152 research outputs found
Long‐term, amplified responses of soil organic carbon to nitrogen addition worldwide
Get PDFSoil organic carbon (SOC) is the largest carbon sink in terrestrial ecosystems and plays a critical role in mitigating climate change. Increasing reactive nitrogen (N) in ecosystems caused by anthropogenic N input substantially affects SOC dynamics. However, uncertainties remain concerning the effects of N addition on SOC in both organic and mineral soil layers over time at the global scale. Here, we analyzed a large empirical data set spanning 60 years across 369 sites worldwide to explore the temporal dynamics of SOC to N addition. We found that N addition significantly increased SOC across the globe by 4.2% (2.7–5.8%). SOC increases were amplified from short- to long-term N addition durations in both organic and mineral soil layers. The positive effects of N addition on SOC were independent of ecosystem types, mean annual temperature and precipitation. Our findings suggest that SOC increases largely resulted from the enhanced plant C input to soils coupled with reduced C loss from decomposition and amplification was associated with reduced microbial biomass and respiration under long-term N addition. Our study suggests that N addition will enhance SOC sequestration over time and contribute to future climate change mitigation.This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Xu, Chonghua, Xia Xu, Chenghui Ju, Han YH Chen, Brian J. Wilsey, Yiqi Luo, and Wei Fan. "Long‐term, amplified responses of soil organic carbon to nitrogen addition worldwide." Global Change Biology (2020), which has been published in final form at doi:10.1111/gcb.15489. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.</p
Benchmarking Robustness and Generalization in Multi-Agent Systems: A Case Study on Neural MMO
No full textWe present the results of the second Neural MMO challenge, hosted at IJCAI 2022, which received 1600+ submissions. This competition targets robustness and generalization in multi-agent systems: participants train teams of agents to complete a multi-task objective against opponents not seen during training. We summarize the competition design and results and suggest that, considering our work as a case study, competitions are an effective approach to solving hard problems and establishing a solid benchmark for algorithms. We will open-source our benchmark including the environment wrapper, baselines, a visualization tool, and selected policies for further research.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Interactive Intelligenc
Bottom-up fabrication of zwitterionic polymer brushes on intraocular lens for improved biocompatibility
No full textYuemei Han,1,* Xu Xu,1,* Junmei Tang,1,* Chenghui Shen,2 Quankui Lin,1,2 Hao Chen1,2 1School of Ophthalmology & Optometry, Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, 2Wenzhou Institute of Biomaterials and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wenzhou, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Abstract: Intraocular lens (IOL) is an efficient implantable device commonly used for treating cataracts. However, bioadhesion of bacteria or residual lens epithelial cells on the IOL surface after surgery causes postoperative complications, such as endophthalmitis or posterior capsular opacification, and leads to loss of sight again. In the present study, zwitterionic polymer brushes were fabricated on the IOL surface via bottom-up grafting procedure. The attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared and contact angle measurements indicated successful surface modification, as well as excellent hydrophilicity. The coating of hydrophilic zwitterionic polymer effectively decreased the bioadhesion of lens epithelial cells or bacteria. In vivo intraocular implantation results showed good in vivo biocompatibility of zwitterionic IOL and its effectiveness against postoperative complications. Keywords: RAFT, surface modification, endophthalmitis, PCO, in viv
Forced oscillation of second-order nonlinear dynamic equations on time scales
No full textIn this paper, by defining a class of functions, we establish some oscillation criteria for the second order nonlinear dynamic equations with forced term on a time scale Our results unify the oscillation of the second order forced differential equation and the second order forced difference equation. An example is considered to illustrate the main results
Adsorption of Lead Ions by Linde type F(K) Zeolite
No full textThe Test was to examine the adsorption property of Pb(II) irons by Linde type F (K) zeolite. The zeolite was synthesized by fly ash. The adsorbent dosage, pH, reaction temperature and reaction time were investigated. The adsorption isotherm and adsorption kinetics equation were studied. The results showed the adsorbent dosage, pH, reaction temperature and reaction time had significant effects on the adsorption of Pb(II) irons. The removal rate was improved with the increasing of zeolite dosage. The saturated adsorption capacity was decreased gradually. The adsorption of Pb(II) irons tended to saturate when initial pH was 6. With the increasing of temperature, the equilibration time of adsorption was shorter. Langmuir isotherm was more applicable to explain the monolayer adsorption procedure of Pb(II) on Linde type F(K) zeolite. For adsorption kinetics, pseudo-second order model showed better calculation results
Photocatalytic Producation of Hydrogen from Aqueous Methanol Solution over Pt/TiO2-Cu2O Under Visible Irradiation
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Impacts of the Plateau Environment on the Gut Microbiota and Blood Clinical Indexes in Han and Tibetan Individuals
No full textABSTRACT The intestinal microbiota is significantly affected by the external environment, but our understanding of the effects of extreme environments such as plateaus is far from adequate. In this study, we systematically analyzed the variation in the intestinal microbiota and 76 blood clinical indexes among 393 healthy adults with different plateau living durations (Han individuals with no plateau living, with plateau living for 4 to 6 days, with plateau living for >3 months, and who returned to the plain for 3 months, as well as plateau-living Tibetans). The results showed that the high-altitude environment rapidly (4 days) and continually (more than 3 months) shaped both the intestinal microbiota and clinical indexes of the Han population. With prolongation of plateau living, the general characteristics of the intestinal microbiota and clinical indexes of the Han population were increasingly similar to those of the Tibetan population. The intestinal microbiota of the Han population that returned to the plain area for 3 months still resembled that of the plateau-living Han population rather than that of the Han population on the plain. Moreover, clinical indexes such as blood glucose were significantly lower in the plateau groups than in the nonplateau groups, while the opposite result was obtained for testosterone. Interestingly, there were Tibetan-specific correlations between glucose levels and Succinivibrio and Sarcina abundance in the intestine. The results of this study suggest that a hypoxic environment could rapidly and lastingly affect both the human intestinal microbiota and blood clinical indexes, providing new insights for the study of plateau adaptability. IMPORTANCE The data presented in the present study demonstrate that the hypoxic plateau environment has a profound impact on the gut microbiota and blood clinical indexes in Han and Tibetan individuals. The plateau-changed signatures of the gut microbiota and blood clinical indexes were not restored to the nonplateau status in the Han cohorts, even when the individuals returned to the plain from the plateau for several months. Our study will improve the understanding of the great impact of hypoxic environments on the gut microbiota and blood clinical indexes as well as the adaptation mechanism and intervention targets for plateau adaptation
-Stochastic Stability and -Gain Performance of Positive Markov Jump Linear Systems With Time-Delays: Necessary and Sufficient Conditions
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