当地百姓才是主体

从晴隆的案例我们可以看到,当地社区参与到环境保护实际是一种在获得经济效益前提下的主动参与。石漠化治理思路和治理技术毫无疑问是重要的．但它必须为推动当地社区的经济发展服务,必须得到当地老百姓的认可．他们应是项目实施和管理的主体。     

Ecological dynamic model of grassland and its practical verification

Based on the physico-biophysical considerations, mathematical analysis and some approximate formulations generally adopted in meteorology and ecology, an ecological dynamic model of grassland is developed. The model consists of three interactive variables, i.e. the bio-mass of living grass, the biomass of wilted grass, and the soil wetness. The major biophysical processes are represented in parameterization formulas, and the model parameters can be determined inversely by using the observational climatological and ecological data. Some major parameters are adjusted by this method to fit the data (although incomplete) in the Inner Mongolia grassland, and other secondary parameters are estimated through sensitivity studies. The model results are well agreed with reality, e.g., (i) the maintenance of grassland requires a minimum amount of annual precipitation (approximately 300 mm); (ii) there is a significant relationship between the annual precipitation and the biomass of living grass; and (iii) the overgrazing will eventually result in desertification. A specific emphasis is put on the shading effect of the wilted grass accumulated on the soil surface. It effectively reduces the soil surface temperature and the evaporation, hence benefits the maintenance of grassland and the reduction of water loss in the soil.     

Efficient and Hysteresis‐Free Perovskite Solar Cells Based on a Solution Processable Polar Fullerene Electron Transport Layer

Fullerene derivatives, which possess extraordinary geometric shapes and high electron affinity, have attracted significant attention for thin film technologies. This study demonstrates an important photovoltaic application using carboxyl‐functionalized carbon buckyballs, C60 pyrrolidine tris‐acid (CPTA), to fabricate electron transport layers (ETLs) that replace traditional metal oxide‐based ETLs in efficient and stable n‐i‐p‐structured planar perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The uniform CPTA film is covalently anchored onto the surface of indium tin oxide (ITO), significantly suppressing hysteresis and enhancing the flexural strength in the CPTA‐modified PSCs. Moreover, solution‐processable CPTA‐based ETLs also enable the fabrication of lightweight flexible PSCs. The maximum‐performing device structures composed of ITO/CPTA/CH₃NH₃PbI₃/2,2′,7,7′‐tetrakis‐(N,N‐di‐p‐methoxyphenylamine)‐9,9′‐spirobifluorene (spiro‐OMeTAD)/Au yield power conversion efficiencies of more than 18% on glass substrates and up to 17% on flexible substrates. These results indicate that the CPTA layers provide new opportunities for solution‐processed organic ETLs by substantially simplifying the procedure for fabricating PSCs for portable applications.     

Genetic variant of BNC2 gene is functionally associated with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis in Chinese population

Adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) is a structural curvature of the spine that was estimated to affect millions of children worldwide. Recent study shows that the functional variant rs10738445 could add to the risk of AIS through the regulation of BNC2 gene. This study aims to investigate whether the rs10738445 of BNC2 gene is a functional susceptible locus for AIS in the Chinese population and to further clarify the association of the BNC2 expression with the curve severity. SNP rs10738445 was genotyped in 1952 patients and 2492 controls, and further replicated in 693 patients and 254 controls. We found that patients have a significantly higher frequency of CC than the controls (21.9 vs. 17.7%, p?=?0.004 for stage 1; 12.6 vs. 7.9%, p?=?0.03 for stage 2). Allele C can significantly add to the risk of AIS with an OR of 1.14–1.24. AIS patients were found to have significantly higher BNC2 expression than the controls. The BNC2 expression was significantly correlated with the curve severity (r?=?0.316, p?=?0.02). In conclusion, our study suggests a functional role of BNC2 in the development and progression of the spinal deformity in AIS.     

Evaluating the responses of forest ecosystems to climate change and CO2 using dynamic global vegetation models

The climate has important influences on the distribution and structure of forest ecosystems, which may lead to vital feedback to climate change. However, much of the existing work focuses on the changes in carbon fluxes or water cycles due to climate change and/or atmospheric CO₂, and few studies have considered how and to what extent climate change and CO₂ influence the ecosystem structure (e.g., fractional coverage change) and the changes in the responses of ecosystems with different characteristics. In this work, two dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs): IAP‐DGVM coupled with CLM3 and CLM4‐CNDV, were used to investigate the response of the forest ecosystem structure to changes in climate (temperature and precipitation) and CO₂ concentration. In the temperature sensitivity tests, warming reduced the global area‐averaged ecosystem gross primary production in the two models, which decreased global forest area. Furthermore, the changes in tree fractional coverage (ΔF_tree; %) from the two models were sensitive to the regional temperature and ecosystem structure, i.e., the mean annual temperature (MAT; °C) largely determined whether ΔF_tree was positive or negative, while the tree fractional coverage (F_tree; %) played a decisive role in the amplitude of ΔF_tree around the globe, and the dependence was more remarkable in IAP‐DGVM. In cases with precipitation change, F_tree had a uniformly positive relationship with precipitation, especially in the transition zones of forests (30% < F_tree < 60%) for IAP‐DGVM and in semiarid and arid regions for CLM4‐CNDV. Moreover, ΔF_tree had a stronger dependence on F_tree than on the mean annual precipitation (MAP; mm/year). It was also demonstrated that both models captured the fertilization effects of the CO₂ concentration.     

Molecular mechanism of the selectivity between BAFF/APRIL and their receptors by molecular simulations

B-cell activating factor (BAFF) and a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL) belonging to the tumour necrosis factor (TNF) ligand family can bind three unusual TNF receptors (BCMA, TACI and BR3) with various binding affinities. BAFF and APRIL are regarded as promising therapeutic targets for autoimmune diseases because of their pivotal roles in cell survival and immune regulation. In this work, we carried out molecular dynamics calculations to explore the structural and chemical features responsible for ligand recognition by extracellular functional segments of TNF receptors. We found that the conserved pocket D_cons of BAFF/APRIL contacted the DxL motif of TNF receptors, while the D_spe1–3 sub-domains were responsible for their different affinities, especially D_spe1 and D_spe2. The residues at position II–V of DxL motif were wrapped into the D_cons pocket via salt-bridge and hydrophobic interactions. The hydrophobic residues of strand3 and helix1 in TNF receptors provided remarkable contributions for the affinities to BAFF/APRIL. Additionally, Arg^VI of DxL motif played a key role in the binding selectivity via salt-bridge interaction with residue D275B in BAFF. Arg27 in BCMA contributed to the high affinity for APRIL so that BCMA showed a preference for APRIL. Our studies indicated that Arg84 and Gln95 in TACI2 played an important role in the selectivity of two cysteine-rich domain segments in TACI, leading to the higher binding affinities of TACI2 than those of TACI1. The primary cause of the disability to bind APRIL was the space conflict with the rigid conformation of the C-terminus coil of BR3. These thorough understanding of the molecular mechanism for BAFF/APRIL recognition by their receptors provides new insights for guiding inhibitor design.