The objective was to establish and evaluate a method for manufacture of custom trays for edentulous jaws using computer aided design and fused deposition modeling (FDM) technologies. A digital method ...for design the custom trays for edentulous jaws was established. The tissue surface data of ten standard mandibular edentulous plaster models, which was used to design the digital custom tray in a reverse engineering software, were obtained using a 3D scanner. The designed tray was printed by a 3D FDM printing device. Another ten hand-made custom trays were produced as control. The 3-dimentional surface data of models and custom trays was scanned to evaluate the accuracy of reserved impression space, while the difference between digitally made trays and hand-made trays were analyzed. The digitally made custom trays achieved a good matching with the mandibular model, showing higher accuracy than the hand-made ones. There was no significant difference of the reserved space between different models and its matched digitally made trays. With 3D scanning, CAD and FDM technology, an efficient method of custom tray production was established, which achieved a high reproducibility and accuracy.
Plant biodiversity is often correlated with ecosystem functioning in terrestrial ecosystems. However, we know little about the relative and combined effects of above- and belowground biodiversity on ...multiple ecosystem functions (for example, ecosystem multifunctionality, EMF) or how climate might mediate those relationships. Here we tease apart the effects of biotic and abiotic factors, both above- and belowground, on EMF on the Tibetan Plateau, China. We found that a suite of biotic and abiotic variables account for up to 86% of the variation in EMF, with the combined effects of above- and belowground biodiversity accounting for 45% of the variation in EMF. Our results have two important implications: first, including belowground biodiversity in models can improve the ability to explain and predict EMF. Second, regional-scale variation in climate, and perhaps climate change, can determine, or at least modify, the effects of biodiversity on EMF in natural ecosystems.
Stretchable electrodes are playing important roles in the measurement of bio‐electrical signals especially in wearable electronic devices. These electrodes usually adopt commercial elastomers such as ...polydimethylsiloxane or polystyrene‐ethylene‐butylene‐styrene as substrates, which result in poor stability and reliability due to weak interfacial adhesion between electrodes and human skin. Here, dopamine is introduced into the hydrogen bonding based elastomer as pendent groups. The elastomer shows both mechanical strength and adhesion strength at the same time. It exhibits high stress at break (1.9 MPa) and high fracture strain (5100%). Significantly, it exhibits a high adhesive strength (≈62 kPa) and underwater adhesive strength (≈16 kPa) with epithelial tissue. Thus, a stretchable bio‐interfacial electrode is fabricated by spray‐coating silver nanowires on the elastic substrate, which is stretchable, self‐healable, and highly adhesive and suitable for electromyogram measurement.
Dopamine and hydrogen bonding are introduced into a polymer to realize a highly adhesive and self‐healing elastomer. Based on the elastomer, a bio‐interfacial electrode is fabricated for electromyography tests.
Previous studies have revealed inconsistent correlations between fungal diversity and plant diversity from local to global scales, and there is a lack of information about the diversity–diversity and ...productivity–diversity relationships for fungi in alpine regions.
Here we investigated the internal relationships between soil fungal diversity, plant diversity and productivity across 60 grassland sites on the Tibetan Plateau, using Illumina sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region for fungal identification.
Fungal alpha and beta diversities were best explained by plant alpha and beta diversities, respectively, when accounting for environmental drivers and geographic distance. The best ordinary least squares (OLS) multiple regression models, partial least squares regression (PLSR) and variation partitioning analysis (VPA) indicated that plant richness was positively correlated with fungal richness. However, no correlation between plant richness and fungal richness was evident for fungal functional guilds when analyzed individually.
Plant productivity showed a weaker relationship to fungal diversity which was inter-correlated with other factors such as plant diversity, and was thus excluded as a main driver. Our study points to a predominant effect of plant diversity, along with other factors such as carbon: nitrogen (C: N) ratio, soil phosphorus and dissolved organic carbon, on soil fungal richness.
•Continuous hourly monitoring of soil respiration (Rs) in an alpine wetland.•The Rs was inversely proportional to the soil water along a hydrological gradient.•A CO2 burst was caused by spring ...thawing in the fen and wet meadow.•Diurnal variation in the Rs was site specific along the hydrological gradient.•Q10 was highest in the wet meadow with intermediate soil water content.
Wetlands are predicted to experience lowered water tables due to permafrost degradation in the Tibetan Plateau. These changes may affect carbon cycle processes such as soil respiration (Rs). However, the magnitude, patterns and controls of Rs remain poorly understood in alpine wetlands with their distinct hydrological regimes. Here, we conducted a field study on Rs from 2012 to 2014 in three alpine ecosystems on the Tibetan Plateau—fen, wet meadow and meadow—with soil water decreases along hydrological gradients. From 2012 to 2014, the annual Rs was 128.9–193.3 g C m−2yr−1, 281.5–342.9 g C m−2yr−1, and 663.4–709.1 g C m−2yr−1 for the fen, wet meadow, and meadow, respectively. An abrupt increase in CO2 emissions was caused by the spring thawing of the frozen soil in the fen and wet meadow, contributing 20.4–37.6% and 13.2–17.4%, respectively, to the annual Rs. The diurnal variation in the Rs was site specific among the three ecosystems, with one peak at 1300 h in the fen and meadow and two peaks at 1300 h and 1900 h in the wet meadow. The temperature-independent components of the diurnal variation in Rs were generally explained by photosynthetically active radiation in the fen and wet meadow, but not in the meadow. The temperature sensitivity of the Rs (unconfounded Q10) varied significantly among the three ecosystems, with the highest values occurring in the wet meadow, implying that permafrost thaw-induced wetland drying from the fen to the wet meadow could enhance the response of CO2 emissions to climate warming but that further drying from the wet meadow to the meadow probably weakens the effect of warming on the Rs. Our study emphasized the important role of the hydrological regime in regulating the temporal variation in Rs and its response to climate warming.
