegetation dynamics over the steppe. The potential relations of summer precipitation to vegetation growth were characterized as both linear and non-linear positive forms. In particular, precipitation extremes could be responsible for the occurrences of exceptional cases in vegetation condition. The fluctuations in summer precipitation have crucial significance for future predictions of vegetation succession. Findings from this study would lead to additional insights to understanding the effect of climate change on grassland ecosystem processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A hybrid framework is proposed for predicting karst spring discharge using historical data. • The hybrid framework achieves good prediction accuracy in non-stationary spring discharge sequences and has strong robustness against disturbances. • To the best of our knowledge, this study is the first to apply PMI and VMD to the prediction of spring discharge. • The time series decomposition technology has the greatest impact on improving prediction accuracy. Accurately predicting karst spring discharge is crucial for effective regional water resource management. However, the uneven distribution (or absence) of meteorological stations within karst spring catchments and the temporal discontinuity of meteorological data make the prediction of spring discharge difficult. To overcome a model's dependence on meteorological data, this paper proposes a novel hybrid framework that uses historical spring discharge as the input for the LSTM model. The framework consists of four components—hyperparameter optimization, variable screening, decomposition-combination, and error suppression—to improve prediction accuracy. Specifically, particle swarm optimization, genetic algorithms, and Bayesian optimization (BSO) were used to optimize the hyperparameters of LSTM. Partial correlation, grey correlation analysis, and partial mutual information (PMI) were adopted to analyze the correlations between historical and current discharge to determine the optimal input variables of the model. Seasonal and trend decomposition using loess, ensemble empirical mode decomposition, and variational mode decomposition (VMD) were used to extract multi-scale change features in the spring discharge sequence, which reduced the learning complexity of LSTM. Finally, the Autoregressive Moving Average (ARMA) model was used to correct the output error, ensuring prediction accuracy. In total, 57 models were established to evaluate the performance of the hybrid framework in three karst spring catchments with different hydrogeological conditions and strongly nonlinear discharge. The results show that the hybrid framework achieves excellent prediction performance for all three karst springs. In comparison to the five benchmark models that take meteorological data as the input, the hybrid framework outperforms the best benchmark models in two of the spring catchments. This study provides a high-quality alternative for predicting spring discharge in regions without meteorological data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Defective MIL-100(Fe) constructed by introducing defective ligands with various functional groups. • Defect density and Fenton-like activity of MIL-100(Fe) positively correlated with the electronegativity of defective ligands. • D N -MIL-100(Fe) with the highest defect density exhibited superior Fenton-like activity. • D N -MIL-100(Fe) showed excellent pH adaptability, anti-interference ability and cycle stability. Generating defect sites in iron based metal–organic frameworks (Fe-MOFs) by introducing defective ligands has recently emerged as an effective approach to optimize Fenton-like activity, but the structure–activity relationship between defective ligands and Fenton-like reaction is still not fully understood. Herein, a series of defective MIL-100(Fe), i.e., Dx-MIL-100(Fe), were constructed via introducing defective ligands with various functional groups including -N,–NO 2 ,-Cl and –OH. It was observed that defect density and Fenton-like activity of D X -MIL-100(Fe) is positively correlated with the electronegativity of functional groups in defective ligands. With the increasing defect density, the stability and recyclability of D X -MIL-100(Fe) in Fenton-like reaction was not decreased, which is attributed to increasing coordination bond energy between defective ligands and Fe-O cluster. The high defect density results in the increase of electron density of Fe and rate of FeⅢ reduction. Therefore, D N -MIL-100(Fe) possessing highest defect density exhibited superior Fenton-like activity with the pseudo-first-order kinetic constant up to 0.089 min−1 for Bisphenol A degradation, which is 148.3 times than that of perfect MIL-100(Fe). Meanwhile, D N -MIL-100(Fe) showed excellent pH adaptability, anti-interference ability and cycle stability. This work unravels the role of functional groups in defective ligands on regulating defect density, Fenton-like activity and stability for the first time, which can provide a novel platform for precisely designing Fe-MOFs as promising Fenton-like catalyst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantifying evapotranspiration (ET) and its components are particularly crucial to reveal the eco-hydrological processes in arid and semi-arid regions, such as the Horqin Sandy Land in China, but is lacking in existing literature. This study applied the Shuttleworth-Wallace (S-W) model to simulate and partition the ET at the representative landform-soil-vegetation formations (i.e., mobile dune, semi-fixed dune, and fixed dune) in Horqin Sandy Land based on the in situ data sampled by the meteorological monitoring system. Eddy covariance technology was used to validate the performance of the model. The results showed that the performance of the S-W model for clear days was better than that for cloudy or rainy days, and the S-W model would underestimate ET in rainy days. During 2017 growing season, ET showed as mobile dune (308 mm) < semi-fixed dune (333 mm) < fixed dune (352 mm), which was consistent with canopy coverage. Evaporation (E) showed as mobile dune (176 mm) > semi-fixed dune (84 mm) > fixed dune (75 mm), accounting for 57.1%, 25.2%, and 21.3% of ET, respectively. With the increase of canopy coverage, the effect of leaf area index (LAI) on E/ET increased; conversely, the effect of soil moisture decreased. There were significant differences in the variation of ET in the dry and wet periods. During the dry period, the desert vegetation maintained low water consumption and showed obvious "midday break." Compared with transpiration from canopy, evaporation from soil was more sensitive to precipitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long and deep tunnels are increasingly designed and built worldwide, often in severe geothermal environments characterized by high temperature in the rocks. This issue cannot be ignored because high temperature definitely affects the strength of the adhesion between the concrete and the surrounding rocks, whatever the lining cast in place, segmental or sprayed using shotcrete. The causes of geothermal heat and the effect of the temperature on tunnel linings during and after their construction are recalled and discussed in this paper. Both temperature and humidity are shown to be the most relevant factors affecting adhesion strength, whose loss is related to the microdamage in the shotcrete layers closest to the rock. Possible ways to improve adhesion strength and to minimize the high-temperature detrimental effect are also presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the typical destructive methods for measuring aboveground biomass (AGB) have many limitations, a variety of non-destructive techniques have been developed. In this paper, the potential of ground-based hyperspectral remote-sensed data for non-destructive assessment of semi-arid pasture AGB at the peak productive period was investigated. The reflectance spectrometric and AGB data were sampled at the end of the growing season (almost peak biomass) over two locations at