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After severe heart injury, fibroblasts are activated and proliferate excessively to form scar, leading to decreased cardiac function and eventually heart failure. It is unknown, however, whether cardiac fibroblasts are heterogeneous in respect of their degree of activation, proliferation, and function during cardiac fibrosis. Here, by dual recombinases-mediated genetic lineage tracing, we found that endocardium-derived fibroblasts (EndoFb) preferentially proliferate and expand in response to pressure overload. Fibroblast-specific proliferation tracing revealed highly regional expansion of activated fibroblasts after injury, the pattern of which mirrors that of EndoFb distribution in the heart. Specific ablation of EndoFb alleviates cardiac fibrosis and reduces the decline of heart function after pressure overload injury. Mechanistically, Wnt signaling promotes activation and expansion of EndoFb during cardiac remodeling. Our study identified EndoFb as a key fibroblast subpopulation accounting for severe cardiac fibrosis after pressure overload injury, and as a potential therapeutic target against cardiac fibrosis.

Herein, a copper-catalyzed, blue-light-induced free radical type ring opening of sulfonium salts with dichalcogenides has been initially developed. The developed method features an inexpensive copper catalyst and a broad substrate scope, affording practical access to alkyl chalcogenides in high yields. This reaction presents a novel ring-opening model of sulfonium salts, which breaks the limitation that only the nucleophilic ring-opening reaction could form C-heteroatom bonds and C-C bonds.

Medium-deep buried pipe heat transfer technology is a way to develop medium-deep geothermal energy by "taking heat without water". Using OpenGeoSys (OGS) software, a comprehensive numerical model of medium-deep buried pipe heat transfer is established using a dual-continuum medium approach and combined with actual engineering data. On this basis, the heat transfer performance and its applicability in the harsh cold region of northern China are investigated. Meanwhile, a sensitivity analysis study on its heat transfer influencing factors and sustainability was conducted. The results of the study show that the medium-deep buried pipe heat transfer technology has excellent heat transfer performance and good applicability and sustainability in the cold region of northern China. The heat transfer performance of buried pipes can be improved by arranging buried pipes in high quality geothermal areas and increasing the flow rate of circulating water, increasing the depth of buried pipes, choosing larger thermal conductivity of inner pipes and backfill materials, etc.; higher circulating water inlet temperature, larger inner and outer pipe diameter ratio and thermal conductivity of inner pipes will reduce the heat transfer effect.

On fully enclosed freeways, the service area is the only key node for certain crowd activities such as resting, toileting, and dining. In these activities, using the toilet is the most important purpose for people to enter the service area. A reasonable toilet location and size in the service area is the basis for its efficient operation. This study conducts field surveys on several service areas, including Meicun, Tai’an, and Qianxian, through video recording and crowd tracking questionnaires. We summarize and analyze the characteristics of population flow in Chinese freeway service areas. The key data obtained through field surveys are reported, such as the priority and length of stay of customers in the facilities during peak hours at weekends, to analyze the characteristics of pedestrian traffic in the service areas. Finally, based on a large number of pedestrian simulation methods used in studies on the layout of subways and airport facilities, the AnyLogic simulation software is applied to establish a crowd movement model for these areas. The study not only obtained the pedestrian characteristics of the service area but also showed that only changing the location of toilets has no effect on the efficiency of toilet use without changing the level of service, whereas changing the number of toilets has a significant impact on the efficiency. Most importantly, this paper establishes a relationship model between the toilet size of the service area and the service area pedestrians flow; when the toilet seats 266/158/148 people, the maximum flow of people in the service area is about 3,115/2200/2000 p/h, which can provide help for the scale design of the service area.

We present the development of an efficient synthetic route to generate a DNA-compatible vinyl sulfone functional group, and the subsequent chemical transformations demonstrated the feasibility of our method in DEL construction.

