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With the growing world population, food demand has also increased, resulting in increased agricultural waste and livestock manure production. Wheat straw and cow dung are rich nutrient sources and, if not utilized properly, may lead to environmental pollution. Keeping in view the cultivation of Agaricus bisporus on straw/manure-based substrate, the current study aimed to optimize the conventional manure preparation technique to reduce nutrient losses and keep the quality of manure at its best. The treatments were considered as traditional and optimized schemes for mushroom substrate preparation. The results achieved herein indicated that the nutrient losses were low in the optimum scheme. For carbon (C), the loss was 43.55% at the substrate stage in the traditional scheme and reduced to 37.75% in the optimum scheme. In the case of nitrogen (N), the loss was 22.01% in the traditional scheme and was lower (18.49%) in the optimum scheme. The nutrient concentration in Agaricus bisporus was higher with the optimum scheme compared with the traditional scheme. It was 1.74% for C, 7.17% for N, 3.58% for phosphorus (P), and 4.92% for potassium (K). The optimum scheme also improved the Agaricus bisporus yield per unit area (84.55%) and the total yield (28.92%). The net income of the optimum scheme was 102.95% higher compared to the traditional scheme. The economic analysis also revealed that the benefit–cost ratio of the optimum scheme was high (48.86%) compared with the traditional scheme. This study concludes that the use of the optimum scheme can better utilize the wheat straw and cow manure waste for substrate preparation and reducing nutrient losses. In addition, the final mushroom residue can also be used as a leftover substrate for further utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Lymph node metastasis (LNM) and lymphatic vasculature space infiltration (LVSI) in cervical cancer patients indicate a poor prognosis, but satisfactory methods for diagnosing these phenotypes are lacking. This study aimed to find new effective plasma biomarkers of LNM and LVSI as well as possible mechanisms underlying LNM and LVSI through data-independent acquisition (DIA) proteome sequencing. Methods: A total of 20 cervical cancer plasma samples, including 7 LNM-/LVSI-(NC), 4 LNM-/LVSI + (LVSI) and 9 LNM + /LVSI + (LNM) samples from a cohort, were subjected to DIA to identify differentially expressed proteins (DEPs) for LVSI and LNM. Subsequently, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analyses were performed for DEP functional annotation. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) and weighted gene coexpression network analysis (WGCNA) were used to detect new effective plasma biomarkers and possible mechanisms. Results: A total of 79 DEPs were identified in the cohort. GO and KEGG analyses showed that DEPs were mainly enriched in the complement and coagulation pathway, lipid and atherosclerosis pathway, HIF-1 signal transduction pathway and phagosome and autophagy. WGCNA showed that the enrichment of the green module differed greatly between groups. Six interesting core DEPs (SPARC, HPX, VCAM1, TFRC, ERN1 and APMAP) were confirmed to be potential plasma diagnostic markers for LVSI and LNM in cervical cancer patients. Conclusion: Proteomic signatures developed in this study reflected the potential plasma diagnostic markers and new possible pathogenesis mechanisms in the LVSI and LNM of cervical cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ammonia (NH3) emitted from synthetic nitrogen (N) fertiliser applications to farmland leads to air pollution and terrestrial acidification. Previous studies have indicated that replacing urea-based N fertilisers by manure may reduce NH3 emissions and enhance crop yield. However, the long-term effects of replacing urea N fertiliser by manure on crop yield and NH3 emissions have not been sufficiently quantified. The objective of the field study presented here was to examine the effects of three treatments (i.e., 100% synthetic fertiliser N application (NPK); 50% synthetic fertiliser N +50% manure N application (50%MNS); and 100% manure N application (100%MNS)) on NH3 emissions and maize grain yields over a 3-year period in a long term (13 years) study site in the North China Plain. Results showed that the NH3 emissions in the NPK treatment ranged from 9.7 to 11.7 kg ha− 1 during the three maize growing seasons. Replacement of urea fertiliser by manure significantly decreased the NH3 emissions by 22–54% in the 50% MNS treatment and by 47–71% in the 100%MNS treatment. Maize grain yields were 14–30% higher in the 50%MNS treatment and 17–45% higher in the 100% MNS treatment, compared to the NPK treatment (8.1–8.8 t ha− 1). The NH3 emission factor for the NPK treatment ranged from 4.1 to 4.8%. Additional 15 N labelling work established that 83% of NH3 emissions originated from the urea fertiliser in the NPK treatment. Manure treatments had a higher maize N uptake and soil organic matter content, and a lower soil pH than the NPK