pastures in the southern Horqin sandy land, eastern Inner Mongolia, China. All combinations (two-band and three-band) of narrow bands in the forms of simple ratio vegetation index (SRVI), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), soil adjusted vegetation index (SAVI) and enhanced vegetation index (EVI) were used in a linear regression analysis against AGB. The predictive performance of the stepwise multiple linear regression (SMLR) using 4 best VIs as input variables was compared with the performance of multivariate partial least squares regression (PLSR) using all reflectance bands as input variables to estimate AGB. It was observed that the relationship between AGB and single band spectral reflectance was low, while the estimation performance of the best VIs based on all available wavebands was improved considerably. In addition, the best VIs based on all available wavebands had considerably better fitting performance than those based on traditionally used wavebands for estimating AGB. In comparison to PLSR using the full individual reflectance as input variables, SMLR using the best VIs as input variables performed much better, with the maximum decrease in RMSECV of 37% and the relative mean absolute errors always below 12.5%. The study demonstrated the high potential to estimate pasture AGB, which is a proxy for pasture forage yield, at the peak productive period using a hyperspectral technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of tunnel blast excavation on the adjacent existing high-voltage tower are comprehensively studied for the Chashan highway tunnel project as a case study. To investigate the effect of blast-induced vibration from the tunnel on the adjacent existing tower, field tests and numerical simulations method were adopted to study the vibration velocity and vibration frequency of the existing tower. Moreover, the relationship between the transverse distance from the detonation center and the peak velocity is discussed in detail. The results showed that the peak velocity of the measuring point in tower foundation increases with the distance between the detonation center and tower foundation approaches, and the maximum velocity is appearing when detonation center is 0 m. Furthermore, the corresponding energy spectrum distributions of the existing tower under the effect of blast induced by vibration is also analyzed, and the main frequency of vertical vibration is generally higher than that of transverse vibration. On combining the peak velocity with the main frequency and the natural frequency of the tower, the safety evaluation of the blasting area is proposed, and the corresponding control measures of blasting vibration are put forward. A guideline for the blast safety zone is proposed based on vibration velocity, main frequency, and the quantity of explosive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Daily precipitation data from 42 stations in Inner Mongolia, China for the 10 years period from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2010 was utilized along with downscaled data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) with a spatial resolution of 0.25° × 0.25° for the same period based on the statistical relationships between the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), meteorological variables, and digital elevation models (DEM) using the leave-one-out (LOO) cross validation method and multivariate step regression. The results indicate that (1) TRMM data can indeed be used to estimate annual precipitation in Inner Mongolia and there is a linear relationship between annual TRMM and observed precipitation; (2) there is a significant relationship between TRMM-based precipitation and predicted precipitation, with a spatial resolution of 0.50° × 0.50°; (3) NDVI and temperature are important factors influencing the downscaling of TRMM precipitation data for DEM and the slope is not the most significant factor affecting the downscaled TRMM data; and (4) the downscaled TRMM data reflects spatial patterns in annual precipitation reasonably well, showing less precipitation falling in west Inner Mongolia and more in the south and southeast. The new approach proposed here provides a useful alternative for evaluating spatial patterns in precipitation and can thus be applied to generate a more accurate precipitation dataset to support both irrigation management and the conservation of this fragile grassland ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introducing crystal defects into iron based metal-organic frameworks (Fe-MOFs) is regarded as a promising strategy to enhance Fenton-like performance. However, developing a facile and effective strategy to construct defective Fe-MOFs as highly efficient Fenton-like catalyst is still a challenge. Herein, MIL-100(Fe) (Def-MIL-100(Fe)) with missing ligands defects was synthesized by a simple heterogeneous reaction using zero-valent iron. The bisphenol A degradation efficiency in the Def-MIL-100(Fe)/H 2 O 2 system reached up to 91.26% within 10 min at pH 4 with a low catalyst dosage of 0.05 g/L, while the perfect MIL-100(Fe) has almost no Fenton-like performance. It was observed that missing ligands defects in the Def-MIL-100(Fe) play a key role in the Fenton-like reaction. The missing ligands defects could increase the Lewis acidity for fast H 2 O 2 adsorption and accelerate the electron transfer between FeII and FeIII cycling, leading to faster and more·OH generation. Moreover, the missing ligands defects could promote the mass transfer for improving·OH utilization efficiency. This work provides a novel strategy to construct defective Fe-MOFs as highly efficient Fenton-like catalyst to degrade organic pollutants in water. [Display omitted] • A novel strategy to construct defective MIL-100(Fe) by heterogeneous reaction using zero-valent Fe. • MIL-100(Fe) with missing ligands defects showed excellent Fenton-like performance. • The missing ligands defects could increase the Lewis acidity and accelerate electron transfer for faster and more·OH generation. • The missing ligands defects could promote mass transfer for higher·OH utilization efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the identification of the spatial patterns of fluoride (F−) and nitrate (NO 3 −) is important for groundwater management, these patterns remain poorly understood in the Ordos Basin. A total of 107 groundwater samples collected from phreatic aquifers were divided into three clusters using the self-organizing map (SOM). Cluster I, Cluster II and Cluster III represented the contaminated groundwater with different type and degree of pollution. On this basis, factor analysis (FA), together with classical hydrochemical diagrams reflected the major factors regulating the spatial characteristics of groundwater F− and NO 3 −. Firstly, water-rock interaction (carbonate precipitation, fluorite dissolution, and cation exchange) and evaporation were responsible for high groundwater NO 3 −, F−, hardness, and salinity. Secondly, anthropogenic inputs (agricultural activities and sewage) also contributed to high groundwater NO 3 − and F−. Finally, the universal alkaline environment could regulate groundwater NO 3 − and F−. Additionally, 68.22%, 37.38%, and 33.64% of samples showed higher total non-carcinogenic risk (HI Total > 1) for children, adult females, and adult males, respectively. Overall, the worst NO 3 − and F− contamination and health risks were evident in the western part of the Ordos Basin. The results of this study can contribute to the sustainable development of groundwater and to the protection of public health in the Ordos Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The responses of soil moisture to rainfall are of great significance for watershed hydrological modeling. However, few studies have been done to investigate these responds on hillslope in a typical semi-arid grassland region. This study used high temporal resolution soil moisture data to explore the soil moisture dynamics, response conditions and its controls of 0–40 cm soil profile in the upslope (14°), midslope (9°), and downslope (4°) of a typical grassland inland river basin under bare ground (BG), stubble (SG), and natural grassland (CK) treatments. The results showed that soil water content and water storage increased in the downslope direction, and all showed as BG > SG > CK. The dry and wet changes in fast-changing layer (5 cm) and active layer (10 cm) were rapid, while soil moisture below 20 cm was relatively stable and fluctuated only in heavy or continuous rainfalls. The soil moisture response process varied greatly under different rainfall, rainfall intensity and antecedent soil moisture conditions, which explained 41.1% of the total difference. The rainfall replenishment threshold and the required initial soil profile water content of soil moisture response in 5 cm, 10 cm and 20 cm soil layers were 5.8 mm, 8.0 mm, 11.4 mm and 8.7 vol%, 9.4 vol%, 10.8 vol%, respectively. Soil properties, vegetation characteristics and topography could explain 38.8%, 14.5% and 5.6% of the soil moisture variation on the hillslope. In addition, under the comprehensive influence of environmental factors, changes in soil moisture of the upslope were significantly affected by soil sand content, the differences in the midslope were mainly due to soil clay content and belowground biomass, whereas the vegetation characteristics were the main factors in the downslope. This study can contribute to the further understanding of slope-scale ecohydrological processes and hydrological simulation of semi-arid grassland watersheds. • The response of soil moisture to rainfall under different vegetation treatments at different hillslope positions was investigated. • Rainfall recharge thresholds and initial soil profile water content for soil moisture responses at different soil depths were determined. • The effects of water condition, vegetation characteristics and soil properties on soil water responses at different hillslope locations were quantified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In aeolian sandy grass shoal catchment areas that rely heavily on groundwater, mining-induced geological deformation and aquifer drainage are likely to cause irreversible damage to natural groundwater systems and affect the original circulation of groundwater, thus threatening the ecological environment. This study aimed to predict the impact of groundwater level decline on vegetation growth in the Hailiutu River Basin (HRB), which is a coal-field area. Based on remote-sensing data, the land use/cover change was interpreted and analyzed, and the central areas of greensward land in the basin were determined. Subsequently, the correlation between groundwater depth and grassland distribution was analyzed. Then, the groundwater system under natural conditions was modeled using MODFLOW, and the groundwater flow field in 2029 was predicted by loading the generalized treatment of coal mine drainage water to the model. The change in groundwater depth caused by coal mining and its influence on the grassland were obtained. The results show that coal mining will decrease the groundwater depth, which would induce degradation risks in 4 of the original 34 aggregation centers of greensward land that originally depended on groundwater for growth in HRB because they exceeded the groundwater threshold. The prediction results show that the maximum settlement of groundwater level can reach 5 m in the northern (Yinpanhao), 6 m in the eastern (Dahaize), and 10 m in the southern (Balasu) region of HRB. Attention should be paid to vegetation degradation in areas where groundwater depth exceeds the minimum threshold for plant growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The active center of 3CLpro of SARS-CoV-2 was similar to that of neuraminidase of influenza A. • Oseltamivir is ineffective against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro study. • The clinical use of oseltamivir did not improve the patients' symptoms and signs. Oseltamivir is a first-line antiviral drug, especially in primary hospitals. During the ongoing outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), most patients with COVID-19 who are symptomatic have used oseltamivir. Considering its popular and important role as an antiviral drug, it is necessary to evaluate oseltamivir in the treatment of COVID-19. To evaluate the effect of oseltamivir against COVID-19. Swiss-model was used to construct the structure of the N -terminal RNA-binding domain (NRBD) of the nucleoprotein (NC), papain-like protease (PLpro), and RNA-directed RNA polymerase (RdRp) of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). TM-align program was performed to compare the structure of the viral proteins with the structure of the neuraminidase of influenza A. Molecular docking was used to analyze the theoretical possibility of effective binding of oseltamivir with the active centers of the viral proteins. In vitro study was used to evaluate the antiviral efficiency of oseltamivir against SARS-CoV-2. By clinical case analysis, we statistically evaluated whether the history of oseltamivir use influenced the progression of the disease. The structures of NRBD, PLpro, and RdRp were built successfully. The results from TM-align suggested that the S protein, NRBD, 3C-like protease (3CLpro), PLPrO, and RdRp were structurally similar to the influenza A neuraminidase, with TM-scores of 0.30077, 0.19254, 0.28766, 0.30666, and 0.34047, respectively. Interestingly, the active center of 3CL pro was found to be similar to the active center from the neuraminidase of influenza A. Through an analysis of molecular docking, we discovered that oseltamivir carboxylic acid was more favorable to bind to the active site of 3CLpro effectively, but its inhibitory effect was not strong compared with the positive group. Finally, we used in vitro study and retrospective case analysis to verify our speculations. We found that oseltamivir is ineffective against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro study and the clinical use of oseltamivir did not improve the patients' symptoms and signs and did not slow the disease progression. We consider that oseltamivir isn't suitable for the treatment of COVID-19. During the outbreak of novel coronavirus, when oseltamivir is not effective for the patients after they take it, health workers should be highly vigilant about the possibility of COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlabelled Image • A new drought index, Non-stationary Standardized Streamflow Index, was proposed. • The index was defined using a probability model with external forces as covariates. • The model included climate-driven and human-induced non-stationarity in streamflow. • The index evaluated hydrological droughts effectively under a changing environment. The aim of this paper is to propose a new non-stationarity hydrological drought index, which incorporates the climate-driven and human-induced non-stationarities in streamflow. For this purpose, significant teleconnection indices have been selected by correlation analysis to represent large-scale climate variability, and human-induced indices have been calculated using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to indicate varying anthropogenic forcing. Whereafter, a non-stationary probability model fitted to streamflow series has been developed using the climate-driven and human-induced indices as covariates. Base on the non-stationary model, we present a variation of the classical Standardized Streamflow Index (SSI), named Non-stationary Standardized Streamflow Index (NSSI). Focusing on the streamflow records of Luanhe River basin from 1958 to 2011, a comparison of performance between NSSI and SSI has been conducted to demonstrate the capability of the NSSI. Finally temporal-spatial patterns of drought during the last 40 years over the basin have been estimated by using the NSSI. The results show that the non-stationary model describes the variability of streamflow better than a stationary one, and the covariates selected with Akaike information criterion (AIC) provide insights into non-stationary behaviors. Since