The Three Gorges region in China was basically a geohazard-prone area prior to construction of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR). After construction of the TGR, the water level was raised from 70 m to 175 m above sea...The Three Gorges region in China was basically a geohazard-prone area prior to construction of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR). After construction of the TGR, the water level was raised from 70 m to 175 m above sea level (ASL), and annual reservoir regulation has caused a 30-m water level difference after impoundment of the TGR since September 2008. This paper first presents the spatiotemporal distribution of landslides in six periods of 175 m ASL trial impoundments from 2008 to 2014. The results show that the number of landslides sharply decreased from 273 at the initial stage to less than ten at the second stage of impoundment. Based on this, the reservoir-induced landslides in the TGR region can be roughly classified into five failure patterns, i.e. accumulation landslide, dip-slope landslide, reversed bedding landslide, rockfall, and karst breccia landslide. The accumulation landslides and dip-slope landslides account for more than 90%. Taking the Shuping accumulation landslide (a sliding mass volume of 20.7 × 106 m^3) in Zigui County and the Outang dip-slope landslide (a sliding mass volume of about 90 × 106 m^3) in Fengjie County as two typical cases, the mechanisms of reactivation of the two landslides are analyzed. The monitoring data and factor of safety (FOS) calculation show that the accumulation landslide is dominated by water level variation in the reservoir as most part of the mass body is under 175 m ASL, and the dip-slope landslide is controlled by the coupling effect of reservoir water level variation and precipitation as an extensive recharge area of rainfall from the rear and the front mass is below 175 m ASL. The characteristics of landslide-induced impulsive wave hazards after and before reservoir impoundment are studied, and the probability of occurrence of a landslide-induced impulsive wave hazard has increased in the reservoir region. Simulation results of the Ganjingzi landslide in Wushan County indicate the strong relationship between landslide-induced surge and wa展开更多
Land use reflects human activities on land.Urban land use is the highest level human alteration on Earth,and it is rapidly changing due to population increase and urbanization.Urban areas have widespread effects on lo...Land use reflects human activities on land.Urban land use is the highest level human alteration on Earth,and it is rapidly changing due to population increase and urbanization.Urban areas have widespread effects on local hydrology,climate,biodiversity,and food production[1,2].However,maps,that contain knowledge on the distribution,pattern and composition of various land use types in urban areas,are limited to city level.The mapping standard on data sources,methods,land use classification schemes varies from city to city,due to differences in financial input and skills of mapping personnel.To address various national and global environmental challenges caused by urbanization,it is important to have urban land uses at the national and global scales that are derived from the same or consistent data sources with the same or compatible classification systems and mapping methods.This is because,only with urban land use maps produced with similar criteria,consistent environmental policies can be made,and action efforts can be compared and assessed for large scale environmental administration.However,despite of the fact that a number of urban-extent maps exist at global scales[3,4],more detailed urban land use maps do not exist at the same scale.Even at big country or regional levels such as for the United States,China and European Union,consistent land use mapping efforts are rare[5,6](e.g.,https://sdi4apps.eu/open_land_use/).展开更多
Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are highly conserved small non-coding RNAs of 18-25 nucleotides (nt) that mediate post-transcriptional gene regulation. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) can cause either acute or chronic hep...Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are highly conserved small non-coding RNAs of 18-25 nucleotides (nt) that mediate post-transcriptional gene regulation. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) can cause either acute or chronic hepatitis B, and is a high risk factor for liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Some mammalian viruses have been shown to modulate the expression of host cellular miRNAs. However, interactions between the HBV and the host cellular miRNAs are largely unknown.Methods miRNA microarray and Northern blotting analysis were used to compare the expression profile of cellular miRNAs of a stable HBV-expressing cell line HepG2.2.15 and its parent cell line HepG2. mRNA microarray assay and the miRanda program were used to predict the miRNA targets. A flow cytometric assay was further used to investigate the expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A.Results Eighteen miRNAs were differentially expressed between the two cell lines. Among them, eleven were up-regulated and seven were down-regulated in HepG2.2.15 cells. Northern blotting analysis confirmed that the expression of miR-181a, miR-181b, miR-200b and miR-146a were up-regulated and the expression of miR-15a was down-regulated, which was in consistent with the results of the microarray analysis. Furthermore, some putative miRNA targets were predicted and verified to be linked with mRNA expression. The 3′-UTR of HLA-A gene had one partially complementary site for miR-181a and miR-181 a might down-regulate the expression of HLA-A.Conclusion HBV replication modulates the expression of host cellular miRNAs, which may play a role in the pathogenesis of HBV-related liver diseases.展开更多
