Description: Given the important role of nitrogen input from livestock systems in terrestrial nutrient cycles and the atmospheric chemical composition, it is vital to have a robust estimation of the magnitude and spatiotemporal variation in manure nitrogen production and its application to cropland across the globe. In this study, we used the dataset from the Global Livestock Impact Mapping System (GLIMS) in conjunction with country-specific annual livestock populations to reconstruct the manure nitrogen production during 1860-2014. The estimated manure nitrogen production increased from 21.4 Tg N/yr in 1860 to 131.0 Tg N/yr in 2014 with a significant annual increasing trend (0.7 Tg N/ yr, p 〈 0.01). Changes in manure nitrogen production exhibited high spatial variability and concentrated in several hotspots (e.g., Western Europe, India, northeastern China, and southeastern Australia) across the globe over the study period. In the 1860s, the northern midlatitude region was the largest manure producer, accounting for ~52 % of the global total, while low-latitude regions became the largest share (~48 %) in the most recent 5 years (2010-2014). Among all the continents, Asia accounted for over one-fourth of the global manure production during 1860-2014. Cattle dominated the manure nitrogen production and contributed ~44 % of the total manure nitrogen production in 2014, followed by goats, sheep, swine, and chickens. The manure nitrogen application to cropland accounts for less than one-fifth of the total manure nitrogen production over the study period. The 5 arcmin gridded global dataset of manure nitrogen production generated from this study could be used as an input for global or regional land surface and ecosystem models to evaluate the impacts of manure nitrogen on key biogeochemical processes and water quality. To ensure food security and environmental sustainability, it is necessary to implement proper manure management practices on cropland across the globe.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This is the author's version of the work and is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 33 (2018): 104-113, doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2018.04.003.

Description: Increased natural and anthropogenic stresses have threatened the Earth’s ability to meet growing human demands of food, energy and water (FEW) in a sustainable way. Although much progress has been made in the provision of individual component of FEW, it remains unknown whether there is an optimized strategy to balance the FEW nexus as a whole, reduce air and water pollution, and mitigate climate change on national and global scales. Increasing FEW conflicts in the agroecosystems make it an urgent need to improve our understanding and quantification of how to balance resource investment and enhance resource use efficiencies in the FEW nexus. Therefore, we propose an integrated modeling system of the FEW nexus by coupling an ecosystem model, an economic model, and a regional climate model, aiming to mimic the interactions and feedbacks within the ecosystem-human-climate systems. The trade-offs between FEW benefit and economic cost in excess resource usage, environmental degradation, and climate consequences will be quantitatively assessed, which will serve as sustainability indicators for agricultural systems (including crop production, livestock and aquaculture). We anticipate that the development and implementation of such an integrated modeling platform across world’s regions could build capabilities in understanding the agriculture-centered FEW nexus and guiding policy and land management decision making for a sustainable future.

Description: This study has been supported by National Key R & D Program of China (no. 2017YFA0604702), CAS STS Program (KFJ-STS-ZDTP-010-05), SKLURE Grant (SKLURE2017-1-6), National Science Foundation (1210360, 1243232), NOAA Grants (NA16NOS4780207, NA16NOS4780204), and AU-OUC Joint Center Program.

Description: 2020-05-28

Description: Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2015. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Nature Publishing Group for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Nature 531 (2016): 225-228, doi:10.1038/nature16946.

Description: The terrestrial biosphere can release or absorb the greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) and therefore plays an important role in regulating atmospheric composition and climate1. Anthropogenic activities such as land use change, agricultural and waste management have altered terrestrial biogenic greenhouse gas fluxes and the resulting increases in methane and nitrous oxide emissions in particular can contribute to climate warming2,3. The terrestrial biogenic fluxes of individual greenhouse gases have been studied extensively4-6, but the net biogenic greenhouse gas balance as a result of anthropogenic activities and its effect on the climate system remains uncertain. Here we use bottom-up (BU: e.g., inventory, statistical extrapolation of local flux measurements, process-based modeling) and top-down (TD: atmospheric inversions) approaches to quantify the global net biogenic greenhouse gas balance between 1981-2010 as a result of anthropogenic activities and its effect on the climate system. We find that the cumulative warming capacity of concurrent biogenic CH4 and N2O emissions is about a factor of 2 larger than the cooling effect resulting from the global land CO2 uptake in the 2000s. This results in a net positive cumulative impact of the three GHGs on the planetary energy budget, with a best estimate of 3.9±3.8 Pg CO2 eq/yr (TD) and 5.4±4.8 Pg CO2 eq/yr (BU) based on the GWP 100 metric (global warming potential on a 100-year time horizon). Our findings suggest that a reduction in agricultural CH4 and N2O emissions in particular in Southern Asia may help mitigate climate change.

