Assessing the impact of agriculture, coal mining, and ecological restoration on water sustainability in the Mu Us Sandyland.

Balancing water demand for socio-economic development and ecosystem stability presents a challenge for regional sustainable management, especially in drylands. Previous studies have indicated that large-scale ecological restoration projects (ERPs) lead to a decline in terrestrial water storage (TWS) in the Mu Us Sandyland (MUS). However, the effects of other human activities (e.g., cropland reclamation, coal mining) on water resources remain unclear, raising concerns regarding water crisis and human-natural system sustainability. Through the utilization of coal mine location data, we found that the impact of coal mass loss on the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) products cannot be ignored in MUS, especially in the coal-rich northeastern part. Combining these data with auxiliary datasets, we observed a significant (p < 0.05) decrease in TWS (-0.85 cm yr-1) and groundwater storage (GWS, -0.95 cm yr-1) in the MUS, with human activities accounting for 79.23 % of TWS and 90.45 % of GWS reductions, primarily due to increased agricultural and industrial water consumption. Agricultural water consumption increased 2.23 times from 2001 to 2020, attributed to enhanced water use intensity (62.6 %) and cropland expansion (37.4 %). Industrial water consumption in Shenmu, a representative coal county, experienced a 4.16-fold rise between 2001 and 2020. Despite these challenges, local governments have alleviated water stress, ensured food security, and increased household income by comprehensive management strategies, such as enhancing water-saving technology and enforcing stringent policies. Previous studies have overestimated the amount of water resources consumed by ERPs. However, ERPs has played a critical role in stabilizing the regional ecological environment and ensuring the region as a vital food and energy supplier. Our findings can guide for socio-economic development and water management policies in similar regions.

A regimen based on the combination of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole with caspofungin and corticosteroids as a first-line therapy for patients with severe non-HIV-related pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia: a retrospective study in a tertiary hospital.

BACKGROUND: Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PJP) is a life-threatening and severe disease in immunocompromised hosts. A synergistic regimen based on the combination of sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim (SMX-TMP) with caspofungin and glucocorticosteroids (GCSs) may be a potential first-line therapy for PJP. Therefore, it is important to explore the efficacy and safety of this synergistic therapy for treating non-HIV-related PJP patients. METHODS: We retrospectively analysed the data of 38 patients with non-HIV-related PJP at the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University. Patients were divided into two groups: the synergistic therapy group (ST group, n = 20) and the monotherapy group (MT group, n = 18). All patients were from the ICU and were diagnosed with severe PJP. In the ST group, all patients were treated with SMX-TMP (TMP 15-20 mg/kg per day) combined with caspofungin (70 mg as the loading dose and 50 mg/day as the maintenance dose) and a GCS (methylprednisolone 40-80 mg/day). Patients in the MT group were treated only with SMX-TMP (TMP 15-20 mg/kg per day). The clinical response, adverse events and mortality were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The percentage of patients with a positive clinical response in the ST group was significantly greater than that in the MT group (100.00% vs. 66.70%, P = 0.005). The incidence of adverse events in the MT group was greater than that in the ST group (50.00% vs. 15.00%, P = 0.022). Furthermore, the dose of TMP and duration of fever in the ST group were markedly lower than those in the MT group (15.71 mg/kg/day vs. 18.35 mg/kg/day (P = 0.001) and 7.00 days vs. 11.50 days (P = 0.029), respectively). However, there were no significant differences in all-cause mortality or duration of hospital stay between the MT group and the ST group. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with SMZ/TMP monotherapy, synergistic therapy (SMZ-TMP combined with caspofungin and a GCS) for the treatment of non-HIV-related PJP can increase the clinical response rate, decrease the incidence of adverse events and shorten the duration of fever. These results indicate that synergistic therapy is effective and safe for treating severe non-HIV-related PJP.

Soil freeze-thaw cycles affect spring phenology by changing phenological sensitivity in the Northern Hemisphere.