Aims
Owing to different soil environments and organic carbon sources, soil organic carbon (SOC) composition and preservation mechanisms may vary substantially in deep versus surface soils. This study ...examines vertical variation of various SOC components (including lignin phenols, cutin, suberin and microbial lipids) across the Chinese-Mongolian grasslands.
Methods
Lignin phenols and hydrolysable lipids were isolated by cupric oxide oxidation and alkaline hydrolysis, respectively. A comprehensive list of environmental variables was compiled to disentangle influencing factors for the variation of various components at four different depths.
Results
Lignin phenols, suberin and microbial lipids were most abundant in the surface soil (0–10 cm). Ratios of cutin to suberin and microbial lipids to lignin phenols (in the alpine grasslands) were higher in the bottom-most soil. Calcium (Ca) rather than iron (Fe) plays an important role in the preservation of cutin and microbial lipids in the bottom soil with a high Ca:Fe ratio and high pH. The incorporation efficiency of suberin was higher in deeper than surface soils and showed an increasing trend with depth in the alpine (but not temperate) grasslands.
Conclusions
Compared to surface soils, the incorporation of root-derived carbon into SOC is more efficient in deeper soils due to stronger mineral protection and weaker microbial decomposition. Root-derived carbon is more important for SOC accrual in the alpine than temperate grasslands, especially at depth. These findings reveal differential distribution patterns and preservation mechanisms for SOC components in the surface versus deep soils, providing new information to understand SOC stability at different depths.
The Dapeng dialect is a unique Hakka–Cantonese mixed dialect spoken by several thousand speakers in the Dapeng peninsula in Shenzhen, Guangdong, and Manhattan, New York. This study reviews language ...vitality assessment frameworks for their applicability to Chinese languages and assesses the sustainability of the Dapeng dialect using the UNESCO Language Vitality and Endangerment scale. Despite some factors indicating low vitality, an overall assessment suggests a sustainable and vigorous use of the local dialect in the Dapeng community. This study shows that not all minor dialects in China are severely endangered. It sheds light on the complexities of language sustainability and vitality in multilingual societies, emphasizing the importance of using appropriate evaluative frameworks for an accurate view of language vitality in specific sociolinguistic ecologies. This study also contributes to discussions about language maintenance and policy in China, particularly under the tension between Putonghua and local dialects in the context of language sustainability.
Culturing ascidian-derived fungus Amphichorda felina SYSU-MS7908 under standard laboratory conditions mainly yielded meroterpenoid, and nonribosomal peptide-type natural products. We sequenced the ...genome of Amphichorda felina SYSU-MS7908 and found 56 biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) after bioinformatics analysis, suggesting that the majority of those BGCSs are silent. Here we report our genome mining effort on one cryptic BGC by heterologous expression in Aspergillus oryzae NSAR1, and the identification of two new α-pyrone derivatives, amphichopyrone A (1) and B (2), along with a known compound, udagawanone A (3). Anti-inflammatory activities were performed, and amphichopyrone A (1) and B (2) displayed potent anti-inflammatory activity by inhibiting nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW264.7 cells with IC50 values 18.09 ± 4.83 and 7.18 ± 0.93 μM, respectively.
Insufficient pancreatic β-cell mass and reduced insulin expression are key events in the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus (DM). Here we demonstrate the high expression of Talin-1 in β-cells and that ...deficiency of Talin-1 reduces β-cell proliferation, which leads to reduced β-cell mass and insulin expression, thus causing glucose intolerance without affecting peripheral insulin sensitivity in mice. High-fat diet fed exerbates these phenotypes. Mechanistically, Talin-1 interacts with the E3 ligase smad ubiquitination regulatory factor 1 (Smurf1), which prohibits ubiquitination of the signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) mediated by Smurf1, and ablation of Talin-1 enhances Smurf1-mediated ubiquitination of Stat3, leading to decreased β-cell proliferation and mass. Furthermore, haploinsufficiency of Talin-1 and Stat3 genes, but not that of either gene, in β-cell in mice significantly impairs glucose tolerance and insulin expression, indicating that both factors indeed function in the same genetic pathway. Finally, inducible deletion Talin-1 in β-cell causes glucose intolerance in adult mice. Collectively, our findings reveal that Talin-1 functions as a crucial regulator of β-cell mass, and highlight its potential as a therapeutic target for DM patients.
Soil bacteria are key to ecosystem function and maintenance of soil fertility. Leveraging associations of current geographic distributions of bacteria with historic climate, we predict that soil ...bacterial diversity will increase across the majority (∼75%) of the Tibetan Plateau and northern North America if bacterial communities equilibrate with existing climatic conditions. This prediction is possible because the current distributions of soil bacteria have stronger correlations with climate from ∼50 years ago than with current climate. This lag is likely associated with the time it takes for soil properties to adjust to changes in climate. The predicted changes are location specific and differ across bacterial taxa, including some bacteria that are predicted to have reductions in their distributions. These findings illuminate the widespread potential of climate change to influence belowground diversity and the importance of considering bacterial communities when assessing climate impacts on terrestrial ecosystems.
There have been many studies highlighting how plant and animal communities lag behind climate change, causing extinction and diversity debts that will slowly be paid as communities equilibrate. By virtue of their short generation times and dispersal abilities, soil bacteria might be expected to respond to climate change quickly and to be effectively in equilibrium with current climatic conditions. We found strong evidence to the contrary in Tibet and North America. These findings could significantly improve understanding of climate impacts on soil microbial communities.
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