Supraglacial lakes (SGLs) are widespread across the Greenland ice sheet and cause transient changes in ice flow. Here, we produce the first annual ice-sheet wide database of maximum summer SGL extents spanning 1985 to 2023 using all July and August Landsat images. Lake visibility percentages were calculated to estimate the uncertainty induced by variable image data coverage. SGLs were mainly distributed between 1000 and 1600 m elevation, with large lake area observed in northwestern, northeastern and southwestern basins. Lake area increased at a rate of 50.5 km2 a−1 across the entire Greenland, and lakes advanced to higher elevations at an average rate of 10.2 m a−1 during 1985–2023. We leveraged spatiotemporally matched ICESat-2 and Landsat 8 reflectance data to develop a deep learning model for lake depth inversion for the period 2014–23. This model demonstrates the highest accuracy among all image-based methods, albeit with an underestimation of ~15% when compared to ICESat-2 data. A significant positive correlation between lake volume and area is used to up-scale the approach to the entire time period, indicating a lake volume increase of 221.9 ± 63.6 × 106 m3 a−1. Increasing air/land surface temperature, surface pressure and decreasing snowfall were the most important contributing factors in driving lake variability.

This experiment aimed to investigate the impacts of tributyrin (TB) dietary supplementation on serum biochemical indices and meat quality characteristics of longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) muscle of lambs after weaning. Thirty healthy Small-Tailed Han female lambs (27.5 ± 4.1 kg; mean ± standard deviation) were randomly assigned to five treatments: basal diet (1) without TB, (2) with 0.5 g/kg TB, (3) with 1.0 g/kg TB, (4) with 2.0 g/kg TB or (5) with 4.0 g/kg TB. Each treatment consisted of six lambs, and the lambs were weaned on d 90 and were raised until d 165. Results showed that supplementing TB significantly promoted serum immunoglobulin concentrations of lambs such as immunoglobulins G, A and M. Besides, TB significantly increased muscle ether extract content, intermuscular fat length, pH value and redness but decreased lightness, drip loss and shear force. In addition, TB significantly elevated inosine-5ʹ-phosphate content and upregulated the relative expressions of genes related to lipid metabolism such as SREBP-1C, SCD, PPARγ, FAS and LPL. The mostly important, TB significantly enhanced essential amino acids (EAAs) and conjugated linoleic acids contents of the LTL muscle, despite it decreased total unsaturated fatty acids level. In conclusion, supplementing TB not only could promote the healthy status of weaned lambs via promoting serum immunity but also may improve nutritional quality of LTL muscle by improving EAA and conjugated linoleic acid contents.

As an environmental factor, temperature impacts the distribution of species and influences interspecific competition. The molecular chaperones encoded by small heat shock proteins (sHsps) are essential for rapid, appropriate responses to environmental stress. This study focuses on Hsp20.8, which encodes a temperature-responsive sHsp in Liriomyza trifolii, an insect pest that infests both agricultural and ornamental crops. Hsp20.8 expression was highest at 39℃ in L. trifolii pupae and adults, and expression levels were greater in pupae than in adults. Recombinant Hsp20.8 was expressed in Escherichia coli and conferred a higher survival rate than the empty vector to bacterial cells exposed to heat stress. RNA interference experiments were conducted using L. trifolii adults and prepupae and the knockdown of Hsp20.8 expression increased mortality in L. trifolii during heat stress. The results expand our understanding of sHsp function in Liriomyza spp. and the ongoing adaptation of this pest to climate change. In addition, this study is also important for predicting the distribution of invasive species and proposing new prevention and control strategies based on temperature adaptation.

Kernel regularized least squares (KRLS) is a popular method for flexibly estimating models that may have complex relationships between variables. However, its usefulness to many researchers is limited for two reasons. First, existing approaches are inflexible and do not allow KRLS to be combined with theoretically motivated extensions such as random effects, unregularized fixed effects, or non-Gaussian outcomes. Second, estimation is extremely computationally intensive for even modestly sized datasets. Our paper addresses both concerns by introducing generalized KRLS (gKRLS). We note that KRLS can be re-formulated as a hierarchical model thereby allowing easy inference and modular model construction where KRLS can be used alongside random effects, splines, and unregularized fixed effects. Computationally, we also implement random sketching to dramatically accelerate estimation while incurring a limited penalty in estimation quality. We demonstrate that gKRLS can be fit on datasets with tens of thousands of observations in under 1 min. Further, state-of-the-art techniques that require fitting the model over a dozen times (e.g., meta-learners) can be estimated quickly.