Actin depolymerization factors (ADFs), as actin-binding proteins, act a crucial role in plant development and growth, as well as in response to abiotic and biotic stresses. Here, we found that CARK3 plays a role in regulating hypocotyl development and links a cross-talk between actin filament and drought stress through interaction with ADF4. By using bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) and GST pull-down, we confirmed that CARK3 interacts with ADF4 in vivo and in vitro. Next, we generated and characterized double mutant adf4cark3-4 and OE-ADF4:cark3-4. The hypocotyl elongation assay indicated that the cark3-4 mutant seedlings were slightly longer hypocotyls when compared with the wild type plants (WT), while CARK3 overexpressing seedlings had no difference with WT. In addition, overexpression of ADF4 significantly inhibited long hypocotyls of cark3-4 mutants. Surprisingly, we found that overexpression of ADF4 markedly enhance drought resistance in soil when compared with WT. On the other hand, drought tolerance analysis showed that overexpression of CARK3 could rescue adf4 drought susceptibility. Taken together, our results suggest that CARK3 acts as a regulator in hypocotyl elongation and drought tolerance likely via regulating ADF4 phosphorylation.

Vascular embolization is a well-known therapeutic treatment against hepatocellular carcinoma. However, existing embolic agents require complex synthesis, toxic organic solvents and sometimes produce only low yields. In this study, a novel photopolymerization technique, which addresses these issues, was used to prepare embolic microspheres successfully from the sucrose multi-allyl ether monomer in one step. Compared to the preparation of such microspheres always involved in multiple steps or complicated conditions, we obtained the microspheres used photoclick method in a soft template with simple, economic and feasible procedure. This work focuses on the synthesis of new materials by conducting a photopolymerzation in the presence of the sucrose monomer and the photoinitiator. Then, the embolic microspheres obtained were characterized by morphology assay, degradation, and swelling test. Cell experiments showed that the microspheres had good biocompatibility. Rabbit embolizations showed that the microspheres had long-term embolic effects. It is manifested that one-step preparation of photoclick method hold great potential and competitiveness of being used in preparation embolic microspheres in clinic.

The excited state species and properties in low-dimensional semiconductors can be completely redefined by electron-lattice coupling or a polaronic effect. Here, by combining ultrafast broadband pump-probe spectroscopy and first-principles GW and Bethe-Salpeter equation calculations, we show semiconducting CrI

Stretchable conductive fibers are an important component of wearable electronic textiles, but often suffer from a decrease in conductivity upon stretching. The use of liquid metal (LM) droplets as conductive fillers in elastic fibers is a promising solution. However, there is an urgent need to develop effective strategies to achieve high adhesion of LM droplets to substrates and establish efficient electron transport paths between droplets. Here, we use large-sized MXene two-dimensional conductive materials to modify magnetic LM droplets and prepare MXene/magnetic LM/poly(styrene-butadiene-styrene) composite fibers (MLMS fibers). The MXene sheets decorated on the surface of magnetic LM droplets not only enhance the droplet adhesion to substrate but also bridge adjacent droplets to establish efficient conductive paths. MLMS fibers show several-fold improvements in tensile strength and elongation and a 30-fold increase in conductivity compared with pure LM-filled fibers. These conductive fibers can be easily woven into multifunctional textiles, which exhibit strong electromagnetic interference shielding and stable Joule heating performances even under large tensile deformation. In addition, other advantages of MLMS textiles, such as high gas/liquid permeability, strong chemical resistance (acid and alkaline conditions), high/low-temperature tolerance (-40-150 °C) and water washability, make them particularly suitable for wearable applications.

Summary Nonfullerene acceptor (NFA) organic solar cells (OSCs) with power conversion efficiency (PCE) reaching up to 18% has shown tremendous potential toward practical applications. However, the non-radiative recombination loss in high-efficiency NFA OSCs is evidently large, and the origin remains unclear. Herein, by combining transient absorption spectroscopy, photovoltaic characterization, and detailed energy loss analysis, we unambiguously show the formation of NFA triplet exciton from free carrier recombination as a main non-radiative recombination and energy loss channel. More importantly, in contrast to the previous energetics point of view, we show side-chain fluorination in high-efficiency NFA OSCs has little effect on charge transfer energy landscapes but efficiently inhibits charge recombination to NFA triplet excitons, leading to higher V OC and PCE. Our findings provide a new view about energy loss in NFA OSCs and pave the way toward OSCs with lower V OC loss and efficiency exceeding 20%.

