The emerging role of mechanical and topographical factors in the development and treatment of nervous system disorders: dark and light sides of the force

Nervous system diseases are the subject of intensive research due to their association with high mortality rates and their potential to cause irreversible disability. Most studies focus on targeting the biological factors related to disease pathogenesis, e.g. use of recombinant activator of plasminogen in the treatment of stroke. Nevertheless, multiple diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease still lack successful treatment. Recently, evidence has indicated that physical factors such as the mechanical properties of cells and tissue and topography play a crucial role in homeostasis as well as disease progression. This review aims to depict these factors’ roles in the progression of nervous system diseases and consequently discusses the possibility of new therapeutic approaches. The literature is reviewed to provide a deeper understanding of the roles played by physical factors in nervous system disease development to aid in the design of promising new treatment approaches. Graphic abstract

Microplastic pollution characteristic in surface water and freshwater fish of Gehu Lake, China

Much more attention has been poured into microplastic pollution in freshwater systems recently. In the present study, the pollution of microplastics (MPs) in surface water and freshwater fish (crucian carp, etc.) were investigated from Gehu Lake, which is the second largest lake in southern Jiangsu after Taihu Lake. The result manifested that the average abundance of MPs was respectively 6.33 ± 2.67 n/L for surface water and 10.7 items per individual for freshwater fish. The distribution of MPs in Gehu Lake varied from place to place, with the highest abundance of MPs was observed in the two estuaries of the eastern part of the lake. It was speculated that topographical factors and human factors were the main factors affecting the abundance and distribution of MPs. Transparent fibers were the main type of MPs in water samples, accounting for 69.70% of all detected particles. Meanwhile, most of the MPs ingested by freshwater fish were fibers, and the main colors were transparent and blue. In addition, the dominant size of the MPs was between 0.1 mm to 0.5 mm in water and fish samples. Moreover, PES, Man-made fiber, and PP were the dominant polymer types in the surface water and fish samples. The results of this investigation can provide basic data for the research and management of MPs in freshwater systems.

Characteristics and Controlling Factors of the Drought Runoff Coefficient

Increasing water demand due to population growth, economic development, and changes in rainfall patterns due to climate change are likely to alter the duration and magnitude of droughts. Understanding the relationship between low-flow conditions and controlling factors relative to the magnitude of a drought is important for establishing sustainable water resource management based on changes in future drought risk. This study demonstrates the relationship between low-flow and controlling factors under different severities of drought. I calculated the drought runoff coefficient for six types of occurrence probability, using past observation data of annual total discharge and precipitation in the Japanese archipelago, where multiple climate zones exist. Furthermore, I investigated the pattern of change in the drought runoff coefficient in accordance with the probability of occurrence of drought, and relationships among the coefficient and geological, land use, and topographical factors. The drought runoff coefficient for multiple drought magnitudes exhibited three behaviors, corresponding to the pattern of precipitation. Results from a generalized linear model (GLM) revealed that the controlling factors differed depending on the magnitude of the drought. During high-frequency droughts, the drought runoff coefficient was influenced by geological and vegetation factors, whereas land use and topographical factors influenced the drought runoff coefficient during low-frequency droughts. These differences were caused by differences in runoff, which dominated stream discharge, depending on the magnitude of the drought. Therefore, for effective water resource management, estimation of the volume of drought runoff needs to consider the pattern of precipitation, geology, land use, and topography.

A novel and robust procedure for upscaling sap velocity data based on the species-specific role of DBH and slope for explaining tree-to-tree variability

