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Ultrathin organic nanofibers (UTONFs) represent an emerging class of nanomaterials as they carry a set of favorable attributes, including ultrahigh specific surface area, lightweight, and mechanical flexibility, over inorganic counterparts, for use in biomedicine and nanotechnology. However, precise synthesis of uniform UTONFs (diameter ≤ 2 nm) with tailored functionalities remained challenging. Herein, we report robust multifunctional UTONFs using hydrophobic interaction-driven self-assembly of amphiphilic alternating peptoids containing hydrophobic photoresponsive azobenzene and hydrophilic hydroxyl moieties periodically arranged along the peptoid backbone. Notably, the as-crafted UTONFs are approximately 2 nm in diameter and tens of micrometers in length (an aspect ratio, AR, of ∼10000), exemplifying the UTONFs with the smallest diameter yielded via self-assembly. Intriguingly, UTONFs were disassembled into short-segmented nanofibers and controllably reassembled into UTONFs, resembling “step-growth polymerization”. Photoisomerization of azobenzene moieties leads to reversible transformation between UTONFs and spherical micelles. Such meticulously engineered UTONFs demonstrate potential for catalysis, bioimaging, and antibacterial therapeutics. Our study highlights the significance of the rational design of amphiphiles containing alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic moieties in constructing otherwise unattainable extremely thin UTONFs with ultrahigh AR and stimuli-responsive functionalities for energy and bionanotechnology.

Due to the wide application of lithium iron phosphate (LFP)-based lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), the dissolution of LFP is a crucial step in the process of recycling LFP from LFP-based LIBs. However, the traditional methods for the dissolution of LFP typically require the usage of hazardous solvents, elevated temperatures, or limited efficiency. Achieving efficient, green, and selective dissolution of LFP at low temperatures remains a significant challenge. Here, we, for the first time, find that natural deep eutectic solvents (NADESs) containing glucose and lactic acid show a high Li leaching efficiency of 96.5% for LFP dissolution at a mild temperature, with Li more selectively separated from LFP than Fe. Both glucose and lactic acid in DESs are naturally available, cheap, biodegradable, and nontoxic. This research provides valuable guidance for the development of a green, mild, natural, and efficient process for achieving a sustainable recovery of spent LFP-based LIBs.

To improve the security and privacy of audio data stored in third party servers, a novel watermarking scheme is proposed. Firstly, the authors split the host signal into frames and scramble each frame to get the encrypted signal. Secondly, they generate watermark bits by using the frame number and embed them into each frame of the encrypted signal, which is the data that will be uploaded to the third party servers. For the users, they can download the encrypted data and verify the data is intact or not. If the data is intact, the users decrypt the data to get the audio signal. If the audio signal is attacked in the process of transmission, they can also locate the location of the attacked frame. The experimental results show that the method proposed is effective not only for encrypted signals, but also for the encrypted signals after decryption.

Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and diisononyl phthalate are widely used as plasticizers in polyvinyl chloride products. Short-term exposures to phthalates affect hormone levels, ovarian follicle populations, and ovarian gene expression. However, limited data exist regarding the effects of long-term exposure to phthalates on reproductive functions. Thus, this study tested the hypothesis that short-term and long-term exposure to di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate or diisononyl phthalate disrupts follicle dynamics, ovarian and pituitary gene expression, and hormone levels in female mice. Adult CD-1 female mice were exposed to vehicle, di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or diisononyl phthalate (0.15 ppm, 1.5 ppm, or 1500 ppm) via the chow for 1 or 6 months. Short-term exposure to di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (0.15 ppm) and diisononyl phthalate (1.5 ppm) decreased serum follicle-stimulating hormone levels compared to control. Long-term exposure to di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and diisononyl phthalate (1500 ppm) increased the percentage of primordial follicles and decreased the percentages of preantral and antral follicles compared to control. Both phthalates increased follicle-stimulating hormone levels (di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate at 1500 ppm; diisononyl phthalate at 1.5 ppm) and decreased luteinizing hormone levels (di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate at 0.15 and 1.5 ppm; diisononyl phthalate at 1.5 ppm and 1500 ppm) compared to control. Furthermore, both phthalates altered the expression of pituitary gonadotropin subunit genes (Cga, Fshb, and Lhb) and a transcription factor (Nr5a1) that regulates gonadotropin synthesis. These data indicate that long-term exposure to di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate and diisononyl phthalate alters follicle growth dynamics in the ovary and the expression of gonadotropin subunit genes in the pituitary and consequently luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone synthesis.Long-term exposure to phthalates affects ovarian follicle dynamics, peptide hormone-related genes, and peptide hormone levels.Graphical Abstract