With the development of molecular sequencing approaches, many taxonomic and phylogenetic problems of the genus

Despite grand advances in Zn-air batteries in recently years, their commercialization remains challenging due largely to the lack of efficient bifunctional oxygen catalysts. Herein, we report the crafting of a bifunctional electrocatalyst comprising ultrafine alloyed FeNi nanoparticles encapsulated within N-doped layered carbon nanosheets (denoted FeNi/N-LCN) for high-efficiency Zn-air batteries. The FeNi/N-LCN electrocatalyst is yielded via the coordination of triphenylimidazole-containing polyaniline (TPANI) oligomer with Fe- and Ni-containing precursors, followed by hydrogen binding with melamine and subsequent pyrolysis. The as-constructed FeNi/N-LCN manifests outstanding activity and stability toward both the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The primary Zn-air battery assembled with FeNi/N-LCN delivers both high specific capacity and peak power density. Remarkably, the rechargeable Zn-air battery can be repeatedly charged and discharged for 1100 h at 5 mA cm-2 and for 600 h at 10 mA cm-2, representing the highest cycling stability among various reported Zn-air batteries.

Uridine diphosphate-glucosyltransferases (UGTs) maintain abscisic acid (ABA) homeostasis in Arabidopsis thaliana by converting ABA to abscisic acid-glucose ester (ABA-GE). UGT71C5 plays an important role in the generation of ABA-GE. Abscisic acid receptors are crucial upstream components of the ABA signaling pathway, but how UGTs and ABA receptors function together to modulate ABA levels is unknown. Here, we demonstrated that the ABA receptors RCAR12/13 and UGT71C5 maintain ABA homeostasis in Arabidopsis following rehydration under drought stress. Biochemical analyses show that UGT71C5 directly interacted with RCAR8/12/13 in yeast cells, and the interactions between UGT71C5 and RCAR12/13 were enhanced by ABA treatment. Enzyme activity analysis showed that ABA-GE contents were significantly elevated in the presence of RCAR12 or RCAR13, suggesting that these ABA receptors enhance the activity of UGT71C5. Determination of the content of ABA and ABA-GE in Arabidopsis following rehydration under drought stress revealed that ABA-GE contents were significantly higher in Arabidopsis plants overexpressing RCAR12 and RCAR13 than in non-transformed plants and plants overexpressing RCAR11 following rehydration under drought stress. These observations suggest that RCAR12 and RCAR13 enhance the activity of UGT71C5 to glycosylate excess ABA into ABA-GE following rehydration under drought stress, representing a rapid mechanism for regulating plant growth and development.

There are many important cultural relics in China, including many paper relics. Therefore, it is particularly important to find methods of protecting the handwriting in paper relics. This study focuses on the effects acrylic polyurethane materials have on preserving handwriting in paper relics by examining the color change and diffusion of handwriting before and after reinforcement treatments on handwriting materials, including ink, carbon ink, blue-black ink, pure blue ink, red ink, and pencil. The acrylic polyurethane materials have a certain degree of stability and enhance the handwriting of paper relics. We analyzed the acrylic polyurethane reinforcement material in terms of acid resistance, alkali resistance, oxidation resistance, dry heat aging resistance, and durability. The experimental results show that the optimal reinforcement concentration is within 15% for ink, 10% for carbon ink, 20% for blue-black ink, 15% to 20% for pure blue ink, and 3% for red ink and pencil. Finally, the surface of the reinforced paper and handwriting were observed through laser microscopy, SEM, EDS, and infrared spectroscopy and the protective effect of acrylic polyurethane reinforcement material on handwriting was determined.