The use of frozen soil-vegetation feedback for predictive models is undergoing enormous changes under rapid climate warming. However, the influence of soil freeze-thaw (SFT) cycles on vegetation phenology and the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. By synthesizing a variety of satellite-derived data from 2002 to 2021 in the Northern Hemisphere (NH), we demonstrated a widespread positive correlation between soil thawing and the start of the growing season (SOS). Our results also showed that the SFT cycles had a significant impact on vegetation phenology mainly by altering the phenological sensitivities to daytime and nighttime temperatures, solar radiation and precipitation. Moreover, the effects of SFT cycles on the sensitivity of the SOS were more pronounced than those on the sensitivity of the end of the growing season (EOS) and the length of growing season (LOS). Furthermore, due to the degradation of frozen soil, the changes in phenological sensitivity in the grassland and tundra biomes were significantly larger than those in the forest. These findings highlighted the importance of incorporating the SFT as an intermediate process into process-based phenological models.

Identification of critical ecological areas using the ecosystem multifunctionality-stability-integrity framework: A case study in the Yellow River basin, China.

Critical ecological areas (CEAs), as important regions for biodiversity and ecosystem functions, are crucial for ecological conservation and environmental management at regional and global scales. However, the methodology and framework of CEA identification have not been well established. In this study, a comprehensive CEA identification method was developed based on the ecosystem multifunctionality-stability-integrity framework by using K-means clustering, critical slowing down theory and possible connectivity. Taking the Yellow River basin (YRB) as a case study, our results showed that ecosystem multifunctionality gradually decreased from the southeast to northwest. A decrease in ecosystem stability was observed since 2017 and was mainly due to the increased impacts of human activities and urbanization within the 10-20 km distance threshold from the ecosystem. Based on the proposed framework, 15.13% of the YRB was identified as CEAs with reliable estimates, and most areas were distributed in the Three-River Headwaters, Qinling and Taihang Mountains. Moreover, urbanization and precipitation were found to be the dominant environmental factors affecting the CEA distribution in the YRB. Our results indicated that the proposed framework could provide a comprehensive approach for CEA identification and useful implications for ecological conservation and environmental management.

Landscape pattern and ecosystem services are critical for protected areas' contributions to sustainable development goals at regional scale.

Protected areas are essential for the conservation of biodiversity, natural and cultural resources, and contribute to regional and global sustainable development. However, since authorities and stakeholders concern more on the conservation targets of protected areas, how to better evaluate the protected areas' contributions to sustainable development goals (SDGs) remains generally understudied. To fill this knowledge gap, we chose the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) as the study area, mapped the SDGs in 2010, 2015 and 2020, detecting the interactive relationships among SDGs. Then we used the landscape pattern indices and ecosystem service (ES) proxies to describe the characteristics of national nature reserves (NNRs), and explore the contributions of protected areas to SDGs using panel data models. The results showed that from 2010 to 2020, most cities of QTP improved their SDG scores to >60. The three cities with the best SDG performance improved their average scores by nearly 20 %. Among the 69 pairs correlations of SDG indicators, 13 synergies and 6 trade-offs were observed. About 65 % of the SDG indicators were significantly correlated with landscape pattern or ESs of NNRs. Carbon sequestration had a significant positive effect on 30 % of the SDG indicators, while habitat quality had a negative effect on 18 % of the SDG indicators. For the landscape pattern indices, the largest patch index had a significant positive effect on 18 % of the SDG indicators. This study highlighted that the ESs and landscape pattern could well quantify the contribution of protected areas to SDGs, which can provide essential implications for protected area management and regional sustainable development.

Integrative analysis of biodiversity, ecosystem services, and ecological vulnerability can facilitate improved spatial representation of nature reserves.

Understanding how to identify priority conservation areas for biodiversity and ecosystem services (ESs) is crucial for nature reserve (NR) optimization and regional planning. This study reports a regional assessment in Qinghai Province of China, quantifying the biodiversity and the provision of four ESs (carbon sequestration-net primary productivity (NPP), water yield, soil retention, and sandstorm prevention). The representativeness-vulnerability framework was employed to identify priority conservation areas for biodiversity and ESs, and the conservation gaps of existing NRs. The results show that the biodiversity, ES supply, and vulnerability of biodiversity and ESs to human activities present spatial heterogeneity. Except for sandstorm prevention, the high-value areas of ESs are generally in eastern or southern Qinghai. NPP, water yield, soil retention, and biodiversity are positively correlated (p < 0.01). The ten NRs in Qinghai only protected 5.59 %, 5.01 %, 4.29 %, 0.65 %, and 4.49 % of the priority conservation area for biodiversity, NPP, water yield, sandstorm prevention, and soil retention, respectively. Overall, a total of 170,932 km2 of theoretically comprehensive priority conservation areas for both biodiversity and ESs have been identified, which were mostly distributed in eastern, southern, and southeastern Qinghai. The existing NRs has notable conservation gaps (161,956 km2 accounting for 94.75 % of the targeted conservation areas) for both biodiversity and ESs. This study illuminates a strategy for strengthening both biodiversity and ESs through NR optimization, which is also applicable to other regions.