<p>Multi-species forests display a substantial tree-to-tree variability in transpiration induced by various vegetation and landscape characteristics. However, how to model transpiration accounting for tree-to-tree variability still needs to be developed. Diameter at breast height (DBH) is a representative variable of tree characteristics related to age, size and social position in the canopy. Landscape characteristics affecting transpiration are usually defined by topographical factors including slope, aspect, curvature, flow accumulation and topographic position index. Among all transpiration drivers, DBH and topographical factors represent the most stable controls over a growing season. Both play a key-role in defining the accessibility and the availability of the water sustaining transpiration flux and consequently in determining tree-to-tree variability in transpiration. However, previous studies showed that DBH and topographical factors can exhibit contrasting effects on sap velocity (a proxy of transpiration) depending on species and the hydro-meteorological conditions. So far, we are still lacking a detailed understanding of the species-specific influence of DBH and topographical factors on sap velocity, which hampers our ability to predict future forest water-use by impeding our capability to build robust procedures for upscaling sap-flow that accounts for tree-to-tree variability. In this study, we used a relative importance analysis to investigate the specie-specific and dynamic role of DBH and topographical factors on sap velocity. We monitored sap velocity in 28 beech (Fagus sylvatica) and oak (Quercus robur/petraea) trees in a 0.45 km² forested catchment. We found that the relative importance of DBH and topographical factors depended on species-specific water-use strategies. Based on these results, we developed a novel and robust procedure for upscaling sap velocity using a species-specific non-linear model of sap velocity response to temperature. This new procedure accounts for tree DBH and terrain’s slope for providing modelled time series of sap velocity. Finally, we compared our new procedure with other available upscaling procedure. In both cases, we used the measured sap velocity data to build models for each approach; then, we compared the modelled sap velocity to the real corresponding measured values of individual 28 trees in order to evaluate the differences between sap velocity estimations resulting from the two approaches. Over the whole year, the common procedure overestimated oak sap velocity by 39% ± 5.0 SE and 5% ± 2.3 SE for beech, while our new procedure led to an underestimation of only 4.8% ± 2.0 SE for oak and 12% ± 1.4 SE for beech. Our novel procedure also reduced the standard error of the estimation in both species and therefore the uncertainty on sap velocity of each tree. Moreover, our new procedure appeared to particularly outperform the common procedure during dry summer months when the estimation of forest transpiration is critical. During this period, our procedure slightly underestimated sap velocity by 5.8 ± 1.7% and 1.1 ± 1.9% while the common one overestimated sap velocity by 32.3 ± 4.8% and 8.5 ± 2.6% for oak and beech trees, respectively.</p>

Integration of Remotely Sensed Digital Elevation Model Data and Geographic Information System Facilities to Estimate Net Solar Radiation Variances in Iraq (1987-2017)

The calculation of potential earth's surface solar radiation is imperative for analyzing the atmosphere-vegetation-soil interaction process. Therefore, many schemes were introduced with direct (using net radiometer) or indirect (using air temperature or air plus soil temperatures) formulas. Three combinations of factors are known to control the Rn value; the astronomical based factors which determine the general spatial distribution of Rn values, the climatological factors which determine the assigned spatial variation of those values, and the topographical factors that influence climatological factors rates ( i.e. have indirect effects on Rn values). For Iraq, the ecosystem influences of global warming were obvious in the 1980s and the Rn rates approached peak values .. Thereafter, the general behavior of Rn rates was geographically-based , i.e. increasing rates in the middle and southern regions and descending rates in the northern parts, since it was spatially correlated in a reverse manner with RH values. In the present study, this issue was clarified by utilizing the standard annual mean Rn rate known for Iraq’s weather, which was 9.8MJ.m-2.year-1. The results showed that, in 1987, the area with annual mean Rn equal or higher than this annual standard rate was 305088.098 km2. The area was reduced to 241984.77 km2 in 1997, followed by an expansion to 294491.136 km2 in 2007, and another reduction to 277272.542 km2 in 2017.

The Diameter Factor of Aligned Electrospinning Membranes Facilitates Cutaneous Wound Healing by Promoting Epithelialization

The re-epithelialization with appendages is a major challenge to skin injury. Given that topographical factors initially modulate cell activities, the design of biomaterials with the topography (such as pattern and diameter) offers a promising strategy for achieving optimal skin wound healing. Herein, we prepare an aligned fish collagen reinforced poly (lactide-co-glycolide) electrospinning membrane (FC/PLGA) with different fiber diameters including 319±100nm (A300), 687±138nm (A600) and 1048 ± 130nm (A1000) for promoting the re-epithelialization with appendages. The A300 significantly enhanced the mechanical strength and hydrophilicity, accelerated the degradation rate, and improved the cytocompatibility (proliferation and spreading) of the FC/PLGA membrane. In particular, the A300 facilitated skin wound healing (epithelization and vascularization) with the regeneration of hair follicles (HFs). The transcriptome revealed the underlying molecular mechanism that the A300 could promote macrophages transformation to reparative phenotypes (M2), subsequently exerting anti-inflammation and promoting epidermal cell migration via secreting IL10, TGFβ and MMP12. All the results indicate the A300 to be a potential candidate for guided tissue regeneration applications.Abstract Figure

