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The Loess Plateau in China is prone to widespread land degradation (soil erosion, deforestation, and water loss), and therefore, ecological restoration programmes aiming to re-establish the ecosystem by revegetation have been implemented during recent decades. Consequently, a widespread increase in vegetation cover has been reported, but the state and dynamics of forests remain largely unknown. He
The Internet of Things (IoT) is a new and rapidly evolving technology in which everything (smart items and smart gadgets) is linked to the internet to allow for efficient communication between these interconnected devices. The Internet of Things is a stimulant for healthcare and plays a critical role in a broad variety of healthcare-monitoring applications. Networked sensor devices, whether worn o
Blockchain technology is emerging as one of the most transformative forces to have ever reshaped supply chain management, with unique transparency, security, and efficiency. This paper reviews the literature on blockchain technology and applications in core industries such as transportation, manufacturing, food and beverages, and healthcare. At its core, blockchain deploys distributed ledger techn
Expansive farmlands in Europe and elsewhere are either already abandoned or projected to become abandoned. Afforestation on these abandoned farmlands is highly popular, but it only addresses the climate crisis, not the biodiversity emergency. An alternative to afforestation is rewilding, which would contribute to combating both the biodiversity and climate crises while also facilitating socio-ecol
Plant phenology provides information on the seasonal dynamics of plants, and changes herein are important for understanding the impact of climate change and human management on the biosphere. Land surface phenology is the study of plant phenology across large spatial scales estimated by satellite observations. However, satellite observations (pixels) are often composed of a mixture of vegetation t
The urban surface system is an integral part of the land surface system. And the spatio-temporal processes of urban LUCC (land use/cover change), mainly featured in covered with impervious surfaces, breaking the original physical geographic patterns and processes of the system, affecting material circulation and energy flow among different media or interfaces, and changing cycles and mechanisms of
Global warming has greatly stimulated vegetation growth through both extending the growing season and promoting photosynthesis in the Northern Hemisphere (NH). Analyzing the combined dynamics of such trends can potentially improve our current understanding on changes in vegetation functioning and the complex relationship between anthropogenic and climatic drivers. This study aims to analyze the re
The water cycle is accelerating in the context of global warming. However, how the multifaceted characteristics of aridity, particularly atmospheric, hydrological, and ecological drying, change and interact with each other are largely unknown. A gap we bridged was discovering the causal relationships underlying the atmosphere-hydrosphere-biosphere nexus from the nonlinear dynamic system perspectiv
Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a largely underdiagnosed disease including several phenotypes. In this report, the design of a study intending to evaluate the pathophysiological mechanism in COPD in relation to the specific phenotypes non-rapid and rapid decline in lung function is described together with the recruitment process of the study population derived from a po
Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, is an increasing cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and an imbalance between proteases and antiproteases has been implicated to play a role in COPD pathogenesis. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) are important proteases that along with their inhibitors, tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP), affect homeostasis of elastin and
Background: The imbalance between proteases and anti-proteases is considered to contribute to the development of COPD. Our aim was to evaluate the protease MMP-9, the antiprotease TIMP-1 and the MMP-9/TIMP-1-ratio as biomarkers in relation to prognosis. Prognosis was assessed as lung function decline and mortality. This was done among subjects with COPD in a population-based cohort. Methods: In 20
Background: Cytotoxic lymphocytes are increased in the airways of COPD patients. Whether this increase is driven primarily by the disease or by smoking is not clear, nor whether it correlates with the rate of decline in lung function. Methods: Bronchoscopy with BAL was performed in 52 subjects recruited from the longitudinal OLIN COPD study according to pre-determined criteria; 12 with COPD and a
Background: Differences in the expression of regulatory T cells (Tregs) have been suggested to explain why some smokers develop COPD and some do not. Upregulation of Tregs in response to smoking would restrain airway inflammation and thus the development of COPD; while the absense of such upregulation would over time lead to chronic inflammation and COPD. We hypothesized that—among COPD patients—t
Background: In COPD, the balance between matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their natural inhibitors [tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs)] is shifted towards excessive degradation, reflected in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) as increased MMP concentrations. Because of their critical role in lung homeostasis, MMP activity is tightly regulated, but to what extent this regulation occurs t
This study presents the results of an interlaboratory test designed to evaluate the accuracy of spectral induced polarization (SIP) measurements using controlled electrical test networks. The study, conducted in Germany since 2006, involved 12 research institutes, six different impedance measurement devices and four types of electrical test networks specifically designed to evaluate phase shift err
