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The pollution of soil with heavy metals is an increasingly serious worldwide problem, and cadmium (Cd) has attracted attention because of its high toxicity to almost all plants. Since castor tolerates the accumulation of heavy metals, it has the potential for heavy metal soil remediation. We studied the mechanism of the tolerance of castor to Cd stress treatments at three doses: 300 mg/L, 700 mg/L, and 1,000 mg/L. This research provides new ideas for revealing the defense and detoxification mechanisms of Cd-stressed castor. By combining the results of physiology, differential proteomics and comparative metabolomics, we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the networks that regulate the response of castor to Cd stress. The physiological results mainly emphasize the super-sensitive responses of castor plant roots to Cd stress and the effects of Cd stress on plants’ antioxidant system, ATP synthesis and ion homeostasis. We confirmed these results at the protein and metabolite levels. In addition, proteomics and metabolomics indicated that under Cd stress, the expressions of proteins involved in defense and detoxification, energy metabolism and other metabolites such as organic acids and flavonoids were significantly up-regulated. At the same time, proteomics and metabolomics also show that castor plants mainly block the root system’s absorption of Cd2+ by enhancing the strength of the cell wall, and inducing programmed cell death in response to the three different doses of Cd stress. In addition, the plasma membrane ATPase encoding gene (RcHA4), which was significantly upregulated in our differential proteomics and RT-qPCR studies, was transgenically overexpressed in wild type Arabidopsis thaliana for functional verification. The results indicated that this gene plays an important role in improving plant Cd tolerance.

With the rapid development of hydrogen production technology by using solar energy, the research of Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell (SOEC) and Photovoltaic/Thermal (PV/T) system have become popular. A design scheme of hydrogen production system based on PV/T technology was proposed. The electrolytic cell combined photovoltaic panels, trough solar collectors and multiple heat exchagers to improve the overall efficiency of the hydrogen production system. The efficiency was predicted based on empirical models. The results showed that the hydrogen production efficiency of SOEC increased with increasing temperature and with decreasing current density. However, the balance between energy efficiency and hydrogen production rate of SOEC needed to be taken into account. The predicted hydrogen production efficiency of SOEC and overall system efficiency also agreed well with the results available in literature.

The high-power wireless charging system for the electric vehicle (EV) generates irreversible magnetic loss and quantities of heat during the charging process. Using thermal management with phase change material (PCM) can reduce the temperature rising rate and ensure the operation safety. A thermal management optimization for a 6.6 kW wireless EV charging system with PCMs was studied. The mathematical model of the heat transfer process in the charging system with thermal management was developed. It was solved by a MATLAB procedure and verified by an experimental measurement. A concept of effective time was proposed as the optimization index to evaluate the performance of the thermal management system. The results indicated that the thermal conductivity of the PCM needed to be improved for a better thermal performance. The modified PCM as paraffin with expanded graphite (EG) was adopted and the optimum thickness and thermal properties were obtained. The effective time by using the optimal PCM layer was 3 and 1.2 times that by using the original PCM layer for the charging system with 5% and 10% energy loss, respectively. The optimal layer can keep the temperature of the charging system below 60 °C in long-term operation.

