[1] To evaluate the response of river discharge to anthropogenic impacts and climate variability over the Industrial Period, we reconstructed past series of monthly discharge from three gauges on the main river of the Yangtze by means of regression (making use of the cross correlation among the gauges) and analyzed the integrated data (the observed series of discharge with missing values filled by reconstructed values) for the period 1865-2008 in relation to human activities and climate variability. The correlative coefficients between observed and predicted discharges at the three stations for the gauging period are R 2 = 0.90-0.96 (n = 827-1557). The integrated time series of discharge to the sea shows periodicities of ∼7, ∼14, and ∼38 years, and we found significant decreasing trends in annual discharge (−11%) and monthly discharge from August to November (−47% for November) and an increasing trend in discharge in January (+30%) and February during the dry season. These trends are mainly attributed to human impacts, in particular, reservoir construction and water consumption. It is estimated that these trends will continue in the future decades of this century because of the influence of the South-toNorth Water Diversion Project as well as increased water consumption and the construction of new dams within the river basin.

As a transcriptional coactivator, Yorkie (Yki) is a major downstream target of the Hippo signalling pathway to regulate the organ size during animal development and regeneration. Previous microarray analysis in the silkworm, Bombyx mori, has shown that genes associated with the Hippo pathway were primarily expressed in gonads and imaginal discs. The RNA-interference-mediated silencing of Yki at the early wandering stage delayed B. mori development and ovary maturation, whereas baculovirus-mediated overexpression at the late larval instar facilitated organ growth and accelerated metamorphosis. Here, we employed CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutagenesis to investigate the function of Yki in B. mori (BmYki) at the embryonic and early larval stages. Knocking out of BmYki led to reduced body size, moulting defects and, eventually, larval lethality. Sequence analysis of CRISPR/Cas9 mutants exhibited an array of deletions in BmYki. As a critical downstream effector of the Hippo kinase cassette, silencing of BmYki at the embryonic stage is indispensable and the consequence is lethal. Given that the Hippo signalling pathway is evolutionarily conserved, Yki has the potential to be a novel molecular target for genetic-based pest management practices.

Repetitive fluctuation in blood-glucose concentration produced a marked detrimental effect on skin structure and function in diabetic mice. The deleterious effects of BGF on skin appeared to due at least partly to the oxidative stress.

The α-Fe 2 O 3 /Si two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystal (PC) with hexagonal honeycomb structure was fabricated by self-assembly and solution-dipping method based on colloidal monolayer template with 780 and 470 nm diameter polystyrene (PS) spheres. Optical diffraction measurement was carried out under wavelengths of 800, 532 and 400 nm. An interesting dispersion phenomenon with a hexagonal diffraction pattern composed of six elliptical spots is observed under specific wavelengths. Both theoretical and experimental calculations reveal that the diffraction can only occur when the incident wavelength is smaller than √ 3/2 of lattice constant, and both the shape and distribution of these spots can be modified by the PC lattice constant and the incident wavelength. All these results reveal that optical properties of these 2D PC slabs are different from conventional diffractive devices.