the NSSI effectively accounts for the non-stationarities of streamflow associated with climate changes and human activities, it provides more reasonable and satisfactory results than the SSI. Additionally, it is indicated that serious long-term droughts generally appeared more frequently in the southeast of Luanhe River basin, and an obvious aggravating tendency of drought was observed in this area during 1971–2011. The presented NSSI enables hydrological droughts to be better characterized in a non-stationary context, thus providing valuable references for the improvement of drought index and the drought related policy-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Heavy Ion Research Facility in Lanzhou-Cooling Storage Ring (HIRFL-CSR) external-target experiment (CEE) under construction is expected to provide novel opportunities for the studies of the thermodynamic properties of nuclear matter, in particular the nuclear matter equation of state (nEOS), with heavy ion collisions at a few hundreds MeV/u beam energies. Based on Geant 4 packages, the simulations of the detector responses to the collision events generated using transport model are conducted. The overall performance of CEE, including the geometric coverage, the momentum resolution of tracks and the particle identification ability has been investigated. Various observables proposed to probe the nEOS, such as the production of light clusters, 3 H / 3 He yield ratio, radial flow, π - / π + yield ratio and neutral kaon yields, have been reconstructed. The feasibility of studying nEOS beyond the saturation density via the aforementioned observables to be measured with CEE has been demonstrated by using the ultra relativistic quantum molecular dynamics (UrQMD) simulation data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater storage (GWS) decline, as well as total water storage (TWS) decline, in the (semi)arid Ordos Basin (China) poses great challenges to the water supply and ecological environment. In this study, the major factors causing the rapid loss of water storage during 2003–2020 are first investigated using correlation analysis, where the storage estimates are derived from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites. The major hydroclimatic drivers of monthly water storage changes are then explored among precipitation (P), evapotranspiration (ET), and runoff (RO) using an interpretable deep learning (IDL) method. The relative contribution of each driver is quantified by leveraging the interpretability nature of IDL. Results show that the GWS depletion (–0.82 cm/year) primarily accounts for the TWS loss (–0.73 cm/year) in the Ordos Basin under increased precipitation. The decreased TWS and GWS are both closely related to the increased vegetation density and coal production, indicating that they are the major drivers of the long-term water loss. At the monthly scale, the IDL method reveals that P and ET contribute over 75% to the changes of both TWS and GWS in most regions. The response lag of TWS to P and ET is generally 1–3 months. In contrast, GWS shows a more complicated response to P and ET with a longer lag range of 1–11 months in different regions due to the complicated Ordos Basin aquifer systems. These findings achieve a better understanding of hydrologic cycles and better guide sustainable water resources management in the Ordos Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The confluence process of river overflow during floods participates in the eco-hydrological simulation. • Using actual river length, bend radius equivalent and overflow data helps improve the steppe river confluence process. • Precipitation, ecological status, and climate change significantly interact with OFN, and the overflow response to climate has a 2-year lag. Technology has greatly promoted ecohydrological model development, but runoff generation and confluence simulations have fallen behind in ecohydrological model development due to limited innovations. To fully understand ecohydrological processes and accurately describe the coupling between ecological and hydrological processes, a distributed ecohydrological model was constructed by integrating multisource information into distributed dynamic process model (DDPM). We mainly describe runoff generation and convergence modules. Based on the improved HBV model and degree-3 h factor method, runoff generation and snow routines were constructed for semiarid grassland basins. In view of meandering and variable steppe river channels and steep hydrological relief characteristics, a confluence module was constructed; the 1-km bend radius equivalent concept was innovatively proposed to unify river channel bend degrees. The daily runoff simulation validation results obtained using two datasets were R 2 = 0.947 and 0.932, NSE = 0.945 and 0.905, KGE = 0.971 and 0.680. In the 3-hour flood simulations, the DDPM could better restore small long-distance water flows than the confluence method that did not consider actual river lengths or bend energy losses; the DDPM more accurately simulated the flood peak arrival time than the confluence method that did not consider overflow. The simulated mainstream overflow frequency increased by 0.84/10 years, and significant interaction periods of 10 to 13 years occurred with local precipitation, ecological status, and global climate change. An approximately 2-year lag occurred in the global climate change response. This study helps us further understand and reveal the ecohydrological processes of steppe rivers in semiarid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The charge exchange (CE) reaction is an effective probe to study the structure of atomic nuclei in the isospin dimension, which has been studied for decades. To expand the range of nuclei studied by CE reactions to a wider range and research the structure characteristics of unstable nuclei, including the isospin symmetry, spin-isospin excitation, and nuclear symmetry energy, a semi-cylindrical time projection chamber (scTPC) prototype was designed and constructed to probe ( 3 He,t) CE reactions in inverse kinematics. The 266 nm UV laser was used to achieve electron-drift-velocity calibration. The scTPC has an energy resolution (FWHM) of 5.6% for α particles emitted by 241 Am radioactive source. The position resolution of scTPC is described by the residual method. The spatial resolution on the pad plane is 409 μ m. And the position resolution in the drift direction is 326 μ m, equivalent to an angular resolution of 0.4 ∘ . These performances suggest that the scTPC can measure Δ E and particle tracks precisely. The successful development of the scTPC prototype provides better conditions for the next step of experimental data analysis and processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a rare systematic immune disease manifested with excessive activation of lymphocytes and macrophages. This study was designed to explore the feasible prognostic factors of secondary HLH (sHLH). Method: We retrospectively analyzed 179 patients with newly diagnosed sHLH from January 2016 to May 2019 according to the HLH-2004 protocol. Baseline characteristics and laboratory results were reviewed. Results: The median age of all patients was 53 years, with a male/female ratio of 1.45. The commonest cause of HLH was malignancy. Of the 179 patients, 48.6% presented with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection, 92.8% with hemocytopenia (at least 2 lineages), 60.3% with hypofibrinogenemia, 43.0% with hypertriglyceridemia (≥ 3 mmol/L), 99.4% with high ferritin, 97.8% with fever, 72.1% with splenomegaly, and 72.6% with hemophagocytosis. As to their prognosis, 122 patients died; the median survival was 88 days, with a 2-year survival rate of 26.72%. Univariate analysis confirmed neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio ˃ 2.53, lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) ≤ 4.43, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio ˃ 227.27, red blood cell distribution width ˃ 14.6, red blood cell distribution width-to-platelet ratio (RPR) > 0.33, EBV