A novel Gram-stain-positive, yellow, short-rod-shaped or coccoid bacterial strain, W204T, was isolated from a soil sample collected from Jiadengyu national forest park in China and characterized using a polyphasic approach. The cell-wall peptidoglycan contained ornithine as the diagnostic diamino acid. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain W204T was closely related to Ornithinimicrobium flavum CPCC 203535T (97.4 %, similarity), Serinicoccus profundi CGMCC 4.5582T (96.9 %), Serinicoccus sediminis GP-T3-3T (96.8 %), Serinicoccus hydrothermalis JLT9T (96.7 %), Ornithinimicrobium cerasi CPCC 203383T (96.6 %) and Ornithinimicrobium kibberense K22-20T (96.6 %). However, the digital DNA–DNA genome hybridization value between strain W204T and the closest related strain O. flavum CPCC 203535T was 21.90 %. Complete genome analyses revealed that the size of the genome was 3.54 Mb and the genomic DNA G+C content was 70.79 mol%. The polar lipid profile consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, an unidentified glycolipid, an unidentified phospholipid and an unidentified lipid. The major menaquinone was MK-8(H4). The predominant cellular fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0 and C16 : 0. The phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic data suggested that strain W204T should be classified as representative of a novel species of the genus Ornithinimicrobium , for which the name Ornithinimicrobium pratense sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is W204T (=GDMCC 1.1391T=KCTC 49237T).

Tough hydrogels with facile processability to reform into various shapes are required in many practical applications. In this work, we reported that a novel, tough, and self-healing physical hydrogel based on polyion complex (PIC) can be dissolved in 4 M NaCl solution to form a PIC solution. The PIC solution can be easily reprocessed into various shapes, such as thin films, sheets, fibers, and capsules, by using simple methods, such as casting and injection, while maintaining excellent mechanical properties comparable to, or even better than, the original hydrogel. The reprocessability and robust mechanical properties of PIC hydrogels are promising for practical applications in soft materials, especially in 3D/4D printing technology.

Gas hydrate is a type of ice like crystals, which could widely form and plug the offshore oil and gas pipelines. In order to reduce the cost of hydrate control in oil and gas transportation, search for new anti-agglomerates (AAs) is always needed. In this work, fourteen different types of polymers from drilling fluid additives were selected and their anti-agglomeration ability on gas hydrate was experimentally studied by using a high-pressure rocking cell. The hydrate volume percentage, slider moving range, and moving velocity were measured for evaluation. Two polymers [acrylamide polymer (AAP) and hydrolyzed polyacrylonitrile ammonium salt (HAPS)] were found to be effective to avoid agglomerating at low hydrate concentration (≤6%). AAP and HAPS could prevent plugging, while the hydrate concentration is lower than 15.12% and 16.92%, respectively. It was speculated that the hydrogen bonding capability of the hydrophilic groups, the length of the hydrophobic chains and polymer molecules, and the antagonism of different functional groups might affect the anti-agglomerating performance of polymers.

To explore associations between dietary habits and esophageal epithelial cell carcinoma (ESCC) and provide a potential direction for exploring how different dietary habits and nutrient intake might affect ESCC development.198 ESCC cases and 200 controls on Kazakhs were recruited in Xinjiang from 2010 to 2019 for a group-matched case-control study. The case group were recruited from the First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University and Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University. The control population were recruited from two parts: hospital-based control and population-based control. The diagnosis was confirmed by histological examination. The food frequency questionnaire was used to investigate the dietary nutrients intake. Folic acid, vitamin B12, and DNA-methyltransferase 1(DNMT1) levels were measured in serum samples obtained from cases and controls.The cholesterol intake of ESCC group was significantly higher than that of the control group while the intakes of protein, thiamin, riboflavin, folic acid, vitamin A, B6, C and E were significantly lower than the control group. Factors including lacking fresh vegetables and fruits, low educational level, low income, alcohol drinking, eating solid and dry food and smoked meat, dieting irregularly, salty taste preference, low serum folic acid level and high serum DNMT1 level were associated with increased risk of ESCC in Kazakhs.Dietary habits and nutrient intake were associated with increased risk of ESCC in Kazakhs that may provide a potential direction for further studies.

