Mapping smallholder cashew plantations to inform sustainable tree crop expansion in Benin

Cashews are grown by over 3 million smallholders in more than 40 countries worldwide as a principal source of income. As the third largest cashew producer in Africa, Benin has nearly 200,000 smallholder cashew growers contributing 15% of the country's national export earnings. However, a lack of information on where and how cashew trees grow across the country hinders decision-making that could support increased cashew production and poverty alleviation. By leveraging 2.4-m Planet Basemaps and 0.5-m aerial imagery, newly developed deep learning algorithms, and large-scale ground truth datasets, we successfully produced the first national map of cashew in Benin and characterized the expansion of cashew plantations between 2015 and 2021. In particular, we developed a SpatioTemporal Classification with Attention (STCA) model to map the distribution of cashew plantations, which can fully capture texture information from discriminative time steps during a growing season. We further developed a Clustering Augmented Self-supervised Temporal Classification (CASTC) model to distinguish high-density versus low-density cashew plantations by automatic feature extraction and optimized clustering. Results show that the STCA model has an overall accuracy over 85% and the CASTC model achieved an overall accuracy of 76%. We found that the cashew area in Benin almost doubled from 2015 to 2021 with 60% of new plantation development coming from cropland or fallow land, while encroachment of cashew plantations into protected areas has increased by 55%. Only half of cashew plantations were high-density in 2021, suggesting high potential for intensification. Our study illustrates the power of combining high-resolution remote sensing imagery and state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms to better understand tree crops in the heterogeneous smallholder landscape

River Bars and Vegetation Dynamics in Response to Upstream Damming: A Case Study of the Middle Yangtze River

Investigating river bars and their vegetation dynamics in response to upstream damming is important for riverine flood management and ecological assessment. However, our mechanical understanding of the damming-induced changes in river bar and vegetation, such as bar area, morphology, and leaf area index (LAI), remains limited for large river systems. Leveraging satellite images and in situ observed hydrogeomorphic data from, we improve a machine learning-based LAI inversion model to quantify variations in river bar morphology, vegetation distribution, and LAI in the Middle Yangtze River (MYR) following the operation of the Three Gorges Dam (TGD). Then we analyze the mechanisms controlling the bar and vegetation dynamics based on high-resolution river cross-sectional profiles as well as daily discharge, water levels, and sediment in both the pre- and post-TGD periods. Our results indicate that the river bar area decreased by approximately 10% from 2003 to 2020, while the vegetation area and average LAI of these bars increased by >50% and >20%, respectively. Moreover, the plant community on most river bars tended to expand from the bar tail to the bar head and from the edge to the center. The main factor driving vegetation expansion in the MYR after the TGD’s operation was the reduction in bar submergence frequency (by 55%), along with a slight bar erosion. Further analysis revealed that the standard deviation of annual discharge decreased by approximately 37%, and the frequency of vegetation-erosive flow decreased by approximately 74%. Our data highlight the potential impact of large dams downstream flow regimes and vegetation encroachement. Such findings further the understanding of the biogeomorphological impacts of large dams on the river bar vegetation and have important implications for riverine plant flux estimatin, flood management and ecological restoration in dammed river systems

Mechanisms Controlling Water-Level Variations in the Middle Yangtze River Following the Operation of the Three Gorges Dam

Understanding the mechanisms controlling downstream water-level variations after the operation of the Three Gorges Dam is important for riverine flood and drought management. However, our quantitative understanding of the multiple controls of river morphology, vegetation, and floodplain resistance on water levels in the Middle Yangtze River (MYR) remains limited. Here, we analyze changes in river channels and floodplain resistance in the MYR using 450 cross-sectional profiles as well as data on discharge, water levels, sediment, and satellite images from 2003 to 2015. Results show an overall decline in low-flow water-levels (at a given small discharge) due to severe incisions of low-flow channels caused by a sharp reduction of ∼90% in sediment loads from 1950–2002 to 2003–2020. In contrast, high-flow water-levels (at a given large discharge) display minor changes. Our analysis shows that the notably increased floodplain resistance due to vegetation growth is likely the dominant factor elevating flood water-levels, followed by riverbed coarsening and greater fluctuations in the river longitudinal profiles. Our findings further the understanding of downstream geomorphic response to dam operation and their impacts on water levels and have important implications for riverine flood management in dammed river systems

CYP2J2-Derived EETs Attenuated Angiotensin II-Induced Adventitial Remodeling via Reduced Inflammatory Response

