Evaluating the influence of human activities on flood severity and its spatial heterogeneity across the Pearl River Delta.

With climate change and intensified human activities, disasters such as heavy rainfall, flooding, typhoons, and storm surges are becoming more frequent, posing significant threats to lives, property, and economic development. We propose a method combining extreme value theory and probability distribution to examine the flood severity under the effect of strong human activities. By focusing on the Pearl River Delta (PRD), as one of the most populated areas of China, we quantified changes in the severity of extreme water level for different return levels between 1966 and 1990 and 1991-2016 (with strong human activities), associated with the spatial patterns over the PRD.

A Novel System for Simultaneous Real-Time Determination of N-Enriched Ammonia, Hydroxylamine, Nitrite, and Nitrate.

Ammonium (NH), hydroxylamine (NHOH), nitrite (NO), and nitrate (NO) account for the most important reactive nitrogen (N) species in the N cycle, playing a key role in N elimination and N retention, as well as the production of nitrogenous trace gases. However, it is still challenging to fulfill simultaneous real-time determination of all four N compounds enriched in N. This study successfully established a novel system by coupling an utomatic imultaneous ample reparation unit to a embrane nlet ass pectrometer (4n-ASSP-MIMS) for rapid online N fraction analysis of all four key compounds in the N cycle.

A self-cleaning micro-fluidic chip biospired by the filtering system of manta rays.

Size-based particle filtration has become indispensable in numerous biomedical and environmental applications. In this study, bioinspired by the filter-feeding mechanism (lobe filtration) of manta rays, we designed a U-shaped biomimetic gill rake filter that combined lobe filtration and Dean flow to filter monodisperse suspensions, bi-disperse suspensions and yeast cells. Compared with other equipment using the inertial focusing technology, our equipment can perform high-throughput (up to 8 mL min) and high-efficiency filtration of particles (maximum filtration efficiencies of 96.

Curcumin Supplementation Improves Growth Performance and Anticoccidial Index by Improving the Antioxidant Capacity, Inhibiting Inflammatory Responses, and Maintaining Intestinal Barrier Function in -Infected Broilers.

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary curcumin supplementation on growth performance, anticoccidial index, antioxidant capacity, intestinal inflammation, and cecum microbiota in broilers infected with . A total of 234 one-day-old broilers were categorized into three treatments, with six replicates per treatment containing 13 broilers each. The three treatments included the control group, group, and + curcumin (200 mg/kg) group.

Unraveling the drivers for interannual variabilities of NO fluxes from forests soils across climatic zones.

Forest soils are an important source of nitrous oxide (NO), however, field observations of NO emission have often exhibited large variabilities when compared with managed agricultural lands. In the last decade, the number of forest NO studies has increased more than tenfold, but only a few of them have looked into the interannual flux variabilities from the regional scale. Here, we have collected 30 long-term NO monitoring studies (≥ 2 years) based on a global database, and extracted variabilities (VAR) as well as relative variabilities (VAR, in proportions) of annual NO fluxes.

Mussel-Inspired Antimicrobial and Antifouling Coating Constructed by the Combination of Zwitterionic Copolymers and Silver Nanoparticles.

Biofouling and bacterial infections are significant challenges in biomedical devices. In this study, a biocompatible dual-functional coating with antimicrobial and antifouling properties is developed by co-depositing the zwitterionic copolymer and silver nanoparticles via a dopamine-assisted strategy. Inspired by mussel adhesion, the coating exhibits substrate-independent adhesion as a result of the formation of irreversible covalent bonds.

Modeling denitrification nitrogen losses in China's rice fields based on multiscale field-experiment constraints.

Denitrification plays a critical role in soil nitrogen (N) cycling, affecting N availability in agroecosystems. However, the challenges in direct measurement of denitrification products (NO, N O, and N ) hinder our understanding of denitrification N losses patterns across the spatial scale. To address this gap, we constructed a data-model fusion method to map the county-scale denitrification N losses from China's rice fields over the past decade.

Topography-driven differences in soil N transformation constrain N availability in karst ecosystems.

Fragile karst ecosystems are characterized by complex topographic landscapes associated with high variations in vegetation restoration. Identifying the characteristics and driving factors of nitrogen (N) availability across the topographic gradient is essential to guide vegetation restoration in karst regions. In this study, we collected soil samples and plant leaves along the topographic gradient (ridge, upper slope, middle slope, and foot slope) of convex slopes in the karst fault basin of southwest China, and determined the indicators reflecting soil N availability, N transformation rates, and their controlling factors.

Identification of a new allele of BraA09g066480.3C controlling the wax-less phenotype of Chinese cabbage.

Background: Epidermal wax covers the surfaces of terrestrial plants to resist biotic and abiotic stresses. Wax-less flowering Chinese cabbage (Brassica campestris L. ssp.

Water status and macronutrient concentrations, but not carbon status, of ssp. are determined by its hosts: a study across nine mistletoe-host pairs in central Switzerland.

Introduction: European mistletoe, L., is a hemiparasite that can infect various tree species, yet our understanding of its physiological interactions with host species is limited.

Methods: Nine mistletoe-host pairs (i.

Controlling high-speed droplet splashing and superspreading behavior on anisotropic superhydrophobic leaf surfaces by ecofriendly Pseudogemini surfactants.

Background: Efficient deposition of high-speed droplets on superhydrophobic leaf surfaces remains an important challenge. For anisotropic wired superhydrophobic leaf surfaces, the splashing phenomenon is especially serious because it leads to the low effective utilization of pesticides by biological targets. The lost pesticides cause serious ecological environment pollution, therefore there is an urgent need to develop a green and sustainable cost-effective strategy to achieve efficient deposition of high-speed droplets on anisotropic superhydrophobic leaf surfaces at low dosage.

