Relative roles of climate change and human activities in desertification are the hotspot of research on desertification dynamic and its driving mechanism.To overcome the shortcomings of existing studies,this paper selected net primary productivity(NPP) as an indicator to analyze desertification dynamic and its impact factors.In addition,the change trends of actual NPP,potential NPP and HNPP(human appropriation of NPP,the difference between potential NPP and actual NPP) were used to analyze the desertification dynamic and calculate the relative roles of climate change,human activities and a combination of the two factors in desertification.In this study,the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS)-Normalised Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI) and meteorological data were utilized to drive the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach(CASA) model to calculate the actual NPP from 2001 to 2010 in the Heihe River Basin.Potential NPP was estimated using the Thornthwaite Memorial model.Results showed that 61% of the whole basin area underwent land degradation,of which 90.5% was caused by human activities,8.6% by climate change,and 0.9% by a combination of the two factors.On the contrary,1.5% of desertification reversion area was caused by human activities and 90.7% by climate change,the rest 7.8% by a combination of the two factors.Moreover,it was demonstrated that 95.9% of the total actual NPP decrease was induced by human activities,while 69.3% of the total actual NPP increase was caused by climate change.The results revealed that climate change dominated desertification reversion,while human activities dominated desertification expansion.Moreover,the relative roles of both climate change and human activities in desertification possessed great spatial heterogeneity.Additionally,ecological protection policies should be enhanced in the Heihe River Basin to prevent desertification expansion under the condition of climate change.
The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of Siwu decoction on hyperuricemia, kidney inflammation, and dysfunction in hyperuricemic mice. Siwu decoction at 363.8, 727.5, and 1 455 mg·kg^(–1) was orally administered to potassium oxonate-induced hyperuricemic mice for 7 days. Serum urate, creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen levels and hepatic xanthine oxidase(XOD) activity were measured. The protein levels of hepatic XOD and renal urate transporter 1(URAT1), glucose transporter 9(GLUT9), organic anion transporters 1(OAT1), ATP-binding cassette subfamily G member 2(ABCG2), organic cation transporter 1(OCT1), OCT2, organic cation/carnitine transporter 1(OCTN1), OCNT2, Nod-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3(NLRP3), apoptosis-associated speck-like protein(ASC), Caspase-1, and interleukin-1β(IL-1β) were determined by Western blotting. Renal histopathology change was obtained following hematoxylin-eosin staining. Our results indicated that Siwu decoction significantly reduced serum urate, creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels and increased fractional excretion of uric acid in hyperuricemic mice. It effectively reduced hepatic XOD activity and protein levels in this animal model. Furthermore, Siwu decoction down-regulated URAT1 and GLUT9 protein levels, and up-regulated the protein levels of OAT1, ABCG2, OCT1, OCT2, OCTN1, and OCTN2 in the kidney of the hyperuricemic mice. Additionally, Siwu decoction remarkably reduced renal protein levels of NLRP3, ASC, Caspase-1, and IL-1β in the hyperuricemic mice. These results suggested that Siwu decoction exhibited anti-hyperuricemic and anti-inflammatory effects by inhibiting hepatic XOD activity, regulating renal organic ion transporter expression, and suppressing renal NLRP3 inflammasome activation, providing the evidence for its use in the treatment of hyperuricemia and associated kidney inflammation.
String-pulling is one of the most widely used paradigms in an imal cog nition research. We in vestigated how azure-wi nged magpies Cyanopica cyan us solve multiple-string problems that they have never encountered before. In Experiment 1, the strings were arranged in parallel, slanted, or crossed to investigate what rules azure-winged magpies use to solve multiple spatial relations of strings. Experiment 2 assessed whether the subjects understood the connection between the string and the bait while taking advantage of broken strings. In Experiment 3, the subjects were confronted with strings of different lengths attached to rewards in order to explore whether the string length, as a proxy for the pulling efficiency or reward distanee, was crucial for the birds' choice of which string to pull. Gen erally, the birds were successful in tasks where the reward was close to the correct string's end, and they relied on a "proximity rule" in most cases. The results showed that azure-winged magpies had a partial understanding of the physical principles underlying the string-pulling but were stumped by complex spatial relations. They likely relied on simple strategies such as the proximity rule to solve the tasks. The effects of in dividual difference and experiential learning on string-pulling performance are also discussed.
Lin WangYunchao LuoXin WangAbudusaimaiti MaierdiyaliHao ChangZhongqiu Li
