simulation model

Forests, critical components of global ecosystems, face unprecedented challenges due to climate change. This study investigates the influence of functional diversity-as a component of biodiversity-to enhance long-term biomass of European forests in the context of changing climatic conditions. Using the next-generation flexible trait-based vegetation model, LPJmL-FIT, we explored the impact of functional diversity on long-term forest biomass under three different climate change scenarios (video abstract: https://www...

This work addresses discrepancies in the alignment of the H-mode pedestal profiles of the electron and ion properties in the DIII-D tokamak as measured by Thomson Scattering (TS) and Charge Exchange Recombination Spectroscopy (CER) diagnostics. While the alignment of these profiles is key for accurate studies of tokamak physics and plasma confinement, misalignments can occur due to inaccuracies, such as in magnetic equilibrium reconstructions required to map measurements in different poloidal and toroidal locations...

The heart beats are due to the synchronized contraction of cardiomyocytes triggered by a periodic sequence of electrical signals called action potentials, which originate in the sinoatrial node and spread through the heart's electrical system. A large body of work is devoted to modeling the propagation of the action potential and to reproducing reliably its shape and duration. Connection of computational modeling of cells to macroscopic phenomenological curves such as the electrocardiogram has been also intense, due to its clinical importance in analyzing cardiovascular diseases...

Flow-enhanced nucleation (FEN) of n-pentacontahectane (C150) under biaxial extensional flows of varying strain rate ratios is studied using nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulation. The nucleation rates thus calculated are used to test previously published FEN models based on invariants of the conformation tensor of Kuhn segments and the extra stress tensor. Models based on the conformation tensor provide a more accurate description of FEN observed in biaxial flow simulations than those based on the extra stress tensor...

Habitat loss is affecting many species, including the southern mountain caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) population in western North America. Over the last half century, this threatened caribou population's range and abundance have dramatically contracted. An integrated population model was used to analyze 51 years (1973-2023) of demographic data from 40 southern mountain caribou subpopulations to assess the effectiveness of population-based recovery actions at increasing population growth. Reducing potential limiting factors on threatened caribou populations offered a rare opportunity to identify the causes of decline and assess methods of recovery...

External validity is an important part of epidemiologic research. To validly estimate effects in specific external target populations using a chosen effect measure (i.e., "transport"), some methods require that one account for all effect measure modifiers [EMMs]. However, little is known about how including other variables that are not EMMs (i.e., non-EMMs) in adjustment sets impacts estimates. Using simulations, we evaluated how inclusion of non-EMMs affected estimation of the transported risk difference (RD) by assessing impacts of covariates that A) differ (or not) between the trial and the target, B) are associated with the outcome (or not), and C) modify the RD (or not)...

The rapid development of society and economy has resulted in a substantial increase in energy consumption, consequently exacerbating pollution issues. Current research predominantly focuses on energy-saving and emission reduction in road transportation within individual cities or the three major economic regions of China:the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region. However, there is a dearth of studies addressing the southeastern coastal economic region. Located at the heart of China's southeastern coastal economic development, the provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang unavoidably face challenges associated with energy consumption and emissions while pursuing economic growth...

The objective of this study was to explore the effects of different amounts of biochar on the migration process and characteristics of NO3 - -N in loessial soil. In this study, six groups of mixed soil samples with biochar and loessial soil mass ratios of 0% (T0), 1% (T1), 2% (T2), 3% (T3), 4% (T4), and 5% (T5) were used as research objects. NO3 - -N was used as the tracer. Through the indoor soil column solute transport simulation tests, the effects of different biochar application amounts on the NO3 - -N transport process in loessial soil were simulated and studied...

It is of great practical significance for regional sustainable development and ecological construction to quantitatively analyze the impact of construction land expansion on terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage and to explore the optimization scheme of simulating construction land expansion to improve future ecosystem carbon storage. Based on the land use and cover change (LUCC) and other geospatial data of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Urban Agglomeration from 2000 to 2020, this study utilized the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) model and the patch-generating land-use simulation (PLUS) model to assess and analyze the changes in ecosystem carbon stocks and spatial patterns regionally...

Exploring the spatial distribution of land use/coverage (LUCC) and ecosystem carbon reserves in the future of climate change can provide a scientific basis for optimizing the distribution of land resources and formulating social economic sustainable development policies. In this study, we integrated the plaques generating land use simulation (PLUS) model and ecosystem services and weighing comprehensive evaluation (InVEST) model. Based on the CMIP6-based sharing socio-economic path and representative concentration path (SSP-RCP), we evaluated the Loess Plateau for time and space dynamic changes in LUCC and ecosystem carbon reserves, analyzed the impact of driving factors on different regions, and explored the correlation between carbon reserves in various regions...