Urbanization does not endanger food security: Evidence from China's Loess Plateau.

The expansion of construction land due to urbanization is the most rapid land use change in contemporary human history and has always occupied high-quality cropland, posing a severe threat to cropland and food security, it's essential to clarify the impact of urbanization on cropland and food security. This study proposed a research framework based on the regulating role of human activities, used quantifiable complex network analysis to uncover the vital role of urbanization in the evolution of land systems, and combined trajectory analysis of crop yield change to explore the impact of different urbanization modes (urban, town, and township mode) on food security through a continuous observation on 4259 township-level administrative regions of the Loess Plateau from 1990 to 2020. The findings proved that urbanization occupied the greatest land use area of cropland, and the town mode occupied 58.62 % of all urbanization modes encroaching on cropland, which has become a new pattern for advancing the urbanization development in the Loess Plateau. Construction land is more likely to be transferred in than out in the land use transfer network, while other land use types converted to construction land will be difficult to reverse. The Chinese government has implemented pragmatic policies, improved agricultural production techniques, and promoted agricultural intensification, resulting in a considerable increase in crop productivity and crop yield and the achievement of basic crop yield self-sufficiency of the Loess Plateau, so urbanization would not endanger food security. This study not only provides a more systematic research framework for related studies but also provides a theoretical basis for securing food security in other rapidly urbanizing regions of the world.

Multiple pressures and vegetation conditions shape the spatiotemporal variations of ecosystem services in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Human activities and environmental change can impact the supply of ecosystem services (ESs) as pressures. Understanding the mechanisms of these impacts is crucial to support ecological conservation and restoration policy and applications. In this study, we highlighted the contribution of vegetation to mitigating these impacts on ESs in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) of China. First, we identified hot and cold spots of pressures from human activities and environmental factors and mapped the cumulative provision of five ESs (i.e., water yield, soil retention, carbon sequestration, habitat quality, and landscape aesthetics). Then, we clustered these ESs into five bundles based on their supply level. Furthermore, structural equation modeling was used to quantify the pathways of multiple pressures on ESs. The results indicated that 1) for 2000, 2010 and 2019, the percentages of hot spots with high pressure were 28.88%, 27.59% and 45.66% respectively, with significant spatial heterogeneity from northwest to southeast; 2) both regions with high and low cumulative ES values experienced increased volatility; and 3) the joint effects of multiple pressures shaped ESs through pressure-ES (direct) and pressure-vegetation-ES (indirect) pathways. Specifically, precipitation had the largest positive effect on regulating services (rα ≥ 0.76), and landscape fragmentation had the largest negative effect on cultural services (-0.10 ≤ rα ≤ -0.07). Vegetation played an important role in modulating multiple pressures on ESs. This study contributes to ecosystem management by effectively coping with anthropogenic and environmental pressures and sustaining the supply of ESs, particularly in alpine and plateau regions.

Relations between physical and ecosystem service flows of freshwater are critical for water resource security in large dryland river basin.

Freshwater ecosystem services are the link between ecological systems and social systems, which is an important guarantee of the freshwater safety particularly in dryland regions. However, more quantitative research has been based on the freshwater ecosystem services of static situations, and less on the flow conditions. We established a comprehensive modeling framework for the analysis of water security pattern based on the physical flow (PF) and ecosystem service flow (ESF) of freshwater. The results for Yellow River Basin showed that the water-scarce area have reduced in the past two decades. The PF of freshwater relieves water stress on an average of 52.1 % of the static water in scarce areas per year. The problem in water-deficient areas meanly lies on the water supply side. These results highlight the importance of PF from the upstream to downstream, which is critical for formulating sustainable management strategies in safeguarding long-term regional freshwater resource security.

