Climate warming impacts chewing Spodoptera litura negatively but sucking Corythucha marmorata positively on native Solidago canadensis.

Insect-plant interactions are among importantly ecological processes, and rapid environmental changes such as temperature and resource fluctuations can disrupt long-standing insect-plant interactions. While individual impacts of climate warming, atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition, and plant provenance on insect-plant interactions are well studied, their joint effects on insect-plant interactions are less explored in ecologically realistic settings. To this end, we performed five experiments with native and invasive Solidago canadensis populations from home and introduced ranges and two insect herbivores (leaf-chewing Spodoptera litura and sap-sucking Corythucha marmorata) in the context of climate warming and N deposition. We determined leaf defensive traits, feeding preference, and insect growth and development, and quantified the possible associations among climate change, host-plant traits, and insect performance with structural equation modeling. First, native S. canadensis populations experienced higher damage by S. litura but lower damage by C. marmorata than invasive S. canadensis populations in the ambient environment. Second, warming decreased the leaf consumption, growth, and survival of S. litura on native S. canadensis populations, but did not affect these traits on invasive S. canadensis populations; warming increased the number of C. marmorata on native S. canadensis populations via direct facilitation, but decreased that on invasive S. canadensis populations via indirect suppression. Third, N addition enhanced the survival of S. litura on native S. canadensis populations, and its feeding preference and leaf consumption on invasive S. canadensis populations. Finally, warming plus N addition exhibited non-additive effects on insect-plant interactions. Based on these results, we tentatively conclude that climate warming could have contrasting effects on insect-plant interactions depending on host-plant provenance and that the effects of atmospheric N deposition on insects might be relatively weak compared to climate warming. Future studies should focus on the molecular mechanisms underlying these different patterns.

Decoupling the response of vegetation dynamics to asymmetric warming over the Qinghai-Tibet plateau from 2001 to 2020.

Global land surface air temperature data show that in the past 50 years, the rate of nighttime warming has been much faster than that of daytime, with the minimum daily temperature (Tmin) increasing about 40% faster than the maximum daily temperature (Tmax), resulting in a decreased diurnal temperature difference. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) is known as the "roof of the world", where temperatures have risen twice as fast as the global average warming rate in the last few decades. The factors affecting vegetation growth on the QTP are complex and still not fully understood to some extent. Previous studies paid less attention to the explanations of the complicated interactions and pathways between elements that influence vegetation growth, such as climate (especially asymmetric warming) and topography. In this study, we characterized the spatial and temporal trends of vegetation coverage and investigated the response of vegetation dynamics to asymmetric warming and topography in the QTP during 2001-2020 using trend analysis, partial correlation analysis, and partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) analysis. We found that from 2001 to 2020, the entire QTP demonstrated a greening trend in the growing season (April to October) at a rate of 0.0006/a (p < 0.05). The spatial distribution pattern of partial correlation between NDVI and Tmax differed from that of NDVI and Tmin. PLS-SEM results indicated that asymmetric warming (both Tmax and Tmin) had a consistent effect on vegetation development by directly promoting greening in the QTP, with NDVI values being more sensitive to Tmin, while topographic factors, especially elevation, mainly played an indirect role in influencing vegetation growth by affecting climate change. This study offers new insights into how vegetation responds to asymmetric warming and references for local ecological preservation.

Spatio-temporal variations of PM2.5 and O3 in China during 2013-2021: Impact factor analysis.

Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone (O3) pollution are regarded as significant secondary air pollutants. The PM2.5 in most regions in China declined, and the decreasing rate in January was lower than the annual average. However, O3 concentration showed a steady increasing trend in most regions, and the increasing rate in July was slightly higher than the annual average. In particular, the annual average PM2.5 concentration and excess rate showed an increasing trend on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains. Conversely, O3 concentrations had shown a consistent increasing trend, exceeding the annual average limit of 100 µg/m3. Surface pressure exhibited positive correlations with PM2.5 in winter and O3 in summer across urban agglomerations. Moreover, soil temperature at different depths explained over 30% of the variations in PM2.5 and O3 in the Chengdu-Chongqing, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and Lanzhou-Xining urban agglomerations. In winter, relative humidity demonstrated a positive correlation with urban agglomerations in northeast and northwest China, regions characterized by dry climates. During the COVID-19 period, the impacts of meteorological factors and soil temperature on PM2.5 and O3 differed significantly compared to preceding and subsequent periods. Notably, during the winter of 2020, the Harbin-Changchuan urban agglomeration exhibited a notable transition, as O3 and PM2.5 concentrations shifted from a strong negative correlation to a robust positive correlation. This remarkable shift, with deviations explained up to 60%, represents a unique phenomenon worth emphasizing in the study's findings.