To cope with the yield loss caused by drought stress, new oat varieties with greater drought tolerance need to be selected. In this study, two oat varieties with different drought tolerances were selected for analysis of their phenotypes and physiological indices under moderate and severe soil drought stress. The results revealed significant differences in the degree of wilting, leaf relative water content (RWC), and SOD and CAT activity between the two oat genotypes under severe soil drought stress; moreover, the drought-tolerant variety exhibited a significant increase in the number of stomata and wax crystals on the surface of both the leaf and guard cells; additionally, the morphology of the guard cells was normal, and there was no significant disruption of the grana lamella membrane or the nuclear envelope. Furthermore, transcriptome analysis revealed that the expression of genes related to the biosynthesis of waxes and cell-wall components, as well as those of the WRKY family, significantly increased in the drought-tolerant variety. These findings suggest that several genes involved in the antioxidant pathway could improve drought tolerance in plants by regulating the increase/decrease in wax and cell-wall constituents and maintaining normal cellular water potential, as well as improving the ability of the antioxidant system to scavenge peroxides in oats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exogenous melatonin (MT) regulates plant growth and mitigates stress in response to stress. To analyze the machinery of exogenous melatonin, which improves salt and alkaline tolerance in oats, MT's function was identified in the oat seed germination stage in our previous study. In this study, morphogenesis, photosynthetic physiology, hormone levels, and ion homeostasis were evaluated using the same MT treatment concentration. The results revealed that compared to the S45 treatment, the 100 μmol·L−1 MT treatment efficiently increased the seedling height and main root length of oat seedlings; promoted secondary root development; enhanced the root volume and root surface area; maintained a higher photosynthetic pigment content (carotenoids; chlorophyll a; chlorophyll b); raised the leaf photosynthetic rate (Pn), intercellular CO2 concentration (Ci), conductance to H2O (Gs), and transpiration rate (Tr); enhanced the light energy absorption and conversion of leaves; increased the leaf GA3, Tryptamine (TAM), and IAA contents; and decreased ABA levels. Hierarchical cluster analysis revealed that MT treatment also increased the contents of P, K, Ca, Mn, Cu, Mg, Fe, Zn, Mo, Cd, Al, Se, Ni, Co, and Ti; decreased the Na/K ratio; and maintained cellular ionic homeostasis in oat seedlings under saline–alkali stress, as compared with the untreated group. These findings showed that MT treatment enhanced the adaptation of oat to saline–alkali stress through regulating the physiological process of seedling growth. This suggests that MT plays a different role in improving saline–alkali tolerance in the germination and seedling stages of oat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saline–alkali stress is one of the major factors limiting oat seed germination. The regulatory role of melatonin (MT) as a naturally occurring active substance is well known, but the mechanism of MT-mediated intrinsic physiological regulation of oat seed germination under saline–alkali stress is unclear. Therefore, this study investigated (1) the variability of different MT seed soaking concentrations and times on the germination of oat seeds under saline–alkali stress, and (2) the possible physiological regulatory mechanisms of MT on the germination of oat seeds under saline–alkali stress. The results showed that seed vigor was significantly reduced under saline–alkali stress, and seed germination of oats was significantly inhibited; different concentrations of MT seed soaking treatments improved the germination rate, germination potential, germination index, vigor index, root length, germ length, fresh weight, and dry weight; and, overall, treatment improved seed germination and exhibited the phenomenon of "low promotion and high inhibition". The 100 μmol·L−1 MT seed soaking treatment effectively enhanced the activities of seed antioxidant enzymes (SOD, POD, CAT, and APX) and nonenzymatic antioxidants (GSH and AsA), affected the AsA-GSH cycle, and effectively increased the contents of osmoregulatory substances (proline, protein, and soluble sugar) by reducing levels of H2O2, OH−, and MDA, thus enhancing the tolerance of oats to saline–alkali and promoting seed germination. In conclusion, MT has a positive effect on the saline–alkali tolerance of oat seeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Castor (Ricinus communis L.) is one of the world's top ten oil crops. China is the second largest producer of castor beans, but China's castor bean acreage has been declining. A principal reason for this decline is the prevalence of weeds and the absence of herbicide resistant varieties of castor plants. In this study, we used Agrobacterium-mediated gene transfer to introduce the EPSPS (5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase) gene, which confers resistance to glyphosate, and the Bar (phosphinothricin N-acetyltransferase) gene, encoding resistance to glufosinate, into castor 2129 (high stem excellent recovery line) and CSR 181 (dwarf stem excellent recovery line). The transgenic plants exhibited significantly increased expression of the EPSPS and Bar genes and significantly