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Maize production in the black soil region of Northeast China is highly vulnerable to drought and flood stress, yet stage-specific mechanisms under rain-fed conditions remain unclear. Daily meteorological records from 1951 to 2024 were used to calculate the Crop Water Surplus Deficit Index (CWSDI) for four maize phenological stages, and 2025 in situ soil moisture and temperature observations were used to derive root-zone soil water storage (SWS), soil water depletion rate (SWDR), and the soil temperature–moisture coupling index (STMI). The growing season showed a persistent water deficit (mean CWSDI = −39.19%). Drought risk was greatest during sowing–jointing (S1; CWSDI = −64.73%; drought frequency = 73.0%) and milk–maturity (S4; CWSDI = −49.84%; drought frequency = 58.1%), whereas jointing–tasseling (S2) had the highest flood frequency (13.5%). Soil hydrothermal indicators showed that S1 drought was evaporation-driven, S2 involved potential hot-wet compound stress, tasseling–milk (S3) had rapid root-zone water depletion, and S4 drought was driven by insufficient late-season precipitation. These findings show that maize water stress is a sequence of stage-specific mechanisms rather than a uniform seasonal phenomenon. We therefore propose a regulation strategy combining soil moisture conservation, rainwater harvesting, precision supplemental irrigation, and field drainage to improve maize resilience.

Background: Recent findings underscore the importance of ribosome biogenesis, a complex molecular machinery, in cancer biology, highlighting opportunities for targeted treatment strategies. Here, we revealed that dysregulation of ribosome biogenesis is a distinctive feature of non-small lung cancer (NSCLC). However, further investigation is required to pinpoint which specific processes within this complex pathway are aberrant in this malignancy. Methods: The expression levels and clinical significance of NOP56 in NSCLC were investigated by microarray analysis, qPCR, TCGA and GEO datasets. Function assays were conducted to explore the biological role of NOP56 in NSCLC cells. The mechanisms that mediate the upregulation of NOP56 were investigated by bisulfite DNA sequencing, luciferase reporter assay, chromatin immunoprecipitation and TCGA datasets. The downstream pathway of NOP56 was explored by RNA sequencing, qPCR, Western blot and luciferase reporter assay. Results: High expression of NOP56 was detected in NSCLC tissues and was associated with poor prognosis. Functional assays revealed that overexpression of NOP56 promoted NSCLC cellular proliferation, metastasis and ribosome biogenesis in vitro, and further accelerated tumorigenesis in vivo. Mechanistically, NOP56 activates MYC signaling by regulating IRES-dependent translation, which in turn transcriptionally upregulated NOP56 expression, creating a positive feedback loop. Additionally, hypomethylation also contributed to the upregulation of NOP56 in NSCLC. Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that NOP56/MYC forms a positive feedback loop that enhances ribosome biogenesis and drives the progression of NSLSC, positioning NOP56 a promising therapeutic target for this malignancy.

This study uses prefecture-level city statistical data from China from 2000–2022 to measure the supply and demand of livestock manure nitrogen nutrients and calculates farmland livestock carrying capacity using the nitrogen nutrient balance method. We investigate nitrogen supply and demand and livestock carrying capacity in northeast China by comparing emissions from 2000–2022 over the past several decades. The poultry and livestock industry in northeast China has changed significantly over the past two decades: pigs are now the most bred animal and poultry production has increased dramatically. Regional livestock nitrogen emissions are influenced primarily by the size of the local livestock industry chain. Due to regional differences, each region has unique breeding structures. We also predict the anticipated situation in 2050 using the business-as-usual scenario. High-risk livestock carrying capacity areas will be concentrated in the northeast and southeast regions, with significantly increased risk indices, compared with those of 2022, particularly in Shenyang, Fushun, and Tieling. Therefore, promoting farming and breeding, improving livestock manure utilization, and returning manure to nearby farmlands are crucial for meeting agricultural green development goals.

This study uses prefecture-level city statistical data from China from 2000-2022 to measure the supply and demand of livestock manure nitrogen nutrients and calculates farmland livestock carrying capacity using the nitrogen nutrient balance method. We investigate nitrogen supply and demand and livestock carrying capacity in northeast China by comparing emissions from 2000-2022 over the past several decades. The poultry and livestock industry in northeast China has changed significantly over the past two decades: pigs are now the most bred animal and poultry production has increased dramatically. Regional livestock nitrogen emissions are influenced primarily by the size of the local livestock industry chain. Due to regional differences, each region has unique breeding structures. We also predict the anticipated situation in 2050 using the business-asusual scenario. High-risk livestock carrying capacity areas will be concentrated in the northeast and southeast regions, with significantly increased risk indices, compared with those of 2022, particularly in Shenyang, Fushun, and Tieling. Therefore, promoting farming and breeding, improving livestock manure utilization, and returning manure to nearby farmlands are crucial for meeting agricultural green development goals.