Description: This research has been supported partially by National Aeronautics and 255 Space Administration (NASA) Grants (NNX08AL73G, NNX14AO73G, NNX10AU06G, NNX11AD47G, NNG04GM39C), National Science Foundation (NSF) Grants (CNH1210360; AGS 1243232; AGS-1243220). JGC was supported by the Australian Climate Change Science Program. ES was supported by NOAA Climate Program Office (award # NA13OAR4310059). CRS was supported by NASA Grants (#NNX12AP74G, #NNX10AG01A, and #NNX11AO08A). KRG was supported by NSF CAREER (AGS-0846358). RGP was supported by NASA Upper Atmosphere Research Program AGAGE Grant (NNX11AF17G to MIT).

Description: 2016-09-09

Description: LiYSiO 4 :Ce is a promising scintillator and some of its properties have been reported in previous papers. In this paper, samples doped with different concentrations of Ce are prepared and studied. First, the relative light yields of the samples are measured as 28.1%–37.1% compared with a standard anthracene crystal being irradiated by α particles and as ~27.2% compared with NaI being irradiated by X-rays. Second, the effects of sample thicknesses on light yields are presented. Finally the timing behaviors of samples with different doped concentrations being irradiated with alpha particles and X-rays are discussed. The result shows that LiYSiO 4 :Ce is a kind of fast scintillator (~ 30 ns) with a moderate light yield that can be used for neutron detection.

Description: Journal of Proteome Research DOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.8b00158

Description: Patients dually infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV)/hepatitis B virus (HBV) have a higher risk of developing advanced liver disease or hepatocellular carcinoma compared to monoinfected patients. Our previous study showed a similar rate of sustained virologic response (SVR) after peginterferon alfa-2a and ribavirin combination therapy in these patients compared to HCV monoinfected patients, and a high hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance rate. The durability of hepatitis C and B clearance in dually infected patients was investigated by a 5-year follow-up study. Patients with active HCV genotype 1, both HBV coinfected (n=97) and monoinfected (n=110), received a 48-week combination therapy with peginterferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin. Patients with active HCV genotype 2/3, both HBV coinfected (n=64) and monoinfected (n=50) patients received a 24-week combination therapy. A total of 295 (91.9%) patients completed treatment and 24 weeks post-treatment follow-up; 264 (89.5%) agreed to receive additional follow-up for up to 5 years after the end of treatment. After a median follow-up of 4.6 + 1.0 years, 6 of the 232 patients achieving SVR developed HCV RNA reappearance, including 5 HCV genotype 1/HBV coinfected patients and 1 HCV genotype 2/3 monoinfected patient. Subgenomic analysis of the HCV core gene suggested that 5 patients developed delayed recurrence of HCV infection. Overall, the cumulative recurrence rate of HCV infection was 2.3% (0.4%/year; 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.9%∼5.5%). The cumulative HBsAg seroclearance rate was 30.0% (95% CI=21.5%∼42.0%); with 33.1% (95% CI=21.8%∼50.1%) in 48-week combination therapy group and 24.3% (95% CI=13.7%∼42.9%) in 24-week therapy group. Conclusion: Peginterferon alfa-2a and ribavirin therapy provides a good durability of HCV SVR and a high accumulative HBsAg seroclearance rate in patients dually infected with HCV and HBV. (H EPATOLOGY 2013.)

