STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PHYSICAL STRUCTURAL INTEGRALITY AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICES VALUE IN THE RIPARIAN ZONE

Riparian zone is crucial to the health of streams and their surrounding environment. A healthy riparian zone can provide food, habitats, protecting water quality and many other ecological functions and environmental benefits. Evaluating riparian quality is essential to achieve and maintain good stream health, as well as to guarantee the ecological functions that riparian areas provide. In this study, we addressed the consistency of characterizing integrality of ecosystem of a riparian zone in Northeast China with physical structural integrality (PSI) and ecosystem service value (ESV), and explored the relationship between the PSI and ESV. The procedures included (1) evaluation of PSI of the riparian zone based on remote sensing; (2) calculation of the riparian ESV based on basic evaluation units (BEUs); (3) exploration of statistical relationships between the PSI and the ESV by the performance of linear regression. The study concluded that the trend of PSI was the same as the ESV, and they were consistent in describing the quantitative trend of the riparian zone’s ecosystem integrity. There was statistically significant correlation (R = 0.66, P \u3c 0.01 level) between PSI and ESV

Cell cycle regulatory proteins and oral squamous cell carcinoma development

Abstract no. 1279published_or_final_versio

Aharonov-Bohm interference in topological insulator nanoribbons

Topological insulators represent novel phases of quantum matter with an insulating bulk gap and gapless edges or surface states. The two-dimensional topological insulator phase was predicted in HgTe quantum wells and confirmed by transport measurements. Recently, Bi2Se3 and related materials have been proposed as three-dimensional topological insulators with a single Dirac cone on the surface and verified by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy experiments. Here, we show unambiguous transport evidence of topological surface states through periodic quantum interference effects in layered single-crystalline Bi2Se3 nanoribbons. Pronounced Aharonov-Bohm oscillations in the magnetoresistance clearly demonstrate the coverage of two-dimensional electrons on the entire surface, as expected from the topological nature of the surface states. The dominance of the primary h/e oscillation and its temperature dependence demonstrate the robustness of these electronic states. Our results suggest that topological insulator nanoribbons afford novel promising materials for future spintronic devices at room temperature.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, RevTex forma

Strategic orientation, strategic renewal, and the international performance of born global firms

Copyright © Crown / The Author(s) 2023. The international business environment is both dynamic and turbulent. Accordingly, a new venture’s strategic orientation (SO) and ability to undertake strategic renewal (SR) are of great importance to its survival, growth and international performance. Building on the dynamic capability perspective, we explore how SR capability mediates the relationship between SO and the performance of mature born global firms (BGFs). In particular, we examine the direct and indirect interplay between the SO of BGFs and their performance outcomes. We use a sample of 195 export-oriented BGFs, derived from the Bangladeshi apparel industry. We use a hierarchical regression analysis technique to test the direct effects. The mediation effect is examined using three statistical tests – Baron and Kenney’s (1986) causal steps approach, the Sobel test, and the Hayes indirect effect with bootstrapping method – to ensure the validity and reliability of our findings. The results reveal a positive association between SO and the performance of BGFs, and that this relationship is mediated by the firms’ SR capability. We contribute to a greater understanding of the drivers of mature BGFs’ international performance by demonstrating a direct link between their SO and SR capability, which in turn affects their performance outcomes

A direct examination of the dynamics of dipolarization fronts using MMS

Energy conversion on the dipolarization fronts (DFs) has attracted much research attention through the suggestion that intense current densities associated with DFs can modify the more global magnetotail current system. The current structures associated with a DF are at the scale of one to a few ion gyroradii, and their duration is comparable to a spacecraft's spin period. Hence, it is crucial to understand the physical mechanisms of DFs with measurements at a timescale shorter than a spin period. We present a case study whereby we use measurements from the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) Mission, which provides full 3-D particle distributions with a cadence much shorter than a spin period. We provide a cross validation amongst the current density calculations and examine the assumptions that have been adopted in previous literature using the advantages of MMS mission (i.e., small-scale tetrahedron and high temporal resolution). We also provide a cross validation on the terms in the generalized Ohm's law using these advantageous measurements. Our results clearly show that the majority of the currents on the DF are contributed by both ion and electron diamagnetic drifts. Our analysis also implies that the ion frozen-in condition does not hold on the DF, while electron frozen-in condition likely holds. The new experimental capabilities allow us to accurately calculate Joule heating within the DF, which shows that plasma energy is being converted to magnetic energy in our event