Intratumoral heterogeneity, including epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), is one major cause of therapeutic resistance. The induction of ferroptosis, an iron‐dependent death, has the potential in overcoming this resistance to traditional treatment modalities. However, the roles of distinct EMT phenotypes in ferroptosis remain an enigma. This study reports that 3D soft fibrin microenvironment confers colorectal cancer (CRC) cells hybrid EMT phenotype and high level of resistance to ferroptosis. The activation of histone acetylation and WNT/β‐catenin signaling drives this EMT phenotypic transition, which promotes the defense of 3D CRCs against ferroptosis via glutathione peroxidases/ferritin signaling axis. Unexpectedly, E‐cadherin knockout in 3D but not 2D CRCs mediates an integrin β3 marked‐late hybrid EMT state and further enhances the resistance to ferroptosis via integrin‐mediated tension and mitochondrial reprogramming. The inhibition of integrin αvβ3‐mediated tension and WNT/β‐catenin‐mediated hybrid EMT sensitizes 3D CRCs with and without E‐cadherin deficiency to ferroptosis in vivo, respectively. Further, the EMT phenotype of patient‐derived tumoroids is associated with CRC therapeutic resistance. In summary, this study uncovers previously unappreciated roles of hybrid EMT and cell membrane tension in ferroptosis, which not only predict the treatment efficacy but also potentiate the development of new ferroptosis‐based targeted therapeutic strategies. Colorectal cancer cells (CRCs) cultured in 3D soft fibrin exhibit hybrid epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) mediated ferroptosis resistance via WNT/β‐catenin signaling. Unlike 2D cells, 3D CRCs exhibit reduced E‐cadherin, knockout of which further enhances the defense against ferroptosis via adhesion‐mediated tension. This work reveals the distinct roles of EMT states in CRC ferroptosis and the biomechanical vulnerability of therapeutic resistance.

Exploring the gully agricultural production transformation and its influencing factors is of considerable significance to the evolution of the human–land relationship and multifunctional transformation of gully agriculture in the context of new development. This paper tries to reveal intensive land use under the background of population contraction in the Chinese Loess Plateau and its transformation trend by defining the gully agricultural production transformation (GAPT). Given the representativeness of land-use change in the loess hilly and gully region (LHGR) was taken as a case study, and ArcGIS spatial analysis techniques and geographically and temporally weighted regression model (GTWR) were used to detect the spatio-temporal differentiation pattern and influencing factors. The results show that: (1) GAPT shifts from the high elevation area of 1000–1300 m to the low elevation area of <1000 m, and the transformation process remains within the range of slope 0–20° and topographic relief between 40 m and 180 m. (2) GTWR coupled with time non-stationary and spatial heterogeneity has a better fitting effect, which verifies its applicability in the study of GAPT. Social and economic factors were the main driving forces of GAPT in Yan’an City in the past 20 years, and they were increasing year by year. (3) The spatial-temporal distribution of the driving factors of the agricultural production transformation in Yan’an City is different. The intensity of the population factor and the slope factor is always in the dominant position, and the high value distribution area of the land average GDP factor forms a funnel-shaped pattern of “core edge” in the north and the central and western regions, and its changes tend to “flow” to the core. (4) The gully agricultural production transformation can reflect the general law of rural land use transition in gully areas, and thereby provide policy ideas for gully development. Overall, this study’s content can provide scientific guidance for the sustainable development of gully agriculture and the revitalization of watershed and land consolidation in gully areas.

