Paphiopedilum armeniacum is a rare and endangered lady's slipper orchid in China. It is distributed around the mid-elevations of the Nu Mountains in southwest China. Due to over-harvest, habitat ...loss, and degradation, wild populations of P. armeniacum has declined drastically. A combination of approaches involving biotechnology, habitat restoration, and interspecific relationship reconstruction was used to carry out the reintroduction of the species. Integrated conservation program for this species included in-situ protection, ex-situ conservation, and reintroduction, which helped to rebuild a harmonious relationship between local farmers and P. armeniacum. The sustainable utilization of native plant resources in poor areas can promote regional sustainable development which is compatible with species protection.
Salt effects on the aggregation behavior of tripolar zwitterionic surfactants in aqueous solutions have been investigated using surface tension, dynamic light scattering (DLS), freeze-fracture ...transmission electron microscopy (FF-TEM), and
1
H NMR. The tripolar zwitterionic surfactants with different inter-charge spacers are C
14
H
29
(CH
3
)
2
N
+
C
s
N
+
(CH
3
)
2
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
SO
3
−
Br
−
(C
14
C
s
Tri, C
s
= –(CH
2
)
2
–, –(CH
2
)
6
–, –(CH
2
)
10
–, and
p
-xylyl). It is found that the critical micelle concentration (CMC) values of the corresponding traditional zwitterionic surfactant C
14
H
29
(CH
3
)
2
N
+
CH
2
CH
2
CH
2
SO
3
−
(TPS) are almost constant with the increase of the NaBr concentration. However, the CMC values of C
14
C
s
Tri decrease sharply at a lower NaBr concentration and then level off at a higher NaBr concentration. Moreover, the decreasing extents of the CMC values for C
14
C
2
Tri, C
14
C
6
Tri, and C
14
C
px
Tri are very close, but more significant than that for C
14
C
10
Tri, suggesting that the self-assembly ability of the tripolar zwitterionic surfactants with a longer inter-charge spacer is less sensitive to NaBr. The DLS and FF-TEM results reveal that C
14
C
2
Tri, C
14
C
6
Tri, and C
14
C
px
Tri form micelles without NaBr and that the size slightly increases with the increase of NaBr concentration, whereas micelles and vesicles coexist for C
14
C
10
Tri and TPS without NaBr and then transfer to micelles upon the addition of NaBr. The salt-induced morphological transition for C
14
C
10
Tri is further studied using
1
H NMR. The addition of NaBr reduces both the electrostatic repulsion between the same charged ammoniums and the electrostatic attraction between the oppositely charged ammonium and sulfonate. Thus, the longer inter-charge spacer of C
14
C
10
Tri tends to be more bended and the sulfonate group becomes available to contact the ammonium, which promotes micellization.
Our purpose was to evaluate the usefulness of the Bionic Design Thinking Model. On the basis of previous studies, a set of innovative product design thinking models have formed, based on the ...theoretical basis of product modeling design thinking and the theories of bionics, design psychology and thinking science. This paper calls for a high degree of harmony and unity between human society and nature through bionic philosophy of design, and calls for a reasonable symbiotic dialogue platform between human and machine, ecological nature and artificial nature.
Shifting wind patterns are an expected consequence of global climate change, with direct implications for wind energy production. However, wind is notoriously difficult to predict, and significant ...uncertainty remains in our understanding of climate change impacts on existing wind generation capacity. In this study, historical and future wind climatology and associated capacity factors at five wind turbine sites in California are examined. Historical (1980–2000) and mid-century (2030–2050) simulations were produced using the Variable-Resolution Community Earth System Model (VR-CESM) to understand how these wind generation sites are expected to be impacted by climate change. A high-resolution statistically downscaled WRF product provided by DNV GL, reanalysis datasets MERRA-2, CFSR, NARR, and observational data were used for model validation and comparison. These projections suggest that wind power generation capacity throughout the state is expected to increase during the summer, and decrease during fall and winter, based on significant changes at several wind farm sites. This study improves the characterization of uncertainty around the magnitude and variability in space and time of California's wind resources in the near future, and also enhances our understanding of the physical mechanisms related to the trends in wind resource variability.
•The state-of-the-art global climate model Variable-Resolution Community Earth System Model (VR-CESM) was used.•Model validation and comparison of hub-height wind speed with industry-approved datasets.•Significant wind energy resources trend were detected at all major wind farm locations in future climate.•Analyzed synoptic-scale patterns associated with the wind energy resources change under future climate.
The results of the most recent Checkmate-816 trial in The New England Journal of Medicine using combination neoadjuvant immunotherapy with platinum-based chemotherapy in resectable non-small cell ...lung cancer demonstrate the effectiveness of neoadjuvant immunotherapy and provide further support that biology and personalized therapy represent the foundation of lung cancer treatment.
