Temporal variability in composition and fluxes of Yellow River particulate organic matter

This study examines temporal variations of the abundance and carbon isotopic characteristics of particulate organic carbon (POC) and specific-source compounds in the context of hydrological variability in the Yellow River. The content and bulk carbon isotopic characteristics (13C and 14C) of POC were relatively uniform over the hydrologic (seasonal) cycle. We attribute these temporally invariant geochemical characteristics to the dominant contribution of loess material to the suspended particulate matter (SPM). In contrast, molecular-level signals revealed that hydrologic conditions exert a significant influence on the proportional contributions of petrogenic and especially fresh plant-derived OC, while pre-aged soil OC is mobilized via deeper erosion processes (e.g., gully erosion, mudslides) and is independent of hydrodynamics and surface runoff. A coupled biomarker-isotope mixing model was applied to estimate the time-varying supply of contemporary/modern biomass, pre-aged soil, and fossil OC components to Chinese marginal seas from the Yellow River. We found that natural (e.g., precipitation) and human-induced (e.g., water and sediment regulation) variations in hydrological regime strongly influence the flux with the magnitude of the corresponding annual fluxes of POC ranging between 0.343 ± 0.122 Mt yr−1 and 0.581 ± 0.213 Mt yr−1, but less strongly infleunce proportions of the different OC constituents. Inter-annual differences in pre-aged soil and fossil OC fluxes imply that extreme climate events (e.g., floods) modulate the exhumation and export of old carbon to the ocean, but the OC homogeneity in the pre-aged mineral soil-dominated watersheds facilitates robust predictions in terms of OC transport dynamics in the past (sediment cores) and in the future

Inhibition of HIPK2 protects stress-induced pathological cardiac remodeling

Background: Homeodomain-Interacting Protein Kinase 2 (HIPK2) has been reported to maintain basal cardiac function, however, its role in pathological cardiac remodeling remains unclear. Methods: HIPK2 inhibitors (tBID and PKI1H) treated mice and two lines of HIPK2−/− mice were subjected to transverse aortic constriction (TAC). HIPK2 knockdown were performed in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes (NRCMs), neonatal rat cardiac fibroblasts (NRCFs), and human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs). Microarray analysis was used to screen HIPK2 targets. Overexpression of early growth response 3 (EGR3) and C-type lectin receptor 4D (CLEC4D) were performed in NRCMs, while an activator of Smad3 was used in NRCFs, to rescue the effects of HIPK2 knockdown. Finally, the effects of EGR3 and CLEC4D knockdown by AAV9 in TAC were determined. Findings: HIPK2 was elevated in TAC mice model, as well as cardiomyocyte hypertrophy and NRCFs fibrosis model. Pharmacological and genetic inhibition of HIPK2 improved cardiac function and suppressed cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis induced by TAC. In vitro, HIPK2 inhibition prevented cardiomyocyte hypertrophic growth and NRCFs proliferation and differentiation. At the mechanistic level, we identified EGR3 and CLEC4D as new targets of HIPK2, which were regulated by ERK1/2-CREB and mediated the protective function of HIPK2 inhibition in cardiomyocytes. Meanwhile, inhibition of phosphorylation of Smad3 was responsible for the suppression of cardiac fibroblasts proliferation and differentiation by HIPK2 inhibition. Finally, we found that inhibition of EGR3 or CLEC4D protected against TAC. Interpretation: HIPK2 inhibition protects against pathological cardiac remodeling by reducing EGR3 and CLEC4D with ERK1/2-CREB inhibition in cardiomyocytes, and by suppressing the phosphorylation of Smad3 in cardiac fibroblasts. Funding: This work was supported by the grants from National Key Research and Development Project (2018YFE0113500 to J.X.), National Natural Science Foundation of China (82020108002 and 81911540486 to J.X., 81400647 to MJ Xu), the grant from Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality (21XD1421300 and 20DZ2255400 to J.X.), the “Dawn” Program of Shanghai Education Commission (19SG34 to J.X.), and Shanghai Sailing Program (21YF1413200 to Q.Z.)

Production, characterization, and epitope mapping of a monoclonal antibody against genotype VII Newcastle disease virus V protein

Newcastle disease virus (NDV) V protein is crucial for viral interferon (IFN) antagonism and virulence, determining its host range restriction. However, little information is available on the B cell epitopes of V protein and the subcellular movement of V protein in the process of NDV infection. In this study, the monoclonal antibody (mAb) clone 3D7 against genotype VII NDV V protein was generated by immunizing mice with a purified recombinant His-tagged carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD) region of V protein. Fine epitope mapping analysis and B-cell epitope prediction indicated that mAb 3D7 recognized a linear epitope 152RGPAELWK159, which is located in the V protein CTD region. Sequence alignment showed that the mAb clone 3D7-recognized epitope is highly conserved among Class II genotype VII NDV strains, but not among other genotypes, suggesting it could serve as a genetic marker to differentiate NDV genotypes. Furthermore, the movement of V protein during NDV replication in infected cells were determined by using this mAb. It was found that V protein localized around the nucleus during virus replication. The establishment of V protein-specific mAb and identification of its epitope extend our understanding of the antigenic characteristics of V protein and provide a basis for the development of epitope-based diagnostic assays

Prosedur penyelesaian pembiayaan bermasalah pada akad mudharabah dalam rangka meminimalisir resiko di BMT Amanah Usaha Mulia Magelang