infection, platelet ≤ 34 × 109 /L, fibrinogen ≤ 1.34 g/L, alkaline phosphatase ˃ 182.4 U/L, adenosine deaminase ˃ 69.2 U/L, and ferritin ˃ 2318 ng/mL were associated with an inferior survival. In a multivariate model, LMR, RPR, and ferritin were considered as three independent factors. Conclusion: Some blood-based inflammatory markers, which can be easily and cheaply detected, are significantly associated with the OS of HLH patients. LMR and RPR, superior to NLR, PLR, RDW, can be taken to predict the OS of patients with HLH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inflammation and angiogenesis are two hallmarks of carcinoma. The proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-17 (IL-17) facilitates angiogenesis in lung cancer; however, the underlying mechanism is not fully understood. In this study, tumour microvessel density (MVD) was positively associated with IL-17, interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and vascular endothelial cell growth factor (VEGF) expression in human lung adenocarcinoma tissues, and it was increased in tumour tissues of A549-IL-17 cell-bearing nude mice. Importantly, positive correlations were also detected between IL-17 expression and IL-6, IL-8 and VEGF expression in human lung adenocarcinoma tissues. Furthermore, IL-6, IL-8 and VEGF production, as well as STAT1 phosphorylation, were increased in tumour tissues of A549-IL-17 cell-bearing nude mice in vivo and in A549 and H292 cells following IL-17 stimulation in vitro. In addition, STAT1 knockdown using an inhibitor and siRNA attenuated the IL-17-mediated increases in IL-6, IL-8 and VEGF expression in A549 and H292 cells. In conclusion, IL-17 may promote the production of the angiogenic inducers IL-6, IL-8 and VEGF via STAT1 signalling in lung adenocarcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the inland closed area of Horqin Sandy Land, China, lakes are the most important source of water, and they maintain the regional hydrological balance and ecosystem health. Clarifying long-term continuous changes of inland lake surface area and water storage in the sandy land is thus of great significance to the management of water resources in arid and semi-arid areas. This study estimated changes in the surface area and water storage of small lakes in the sandy land during 1984–2021 using a multiple index threshold method and an empirical equation based on Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) DEM (digital elevation model) data and Landsat 5/7/8 images. Hydro-meteorological variables were also incorporated to explore their potential relationship with changes in the lake elements. The lakes in the sandy land resemble stars or dots, with distinct inhomogeneity. Permanent lakes account for the majority of the total lake area, mostly distributed in the center and east of the study area, whereas most seasonal lakes are small water bodies, with surface areas of 0.1–0.5 km2 and irregularly distributed. Lake surface area and water storage underwent frequent changes during the 38 years, and could be divided into three characteristic fluctuation phases. From 1984 to 1999, the lake surface area fluctuated greatly, and the water storage increased by approximately 0.3732 Gt, with an average expansion rate of 0.0572 Gt/y. Specifically, lakes with a surface area >2 km2 primarily accounted for the expansion. From 1999 to 2004, the lake area shrank sharply to the lowest point, and the water storage capacity decreased by approximately 0.4003 Gt. From 2004 to 2021, the lake surface area and water storage tended to be stable. Annual fluctuations of lake surface area and water storage were mostly affected by precipitation and evapotranspiration, followed by vapor pressure deficit, wet day frequency, and temperature, which have significant periodicity and hysteresis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An alpha/beta emission rate counting system which comprises of a large-area windowless multi-wire proportional counter and a digital pulse processing module has been established at the National Institute of Metrology of China, aiming at realizing the absolute measurement of emission rate for alpha and beta sources. Performance of the detector, including high-voltage plateaus and uniformity were measured. Measured emission rates for large-area 241 Am and 90 Sr/ 90 Y sources when compared with certificated values showed difference within 1.0%, and good agreements achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This study investigated soil respiration ( R s ) in adjacent ecosystems with a cascade distribution in the semi-arid region of the Horqin Sandy Land (HSL) and determined the spatio-temporal distribution of R s as well as its relationship with the influencing factors. Methods Four ecosystems with a cascade distribution (i.e., cascade ecosystems) were selected from the dune–meadow area of the HSL, including sandy bare ground (SBG), a sandy Caragana microphylla community (SCC), transitional artificial Populus forest (TPF), and a meadow Phragmites communis community (MPC). In 2014 and 2015, R s , soil temperature ( T s ) and soil moisture content ( M s ) were measured every 10–15 days during the growing season, and 24-h continuous observations were carried out during the early, middle and late stages of growth. In addition, landforms, soil properties, vegetation characteristics and groundwater table depths of the cascade ecosystems were surveyed. Results The R s values of the cascade ecosystems showed significantly different seasonal variations (P < 0.05). During the growing season, the mean, coefficient of variation, and temperature sensitivity of R s were in order of SBG < SCC < TPF < MPC, which was consistent with landforms, soil properties and vegetation characteristics. Due to the differences in landforms, soil properties, vegetation characteristics and groundwater table depth, the R s values of SBG and SCC were significantly positively correlated with M s. but not with T s . TPF had the optimum M s. for R s , while the R s value of MPC was significantly negatively correlated with M s . Further, the R s values of TPF and MPC were significantly positively correlated with T s . T s and M s. together explained 49.9%, 74.8%, 79.5%, 92.1% of R s in the cascade ecosystems(SBG, SCC, TPF, MPC). At the diurnal scale, the R s values of SBG, TPF and MPC had different relationships with T s and M s. during different stages of the growing season. The R s values of SBG and TPF also had different diurnal patterns during these stages. Conclusion The critical factors that led to the spatial variation of R s in the cascade ecosystems in the study area were root biomass, vegetation cover, soil organic matter and M s . These factors also resulted in the complex relationships of R s with its influencing factors. The critical factors that led to the temporal variation of R s in the cascade ecosystems were T s , M s. and plant growth. Cascade ecosystems should be considered when estimating the terrestrial carbon balance, and caution must be taken to select the appropriate relation between R s and its influencing factors. Results of this study will contribute to the accurate estimation of terrestrial carbon emissions and our understanding of the carbon cycle process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Solar radiation is the external driving force of the Earth's climate system. In different spatial and temporal scales, meteorological elements have different responses and lag periods to solar activity (SA), climatic oscillation (CO), geographic factors (GF) and other influencing factors. However, such studies are not abundant and in-depth in the world. To further understand the "solar-climate-water resource" system, this study considers China as the study area and investigates the monthly data of temperature (T) and precipitation (P) during 1900–2020 that were obtained from 3836 grid stations. The strong interaction and lag distribution between T or P with SA and CO were studied and influence weights of SA, CO, and geographical factors (GF) of each grid station were