Warming induced growth decline of Himalayan birch at its lower range edge in a semi-arid region of Trans-Himalaya, central Nepal

Changes in the position of altitudinal treelines and timberlines are considered useful indicators of climatic changes on tree growth and forest dynamics. We sought to determine if recent warming is driving contrasting growth responses of Himalayan birch, at moist treeline (Lete Lekh) and semi-arid timberline (Chimang Lekh) sites in the Trans-Himalayan zone of central Nepal. We used dendrochronological techniques to measure tree ring width (TRW) and basal area increment (BAI) of birch trees from climatically contrasting but nearby sites. The TRW series were correlated with climate records from nearby meteorological stations, and BAI was compared between populations to explore growth trends over recent decades. We found contrasting precipitation trends between nearby sites such that the wet site (Lete) is getting warmer and wetter, and the dry site (Chimang) is getting warmer and drier in recent decades. The radial growth of birch in both moist and semi arid sites are positively correlated to spring (March-May) rainfall, and negatively correlated to mean and maximum temperature for the same period. The growth climate analysis indicated that moisture availability in early growing season is crucial for birch growth at these locations. The BAI of birch is declining more rapidly at the dry timberline than at the moist treelines in the recent decades, indicating that climatic warming might negatively impact birch radial growth where warming interacts with increasing spring drought in the region. Our work highlights contrasting growth response of birch to climate change at moist and semi-arid forests indicating that local climatic variation must be accounted for when assessing and forecasting regional patterns of tree growth in topographically complex regions like Trans-Himalaya, in order to make accurate predictions of vegetation responses to climate change

The relationship between job performance and perceived organizational support in faculty members at Chinese universities: a questionnaire survey

BACKGROUND: Although several studies have been conducted to investigate the relationship between perceived organizational support (POS) and job performance (JP), it remains unclear whether this relationship is appropriate for faculty members at Chinese universities. The objectives of this study were to (a) examine the correlation between POS andJP; (b) identify the predictors of POS, including demographic and organizational characteristics among faculty members at a Chinese university; (c) investigate the influence of mediating factors between POS and JP; and (d) compare the findings of this study with related studies. METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was used in this study. The questionnaire was administered to 700 faculty members who were randomly selected from all faculty members at six universities. A total of 581 questionnaires were obtained. A statistical model for JP was developed based on the literature review. RESULTS: The analysis results indicated that the relationship between POS and JP was mediated by job satisfaction (JS), positive affectivity (PA), and affective commitment (AC). In addition, procedural and distributive justice contribute to POS. CONCLUSIONS: The study concludes that the relationship between POS and JP is mediated by JS, PA, and AC and is influenced by POS. These results can provide evidence for university administrators to improve POS and increase the JP of faculty members at universities

Intra-Annual Radial Growth of Pinus kesiya var. langbianensis Is Mainly Controlled by Moisture Availability in the Ailao Mountains, Southwestern China

Intra-annual monitoring of tree growth dynamics is increasingly applied to disentangle growth-change relationships with local climate conditions. However, such studies are still very limited in subtropical regions which show a wide variety of climate regimes. We monitored stem radius variations (SRV) of Pinus kesiya var. langbianensis (Szemao pine) over five years (2012–2015 and 2017) in the subtropical monsoon mountain climate of the Ailao Mountains, Yunnan Province, southwest China. On average, the stem radial growth of Szemao pine started in early March and ended in early October, and the highest growth rates occurred during May to June. Stem radius increments were synchronous with precipitation events, while tree water deficit corresponded to the drought periods. Correlation analysis and linear mixed-effects models revealed that precipitation and relative humidity are the most important limiting factors of stem radial increments, whereas air temperature and vapor pressure deficit significantly affected tree water balance and may play an important role in determining the growing season length and seasonality (i.e., duration, start, and cessation). This study reveals that moisture availability plays a major role for tree growth of P. kesiya var langbianensis in the Ailao Mountains, southwest China

Connection Node Design and Performance Optimization of Girder Truss

Girder truss is a kind of high-performance truss, which is combined with some single trusses by connectors. It is the common structural form of the key-bearing node in the modern wood structure floor and roof structure system. With the development of the sponge city and green building in China, girder truss is widely used in wood structure buildings and re-roofing project for its lightweight, high strength, good seismic performance, simple construction, design flexibility, and other excellent characteristics. Since the stress environment of girder truss is more complicated than single wood truss, the wood girder truss needs higher bearing capacity. This chapter emphatically provides a theoretical basis for practical engineering and mainly introduces a new type of girder truss connected with different diameters of wood dowels. The deformation of each node in the static loading process is measured in situ and continuously by using the self-designed loading device and the advanced measuring system. Research contents include the increasing effect of girder truss than single truss and influence of different connection modes on the mechanical properties of girder trusses. We can restore the mechanical properties and failure mechanism from the two aspects of phenomena and mechanism by comparing the test results

Risk factors, clinical features, and outcomes of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy complicated by ischemic stroke: A single-center retrospective study

ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore risk factors, clinical features, and prognosis of patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) complicated by ischemic stroke (IS).MethodsWe conducted a retrospective analysis of all HCM patient data and a 1-year follow-up study.ResultsTotally, 506 patients with HCM, including 71 with IS, were enrolled. Older age (≥63 years) was associated with an increased risk of IS in HCM patients (OR = 1.045, 95% CI: 1.018–1.072, p = 0.001). Among 37 patients complicated by IS, 22 (59.5%, 22/37) manifested as cardioembolism (CE) subtype, and 13 (35.1%, 3/37) small artery occlusion (SAO) subtype, according to TOAST classification. In the acute phase, the IS patients presented with NIHSS 4 (interquartile range: 1, 10). Multi-infarction was more common than single infarction (72.7 vs. 27.3%), while cortical + subcortical infarction (CE group: 50%) or subcortical infarction (SAO group: 53.8%) constituted most IS cases. Additionally, the blood supply areas of anterior circulation (CE group: 45.5%; SAO group: 92.3%) or anterior + posterior circulation (CE group: 50%) were mainly involved. The 1-year survival rate of HCM patients with concomitant IS was 81.8%, and IS was associated with 1-year all-cause death in HCM patients (HR = 5.689, 95% CI: 1.784–18.144, p = 0.003).ConclusionOlder age is a risk factor for IS occurrence in HCM patients. Patients with HCM complicated by IS had mild or moderate neurologic deficits at disease onset. CE and SAO subtypes predominate in patients with concomitant IS, especially the former. Multiple cortical and subcortical infarctions are their neuroimaging characteristics, mainly involving the anterior circulation or anterior + posterior circulation. Is is a risk factor for all-cause death in HCM patients within 1 year

Super stealth dicing of transparent solids with nanometric precision

Laser cutting of semiconductor wafers and transparent dielectrics has become a dominant process in manufacturing industries, encompassing a wide range of applications from flat display panels to microelectronic chips. Limited by Heisenberg's uncertainty principle imposed on the beam width and divergence angle of laser focus, a trade-off must be made between cutting accuracy and aspect ratio in conventional laser processing, which are typically at a micrometer and a hundred level. Herein, we propose a method to circumvent this limitation. It is based on the laser modification induced by a back-scattering interference crawling mechanism, which creates a positive feedback loop for elongating and homogenizing longitudinal energy deposition during laser-matter interaction. Consequently, cutting width on the scale of tens of nanometers and aspect ratio $\sim 10^4$ were simultaneously achieved. We refer to this technique as ``super stealth dicing'', which is based on an analytical model and validated through numerical simulations, ensuring its broad applicability. It can be applied to various transparent functional solids, such as glass, laser crystal, ferroelectric, and semiconductor, and is elevating the precision of future advanced laser dicing, patterning, and drilling into the nanometric era.Comment: 29 pages, 5 figure

The Effects of Needling Fenglong (ST40) and Neiguan (PC6) on IL-17 of ApoE-Gene-Knockout Mice’s Liver

The aim of the present paper was to observe the effects of needling ST40 and PC6 on IL-17 of ApoE(-/-) mice with fatty liver. Forty male ApoE(-/-) mice were randomized into Needling-Acupoint Group, Simvastatin Intragastric Administration Group, Needling Nonacupoint Group, and Model Group. Each was fed with high fat diet for 8 weeks since 16 weeks of age; after 8 weeks of intervention, mice were sacrificed and tested for various examinations. Result showed that the body weight, TC, and serum IL-17 in Needling-Acupoint Group decreased. Compared with Model Group, the immunohistochemical expressions of IL-17 in liver tissue were significantly decreased among the other three groups. In conclusion, acupuncture was able to lower the expression of IL-17 level both in serum and liver tissue in ApoE(-/-) mice, which is helpful to reduce the inflammation and defers the progress from fatty liver to cirrhosis.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000333638100001&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Integrative & Complementary MedicineSCI(E)[email protected]

Protective Role of α2HS-Glycoprotein in HBV-Associated Liver Failure

In this study, levels of plasma α2-Heremans-Schmid glycoprotein, serum tumor necrosis factor-α, serum liver function parameters and short-term mortality were measured in 100 hepatitis B patients. Release of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α from the lipopolysaccharide-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells in the presence/absence of spermine and α2-Heremans-Schmid glycoprotein were analyzed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to determine the significance and potential mechanism of α2-Heremans-Schmid glycoprotein in hepatitis B virus-associated liver damage. Results showed that serum α2-Heremans-Schmid glycoprotein levels in acute-on-chronic liver failure patients were significantly lower than that in chronic hepatitis B patients or healthy controls (p < 0.05). A negative dependence between serum human α2-Heremans-Schmid glycoprotein and tumor necrosis factor-α levels was observed. Interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α levels in the lipopolysaccharide-induced peripheral blood mononuclear cell supernates were significantly reduced by spermine and/or α2-Heremans-Schmid glycoprotein. The latter two proteins jointly inhibited cytokine release. These observations suggest that plasma α2-Heremans-Schmid glycoprotein is an independent marker of liver damage and a prognostic indicator of hepatitis B virus chronicity. It may reduce liver inflammation by partially inhibiting release of inflammatory factors from activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells

Weak tradeoff between xylem safety and xylem-specific hydraulic efficiency across the world\u27s woody plant species.

The evolution of lignified xylem allowed for the efficient transport of water under tension, but also exposed the vascular network to the risk of gas emboli and the spread of gas between xylem conduits, thus impeding sap transport to the leaves. A well-known hypothesis proposes that the safety of xylem (its ability to resist embolism formation and spread) should trade off against xylem efficiency (its capacity to transport water). We tested this safety-efficiency hypothesis in branch xylem across 335 angiosperm and 89 gymnosperm species. Safety was considered at three levels: the xylem water potentials where 12%, 50% and 88% of maximal conductivity are lost. Although correlations between safety and efficiency were weak (r(2) \u3c 0.086), no species had high efficiency and high safety, supporting the idea for a safety-efficiency tradeoff. However, many species had low efficiency and low safety. Species with low efficiency and low safety were weakly associated (r(2) \u3c 0.02 in most cases) with higher wood density, lower leaf- to sapwood-area and shorter stature. There appears to be no persuasive explanation for the considerable number of species with both low efficiency and low safety. These species represent a real challenge for understanding the evolution of xylem