Background: Cytochrome P450 (CYP) epoxygenases metabolize arachidonic acids (AA) to form epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), which exert beneficial roles in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, but little is known about its role on adventitial remodeling. Methods: We used C57BL/6J mice in vivo and primary rat adventitial fibroblasts (AFs) in vitro treated with Angiotensin II to investigate the effects of CYP2J2 gene delivery and exogenous EETs administration on adventitial remodeling. Results: CYP/sEH system was found to exist in human adventitia, and involved in adventitial remodeling process. Exogenous EETs administration significantly inhibited Ang II-induced AFs activation, characterized by differentiation, proliferation, migration, and collagen synthesis. These protective effects were partially reversed by PPARγ antagonist GW9662 pretreatment or SOCS3 siRNA transfection. EETs suppressed Ang II-induced IκBα phosphorylation, subsequent NF-κB nuclear translocation via PPARγ dependent signaling pathway in AFs. Additionally, EETs reduced Ang II-induced JAK2, STAT3 phosphorylation and subsequent phosphor-STAT3 nuclear translocation, which were mediated by SOCS3 induction but independent of PPARγ activation. Furthermore, rAAV-CYP2J2 gene delivery reduced vessel wall thickening, AFs differentiation, proliferation and collagen deposition in aortic adventitia induced by Ang II infusion, which were mediated by NF-κB and SOCS3/JAK/STAT signaling pathways in blood pressure dependent and independent manner, respectively. Conclusion: We concluded that CYP2J2 overexpression attenuated Ang II-induced adventitial remodeling via PPARγ-dependent NF-κB and PPARγ-independent SOCS3/JAK/STAT inflammatory signaling pathways

Bright light suppresses form-deprivation myopia development through dopamine D1 receptor signaling related ON pathway activation

Purpose: To determine whether bright light (BL) inhibits form deprivation myopia (FDM) via the dopamine receptor D1 (D1R)-linked&nbsp; signaling pathway localized in specific retinal neuronal cell types in mice. Methods: D1R antagonist SCH39166 was daily intraperitoneally injected to evaluate if BL mediates declines in FDM development through D1R. Refraction changes were evaluated with an eccentric infrared photorefractor. Optical coherence tomography evaluated ocular axial components. Electroretinography monitored retinal function. c-Fos and p-TH (phosphorylated tyrosine hydroxylase) immunofluorescent staining evaluated D1R receptor activity and dopamine synthesis, respectively. Six different biomarkers of retinal neuronal types delineated di?erential distribution of D1R expression. Results: BL (2500-5000 lux) exposure for 4 weeks (6 hours per day) inhibited FDM development by reducing ocular elongation and shifting refraction towards hyperopia compared to that in normal light (NL, 100-200 lux ). SCH39166 injections completely reversed the inhibitory effects of BL on both refraction and ocular elongation. BL increased the number of cells expressing p-TH and c-fos expression in D1R+ BCs, especially in D1R+ON-BCs as well as horizontal cells (HCs). Conclusions: BL increases D1R activity in the bipolar cells (BC) of the ON pathway and HCs, which is associated with less myopic shift and ocular elongation than that occurring in NL. This di?erence suggests that BL-induced increase in the activity of D1R in the ON pathway contributes to the suppression of FDM development in mice.</p

Integration of phospholipid-complex nanocarrier assembly with endogenous N-oleoylethanolamine for efficient stroke therapy

Abstract Background Leading to more and more deaths and disabilities, stroke has become a serious threat to human health. What’s more, few effective drugs are available in clinic till now. Results In this research, we prepared a novel neuroprotective nanoformation (OEA–SPC NPs) via the combination of the nanoparticle drug delivery system with the endogenous N-oleoylethanolamine (OEA). By forming hydrogen bond between OEA and the carrier—soybean phosphatidylcholine (SPC), the form of OEA was turned into amorphus state when loading to the nanoparticles, which greatly improved its bioavailability. Then the following systematic experiments revealed the efficient neuroprotective effect of OEA–SPC NPs in vivo. Compared with the MCAO group, the cerebral infarct volume was reduced by 81.1%, and the edema degree by 78.4% via the oral administration of OEA–SPC NPs. And the neurological deficit scores illustrated that the MCAO rats treated with OEA–SPC NPs exhibited significantly less neurological dysfunction. The Morris water maze test indicated that the spatial learning and memory of cerebral ischemia model rats were almost recovered to the normal level. Besides, the OEA–SPC NPs could inhibit the inflammation of reperfusion to a very slight level. Conclusions These results suggest that the OEA–SPC NPs have a great chance to be a potential anti-stroke formation for clinic application and actually bring hope to thousands of stroke patients

GPR-Based Automatic Identification of Root Zones of Influence Using HDBSCAN

The belowground root zone of influence (ZOI) is fundamental to the study of the root–root and root–soil interaction mechanisms of plants and is vital for understanding changes in plant community compositions and ecosystem processes. However, traditional root research methods have a limited capacity to measure the actual ZOIs within plant communities without destroying them in the process. This study has developed a new approach to determining the ZOIs within natural plant communities. First, ground-penetrating radar (GPR), a non-invasive near-surface geophysical tool, was used to obtain a dataset of the actual spatial distribution of the coarse root system in a shrub quadrat. Second, the root dataset was automatically clustered and analyzed using the hierarchical density-based spatial clustering of applications with noise (HDBSCAN) algorithm to determine the ZOIs of different plants. Finally, the shape, size, and other characteristics of each ZOI were extracted based on the clustering results. The proposed method was validated using GPR-obtained root data collected in two field shrub plots and one simulation on a dataset from existing literature. The results show that the shrubs within the studied community exhibited either segregated and aggregated ZOIs, and the two types of ZOIs were distinctly in terms of shape and size, demonstrating the complexity of root growth in response to changes in the surrounding environment. The ZOIs extracted based on GPR survey data were highly consistent with the actual growth pattern of shrub roots and can thus be used to reveal the spatial competition strategies of plant roots responding to changes in the soil environment and the influence of neighboring plants