Socioeconomic development alters the effects of 'green' and 'grain' on evapotranspiration in China's loess plateau after the grain for green programme.

Revegetation has been conducted extensively to restore degraded ecosystems, thereby accelerating water consumption and affecting water availability for other human demands. Examining evapotranspiration (ET) can guide regional management to promote revegetation sustainability and address the contradiction in water demand. We characterised ET variation on China's Loess Plateau from 2003 to 2013, after the 'Grain for Green' revegetation programme implementation. Annual ET significantly increased, with an average trend of 4.87 mm yr-2; the highest increasing trends were in the southern part of the plateau. Combining zero-order correlation and partial correlation, we found that climate and crop production were the key factors influencing ET, while revegetation also had significant effects. We also explored how multiple influencing factors affected ET through partial least-squares path modelling. Revegetation and socioeconomic development were found to impose indirect effects on ET by promoting rural household income and altering agricultural production. The specified linkages and regulating pathways among revegetation and human needs including socioeconomic development and agricultural production should be considered in solving the conflicts between the ecosystem and human water use in water-limited regions.

The potential for carbon sequestration by afforestation can be limited in dryland river basins under the pressure of high human activity.

Dryland regions cover >40 % of the Earth's land surface. Both human activities and climate change have driven forest expansion in parts of dryland regions. Afforestation has been implemented widely to enhance carbon sequestration and benefit the ecological environment of many global drylands. However, the potential and available afforestation space in drylands is uncertain due to the conflicts between additional forest areas and available water. How afforestation will affect the potential for forest carbon stock is also unclear. This paper assessed the future spatial distribution of afforestation and potential forest carbon stock in a typical dryland region, the Yellow River Basin (YRB), which has experienced rapid afforestation and high human activity pressure over the past several decades. Combining the future land use change model (FLUS) and local important development planning, we simulated future afforestation distributions and estimated potential forest carbon stock under the ecological restoration, urban expansion, and cultivated land protection scenarios. The afforestation carbon stock was predicted by considering the dynamic change trends of the mature forest, the immature forest, and new afforestation. The results demonstrated that the potential afforestation area would be limited to 4000 km2 in the YRB accounting for less than one-twentieth of the total forest area. Accordingly, the maximum potential forest carbon stock would increase only 59.5 × 106 t. These findings implies that afforestation programs in drylands should further consider the optimum allocation of afforestation space and the balance between carbon and water in drylands, especially under a changing climate with increasing human activities.

Exploring cost-effective measure portfolios for ecosystem services optimization under large-scale vegetation restoration.

Ecosystem services-based land management incorporates environmental features and social needs, providing an important opportunity to realize global sustainability goals. Recent decades, the interaction among water-related ecosystem services (ESs) is getting ambiguous during regional vegetation restoration, which entails challenges for coordinating restoration actions, economic resources, and water-soil resources' availability. In this study, we first explored mechanism of trade-offs among five water-related ESs in the Chinese Loess Plateau under vegetation restoration. Given the decreased baseflow and its widespread trade-offs with water quality, we then developed four scenarios aiming at enhancing the baseflow and nutrient retention in a cost-effective way, by engaging a spatially explicit biophysical software tool-the RIOS model. Moreover, we selected four typical watersheds in the Loess Plateau as cases to demonstrate the differentiated information on the budget levels and the activity sites. The results indicated that, a deep mechanism of scale effects of trade-off among ESs was largely related to spatial heterogeneity rather than spatial resolution, which also affected activity portfolios under different ES scenarios. For the entire Loess Plateau, activity of forest maintenance should be concentrated on the cost-effective locations of investment for the enhancement of baseflow and nutrient retention. Under the regular budget scenarios, trade-offs only could be locally alleviated in reality, while dropping the high-cost ES objectives is an advisable strategy for minimizing investment risk. Taking conservation agricultural practices in the plain river basins should be regarded as a priority when budget can be increased. In contrast, an approach of 'governing by non-interference' for typical watersheds of re-vegetation was sensible strategy for avoiding trade-offs aggravation. These findings emphasized interrelation between the mechanism of ESs trade-offs and activity portfolios, which is an important basis for the implementation of conservation activities in real world context, and a rational reference for the simulation of desired ES goals in future studies.