Characterization and Immunogenicity of Recombinant A. flavus Uox Modified by Co/EDTA Carbon Dots.

BACKGROUND: Uricase (Uox) is a major drug in gout and a supplementary drug in cancer treatment. Because allergic reactions caused by Uox limit its clinical application,10% Co/EDTA was used to chemically modify Uox from A. flavus to reduce its immunogenicity. METHODS: The immunogenicity of Uox and 10% Co/EDTA-Uox was examined by determining the antibody titer and concentration of IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-ß in quail and rat serum. Moreover, we examined the pharmacokinetics of 10% Co/EDTA-Uox in rats and acute toxicity in mice. RESULTS: The concentration of UA decreased from 771.85 ±180.99 to 299.47 ±20.37 µmoL/L（p<0.01） in the hyperuricemia model of quails injected by 10% Co/EDTA-Uox. Two-way immuno-diffusion electrophoresis revealed that 10% Co/EDTA-Uox did not produce antibody, whereas the antibody titer against Uox was 1:16. The concentrations of four cytokines in the 10% Co/EDTA-Uox group were significantly lower than in Uox group (p < 0.01)； The titer of IgG and IgM against 10% Co/EDTA-Uox was significantly lower than that against Uox at different serum dilutions (p < 0.0001). The pharmacokinetic data indicated that the half-life time of 10% Co/EDTA- Uox( 69.315h) was significantly longer than that of Uox(13.4 h)（p<0.01）. The tissue section of the liver, heart, kidney, and spleen revealed no toxicity in Uox and 10% Co/EDTA- Uox groups. CONCLUSION: 10% Co/EDTA-Uox possesses little immunogenicity, a long half-life time, and a highly efficient degradation of UA.

Influences of environment, human activity, and climate on the invasion of Ageratina adenophora (Spreng.) in Southwest China.

With economic and social globalization, invasive alien species have significantly threatened local ecological security. Identifying the invasive mechanisms of invasive alien species can aid in preventing species invasions and protecting local ecological and economic security. As a globally invasive plant, Ageratina adenophora (Asteraceae) has spread to many parts of the world and had a seriously impacted the ecology and economy of its invaded areas. Using observational data and Landsat OLI images in an arid valley region in southwest China, this study examined how climate, human activity and environmental factors influence the invasion of A. adenophora and its underlying mechanism. Our results showed that the invasion abundance of A. adenophora was significantly affected by environmental factors (the relative importance was 87.2%), but was less influenced by human activity and climate factors (the relative importance was 2% and 10.8%, respectively). The A. adenophora abundance significantly decreased with aspect, community canopy density, shrub layer coverage, herb layer coverage, Simpson diversity index of shrub and herb layers, the shortest distance to residential areas and temperature seasonality, whereas it increased with soil moisture, temperature annual range, precipitation of wettest month and precipitation of driest month. We conclude that biotic competition is the most influential factor in the invasion of this plant in the arid valley regions. Our results are of great significance for invasion prevention and forest conservation and management in southwest China. Our work emphasized that optimizing the community structure, such as by increasing canopy and shrub coverage and species biodiversity, may help control and mitigate the A. adenophora invasion in southwest China.

Effects of Pb-, Cd-resistant bacterium Pantoea sp. on growth, heavy metal uptake and bacterial communities in oligotrophic growth substrates of Lolium multiflorum Lam.