calculated. A multivariate hysteretic decomposition model was established to simulate and quantitatively decompose the periodic lag considering the factors of the earth's revolution. It is found that the strong interaction/lag periods obtained in a long-time scale can be decomposed into several periods shorter than the SA period. The distribution of strong interaction/lag periods is nested with topography and echoes with cities. The underlying surface conditions and urbanization are also important factors affecting the T and P lag. There are two distinct dividing lines in the lag period and influencing factor pattern of T and P. The T dividing line moves through valleys where water or mountain ranges meet, where the gap facilitates monsoon movement across regions, while the P dividing line is a zone of dramatic terrain, where tall mountains block water vapor transport. In the lag trend of T, the northern region of China has the longest lag period, and the lag period of surrounding regions tends to converge to the northern region. The lag period caused by SN in southwest China is larger than that in northwest China, while the lag effect of CO is opposite in the above two regions. The lag trend of P also has the above characteristics, but the difference is that the lag period in central China is the longest. • Two distinct dividing lines in the hysteresis distribution of T and P respectively. • MHDM descripts how lag of SA to T & P decomposed into CO, SY & GF. • Weight distribution of SA, GF and CO in RGB false color synthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The PF contributed to the total infiltration was >50% • The control mechanisms of temporal and small-scale spatial characteristics on different types of preferential flow processes were clarified. • Environmental characteristics differed between two types of preferential flow. • The two types of preferential flow affected soil moisture parameters differently. The control mechanisms of temporal and small-scale spatial characteristics on different types of preferential flow (PF) processes during infiltration are still lacking. Two-year high-resolution in situ soil moisture profiles were used to investigate the controls of PF processes and its interaction with moisture and vegetation dynamics, which covers three hillslope positions (upslope–14˚, midslope–9˚, and downslope–4˚) and three vegetation treatments (bare ground, stubble grassland and natural grassland) in a typical semi-arid grassland of Eurasia. Two types of PF were identified. Non-sequential response (NSR) was taken as one indication of PF using the disordered response of soil moisture profiles to rainfall. Fast preferential flow in sequence response (PF-rate) was taken as another indicator when a measured maximum pore water rate higher than saturated hydraulic conductivity. The conditions for the occurrence of the two PFs were inconsistent and different from the studies which showed the higher probability of PFs under dryer conditions and with higher rainfall intensities. Small rainfall events with low rainfall intensity and relatively low soil moisture at most locations showed higher NSR frequency, which further highlight the strong dependence of NSR on hydrophobicity and macropore structure of the topsoil. Whereas a higher rainfall intensity increased PF-rate under wet conditions. Meanwhile, the occurrence of PF-rate was also significantly controlled by vegetation coverage, soil texture and saturated hydraulic conductivity of 5–10 cm soil layer. Furthermore, the frequency of PF was 15.9%–44.5%, and its contribution to the total infiltration was >50%. The water recession rate of NSR and PF was slower and faster than that of matrix flow, respectively. This demonstrates the importance of PF to water replenishment in scarce rain areas and the influence of combinations of spatial–temporal factors on different flow processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The meadow-rice mixed ecosystem acted as CO 2 sink and CH 4 source. • CH 4 emissions were regulated by soil moisture during the dry period. • The seasonal dynamics of GPP, R eco , and CH 4 throughout the growing season were mainly regulated by T s and T a. Although previous studies have illustrated the variations in carbon dioxide (CO 2) and methane (CH 4) fluxes for different types of wetlands, there have been few reports on those of meadow-rice mixed ecosystems in semi-arid regions. In this study, eddy covariance (EC) technique was utilized to measure CO 2 and CH 4 fluxes for a meadow-rice mixed ecosystem during the growing season in 2020 in the Horqin Sandy Land, North China. The results indicated obvious diurnal and seasonal variations in gross primary productivity (GPP), ecosystem respiration (R eco), net CO 2 exchange (NEE), and CH 4 flux, with high levels during the vigorous growing stage and low levels during the early and late growing stages. The mean daily GPP, R eco , NEE, and CH 4 were 11.33 g CO 2 m−2 d−1, 6.37 g CO 2 m−2 d−1, −4.96 g CO 2 m−2 d−1, and 81.97 mg CH 4 m−2 d−1, respectively. The accumulated values of GPP, R eco , NEE, and CH 4 during the growing season were 1,756.54 g CO 2 m−2 (478.62 g C m−2), 987.30 g CO 2 m−2 (269.02 g C m−2), −769.24 g CO 2 m−2 (−209.60 g C m−2), and 12.7 g CH 4 m−2 (9.55 g C m−2), respectively, showing that the meadow-rice mixed ecosystem acted as CO 2 sink and CH 4 source. Low intensity CH 4 emissions were maintained during the dry period and were controlled by soil moisture (SM). The seasonal dynamics of GPP, R eco , and CH 4 throughout the growing season were mainly controlled by soil temperature (T s) and air temperature (T a). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Horqin Sandy Land, the dynamics of the soil-plant-atmosphere-water system and changes in plant water availability significantly impact water resources management and vegetation restoration. This study determined the hydrogen and oxygen isotopic compositions (δD and δ 18 O) of precipitation, plant water, soil water, and groundwater as well as carbon isotopes of plant leaves during the growing season and different precipitation events (8.9 mm, 18.1 mm, and 28.3 mm) in 2020. Target areas included a semimobile dune with Artemisia halodendron communities (SMAH), a meadow corn field (MCF), and a meadow wetland dominated by Phragmites australis (MPA). The water uptake patterns of the three typical plants were determined using the Iso-Source model. The results showed significant differences in the seasonal variations of δD and δ 18 O in precipitation, plant water, soil water, and groundwater among SMAH, MCF, and MPA throughout the water cycle, which was attributed to the different origins, distribution, and evaporation mechanisms of water. The influence of precipitation on soil water transport processes varied with the change and transformation of rainfall intensity and ecosystem type. Water conditions and root distribution determined seasonal water use patterns of three plants. The water use efficiency (WUE) of the three typical plants followed the order: corn > Phragmites australis > Artemisia halodendron. And their seasonal WUE were not only consistent with the contribution rate of deep soil water, but also affected by the water use strategies adopted. However, the response of their WUE to rainfall pulses was not significant on the whole. Rainfall intensity, pre-rain mass soil moisture content characteristics and vegetation characteristics are important factors affecting the contribution distribution of different water sources to plants under rainfall events. Artemisia halodendron displays ecological plasticity against seasonal water deficit, facilitating its extensive colonization in dune ecosystem and further promoting the process of dune fixation. The distribution pattern of vegetation water use in the meadow ecosystem is not very ideal at present, and water-carbon processes would gradually become imbalanced in the long run. The research results will provide a reference for sustainable water resource utilization in semi-arid areas through ecohydrological processes. • The plants water