Locomotor hyperactivity in 14-3-3Zeta KO mice is associated with dopamine transporter dysfunction

Dopamine (DA) neurotransmission requires a complex series of enzymatic reactions that are tightly linked to catecholamine exocytosis and receptor interactions on pre- and postsynaptic neurons. Regulation of dopaminergic signalling is primarily achieved through reuptake of extracellular DA by the DA transporter (DAT) on presynaptic neurons. Aberrant regulation of DA signalling, and in particular hyperactivation, has been proposed as a key insult in the presentation of schizophrenia and related neuropsychiatric disorders. We recently identified 14-3-3ζ as an essential component of neurodevelopment and a central risk factor in the schizophrenia protein interaction network. Our analysis of 14-3-3ζ-deficient mice now shows that baseline hyperactivity of knockout (KO) mice is rescued by the antipsychotic drug clozapine. 14-3-3ζ KO mice displayed enhanced locomotor hyperactivity induced by the DA releaser amphetamine. Consistent with 14-3-3ζ having a role in DA signalling, we found increased levels of DA in the striatum of 14-3-3ζ KO mice. Although 14-3-3ζ is proposed to modulate activity of the rate-limiting DA biosynthesis enzyme, tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), we were unable to identify any differences in total TH levels, TH localization or TH activation in 14-3-3ζ KO mice. Rather, our analysis identified significantly reduced levels of DAT in the absence of notable differences in RNA or protein levels of DA receptors D1–D5. Providing insight into the mechanisms by which 14-3-3ζ controls DAT stability, we found a physical association between 14-3-3ζ and DAT by co-immunoprecipitation. Taken together, our results identify a novel role for 14-3-3ζ in DA neurotransmission and provide support to the hyperdopaminergic basis of pathologies associated with schizophrenia and related disorders.H Ramshaw, X Xu, EJ Jaehne, P McCarthy, Z Greenberg, E Saleh, B McClure, J Woodcock, S Kabbara, S Wiszniak, Ting-Yi Wang, C Parish, M van den Buuse, BT Baune, A Lopez and Q Schwar

Adsorption and reduction of palladium (Pd2+) by Bacillus licheniformis R08

Preliminary study on the mechanism of Pd2+ biosorption by resting cells of Bacillus licheniformis R08 biomass has been carried out by means of chemical kinetics and AAS, TEM, XRD and FTIR methods. The results showed that at 30degreesC and PH 3.5, when dry R08 biomass powder (800 mg/L) was mixed with Pd2+ (100 mg/L) for 45 min, the rate constant k of biosorption of Pd2+ attained a maximum of 5.97 x 10(-2) min(-1) and the half life period of the reaction reached 12 min. The part of Pd2+ adsorbed by R08 biomass was reduced to elemental, cell-bound Pd-0 at the same condition. The cell wall of R08 biomass was the primary location for accumulating Pd2+, and aldoses, i. e. hydrolysate of a part of polysaccharides on the peptidoglycan layer in the acidic medium, serving as the electron donor, in situ reduced the Pd2+ to Pd-0

Modelling and simulating change in reforesting mountain landscapes using a social-ecological framework

Natural reforestation of European mountain landscapes raises major environmental and societal issues. With local stakeholders in the Pyrenees National Park area (France), we studied agricultural landscape colonisation by ash (Fraxinus excelsior) to enlighten its impacts on biodiversity and other landscape functions of importance for the valley socio-economics. The study comprised an integrated assessment of land-use and land-cover change (LUCC) since the 1950s, and a scenario analysis of alternative future policy. We combined knowledge and methods from landscape ecology, land change and agricultural sciences, and a set of coordinated field studies to capture interactions and feedback in the local landscape/land-use system. Our results elicited the hierarchically-nested relationships between social and ecological processes. Agricultural change played a preeminent role in the spatial and temporal patterns of LUCC. Landscape colonisation by ash at the parcel level of organisation was merely controlled by grassland management, and in fact depended on the farmer's land management at the whole-farm level. LUCC patterns at the landscape level depended to a great extent on interactions between farm household behaviours and the spatial arrangement of landholdings within the landscape mosaic. Our results stressed the need to represent the local SES function at a fine scale to adequately capture scenarios of change in landscape functions. These findings orientated our modelling choices in the building an agent-based model for LUCC simulation (SMASH - Spatialized Multi-Agent System of landscape colonization by ASH). We discuss our method and results with reference to topical issues in interdisciplinary research into the sustainability of multifunctional landscapes