Elevated CO₂ does not increase eucalypt forest productivity on a low-phosphorus soil

Rising atmospheric CO2 stimulates photosynthesis and productivity of forests, offsetting CO2 emissions. Elevated CO2 experiments in temperate planted forests yielded ~23% increases in productivity over the initial years. Whether similar CO2 stimulation occurs in mature evergreen broadleaved forests on low-phosphorus (P) soils is unknown, largely due to lack of experimental evidence. This knowledge gap creates major uncertainties in future climate projections as a large part of the tropics is P-limited. Here,we increased atmospheric CO2 concentration in a mature broadleaved evergreen eucalypt forest for three years, in the first large-scale experiment on a P-limited site. We show that tree growth and other aboveground productivity components did not significantly increase in response to elevated CO2 in three years, despite a sustained 19% increase in leaf photosynthesis. Moreover, tree growth in ambient CO2 was strongly P-limited and increased by ~35% with added phosphorus. The findings suggest that P availability may potentially constrain CO2-enhanced productivity in P-limited forests; hence, future atmospheric CO2 trajectories may be higher than predicted by some models. As a result, coupled climate-carbon models should incorporate both nitrogen and phosphorus limitations to vegetation productivity in estimating future carbon sinks

Gas-driven rapid fracture propagation and gas outbursts under unloading conditions in coal seams

Copyright © 2018 ARMA, American Rock Mechanics Association. Coal and gas outbursts have long posed a serious risk to safe and efficient production in coal mines. It is recognised that the coal and gas outbursts are triggered by excavation unloading followed by gas-driven rapid propagation of a system of preexisting or mining-induced fractures. Gas-filled fractures parallel to a working face are likely to experience opening first, then expansion and rapid propagation stages under unloading conditions. This research aimed to identify the key factors affecting outburst initiation and its temporal evolution during roadway developments. Specifically, the response of pre-set fractures in a coal seam sandwiched between rock layers to roadway development is simulated using a geomechanical model coupled with fracture mechanics for fracture opening and propagation. In addition, kinetic gas desorption and its migration into open fractures is considered. During simulations outburst is deemed to occur when the fracture length exceeds the dimension of a host element. The findings of this research suggests that the simulated coal and gas outburst may be considered as a dynamic gas desorption-driven fracture propagation process. The occurrence of coal and gas outbursts is found to be influenced mainly by the coal properties, fracture attributes, and initial gas pressure and the in situ stress conditions

Parametric analysis of slotting operation induced failure zones to stimulate low permeability coal seams

The main constrain for effective gas drainage in coal mines is the low permeability nature of coal reservoirs. As coal mining activities are extending to deeper subsurface, the ever-increasing in situ stress conditions is anticipated to result in much lower permeability and more challenges for gas emission control in coal mines. In recent years, hydraulic slotting using high-pressure waterjet along underground gas drainage boreholes, as a general solution to stimulate low permeability coal seams, has become increasingly favourable. This paper presents a systematic investigation into the sensitivity of borehole slotting performance to a number of field and operational parameters. A wide range of geomechanical properties, in situ stress conditions, slot geometry and spacing of multiple slots were considered in a series of numerical simulations. The relations between these key parameters and the failure zone size/volume induced by slotting were quantified. The effect of different parameters in improving slotting performance has also been ranked, which provides theoretical base for mine operators to optimise slotting operations

Microstructure and properties of a deformation-processed Cu-Cr-Ag in situ composite by directional solidification

Cu-7Cr-0.07Ag alloys were prepared by casting and directional solidification, from which deformation-processed in situ composites were prepared by thermo-mechanical processing. The microstructure, mechanical properties, and electrical properties were investigated using optical microscopy, scanning electronic microscopy, tensile testing, and a micro-ohmmeter. The second-phase Cr grains of the directional solidification Cu-7Cr-0.07Ag in situ composite were parallel to the drawing direction and were finer, which led to a higher tensile strength and a better combination of properties

Long-term carbon sink in Borneo's forests halted by drought and vulnerable to edge effects

Less than half of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions remain in the atmosphere. While carbon balance models imply large carbon uptake in tropical forests, direct on-the-ground observations are still lacking in Southeast Asia. Here, using long-term plot monitoring records of up to half a century, we find that intact forests in Borneo gained 0.43 Mg C ha‾¹ per year (95% CI 0.14—0.72, mean period 1988-2010) above-ground live biomass. These results closely match those from African and Amazonian plot networks, suggesting that the world's remaining intact tropical forests are now en masse out-of-equilibrium. Although both pan-tropical and long-term, the sink in remaining intact forests appears vulnerable to climate and land use changes. Across Borneo the 1997-1998 El Niño drought temporarily halted the carbon sink by increasing tree mortality, while fragmentation persistently offset the sink and turned many edge-affected forests into a carbon source to the atmosphere

Circadian Rhythms and Pain: A Narrative Review on Clock Genes and Circadian-Based Interventions