Broad-spectrum resistance mechanism of serine protease Sp1 in Bacillus licheniformis W10 via dual comparative transcriptome analysis.

Antagonistic microorganisms are considered to be the most promising biological controls for plant disease. However, they are still not as popular as chemical pesticides due to complex environmental factors in the field. It is urgent to exploit their potential genetic characteristics and excellent properties to develop biopesticides with antimicrobial substances as the main components. Here, the serine protease Sp1 isolated from the Bacillus licheniformis W10 strain was confirmed to have a broad antifungal and antibacterial spectrum. Sp1 treatment significantly inhibited fungal vegetative growth and damaged the structure of hyphae, in accordance with that caused by W10 strain. Furthermore, Sp1 could activate the systemic resistance of peach twigs, fruits and tobacco. Dual comparative transcriptome analysis uncovered how Sp1 resisted the plant pathogenic fungus Phomopsis amygdali and the potential molecular resistance mechanisms of tobacco. In PSp1 vs. P. amygdali, RNA-seq identified 150 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) that were upregulated and 209 DEGs that were downregulated. Further analysis found that Sp1 might act on the energy supply and cell wall structure to inhibit the development of P. amygdali. In TSp1 vs. Xanthi tobacco, RNA-seq identified that 5937 DEGs were upregulated and 2929 DEGs were downregulated. DEGs were enriched in the metabolic biosynthesis pathways of secondary metabolites, plant hormone signal transduction, plant-pathogen interactions, and MAPK signaling pathway-plant and further found that the genes of salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) signaling pathways were highly expressed and the contents of SA and JA increased significantly, suggesting that systemic resistance induced by Sp1 shares features of SAR and ISR. In addition, Sp1 might induce the plant defense responses of tobacco. This study provides insights into the broad-spectrum resistance molecular mechanism of Sp1, which could be used as a potential biocontrol product.

Identifying ecological security patterns based on the supply, demand and sensitivity of ecosystem service: A case study in the Yellow River Basin, China.

Ecological security is the basis for ecosystems to provide various ecosystem services (ESs) to humans. Identifying ecological security patterns (ESPs) is an effective approach to determine the priority conservation areas and ensure regional ecological security. However, most previous studies on ESPs were based mainly on the supply of ESs, while the demand and sensitivity of ESs were not fully considered. In this study, a comprehensive ESP identification framework was developed by integrating the supply, demand and sensitivity of ESs with the fuzzy multicriteria decision-making and circuit theory. Taking the Yellow River Basin (YRB) as a case study, our results show that the ecological sources (139,633 km2 or 17.3%) of the YRB were located mainly in the transition area between the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Loess Plateau, and in the Qinling Mountains and eastern plains; these areas reliably exhibited high conservation efficiency and low decision-making risk and tradeoff levels. However, the northern and western YRB had few ecological sources due to mismatches among the supply, demand and sensitivity of ESs. Based on circuit theory, ecological corridors (36,905 m and 76,878 km2) effectively connected the western, southern and eastern parts of the YRB. These ecological sources and corridors were both dominated by grassland, forest and cropland. However, ten pinch points, primarily covered by cropland, were also recognized in the eastern YRB and should be considered as priority areas for ecological conservation. Moreover, our results indicate that this comprehensive ESP identification framework could provide useful guidance to decision-makers for maintaining ESs and ecological conservation.

Short-Term Grazing Exclusion Alters Soil Bacterial Co-occurrence Patterns Rather Than Community Diversity or Composition in Temperate Grasslands.