Controlled-release urea (CRU) is widely reported to supply crop nitrogen (N) demand with one basal application, thus effectively replacing split applications of urea without diminishing grain yield and N use efficiency (NUE). However, its use for replacement for high-yield split applications of urea (CK) for rice is untested. In addition, the degree to which greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in rice systems are affected when CRU is substituted for CK remains unclear. During 2017 and 2018, we sampled plant growth and gas emissions in a rice paddy field treated with three CRU types (sulfur-coated urea [SCU], polymer-coated urea [PCU], and bulk blended CRU [BBU]) applied via two methods (surface broadcasting on the soil and subsurface banding at 5 cm depth), with CK as a control. The three CRUs led to different soil NH4+-N dynamics, and the N supply pattern under BBU was more beneficial for rice seedling establishment than under SCU and PCU, resulting in grain yield and NUE comparable to those under CK. CRU type showed no significant effect on either CH4emissions or N2O emissions, and broadcast CRUs exhibited significantly higher total GHG emissions than CK. However, banded CRUs significantly reduced the total GHG emissions in comparison with broadcast CRUs, by 9.2% averaged across the two years. Reduced CH4emissions, particularly during the period prior to the middle drainage, contributed largely to the GHG difference. With comparably high grain yield and low total GHG emissions, banded BBU showed a low yield-scaled GHG (GHG emissions divided by grain yield) comparable to that under CK in both years. Overall, our study suggested that N management synchronized with rice demand and contributing to a high NUE tended to minimize yield-scaled GHG. Broadcast CRU can hardly substitute for CK in terms of either grain yield or GHG emissions, but banded BBU is a promising N management strategy for sustaining rice production while minimizing environmental impacts.

Given the synergy of optogenetics and bioimaging in neuroscience, it is possible for light to simultaneously modulate and visualize synaptic events of optoelectronic synaptic devices, which are building blocks of a neuromorphic computing system with optoelectronic integration. Here we demonstrate the realization of the simultaneous modulation and visualization of synaptic events by using optically stimulated synaptic devices based on the heterostructure of fluorescent silicon quantum dots (Si QDs) and monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). The charge-transfer-enabled photogating effect of the Si QDs/MoS2heterostructure leads to the nonvolatility of the synaptic devices, which exhibit important synaptic functionalities and synchronous fluorescence upon optical stimulation. An array of the Si QDs/MoS2optoelectronic synaptic devices is well-employed to mimic robust neural population coding. Defective devices in this array may be pinpointed by the absence of their fluorescence. This work has an important implication for the development of synaptic devices facilitating the system-level diagnosis and device-level positioning of a neuromorphic computing system.

The physicochemical properties of a semiconductor surface, especially in low-dimensional nanostructures, determine the electrical and optical behavior of the devices. Thereby, the precise control of surface properties is a prerequisite for not only preserving the intrinsic material quality but also manipulating carrier transport behavior for promoting device characteristics. Here, we report a facile approach to suppress the photocorrosion effect while boosting the photoresponse performance of n-GaN nanowires in a constructed photoelectrochemical-type photodetector by employing Co3O4nanoclusters as a hole charging layer. Essentially, the Co3O4nanoclusters not only alleviate nanowires from corrosion by optimizing the oxygen evolution reaction kinetics at the nanowire/electrolyte interface but also facilitate an efficient photogenerated carrier separation, migration, and collection process, leading to a significant ease of photocurrent attenuation (improved by nearly 867% after Co3O4decoration). Strikingly, a record-high responsivity of 217.2 mA W–1with an ultrafast response/recovery time of 0.03/0.02 ms can also be achieved, demonstrating one of the best performances among the reported photoelectrochemical-type photodetectors, that ultimately allowed us to build an underwater optical communication system based on the proposed nanowire array for practical applications. This work provides a perspective for the rational design of stable nanostructures for various applications in photo- and biosensing or energy-harvesting nanosystems.