Based on four phases of TM images acquired in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005, this paper took Kitakyushu in Japan as a case study to analyze spatial change of land use landscape and corresponding effects on environmental i...Based on four phases of TM images acquired in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005, this paper took Kitakyushu in Japan as a case study to analyze spatial change of land use landscape and corresponding effects on environmental issues guided by landscape ecology theory in virtue of combining technology of Remote Sensing with GIS. Firstly, land use types were divided into 6 classes (farmland, mountain, forestland, water body, urban land and unused land) according to national classification standard of land use, comprehensible ability of TM image and purpose of this study. Secondly, following the theory of landscape ecology analysis, 11 typical landscape indices were abstracted to evaluate the environmental effects and spatial feature changes of land use. Research results indicated that land use has grown more and more diversified and unbalanced, human activities have disturbed the landscape more seriously. Finally, transfer matrix of Markov was applied to forecast change process of land use in the future different periods, and then potential land use changes were also simulated from 2010 to 2050. Results showed that conversion tendency for all types of land use in Kitakyushu into urban construction land were enhanced. The study was anticipated to help local authorities better understand and address a complex land use system, and develop improved land use management strategies that could better balance urban expansion and ecological conservation.展开更多
This study investigated the regional differences of China′s urban land expansion from the late 1980s to the year of 2008, based on the spatio-temporal analysis of CLCD (China′s land cover/land use database) datasets...This study investigated the regional differences of China′s urban land expansion from the late 1980s to the year of 2008, based on the spatio-temporal analysis of CLCD (China′s land cover/land use database) datasets which were mainly produced from remote sensing imagery data. A newly defined urbanization level index (UI), based on urban land area, is proposed to describe Chinese urban expansion process at 1 kilometer, provincial, regional, and na-tional scales, together with the absolute urban expansion index (UEa) and the relative urbanization expansion index (UEr). The results indicate that the percentages of total land area occupied by urban in the late 1980s, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2008 were approximately 0.25%, 0.32%, 0.33%, 0.43% and 0.52% of China′s total land area, respectively. Between the late 1980s and 2008, the total urban expansion in the mainland of China was 2.645 × 104 km2, resulting in an annual urban expansion area of about 1322.7 km2/yr, with the UEr of 111.9%. This study also finds that there has been an obvious spatial gradient of urbanization ratio running from the east coast to the west inland, and the urbanization gaps among different regions have persisted over the past two decades. The study also reveals obvious temporal varia-tions of the urbanization rates. There was very little urban growth during the period of 1995-2000 due to the governmental policy factors.展开更多
Collecting baseline information on how laboratories perform testing is a reasonable first step towards establishing intra- and inter-laboratory standardization and quality control for semen analysis. We carried out a ...Collecting baseline information on how laboratories perform testing is a reasonable first step towards establishing intra- and inter-laboratory standardization and quality control for semen analysis. We carried out a survey of the laboratories performing the testing in China's Mainland. A questionnaire, composed of 36 questions covering all aspects of semen analysis, was designed, and a copy was distributed to each of the 145 laboratories. Of these, 118 laboratories completed the questionnaires. The survey results showed that semen volume was measured visually in 53.6% (59/110) of the responding laboratories, and 70.9% (73/103) of laboratories analysed incompletely liquefied semen without any treatment. In addition, both manual-microscopic and computer-assisted semen-analysis systems were applied to analyse sperm concentration, motility and morphology. However, more than five methods were employed in routine sperm staining. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was commonly used for determining whether antisperm antibodies were present. Several seminal biochemical markers were analysed in only 27.1% (32/118) of the responding laboratories. Generally, there was a lack of intra- and inter-laboratory quality control measures for semen analysis in all laboratories responding to this survey. In conclusion, the methods of semen analysis and the interpretation of test results in the surveyed laboratories differed markedly. In particular, many laboratories employed methods other than those recommended by the World Health Organization Laboratory Manual for the Examination of Human Semen and Sperm- cervical Mucus Interaction (1999). These findings suggest an urgent need for the standardization of semen analysis with acceptable quality controls for each parameter to make the results repeatable and meaningful.展开更多
