Greening but enhanced vegetation water stress in the Yellow River Basin: A holistic perspective.

The Yellow River Basin (YRB) has emerged as a focal point of global vegetation greening due to climate change and human activities. Given its ecological vulnerability and intense human activities, environmental sustainability has become an urgent concern for scholars. Current research on the hydrological effects of vegetation greening, from a reductionist perspective, still struggle to answer the crucial question that whether vegetation water stress is increasing or decreasing.

Association of higher serum follicle-stimulating hormone levels with successful microdissection testicular sperm extraction outcomes in nonobstructive azoospermic men with reduced testicular volumes.

To investigate the impact of preoperative serum follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels on the probability of testicular sperm retrieval, we conducted a study of nonobstructive azoospermic (NOA) men with different testicular volumes (TVs) who underwent microdissection testicular sperm extraction (micro-TESE). A total of 177 NOA patients undergoing micro-TESE for the first time from April 2019 to November 2022 in Shenzhen Zhongshan Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital (formerly Shenzhen Zhongshan Urology Hospital, Shenzhen, China) were retrospectively reviewed. The subjects were divided into four groups based on average TV quartiles.

Spatio-temporal variation in soil thermal conductivity during the freeze-thaw period in the permafrost of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in 1980-2020.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) has the largest amount of permafrost in the low and middle latitudes, making it highly susceptible to the effects of global warming. In particular, the degradation of permafrost can be intensified by anomalous amplified warming. To accurately model the hydrothermal dynamics of permafrost and its future trends, the accumulation of high-precision, long-term data for the soil thermal conductivity (STC) in the active layer is crucial.

Effect of permafrost degradation on carbon sequestration of alpine ecosystems.

Permafrost degradation profoundly affects carbon storage in alpine ecosystems, and the response characteristics of carbon sequestration are likely to differ at the different stages of permafrost degradation. Furthermore, the sensitivity of different stages of permafrost degradation to climate change is likely to vary. However, related research is lacking so far on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP).

Priming effect stimulates carbon release from thawed permafrost.

Climate warming leads to widespread permafrost thaw with a fraction of the thawed permafrost carbon (C) being released as carbon dioxide (CO ), thus triggering a positive permafrost C-climate feedback. However, large uncertainty exists in the size of this model-projected feedback, partly owing to the limited understanding of permafrost CO release through the priming effect (i.e.

Spatiotemporal variations and driving factors for potential wind erosion on the Mongolian Plateau.

Wind erosion can cause desertification and sandstorms in arid and semiarid areas. However, quantitative studies of the dynamic changes in wind erosion over long time periods are relatively rare, and this knowledge gap hinders our understanding of desertification under the conditions of a changing climate. Here, we selected the Mongolian Plateau as the study area.

Storage, patterns, and environmental controls of soil organic carbon stocks in the permafrost regions of the Northern Hemisphere.

Large stocks of soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulated in the Northern Hemisphere permafrost regions may be vulnerable to climatic warming, but global estimates of SOC distribution and magnitude in permafrost regions still have large uncertainties. Based on multiple high-resolution environmental variables and a compiled soil sample dataset (>3000 soil profiles), we used machine-learning methods to estimate the size and spatial distribution of SOC for the top 3 m soils in the Northern Hemisphere permafrost regions. We also identified key environmental predictors of SOC.

Dynamic characteristics and synergistic effects of ecosystem services under climate change scenarios on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) supplies many ecosystem services (ESs) that maintain local and global pan-Asian populations and ecosystems. The effects of climate change on ES provision in the QTP will have far-reaching impacts on the region and the many downstream ecosystems and countries that depend on ESs from the "Third Pole". This study undertook a systematic assessment of ES provision, trade-offs and synergies between four ESs (raw material provision, water yield, soil retention, and carbon storage) under future climate scenarios (representative concentration pathway).

Bi-allelic mutations in MOS cause female infertility characterized by preimplantation embryonic arrest.

Study Question: Are mutations in MOS (MOS proto-oncogene, serine/threonine kinase) involved in early embryonic arrest in infertile women?

Summary Answer: We identified mutations in MOS that may cause human female infertility characterized by preimplantation embryonic arrest (PREMBA), and the effects of the mutations in human embryonic kidney 293T (HEK293T cells) and mouse oocytes provided evidence for a causal relation between MOS and female infertility.

What Is Known Already: MOS, an activator of mitogen-activated protein kinase, mediates germinal vesicle breakdown and metaphase II arrest. Female MOS knockout mice are viable but sterile.

New permafrost is forming on the exposed bottom of Zonag Lake on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Most lakes on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau have expanded in recent years. Zonag Lake, a critical habitat for Tibetan antelopes in the continuous permafrost zone, burst and overflowed after several years of expansion, resulting in a reduction of approximately 100 km in the lake area. Observations have revealed new permafrost is forming on the exposed bottom, accompanied by various periglacial landscapes.

A bibliometric analysis of mountain ecosystem services, 2000-2019.

Research on mountain ecosystem services (MES) under the influence of climate change and human activities has gradually become the focus of academic attention in recent years. Here, this study analyzes the research hotspots and frontiers of this field based on metrics including main research forces, core journals and papers, research hotspots and topics by using the methods of bibliometrics and text mining. The results revealed the following: (1) the number of papers is increasing rapidly in recent years.

A History of Endometriosis Is Associated With Decreased Peripheral NK Cytotoxicity and Increased Infiltration of Uterine CD68 Macrophages.

Women with endometriosis may have a defective immune system. However, evidence of the immune responses of endometriosis patients with a history of endometriosis surgery is lacking, and the association between the location of endometriosis lesions and immune responses is unclear. This retrospective study included 117 females with reproductive failure and a history of endometriosis and 200 females with reproductive failure but without endometriosis to analyze their endometrial and peripheral immune responses.