Polymers are widely recognized to entail random conformations in good solvent governed by the need for achieving the highest entropy to reach thermodynamic equilibrium. In this context, it remains grand challenging to directly arrange them into ordered conformation as building blocks for further self-assembling into hierarchal structures. Herein, we report a simple yet viable strategy to progressively assemble rationally designed azobenzene-containing alternating copolymer (i.e., poly(binaphthyl-spacer-azobenzene-alt-hexaethylene glycol), denoted P(BNPSAzo-alt-EG6)24) into helical supramolecular nanorods. Specifically, P(BNPSAzo-alt-EG6)24chains in good solvent are firstly self-assembled into helical single molecular micelles in good solvent viaintramolecular π-π interaction between binaphthyl groups as well as between azobenzene moieties. Subsequently, by simply introducing water into the solution that is allowed to dwell for a certain period of time, single molecular micelles are self-assembled into well-defined vesicles. Finally, these isotropic vesicles could be further transformed into anisotropic helical supramolecular nanorods with enhanced aggregate-induced emission (AIE) capability driven by repeated, light-triggered cis-transisomerization of azobenzene moieties with the retention of π-π interacted binaphthyl groups. This study highlights a facile route to yielding morphology-rich, functional assemblies from a single polymer viajudiciously exploiting non-covalent interaction and light of different wavelength as highly effective trigger in a non-invasive manner for potential applications in controlled release and fluorescent labelling.

Global warming is expected to affect methane (CH4) emissions from rice paddies, one of the largest human-induced sources of this potent greenhouse gas. However, the large variability in warming impacts on CH4emissions makes it difficult to extrapolate the experimental results over large regions. Here, we show, through meta-analysis and multi-site warming experiments using the free air temperature increase facility, that warming stimulates CH4emissions most strongly at background air temperatures during the flooded stage of ∼26 °C, with smaller responses of CH4emissions to warming at lower and higher temperatures. This pattern can be explained by divergent warming responses of plant growth, methanogens, and methanotrophs. The effects of warming on rice biomass decreased with the background air temperature. Warming increased the abundance of methanogens more strongly at the medium air temperature site than the low and high air temperature sites. In contrast, the effects of warming on the abundance of methanotrophs were similar across the three temperature sites. We estimate that 1 °C warming will increase CH4emissions from paddies in China by 12.6%─substantially higher than the estimates obtained from leading ecosystem models. Our findings challenge model assumptions and suggest that the estimates of future paddy CH4emissions need to consider both plant and microbial responses to warming.

There is keen research interest in building highly effective semiconductor-based surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) platforms, due to their selectivity for many probe molecules and suitability for complex scenario applications. However, current tuning approaches have not yet been successful in creating semiconductor-based SERS sensors for small inorganic molecules, due to the challenge of creating sufficient SERS enhancement in semiconductors. Here, we demonstrate the use of MoO3·xH2O quantum dots (QDs), to achieve direct and sensitive fingerprinting of the inorganic species hydrazine, which is a first attempt in semiconductor-based SERS research, as well as various other probe molecules. The resulting SERS platform that uses QDs with average size of 2.2 nm could successfully detect the signal of hydrazine with a limit of detection estimated to be around 4 × 10–5M, significantly lowering the detectable concentration by at least 1000-fold, in sharp contrast to the weak performance of 10 and 100 nm particles, demonstrating that quantum size effect triggered by small particle size below the Bohr radius is crucially responsible for high SERS activity. The significantly enhanced SERS activity is a result of vibronically coupled multipathway, highly efficient charge-transfer resonances induced by the divergence of energy states in quantum-sized MoO3·xH2O. This is a proof-of-concept demonstration of the exploitation of quantum size effect, toward significantly enhanced intrinsic SERS activity in semiconductor-based SERS materials.