Recent Advances of Organ-on-a-Chip in Cancer Modeling Research.

Although many studies have focused on oncology and therapeutics in cancer, cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Due to the unclear molecular mechanism and complex in vivo microenvironment of tumors, it is challenging to reveal the nature of cancer and develop effective therapeutics. Therefore, the development of new methods to explore the role of heterogeneous TME in individual patients' cancer drug response is urgently needed and critical for the effective therapeutic management of cancer.

Chaos-Based Lightweight Cryptographic Algorithm Design and FPGA Implementation.

With the massive application of IoT and sensor technologies, the study of lightweight ciphers has become an important research topic. In this paper, an effective lightweight LZUC (lightweight Zu Chongzhi) cipher based on chaotic system is proposed to improve the traditional ZUC algorithm. In this method, a further algorithm is designed for the process of integrating chaos into the lightweighting of ZUC.

Challenges in measuring nitrogen isotope signatures in inorganic nitrogen forms: An interlaboratory comparison of three common measurement approaches.

Rationale: Stable isotope approaches are increasingly applied to better understand the cycling of inorganic nitrogen (N ) forms, key limiting nutrients in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. A systematic comparison of the accuracy and precision of the most commonly used methods to analyze δ N in NO and NH and interlaboratory comparison tests to evaluate the comparability of isotope results between laboratories are, however, still lacking.

Methods: Here, we conducted an interlaboratory comparison involving 10 European laboratories to compare different methods and laboratory performance to measure δ N in NO and NH .

Isotopically characterised N O reference materials for use as community standards.

Rationale: Information on the isotopic composition of nitrous oxide (N O) at natural abundance supports the identification of its source and sink processes. In recent years, a number of mass spectrometric and laser spectroscopic techniques have been developed and are increasingly used by the research community. Advances in this active research area, however, critically depend on the availability of suitable N O isotope Reference Materials (RMs).

Oral Administration of Cryptotanshinone-Encapsulated Nanoparticles for the Amelioration of Ulcerative Colitis.

Background: Inappropriate macrophages phenotype transition contributes to the development of ulcerative colitis, and the poly (ethylene glycol)-block-poly (d, l-lactic acid) (PEG-PLA) nanoparticles delivery system can be utilized to improve the cryptotanshinone (CTS)-based therapy.

Methods: We used a single emulsification method to prepare CTS-encapsulated nanoparticles (NP). The therapeutic efficacy of NP was evaluated in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis mice.

Industry 4.0 Engineering Product Life Cycle Management Based on Multigranularity Access Control Model.

In order to improve the management efficiency of the safety status of Industry 4.0 engineering products, the multigranularity access control model (MGACM) Industry 4.0 engineering product life cycle management (PLM) is adopted to optimize the safety management mode of Industry 4.

Relative Bioavailability of Broiler Chickens Fed with Zinc Hydroxychloride and Sulfate Sources for Corn-Soybean Meal.

This study was conducted to determine relative bioavailability (RBV) of basic zinc chloride (BZC) compared to zinc sulfate monohydrate (ZSM) for broilers. A randomized design involving a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement of the different treatment regimens plus one negative control was set up for this study. A total of 630 newly hatched male AA broiler chicks were randomly allocated to 42 different pens (15 chickens/pen) and assigned to 7 dietary treatments in a completely randomized design.

Electroinduced Reconfiguration of Complex Emulsions for Fabrication of Polymer Particles with Tunable Morphology.

Continuous morphological control of anisotropic particles is always an important challenge in the field of materials. In this study, a new strategy for continuous fabrication of polymer particles with various morphologies induced by electricity is reported using complex emulsions as template. A synthetic electro-responsive surfactant containing ferrocene group is used to prepare complex emulsions, which contain a polymerizable monomer as inner phase.

Topography-related controls on NO emission and CH uptake in a tropical rainforest catchment.

Forest soils in the warm-humid tropics significantly contribute to the regional greenhouse gas (GHG) budgets. However, spatial heterogeneity of GHG fluxes is often overlooked. Here, we present a study of NO and CH fluxes over 1.

What can we learn from N O isotope data? - Analytics, processes and modelling.

The isotopic composition of nitrous oxide (N O) provides useful information for evaluating N O sources and budgets. Due to the co-occurrence of multiple N O transformation pathways, it is, however, challenging to use isotopic information to quantify the contribution of distinct processes across variable spatiotemporal scales. Here, we present an overview of recent progress in N O isotopic studies and provide suggestions for future research, mainly focusing on: analytical techniques; production and consumption processes; and interpretation and modelling approaches.

First investigation and absolute calibration of clumped isotopes in N O by mid-infrared laser spectroscopy.

Rationale: Unravelling the biogeochemical cycle of the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N O) is an underdetermined problem in environmental sciences due to the multiple source and sink processes involved, which complicate mitigation of its emissions. Measuring the doubly isotopically substituted molecules (isotopocules) of N O can add new opportunities to fingerprint and constrain its cycle.

Methods: We present a laser spectroscopic technique to selectively and simultaneously measure the eight most abundant isotopocules of N O, including three doubly substituted species - so called "clumped isotopes".

Microbiota and metabolome responses in the cecum and serum of broiler chickens fed with plant essential oils or virginiamycin.

This study investigated the cecal microbiota and serum metabolite profile of chickens fed with plant essential oils (PEO) or virginiamycin (VIRG) using high-throughput 16S rRNA gene sequencing and untargeted metabolomics approach. The main aim of this work was to explore the biochemical mechanisms involved in the improved growth performance of antibiotics and their alternatives in animal production. The results showed that both PEO and VIRG treatment significantly increased the relative abundance of phyla Bacteroidetes and decreased the abundance of phyla Firmicutes and genus of Lactobacillus in cecal microbiota of chickens.