Urbanization-driven changes in land-climate dynamics : A case study of Haihe River Basin, China

Urbanization changes the land surface environment, which alters the regional climate system. In this study, we took the Haihe River Basin in China as a case study area, as it is highly populated and experienced rapid urbanization from 2000-2015. We investigated how land use and cover change (LUCC) was driven by urban land development affects land-climate dynamics. From 2000-2015, we collected data from the land use and cover database, the remote sensing database of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) series, and the meteorological database to process and generate regional datasets for LUCC maps. We organized data by years aligned with the selected indicators of land surface, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), albedo, and land surface temperature (LST), as well as of regional climate, cloud water content (CWC), and precipitation (P). The assembled datasets were processed to perform statistical analysis and conduct structural equation modelling (SEM). Based on eco-climatology principles and the biophysical process in the land-climate dynamics, we made assumptions on how the indicators connected to each other. Moreover, we testified and quantified them in SEM. LUCC results found that from 2000-2015 the urban area proportion increased by 214% (2.20-6.91%), while the agricultural land decreased by 7.2% (53.05-49.25%) and the forest increased by 4.3% (10.02-10.45%), respectively. This demonstrated how cropland intensification and afforestation happened in the urbanizing basin. SEM results showed that the forest had both positive and negative effects on the regional hydrological cycle. The agricultural land, grassland, and shrub had indirect effects on the P via different biophysical functions of LST. The overall effects of urbanization on regional precipitation was positive (pathway correlation coefficient = 0.25). The interpretation of how urbanization drives LUCC and alters regional climate were herein discussed in different aspects of socioeconomic development, biophysical processes, and urbanization-related atmospheric effects. We provided suggestions for further possible research on monitoring and assessment, putting forth recommendations to advance sustainability via land planning and management, including agricultural land conservation, paying more attention to the quality growth of forest rather than the merely area expansion, integrating the interdisciplinary approach, and assessing climatic risk for extreme precipitation and urban flooding.</p

Spatio-Temporal Variation of Cyanobacteria Blooms in Taihu Lake Using Multiple Remote Sensing Indices and Machine Learning

In view of the ecological threat posed by cyanobacteria blooms in Taihu Lake (China), this paper presents a study on the area of cyanobacteria extent based on MODIS data using the quantum particle swarm optimization–random forest (QPSO-RF) machine learning algorithm. This paper selects multiple remote sensing input indices that can represent the characteristics of the primary underlying type in Taihu Lake. The proposed method performs best, with an F1 score of 0.91–0.98. Based on this method, the spatio-temporal variation of cyanobacteria blooms in the Taihu Lake complex was analyzed. During 2010–2022, the average area of cyanobacteria blooms in Taihu Lake increased slightly. Severe-scale cyanobacteria blooms occurred in 2015–2019. Cyanobacteria blooms were normally concentrated from May to November. However, the most prolonged extended duration occurred in 2017, lasting for eight months. Spatially, cyanobacteria blooms were mainly identified in the northwestern part of Taihu Lake, with an average occurrence frequency of about 10.0%. The cyanobacteria blooms often began to grow in the northwestern part of the lake and then spread to the Center of the Lake, and also dissipated earliest in the northwestern part of the lake. Our study is also beneficial for monitoring the growth of cyanobacteria blooms in other similar large lakes in long time series

Oral Curcumin–Thioketal–Inulin Conjugate Micelles against Radiation–Induced Enteritis

Radiation–induced enteritis is an unavoidable complication associated with pelvic tumor radiotherapy, significantly influencing the prognosis of cancer patients. The limited availability of commercial gastrointestinal radioprotectors in clinical settings poses a substantial challenge in preventing radiation enteritis. Despite the inherent radioprotective characteristics of Cur in vitro, its poor solubility in water, instability, and low bioavailability lead to inferior therapeutic effects in vivo. Herein, we developed novel ROS-responsive micelles (CTI) from inulin and curcumin, aimed at mitigating radiation enteritis. CTI micelles had excellent solubility and stability. Importantly, CTI improved the cytotoxicity and bioavailability of curcumin, thereby showing enhanced effectiveness in neutralizing ROS induced by radiation, safeguarding against DNA damage, and reducing radiation-induced cellular mortality. Moreover, in a radiation enteritis mice model, CTI not only alleviated severe radiation-induced intestinal injury but also improved redox-related indicators and reduced inflammatory cytokine expression. Furthermore, CTI effectively increased gut microbiota abundance and maintained gut homeostasis. In conclusion, CTI could be a promising candidate for the clinical management of radiation enteritis. Our study provides a new perspective for radioprotection using natural antioxidants