treatment. This study highlights that replacing synthetic N fertiliser with manure on farmland in the North China Plain has long-term beneficial effects on maize yield and N uptake, NH3 emission mitigation and soil carbon storage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Producing more food with less pollution and greenhouse gas emissions is a grand challenge for the 21st century. Strategies to successfully promote win‐win outcomes for both food security and environmental health are not easy to identify. Here we comprehensively assess an ecological rice‐animal co‐culture system (RAC) (e.g., rice‐fish, rice‐duck, and rice‐crayfish) through a global meta‐analysis and identify the potential benefits of global promotion. Compared to traditional monoculture of rice or animal production, the RAC can not only reduce the demand for agricultural land areas, but also increase rice yields (+4%) as well as nitrogen use efficiency of rice (+6%). At the same time, RAC reduces nitrogen losses (−16% runoff and −13% leaching) and methane emissions (−11%), except for rice‐fish coculture systems, which are likely to increase methane emissions (+29%). Furthermore, RAC increases the net income of farmers through reducing cost of fertilizer and pesticide input and achieving higher outputs with more marketable products. According to the development stage of different countries, promotion of RAC will thus realize multiple benefits and aid sustainable intensification. Plain Language Summary: How to feed the growing world population with less pollution is a grand challenge for the 21st century. Rice‐animal co‐culture systems present an ecological integrated farming approach to tackle the challenge. Through a global consensus by synthesizing evidence from existing literature, we found that rice‐animal co‐culture systems could produce more diverse food types and nutrient sources, enhance resource use efficiency and reduce methane emissions, while increasing farmers' income. Global promotion of rice‐animal coculture system has the potential to benefit sustainable development goals. Key Points: Rice‐animal co‐culture systems could produce more diverse food with higher rice yield and extra animal proteinGlobal promotion of rice‐animal co‐culture will reduce nitrogen loss and methane emissions from rice paddiesGlobal promotion of rice‐animal co‐culture will increase income of producers by 152–171 billion US dollars annually [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scutellarin has been found to possess a certain protective activity against oxidative damage, and scutellarein has been proved to be the main absorption component of scutellarin in the small intestine. Tertramethylpyrazine is a commonly used antiplatelet drug, and its active metabolite 3, 5, 6-trimethylpyrazine-2-formic acid displays similar pharmacological activities with lower toxicity. Based on the principle of molecular hybridization and previous work, five hybrid molecules of scutellarein and 3, 5, 6-trimethylpyrazine-2-formic acid linked with polar amino acids were synthesized, and their anti-oxidative and antiplatelet aggregation activities were evaluated. The results showed that these hybrid molecules had better protective activity against oxidative damage and antiplatelet aggregation activity than the original drugs, and these results also demonstrated that molecular hybridization strategy could be applicable to develop better agents for ischemic stroke. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tetramethylpyrazine (TMP) is commonly used as an antiplatelet drug in clinic. However, the short half-life and low bioavailability limited its applications. 3, 5, 6-Trimethylpyrazine-2-carboxAylic acid (TMP-COOH) and 2-hydroxy-3, 5, 6-trimethylpyrazine (TMP-OH) are the two major active metabolites of TMP in vivo. Both displayed antiplatelet aggregation activity but have obvious disadvantage of rapid metabolism. In this study, conjugates of TMP-COOH/TMP-OH with amino acids were designed to address this issue. We demonstrated that 13 out of 20 conjugates displayed higher antiplatelet aggregation activity than TMP. The optimized compound 4a was further proved to reduce clot retraction, prolong the bleeding time, thrombin time, prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplatin time and reduce fibrinogen content. Taken together, we demonstrated the conjugation strategy could be exploited to develop TMP derivatives for antiplatelet agents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wheat–maize rotation cultivation system in northern China, excessive irrigation and over-fertilization have depleted groundwater and increased nitrogen (N) losses. These problems can be addressed by optimized N fertilization and water-saving irrigation. We evaluated the effects of these practices on greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), net profit, and soil carbon (C) sequestration. We conducted a field experiment with flood irrigation (FN0, 0 kg N ha−1 yr−1, FN600, 600 kg N ha−1 yr−1) and drip fertigation treatments (DN0, 0 kg N ha−1 yr−1; DN420, 420 kg N