increased resistance to glyphosate and glufosinate. Proteomic analysis showed differences in the amounts of 20 proteins in the dwarf stem transgenic plants. Nine of these proteins are involved in photosynthesis and indirectly related to the mechanism of action of the Bar gene. Eight proteins are involved in defense, repair, stress response, oxidative phosphorylation, and metabolic pathways and are indirectly related to the mechanism of action of the EPSPS gene. These results provide a foundation for the preparation of high herbicide resistant castor varieties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The pathogenesis of patellar tendon fibrosis caused by overuse remains unclear. In an effort to further investigate effective treatments for patellar tendon fibrosis attributed to overuse, it is necessary to construct a reliable animal model. Purpose: A rabbit patellar tendon fibrosis model was developed with the use of electrical stimulation to induce jumping. The pathogenesis and development of patellar tendon fibrosis were subsequently investigated with this model. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: A total of 32 New Zealand White rabbits were randomly divided into a jumping group and a control group. Rabbits in the control group did not receive any treatment, while those in the jumping group jumped 150 times daily, 5 days per week. At 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks after the initiation of treatment, the patellar tendons of 4 rabbits from each group were harvested and subjected to hematoxylin and eosin staining, immunohistochemical staining, and real-time polymerase chain reaction. The influence of jumping training on the expressions of histology- and fibrosis-related factors in the patellar tendon was assessed. Results: The histological changes of patellar tendon fibrosis in the jumping group were most pronounced at 4 weeks. When compared with the control group at corresponding time points, the mRNA and protein expressions of TGF-β1, CTGF, COL-I, and COL-III were upregulated significantly in the patellar tendon after jumping training for 4 weeks (P <.05). Intragroup comparison at different time points indicated that the mRNA and protein expressions of TGF-β1, COL-I, and COL-III were the highest at 4 weeks in the jumping group (P <.01). Conclusion: It was found that patellar tendon fibrosis occurred because of overuse and the peak changes occurred at 4 weeks. Jumping load increased the secretions of TGF-β1 and Smad3 in the patellar tendon, with CTGF upregulation and higher synthesis of COL-I and COL-III, which were considered the pathogenesis of fibrosis. Clinical Relevance: This study simulated the effects of jumping load on tendon fibrosis at different time points. Moreover, the time course relationship between jumping training and patellar tendon fibrosis in the rabbit model was determined, which provided a new animal model for the study of patellar tendon fibrosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Increasing attention is being paid to physical methods to control pests such as insect trapping. In order to examine how pesticides can reasonably be combined with the use of an insect‐trapping lamp and by how much this can reduce the amount of pesticide used, five treatments were applied to a winter wheat–summer maize rotation system in eastern China: a treatment in which only pesticides were used; a treatment with only insect‐trapping lamps; insect‐trapping lamps plus one application of pesticides; insect‐trapping lamps plus two applications of pesticides; insect‐trapping lamps plus three applications of pesticides. RESULTS: The results showed that, when pesticides were reduced by 25–35%, the insect‐trapping lamps controlled the insect population well and yields were not decreased but were actually increased, with pesticides being applied only at 2 days before winter wheat planting, at winter wheat flowering and at the big flare stage of summer maize. Reducing pesticides by 35–65% had no adverse effect on crop yields, and thus had the potential to reduce the costs of pest control and produce the greatest economic benefit. When no pesticides were used in the insect‐trapping lamp control area, the annual yield was still >15 t hm‐2. CONCLUSION: If pesticides are used in a timely fashion and at the appropriate stage, their use may be greatly reduced with the help of an insect‐trapping lamp. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A patellar tendon injury is a common injury in sports. The optimal time to start training after an acute, proximal patellar enthesis injury is still unclear. Hypothesis: The time to start training after an acute, proximal patellar enthesis injury significantly affects healing of the patellar tendon 4 weeks after the injury. Study Design: Controlled laboratory study. Methods: The left hindlimbs of 35 mature female rabbits were randomly assigned to 5 injury groups including a 4-week natural healing group (NH4W) and 4 training groups that started low-intensity training at 24 hours (POST24), 48 hours (POST48), 72 hours (POST72), and 96 hours (POST96) after an acute patellar tendon injury, with 7 limbs in each group. The right hindlimbs of the NH4W group were used as a control group (CON). An acute, proximal patellar enthesis injury was created in all injury groups. The training groups underwent low-intensity quadriceps training for 2 hours per day and 3 days per week for 4 weeks. Histological and radiographic data were collected and analyzed. Results: The cell