Liriomyza trifolii is a significant pest of vegetable and ornamental crops across the globe. Microwave radiation has been used for controlling pests in stored products; however, there are few reports on the use of microwaves for eradicating agricultural pests such as L. trifolii, and its effects on pests at the molecular level is unclear. In this study, we show that microwave radiation inhibited the emergence of L. trifolii pupae. Transcriptomic studies of L. trifolii indicated significant enrichment of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in ‘post-translational modification, protein turnover, chaperones’, ‘sensory perception of pain/transcription repressor complex/zinc ion binding’ and ‘insulin signaling pathway’ when analyzed with the Clusters of Orthologous Groups, Gene Ontology and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes databases, respectively. The top DEGs were related to reproduction, immunity and development and were significantly expressed after microwave radiation. Interestingly, there was no significant difference in the expression of genes encoding heat shock proteins or antioxidant enzymes in L. trifolii treated with microwave radiation as compared to the untreated control. The expression of DEGs encoding cuticular protein and protein takeout were silenced by RNA interference, and the results showed that knockdown of these two DEGs reduced the survival of L. trifolii exposed to microwave radiation. The results of this study help elucidate the molecular response of L. trifolii exposed to microwave radiation and provide novel ideas for control.

High Mountain Asia (HMA) glaciers are critical water reserves for montane regions, which are readily influenced by climate change. The glacier mass balance during 2000–2021 over HMA was estimated by comparing the elevations from ICESat-2 and the NASADEM. Radar penetration depth could be one of the intrinsic error sources in estimating glacier mass balance by using NASADEM. Therefore, we doubled elevation differences between the X-band Shuttle Radar Topography Missions (SRTMs) and NASADEM to estimate the potential error. The spatial characteristics of the altitude-dependent penetration depth can be detected in most sub-regions of HMA. Relatively deep penetrations in the Himalaya (2.3–3.7 m) and Hissar Alay (4.3 m) regions and small penetrations in the south-eastern HMA (1.0 m) were observed. The HMA region experienced a significant mass loss at a rate of −0.18 ± 0.12 m w.e. a−1, in which the Hengduan Shan exhibited the highest mass loss of −0.62 ± 0.10 m w.e. a−1, the West Kun Lun experienced a substantial mass gain of 0.23 ± 0.13 m w.e. a−1, and the Karakoram showed a more or less balance. Our results are in agreement with previous studies that assessed the mass balance of HMA glaciers from different methods.

The study was to evaluate the reproducibility and validity of the FFQ for residents of northeast China. A total of 131 participants completed two FFQ (FFQ1 and FFQ2) within a 3-month period, 125 participants completed 8-d weighed diet records (WDR) and 112 participants completed blood biomarker testing. Reproducibility was measured by comparing nutrient and food intake between FFQ1 and FFQ2. The validity of the FFQ was assessed by WDR and the triad method. The Spearman correlation coefficients (SCC) and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) for reproducibility ranged from 0·41 to 0·69 (median = 0·53) and from 0·18 to 0·68 (median = 0·53) for energy and nutrients and from 0·37 to 0·73 (median = 0·59) and from 0·33 to 0·86 (median = 0·60) for food groups, respectively. The classifications of same or adjacent quartiles ranged from 73·64 to 93·80 % for both FFQ. The crude SCC between the FFQ and WDR ranged from 0·27 to 0·55 (median = 0·46) for the energy and nutrients and from 0·26 to 0·70 (median = 0·52) for food groups, and classifications of the same or adjacent quartiles ranged from 65·32 to 86·29 %. The triad method indicated that validation coefficients for the FFQ were above 0·3 for most nutrients, which indicated a moderate or high level of validity. The FFQ that was developed for residents of northeast China for the Northeast Cohort Study of China is reliable and valid for assessing the intake of most foods and nutrients.

The Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea is a ‘Critically Endangered’ migratory shorebird. The species faces an array of threats in its non-breeding range, making conservation intervention essential. However, conservation efforts are reliant on identifying the species’ key stopover and wintering sites. Using Maximum Entropy models, we predicted Spoon-billed Sandpiper distribution across the non-breeding range, using data from recent field surveys and satellite tracking. Model outputs suggest only a limited number of stopover sites are suitable for migrating birds, with sites in the Yellow Sea and on the Jiangsu coast in China highlighted as particularly important. All the previously known core wintering sites were identified by the model including the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, Nan Thar Island and the Gulf of Mottama. In addition, the model highlighted sites subsequently found to be occupied, and pinpointed potential new sites meriting investigation, notably on Borneo and Sulawesi, and in parts of India and the Philippines. A comparison between the areas identified as most likely to be occupied and protected areas showed that very few locations are covered by conservation designations. Known sites must be managed for conservation as a priority, and potential new sites should be surveyed as soon as is feasible to assess occupancy status. Site protection should take place in concert with conservation interventions including habitat management, discouraging hunting, and fostering alternative livelihoods.

A suite of Jurassic–Cretaceous migmatites was newly identified in the Liaodong Peninsula of the eastern North China Craton (NCC). Anatexis is commonly associated with crustal thickening. However, the newly identified migmatites were formed during strong lithospheric thinning accompanied by voluminous magmatism and intense deformation. Field investigations show that the migmatites are spatially associated with low-angle detachment faults. Numerous leucosomes occur either as isolated lenses or thin layers (dykes), parallel to or cross-cutting the foliation. Peritectic minerals such as titanite and sillimanite are distributed mainly along the boundaries of reactant minerals or are accumulated along the foliation. Most zircons show distinct core–rim structures, and the rims have low Th/U ratios (0.01–0.24). Zircon U–Pb dating results indicate that the protoliths of the migmatites were either the Late Triassic (224–221 Ma) diorites or metasedimentary rocks deposited sometime after c. 1857 Ma. The zircon overgrowth rims record crystallization ages of 173–161 Ma and 125 Ma, which represent the formation time of leucosomes. These ages are consistent with those reported magmatic events in the Liaodong Peninsula and surrounding areas. The leucosomes indicate a strong anatectic event during the Jurassic–Cretaceous period. Partial melting occurred through the breakdown of muscovite and biotite with the presence of water-rich fluid under a thermal anomaly regime. The possible mechanism that caused the 173–161 Ma and 125 Ma anatectic events was intimately related to the regional crustal extension during the lithospheric thinning of the NCC. Meanwhile, the newly generated melts further weakened the rigidity of the crust and enhanced the extension.

The Yellow Sea region is of high global importance for waterbird populations, but recent systematic bird count data enabling identification of the most important sites are relatively sparse for some areas. Surveys of waterbirds at three sites on the coast of southern Jiangsu Province, China, in 2014 and 2015 produced peak counts of international importance for 24 species, including seven globally threatened and six Near Threatened species. The area is of particular global importance for the ‘Critically Endangered’ Spoon-billed Sandpiper Calidris pygmaea (peak count across all three study sites: 62 in spring [2015] and 225 in autumn [2014] and ‘Endangered’ Spotted Greenshank Tringa guttifer (peak count across all three study sites: 210 in spring [2014] and 1,110 in autumn [2015]). The southern Jiangsu coast is therefore currently the most important migratory stopover area in the world, in both spring and autumn, for both species. Several serious and acute threats to waterbirds were recorded at these study sites. Paramount is the threat of large-scale land claim which would completely destroy intertidal mudflats of critical importance to waterbirds. Degradation of intertidal mudflat habitats through the spread of invasive Spartina, and mortality of waterbirds by entrapment in nets or deliberate poisoning are also real and present serious threats here. Collisions with, and displacement by, wind turbines and other structures, and industrial chemical pollution may represent additional potential threats. We recommend the rapid establishment of effective protected areas for waterbirds in the study area, maintaining large areas of open intertidal mudflat, and the urgent removal of all serious threats currently faced by waterbirds here.