Although the role of oxidative stress in maternal aging and infertility has been suggested, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. The present study is designed to determine the relationship between mitoc...Although the role of oxidative stress in maternal aging and infertility has been suggested, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. The present study is designed to determine the relationship between mitochondrial function and spindle stability in metaphase II (MII) oocytes under oxidative stress. MII mouse oocytes were treated with H2O2 in the presence or absence of permeability transition pores (PTPs) blockers cyclosporin A (CsA). In addition, antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC), F0/F1 synthase inhibitor oligomycin A, the mitochondria uncoupler carbonyl cyanide 4-trifluoro- methoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP) or thapsigargin plus 2.5 mM Ca^2+ (Th+2.5 mM Ca^2+) were used in mechanistic studies. Morphologic analyses of oocyte spindles and chromosomes were performed and mitochondrial membrane potential (AWm), cytoplasmic free calcium concentration ([Ca^2+]c) and cytoplasmic ATP content within oocytes were also assayed. In a time- and H202 dose-dependent manner, disruption of meiotic spindles was found after oocytes were treated with H202, which was prevented by pre-treatment with NAC. Administration of H2O2 led to a dissipation of AWm, an increase in [Ca^2+]c and a decrease in cytoplasmic ATP levels. These detrimental responses of oocytes to H2O2 treatment could be blocked by pre-incubation with CsA. Similar to H2O2, both oligomycin A and FCCP dissipated AWm, decreased cytoplasmic ATP contents and disassembled MII oocyte spindles, while high [Ca^2+]c alone had no effects on spindle morphology. In conclusion, the decrease in mitochondria-derived ATP during oxidative stress may cause a disassembly of mouse MII oocyte spindles, presumably due to the opening of the mitochondrial PTPs.展开更多
We report the world's first all-season training and validation sample sets for global land cover classification with Landsat-8 data.Prior to this,such samples were only available at a single date primarily from th...We report the world's first all-season training and validation sample sets for global land cover classification with Landsat-8 data.Prior to this,such samples were only available at a single date primarily from the growing season.It is unknown how much limitation such a single-date sample has to mapping global land cover in other seasons of the year.To answer this question,we selected available Landsat-8 images from four seasons and collected training and validation samples from them.We compared the performances of training samples in different seasons using Random Forest algorithm.We found that the use of training samples from any individual season would result in the best overall classification accuracy when validated by samples in the same season.The global overall accuracy from combined best seasonal results was 67.2% when classifying the 11 Level-1 classes in the Finer Resolution Observation and Monitoring of Global Land Cover(FROM-GLC) classification system.The use of training samples from all seasons(named all-season training sample set hereafter) produced an overall accuracy of 67.0%.We also tested classification within 10° latitude 60° longitude zones using all-season training subsample within each zone and obtained an overall accuracy of 70.2%.This indicates that properly grouped subsamples in space can help improve classification accuracies.All the results in this study seem to suggest that it is possible to use an all-season training sample set to reach global optimality with universal applicability in classifying images acquired at any time of a year for global land cover mapping.展开更多
Liver fibrosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease,causing morbidity and mortality.Interleukin-33(IL-33)is a critical mediator of inflammation,which may be involved in the development of liver fibrosis.Here,we i...Liver fibrosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease,causing morbidity and mortality.Interleukin-33(IL-33)is a critical mediator of inflammation,which may be involved in the development of liver fibrosis.Here,we investigated the role of IL-33 in human patients and experimental bile-duct ligation(BDL)-induced fibrosis in mice.We report increased hepatic IL-33 expression in the murine BDL model of fibrosis and in surgical samples obtained from patients with liver fibrosis.Liver injury,inflammatory cell infiltration and fibrosis were reduced in the absence of the IL-33/ST2 receptor,and the activation of hepatic stellate cells(HSCs)was decreased in ST2-deficient mice.Recombinant IL-33 activated HSCs isolated from C57BL/6 mice,leading to the expression of IL-6,TGF-β,α-SMA and collagen,which was abrogated in the absence of ST2 or by pharmacological inhibition of MAPK signaling.Finally,administration of recombinant IL-33 significantly increased hepatic inflammation in sham-operated BL6 mice but did not enhance BDL-induced hepatic inflammation and fibrosis.In conclusion,BDL-induced liver inflammation and fibrosis are dependent on ST2 signaling in HSCs,and therefore,the IL-33/ST2 pathway may be a potential therapeutic target in human patients with chronic hepatitis and liver fibrosis.展开更多
Highly accurate observations at various scales on the land surface are urgently needed for the studies of many areas,such as hydrology,meteorology,and agriculture.With the rapid development of remote sensing technique...Highly accurate observations at various scales on the land surface are urgently needed for the studies of many areas,such as hydrology,meteorology,and agriculture.With the rapid development of remote sensing techniques,remote sensing has had the capacity of monitoring many factors of the Earth's land surface.Especially,the space-borne microwave remote sensing systems have been widely used in the quantitative monitoring of global snow,soil moisture,and vegetation parameters with their all-weather,all-time observation capabilities and their sensitivities to the characteristics of land surface factors.Based on the electromagnetic theories and microwave radiative transfer equations,researchers have achieved great successes in the microwave remote sensing studies for different sensors in recent years.This article has systematically reviewed the progresses on five research areas including microwave theoretical modeling,microwave inversion on soil moisture,snow,vegetation and land surface temperatures.Through the further enrichment of remote sensing datasets and the development of remote sensing theories and inversion techniques,remote sensing including microwave remote sensing will play a more important role in the studies and applications of the Earth systems.展开更多