ha−1 yr−1; DN600, 600 kg N ha−1 yr−1) in 2015–2017. Compared with FN600, DN600 decreased direct GHGs (N2O + CH4) emissions by 21%, and increased the net GHG balance, GHG intensity, irrigation water-use efficiency (IWUE), and soil organic C content (ΔSOC) by 13%, 12%, 88%, and 89.8%, respectively. Higher costs in DN600 (for electricity, labour, polyethylene) led to a 33.8% lower net profit than in FN600. Compared with FN600, DN420 reduced N and irrigation water by 30% and 46%, respectively, which increased partial factor productivity and IWUE (by 49% and 94%, respectively), but DN420 did not affect GHG mitigation or net profit. Because lower profit is the key factor limiting the technical extension of fertigation, financial subsidies should be made available for farmers to install fertigation technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intensive vegetable production in greenhouses has rapidly expanded in China since the 1990s and increased to 1.3 million ha of farmland by 2016, which is the highest in the world. We conducted an 11‐year greenhouse vegetable production experiment from 2002 to 2013 to observe soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics under three management systems, i.e., conventional (CON), integrated (ING), and intensive organic (ORG) farming. Soil samples (0–20 and 20–40 cm depth) were collected in 2002 and 2013 and separated into four particle‐size fractions, i.e., coarse sand (> 250 µm), fine sand (250–53 µm), silt (53–2 µm), and clay (< 2 µm). The SOC contents and δ13C values of the whole soil and the four particle‐size fractions were analyzed. After 11 years of vegetable farming, ORG and ING significantly increased SOC stocks (0–20 cm) by 4008 ± 36.6 and 2880 ± 365 kg C ha−1 y−1, respectively, 8.1‐ and 5.8‐times that of CON (494 ± 42.6 kg C ha−1 y−1). The SOC stock increase in ORG at 20–40 cm depth was 245 ± 66.4 kg C ha−1 y−1, significantly higher than in ING (66 ± 13.4 kg C ha−1 y−1) and CON (109 ± 44.8 kg C ha−1 y−1). Analyses of 13C revealed a significant increase in newly produced SOC in both soil layers in ORG. However, the carbon conversion efficiency (CE: increased organic carbon in soil divided by organic carbon input) was lower in ORG (14.4%–21.7%) than in ING (18.2%–27.4%). Among the four particle‐sizes in the 0–20 cm layer, the silt fraction exhibited the largest proportion of increase in SOC content (57.8% and 55.4% of the SOC increase in ORG and ING, respectively). A similar trend was detected in the 20–40 cm soil layer. Over all, intensive organic (ORG) vegetable production increases soil organic carbon but with a lower carbon conversion efficiency than integrated (ING) management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding rhizodeposited carbon (C) dynamics of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is important for improving soil fertility and increasing soil C stocks. However, the effects of nitrogen (N) fertilization on photosynthate C allocation to rhizodeposition of wheat grown in an intensively farmed alkaline soil remain elusive. In this study, pot‐grown winter wheat under N fertilization of 250 kg N ha−1 was pulse‐labeled with 13CO2 at tillering, elongation, anthesis, and grain‐filling stages. The 13C in shoots, roots, soil organic carbon (SOC), and rhizosphere‐respired CO2 was measured 28 d after each 13C labeling. The proportion of net‐photosynthesized 13C recovered (shoots + roots + soil + soil respired CO2) in the shoots increased from 58–64% at the tillering to 86–91% at the grain‐filling stage. Likewise, the proportion in the roots decreased from 21–28% to 2–3%, and that in the SOC pool increased from 1–2% to 6–7%. However, the 13C respired CO2 allocated to soil peaked (17–18%) at the elongation stage and decreased to 6–8% at the grain‐filling stage. Over the entire growth season of wheat, N fertilization decreased the proportion of net photosynthate C translocated to the below‐ground pool by about 20%, but increased the total amount of fixed photosynthate C, and therefore increased the below‐ground photosynthate C input. We found that the chase period of about 4 weeks is sufficient to accurately monitor the recovery of 13C after pulse labeling in a wheat–soil system. We conclude that N fertilization increased the deposition of photoassimilate C into SOC pools over the entire growth season of wheat compared to the control treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present the explicit expressions of the perturbation of the Drazin inverse under different conditions. Also, we give the upper bounds of ‖(A+E)D−A D‖ P /‖A D‖ P for these cases. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Let T 1 and T 2 be two n × n tripotent matrices and c 1, c 2 two nonzero complex numbers. We mainly study the nonsingularity of combinations T = c 1 T 1 + c 2 T 2 − c 3 T 1 T 2 of two tripotent matrices T 1 and T 2, and give some formulae for the inverse of c 1 T 1 + c 2 T 2 − c 3 T 1 T 2 under some conditions. Some of these results are given in terms of group invertible matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]