Graphical abstract A neurobiotin injected, immunolabeled XBC bipolar cell and type 5 bipolar cell stratifying near the ON-ChAT (choline acetyltransferase) band in the mouse retina. The graph shows ...step-pulse evoked Na+ currents from voltage clamp recordings.
We have developed a new non-destructive sub-surface interfacial imaging technique. By controlling the penetration depth of the incident electrons, through control of the electron beam acceleration ...voltage in a scanning electron microscope, we can observe sub-surface interfaces. The voltages for imaging are selected based on Monte Carlo electron flight simulations, where the two voltages have >5% difference between the number of backscattered electrons generated in the layers above and below the buried interface under investigation. Due to the non-destructive nature, this imaging method can be used alongside an applied electrical current and voltage, allowing concurrent observations of the interfacial structures and transport properties, e.g. effective and active junction area, to occur. Magnetic tunnel junctions used in magnetic random access memory have been imaged and the data has been fed back to improve their fabrication processes. Our imaging method is therefore highly useful as both a quality assurance and development tool for magnetic memory and nanoelectronic devices.
The spatial distribution of population density is crucial for analysing the relationships among economic growth, environmental protection and resource use. In this study we simulated China's ...population density in 1998 at 1 km×1 km resolution by integrating DMSP/OLS non-radiance-calibrated night-time images, SPOT/VGT 10-day maximum NDVI composite, population census data and vector county boundaries. Population density, both inside and outside of light patches, was estimated for four types of counties, which were classified according to their light characteristics. The model for estimating population density inside the light patches was developed based on a significant correlation between light intensity and population, while the model for estimating population density outside of light patches was constructed by combining Coulomb's law with electric field superposition principle. Our method was simpler and less expensive than existing methods for spatializing population density. The results were consistent with other estimates but exhibited more spatial heterogeneity and richer information.
•Underuse as biocultural diversity challenge for social-ecological systems circumscribed.•Framework of causes, consequences & strategies concerning underuse conceptualized.•Structured ...cross-continental review on underuse based on this framework provided.•Pervasive gap in transcontinental comparative research for underuse identified.•Global research agenda on identified gap developed & potential outcomes outlined.
Conservation is often operationalized as a minimization of human intervention in nature. However, many social-ecological systems depend on human interventions to maintain characteristics of biological diversity. Therefore, reduced use or full abandonment of such systems can diminish rather than enhance biological diversity and its related cultural diversity (biocultural diversity). We link the definition of “underuse” with the extinction rate used in the planetary boundaries framework to support a more objective use of the term. We execute a structured cross-continental review of underuse in social-ecological systems of regions that contain more affluent countries to frame a global research agenda on underuse. Our working approach delineates causes, consequences, and strategies concerning underuse. Based on this comparative review, we identify causes of underuse that are similar in different continents, including globalization, and demographic or structural change in Europe, Japan and Oceania. Conservation paradigms emphasizing wilderness ideals in policies are characteristic of underuse in North America, whereas post-socialist transformation processes characterize underuse in Eastern Europe. Land abandonment and de-intensification of use are a common result, particularly in marginal and protected areas. Consequences of the loss of biocultural diversity include the loss of ecosystem services, traditional knowledge, or landscape amenities. We identified a pervasive gap in transcontinental comparative research that stymies the development of effective strategies to reduce underuse of biological diversity and thereby maintain related cultural diversity. We advocate for a global research agenda on governance approaches that address the challenges of underuse. Within this agenda, we emphasize the need for an international cross-case synthesis and a trans-continental mapping of state and civil society-based interventions and co-management approaches to re-establish humans as parts of ecological systems. Such comparative work on best practice cases in a real-world context should enhance adaptive management of biocultural diversity and prevent extinction caused by underuse. Thus, this innovative connection between underuse and the planetary boundary extinction rate, along with our new global research agenda on underuse, should initiate much needed support for policy makers and natural resource managers who must decide on appropriate types and levels of human intervention to implement, both inside and outside of protected areas.
Asian sand dust (ASD) containing microbiological materials, sulfate (SO ₄ ² ), and nitrate (NO ₃ ⁻ ) derived from air pollutants in East China, reportedly cause adverse respiratory health effects. ...ASD aggravates ovalbumin (OVA)-associated experimental lung eosinophilia. In this study, the toxic materials adsorbed onto ASD were excluded by heat treatment at 360°C for 30 min. The effects of nonheated ASD or heated ASD (H-ASD) toward the allergic lung inflammation were compared in murine lungs. ICR mice were administered intratracheally with normal saline (control), H-ASD, ASD, OVA, OVA + H-ASD, and OVA + ASD, four times at 2-week intervals. ASD only increased neutrophils in bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALFs) along with pro-inflammatory mediators, such as keratinocyte chemoattractant (KC). H-ASD and ASD enhanced eosinophil recruitment induced by OVA in the alveoli and in the submucosa of the airway, which has a goblet cell proliferation in the bronchial epithelium. The two ASDs synergistically increased interleukin-5 (IL-5), monocyte chemotactic protein-3 (MCP-3), and eotaxin, which were associated with OVA, in BALF. The enhancing effects were much greater in ASD than in H-ASD. The two ASDs induced the adjuvant effects to specific IgE and IgG1 production by OVA. In the in vitro study using RAW264.7 cells, ASD increased the expression of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR 2) mRNA but not TLR4 mRNA. H-ASD caused no expression of either TLR mRNA. These results suggest that the aggravated lung eosinophilia by ASD may be due to activation of Th2-associated immune response via the activation of TLR2 by microbial components adhered to ASD.