CARRYING CAPACITY OF SATTLEMENT BASED ON DISASTER PRONE AREAS

The research aims to assess potential locations that can be developed as settlement areas by observing the area's topographical factors as well as the potential for disaster-affected areas. This research used a quantitative qualitative descriptive method with overlay method between existing land use map, topography map with location map affected by flood disaster, volcano eruption, forest fire, avalanche and tsunami. The results of this study was 20,112 ha (24.93%) is a potential area of settlements. Carrying capacity value for the settlements for all districts is above 1 (one) so that all districts have a possibility to develop settlement areas. The development of the settlement area is preferred in the Gangga because the value of the carrying capacity reaches 71.63, while the development of settlements is limited in Bayan and Kayangan. For settlements that have been developed in hazardous areas, the handling is a restriction and prohibition for new developments in disaster-prone areas and relocation in settlement areas in areas with insecurity levels high.Keywords: carrying capacity, disaster, prone-area, risk, settlementsTujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengkaji lokasi potensial yang dapat dikembangkan sebagai kawasan permukiman dengan memperhatikan faktor topografi kawasan serta potensi kawasan terdampak bencana. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian deskriptif kuantitatif dengan metode overlay antara peta penggunaan lahan eksisting, peta topografi kawasan dengan peta lokasi yang terdampak bencana banjir, erupsi gunungapi, kebakaran hutan, longsor dan tsunami. Hasil dari penelitian ini terdapat 20.112 ha (24,93%) wilayah merupakan kawasan potensial permukiman. Nilai daya dukung lahan permukiman untuk semua kecamatan berada di atas 1 (satu) sehingga masih dapat menampung penduduk untuk bermukim. Pengembangan kawasan permukiman diarahkan terutama pada Kecamatan Gangga karena nilai daya dukung permukiman mencapai 71,63, sedangkan yang perlu dibatasi pengembangan permukiman pada Kecamatan Bayan dan Kecamatan Kayangan. Untuk kawasan permukiman yang telah terbangun pada kawasan rawan bencana arahan penanganannya berupa pembatasan dan pelarangan untuk pembangunan baru dan relokasi pada kawasan permukiman yang berada di kawasan dengan tingkat kerawanan tinggi. Kata kunci: bencana, daerah rawan, daya dukung, permukiman, risiko

Analysis of the Influence of DTM Source Data on the LS Factors of the Soil Water Erosion Model Values with the Use of GIS Technology

Counteracting soil degradation is one of the strategic priorities for sustainable development. One of the most important current challenges is effective management of available resources. Multiple studies in various aspects of soil water erosion are conducted in many research institutions in the world. They concern, among others, the development of risk estimation models and the use of new data for modelling. The aim of the presented research was a discussion on the impact of the accuracy and detail of elevation data sources on the results of soil water erosion topographic factors modelling. Elevation data for this research were chosen to reflect various technologies of data acquisition, differences in the accuracy and detail of field forms mapping and, consequently, the spatial resolution of the digital terrain models (DTMs). The methodology of the universal soil loss equation USLE/RUSLE was used for the L and S factors modelling and calculation. The research was carried out in three study areas located in different types of geographical regions in Poland: uplands, highlands and lake districts. The proposed methodology consisted of conducting detailed comparative elevation and slope value assessments, calculating the values of topographical factors of the universal soil loss equation: slope length (L) and slope (S) and a detailed analysis of the total LS factors values. An approach to assess LS factors values within homogeneous areas such as agricultural plots has also been proposed. The studies draw the conclusion that the values of topographical factors obtained from various DTM sources were significantly different. It was shown that the choice of the right modelling data has a significant impact on the L and S factors values and, thus, also, on the decision-making process. The conducted research has definitely shown that data of the highest accuracy and detail should be used to study local phenomena (inter alia erosion), even analysing a large area.