Phosphate-solubilizing bacteria (PSB) can accelerate phytoremediation, especially in those fertilized soils. However, PSB function in oligotrophic growth substrates remains poorly studied. In this study, we isolated lead (Pb)- and cadmium (Cd)-resistant PSB from contaminated sandy soil at an abandoned lubricant plant. The isolated Pantoea sp. PP4 (PP4 hereafter) can produce organic acid and IAA (Indole-3-acetic acid) and dissolve up to 238 mg/L of inorganic phosphate Ca2(PO4)3, exhibiting biosorption capability for Pb and bioprecipitation for Pb and Cd. In the sand pot experiment, inoculation of PP4 increased the accumulation of Pb and Cd in Lolium multiflorum Lam. by 28.9% and 95.5%, respectively, and increased the available phosphorous in oligotrophic river sand by 30.8% (P < 0.05). Meanwhile, the growth of Lolium multiflorum Lam. was also stimulated, resulting in 89.2%, 57.1%, 184.6%, and 28.5% increase in fresh weight, dry weight, root length, and shoot length, respectively. NMDS analysis showed that the bacterial communities in river sand were more clustered after inoculation with PP4. These results indicated that the application of Pantoea sp. PP4 can facilitate the phytoremediation of Pb and Cd in oligotrophic growth substrates, forming a convergent bacterial community. Our findings highlighted the importance of identifying ideal PSB to improve phytoremediation efficiency in oligotrophic environments.

Nanoscale shape-dependent histone modifications.

Recent observations suggest a role for complex nanoscale particulate shape in the regulation of specific immune-related cellular and in vivo processes. We suspect that cellular recognition of nanostructure architecture could involve nonmolecular inputs, including cellular transduction of nanoscale spatially resolved stresses induced by complex shape. Here, we report nanoscale shape-dependent control of the cellular epigenome. Interpretation of ChIP-Seq sequencing suggests that differential marking of H3K27me3 may be linked to sensory and synapse-recognition of nanoscale forces induced by complex shape. The observations raise significant questions on the role of particle-shape-induced immune regulation and memory, with potential consequences in both causes and treatment of immune-related disease.

A decreasing carbon allocation to belowground autotrophic respiration in global forest ecosystems.

Belowground autotrophic respiration (RAsoil) depends on carbohydrates from photosynthesis flowing to roots and rhizospheres, and is one of the most important but least understood components in forest carbon cycling. Carbon allocation plays an important role in forest carbon cycling and reflects forest adaptation to changing environmental conditions. However, carbon allocation to RAsoil has not been fully examined at the global scale. To fill this knowledge gap, we first used a Random Forest algorithm to predict the spatio-temporal patterns of RAsoil from 1981 to 2017 based on the most updated Global Soil Respiration Database (v5) with global environmental variables; calculated carbon allocation from photosynthesis to RAsoil (CAB) as a fraction of gross primary production; and assessed its temporal and spatial patterns in global forest ecosystems. Globally, mean RAsoil from forests was 8.9 ± 0.08 Pg C yr-1 (mean ± standard deviation) from 1981 to 2017 and increased significantly at a rate of 0.006 Pg C yr-2, paralleling broader soil respiration changes and suggesting increasing carbon respired by roots. Mean CAB was 0.243 ± 0.016 and decreased over time. The temporal trend of CAB varied greatly in space, reflecting uneven responses of CAB to environmental changes. Combined with carbon use efficiency, our CAB results offer a completely independent approach to quantify global aboveground autotropic respiration spatially and temporally, and could provide crucial insights into carbon flux partitioning and global carbon cycling under climate change.

[Spatio-temporal Variation Characteristics Monitored by Remotely Sensed Technique of PM2.5 Concentration and Its Influencing Factor Analysis in Sichuan Basin, China].

The spread of atmospheric pollutants in the Sichuan Basin is difficult because of its unique topography, static wind, high humidity, and other meteorological conditions. Owing to the acceleration of urbanization and industrialization, PM2.5 pollution in the region is becoming increasingly severe, and the Sichuan Basin has become one of the key areas of national air pollution prevention and control. In this study, based on the remote sensing inversion product of PM2.5 concentration, spatial autocorrelation and gray correlation analyses are used to evaluate the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics and influencing factors of PM2.5 concentration in the Sichuan Basin. The results show that PM2.5 concentration has significant spatial aggregation; the high-high aggregation types are concentrated, low-low aggregation types are more dispersed, and coniferous forest has a significantly higher inhibitory effect on the absorption of PM2.5 than the shrub, grassland, and other vegetation types. The main meteorological factors affecting PM2.5 concentration in the Sichuan Basin are wind speed and temperature; population density and economic scale are the main human-activity factors affecting PM2.5 concentration in the Sichuan Basin, and the change in the industrial structure and scale also has a certain influence on the PM2.5 concentration.

[Spatiotemporal variation and driving factors of growing season NDVI in the Tibetan Pla-teau, China.] / 青藏高原植被生长季NDVIæ—¶ç©ºå˜åŒ–ä¸Žå½±å“å› ç´ .