Green and low-cost capture of radioactive iodine is urgently needed due to nuclear leaks and nuclear disasters. Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are deemed as green solvents of the 21st century with high biocompatibility, high atom efficiency and high tunability. However, DESs used for the capture of radioactive iodine are hardly recyclable, leading to undesirable environmental pollution and high cost. Here, green and low-cost capture of radioactive iodine from wastewater is achieved using novel DES-derived adsorbents. The results show that the DES-derived adsorbents could improve the removal efficiency (>99%) of radioactive iodine and achieve recyclable utilization compared to reported DESs for iodine capture. Other pollutants in wastewater could also be efficiently removed by the DES-derived adsorbents. This work provides a green strategy for the sustainable and recyclable treatment of radioactive iodine with high efficiency using novel DES-derived adsorbents.

Poor light stress causes lodging risks in hybrid indica rice (Oryza sativaL.) in Sichuan Basin, China. However, the effective way of improving lodging resistance of hybrid indica rice by plant regulation strategy under poor light stress has not yet been investigated. A 2‐yr field study, comparing the three foliar application uniconazole rates under normal light and shading condition, was conducted to determine the lodging resistance and its physiological mechanism by using two hybrid rice varieties (Yuxiang203 [YX203] and Cliangyouhuazhan [CLYHZ]). The results showed that shading significantly decreased grain yield, but, increased lodging index (LI) due to poor stem breaking strength (M). Also, shading increased the non‐structural carbohydrates (NSC), but reduced structural carbohydrate (SC), especially for lignin in basal culm and thus, weakened the stem stiffness. Grain yield was first increased, and then declined with increasing foliar uniconazole rates. And, LI decreased sharply owing to improvement of M while reduction of bending moment by whole plant (WP). Larger section modulus (SM) of YX203 and higher bending stress (BS) of CLYHZ were contributed to higher M. Correlation analysis showed that M was significantly correlated with culm diameter, culm wall thickness and SC content for YX203, and that with SC content for CLYHZ, respectively. The results indicated that foliar application of uniconazole increased lodging resistance of hybrid indica rice for larger M and SC accumulation in basal stem. Uniconazole foliar application at 40 mg L–1can increase lodging resistance while maintaining grain yield of hybrid indica rice in the Sichuan Basin, China. Shading rapidly raised lodging risks of hybrid indica rice due to poor stem strength of basal stem.The foliar application uniconazole increased lodging resistance of hybrid indica rice.The higher stem strength of Yuxiang203 rely on section modulus and structural carbohydrates.Uniconazole rate at 40 mg L–1rose lodging resistance and yield of hybrid indica rice in the Sichuan Basin.

Temperature of a plant organ constitutes an integrative index to its eco-physiological properties and status. However, little attempt has been made to dissect the combined effect of ecological and physiological factors on the surface temperature of a plant organ such as the rice spikelet. In this study, using a deactivated plant as reference, we developed a novel comparison method to dissect the environmental and physiological effects on temperature of rice spikelet. Three japonicarice cultivars with contrasting canopy features were used as testing materials. Temperatures of flag leaf, superior and inferior spikelets and their diurnal rhythm during grain filling stage were precisely measured by a hand-held infrared thermometer. The results showed that the variation of environmental conditions within a panicle was relatively minor, posing a limited influence on temperature difference between the superior and inferior spikelet. On the other hand, it was the intrinsic physiological properties that considerably affected the spatial variations of spikelet temperature within a panicle. Chemical analysis of sucrose and starch in grains and bracts indicated that the superior spikelet is more physiologically active at photosynthetic assimilation and starch biosynthesis. Interestingly, sugar in bracts exhibited a pattern of diurnal changes similar to the source leaf but different from the sink grain, confirming that bracts are source organs for grain filling. Our findings yield penetrating insight into the eco-physiological foundation of spikelet temperature, thus being helpful for the application of physiological approaches in crop breeding for cooler canopy.