R2R3-MYB transcription factors play important roles in response to abiotic stresses in planta, such as salt, drought, and osmotic stress. However, the role of FtMYB11 in Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum) in drought and osmotic tolerance has not yet been elucidated. In this study, we found that FtMYB11 was markedly induced by exogenous abscisic acid (ABA), salinity, and mannitol. Further, FtMYB11-overexpressing Arabidopsis showed hypersensitivity to ABA-mediated seed germination and seedling establishment through regulating transcripts of AtCBF1, AtDREB2A, and AtRD20, compared with wild type, indicating that FtMYB11 plays a positive role in ABA signaling. In contrast, transgenic lines overexpressing FtMYB11 were sensitive to mannitol and NaCl treatments, suggesting that FtMYB11 plays a negative role in osmotic tolerance. Intriguingly, the transcripts of ABA biosynthetic enzyme genes were significantly elevated in plants overexpressing FtMYB11 after exposure to osmotic stresses, such as AtABA3 and AtNCED3. In addition, flavonoid biosynthesis genes were also upregulated in transgenic Arabidopsis under ABA, salt, and drought treatments, including AtC4H, AtF3H, AtANS, AtFLS, and At4CL. The drought tolerance assay showed that plants overexpressing FtMYB11 displayed greater tolerance to water deficit through regulating MDA and proline content. Taken together, FtMYB11 has opposite roles in response to abiotic stresses, but it may mediate flavonoid biosynthesis through regulation of related enzyme genes.

Cells and tissues are exposed to a wide range of mechanical stimuli during development, tissue homeostasis, repair, and regeneration. Over the past few decades, mechanosensitive ion channels (MSCs), as force-sensing integral membrane proteins, have attracted great attention with regard to their structural dynamics and mechanics at the molecular level and functions in various cells. Piezo-type MSC component 1 (Piezo1) is a newly discovered MSC; it is inherently mechanosensitive. However, which type of cells express Piezo1 in vivo remains unclear. To detect and trace Piezo1-expressing cells, we generated and characterized a novel tamoxifen-inducible Cre knock-in mouse line, Piezo1-CreER, which expresses CreER recombinase under the control of the endogenous Piezo1 promoter. Using this genetic tool, we detected the expression of Piezo1 in various cell types at the embryonic, neonatal, and adult stages. Our data showed that Piezo1 was highly expressed in endothelial cells in all the three stages, while the Piezo1 expression in epithelial cells was dynamic during development and growth. In summary, we established a new genetic tool, Piezo1-CreER, to study Piezo1-expressing cells in vivo during development, injury response, and tissue repair and regeneration.

Abscisic acid (ABA) signaling is a vital plant signaling pathway for plant responses to stress conditions. ABA treatment can alter global gene expression patterns and cause significant phenotypic changes. We investigated the responses to ABA treatment during flowering in Arabidopsis thaliana. Dipping the flowers of CARK3 T-DNA mutants in ABA solution, led to less reduction of pollen fertility than in the wild type plants (Col-0). We demonstrated that PMEIL, a gene located downstream of CARK3, directly affects pollen fertility. Due to the close arrangement of CARK3 and PMEIL, CARK3 expression represses transcription of PMEIL in an ABA-dependent manner through transcriptional interference. Our study uncovers a molecular mechanism underlying ABA-mediated pollen sterility and provides an example of how transcriptional interference caused by close arrangement of genes may mediate stress responses during plant reproduction.

The RING-type E3 ligase AtPPRT3 participates in the plant ABA responding as a positive regulator. E3 ubiquitin ligase, alike of classic plant stress resistance proteins, plays a vital role in regulating the degradation of stress-related proteins. In this study, we investigated the function of the RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligase AtPPRT3 in the ABA signaling pathway. AtPPRT3, located in the endoplasmic reticulum membrane, is involved in ABA signaling. The transcriptional expression of AtPPRT3 was induced by ABA, and the promoter region upstream of AtPPRT3 contains the ABA-responsive element (ABRE). Additionally, the β-glucuronidase (GUS) gene driven by the AtPPRT3 promoter was up-regulated in transgenic plants after ABA treated. We obtained AtPPRT3 function-deficient mutants atpprt3-1, atpprt3-2, and AtPPRT3 over-expressing lines (OE4 and OE5). In this study, atpprt3-1 and atpprt3-2 were less sensitive to exogenous ABA compared to Col-0, whereas OE4 and OE5 were more sensitive. Moreover, AtPPRT3 promotes ABA-mediated stomatal closure and inhibits water loss in Arabidopsis thaliana. After exogenous ABA treated, the transcriptional expression levels of AtDREB2A, AtKIN1, AtRD29A, AtERD10 and AtRD29B were up-regulated to greater extents in OEs and lower extents in atpprt3-1 and atpprt3-2 compared to Col-0. These results suggest that AtPPRT3 positively regulates ABA signaling in A. thaliana.