The results of the most recent Checkmate-816 trial in The New England Journal of Medicine using combination neoadjuvant immunotherapy with platinum-based chemotherapy in resectable non-small cell lung cancer demonstrate the effectiveness of neoadjuvant immunotherapy and provide further support that biology and personalized therapy represent the foundation of lung cancer treatment.
The chemical vapor deposition technique was used to prepare the Ag doped ZnO microrods, which were located on Si substrates at two different positions. The scanning electron microscopy revealed that ...the samples have a clear hexagonal shape. X-ray diffraction provided information about the preferential orientation along the c-axis. The Raman analysis revealed that a new Raman mode appears at 492 cm-1 due to Ag doping. As this mode has not been reported early, it could be used as a characteristic mode of Ag doping in Raman spectrum. The red shift of the E2 (high) mode proves the existence of tensile stress in the samples. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ms.25.3.19130
Behavioral stress facilitates long-term depression but impairs long-term potentiation in the hippocampus. Recent evidence in vitro demonstrates that the NR2B-containing N-methyl-D-aspartate subtype ...glutamate receptor antagonist Ro25-6981 prevents the behavioral stress-facilitated hippocampal long-term depression. It is, however, unknown whether Ro25-6981 influences hippocampal long-term depression and long-term potentiation induction in vivo under stressful condition. Here, we found that infusion of Ro25-6981 (2.3 microg in 6 microl, intracerebroventricular for 10 min) 30 min before low-frequency stimulation prevented the facilitation of hippocampal long-term depression by acute stress in anesthetized adult rats. Moreover, infusion of Ro25-6981 30 min before high-frequency stimulation reversed stress-impaired hippocampal long-term potentiation. These results suggest that the NR2B-containing N-methyl-D-aspartate subtype glutamate receptors are crucial for the effects of behavioral stress on hippocampal long-term depression and long-term potentiation in vivo.
•A new method for analyzing tunnel fire risk involving heavy goods vehicles.•Tunnel fire scenario development based on Functional Resonance analysis method.•Evolution from Functional Resonance ...analysis method to Bayesian Network.
The complex characteristics of long-distance highway tunnels may lead to serious loss of life and property in fire incidents. According to the statistical analysis, heavy goods vehicle (HGV) is one of the primary risk factors for tunnel fires. In this study, a quantitative risk assessment model of HGV-involved tunnel fires is established based on the functional resonance analysis method (FRAM) and Bayesian network (BN). Using FRAM, the mechanisms of the incident occurrence and evolution and critical risk factors of HGV-involved tunnel fires are determined, and the BN model is used to quantify the risk based on a probabilistic analysis. Focusing on operational management, monitoring system construction, type of transporting goods, emergency rescue, and egress facilities, the incident severity is determined in terms of casualties and economic losses. The proposed risk assessment method is expected to assist the tunnel operational management and the fire services in identifying critical risk factors in HGV-involved tunnel fires.
Wind energy production is expected to be affected by shifts in wind patterns that will accompany climate change. However, many questions remain on the magnitude and character of this impact, ...especially on regional scales. In this study, clustering is used to group and analyze large-scale wind patterns in California using model simulations from the variable-resolution Community Earth System Model (VR-CESM). Specifically, simulations have been produced that cover historical (1980–2000), mid-century (2030–2050), and end-of-century (2080–2100) time periods. Once clustered, observed changes to wind patterns can be analyzed in terms of both the change in frequency of those clusters and changes to winds within-clusters. Statistically significant capacity factors changes have been found at all five wind plant sites. Decomposition of the capacity factor changes into frequency changes and within-cluster changes enables a better understanding of their drivers. A further examination of the synoptic-scale fields associated with each cluster then provides a better understanding of how changes to large-scale meteorological fields are important for driving changes in localized wind speeds.
The identity and subcellular sources of endocannabinoids (eCBs) will shape their ability to affect synaptic transmission and, ultimately, behavior. Recent discoveries support the conclusion that ...2-arachidonoyl glycerol, 2-AG, is the major signaling eCB, however, some important issues remain open. 2-AG can be synthesized by a mechanism that is strictly Ca(2+)-dependent, and another that is initiated by G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and facilitated by Ca(2+). An important question is whether or not the 2-AG in these cases is synthesized by the same pool of diacylglycerol lipase alpha (DAGLα). Using whole-cell voltage-clamp techniques in CA1 pyramidal cells in acute in vitro rat hippocampal slices, we investigated two mechanistically distinct eCB-mediated responses to address this issue. We now report that pharmacological inhibitors of DGLα have quantitatively different effects on eCB-mediated responses triggered by different stimuli, suggesting that functional, and perhaps physical, distinctions among pools of DAGLα exist.
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