Spatio-Temporal Variation of Cyanobacteria Blooms in Taihu Lake Using Multiple Remote Sensing Indices and Machine Learning

In view of the ecological threat posed by cyanobacteria blooms in Taihu Lake (China), this paper presents a study on the area of cyanobacteria extent based on MODIS data using the quantum particle swarm optimization–random forest (QPSO-RF) machine learning algorithm. This paper selects multiple remote sensing input indices that can represent the characteristics of the primary underlying type in Taihu Lake. The proposed method performs best, with an F1 score of 0.91–0.98. Based on this method, the spatio-temporal variation of cyanobacteria blooms in the Taihu Lake complex was analyzed. During 2010–2022, the average area of cyanobacteria blooms in Taihu Lake increased slightly. Severe-scale cyanobacteria blooms occurred in 2015–2019. Cyanobacteria blooms were normally concentrated from May to November. However, the most prolonged extended duration occurred in 2017, lasting for eight months. Spatially, cyanobacteria blooms were mainly identified in the northwestern part of Taihu Lake, with an average occurrence frequency of about 10.0%. The cyanobacteria blooms often began to grow in the northwestern part of the lake and then spread to the Center of the Lake, and also dissipated earliest in the northwestern part of the lake. Our study is also beneficial for monitoring the growth of cyanobacteria blooms in other similar large lakes in long time series

The GW2-WG1-OsbZIP47 pathway controls grain size and weight in rice

Regulation of seed size is a key strategy for improving crop yield and is also a basic biological question. However, the molecular mechanisms by which plants determine their seed size remain elusive. Here, we report that the GW2-WG1-OsbZIP47 regulatory module controls grain width and weight in rice. WG1, which encodes a glutaredoxin protein, promotes grain growth by increasing cell proliferation. Interestingly, WG1 interacts with the transcription factor OsbZIP47 and represses its transcriptional activity by associating with the transcriptional co-repressor ASP1, indicating that WG1 may act as an adaptor protein to recruit the transcriptional co-repressor. In contrary, OsbZIP47 restricts grain growth by decreasing cell proliferation. Further studies reveal that the E3 ubiquitin ligase GW2 ubiquitinates WG1 and targets it for degradation. Genetic analyses confirm that GW2, WG1, and OsbZIP47 function in a common pathway to control grain growth. Taken together, our findings reveal a genetic and molecular framework for the control of grain size and weight by the GW2-WG1-OsbZIP47 regulatory module, providing new targets for improving seed size and weight in crops

Rice sucrose partitioning mediated by a putative pectin methyltransferase and homogalacturonan methylesterification

Homogalacturonan (HG) is the main component of pectins. HG methylesterification has recently emerged as a key determinant controlling cell attachment, organ formation, and phyllotaxy. However, whether and how HG methylesterification affects intercellular metabolite transport has rarely been reported. Here, we identified and characterized knockout mutants of the rice (Oryza sativa) OsQUA2 gene encoding a putative pectin methyltransferase. Osqua2 mutants exhibit a remarkable decrease in the degree of methylesterification of HG in the culm-sieve element cell wall and a markedly reduced grain yield. The culm of Osqua2 mutant plants contains excessive sucrose (Suc), and a 13CO2 feeding experiment showed that the Suc overaccumulation in the culm was caused by blocked Suc translocation. These and other findings demonstrate that OsQUA2 is essential for maintaining a high degree of methylesterification of HG in the rice culm-sieve element cell wall, which may be critical for efficient Suc partitioning and grain filling. In addition, our results suggest that the apoplastic pathway is involved in longdistance Suc transport in rice. The identification and characterization of the OsQUA2 gene and its functionality revealed a previously unknown contribution of HG methylesterification and provided insight into how modification of the cell wall regulates intercellular transport in plants