Duckweed is a kind of floating aquatic plant and increasing its starch production is favorable for bioenergy. In this study, we found that starch biosynthesis was greatly promoted by the supplement of nickel ion (Ni2+) through the comparison of other different ions. The starch content in duckweed was increased by nearly eightfold when duckweed was treated with 20 µM Ni2+. The analysis of paraffin sections visually found that starch granules were more complete and dark blue in Ni2+ treated duckweed than the control. Quantitative real-time PCR demonstrated that the expressions of starch synthesis-related enzymes were up-regulated in Ni2+ treated duckweed. Further analysis revealed that the accumulation of Ni2+ in duckweed effectively increased the activity of urease, which compensated for the deficiency of certain decrease in biomass and accelerated biosynthesis of the starch. Thus, our results represent another strategy to improve starch production of duckweed.

Auxin is a key phytohormone in plant somatic embryogenesis (SE) and YUCCA and AUXIN RESPONSE FACTORS (ARFs) are two key genes involved in auxin biosynthesis and auxin signaling pathways, respectively. They have been reported in participating to the catalytic production of endogenous indole-3-acetic acid (IAA; a natural auxin) and regulating the transcription of auxin-responsive genes. To explore the structural characteristics of the YUCCA and ARF families of Lilium spp. L. and its expression pattern during SE induction and development processes, 6 YUCCA genes and 12 ARF genes were screened from the transcriptome database, and their nucleotides and encoded proteins were analyzed. At the same time, the expression patterns of YUCCA and ARF genes were analyzed by reverse transcription quantitative PCR, and endogenous IAA content was measured. Results show that the members of Lilium indole-3-pyruvate monooxygenase YUCCA (LiYUCs) are structurally conserved among Lilium spp., Oryza sativa, and Arabidopsis thaliana. The LiARFs are classified into six groups, most LiARFs have a closer affinity to the monocotyledon Oryza sativa. All the 12 LiARFs are involved in the SE induction and development, but their expression patterns differed. The LiYUC2/4 and LiARF5/7/21 had expression profiles corresponding with IAA content during the SE induction periods. The LiYUC4/10 and LiARF7/17/18/20/21/22 showed a similar downward trend with IAA content during the progress of the SE development. The results provide a basis for further research on the functions of YUCCA and ARF genes during somatic embryogenesis of Lilium spp.

A novel Gram-stain-negative, light pink-coloured, short rod-shaped, designated strain W17T, was isolated from a meadow soil sample collected from Xinjiang, PR China. The 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis indicated that strain W17T was related most closely to Skermanella rosea M1T (98.72 %) and Skermanella mucosa 8-14-6T (98.44 %). However, strain W17T showed a low level of DNA–DNA relatedness to S. rosea M1T (32.4±2.6 %) and S. mucosa 8-14-6T (33.5±0.1 %). The genome size of the novel strain was 5.87 Mb and the genomic DNA G+C content was 67.27 mol%. The only respiratory quinone of strain W17T was Q-10. Diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol. phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylcholine were the major polar lipids. The predominant cellular fatty acids were C18 : 1ω6c and/or C18 : 1ω7c (48.53 %), C16 : 0 (20.88 %) and C18 : 0 (14.92 %). The phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data showed that strain W17T represents a novel species of the genus Skermanella , for which the name Skermanella pratensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is W17T (=GDMCC 1.1392T=KCTC 62434T).