It is important to understand the response of vegetation to climate change in Tibetan Pla-teau (TP), an ecological barrier for China and Asia. The spatiotemporal variation of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) of vegetation growing season were analyzed based on the gro-wing season NDVI retrieved from MOD09A1. The relationship between NDVI and climate factors was analyzed by combining the data of meteorological stations in TP from 2001 to 2018. The results showed that NDVI in the growing season showed a slow upward trend during the study period. There was substantial interannual variation of NDVI in different climate regions. The fluctuation magnitude of NDVI value was plateau humid climate region>semi-humid climate region>semi-arid climate region>arid climate region. The proportion of area with increasing and decreasing NDVI in humid climate region, semi-humid climate region, arid climate region, semi-arid climate region on TP were 1.4% and 1.9%, 4.9% and 1.5%, 16.4% and 0.8%, 7.0% and 2.0%, respectively. The areas of increasing NDVI in arid and semi-arid climate region was significantly larger than humid and semi-humid region. Temperature was the leading factor affecting the change of NDVI in humid and semi-humid region. The impact of precipitation on NDVI was significantly stronger than that of other climate factors in arid region. The impact of air temperature in growing season on NDVI was stronger than that of precipitation and relative humidity.

Dynamic Changes of NDVI in the Growing Season of the Tibetan Plateau During the Past 17 Years and Its Response to Climate Change.

The fragile alpine vegetation in the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is very sensitive to environmental changes, making TP one of the hotspots for studying the response of vegetation to climate change. Existing studies lack detailed description of the response of vegetation to different climatic factors using the method of multiple nested time series analysis and the method of grey correlation analysis. In this paper, based on the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) of TP in the growing season calculated from the MOD09A1 data product of Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), the method of multiple nested time series analysis is adopted to study the variation trends of NDVI in recent 17 years, and the lag time of NDVI to climate change is analyzed using the method of Grey Relational Analysis (GRA). Finally, the characteristics of temporal and spatial differences of NDVI to different climate factors are summarized. The results indicate that: (1) the spatial distribution of NDVI values in the growing season shows a trend of decreasing from east to west, and from north to south, with a change rate of -0.13/10° E and -0.30/10° N, respectively. (2) From 2001 to 2017, the NDVI in the TP shows a slight trend of increase, with a growth rate of 0.01/10a. (3) The lag time of NDVI to air temperature is not obvious, while the NDVI response lags behind cumulative precipitation by zero to one month, relative humidity by two months, and sunshine duration by three months. (4) The effects of different climatic factors on NDVI are significantly different with the increase of the study period.

Warming delays the phenological sequences of an autumn-flowering invader.

Phenology can play an important role in driving plant invasions; however, little is known about how climate warming, nitrogen (N) deposition, and invasion stages influence the phenological sequences of autumn-flowering invaders in a subtropical climate. Accordingly, we conducted an experiment to address the effects of experimental warming, N-addition, and community types on the first inflorescence buds, flowering, seed-setting, and dieback of invasive Solidago canadensis. Warming delayed the onset of first inflorescence buds, flowering, seed-setting, and dieback; N-addition did not influence these four phenophases; community types influenced the onset of first seed-setting but not the other phenological phases. Seed-setting was more sensitive to experimental manipulations than the other phenophases. The onset of first inflorescence buds, flowering, and seed-setting was marginally or significantly correlated with ramet height but not ramet numbers. Our results suggest that future climate warming might delay the phenological sequences of autumn-flowering invaders and some phenophases can shift with invasion stages.

Targeted fluorination of a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug to prolong metabolic half-life.

In drug design, one way of improving metabolic stability is to introduce fluorine at a metabolically labile site. In the early stages of drug design, identification of such sites is challenging, and a rapid method of assessing the effect of fluorination on a putative drug's metabolic stability would be of clear benefit. One approach to this is to employ micro-organisms that are established as models of drug metabolism in parallel with the synthesis of fluorinated drug analogues. In this study, we have used the filamentous fungus Cunninghamella elegans to identify the metabolically labile site of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug flurbiprofen, to aid in the design of fluorinated derivatives that were subsequently synthesised. The effect of the additional fluorine substitution on cytochrome P450-catalysed oxidation was then determined via incubation with the fungus, and demonstrated that fluorine substitution at the 4'-position rendered the drug inactive to oxidative transformation, whereas substitution of fluorine at either 2' or 3' resulted in slower oxidation compared to the original drug. This approach to modulating the metabolic stability of a drug-like compound is widely applicable and can be used to address metabolic issues of otherwise good lead compounds in drug development.

