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As a fast detection method, Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflection (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy is seldom used for monitoring soluble sugars in crops. This study aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of leveraging ATR-FTIR coupled with chemometrics to quantify and sort the contents of soluble sugar in tomatoes. Firstly, 192 tomato samples were scanned using ATR-FTIR; subsequently, a quantitative model was developed using PLSR with selected wavelength variables as inputs. Finally, a classification model was estimated through probabilistic neural network (PNN) to determine the samples. The results indicated that ATR-FTIR had successfully captured the spectra from the cellular layers of tomatoes, resulting in a robust PLSR model created by 468 selected variables with a R² value of 0.86, a RMSEP of 0.71%, a ratio of performance to relative percent deviation (RPD) of 1.87, and a ratio of prediction to interquartile range (RPIQ) of 2.1. Meanwhile, the PNN model demonstrated a high rate correct (RC) of 92.17% in identifying whether the samples with a higher soluble sugar content than the limit of detection (LOD at 2.1%). Overall, ATR-FTIR coupled with chemometrics has proven effective for non-destructive determination of soluble sugars in tomatoes, offering new insights into internal monitoring techniques for crop quality assurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concentration of nitrogen fertilizer is matched with the nutrient requirements in different growth stages of plants, which coordinates their vegetative and reproductive growth. In this study, the influences of nitrogen concentration before and after initiation of flower bud differentiation (first and second stage, respectively) on pepper seedling quality were studied. The chlorophyll a content, sucrose synthase activity, and sucrose phosphate synthase activity of pepper seedlings grown under moderate nitrogen (15 mmol L−1) in the first stage combined with high nitrogen (25.61 mmol L−1) in the second stage were 15.7%, 39.3%, and 34.6% higher than those of the same nitrogen concentration (15 mmol L−1) in the first and second stages treatment, respectively. The regression model also showed that the values of flower bud diameter, shoot fresh weight, root fresh weight, and glutamine synthetase activity of pepper were high under the condition of moderate nitrogen in the first stage and higher nitrogen in the second stage. In addition, the results of comprehensive evaluation showed that moderate nitrogen (15 mmol L−1) in the first stage and high nitrogen (25.61 mmol L−1) in the second stage treatment ranked first, which improved carbon and nitrogen metabolism, increased biomass accumulation, and promoted the flower bud differentiation and flowering of pepper seedlings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. cv. Zhongza NO. 9) was used as the experimental material to investigate the effects of nocturnal LED supplemental light with the photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) of 100, 200, 300 μmol·m−2·s−1, and the light time of 1, 2 h on the seedling quality in a controlled environment, with seedlings without nocturnal supplemental lighting serving as the control. The results demonstrate that an increase in PPFD at night progressively enhances the plant height and leaf number of tomato seedlings, while stem diameter and leaf area initially increase and subsequently decrease. Although light time and light period-of-time at night did not significantly affect seedling morphology, PPFD and light time notably influenced chlorophyll content and net photosynthetic rate. An optimal lighting energy amount at night augmented photosynthetic capacity. However, excessive PPFD induced photoinhibition in the leaves. Additionally, appropriate nocturnal LED supplemental lighting significantly improved the antioxidant capacity of the seedlings, increased proline content, reduced malondialdehyde content, and bolstered the self-protection mechanisms of the seedlings against nocturnal light stress. Both the PPFD and light time at night promoted biomass accumulation in tomato seedlings. Specifically, when supplemental lighting was applied for 2 h at an intensity of 200 μmol·m−2·s−1, both the fresh and dry weights of the shoot and root significantly increased, and the seedling health index was highest. Therefore, appropriate nocturnal LED supplemental lighting positively impacts the health index and photosynthate accumulation of tomato seedlings, but controlling PPFD is essential to avoid photoinhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adding far-red (FR, 700–800 nm) light to photosynthetic active radiation (400–700 nm) proved to be a possible approach to increasing plant biomass accumulation for lettuce production in indoor vertical farms with artificial lighting as a sole-source lighting. However, how FR light addition influences plant growth, development, and metabolic processes and the optimal value of FR photon flux density for greenhouse-grown lettuce under sunlight are still unclear. This work aims to quantify the value of supplementary FR light with different intensities on lettuce morphological and physiological characteristics in a greenhouse. Lettuce 'Dasusheng' (Lactuca sativa L.) was grown in a greenhouse under seven light treatments, including white plus red LEDs with FR photon flux density at 0, 10, 30, 50, 70, and 90 µmol m−2 s−1 (WR, WR + FR10, WR + FR30, WR + FR50, WR + FR70, and WR + FR90, respectively), and lettuce grown with sunlight only was marked as natural light (NL). FR light addition improved the electron transport flux per cross section and performance index (PIabs, PItotal) and decreased the changes in relative variable fluorescence of lettuce leaves compared to plants under NL. Specifically, the PIabs of lettuce leaves were 41%, 41%, 38%, 33%, 26%, and 25% lower under control than in plants under treatments WR + FR90, WR + FR70, WR + FR50, WR + FR30, WR + FR10, and WR, respectively. Leaf number, leaf area, and biomass accumulation of lettuce followed a quadratic function with increasing FR light intensity and were the highest under treatment WR + FR50. The shoot fresh weight and dry weight of lettuce were increased by 111% and 275%, respectively, under treatment WR + FR50 compared to NL. The contents of vitamin C, reducing sugar, total soluble sugar, and starch in lettuce showed a similar trend with biomass accumulation. In conclusion, with commonly used photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD, 400–700 