An active distribution system power-supply planning model considering cooling,heating and power load balance is proposed in this paper.A regional energy service company is assumed to be in charge of the investment and...An active distribution system power-supply planning model considering cooling,heating and power load balance is proposed in this paper.A regional energy service company is assumed to be in charge of the investment and operation for the system in the model.The expansion of substations,building up distributed combined cooling,heating and power(CCHP),gas heating boiler(GHB)and air conditioner(AC)are included as investment planning options.In terms of operation,the load scenarios are divided into heating,cooling and transition periods.Also,the extreme load scene is included to assure the power supply reliability of the system.Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model and illustrate the economic benefits of applying distributed CCHP in regional power supply on investment and operation.展开更多
Big data with its vast volume and complexity is increasingly concerned, developed and used for all professions and trades. Remote sensing, as one of the sources for big data, is generating earth-observation data and a...Big data with its vast volume and complexity is increasingly concerned, developed and used for all professions and trades. Remote sensing, as one of the sources for big data, is generating earth-observation data and analysis results daily from the platforms of satellites, manned/unmanned aircrafts, and ground-based structures. Agricultural remote sensing is one of the backbone technologies for precision agriculture, which considers within-field variability for site-specific management instead of uniform management as in traditional agriculture. The key of agricultural remote sensing is, with global positioning data and geographic information, to produce spatially-varied data for subsequent precision agricultural operations. Agricultural remote sensing data, as general remote sensing data, have all characteristics of big data. The acquisition, processing, storage, analysis and visualization of agricultural remote sensing big data are critical to the success of precision agriculture. This paper overviews available remote sensing data resources, recent development of technologies for remote sensing big data management, and remote sensing data processing and management for precision agriculture. A five-layer-fifteen- level (FLFL) satellite remote sensing data management structure is described and adapted to create a more appropriate four-layer-twelve-level (FLTL) remote sensing data management structure for management and applications of agricultural remote sensing big data for precision agriculture where the sensors are typically on high-resolution satellites, manned aircrafts, unmanned aerial vehicles and ground-based structures. The FLTL structure is the management and application framework of agricultural remote sensing big data for precision agriculture and local farm studies, which outlooks the future coordination of remote sensing big data management and applications at local regional and farm scale.展开更多
The environment in villages in Southwest China has been experiencing constant changes, indicating related change-inducing factors as well as their constitution and hierarchy. Starting from the classification of built ...The environment in villages in Southwest China has been experiencing constant changes, indicating related change-inducing factors as well as their constitution and hierarchy. Starting from the classification of built environment according to Rapoport's view, the "environment" consists of fixed, semi-fixed and unfixed elements (A. Fixed-feature elements: infrastructure, buildings, walls, floors, etc. B. Semi-fixed-feature elements: "furnishings" of the environ- ment, interior or exterior, trees and gardens, fences, signs, billboards, lights, etc. C. Unfixed- feature elements: typically people and their activities, behaviors, etc.). Five representative historic villages in Southwest China (Zhenshan Village in Guizhou, Zhangtang Village in Yunnan, Motuo Village in Sichuan, Huaili Village in Guangxi, and Gongzhong Village in Tibet) were investigated to demonstrate the changes in terms of landscape in the last decade. This article provides an analysis of the dialectical relationship between reservation practices and evolving landscapes from a diachronic perspective. This analysis reveals defects of heritage conservation projects for historic villages in Southwest China. The results indicate the following: (1) there exists an important relationship between unfixed-feature elements of Landscape and cultural heritages in historic villages; (2) semi-fixed-feature elements, although being neglected in most preservation practices, show strong sensitivity to mass tourism; (3) fixed-feature elements are highly vulnerable to civil engineering techniques; and (4) the most active change-inducing factors for evolving landscapes in historic villages include value orientations of villagers, relative locations of villages, ethnic groups, customs, and economic development.In conclusion, approaches to promoting sustainable development of historic village in Southwest China are explored.展开更多
The Yangtze River is one of the largest and longest rivers in Asia.The river originates in the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau(headwater reach),passes through the mountainous provinces of Sichuan,Yunnan and Chongqing(upper reac...The Yangtze River is one of the largest and longest rivers in Asia.The river originates in the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau(headwater reach),passes through the mountainous provinces of Sichuan,Yunnan and Chongqing(upper reach),flows into the Central Plain(middle reach)and Lower Plain(lower reach),and finally empties into the East China Sea in Shanghai(estuary).The Yangtze River Economic Belt(YREB;Fig.1)has a surface area of 2.1展开更多
