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Potential evapotranspiration (PET) is crucial for water resources assessment. In this regard, the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization)-Penman-Monteith method (PM) is commonly recognized as a standard method for PET estimation. However, due to requirement of detailed meteorological data, the application of PM is often constrained in many regions. Under such circumstances, an alternative method with similar efficiency to that of PM needs to be identified. In this study, three radiation-based methods, Makkink (Mak), Abtew (Abt), and Priestley-Taylor (PT), and five temperature-based methods, Hargreaves-Samani (HS), Thornthwaite (Tho), Hamon (Ham), Linacre (Lin), and Blaney-Criddle (BC), were compared with PM at yearly and seasonal scale, using long-term (50 years) data from 90 meteorology stations in southwest China. Indicators, viz. (videlicet) Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE), relative error (Re), normalized root mean squared error (NRMSE), and coefficient of determination (R 2 ) were used to evaluate the performance of PET estimations by the above-mentioned eight methods. The results showed that the performance of the methods in PET estimation varied among regions; HS, PT, and Abt overestimated PET, while others underestimated. In Sichuan basin, Mak, Abt and HS yielded similar estimations to that of PM, while, in Yun-Gui plateau, Abt, Mak, HS, and PT showed better performances. Mak performed the best in the east Tibetan Plateau at yearly and seasonal scale, while HS showed a good performance in summer and autumn. In the arid river valley, HS, Mak, and Abt performed better than the others. On the other hand, Tho, Ham, Lin, and BC could not be used to estimate PET in some regions. In general, radiation-based methods for PET estimation performed better than temperature-based methods among the selected methods in the study area. Among the radiation-based methods, Mak performed the best, while HS showed the best performance among the temperature-based methods.

Background: Transradial access (TRA) has been considered as the default choice in cardiac catheterization. Although infrequent, vascular complications of this approach remain. Recently, the distal transradial approach (dTRA) in cardiac catheterization was reported by interventionalists. Methods: We retrieved the relevant literatures and reviewed the safety and feasibility of this novel approach in cardiac catheterization. Results: The dTRA for cardiac intervention has superior safety and satisfaction. As a novel approach for cardiac catheterization, access related complications should also be considered by operators, such as RAO, radial spasm, bleeding and haematoma, and injury of the superficial branch of the radial nerve. Conclusions: The dTRA in cardiovascular angiography and intervention was safe and feasible.

Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum cv. 'Moneymaker') was transformed with a codA gene, from Arthrobacter globiformis, for choline oxidase that had been modified to allow targeting to both chloroplasts and the cytosol. Glycinebetaine (GB) accumulated in seeds of transformed plants up to 1 mmol g -1 dry weight (DW), while no detectable GB was found in wild-type (WT) seeds. The codA-transgenic seeds germinated faster and at higher frequency than WT seeds with high temperature treatment. After heat stress, levels of expression of a mitochondrial small heat-shock protein (MT-sHSP), heat-shock protein 70 (HSP70) and heat-shock cognate 70 (HSC70) were higher in transgenic seeds than in WT seeds during heat stress, and the accumulation of HSP70 was more prominent in codA-transgenic seeds than in WT seeds. Addition of GB to the germination medium or imbibition of seeds in a solution of GB enhanced the tolerance of WT seeds to high temperatures. WT seeds treated with exogenous GB also expressed heat-shock genes at elevated levels and accumulated more HSP70 than controls. Our results suggest that GB, either applied exogenously or accumulated in vivo in codA-transgenic seeds, enhanced the expression of heat-shock genes in and improved the tolerance to high temperature of tomato seeds during germination.

These data indicate that this plant can achieve the trade-off between internal aeration and nutrient acquisition by adjusting the structure of the root system and the pattern of biomass allocation to different root orders rather than root morphology and root porosity.

We have generated low-expressing and high-expressing endothelin-1 genes (L and H) and have bred mice with four levels of expression: L/L, ∼20%; L/+, ∼65%; +/+ (wild type), 100%; and H/+, ∼350%. The hypomorphic L allele can be spatiotemporally switched to the hypermorphic H allele by Cre-loxP recombination. Young adult L/L and L/+ mice have dilated cardiomyopathy, hypertension, and increased plasma volumes, together with increased ventricular superoxide levels, increased matrix metalloproteinase 9 (Mmp9) expression, and reduced ventricular stiffness. H/+ mice have decreased plasma volumes and significantly heavy stiff hearts. Global or cardiomyocyte-specific switching expression from L to H normalized the abnormalities already present in young adult L/L mice. An epithelial sodium channel antagonist normalized plasma volume and blood pressure, but only partially corrected the cardiomyopathy. A superoxide dismutase mimetic made superoxide levels subnormal, reduced Mmp9 overexpression, and substantially improved cardiac function. Genetic absence of Mmp9 also improved cardiac function, but increased superoxide remained. We conclude that endothelin-1 is critical for maintaining normal contractile function, for controlling superoxide and Mmp9 levels, and for ensuring that the myocardium has sufficient collagen to prevent overstretching. Even a modest (∼35%) decrease in endothelin-1 gene (Edn1) expression is sufficient to cause cardiac dysfunction.amiloride | extracellular matrix | reactive oxygen species | sodium retention | tempol P revious studies have demonstrated that individuals with dilated cardiomyopathy have increased plasma levels of endothelin-1 (1) and elevated endothelin-1 mRNA levels in the heart (2). In addition, two polymorphisms in the endothelin type A receptor gene (EDNRA), G231A and C1363T, are associated with differences in the risk for pathogenesis and mortality in patients with idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy (3, 4). These findings suggest endothelin-1 plays a causative and/or compensatory role in dilated cardiomyopathy.In animal studies, mice completely lacking endothelin-1 have severe anomalies in the heart and aorta with craniofacial abnormalities and die at age 10-12 d post coitum (5). Mice with a cardiomyocyte-specific deletion of endothelin-1 develop dilated cardiomyopathy as they age or if they are subjected to aortic banding when young (6). In the opposite direction, mice having a conditional ∼10-fold overexpression of endothelin-1 in the heart also develop dilated cardiomyopathy associated with increases in the expression of inflammatory cytokines (7).To gain a better understanding of the physiological role of endothelin-1 in mammals, we have used a method of altering the 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of a gene of interest without changing its 5′ transcriptional regulatory elements (8) to generate mice having four step-wise levels of expression of endothelin-1 covering physiologically likely ranges (from ∼20% normal to ∼350%). We here report that plasma volumes and blood pressure increas...

Soil moisture depletion during the growing season can induce plant water stress, thereby driving declines in grassland fuel moisture and accelerating curing. These drying and curing dynamics and their dependencies on soil moisture are inadequately represented in fire danger models. To elucidate these relationships, grassland fuelbed characteristics and soil moisture were monitored in nine patches of tallgrass prairie under patch-burn management in Oklahoma, USA, during two growing seasons. This study period included a severe drought (in 2012), which resulted in a large wildfire outbreak near the study site. Fuel moisture of the mixed live and dead herbaceous fuels (MFM) clearly tracked soil moisture, expressed as fraction of available water capacity (FAW). MFM decreased with decreasing soil moisture below an FAW threshold of 0.59 and fell below 30% only when FAW fell below 0.30. Likewise, the curing rate increased linearly as FAW declined below 0.30, while Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) readings failed to adequately respond to rapid drying and curing of the fuelbed. Incorporating soil moisture observations into grassland fuelbed models could result in more accurate fuel moisture and curing estimates, contributing to improved wildfire danger assessments and reduced losses of life and property due to wildfire outbreaks.