Spatial and temporal change patterns of near-surface CO and CH concentrations in different permafrost regions on the Mongolian Plateau from 2010 to 2017.

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) released from permafrost regions may have a positive feedback to climate change, but there is much uncertainty about additional warming from the permafrost carbon cycle. One of the main reasons for this uncertainty is that the observation data of large-scale GHG concentrations are sparse, especially for areas with rapid permafrost degradation. We selected the Mongolian Plateau as the study area.

Spatiotemporal variations and regional differences in air temperature in the permafrost regions in the Northern Hemisphere during 1980-2018.

Surface air temperature is an important factor for the permafrost thermal state in the Northern Hemisphere. It is therefore necessary to understand the variations and regional differences in air temperature to determine the interactions between permafrost degradation and climate change. In this study, we used observational data from the National Centers for Environmental Information, the China Meteorological Administration, and the World Data Centre for Meteorology to quantitatively analyze the variations and regional differences in air temperature from 1980 to 2018.

Multi-omics reveals a relationship between endometrial amino acid metabolism and autophagy in women with recurrent miscarriage†.

Deterioration of the endometrial environment is an essential cause of recurrent miscarriage (RM). However, current studies in terms of endometrial amino acid metabolic characterization and autophagy are still inadequate. We tried to (1) identify the alternation in metabolite profiles in the RM endometrium; (2) investigate the expression of autophagy-related proteins in RM; and (3) elucidate the association between amino acid metabolism and autophagy in RM.

Risk assessment of potential thaw settlement hazard in the permafrost regions of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Climate warming could exacerbate the occurrence of thaw settlement hazard in the permafrost regions of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), which would threaten the stability of engineering infrastructure in cold regions. The risk associated with permafrost settlement, valuable for the regional sustainable development, remains poorly assessed or understood on the QTP. In this study, three common Geo-hazard indices were used to assess the settlement risks in the permafrost regions of the QTP, including the settlement index, the risk zonation index, and the allowable bearing capacity index.

Reducing human activity promotes environmental restoration in arid and semi-arid regions: A case study in Northwest China.

Human activities have adversely impacted grassland net primary productivity (NPP) across the world, and quantitative estimations of the anthropogenic impacts on NPP (HNPP) can be helpful to improve environmental protection and climate adaptation measures. However, disentangling the effects of climate variability and human activities on NPP is problematic and requires the calculation of potential net primary productivity (PNPP). In this study, we assessed the anthropogenic impacts on NPP in the Shiyang River basin-a typical arid and semi-arid region.

Overexpression of lncRNA EPB41L4A-AS1 Induces Metabolic Reprogramming in Trophoblast Cells and Placenta Tissue of Miscarriage.

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to be crucial regulators in numerous human diseases. However, little is known about their effects on early recurrent miscarriage (RM). Here we aimed to investigate the role of lncRNA EPB41L4A-AS1 on placental trophoblast cell metabolic reprogramming, which might be involved in the pathogenesis of RM.

Evaluation of two aneuploidy screening tests for chorionic villus samples: Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification and fluorescence in situ hybridization.

The vast majority of first-trimester pregnancy losses are the consequence of numerical aberrations in fetal chromosomes, which may involve nearly all chromosomes. Although commercial probes for all chromosomes are available for multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) analyses, their use has rarely been reported for screening all 24 chromosomes for early fetal demise, especially by FISH. Here, we validated the ability of MLPA and FISH techniques as two low-cost aneuploidy screening methods for 24 chromosomes in 165 chorionic villus samples (CVSs).

Spatial variations and controlling factors of ground ice isotopes in permafrost areas of the central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Ground ice is a distinctive feature of permafrost, and its thawing under climate change can alter the regional hydrological and biogeochemical cycles. Spatial variations and determinants of ground ice isotopes are critical to understand subsurface water cycling during freeze-thaw process in the context of climate change, while they are not well known in permafrost region due to lack of field investigation. We examined spatial distributions and controlling factors of ground ice isotopes using data of 8 soil profiles surveyed in permafrost areas of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP).

Exploring the contribution of precipitation to water within the active layer during the thawing period in the permafrost regions of central Qinghai-Tibet Plateau by stable isotopic tracing.

Stable isotopic tracing has proven to be a useful tool for assessing surface water source dynamics and hydrological connectivity in permafrost regions. This study has investigated the contribution of precipitation to water within the active layer at three long-term observation sites, including Fenghuoshan (FHS), Hoh Xil (KKXL) and Wudaoliang (WDL), by using isotopic tracer technique and two-component mixing model. The results showed that precipitation was the predominant source for water within the active layer, permafrost and ground ice near permafrost table at the three sites.

Spatial distribution and changes of permafrost on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau revealed by statistical models during the period of 1980 to 2010.

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP), where is underlain by the highest and most extensive mid-altitude permafrost, is undergoing more dramatic climatic warming than its surrounding regions. Mapping the distribution of permafrost is of great importance to assess the impacts of permafrost changes on the regional climate system. In this study, we applied logistic regression model (LRM) and multi-criteria analysis (MCA) methods to map the decadal permafrost distribution on the QTP and to assess permafrost dynamics from the 1980s to 2000s.

Prevalent genotypes of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) in recurrent miscarriage and recurrent implantation failure.

Objective: To evaluate the association of two common methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene polymorphisms with recurrent miscarriage (RM) and repeated implantation failure (RIF) METHODS: The study comprised of 521 patients, with a history of RM (n = 370) or RIF (n = 151). One hundred forty-four women with fallopian tube blockages who had successfully conceived after the first in vitro fertilization embryo transfer treatment served as the control group. The MTHFR alleles, genotypes, and haplotypes were assessed in different groups.