基金The"Twelfth Five-Year Plan"of the National Science and Technology Support Project(Grant No.2012BAK10B01)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.41372321 and 41502305)China Geological Survey Projects(Grant No.121201009000150018)
文摘The Three Gorges region in China was basically a geohazard-prone area prior to construction of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR). After construction of the TGR, the water level was raised from 70 m to 175 m above sea level (ASL), and annual reservoir regulation has caused a 30-m water level difference after impoundment of the TGR since September 2008. This paper first presents the spatiotemporal distribution of landslides in six periods of 175 m ASL trial impoundments from 2008 to 2014. The results show that the number of landslides sharply decreased from 273 at the initial stage to less than ten at the second stage of impoundment. Based on this, the reservoir-induced landslides in the TGR region can be roughly classified into five failure patterns, i.e. accumulation landslide, dip-slope landslide, reversed bedding landslide, rockfall, and karst breccia landslide. The accumulation landslides and dip-slope landslides account for more than 90%. Taking the Shuping accumulation landslide (a sliding mass volume of 20.7 × 106 m^3) in Zigui County and the Outang dip-slope landslide (a sliding mass volume of about 90 × 106 m^3) in Fengjie County as two typical cases, the mechanisms of reactivation of the two landslides are analyzed. The monitoring data and factor of safety (FOS) calculation show that the accumulation landslide is dominated by water level variation in the reservoir as most part of the mass body is under 175 m ASL, and the dip-slope landslide is controlled by the coupling effect of reservoir water level variation and precipitation as an extensive recharge area of rainfall from the rear and the front mass is below 175 m ASL. The characteristics of landslide-induced impulsive wave hazards after and before reservoir impoundment are studied, and the probability of occurrence of a landslide-induced impulsive wave hazard has increased in the reservoir region. Simulation results of the Ganjingzi landslide in Wushan County indicate the strong relationship between landslide-induced surge and wa
基金partially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2016YFA0600104)supported by donations made by Delos Living LLC,and the Cyrus Tang Foundation+2 种基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41471419)Beijing Institute of Urban Planningsupported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(CCNU19TD002).
文摘Land use reflects human activities on land.Urban land use is the highest level human alteration on Earth,and it is rapidly changing due to population increase and urbanization.Urban areas have widespread effects on local hydrology,climate,biodiversity,and food production[1,2].However,maps,that contain knowledge on the distribution,pattern and composition of various land use types in urban areas,are limited to city level.The mapping standard on data sources,methods,land use classification schemes varies from city to city,due to differences in financial input and skills of mapping personnel.To address various national and global environmental challenges caused by urbanization,it is important to have urban land uses at the national and global scales that are derived from the same or consistent data sources with the same or compatible classification systems and mapping methods.This is because,only with urban land use maps produced with similar criteria,consistent environmental policies can be made,and action efforts can be compared and assessed for large scale environmental administration.However,despite of the fact that a number of urban-extent maps exist at global scales[3,4],more detailed urban land use maps do not exist at the same scale.Even at big country or regional levels such as for the United States,China and European Union,consistent land use mapping efforts are rare[5,6](e.g.,https://sdi4apps.eu/open_land_use/).
基金This study was supported by the grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30700714) and the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Program, No. 2007CB512803).Acknowledgement: We thank Dr. ZHANG Liang from Beijing Capital Bio Corporation of China for his helpful advice and comments.
文摘Background MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are highly conserved small non-coding RNAs of 18-25 nucleotides (nt) that mediate post-transcriptional gene regulation. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) can cause either acute or chronic hepatitis B, and is a high risk factor for liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Some mammalian viruses have been shown to modulate the expression of host cellular miRNAs. However, interactions between the HBV and the host cellular miRNAs are largely unknown.Methods miRNA microarray and Northern blotting analysis were used to compare the expression profile of cellular miRNAs of a stable HBV-expressing cell line HepG2.2.15 and its parent cell line HepG2. mRNA microarray assay and the miRanda program were used to predict the miRNA targets. A flow cytometric assay was further used to investigate the expression of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A.Results Eighteen miRNAs were differentially expressed between the two cell lines. Among them, eleven were up-regulated and seven were down-regulated in HepG2.2.15 cells. Northern blotting analysis confirmed that the expression of miR-181a, miR-181b, miR-200b and miR-146a were up-regulated and the expression of miR-15a was down-regulated, which was in consistent with the results of the microarray analysis. Furthermore, some putative miRNA targets were predicted and verified to be linked with mRNA expression. The 3′-UTR of HLA-A gene had one partially complementary site for miR-181a and miR-181 a might down-regulate the expression of HLA-A.Conclusion HBV replication modulates the expression of host cellular miRNAs, which may play a role in the pathogenesis of HBV-related liver diseases.