Objective To explore the causes of esophageal cancer (ESCC) and provide a theoretical basis for prevention and treatment of ESCC by analyzing dietary nutrients intake and other blood indicators of Kazakh patients with ESCC.Methods 198 ESCC cases and 200 controls were recruited in Xinjiang. The food frequency questionnaire was used to investigate the dietary nutrients intake. After collecting blood samples, the automated chemiluminescence immunoassay analyzer was applied to measure serum FA level and serum vitamin B12 level. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to observe the serum DNMT1 level.Results The cholesterol intake of ESCC group was higher than that of the control group while the intakes of protein, thiamin, riboflavin, FA, vitamin A, B6, C and E were lower than the control group. Levels of serum FA and serum vitamin B12 in ESCC group were lower, while the serum DNMT1 level was higher.Conclusion Lacking fresh vegetables, low educational level, low income, alcoholism, eating solid and dry food and smoked meat, dieting irregularly, low serum FA level, high serum DNMT1 level were risky factors of ESCC for Kazakhs. The occurrence of ESCC reduced with the increase of serum FA but increased when serum DNMT1 increased.

The purpose of this study is to develop an integral sliding mode intelligent fractional-order backstepping controller based on a fixed-time extended state observer (ISMIFOBC-ESO) to control warp tension. First, the time-varying mathematical model of the let-off system was studied and converted into the state equation. Due to the parameter uncertainty and healed motion of the let-off system, the total external disturbance of the system is unknown. We designed a fixed-time extended state observer to deal with this situation, the estimated total interference is updated into the control algorithm in real time to reduce the tracking error. The nonlinear integral sliding surface is designed and integrated into the backstepping control to ensure the finite time convergence and stability of the algorithm. The fractional-order theory with more degrees of freedom is introduced further to enhance the control accuracy and robustness of the algorithm, the stability is proved by the Lyapunov theorem and the control law is designed. The simulation experiment verifies the effectiveness of the designed scheme compared with the other two controllers in the case of sinusoidal-like signals and step signals.

The roles of ethylene responsive factors (ERFs) and their positive and negative regulations of abiotic stress tolerance have been widely reported. This study reports the characterization of ItERF from Iris typhifolia Kitag with respect to molecular and functional properties. The 867 bp cDNA fragment of ItERF was cloned by reverse transcription PCR from I. typhifolia. Real-time quantitative PCR revealed that ItERF expression was induced in the roots, stems, and leaves of I. typhifolia after NaCl treatment, and that ItERF expressions were significantly higher in the leaves and roots than in the stems. A green fluorescent protein marker revealed that ItERF was located to the nucleus. Plant survival and root growth of ItERF transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana L. seedlings were much better than those of the wild type under NaCl stress. Malondialdehyde content in the transgenic lines was significantly lower than that in the wild type. Growth of yeast transformants showed an enhanced tolerance to salt stress than non-transformed yeast cells. All of the results verified that the expression of ItERF had effects on plant growth under salt stress.

Drought severely limits potato yield. The aim of this work was to study a response of plantlets of four potato genotypes to polyethylene glycol (PEG 6000)-induced drought stress in both physiological and molecular levels. The drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive genotypes were identified based on plantlet growth, chlorophyll content, lipid peroxidation, free proline content, and proline metabolism-related gene expressions. We found that PEG-induced stress increased malondialdehyde (MDA) and proline content, and drought-tolerant plantlets exhibited lower MDA and proline content than sensitive genotypes. In addition, PEG up-regulated ∆-1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase (P5CS) and pyrroline- 5-carboxylate reductase (P5CR) gene expressions and down-regulated pyrroline dehydrogenase (PDH) and ∆-1-pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase (P5CDH) gene expressions. Genotype B plantlets exhibited lower P5CS and P5CR expressions and higher PDH and P5CDH expressions compared with the other plantlets. The results suggest that significant cultivar differences among potato plantlets in response to PEG-induced drought stress are exhibited in root length, MDA content, proline accumulation, and proline metabolism-related gene expressions.