use efficiency (WUE) followed the order: corn > Phragmites australis > Artemisia halodendron. • The response of plant WUE to rainfall pulses was not significant. • The plant species influence leaf stable carbon isotope characteristics. • Water conditions and vegetation characteristics determined the water use patterns of plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (NHL-HLH) in adult secondary HLH is a common and universally highly lethal critical disorder. Hyponatraemia is the most common electrolyte disorder in the critical illness setting and acts as a negative prognostic factor. The aim of our study was to evaluate the prognostic role of hyponatraemia among patients with NHL-HLH. The results showed that 81 (52.9%) patients had hyponatraemia. After a median follow up 47 (range 14–180) days, there were 72 (88.9%) cumulative deaths in hyponatraemia group while 50 (69.4%) in normonatremia group. After adjustment for confounders, multivariate analysis revealed that hyponatraemia was an independent prognostic factor for OS (HR:1.51, 95% CI: 1.03–2.20; p = 0.033). Restricted cubic spline confirmed a linear and positive association between serum sodium and the risk of mortality. Hyponatraemia is relatively frequent in NHL-HLH. As a readily available biomarker in clinical routine, it was a promising prognostic predictor for NHL-HLH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A multi-strip ionization chamber has been built for precise and fast monitoring of the carbon beam spatial distribution at Heavy Ion Researched Facility of Lanzhou Cooling Storing Ring (HIRFL-CSR). All the detector's anode, cathode and sealed windows are made by aluminized Mylar film in order to minimize the beam lateral deflection. The sensitive area of the detector is , with the anode segmented in 100 strips, and specialized front-end electronics has been developed for simplifying the data acquisition and quick feedback of the relevant parameters to beam control system. It can complete one single beam profile in . [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Evapotranspiration (ET) serves as a pivotal metric for studying ecohydrological processes. Its dynamics are intricately linked to the interplay among water balance, energy balance, and land use. However, the precise estimation of ET at a regional scale, coupled with a comprehensive understanding of its response to changes in water, heat, and vegetation factors, presents an ongoing challenge. In this study, we assessed the necessity to refine soil evaporation simulations in arid and semiarid regions. Subsequently, we introduced the random forest algorithm to optimize the soil evaporation module of the Priestley-Taylor Jet Propulsion Laboratory (PT-JPL) model to enable a more accurate prediction of ET. Then, we quantitatively explored the correlation between ET and pertinent factors, such as soil moisture, solar radiation, and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in the Inner Mongolia section of the Yellow River Basin (IMSYRB), which is a typical arid and semiarid region. The findings underscore that soil evaporation is the predominant constituent of ET in the IMSYRB. Moreover, soil moisture, as opposed to relative humidity, better represent the near-surface moisture conditions within the study area. The refined model (PT-JPL-RF) exhibited enhanced simulation performance at both individual stations and in the overall region for ET. Furthermore, the application of the PT-JPL-RF model for scrutinizing the spatiotemporal ET variations in the study area revealed an average ET of 250 mm over the past four decades. Since 1982, a fluctuating upward trend of 0.99 mm/year has been observed. Spatially, ET exhibits an eastward distribution, with elevated values in the eastern sectors compared to those in the western regions, particularly in the Big Black River Basin (296 mm). Vegetation was the primary factor influencing ET variations in the IMSYRB, contributing to an annual increase by 1.58 mm. These findings demonstrate the benefits of integrating machine learning algorithms with physical models and provide a practical example for accurately simulating and predicting ET across diverse regions. • Examined the need to enhance PT-JPL model within arid and semiarid regions. • Soil moisture better reflected regional humidity than relative humidity. • Improved evapotranspiration simulations by merging PT-JPL and Random Forest models. • Boosted evapotranspiration simulation accuracy by 7.9% with the hybrid model. • Vegetation index contributed most to evapotranspiration, reaching 1.79 mm/year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are artificial chemicals with broad commercial and industrial applications. Many studies about PFASs have been conducted in densely industrial and populated regions. However, fewer studies have focused on the PFASs' status in a typical arid region. Here, we investigated 30 legacy and emerging PFASs in surface water from the mainstream and tributaries of the Dahei River. Our results revealed that total PFASs concentrations (∑ 30 PFASs) in water ranged from 3.13 to 289.1 ng/L (mean: 25.40 ng/L). Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) had the highest mean concentration of 2.44 ng/L with a 100% detection frequency (DF), followed by perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA) (mean concentration: 1.34 ng/L, DF: 59.26%). Also, perfluorohexane sulfonate (DF: 44.44%), perfluorobutane sulfonate (DF: 88.89%), and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) (DF: 92.59%) had mean concentrations of 12.94, 2.00, and 1.05 ng/L, respectively. Source apportionment through ratio analysis and principal component analysis-multiple linear regression analysis showed that treated or untreated sewage, aqueous film-forming foam, degradation of precursors, and fluoropolymer production were the primary sources. The PFOS alternatives were more prevalent than those of PFOA. Conductivity, total phosphorus, and chlorophyll a positively correlated with Σ 30 PFASs and total perfluoroalkane sulfonates concentrations. Furthermore, ecological risk assessment showed that more attention should be paid to perfluorooctadecanoic acid, perfluorohexadecanoic acid, perfluorooctane sulfonate, perfluorohexane sulfonate, and (6:2 and 6:2/8:2) polyfluoroalkyl phosphate mono- and di-esters. The mass load of PFASs to the Yellow River was 1.28 kg/year due to the low annual runoff in the Dahei River in the arid region. This study provides baseline data for PFASs in the Dahei River that can aid in the development of effective management strategies for controlling PFASs pollution in typical arid regions in China. [Display omitted] • The highest ∑ 30 PFASs were observed at Shanan Reservoir (289.06 ng/L). • Treated or untreated sewage, and AFFF were two primary PFASs sources. • Conductivity, TP, and chlorophyll a positively correlated with ΣPFASs and ΣPFSAs. • PFASs were emitted into the Yellow River at 1.28 kg/year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high momentum tail (HMT) of nucleons, as a signature of the short-range correlations in nuclei, has been investigated by the high-energy bremsstrahlung γ rays produced in 86Kr+124Sn at 25 MeV/nucleon. The energetic photons are measured by a CsI(Tl) hodoscope mounted on the spectrometer CSHINE. The energy spectrum ≥35 MeV can be reproduced by the Isospin- and Momentum-Dependent Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck model calculations incorporating the photon production channel from np process in which the HMTs of nucleons is considered. A non-zero HMT ratio of about 15% is favored by the data. The effect of the capture channel n p → d γ is demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Infusion of multi-source remote sensing data is imperative for species-level classifications of grasslands. • In species-level classifications, hydrology, polarization and terrain features are crucial for improving accuracy. • Classification uncertainties may be linked to the evolution and management of grasslands. The distribution of grassland communities