基金Sasakawa Scientific Foundation of Japan, No.20-238 National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program), No.2006CB403200+1 种基金 National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.40261002 No.40561006
文摘Based on four phases of TM images acquired in 1990, 1995, 2000 and 2005, this paper took Kitakyushu in Japan as a case study to analyze spatial change of land use landscape and corresponding effects on environmental issues guided by landscape ecology theory in virtue of combining technology of Remote Sensing with GIS. Firstly, land use types were divided into 6 classes (farmland, mountain, forestland, water body, urban land and unused land) according to national classification standard of land use, comprehensible ability of TM image and purpose of this study. Secondly, following the theory of landscape ecology analysis, 11 typical landscape indices were abstracted to evaluate the environmental effects and spatial feature changes of land use. Research results indicated that land use has grown more and more diversified and unbalanced, human activities have disturbed the landscape more seriously. Finally, transfer matrix of Markov was applied to forecast change process of land use in the future different periods, and then potential land use changes were also simulated from 2010 to 2050. Results showed that conversion tendency for all types of land use in Kitakyushu into urban construction land were enhanced. The study was anticipated to help local authorities better understand and address a complex land use system, and develop improved land use management strategies that could better balance urban expansion and ecological conservation.
基金Under the auspices of National Basic Research Program of China (No. 2010CB950900)National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40971223)Knowledge Innovation Programs of Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KZCX2-EW-306)
文摘This study investigated the regional differences of China′s urban land expansion from the late 1980s to the year of 2008, based on the spatio-temporal analysis of CLCD (China′s land cover/land use database) datasets which were mainly produced from remote sensing imagery data. A newly defined urbanization level index (UI), based on urban land area, is proposed to describe Chinese urban expansion process at 1 kilometer, provincial, regional, and na-tional scales, together with the absolute urban expansion index (UEa) and the relative urbanization expansion index (UEr). The results indicate that the percentages of total land area occupied by urban in the late 1980s, 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2008 were approximately 0.25%, 0.32%, 0.33%, 0.43% and 0.52% of China′s total land area, respectively. Between the late 1980s and 2008, the total urban expansion in the mainland of China was 2.645 × 104 km2, resulting in an annual urban expansion area of about 1322.7 km2/yr, with the UEr of 111.9%. This study also finds that there has been an obvious spatial gradient of urbanization ratio running from the east coast to the west inland, and the urbanization gaps among different regions have persisted over the past two decades. The study also reveals obvious temporal varia-tions of the urbanization rates. There was very little urban growth during the period of 1995-2000 due to the governmental policy factors.
文摘Collecting baseline information on how laboratories perform testing is a reasonable first step towards establishing intra- and inter-laboratory standardization and quality control for semen analysis. We carried out a survey of the laboratories performing the testing in China's Mainland. A questionnaire, composed of 36 questions covering all aspects of semen analysis, was designed, and a copy was distributed to each of the 145 laboratories. Of these, 118 laboratories completed the questionnaires. The survey results showed that semen volume was measured visually in 53.6% (59/110) of the responding laboratories, and 70.9% (73/103) of laboratories analysed incompletely liquefied semen without any treatment. In addition, both manual-microscopic and computer-assisted semen-analysis systems were applied to analyse sperm concentration, motility and morphology. However, more than five methods were employed in routine sperm staining. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was commonly used for determining whether antisperm antibodies were present. Several seminal biochemical markers were analysed in only 27.1% (32/118) of the responding laboratories. Generally, there was a lack of intra- and inter-laboratory quality control measures for semen analysis in all laboratories responding to this survey. In conclusion, the methods of semen analysis and the interpretation of test results in the surveyed laboratories differed markedly. In particular, many laboratories employed methods other than those recommended by the World Health Organization Laboratory Manual for the Examination of Human Semen and Sperm- cervical Mucus Interaction (1999). These findings suggest an urgent need for the standardization of semen analysis with acceptable quality controls for each parameter to make the results repeatable and meaningful.
文摘Although the role of oxidative stress in maternal aging and infertility has been suggested, the underlying mechanisms are not fully understood. The present study is designed to determine the relationship between mitochondrial function and spindle stability in metaphase II (MII) oocytes under oxidative stress. MII mouse oocytes were treated with H2O2 in the presence or absence of permeability transition pores (PTPs) blockers cyclosporin A (CsA). In addition, antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC), F0/F1 synthase inhibitor oligomycin A, the mitochondria uncoupler carbonyl cyanide 4-trifluoro- methoxyphenylhydrazone (FCCP) or thapsigargin plus 2.5 mM Ca^2+ (Th+2.5 mM Ca^2+) were used in mechanistic studies. Morphologic analyses of oocyte spindles and chromosomes were performed and mitochondrial membrane potential (AWm), cytoplasmic free calcium concentration ([Ca^2+]c) and cytoplasmic ATP content within oocytes were also assayed. In a time- and H202 dose-dependent manner, disruption of meiotic spindles was found after oocytes were treated with H202, which was prevented by pre-treatment with NAC. Administration of H2O2 led to a dissipation of AWm, an increase in [Ca^2+]c and a decrease in cytoplasmic ATP levels. These detrimental responses of oocytes to H2O2 treatment could be blocked by pre-incubation with CsA. Similar to H2O2, both oligomycin A and FCCP dissipated AWm, decreased cytoplasmic ATP contents and disassembled MII oocyte spindles, while high [Ca^2+]c alone had no effects on spindle morphology. In conclusion, the decrease in mitochondria-derived ATP during oxidative stress may cause a disassembly of mouse MII oocyte spindles, presumably due to the opening of the mitochondrial PTPs.
