Impact of Microtopography and Neighborhood Effects on Individual Survival Across Life History Stages.

Understanding drivers of plant community assembly and individual survival in forest ecosystems is crucial for effective conservation and management. While macro-scale factors influencing vegetation patterns are well documented, the combined impact of microtopographic variations and neighborhood effects at neighborhood scales, particularly in subtropical forests, requires further study. To contribute to this area of research, we established a 9.

Metabolic signatures of metabolites of the purine degradation pathway in human plasma using HILIC UHPLC-HRMS.

The metabolic disorders in the purine degradation pathway have proven to be closely associated with several human diseases. However, the etiology is not yet fully understood. Profile assay of purine intermediates and uric acid involved in the metabolic pathway can provide additional insight into the nature and severity of related diseases.

Leaf functional traits of from different environments in eastern China.

Functional traits are important in understanding how plants respond and adapt to their immediate environment. is a highly endangered arbor species found throughout eastern China, primarily inhabiting hillsides and valleys, yet, little is known about the variation in leaf traits across these environments. In the present study, we tested this by comparing leaf surface area, leaf weight, leaf length, leaf symmetry and leaf mass per unit area, as well as the relationship between leaf traits and environmental factors and the scaling relationship between leaf surface area versus leaf dry mass.

Neighborhood Diversity Promotes Tree Growth in a Secondary Forest: The Interplay of Intraspecific Competition, Interspecific Competition, and Spatial Scale.

Understanding the biodiversity-productivity relationship (BPR) is crucial for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem management. While it is known that diversity enhances forest productivity, the underlying mechanisms at the local neighborhood level remain poorly understood. We established a 9.

Spatial Distribution and Ecological Determinants of Coexisting Hybrid Oak Species: A Study in Yushan's Mixed Forest.

Ecological niche partitioning is crucial in reducing interspecific competition, fostering species coexistence, and preserving biodiversity. Our research, conducted in a hybrid mixed oak forest in Yushan, Jiangsu, China, focuses on , , , and var. .

Diagnostic efficacy of tract-specific diffusion tensor imaging in cervical spondylotic myelopathy with electrophysiological examination validation.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of tract-specific diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) metrics in identifying the responsible segments for neurological dysfunction in cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM).

Methods: The study encompassed nineteen participants diagnosed with CSM, including 10 males and 9 females. Additionally, a control group consisting of ten healthy caregivers (5 males and 5 females) were recruited with no symptoms and no compressions on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Reconstruction of a century of air pollution history in Nanjing, China, using trace elements in situ leaf specimens of Platanus × hispanica and Pittosporum tobira.

Leaves can specifically uptake trace elements from the surrounding environment. And tree leaves are a good biological indicator for air pollution. Therefore, chemical analysis of leaf specifications can be used to reproduce a historical record of air pollution.

Inter- and Intra-Population Variation of Foliage Calcium and Magnesium in Two Chinese Pine Species.

Calcium and magnesium are major nutrient elements of plants, and both play an important role in plant growth and development. and are important afforestation tree species in barren mountains in China. However, observation and research on calcium and magnesium nutrition of dominant forest species in China are still limited.

Selaginellawuyishanensis (sect. Tetragonostachyae, Selaginellaceae), a new species from East China and its phylogenetic position based on molecular data.

A new spikemoss species, , is described and illustrated based on materials collected from Fujian Province, East China. The new species can be distinguished from Koidzumi and P. S.

Scale-dependent effects of species diversity on aboveground biomass and productivity in a subtropical broadleaved forest on Mt. Huangshan.

The relationship between species diversity and biomass/productivity is a major scientific question in ecology. Exploring this relationship is essential to understanding the mechanisms underpinning the maintenance of biodiversity. Positive, negative, and neutral relationships have been identified in controlled experiments and observational research.

Automatically measuring the Cobb angle and screening for scoliosis on chest radiograph with a novel artificial intelligence method.

Objectives: To establish an automatic approach for the measurement of the Cobb angle and the diagnosis of scoliosis on chest radiograph.

Methods: We developed an artificial intelligence (AI) automatic program which contained a supervised learning module and an inference module. After the filtering and pre-processing process, 96 images from the Shenzhen chest X-ray set were used for training with the supervised learning module, and 491 test images were separately gauged by the AI and the corresponding manual methods.

Spatial distribution and source analysis of airborne trace metal deposition using moss biomonitoring in Huai'an, China.

Terrestrial mosses are tracers for studying atmospheric trace metal deposition and pollution. Here, Al, Fe, Zn, Mn, Ba, Cu, V, Cr, Pb, Ni, Co, and Cd concentrations in mosses from Huai'an, China, were measured to investigate their contamination level, spatial distribution, and sources. The average concentration of all the metals (except Ni) was much higher than those in Albania, a "hotspot" of toxic metal contamination in Europe.

The chromosome-level holly () genome reveals key enzymes in triterpenoid saponin biosynthesis and fruit color change.