significantly influences biodiversity conservation and resource management. Remote sensing datasets, such as Sentinel land cover images with high spatial and temporal resolution, have been commonly employed to simulate the distribution and community structure of plant species in grasslands. Nevertheless, the precision of grassland and community classification requires further enhancement for more effective grassland management. In response, our study presents a dynamic workflow for simulating the distribution of grassland plant species under different hydroclimatic conditions. Leveraging a random forest classifier with multi-source remote sensing features, we mapped the distribution of nine plant communities and six types of land cover in the upstream grasslands of the Xilingol River Basin, Inner Mongolia from 2017 to 2022. Utilizing the Google Earth Engine platform, our findings reveal a remarkable consistency in the overall spatiotemporal accuracy and classification precision of grassland communities across different years, even under varying hydroclimatic conditions. When critical features were carefully selected, the integration of Sentinel-1 (C-band synthetic aperture radar), Sentinel-2 (surface reflectance), SRTM DEM 30 m (Digital Elevation Model data), and MOD16A2.006 (evapotranspiration/latent heat flux product) data yielded a high overall accuracy ranging from 87.0 % to 89.5 % over multiple years. Our study not only determined the spatial patterns of various grassland plant communities but also explored the mechanism of their responses to different hydroclimatic conditions. The proposed approach holds practical implications for fine-scale grassland classification, providing valuable support for landscape classification and monitoring efforts. Furthermore, the insights derived from our findings offer valuable guidance for land managers and policymakers, aiding them in making informed decisions related to grassland conservation and sustainable land use planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• LAI and Ts are essential regulators in determining seasonal variation in Rs in SA and WP, respectively. • A scheme distinguishing between pre- and post-rain conditions is more appropriate for simulating SA R s in the growing season. • High temperature inhibition of soil respiration will provide new ideas to combat global warming. Carbon emissions from soil respiration (R s) in arid and semi-arid regions play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle and are strongly regulated by hydrothermal factors. In this study, we examined the seasonal (May to November) and diurnal dynamics of R s in two typical ecosystems, Artemisia halodendron communities in semi-fixed dunes (SA) and Phragmites communis communities in meadow wetlands (WP). Additionally, we investigated their responses to natural precipitation, high and low temperatures, and drought in the semi-arid Horqin Sandy Land in northern China. The results showed that the seasonal variation of R s in SA and WP was unimodal, and peaked in humid August and dry July, respectively. Soil temperature, soil moisture and leaf area index (T s , M s & LAI) ternary model and T s & M s binary model can well simulate the R s seasonal changes in SA and WP, respectively. It is more appropriate to use a scheme that distinguishes between pre- and post-rain conditions when simulating R s during the growing season. Diurnal R s generally increased with increasing temperature. However, R s inhibition may occur under high or low temperatures and drought. The different responses of R s in SA and WP to precipitation depend primarily on soil texture and moisture status. Incorporating several factors into carbon cycle models, including ecosystem type, vegetation growth, and precipitation, can improve the simulation and prediction of carbon emissions in arid and semi-arid regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The third isoform of the Na+–Ca2+ exchanger (NCX3) is crucial for a physiological fine-tuning of the Ca2+ fluxes in excitable tissues. In this view, the NCX3 accounts for the aberrant Ca2+ influx seen during neuronal excitotoxicity, such as in Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, little is known about NCX3 regulation and functional properties. Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (W. somnifera), a traditional indigenous plant widely recognized for having numerous medicinal values, was undertaken to determine its potential therapeutic benefit against aggregated Aβ1–42-induced NCX3 dysregulation and the thereof cognition impairment in 5xFAD mice. The undertaken sourced dried roots of authenticated W. somnifera physicochemical compositional tests satisfied standards of pharmacognostic quality, and further phytochemical analysis of the roots methanol extract revealed the roots constitute several antioxidants. Following an intra-gastric gavage administration of synthesized W. somnifera roots methanolic extract from postnatal day 30 (P30) to P75, in vivo cognitional studies and then neurochemical examinations of the NCX3 expression level, Aβ plaque deposition, and antioxidant activities in the AD-associated brain regions of 4-month-old 5xFAD mice suggests that the oxidative stress normalizing effects of W. somnifera constituents, operating on the NCX3, may have a therapeutic role in the improvement of cognition in AD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new Frisch-grid ionization chamber has been built to explore the appropriate choice of Frisch-grid. Detailed studies of the relationship between grid geometries and detector performance have been performed with an 241 Am source. This paper describes and compares the energy resolution of ionization chambers with parallel-wire and mesh grids of different grid parameters. Some specific recommendations for grid selection are provided based on the data currently available. To obtain optimal energy resolution, the operating voltage of the chamber must satisfy the condition of minimum electron collection on the grid with distinct geometries and parameters, respectively. Since there is no established theory applicable to both types of grids, we have devised a careful simulation procedure incorporating the COMSOL and Garfield++ codes to search for the conditions of the minimum electron collection on the grid. The simulation results fit the experimental data well, suggesting that this simulation method successfully predicts the suitable voltage setting when using a mesh grid or parallel wires grid as the shielding electrode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to multi-source data information fusion, the precision of eco-hydrology models is improving rapidly. In particular, the fractional vegetation coverage (FVC) is of great significance in the remote sensing monitoring of surface parameters. In this study, downscaling inversion was performed using Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Ratio Vegetation Index (RVI) data from Land Remote-Sensing Satellite (System, Landsat-8) and RVI-Freeman data from Radarsat-2 with polarization decomposition, incorporating the scattering entropy (H) and anisotropy (α). Further, modified vegetation indices (mVIs) and corresponding calculation methods were developed to describe the FVC precisely. Two deep learning (DL) methods were used for mVI optimization. The results showed that the inclusion of H and α greatly facilitated FVC estimation and that the mVIs and DL provided higher accuracies and smaller errors than the previous methods (NDVI or RVI). HαmRVI, one of the mVIs, had the highest accuracy in FVC simulation using a vegetation index, and the particle swarm optimization neural network (PSONN) achieved the best performance. The FVC was then predicted with 8 m resolution using the mVIs and PSONN, demonstrating that the proposed method effectively compensates for the fluctuations in high-FVC valley wetlands caused by high water content, avoids overestimation in grasslands, and provides great detail while retaining the original regional variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]