基金partially supported by the National High Technology Program(2013AA122804)the Special Fund for Meteorology Scientific Research in the Public Welfare(GYHY201506023)of ChinaOpen Fund of State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing Science(OFSLRSS201514)
文摘We report the world's first all-season training and validation sample sets for global land cover classification with Landsat-8 data.Prior to this,such samples were only available at a single date primarily from the growing season.It is unknown how much limitation such a single-date sample has to mapping global land cover in other seasons of the year.To answer this question,we selected available Landsat-8 images from four seasons and collected training and validation samples from them.We compared the performances of training samples in different seasons using Random Forest algorithm.We found that the use of training samples from any individual season would result in the best overall classification accuracy when validated by samples in the same season.The global overall accuracy from combined best seasonal results was 67.2% when classifying the 11 Level-1 classes in the Finer Resolution Observation and Monitoring of Global Land Cover(FROM-GLC) classification system.The use of training samples from all seasons(named all-season training sample set hereafter) produced an overall accuracy of 67.0%.We also tested classification within 10° latitude 60° longitude zones using all-season training subsample within each zone and obtained an overall accuracy of 70.2%.This indicates that properly grouped subsamples in space can help improve classification accuracies.All the results in this study seem to suggest that it is possible to use an all-season training sample set to reach global optimality with universal applicability in classifying images acquired at any time of a year for global land cover mapping.
基金This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation(81502036 to ZT,81201595 to SS,81201528 to RJ)the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province(BK20151031 to ZT)+3 种基金the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2016YFC0905900 to BS)the State Key Program of National Natural Science of China(81430062 to BS)the project of the Nanjing Science and Technology Development Plan(201303033 to LL)The work was also supported in part by the Program for Development of Innovative Research Teams in the First Affiliated Hospital of NJMU,the Priority Academic Program of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions and funds from CNRS and FEDER(BR).
文摘Liver fibrosis is a consequence of chronic liver disease,causing morbidity and mortality.Interleukin-33(IL-33)is a critical mediator of inflammation,which may be involved in the development of liver fibrosis.Here,we investigated the role of IL-33 in human patients and experimental bile-duct ligation(BDL)-induced fibrosis in mice.We report increased hepatic IL-33 expression in the murine BDL model of fibrosis and in surgical samples obtained from patients with liver fibrosis.Liver injury,inflammatory cell infiltration and fibrosis were reduced in the absence of the IL-33/ST2 receptor,and the activation of hepatic stellate cells(HSCs)was decreased in ST2-deficient mice.Recombinant IL-33 activated HSCs isolated from C57BL/6 mice,leading to the expression of IL-6,TGF-β,α-SMA and collagen,which was abrogated in the absence of ST2 or by pharmacological inhibition of MAPK signaling.Finally,administration of recombinant IL-33 significantly increased hepatic inflammation in sham-operated BL6 mice but did not enhance BDL-induced hepatic inflammation and fibrosis.In conclusion,BDL-induced liver inflammation and fibrosis are dependent on ST2 signaling in HSCs,and therefore,the IL-33/ST2 pathway may be a potential therapeutic target in human patients with chronic hepatitis and liver fibrosis.
基金supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos. 40930530 and 40901180)
文摘Highly accurate observations at various scales on the land surface are urgently needed for the studies of many areas,such as hydrology,meteorology,and agriculture.With the rapid development of remote sensing techniques,remote sensing has had the capacity of monitoring many factors of the Earth's land surface.Especially,the space-borne microwave remote sensing systems have been widely used in the quantitative monitoring of global snow,soil moisture,and vegetation parameters with their all-weather,all-time observation capabilities and their sensitivities to the characteristics of land surface factors.Based on the electromagnetic theories and microwave radiative transfer equations,researchers have achieved great successes in the microwave remote sensing studies for different sensors in recent years.This article has systematically reviewed the progresses on five research areas including microwave theoretical modeling,microwave inversion on soil moisture,snow,vegetation and land surface temperatures.Through the further enrichment of remote sensing datasets and the development of remote sensing theories and inversion techniques,remote sensing including microwave remote sensing will play a more important role in the studies and applications of the Earth systems.