nm) around 200 μmol m−2 s−1, supplementary FR light intensity of 30~50 μmol m−2 s−1 was suggested to enhance the photochemistry efficiency, biomass accumulation, and carbohydrates' contents in greenhouse-grown lettuce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve high-density tomato seedlings in a plant factory with artificial lighting, tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum Mill. cv. "Zhongza NO.9") were used as the experimental material. This study expected to analyze the effects of light intensity (150, 200, 250, and 300 μmol·m−2·s−1) and light time (12 and 14 h), as well as daily light integral (DLI, 10.80, 12.60, and 12.96 mol·m−2·d−1) and sowing density (50, 72, and 105 holes per tray), on seedling quality. The results indicated that biomass accumulation, seedling quality, and energy use efficiency of seedlings significantly improved with an increase in DLI. At a DLI of 12.96 mol·m−2·d−1, seedlings sown at a density of 72 holes per tray exhibited comparable growth characteristics and biomass accumulation to those sown at 50 holes per tray. However, under lower DLIs, seedlings at 50 holes per tray displayed superior growth morphology and seedling quality compared to those at 72 holes per tray. This indicates that increasing the DLI can partially mitigate the negative effects of higher sowing density on seedling quality. Light use efficiency (LUE) and energy use efficiency (EUE) were not significantly different between seedlings at 72 and 105 holes per tray but were higher than those at 50 holes per tray. Therefore, optimizing parameters such as DLI and sowing density can effectively enhance the seedling quality, spatial use efficiency, and light use efficiency in industrial seedling production. Based on the results of this study, a DLI of 12.96 mol·m−2·d−1 (achieved with a light intensity of 300 μmol·m−2·s−1 and a light time of 12 h) and sowing density of 72 holes per tray are recommended for cultivating high-quality tomato seedlings while reducing energy consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Information literacy always matters in the digital era. Upsurging research has been conducted about how information literacy influences their learning and capabilities development. However, previous literature has reached inconclusive and even conflicting results. OBJECTIVE: The present study investigates the underlying mechanism whereby the information literacy of using social media influences students' cross-cultural social adjustment and their creativity. Further, the research explores the moderating role of personality of extraversion on students' cross-cultural social adjustment. METHODS: A quantitative research methodology was adopted to survey international students studying at 43 Chinese public universities. Data collected from 2058 samples from 135 countries was used to test the hypothesized statements. RESULTS: Information literacy of using social media is confirmed to positively influence students' cross-cultural social adjustment and creativity. Contrary to the hypothesized statement, personality of extraversion negatively moderates the relationships between two dimensions of information literacy of using social media and students' cross-cultural social adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: International students rely more heavily on IL than domestic students, which should arouse more scholarly attention since no conclusive findings have been reached. How, by whom and where to use such an important skill could generate positive effects on human development deserves continuous efforts in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potassium is one of the indispensable nutrient elements for plant growth, fruit development, and yield. The research and application of potassium nutrition diagnosis technology is the premise of scientific potassium management. However, potassium deficiency in tomato leaves, from vegetative to reproductive growth, is not easy to diagnose. To alleviate this problem, this paper proposes a suitable method of supplying potassium to tomatoes via a nutrient solution and diagnosing potassium abundance and deficiency through diagnosis methods based on ecological morphology, biological accumulation, and the photosynthetic characteristics of tomato plants. The relationship between the ecological morphology and biomass accumulation of tomatoes cultivated in the nutrient solution with potassium supply levels of 1, 4, 8, and 16 mmol/L is also discussed, and the potassium supply in the nutrient solution was studied 21 days after transplanting. The results showed that there was a significant quadratic correlation between the potassium supply in the nutrient solution and plant height and biomass accumulation, respectively. The most suitable level of potassium supply via the nutrient solution was deemed to be 10~13 mmol/L. However, if irreversible damage or severe stress to tomato plants has occurred because of potassium deficiency, there will be serious differences in the growth status of plants, and the diagnosis results will deviate greatly. In addition, the photosynthetic induction characteristics responding to the dark–light conversion of tomato leaves with potassium contents of 0.9%, 2.1%, 3.1%, and 3.3% cultivated with potassium supply amounts of 1, 4, 8, and 16 mmol/L in the nutrient solution were investigated. The results showed that tomato leaves with potassium contents of 3.1% and 3.3% had a more rapid response to dark–light conversion and higher first-order derivatives of net photosynthetic rate compared to those with potassium contents of 0.9% and 2.1%, but the first-order derivative of intercellular CO2 concentration showed an opposite trend. Additionally, a quadratic correlation between leaf potassium content and CO2 assimilation during 5 min of photosynthetic induction was established (R2 > 0.99). According to this correlation, the suitable leaf potassium content was estimated to be 2.3~2.7%, similar to that of tomatoes cultured in the nutrient solution with a 4~8 mmol/L potassium supply. Therefore, this method can realize the rapid, non-destructive, and real-time detection of potassium content in tomato leaves based on a portable photosynthetic measurement system by establishing the relationship between leaf potassium content and net CO2 assimilation during the photosynthetic induction period, therefore helping to avoid the irreversible damage caused by potassium deficiency at the later stages of plant cultivation and providing technical support for the precise fertilization of potassium in actual cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]