densities of the training groups were significantly lower than those of the NH4W and CON groups (P = .01). The fibrocartilage zone was significantly thicker in the POST24, POST48, and POST72 groups compared with the CON and NH4W groups and was the thickest in the POST24 group (P = .01). The bone surface to bone volume ratio was significantly higher in all the injury groups compared with the CON group and in the POST24 group compared with the other groups (P = .01). Trabecular thickness was significantly lower in all the injury groups compared with the CON group and in the POST24 group compared with the other groups (P = .01). Conclusion: Resting without training in the first 96 hours after an acute patellar tendon enthesis injury resulted in the best recovery of cell density in the tendon enthesis 4 weeks after the injury. Starting training 96 hours after the injury resulted in the best recovery of fibrocartilage zone thickness. Starting training 48 to 96 hours after the injury resulted in the best healing of the bone component of the attachment site 4 weeks after the injury. The optimal time to start training may be longer than 96 hours after an acute patellar tendon enthesis injury for the best overall healing of the tendon enthesis 4 weeks after the injury. Clinical Relevance: A rest of a minimal 72 hours may be needed for the best healing of a patellar tendon enthesis after an acute injury. Future studies are needed to determine the optimal time to start training after an acute patellar tendon injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exosomes have diverse functions and rich content and are involved in intercellular communication, immune regulation, viral infection, tissue regeneration, and the occurrence, development and metastasis of tumours. Notably, various stem cell-derived exosomes are expected to become new therapeutic approaches for inflammatory diseases and tumours and have good clinical application prospects. However, few studies have examined exosomes in ophthalmic diseases. Therefore, based on the functions of exosomes, this paper summarizes progress in the possible use of exosomes as treatment for specific ophthalmic diseases, aiming to determine the pathogenesis of exosomes to achieve more effective clinical diagnosis and treatment of these diseases. • Five roles of exosomes in biological processes. • Five roles of exosomes in disease progression. • The role of exosomes in the pathogenesis and treatment of ocular diseases, mainly related to various stem cells and RNAs. • Main topics include SS, Corneal lesions, Glaucoma, Autoimmune uveitis, AMD, DR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the turbulent intensity is suppressed in the drag-reducing channel flow by viscoelastic additives, the mean velocity distribution in the channel flow is symmetrical and tends to be similar to the laminar flow. In the study of near-wall modulation of the drag-reducing flow with an injected ultrathin water layer, an asymmetrical mean velocity distribution was found. To further investigate this phenomenon and the underlying cause, an experiment was carried out with the water injected from a porous channel wall at a small velocity (~10−4 m/s) into the drag-reducing flow of surfactant solution. The instantaneous concentration and flow fields were measured by using planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) and particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) techniques, respectively. Moreover, analyses on turbulent statistical characteristics and spatial distribution of viscoelastic structures were carried out on the basis of comparison among various flow cases. The results showed that the injected ultrathin water layer under present experimental conditions affected the anisotropy of the drag-reducing flow. The characteristics, such as turbulence intensity, showed the zonal feature in the wall-normal direction. The Reynolds shear stress was enhanced in the near-wall region, and the viscoelastic structure was modified severely due to the redistributed stress. These results may provide experimental supports for the near-wall modulation of turbulence and the exploration of the drag-reducing mechanism by viscoelastic additives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PM 2.5 induces a series of effects on neurological disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), however, the mechanism is not completely clear yet. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) are a class of closed-loop structures that can be stably expressed in vivo . In our experiments, rats exposed to PM 2.5 exhibited autism-like phenotypes, such as anxiety, and memory loss. To explore the etiology, we performed transcriptome sequencing and found significant differences in the expression of circRNA. A total of 7770 circRNAs were identified between the control and experimental groups, 18 of which were differentially expressed, we selected ten circRNAs and performed qRT-PCR and Sanger sequencing to validate them. By GO and KEGG enrichment analysis, we found differentially expressed circRNAs that were mainly enriched in processes related to placental development and reproduction. Finally, using bioinformatics, we predicted miRNAs and mRNAs that circ-Mbd5 and circ-Ash1l might regulate and constructed circRNA-miRNA-mRNA networks involving genes associated with ASD, suggesting that circRNAs might regulate the occurrence of ASD., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Xie, Li, Liang, Tian, Lin, Yan, Shi, Liu and Xi.)