基金This project is supported by National High Technology Research and Development Program of China(863 Program)(No.2014AA051902).
文摘An active distribution system power-supply planning model considering cooling,heating and power load balance is proposed in this paper.A regional energy service company is assumed to be in charge of the investment and operation for the system in the model.The expansion of substations,building up distributed combined cooling,heating and power(CCHP),gas heating boiler(GHB)and air conditioner(AC)are included as investment planning options.In terms of operation,the load scenarios are divided into heating,cooling and transition periods.Also,the extreme load scene is included to assure the power supply reliability of the system.Numerical results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model and illustrate the economic benefits of applying distributed CCHP in regional power supply on investment and operation.
基金financially supported by the funding appropriated from USDA-ARS National Program 305 Crop Productionthe 948 Program of Ministry of Agriculture of China (2016-X38)
文摘Big data with its vast volume and complexity is increasingly concerned, developed and used for all professions and trades. Remote sensing, as one of the sources for big data, is generating earth-observation data and analysis results daily from the platforms of satellites, manned/unmanned aircrafts, and ground-based structures. Agricultural remote sensing is one of the backbone technologies for precision agriculture, which considers within-field variability for site-specific management instead of uniform management as in traditional agriculture. The key of agricultural remote sensing is, with global positioning data and geographic information, to produce spatially-varied data for subsequent precision agricultural operations. Agricultural remote sensing data, as general remote sensing data, have all characteristics of big data. The acquisition, processing, storage, analysis and visualization of agricultural remote sensing big data are critical to the success of precision agriculture. This paper overviews available remote sensing data resources, recent development of technologies for remote sensing big data management, and remote sensing data processing and management for precision agriculture. A five-layer-fifteen- level (FLFL) satellite remote sensing data management structure is described and adapted to create a more appropriate four-layer-twelve-level (FLTL) remote sensing data management structure for management and applications of agricultural remote sensing big data for precision agriculture where the sensors are typically on high-resolution satellites, manned aircrafts, unmanned aerial vehicles and ground-based structures. The FLTL structure is the management and application framework of agricultural remote sensing big data for precision agriculture and local farm studies, which outlooks the future coordination of remote sensing big data management and applications at local regional and farm scale.
基金This article is sponsored by (1) the research programs of the National Science Foundation of China (50768003 51168007)+2 种基金 (2) the research program of the Science Bureau Foundation of Guizhou Province (Qiankehe R[200712019 2012GZ49469 Qiankehe J[200712157).
文摘The environment in villages in Southwest China has been experiencing constant changes, indicating related change-inducing factors as well as their constitution and hierarchy. Starting from the classification of built environment according to Rapoport's view, the "environment" consists of fixed, semi-fixed and unfixed elements (A. Fixed-feature elements: infrastructure, buildings, walls, floors, etc. B. Semi-fixed-feature elements: "furnishings" of the environ- ment, interior or exterior, trees and gardens, fences, signs, billboards, lights, etc. C. Unfixed- feature elements: typically people and their activities, behaviors, etc.). Five representative historic villages in Southwest China (Zhenshan Village in Guizhou, Zhangtang Village in Yunnan, Motuo Village in Sichuan, Huaili Village in Guangxi, and Gongzhong Village in Tibet) were investigated to demonstrate the changes in terms of landscape in the last decade. This article provides an analysis of the dialectical relationship between reservation practices and evolving landscapes from a diachronic perspective. This analysis reveals defects of heritage conservation projects for historic villages in Southwest China. The results indicate the following: (1) there exists an important relationship between unfixed-feature elements of Landscape and cultural heritages in historic villages; (2) semi-fixed-feature elements, although being neglected in most preservation practices, show strong sensitivity to mass tourism; (3) fixed-feature elements are highly vulnerable to civil engineering techniques; and (4) the most active change-inducing factors for evolving landscapes in historic villages include value orientations of villagers, relative locations of villages, ethnic groups, customs, and economic development.In conclusion, approaches to promoting sustainable development of historic village in Southwest China are explored.
基金partially funded by Chinese Academy of Sciences (Y62302,Y45Z04,Y55Z06,and Y62Z17)World Wide Fund for Nature (Y56002 and Y63Z08)
文摘The Yangtze River is one of the largest and longest rivers in Asia.The river originates in the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau(headwater reach),passes through the mountainous provinces of Sichuan,Yunnan and Chongqing(upper reach),flows into the Central Plain(middle reach)and Lower Plain(lower reach),and finally empties into the East China Sea in Shanghai(estuary).The Yangtze River Economic Belt(YREB;Fig.1)has a surface area of 2.1