Introductory Chapter: Land Use Change Ecosystem Services and Tropical Forests

Meteorology & climatolog

Resilience assessment of lowland plantations using an ecosystem modeling approach

As afforestation programs of former farmlands take hold in Taiwan to achieve a variety of ecological and socio-economic values, it is becoming necessary to define best forest management. Hence, we simulated mixed stands of Cinnamomum camphora and Fraxinus griffithii planted through a gradient of soil fertility and varying camphor/ash density ratios, but maintaining a fixed total stand density of 1500 trees ha −1 . Total stand productivity was slightly lower in mixed stands than the combination of both monocultures in rich and poor sites. Maximum negative yield surpluses for 50-year old stands were 7 Mg ha −1 and 6 Mg ha −1 for rich and poor sites with a 1:1 camphor laurel/ash ratios. Maximum stand woody biomass in rich sites was reached in camphor laurel monocultures (120 Mg ha −1 ) and in poor sites for Himalayan ash monocultures (58 Mg ha −1 ). However, for medium-quality sites, a small yield surplus (11 Mg ha −1 ) was estimated coinciding with a maximum stand woody biomass of 95 Mg ha −1 for a 1:1 camphor laurel/ash density ratio. From an ecological resilience point of view, rotation length was more important than stand composition. Long rotations (100 years) could improve soil conditions in poor sites. In rich sites, short rotations (50 years) should be avoided to reduce risks or fertility loss.Yueh-Hsin Lo was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Ref. AGL2012-33465). Juan A. Blanco was funded through a “Ramón y Cajal” contract (Ref. RYC-2011-08082) and a Marie Curie Action (Ref. CIG-2012-326718-ECOPYREN3). Shih-Chieh Chang was given a grant by the Ministry of Science and Technology (Ref. NSC 102-2621-M-259-005

Preparation of Bismuth Oxide Photocatalyst and Its Application in White-light LEDs

Bismuth oxide photocatalysts were synthesized and coated on the front surface of phosphor-converted white light-emitting diodes to produce a safe and environmentally benign lighting source. Bismuth oxide photocatalyst powders were synthesized with a spray pyrolysis method at 500°C, 600°C, 700°C, and 800°C. Using the absorption spectrum in the blue and UV regions of the bismuth oxide photocatalysts, the blue light and UV leakage problems of phosphor-converted white LEDs can be significantly reduced. The experimental results showed that bismuth oxide photocatalyst synthesized at 700°C exhibited the most superior spectrum inhibiting ability. The suppressed ratio reached 52.33% in the blue and UV regions from 360 to 420 nm. Related colorimetric parameters and the photocatalyst decomposition ability of fabricated white-light LEDs were tested. The CIE chromaticity coordinates (x,y) were (0.349, 0.393), and the correlated color temperature was 4991 K. In addition, the coating layer of photocatalyst can act as an air purifier and diffuser to reduce glare. A value of 66.2±0.60 ppmv of molecular formaldehyde gas can be decomposed in 120 mins

Social and Big Data Computing for Knowledge Management

The proceedings from the eighth KMO conference represent the findings of this international meeting which brought together researchers and developers from industry and the academic world to report on the latest scientific and technical advances on knowledge management in organizations. This conference provided an international forum for authors to present and discuss research focused on the role of knowledge management for innovative services in industries, to shed light on recent advances in social and big data computing for KM as well as to identify future directions for researching the role of knowledge management in service innovation and how cloud computing can be used to address many of the issues currently facing KM in academia and industrial sectors

Squamocin modulates histone H3 phosphorylation levels and induces G1 phase arrest and apoptosis in cancer cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Histone modifications in tumorigenesis are increasingly recognized as important epigenetic factors leading to cancer. Increased phosphorylation levels of histone H3 as a result of aurora B and pMSK1 overexpression were observed in various tumors. We selected <it>aurora B </it>and <it>MSK1 </it>as representatives for testing various compounds and drugs, and found that squamocin, a bis-tetrahydrofuran annonaceous acetogenin, exerted a potent effect on histone H3 phosphorylation.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>GBM8401, Huh-7, and SW620 cells were incubated with 15, 30, and 60 μM squamocin for 24 h. The expressions of mRNA and proteins were analyzed by qRT-PCR and Western blotting, respectively. The cell viability was determined by an MTT assay. Cell cycle distribution and apoptotic cells were analyzed by flow cytometry.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our results showed that squamocin inhibited the proliferation of GBM8401, Huh-7, and SW620 cells, arrested the cell cycle at the G₁phase, and activated both intrinsic and extrinsic pathways to apoptosis. In addition, we demonstrated that squamocin had the ability to modulate the phosphorylation levels of H3S10 (H3S10p) and H3S28 (H3S28p) in association with the downregulation of aurora B and pMSK1 expressions.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study is the first to show that squamocin affects epigenetic alterations by modulating histone H3 phosphorylation at S10 and S28, providing a novel view of the antitumor mechanism of squamocin.</p

Combination of RGD Compound and Low-Dose Paclitaxel Induces Apoptosis in Human Glioblastoma Cells

) peptide, to human glioblastoma U87MG cells with combination of low dose Paclitaxel (PTX) pre-treatment to augment therapeutic activity for RGD peptide-induced apoptosis. peptide induced U87MG programmed cell death. The increased expression of PTX-induced integrin-αvβ3 was correlated with the enhanced apoptosis in U87MG cells.This study provides a novel concept of targeting integrin-αvβ3 with RGD peptides in combination with low-dose PTX pre-treatment to improve efficiency in human glioblastoma treatment