Description: The Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is facing large pressures from environmental changes since the beginning of last century. However, the magnitude and long-term trend of total water discharge to the GOM and the underlying processes are not well understood. In this study, the Dynamic Land Ecosystem Model (DLEM) has been improved and applied to investigate spatial and temporal variations of evapotranspiration (ET) and runoff (R) over drainage basins of the GOM during 1901-2008. Modeled ET and discharge were evaluated against up-scaled data sets and gauge observations. Simulated results demonstrated a significant decrease in ET at a rate of 15 mm yr -1 century -1 and an insignificant trend in runoff/precipitation (R/P) and river discharge over the whole region during 1901-2008. However, the trends in estimated water fluxes show substantial spatial and temporal heterogeneities across the study region. Generally, in the west arid area, ET, R, and R/P decreased; while they increased in the eastern part of the study area during the last 108 years. In the resent 30 years this region experienced substantial decrease in R. Factorial simulation experiments indicate that climate change, particularly P, was the dominant factor controlling interannual variations of ET and R; while land use change had the same magnitude of effects on long-term trends in water fluxes as climate change did. To eliminate modeling uncertainties, high-resolution historical meteorological data sets and model parameterizations on anthropogenic effects such as water use and dam constructions should be developed.

Description: Destructive gas generation with associated swelling has been a major challenge to the large-scale application of lithium ion batteries (LIBs) made from Li4Ti5O12 (LTO) anodes. Here we report root causes of the gassing behavior, and suggest remedy to suppress it. The generated gases mainly contain H2, CO2 and CO, which originate from interfacial reactions between LTO and surrounding alkyl carbonate solvents. The reactions occur at the very thin outermost surface of LTO (111) plane, which result in transformation from (111) to (222) plane and formation of (101) plane of anatase TiO2. A nanoscale carbon coating along with a stable solid electrolyte interface (SEI) film around LTO is seen most effective as a barrier layer in suppressing the interfacial reaction and resulting gassing from the LTO surface. Such an ability to tune the interface nanostructure of electrodes has practical implications in the design of next-generation high power LIBs. Scientific Reports 2 doi: 10.1038/srep00913

Description: Background: A lot of empirical studies have been conducted to evaluate the prevalence of depression and anxiety among Chinese adults with cancer. We aimed to conduct a meta-analysis in order to evaluate the prevalence and odds ratios of depression and anxiety in Chinese adults with cancer compared with those without. Methods: The three most comprehensive computerized Chinese academic databases-CNKI, Wangfang and Vip databases-were systematically screened through September 2012. PubMed and Web of Science (SCIE) were also searched from their inception until September 2012 without language restrictions, and an internet search was also used. Case--control studies assessing the prevalence of depression and anxiety among Chinese adults with cancer were analyzed. Study selection and appraisal were conducted independently by three authors. The non-weighted prevalence, pooled random-effects estimates of odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were all calculated. Results: Seventeen eligible studies with a total of 3497 subjects were included. The prevalence of depression and anxiety were significantly higher in adults with cancer compared with those without (Depression: 54.90% vs. 17.50%, OR = 7.85, 95%CI = 5.56-11.07, P = 0.000; Anxiety: 49.69% vs. 18.37%, OR = 6.46, 95%CI = 4.36-9.55, P = 0.000), the same situation was also observed in subgroup of control groups, assessment methods and cancer types. Although no difference of depression was observed in studies utilizing clinical diagnosis compared with self-report, the OR of anxiety in adults with cancer compared with those without was higher in studies utilizing clinical diagnosis (OR = 8.42, 95%CI = 4.83-14.70) than self-reports (OR = 5.83, 95%CI = 3.64-9.34). The ORs of depression and anxiety in cancer patients compared with disease group (Depression: OR = 6.03, 95%CI = 4.23-8.61; Anxiety: OR = 4.40, 95%CI = 3.05-6.36) were lower than in those compared with normal group (Depression: OR = 13.58, 95%CI = 6.26-29.46; Anxiety: OR = 15.47, 95%CI = 10.00-23.95). Conclusions: We identified high prevalence rates of depression and anxiety among Chinese adults with cancer. The findings support that the prevalence of depression and anxiety among adults with cancer should receive more attention in Chinese medical settings.

Description: Analytical Chemistry DOI: 10.1021/ac500060c