There are millions of river barriers worldwide, ranging from wooden locks to concrete dams, many of which form associated impoundments to store water in small ponds or large reservoirs. Besides their benefits, there is growing recognition of important environmental and social trade-offs related to these artificial structures. However, global datasets describing their characteristics and geographical distribution are often biased towards particular regions or specific applications, such as hydropower dams affecting fish migration, and are thus not globally consistent.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAromatic components of C-C are playing indispensable roles in multi-functional properties of jet fuel. Here, we reported the controllable alkylation of benzene with mixed olefins of ethylene and propylene toward C-C aromatic hydrocarbons for jet fuels over the bifunctional Ga/ZSM-5 catalyst. The resultant 2Ga/ZSM-5 exhibited a superior selectivity of 86.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe modification of RNA through the N6-methyladenosine (m6A) has emerged as a growing area of research due to its regulatory role in gene expression and various biological processes regulating the expression of genes. m6A RNA methylation is a post-transcriptional modification that is dynamic and reversible and found in mRNA, tRNA, rRNA, and other non-coding RNA of most eukaryotic cells. It is executed by special proteins known as "writers," which initiate methylation; "erasers," which remove methylation; and "readers," which recognize it and regulate the expression of the gene.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMultiple epigenetic factors play a regulatory role in maintaining the homeostasis of cutaneous components and are implicated in the aging process of the skin. They have been associated with the activation of the senescence program, which is the primary contributor to age-related decline in the skin. Senescent species drive a series of interconnected processes that impact the immediate surroundings, leading to structural changes, diminished functionality, and heightened vulnerability to infections.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Chronic intestinal inflammatory diseases play a crucial role in the onset of colorectal cancer (CRC). Effectively impeding the progression of colitis-associated colorectal cancer (CAC) can be instrumental in hindering CRC development. Wu-Mei-Pill (WMP), a formulation comprising various herbal extracts, is clinically employed for CAC treatment, yet the underlying mechanism of WMP's efficacy in CAC remains unclear.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnlabelled: Nutritional supplements have been used to improve immune function. Condensed fuzheng extract (CFE) is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) formula that is predominantly made from sheep placenta, Bunge, and Collett & Hemsl. However, the toxicological profile of CFE has not been determined.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClimate change and human activities increasingly threaten lakes that store 87% of Earth's liquid surface fresh water. Yet, recent trends and drivers of lake volume change remain largely unknown globally. Here, we analyze the 1972 largest global lakes using three decades of satellite observations, climate data, and hydrologic models, finding statistically significant storage declines for 53% of these water bodies over the period 1992-2020.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRivers are among the most diverse, dynamic, and productive ecosystems on Earth. River flow regimes are constantly changing, but characterizing and understanding such changes have been challenging from a long-term and global perspective. By analyzing water extent variations observed from four-decade Landsat imagery, we here provide a global attribution of the recent changes in river regime to morphological dynamics (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOur general purpose was to examine the effect of condensed Fuzheng extract (CFE) on the alleviation of immunosuppression. A mouse model of immunosuppression was established by intraperitoneal injection of CTX. A healthy control group received no CTX and no CFE; different intragastric doses of CFE were administered to three groups of mice for 28 days (4500, 2250, or 1125 mg/kg/day); a negative control received CTX alone, and a positive control received CTX and levamisole hydrochloride.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic value of MRI in serous borderline ovarian tumor (SBOT), and to determine the MRI features of SBOT and their correlations with clinicopathological characteristics.
Materials And Methods: A total of 121 patients suspected of SBOT by preoperative MRI and then underwent surgery at our hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The accuracy of MRI in diagnosing SBOT was assessed.
Background: Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is considered an effective treatment for slow transit constipation (STC); nevertheless, the mechanism remains unclear.
Methods: In this study, eight patients with STC were selected according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria; they then received three treatments of FMT. The feces and serum of STC patients were collected after each treatment and analyzed by integrating 16 s rRNA microbiome and metabolomic analyses.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
June 2020
Surface water, which is changing constantly, is a crucial component in the global water cycle, as it greatly affects the water flux between the land and the atmosphere through evaporation. However, the influences of changing surface water area on the global water budget have largely been neglected. Here we estimate an extra water flux of 30.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe ubiquitous lakes across China's Yangtze Plain (YP) are indispensable freshwater resources sustaining ecosystems and socioeconomics for nearly half a billion people. Our recent survey revealed a widespread net decline in the total YP lake inundation area during 2000-2011 (a cumulative decrease of ~10%), yet its mechanism remains contentious. Here, we uncover the impacts of climate variability and anthropogenic activities including i) Yangtze flow and sediment alterations by the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) and ii) human water consumption in agricultural, industrial, and domestic sectors throughout the downstream Yangtze Basin.
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