Effects of the updated national emission regulation in China on circulating fluidized bed boilers and the solutions to meet them.

The advantage of circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boilers in China is their ability to utilize low rank coal with low cost emission control. However, the new National Emission Regulation (NER) issued in early 2012 brings much more stringent challenges on the CFB industries, which also causes much attention from other countries. Based on the principle of a CFB boiler and previous operating experience, it is possible for the CFB boilers to meet the new NER and maintain the advantage of low cost emission control, while, more influences should be considered in their design and operation. To meet the requirement of the new NER, the fly ash collector should adopt a bag house or combination of electrostatic precipitator and bag filter to ensure dust emissions of less than 30 mg · Nm(-3). For SO2 emission control, the bed temperature should be strictly lower than 900 °C to maintain high reactivity and pores. The limestone particle size distribution should be ranged within a special scope to optimize the residence time and gas-solid reaction. At the same time, the injecting point should be optimized to ensure fast contact of lime with oxygen. In such conditions, the desulfurization efficiency could be increased more than 90%. For lower sulfur content fuels (<1.5%, referred value based on the heating value of standard coal of China), increasing Ca/S enough could decrease SO2 emissions lower than that of the new NER, 100 mg · Nm(-3). For fuels with sulfur content higher than 1.5%, some simplified systems for flue gas desulfurization, such as flash dryer absorber (FDA), are needed. And the NOx emissions of a CFB can be controlled to less than 100 mg · Nm(-3) without any equipment at a bed temperature lower than 900 °C for fuels with low volatiles content (<12%), while for fuels with high volatiles, selective non-catalytic reduction (SNCR) should be considered. Due to the unique temperature in CFB as well as the circulating ash, the efficiency of SNCR could reach as high as 70%. The Hg emission of CFB is very low for the new NER due to its innate property.

A congeneric comparison shows that experimental warming enhances the growth of invasive Eupatorium adenophorum.

Rising air temperatures may change the risks of invasive plants; however, little is known about how different warming timings affect the growth and stress-tolerance of invasive plants. We conducted an experiment with an invasive plant Eupatorium adenophorum and a native congener Eupatorium chinense, and contrasted their mortality, plant height, total biomass, and biomass allocation in ambient, day-, night-, and daily-warming treatments. The mortality of plants was significantly higher in E. chinense than E. adenophorum in four temperature regimes. Eupatorium adenophorum grew larger than E. chinense in the ambient climate, and this difference was amplified with warming. On the basis of the net effects of warming, daily-warming exhibited the strongest influence on E. adenophorum, followed by day-warming and night-warming. There was a positive correlation between total biomass and root weight ratio in E. adenophorum, but not in E. chinense. These findings suggest that climate warming may enhance E. adenophorum invasions through increasing its growth and stress-tolerance, and that day-, night- and daily-warming may play different roles in this facilitation.

Simulated warming differentially affects the growth and competitive ability of Centaurea maculosa populations from home and introduced ranges.

Climate warming may drive invasions by exotic plants, thereby raising concerns over the risks of invasive plants. However, little is known about how climate warming influences the growth and competitive ability of exotic plants from their home and introduced ranges. We conducted a common garden experiment with an invasive plant Centaurea maculosa and a native plant Poa pratensis, in which a mixture of sand and vermiculite was used as a neutral medium, and contrasted the total biomass, competitive effects, and competitive responses of C. maculosa populations from Europe (home range) and North America (introduced range) under two different temperatures. The warming-induced inhibitory effects on the growth of C. maculosa alone were stronger in Europe than in North America. The competitive ability of C. maculosa plants from North America was greater than that of plants from Europe under the ambient condition whereas this competitive ability followed the opposite direction under the warming condition, suggesting that warming may enable European C. maculosa to be more invasive. Across two continents, warming treatment increased the competitive advantage instead of the growth advantage of C. maculosa, suggesting that climate warming may facilitate C. maculosa invasions through altering competitive outcomes between C. maculosa and its neighbors. Additionally, the growth response of C. maculosa to warming could predict its ability to avoid being suppressed by its neighbors.