Grazing exclusion is one of the most common practices for degraded grassland restoration worldwide. Soil microorganisms are critical components in soil and play important roles in maintaining grassland ecosystem functions. However, the changes of soil bacterial community characteristics during grazing exclusion for different types of grassland remain unclear. In this study, the soil bacterial community diversity and composition as well as the co-occurrence patterns were investigated and compared between grazing exclusion (4 years) and the paired adjacent grazing sites for three types of temperate grasslands (desert steppe, typical steppe, and meadow steppe) in the Hulunbuir grassland of Inner Mongolia. Our results showed that short-term grazing exclusion decreased the complexity and connectivity of bacterial co-occurrence patterns while increasing the network modules in three types of temperate grasslands. The effects of grazing exclusion on soil bacterial α-diversity and composition were not significant in typical steppe and meadow steppe. However, short-term grazing exclusion significantly altered the community composition in desert steppe, indicating that the soil bacteria communities in desert steppe could respond faster than those in other two types of steppes. In addition, the composition of bacterial community is predominantly affected by soil chemical properties, such as soil total carbon and pH, instead of spatial distance. These results indicated that short-term grazing exclusion altered the soil bacterial co-occurrence patterns rather than community diversity or composition in three types of temperate grasslands. Moreover, our study suggested that soil bacterial co-occurrence patterns were more sensitive to grazing exclusion, and the restoration of soil bacterial community might need a long term (>4 years) in our study area.

Determining critical thresholds of ecological restoration based on ecosystem service index: A case study in the Pingjiang catchment in southern China.

Considering that the degradation of ecological systems is an urgent environmental challenge, promoting multiple ecosystem services (ES) through ecological restoration has recently become more critical. However, the complicated interactions among multiple ES are not fully considered in ecological restoration planning and management, which prevents simultaneous improvements to environmental and human welfare. In this study, the spatio-temporal variations of multiple ES and their interactions were investigated in the Pingjiang catchment, which used to suffer severe soil erosion and has been the target of the ecological restoration projects. The results showed that five individual ES were heterogeneously distributed, and each individual ES and their overall benefits have increased with the implementation of ecological restoration (except for water yield). However, significantly negative correlations existed in over half of ten ES pairs, and the trade-offs among the five individual ES also increased. Through redundancy analysis, the forest proportion (FP) was identified as the major socio-ecological factor that determines multiple ES patterns; therefore, determining the appropriate FP for restoration areas is important for regulating the supply of ES. The constraint effects of FP on each ES and their overall benefits and trade-offs were examined, and inconsistent thresholds were detected for some relationships. Thus, a comprehensive index (ES index) that incorporates the overall trade-offs was proposed to reflect the complicated interactions among multiple ES and the preferences of different stakeholder groups. The constraint effect of FP on the ES index was explored, and the threshold values detected in the hump-shaped curve of the constraint lines provided references for determining the appropriate FP. This study established an integrated land use management framework by proposing a comprehensive ES index and determining its critical thresholds through the constraint line method. The results provide insights for the better planning and targeting of ecological restoration and land use management projects worldwide.

Quantifying the Variability of Forest Ecosystem Vulnerability in the Largest Water Tower Region Globally.

Forests are critical ecosystems for environmental regulation and ecological security maintenance, especially at high altitudes that exhibit sensitivity to climate change and human activities. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau-the world's largest water tower region-has been breeding many large rivers in Asia where forests play important roles in water regulation and water quality improvement. However, the vulnerability of these forest ecosystems at the regional scale is still largely unknown. Therefore, the aim of this research is to quantitatively assess the temporal-spatial variability of forest vulnerability on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau to illustrate the capacity of forests to withstand disturbances. Geographic information system (GIS) and the spatial principal component analysis (SPCA) were used to develop a forest vulnerable index (FVI) to assess the vulnerability of forest ecosystems. This research incorporates 15 factors covering the natural context, environmental disturbances, and socioeconomic impact. Results indicate that the measure of vulnerability was unevenly distributed spatially across the study area, and the whole trend has intensified since 2000. The three factors that contribute the most to the vulnerability of natural contexts, environmental disturbances, and human impacts are slope aspect, landslides, and the distance to the farmland, respectively. The vulnerability is higher in forest areas with lower altitudes, steeper slopes, and southerly directions. These evaluation results can be helpful for forest management in high altitude water tower regions in the forms of forest conservation or restoration planning and implementation towards sustainable development goals.

Comparison of the Protective Effect of Different Mild Therapeutic Hypothermia Temperatures on Intestinal Injury After Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation in Rats.