To evaluate the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of ambient ozone (O3 ) in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) Region, the land use regression (LUR) model and random forest (RF) model were used to simulate the ambient O3 concentration from 2015 to 2020. Meanwhile, all-cause, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortalities as well as economic losses attributed to O3 were also estimated. The results showed that upward trends with fluctuation were observed for ambient O3 concentration, mortalities, and economic losses attributable to O3 exposure in the BTH Region from 2015 to 2020...

The basis and key step to developing ozone (O3 ) prevention and control measures is determining the non-linear relationship between O3 and its precursors. Based on online observations of O3 , volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NO x ), and meteorological elements from April to September 2020 at an urban site in Beijing, we analyzed the pollution characteristics of O3 and its precursors, explored key factors affecting O3 using the random forest (RF) model combined with SHAP values, and explored the O3 -VOCs-NO x sensitivity through a multi-scenarios analysis...

Cyanobacterial blooms introduce autochthonous dissolved organic matter (DOM) into aquatic environments, but their impact on surface water photoreactivity has not been investigated through collaborative field sampling with comparative laboratory assessments. In this work, we quantified the apparent quantum yields (Φapp,RI ) of reactive intermediates (RIs), including excited triplet states of dissolved organic matter (3 DOM*), singlet oxygen (1 O2 ), and hydroxyl radicals (• OH), for whole water samples collected by citizen volunteers from more than 100 New York lakes...

Self-sealing is one of the fascinating functions in nature that enables living material systems to respond immediately to damage. A prime plant model is Delosperma cooperi, which can rapidly self-seal damaged succulent leaves by systematically deforming until the wound closes. Inspired by this self-sealing principle, we have developed a novel programmable mechanical metamaterial that mimics the underlying damage management concept. This material is able to react autonomously to changes in its physical condition caused by an induced damage...

BACKGROUND: Osteolytic bone metastasis is a common complication of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC), resulting in bone pain, hypercalcemia, and fractures that severely reduce the quality of life and survival time of patients. Semaphorins 3A (Sema3A) is one of the isoforms of the Semaphorins family, which is important in a variety of physiological and pathological processes, such as angiogenesis, immune regulation, and tumorigenesis. However, the role of Sema3A in the development of osteolytic bone metastasis in NSCLC is unknown...

BACKGROUND: ChuShiWeiLing Decoction (CSWLD) is a famous classical Chinese prescription for the treatment of eczema with desirable effect in clinical practice. It has gradually exerted good curative effects on perianal eczema (PE) in recent years, but its specific mechanism is not elucidated yet. OBJECTIVE: This research explores the underlying pharmacological mechanism of CSWLD in addressing PE through network pharmacology combined with molecular docking strategy...

Ligand-binding assays (LBAs) rely on the reversible, noncovalent binding between the analyte of interest and the assay reagents, and understanding their dynamic equilibrium is key to building robust LBA methods. Although the dynamic interplay of free and bound fractions can be calculated using mathematical models, these are not routinely applied. This approach is costly in terms of both assay development time and reagents, and can result in an under-exploration of the possible parameter combinations. Therefore, we have created a user-friendly simulation tool to facilitate LBA development (the BiSim Tool)...

Atrial fibrillation (AF) poses a significant risk of stroke due to thrombus formation, which primarily occurs in the left atrial appendage (LAA). Medical image-based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations can provide valuable insight into patient-specific hemodynamics and could potentially enhance personalized assessment of thrombus risk. However, the importance of accurately representing the left atrial (LA) wall dynamics has not been fully resolved. In this study, we compared four modeling scenarios; rigid walls, a generic wall motion based on a reference motion, a semi-generic wall motion based on patient-specific motion, and patient-specific wall motion based on medical images...

A heart-on-a-particle model based on multicompartmental microgel is proposed to simulate the heart microenvironment and study the cardiotoxicity of drugs. The relevant microgel was fabricated by a biocompatible microfluidic-based approach, where heart function-related HL-1 and HUVEC cells were arranged in separate compartments. Finally, the mechanism of aconitine-induced heart toxicity was elucidated using mass spectrometry and molecular biotechnology.

Acetamiprid is an organic and highly toxic compound. Despite being widely used as a pesticide agent on a large scale, acetamiprid poses numerous health risks to living organisms, particularly humans. Herein, a strategy for the detection of acetamiprid in tea employing surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technology incorporated with a microfluidic chip was developed. Significantly, a seed-mediated growth approach was utilized to engineer Ag-coated tetrapod gold nanostars (core-shell Au@AgNSs) with four sharp tips...