We apply the feature-tracking method to L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images to derive detailed motion patterns of glaciers in the Yigong Zangbo basin during summer 2007. The results indicate that the flow patterns are generally constrained by the valley geometry and terrain complexity. The mean velocities of the 12 glaciers were 15–206 m a−1,with a maximum of 423 m a−1 for Glacier No. 5a. The majority of the glaciers exhibited high and low velocities in their upper and lower sections, respectively. The glacier area ranges from 3 to 42 km2. It is found that velocity shows a positive correlation with the glacier area and length. Many small-scale temporal/spatial variations in the glacier flow patterns were observed along the central glacier flowline.

The dissimilar metal inert-gas arc welding of aluminum alloy and ultrahigh strength steel was studied. The weld appearance was improved when welding wire was directed toward steel groove middle. The Al–steel joints have welding–brazing characteristics and include weld zone (WZ), bond zone (BZ), and interface zone (IZ). The welds with Al–Mg and Al–Cu welding wires consist of α-Al and β-Al3Mg2, and α-Al and Al2Cu, respectively. The IZ contains needle-like Fe4Al13 and lath-shaped Fe2Al5 layers. With increasing welding current, the interface layer thickness and joint cracking sensibility increased due to enhanced heat input and tensile stress in the joints. They were decreased effectively when using Al–Cu welding wire, as the constituent Cu could restrain the growth of interface layer and lower its hardness and brittleness. In particular, Al–Cu welding wire elevated the tensile strength of the Al-steel joints from 65 MPa for Al–Mg wire to 128 MPa.

We investigated the effect of human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPS) medium on porcine somatic cell nuclear transfer and bovine in vitro fertilized early blastocysts, in comparison with North Carolina State University (NCSU)-37 medium and in vitro culture (IVC)-II medium. After 2 days of culture, the diameter of the portion of the blastocyst that was extruded from the zona pellucid dramatically differed between porcine blastocysts cultured in hiPS medium and those cultured in NCSU-37 medium (221.47 ± 38.94 μm versus 481.87 ± 40.61 μm, P < 0.01). Moreover, the diameter of the portion of the blastocyst significantly differed between bovine blastocysts cultured in hiPS medium and those cultured in IVC-II medium (150.30 ± 29.49 μm versus 195.58 ± 41.59 μm, P < 0.01). Furthermore, the total number of cells per porcine and bovine blastocyst was more than two-fold higher in blastocysts cultured in hiPS medium than in those cultured in NCSU-37 medium (44.33 ± 5.28 and 143.33 ± 16.05, P < 0.01) or IVC-II medium (172.12 ± 45.08 and 604.83 ± 242.64, P < 0.01), respectively. These results indicate that hiPS medium markedly improves the quality of porcine and bovine blastocysts.

The ability of silver (Ag)-containing borate bioactive glass (BG) coatings to improve the biocompatibility and antibacterial properties of titanium (Ti) implants was investigated in vitro and in vivo in a rabbit tibial fracture model. Dense coatings of borate BG (thickness ≈ 20 μm) containing 0, 0.75, and 1.0 wt% Ag2O were prepared by depositing a layer of particles on Ti plates, followed by sintering at 900 °C. The as-prepared coatings had an adhesive strength of 10 ± 1 MPa, and when immersed in an aqueous phosphate (K2HPO4) solution, the coatings converted to hydroxyapatite, releasing Ag+ ions continuously for over 4 wk. After implantation of BG-coated Ti constructs in a rabbit tibial fracture model and of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus-induced osteomyelitis, the BG coating doped with 1.0 wt% Ag2O was most effective for the simultaneous eradication of the infection and fracture fixation. Implants coated with Ag-containing BG coatings could provide an approach for reducing implant-related bone infection.

In this work, the relationship between the substrate crystallinity and the on-state resistances of silicon carbide (SiC) photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSSs) was investigated. PCSSs with different channel lengths were fabricated on semi insulating 6H–SiC having different crystal qualities. A method was introduced for determining the photoconductive capacity of the SiC PCSSs. The experimental data suggest that the photoconductive capacity decreases sharply with the degradation of the full width at half maximum of the rocking curve of the 6H–SiC substrates. It is found that increasing the carrier mobility is a key factor for reducing the on-state resistance of the 6H–SiC PCSSs. Moreover, the results in this work present reference for the selection of 6H–SiC substrates for the fabrication of PCSSs and some other photoelectric devices.