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic temperature management (TTM) is the standard treatment protocol for unconscious post-resuscitation patients. However, there is still controversy about the ideal targeted temperature of mild hypothermia therapy. Additionally, studies about protective therapy for post-resuscitation intestinal injury are very limited. Therefore, this study was performed to explore: whether mild hypothermia therapy can exert a protective effect on post-resuscitation intestinal injury; the protective effect of different targeted temperatures on post-resuscitation intestinal injury and the ideal targeted temperature; the potential protective mechanism of mild hypothermia therapy for post-resuscitation intestinal injury. METHODS: Ventricular fibrillation was electrically induced and untreated for 6 min while defibrillation was attempted after 8 min of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in 15 rats. After successful resuscitation, animals were randomized into three groups: control; TTM-35; TTM-33. In animals of the control group, temperature was maintained at 37 ±â€Š0.2°C for 6 h. In animals of the two TTM groups, temperature was maintained at 33 ±â€Š0.2°C or 35 ±â€Š0.2°C for 6 h, respectively. During mild hypothermia therapy, intestinal microcirculation was measured at 60, 240, and 360 min after resuscitation. Animals were euthanized 6.5 h after resuscitation. The morphological changes in the intestinal tissue, systemic and local inflammatory factors, and intestinal injury markers were measured and analyzed. The tight junction proteins in the intestinal epithelium, cell-cell contact protein E-cadherin expression, myosin light chain (MLC) and myosin light chain kinase levels, and the NF-κB p65 signaling pathway were analyzed by western blotting. RESULTS: Compared with results in the control group, mild hypothermia therapy (TTM-33 and TTM-35 groups) significantly improved post-resuscitation intestinal microcirculation and pathological scores, decreased systemic and local intestinal tissue inflammatory factor levels, inhibited the NF-κB signaling pathway and downstream MLC phosphorylation, and significantly decreased MLC phosphorylation-associated loss of intestinal tight junction proteins and E-cadherin (P < 0.05). A 33°C target temperature could exert more protective effects than 35°C on post-resuscitation intestinal injury, such as improving intestinal microcirculation, decreasing intestinal ischemia factor iFABP, and plasma endotoxin levels, inhibiting the NF-κB signaling pathway and downstream MLC phosphorylation, and suppressing the loss of intestinal tight junctions and E-cadherin (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Mild hypothermia therapy can improve post-resuscitation intestinal injury, and a targeted temperature of 33°C may confer more benefit for mitigation of intestinal injury as compared with a targeted temperature of 35°C.

Integrating vegetation suitability in sustainable revegetation for the Loess Plateau, China.

Revegetation is accelerating globally due to its benefits for ecosystem restoration, desertification prevention, and climate change mitigation. The Loess Plateau has suffered serious erosion in the past decades, and revegetation projects, such as those under the 'Grain for Green' program, have been conducted for soil erosion prevention. The irrational distribution of artificial plantations had negative consequences, including vegetation degradation, soil drying, and decreases in streamflow. Determining the suitable plant species is critical in guiding the design of revegetation programs and may help delimit the suitable boundaries for artificial plantations. In this study, we used an eco-hydrological model to quantify the suitability of two typical revegetation species (Robinia pseudoacacia and Stipa bungeana) using a developed vegetation suitability equation, which estimates the water use/water stress trade-off. The results showed that R. pseudoacacia was more sensitive to water stress than S. bungeana. The water use of both species varied along the precipitation gradient, and S. bungeana generally had a higher water use than R. pseudoacacia. Suitable areas for R. pseudoacacia were mainly located in the northeastern part of the plateau. By overlaying the suitable boundaries for R. pseudoacacia on the current land cover, we found that the area of forests distributed in unsuitable regions reached 7.31% of the entire Loess Plateau. Converting forests beyond the suitable boundary to grasslands would increase the water yield (0.51%-12.23%) and slightly decrease the soil retention capacity (0.01%-0.08%), resulting in a 'win-win' situation for sustainable plant-soil ecosystems and soil-water conservations. Additionally, the suitable area of R. pseudoacacia is predicted to shrink under projected future drying trends. In conclusion, vegetation suitability in the future planning and design of revegetation projects should be considered to effectively tackle the impacts of environmental degradation and climate change in the Loess Plateau.