Zong-Qi Huang,1 Xiao-Qin Li,1 Yin-Di Wang,2 Jia-Yi Li,2 Yu-He Tian,1 Yong-Min Liu,2,* Jun-Qiang Si1,3,4,* 1Department of Physiology, Shihezi University Medical College, Shihezi, 832000, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Neurology, the Fifth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, 519000, People’s Republic of China; 3The Key Laboratory of Xinjiang Endemic and Ethnic Diseases, Shihezi University Medical College, Shihezi, 832000, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Physiology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology of Basic Medical Sciences, Wuhan, 430070, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Jun-Qiang Si, Email [email protected] Yong-Min Liu, Email [email protected]: Pain is a common symptom of many diseases and seriously affects the quality of life. Circadian rhythm is the regular, cyclical physiological, biochemical, and behavioral changes that occur within a 24-hour period in biological organisms, primarily regulated by clock genes. Pain sensitivity may have circadian rhythms, with clock genes likely influencing this pain-related rhythmicity. Therefore, restoring normal circadian rhythms and regulating the expression of clock genes are regarded as viable strategies to combat the development of pain. First, this review elucidates the core operational mechanisms of clock genes. Second, it also discusses the relationship among multiple types of pain and clock genes, such as sciatic nerve injury, inflammatory pain, chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain, headache, the pain of Restless Legs Syndrome and fibromyalgia. Third, it presents the pain treatment and pain management strategies based on the current research on circadian rhythms. Exploring the role of circadian rhythm in pain can help increase our understanding of pain and have significant clinical implications for pain patients.Plain Language Summary: The core of the circadian rhythm is driven by genes such as Per, Cry, Bmal1, Clock, Npas2 and Rev-erbα, and abnormal expression of these genes is directly associated with sciatic nerve injury, inflammatory pain, chemotherapy-induced neuropathic pain, headache, the pain of Restless Legs Syndrome and fibromyalgia.This study focuses on the mechanisms of the circadian rhythm, the relationship between clock genes and pain, as well as the applications of the circadian rhythm in pain management and treatment.Pain can be alleviated through chronotherapy, clock gene-based therapies and Traditional Chinese Medicine to regulate clock genes and suppress inflammatory factors. Future research on circadian rhythms and pain may provide more comprehensive solutions for pain management and treatment.Keywords: clock genes, pain management, the core mechanism of circadian rhythm, chronotherap

Silent but Not Static: Accelerated Base-Pair Substitution in Silenced Chromatin of Budding Yeasts

Subtelomeric DNA in budding yeasts, like metazoan heterochromatin, is gene poor, repetitive, transiently silenced, and highly dynamic. The rapid evolution of subtelomeric regions is commonly thought to arise from transposon activity and increased recombination between repetitive elements. However, we found evidence of an additional factor in this diversification. We observed a surprising level of nucleotide divergence in transcriptionally silenced regions in inter-species comparisons of Saccharomyces yeasts. Likewise, intra-species analysis of polymorphisms also revealed increased SNP frequencies in both intergenic and synonymous coding positions of silenced DNA. This analysis suggested that silenced DNA in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and closely related species had increased single base-pair substitution that was likely due to the effects of the silencing machinery on DNA replication or repair

Sarcomere Formation Occurs by the Assembly of Multiple Latent Protein Complexes

The stereotyped striation of myofibrils is a conserved feature of muscle organization that is critical to its function. Although most components that constitute the basic myofibrils are well-characterized biochemically and are conserved across the animal kingdom, the mechanisms leading to the precise assembly of sarcomeres, the basic units of myofibrils, are poorly understood. To gain insights into this process, we investigated the functional relationships of sarcomeric protein complexes. Specifically, we systematically analyzed, using either RNAi in primary muscle cells or available genetic mutations, the organization of myofibrils in Drosophila muscles that lack one or more sarcomeric proteins. Our study reveals that the thin and thick filaments are mutually dependent on each other for striation. Further, the tension sensor complex comprised of zipper/Zasp/α-actinin is involved in stabilizing the sarcomere but not in its initial formation. Finally, integrins appear essential for the interdigitation of thin and thick filaments that occurs prior to striation. Thus, sarcomere formation occurs by the coordinated assembly of multiple latent protein complexes, as opposed to sequential assembly

Single-Cell Census of Mechanosensitive Channels in Living Bacteria

Bacteria are subjected to a host of different environmental stresses. One such insult occurs when cells encounter changes in the osmolarity of the surrounding media resulting in an osmotic shock. In recent years, a great deal has been learned about mechanosensitive (MS) channels which are thought to provide osmoprotection in these circumstances by opening emergency release valves in response to membrane tension. However, even the most elementary physiological parameters such as the number of MS channels per cell, how MS channel expression levels influence the physiological response of the cells, and how this mean number of channels varies from cell to cell remain unanswered. In this paper, we make a detailed quantitative study of the expression of the mechanosensitive channel of large conductance (MscL) in different media and at various stages in the growth history of bacterial cultures. Using both quantitative fluorescence microscopy and quantitative Western blots our study complements earlier electrophysiology-based estimates and results in the following key insights: i) the mean number of channels per cell is much higher than previously estimated, ii) measurement of the single-cell distributions of such channels reveals marked variability from cell to cell and iii) the mean number of channels varies under different environmental conditions. The regulation of MscL expression displays rich behaviors that depend strongly on culturing conditions and stress factors, which may give clues to the physiological role of MscL. The number of stress-induced MscL channels and the associated variability have far reaching implications for the in vivo response of the channels and for modeling of this response. As shown by numerous biophysical models, both the number of such channels and their variability can impact many physiological processes including osmoprotection, channel gating probability, and channel clustering