Permasalah kehidupan perekonomian yang sulit, membuat masyarakat berinisiatif untuk membuka usaha sendiri. Mereka membutuhkan suatu bantuan berupa dana untuk memperlancar usahanya, maka BMT Amanah Usaha Mulia Magelang ikut untuk mengembangkan produknya yaitu pembiayaan mudharabah sesuai perkembangan dunia perbankan dalam target peningkatan keuntungan dan menyejahterakan masyarakat. Dengan diberikanya pembiayaan tersebut, terkadang muncul adanya pembiayaan bermasalah dikarenakan ada beberapa faktor diantaranya ketidakmampuan anggota untuk membayar tepat waktu atau jatuh tempo pembayaran diakibatkan karena usaha anggota yang kurang lancar dan lain sebagaianya. Tugas Akhir ini berjudul “ Prosedur Penyelesaian Pembiayaan Bermasalah pada Akad Mudharabah Dalam Rangka Meminimalisir Risiko” Berdasarkan judul tersebut dapat diambil rumusan masalah yaitu apa penyebab terjadinya pembiayaan bermasalah pada BMT Amanah Usaha Mulia Magelang dan bagaimana prosedur penyelesaian pembiayaaan bermasalah pada akad mudharabah di BMT Amanah Usaha Mulia Magelang. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian lapangan dimana sumber data yang digunakan berasal dari data primer dan sekunder yang diperoleh melalui metode wawancara dengan manajer, bagian pembiayaan dan dokumentasi. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah deskriptif kualitatif yang bertujuan untuk menggambarkan secara sistematis dan akurat mengenai objek penelitian. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan bahwa penyebab terjadinya pembiayaan bermasalah yaitu faktor internal meliputi kurang telitinya petugas BMT dalam menganalisi data calon anggota, kurang disiplinya dalam penagihan dan eksternal meliputi karakter anggota yang kurang baik, usahanya bangkrut dan terjadinya bencana alam yang tidak terduga. Adapun prosesdur yang digunakan BMT Amanah Usaha Mulia dalam menyelesaian pembiayaan bermasalah pada akad mudharabah dengan cara kekeluargaan atau musyawarah dengan anggota, penjadwalan kembali (rescheduling), persyaratan kembali (reconditioning), pengambilan jaminan (eksekusi), dan write off final. Di BMT Amanah Usaha Mulia dalam penyelesaian pembiayaan bermasalah jarang menngunakan jalur hukum, tetapi sering menggunakan cara kekeluargaan yang dianggap lebih efektif dan eksekusi jaminan apabila anggota tersebut sudah mengalami macet atau bermasalah

Study on the Strategy of Playing Doudizhu Game Based on Multirole Modeling

Doudizhu poker is a very popular and interesting national poker game in China, and now it has become a national competition in China. As this game is a typical example of incomplete information game problem, it has received more and more attention from artificial intelligence experts. This paper proposes a multirole modeling-based card-playing framework. This framework includes three parts: role modeling, cards carrying, and decision-making strategies. Role modeling learns different roles and behaviors by using a convolutional neural network. Cards carrying can calculate reasonable rules especially for “triplet” by using an evaluation algorithm. Decision making is for implementing different card strategies for different player roles. Experimental results showed that this card-playing framework makes playing decisions like human beings, and it can to some extent learn, collaborate, and reason when facing an incomplete information game problem. This framework won the runner-up in the 2018 China Computer Game Competition

Driving factors of farmers' green agricultural production behaviors in the multi-ethnic region in China based on NAM-TPB models

Agricultural non-point source pollution (ANPSP) has caused serious harm to farmland ecological environment, and has become an urgent environmental issue in China. This paper investigates the intention and actual implementation of farmers' green agricultural production behaviors (GAPBs) in Yunnan, China. The results show that 80% of farmers are willing to implement GAPBs for improving agricultural environment, but a large number of them have not implemented at present. In addition, this study integrates normative activation theory with theory of planned behavior to empirically analyze the driving factors of farmers' intention and behaviors. The results show that the direct positive impact of personal norms on behaviors is significant. Awareness of consequences and awareness of responsibility have indirect impacts on GAPBs through personal norms. Meanwhile, attitude has a significant impact on behavioral intention. Awareness of consequences, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms have indirect effects on behavioral intention through attitude. Besides, there are significant differences in the farmers' GAPBs and the influencing factors between the Han and the ethnic minorities. This paper is helpful to increase farmers' GAPBs and provides reference for the management of ANPSP

Phase behavior characteristics and water-flooding development technical policy of weakly volatile oil in carbonate reservoirs

A fracture-pore carbonate reservoir in eastern Pre-Caspian basin was taken as an example to analyze the oil phase behavior change and seepage physical characteristics change of weakly volatile oil reservoirs with the decrease of formation pressure. Based on the analysis, the water-flooding development technique policy of the reservoir under different formation pressure was presented. Experiments show that the weakly volatile crude oil degasifies as the formation pressure decreases, with methane and intermediate hydrocarbons separated out successively, and the crude oil gradually transforms into ordinary black oil. With the separation of light hydrocarbons, the saturation of in-place oil drops rapidly, the viscosity increases, and the oil permeability reduces, leading to lower well productivity. Retention of formation pressure is a vital factor controlling the reservoir development effect. The lower the formation pressure, the lower the ultimate recovery. Given low formation pressure, water-flooding is required to recover the formation pressure. In water-flooding, the lower level the formation pressure is retained at, the lower the reasonable pressure to be recovered is, and the lower the ultimate recovery is. Compared with zones without fractures, the zone with fractures provides lower injection-production ratio when water-flooding is conducted under the same formation pressure, and its water-flooding time has more impact on oilfield recovery. Therefore, it is recommended to develop weakly volatile oil reservoir by early water-flooding in a moderate way. Key words: carbonate reservoir, weakly volatile oil, phase behavior change, seepage characteristics, formation pressure, water-flooding tim