The flexural driftcapacity of reinforced concrete (RC) walls is discussed in this study based on the test results of 10 specimens. The test parameters were wall length, thickness, detailing, and ...axial force. The detailing of the ties did not satisfy the ACI 318-08 requirements. Each specimen had a column at one end where an axial force was applied. All specimens failed in flexural compression after yielding of the longitudinal bars. The observed flexural driftcapacity was between 0.4 and 1.2%. A set of equations to predict the driftcapacity is proposed wherein the hinge zone length is assumed to be 2.5 times that of the wall thickness.
0.9BiFeO3–0.1BiCoO3 (BFCO) films (t=100nm) were prepared on orthorhombic YAlO3 (YAO) (100) substrates by r.f. magnetron sputtering. Film flatness, crystallinity, crystal symmetry, and secondary phase ...formation are strongly affected by the pressure of the sputtering gasses, Ar and O2. Phi-scan measurements showed that the films were epitaxially grown on the substrates, with the crystal relation 101p(101)pBFCO||101p(101)pYAO. X-ray reciprocal space mapping revealed that the crystal symmetry of the BFCO films was a pseudo-cubic-like monoclinic structure, with MC phase, rather than the Cm symmetry of the bulk BFCO. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed that the film had, as a result of a lattice misfit of 7%, strong compressive strain less than 10nm from the interface, which relaxed monotonically with increasing distance from the interface. Magnetic measurements show that strained monoclinic BFCO has smaller magnetization compared to rhombohedral BFCO.
•Monoclinic 0.9BiFeO3–0.1BiCoO3 films were epitaxially grown on orthorhombic YAlO3 (100) substrates by r.f. magnetron sputtering.•The crystal symmetry was identified as monoclinic based pseudo-cubic-perovskite with MC phase, which is different from bulk C2 symmetry.•Strained monoclinic BFCO showed smaller magnetization compared to rhombohedral BFCO.
Mn-poor LaSrMnO3 (LSMO) epitaxial films were grown on SrTiO3 (100) substrates by radio frequency magnetron sputtering in an argon and oxygen gas mix, and then the samples were annealed in air at ...various temperatures (Ta). 2 theta-chi X-ray diffraction mapping, nano-beam diffraction analysis through transmission electron microscopy, and electron back scatter diffraction through scanning electron microscopy revealed that the crystal symmetry of the LSMO films changed from monoclinic/orthorhombic to rhombohedral on annealing in air. Curie temperature (TC) of the LSMO films was found to increase with increasing Ta, and become higher than the room temperature at Ta≥861°C, indicating that the cause of these changes was the filling of oxygen and the transition of the crystal symmetry into rhombohedral.
•Mn-poor LSMO changed from monoclinic/orthorhombic to rhombohedral by oxygen supply.•Mn-poor LSMO was increased TC by changed crystal symmetry, and it showed TC above RT.•Annealed in air effectively supplied O2 more than O2 gas during sputtering•EBSD is useful to evaluate crystal symmetry of complex oxide film from the substrate.
Endurance training and ingestion of green tea extract (GTE), composed mainly of tea catechins (TC), are well known to enhance fat metabolism. However, their synergistic effects remain to be fully ...elucidated. We tested the hypothesis that endurance training supplemented with GTE would further accelerate whole‐body fat utilization during exercise, compared with training alone, in humans. Twelve healthy male subjects peak oxygen consumption (), 50.7 ± 1.3 (SEM) mL/kg/min were divided into two groups: GTE and placebo (PLA) groups. Subjects in both groups performed a cycle ergometer exercise at 60% of for 60 min/day, 3 days/week, and daily ingested 572.8 or 0 mg TC in GTE and PLA groups for 10 weeks, respectively. Before and after training, respiratory gas exchange was measured during 90‐min exercise at pre‐training ∼55% of . After training, the average respiratory exchange ratio during exercise remained unchanged in the PLA group (post‐training: 0.834 ± 0.008 vs pre‐training: 0.841 ± 0.004), whereas it was lower in the GTE group (post‐training: 0.816 ± 0.006 vs pre‐training: 0.844 ± 0.005, P<0.05). These results suggest that habitual GTE ingestion, in combination with moderate‐intense exercise, was beneficial to increase the proportion of whole‐body fat utilization during exercise.
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