Increasing constraint of aridity on tree intrinsic water use efficiency.

The intrinsic water use efficiency (W) of trees serves as a key variable linking water and carbon fluxes in forest ecosystems. Interannual variations in aridity (e.g.

Non-temperature environmental drivers modulate warming-induced 21st-century permafrost degradation on the Tibetan Plateau.

The world's largest continuous alpine permafrost layer on the Tibet Plateau (TP), is increasingly threatened by warming leading permafrost degradation that disrupts carbon, water, and nutrient cycling, and threatens ecosystem services and infrastructure stability. However, it remains unclear how permafrost sensitivity to warming varies across the TP and over time. By compiling a 20-year (2001-2020) dataset from 55 in situ monitoring sites, we find permafrost thawing rates increased from 45 ± 15 cm·10a (2001-2010) to 86 ± 30 cm·10a (2011-2020), while the temperature increasing rates at the top of permafrost rose from 0.

Seagrass ecosystems in peril: Climate change threatens blue carbon storage and ecosystem services.

Climate change threatens seagrass ecosystems, which are vital for blue carbon sequestration and associated co-benefits. Our study on Hainan Island in the South China Sea assessed climate impacts on seagrass habitats using ensemble modeling under two scenarios (RCP4.5 and RCP8.

Uncertainty in soil elemental prediction using machine learning and hyperspectral remote sensing.

Potentially toxic elements (PTE) in soils pose significant environmental risks due to their persistence and bioaccumulation. Integrating hyperspectral remote sensing with machine learning models is a promising approach for quantifying and mapping soil PTE distributions, enabling advanced pollution monitoring. However, comprehensive evaluations of model accuracy remain limited.

Satellite-based evidence of recent decline in global forest recovery rate from tree mortality events.

Climate-driven forest mortality events have been extensively observed in recent decades, prompting the question of how quickly these affected forests can recover their functionality following such events. Here we assessed forest recovery in vegetation greenness (normalized difference vegetation index) and canopy water content (normalized difference infrared index) for 1,699 well-documented forest mortality events across 1,600 sites worldwide. By analysing 158,427 Landsat surface reflectance images sampled from these sites, we provided a global assessment on the time required for impacted forests to return to their pre-mortality state (recovery time).

Cell therapy for scleroderma: progress in mesenchymal stem cells and CAR-T treatment.

Cell therapy is an emerging strategy for precision treatment of scleroderma. This review systematically summarizes the research progress of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) and chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapies in scleroderma and discusses the challenges and future directions for development. MSCs possess multiple functions, including immunomodulation, anti-fibrosis, and promotion of vascular regeneration, all of which can improve multiple pathological processes associated with scleroderma.

Asymmetric sensitivity of boreal forest resilience to forest gain and loss.

Forest gains and losses may have unequal effects on forest resilience, particularly given their distinct temporal dynamics. Here, we quantify the sensitivities of boreal forest resilience to forest cover gain and loss using a resilience indicator derived from the temporal autocorrelation (TAC) of the kernel normalized difference vegetation index from 2000 to 2020. Our findings unveil pronounced asymmetric sensitivities, with stronger sensitivity to forest loss (-4.

Disorder within order: Identification of the disordered loop of STAS domain as the inhibitory domain in SLC26A9 chloride channel.

The chloride transporter-channel SLC26A9 is mediated by a reciprocal regulatory mechanism through the interaction between its cytoplasmic sulfate transporter and anti-sigma (STAS) domain and the R domain of cystic fibrosis (CF) transmembrane regulator. In vertebrate Slc26a9s, the STAS domain structures are interrupted by a disordered loop which is conserved in mammals but is variable in nonmammals. Despite the numerous studies involving the STAS domains in SLC26 proteins, the role of the disordered loop region has not been identified.

Phenological divergence between plants and animals under climate change.

Climate change has altered the timing of recurring biological cycles in both plants and animals. Phenological changes may be unequal within and among trophic levels, potentially impacting the intricate interactions that regulate ecosystem functioning. Here we compile and analyse a global dataset of terrestrial phenological observations, including nearly half a million time series for both plants and animals.

Shedding Light on Hadronization by Quarkonium Energy Correlator.

We propose to measure the energy correlator in quarkonium production, which tracks the energy deposited in the calorimeter at the χ-angular distance away from the identified quarkonium. The observable eliminates the need for jets while sustaining the perturbative predictive power. Analyzing the power correction to the energy correlator, we demonstrate that the novel observable supplies a unique gateway to probing the hadronization, especially when cosχ≳0 in the quarkonium rest frame, where the perturbative emissions are depleted due to the dead-cone effects.

An improved approach to generate IL-15/TGFβR2 iPSC-derived natural killer cells using TALEN.

We present a TALEN-based workflow to generate and maintain dual-edited (IL-15/TGFβR2) iPSCs that produce enhanced iPSC-derived natural killer (iNK) cells for cancer immunotherapy. It involves using a cell lineage promoter for knocking in (KI) gene(s) to minimize the potential effects of expression of any exogenous genes on iPSCs. As a proof-of-principle, we KI IL-15 under the endogenous B2M promoter and show that it results in high expression of the sIL-15 in iNK cells but minimal expression in iPSCs.