The L. (hollies) genus of Aquifoliaceae shows high species diversity in tropical and subtropical regions of Asia and South America. Throughout the range of the genus, species have been widely used in beverage and medicine production and as ornamentals.

Extensive sharing of chloroplast haplotypes among East Asian Cerris oaks: The imprints of shared ancestral polymorphism and introgression.

Shared ancestral polymorphism and introgression are two main causes of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) haplotype sharing among closely related angiosperms. In this study, we explored the roles of these two processes in shaping the phylogeographic patterns of East Asian Cerris oaks by examining the geographic distributions of randomly and locally distributed shared haplotypes, which coincide with the expectations of shared ancestry and introgression, respectively. We sequenced 1340 bp of non-coding cpDNA from ( = 418) and ( = 183) and compiled previously published sequence data of ( = 439).

Stepped Geomorphology Shaped the Phylogeographic Structure of a Widespread Tree Species (, Anacardiaceae) in East Asia.

Species' phylogeographic patterns reflect the interplay between landscape features, climatic forces, and evolutionary processes. Here, we used two chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) markers ( and -) to explore the role of stepped geomorphology in shaping the phylogeographic structure of , an economically important tree species widely distributed in East Asia. The range-wide pattern of sequence variation was analyzed based on a dataset including 357 individuals from China, together with published sequences of 92 individuals mainly from Japan and South Korea.

The complete chloroplast genomes of three Hamamelidaceae species: Comparative and phylogenetic analyses.

Hamamelidaceae is an important group that represents the origin and early evolution of angiosperms. Its plants have many uses, such as timber, medical, spice, and ornamental uses. In this study, the complete chloroplast genomes of (R.

Mismatch Between Specific and Genetic Diversity in an Evergreen Broadleaf Forest in Southeast China: A Study Case of 10.24 ha Forest Dynamics Plot of Huangshan.

For a long time, forestry management has often focused on the protection of species diversity, and mistakenly believed that protecting species diversity protects genetic diversity. Therefore, research that integrates community ecology and population genetics has become important because it can help elucidate whether the targets for protecting specific and genetic diversity are congruent. In this study, we have emphasized the impact of the community on the population because no previous studies have considered the community composition of a place .

A prospective cohort study of the accuracy and safety of robot-assisted minimally invasive spinal surgery.

Background: Robot-assisted open surgery (RA-OS) is now commonly used in traditional open-exposure spinal screw placement surgery. With the help of robots, robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RA-MIS) can achieve less bleeding and less tissue damage in percutaneous screw insertion. While the research comparing the safety and accuracy of screw placement between RA-MIS and RA-OS is insufficient.

Influence of Pliocene and Pleistocene climates on hybridization patterns between two closely related oak species in China.

Background And Aims: Contemporary patterns of genetic admixture reflect imprints of both ancient and recent gene flow, which can provide us with valuable information on hybridization history in response to palaeoclimate change. Here, we examine the relationships between present admixture patterns and past climatic niche suitability of two East Asian Cerris oaks (Quercus acutissima and Q. chenii) to test the hypothesis that the mid-Pliocene warm climate promoted while the Pleistocene cool climate limited hybridization among local closely related taxa.

A Meta-Analysis Indicates Positive Correlation between Genetic Diversity and Species Diversity.

Species diversity (SD) and genetic diversity (GD) are the two basic levels of biodiversity. In general, according to the consensus view, the parallel effects of environmental heterogeneity, area, and connectivity on two levels, can drive a positive correlation between GD and SD. Conversely, a negative correlation or no correlation would be expected if these effects are not parallel.

Characterization of the complete chloroplast genome of (Fagaceae).

Seemen is an East Asian evergreen oak tree species belonging to the section . Here, we assembled and annotated the complete chloroplast (cp) genome of the species. The circular genome is 161,105 bp in size, presenting a typical quadripartite structure including two copies of inverted repeat (IR) regions (25,864 bp), one large single-copy (LSC) region (90,357 bp), and one small single-copy (SSC) region (19,020 bp).

Evolutionary patterns of nucleotide substitution rates in plastid genomes of .

Molecular evolution, including nucleotide substitutions, plays an important role in understanding the dynamics and mechanisms of species evolution. Here, we sequenced whole plastid genomes (plastomes) of , , , and and compared them with 14 other plastomes to explore their evolutionary relationships using 67 shared protein-coding sequences. While many previously identified evolutionary relationships were found, our findings do not support previous research which retrieve subg.

Hybridization and introgression in sympatric and allopatric populations of four oak species.

Background: Hybridization and introgression are vital sources of novel genetic variation driving diversification during reticulated evolution. Quercus is an important model clade, having extraordinary diverse and abundant members in the Northern hemisphere, that are used to studying the introgression of species boundaries and adaptive processes. China is the second-largest distribution center of Quercus, but there are limited studies on introgressive hybridization.