Continuously growing populations and rapid economic development have led to the excessive use of forest resources, and the forest ecosystem is threatened. In response, forest ecological security (FES) has attracted attention. In this study, an integrated dynamic simulation model was constructed using the system dynamic method, and it was used to evaluate the FES in China from 1999 to 2014. A scenario analysis was then used to evaluate the changes in the FES under five forestry policy scenarios for the 2015–2050 period, including the baseline, afforestation policy, harvesting policies, management policy, investment policy, and a policy mix. The results showed that the evaluation values of the FES increased during the period from 1999 to 2002, the period from 2004 to 2010 and the year 2014, and they decreased in 2003 and during the period from 2011 to 2013. During the 2015–2050 simulation period, the FES improved continuously. In particular, China would enter a new stage when the economic systems, social systems and ecosystems were in harmony after 2040. To improve the FES and the current status of the FES, a scenario analysis showed the most suitable scenario to be Scenario 5 from 2015 to 2020 and Scenario 2 from 2021 to 2050. To relieve pressure, the most suitable scenario would be Scenario 5 from 2015 to 2040 and from 2046 to 2050, and the most suitable scenario would be Scenario 4 for 2041–2045. A policy mix (Scenario 5) would be most efficient under current conditions, while the effects of all the benefits of the forestry policies would weaken over the long term. The integrated method can be regarded as a decision support tool to help policy makers understand FES and promulgate a reasonable forestry policy.

In this work, a Mg-Zn-Y (ZW31) alloy with good plasticity was introduced into 10 μm 10 vol% SiCp/AZ91 composite materials (PMMCs) via the extrusion compound method, and then the ZW31/PMMC laminate was prepared via multi-pass hot rolling. The hot deformation mechanism and elevated temperature tensile fracture mechanism of ZW31/PMMC laminates were studied using the elevated temperature tensile test. The elevated temperature deformation mechanism is influenced by the strain rate. At low strain rates, grain boundary slip is the primary elevated temperature deformation mechanism of the ZW31/PMMC laminate. However, at high strain rates, the activation of pipeline diffusion is facilitated by the particle deformation zone (PDZ) in the PMMC layer with a high dislocation density, leading to the dominance of dislocation climbing as the main mechanism for elevated temperature deformation of the laminate. Additionally, the implementation of a ZW31/PMMC laminate structure effectively inhibits the initiation and propagation of cavities and microcracks within the laminate layer along the normal direction (ND) while simultaneously blunting crack tips via lattice dislocation emission toward the ZW31 layer. Upon cracking of the PMMC layer, stress concentration occurs in the fracture area of the ZW31 layer, ultimately resulting in necking-induced detachment.

Research Highlights: Land use/cover change (LUCC) has an impact on the water use efficiency (WUE) of green space in the Haihe River Basin. Background and Objectives: The Haihe River Basin has historically been one of the most water-stressed basins in China. With the increase in green space and economic development, land use and water use in the Haihe River Basin have changed significantly. In order to contribute to the sustainable development of basin water management, the impacts of LUCC on the WUE of the Haihe River Basin were assessed with the goal to support decision makers with regard to water resources planning and watershed management. Materials and Methods: (1) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data and land use data were used to produce land use/land cover and other related maps. (2) The WUE equation was used to calculate the green space WUE. (3) The contribution rates of changes in land use were assessed to illustrate how LUCC affected green space WUE. Results: (1) Artificial surfaces increased and large areas of farmland were converted to non-agricultural use, accompanied by the addition of green space. (2) Green space WUE increased significantly from 2005 to 2015. The average annual WUE exhibited a relatively uniform spatial distribution in the Haihe River Basin. Except for the central area of urban land, the WUE of most areas exhibited an increasing trend. (3) The impact of LUCC on WUE was mainly a result from the conversion of farmland and artificial surfaces and the increase in green space. Ecological restoration and crop adjustment contributed greatly to the improvement in green space WUE in the basin. Conclusions: Green space WUE of the Haihe River Basin was significantly affected by LUCC and there is room for improvement in the WUE of green spaces in the basin. The paper concludes with recommendations for further research to assist in planning for green space to promote sustainable development related to land use and water management.

Despite the rapid progress of large language models (LLMs), their task performance remains sensitive to prompt design. Recent studies have explored leveraging the LLM itself as an optimizer to identify optimal prompts that maximize task accuracy. However, when evaluating prompts, such approaches heavily rely on elusive manually annotated gold labels to calculate task accuracy for each candidate prompt, which hinders the widespread implementation and generality. To overcome the limitation, this work proposes a gold label-agnostic prompt evaluation (GLaPE) to alleviate dependence on gold labels. Motivated by the observed correlation between self-consistency and the accuracy of the answer, we adopt self-consistency as the initial evaluation score. Subsequently, we refine the scores of prompts producing identical answers to be mutually consistent. Experimental results show that GLaPE provides reliable evaluations uniform with accuracy, even in the absence of gold labels. Moreover, on six popular reasoning tasks, our GLaPE-based prompt optimization yields effective prompts comparable to accuracy-based ones. The code is publicly available at https://github.com/thunderous77/GLaPE.