Fire effects on soil CH and NO fluxes across terrestrial ecosystems.

Fire, as a natural disturbance, significantly shapes and influences the functions and services of terrestrial ecosystems via biotic and abiotic processes. Comprehending the influence of fire on soil greenhouse gas dynamics is crucial for understanding the feedback mechanisms between fire disturbances and climate change. Despite work on CO fluxes, there is a large uncertainty as to whether and how soil CH and NO fluxes change in response to fire disturbance in terrestrial ecosystems.

Changes in above- versus belowground biomass distribution in permafrost regions in response to climate warming.

Permafrost regions contain approximately half of the carbon stored in land ecosystems and have warmed at least twice as much as any other biome. This warming has influenced vegetation activity, leading to changes in plant composition, physiology, and biomass storage in aboveground and belowground components, ultimately impacting ecosystem carbon balance. Yet, little is known about the causes and magnitude of long-term changes in the above- to belowground biomass ratio of plants (η).

Consistent time allocation fraction to vegetation green-up versus senescence across northern ecosystems despite recent climate change.

Extended growing season lengths under climatic warming suggest increased time for plant growth. However, research has focused on climatic impacts to the timing or duration of distinct phenological events. Comparatively little is known about impacts to the relative time allocation to distinct phenological events, for example, the proportion of time dedicated to leaf growth versus senescence.

Size, distribution, and vulnerability of the global soil inorganic carbon.

Global estimates of the size, distribution, and vulnerability of soil inorganic carbon (SIC) remain largely unquantified. By compiling 223,593 field-based measurements and developing machine-learning models, we report that global soils store 2305 ± 636 (±1 SD) billion tonnes of carbon as SIC over the top 2-meter depth. Under future scenarios, soil acidification associated with nitrogen additions to terrestrial ecosystems will reduce global SIC (0.

Convergent gene losses and pseudogenizations in multiple lineages of stomachless fishes.

The regressive evolution of independent lineages often results in convergent phenotypes. Several teleost groups display secondary loss of the stomach, and four gastric genes, atp4a, atp4b, pgc, and pga2 have been co-deleted in agastric (stomachless) fish. Analyses of genotypic convergence among agastric fishes showed that four genes, slc26a9, kcne2, cldn18a, and vsig1, were co-deleted or pseudogenized in most agastric fishes of the four major groups.

Climate-induced tree-mortality pulses are obscured by broad-scale and long-term greening.

Vegetation greening has been suggested to be a dominant trend over recent decades, but severe pulses of tree mortality in forests after droughts and heatwaves have also been extensively reported. These observations raise the question of to what extent the observed severe pulses of tree mortality induced by climate could affect overall vegetation greenness across spatial grains and temporal extents. To address this issue, here we analyse three satellite-based datasets of detrended growing-season normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) with spatial resolutions ranging from 30 m to 8 km for 1,303 field-documented sites experiencing severe drought- or heat-induced tree-mortality events around the globe.

Fertilizer management for global ammonia emission reduction.

Crop production is a large source of atmospheric ammonia (NH), which poses risks to air quality, human health and ecosystems. However, estimating global NH emissions from croplands is subject to uncertainties because of data limitations, thereby limiting the accurate identification of mitigation options and efficacy. Here we develop a machine learning model for generating crop-specific and spatially explicit NH emission factors globally (5-arcmin resolution) based on a compiled dataset of field observations.

Vegetation canopy structure mediates the response of gross primary production to environmental drivers across multiple temporal scales.

Gross primary production (GPP) is a critical component of the global carbon cycle and plays a significant role in the terrestrial carbon budget. The impact of environmental factors on GPP can occur through both direct (by influencing photosynthetic efficiency) and indirect (through the modulation of vegetation structure) pathways, but the extent to which these mechanisms contribute has been seldom quantified. In this study, we used structural equation modeling and observations from the FLUXNET network to investigate the direct and indirect effects of environmental factors on terrestrial ecosystem GPP at multiple temporal scales.

Diminishing carryover benefits of earlier spring vegetation growth.

Spring vegetation growth can benefit summer growth by increasing foliage area and carbon sequestration potential, or impair it by consuming additional resources needed for sustaining subsequent growth. However, the prevalent driving mechanism and its temporal changes remain unknown. Using satellite observations and long-term atmospheric CO records, here we show a weakening trend of the linkage between spring and summer vegetation growth/productivity in the Northern Hemisphere during 1982-2021.

Accounting for herbaceous communities in process-based models will advance our understanding of "grassy" ecosystems.

Grassland and other herbaceous communities cover significant portions of Earth's terrestrial surface and provide many critical services, such as carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, and food production. Forecasts of global change impacts on these services will require predictive tools, such as process-based dynamic vegetation models. Yet, model representation of herbaceous communities and ecosystems lags substantially behind that of tree communities and forests.

Emodin promotes hepatic stellate cell senescence and alleviates liver fibrosis via a nuclear receptor (Nur77)-mediated epigenetic regulation of glutaminase 1.

Background And Purpose: Senescence in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs) limits liver fibrosis. Glutaminolysis promotes HSC activation. Here, we investigated how emodin affected HSC senescence involving glutaminolysis.