Background: Increasing attention is being paid to physical methods to control pests such as insect trapping. In order to examine how pesticides can reasonably be combined with the use of an insect-trapping lamp and by how much this can reduce the amount of pesticide used, five treatments were applied to a winter wheat-summer maize rotation system in eastern China: a treatment in which only pesticides were used; a treatment with only insect-trapping lamps; insect-trapping lamps plus one application of pesticides; insect-trapping lamps plus two applications of pesticides; insect-trapping lamps plus three applications of pesticides., Results: The results showed that, when pesticides were reduced by 25-35%, the insect-trapping lamps controlled the insect population well and yields were not decreased but were actually increased, with pesticides being applied only at 2 days before winter wheat planting, at winter wheat flowering and at the big flare stage of summer maize. Reducing pesticides by 35-65% had no adverse effect on crop yields, and thus had the potential to reduce the costs of pest control and produce the greatest economic benefit. When no pesticides were used in the insect-trapping lamp control area, the annual yield was still >15 t hm -2 ., Conclusion: If pesticides are used in a timely fashion and at the appropriate stage, their use may be greatly reduced with the help of an insect-trapping lamp. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry., (© 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.)

Organic farming has been regarded as an alternative solution for both agricultural sustainability and human health maintenance. Few researches have concentrated on the differences of biodiversity and eco-economic benefits between organic and conventional orchards. Organic management (OM) of orchards mainly includes taking advantage of natural enemies and beneficial weeds as well as soil organisms and controlling harmful pests. Here we conducted a three-year experiment on the effects of managing biodiversity in an organic apple orchard, using cattle manure to enrich soil biota, propagating native plant to suppress weeds and applying ecological pest management to control pests. The effect was assessed against the conventional management (CM) model. We found that OM enhanced soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen. The 16S rDNA high-throughput sequencing results indicated that the dominant bacterial phyla of the top soil were Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, and OM had richer bacteria diversity with a 7% higher Shannon's index than the CM. In particular, the relative abundance of rhizobium in the OM was higher than that of the CM. For OM, Duchesnea indica was an ideal ground-cover plant to control weeds through winning the niche competition and thus decreased weeds' Simpson, Shannon-Wiener and Pielou index by 38.2%, 53.8% and 16.9% separately. The phototactic pests' weight and scarab beetle's population were effectively decreased by 35% and 86% respectively through long time control and prevention. OM had an average of 20 times more earthworms than CM, and the maximum density had reached 369 m(-2) (0-20 cm soil). The dominant earthworm species of the OM were detritivores which preferring soil with high organic matter content. Due to no synthetic chemicals being used, the OM produced much safer apple fruits which were sold at high prices. Economically, up to a 103% increase of output-input ratio had been achieved in the OM. Our study clearly demonstrated that biodiversity management without chemical pollution increased the biodiversity of beneficial organisms, reduced antagonists of the fruit tree, and enhanced economic benefits of the apple orchard.

Four new phenanthroindolizidine alkaloids, tylophoridicines C-F, together with three known ones, R-(+)-deoxytylophorinidine, tylophorinine and tylophorinidine, were isolated from the roots of Tylophora atrofolliculata. The structures were determined on the basis of spectral evidence. These alkaloids exhibited cytotoxic activity in vitro on HCT-8 cell (with IC50 values in the range 0.083 to 18.99 microM) and KB cell (in the range 3.56 to 18.22 microM) lines.