Carbon isotope composition (δ13C) of a plant organ is an inherent signature reflecting its physiological property, and thus is used as an integrative index in crop breeding. It is also a non-intrusive method for quantifying the relative contribution of different source organs to grain filling in cereals. Using the samples collected from two-year field and pot experiments with two nitrogen (N) fertilization treatments, we investigated the temporal and spatial variations of δ13C in source organs of leaf, sheath, internode, and bracts, and in sink organ grain. Constitutive nature of δ13C was uncovered, with an order of leaf (−27.84‰) < grain (−27.82‰) < sheath (−27.24‰) < bracts (−26.81‰) < internode (−25.67‰). For different positions of individual organs within the plant, δ13C of the leaf and sheath presented a diminishing trend from the top (flag leaf and its sheath) to the bottom (the last leaf in reverse order and its sheath). No obvious pattern was found for the internode. For temporal variations, δ13C of the leaf and sheath had a peak (the most negative) at 10 days after anthesis (DAA), whereas that of the bracts showed a marked increase at the time point of anthesis, implying a transformation from sink to source organ. By comparing the δ13C in its natural abundance in the water-soluble fractions of the sheath, internode, and bracts with the δ13C in mature grains, the relative contribution of these organs to grain filling was assessed. With reference to the leaf, the internode accounted for as high as 32.64% and 42.56% at 10 DAA and 20 DAA, respectively. Meanwhile, bracts presented a larger contribution than the internode, with superior bracts being higher than inferior bracts. In addition, N topdressing reduced the contribution of the internode and bracts. Our findings clearly proved the actual significance of non-foliar organs of the internode and bracts for rice yield formation, thus extending our basic knowledge of source and sink relations.

Seedling transplanting is one of the predominant rice production systems in China. The production of hydroponically grown long‐mat rice seedlings (HLMS) is a novel seedling cultivation method that reduces labor costs and improves efficiency. There is an urgent need to explore the optimum seedling age that maximizes grain yield from HLMS. Experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of seedling age on the seedling quality, field growth characteristics and grain yield of rice grown from HLMS. The grain yield was higher for young seedlings (13 d) than for older seedlings (27 d) as a result of robust seedling quality, increased mechanical transplanting quality, slight transplanting shock, sufficient tillers and increased panicle numbers in both cultivars when grown from HLMS under normal seeding density, and there was no significant difference in grain yield between transplanted 13‐ and 20‐d‐old seedlings. Moreover, the decreased yield in Wuyunjing24 might due to the reduced number of spikelets per panicle in old seedlings. In addition, the force of root entwining was significantly enhanced with increasing seedling age for both seedling cultivation methods and cultivars, and it was significantly higher for HLMS than for conventional mat seedlings raised in soil (CMSS). In general, transplanting young seedlings (13–20 d) by the HLMS method under normal seeding density brings better plant performance and higher yield than does transplanting older seedlings; relative to CMSS, HLMS increased the flexibility of seedling age (>7 d) and operational feasibility, which can be mainly ascribed to the enhanced force of root entwining. Core IdeasHydroponically grown long‐mat seedlings significantly enhanced the force of root entwining (>8 kilograms per block), enabling rice seedlings of different ages to withstand farming operations.Relative to conventional mat seedlings raised in soil, hydroponically grown long‐mat seedlings increased the flexibility of seedling age at transplant (>7 d).Transplanting young seedlings (13–20 d) by the hydroponically grown long‐mat seedlings method achieved higher grain yield than did transplating older seedlings (27 d) under normal seeding density. Hydroponically grown long‐mat seedlings significantly enhanced the force of root entwining (>8 kilograms per block), enabling rice seedlings of different ages to withstand farming operations. Relative to conventional mat seedlings raised in soil, hydroponically grown long‐mat seedlings increased the flexibility of seedling age at transplant (>7 d). Transplanting young seedlings (13–20 d) by the hydroponically grown long‐mat seedlings method achieved higher grain yield than did transplating older seedlings (27 d) under normal seeding density.

In the earliest phase of inflammation, histamine and other agonists rapidly mobilize P-selectin to the apical membranes of endothelial cells, where it initiates rolling adhesion of flowing neutrophils. Clustering of P-selectin in clathrin-coated pits facilitates rolling. Inflammatory cytokines typically signal by regulating gene transcription over a period of hours. We found that neutrophils rolling on P-selectin secreted the cytokine oncostatin M (OSM). The released OSM triggered signals through glycoprotein 130 (gp130)–containing receptors on endothelial cells that, within minutes, further clustered P-selectin and markedly enhanced its adhesive function. Antibodies to OSM or gp130, deletion of the gene encoding OSM in hematopoietic cells, or conditional deletion of the gene encoding gp130 in endothelial cells inhibited neutrophil rolling on P-selectin in trauma-stimulated venules of the mouse cremaster muscle. In a mouse model of P-selectin–dependent deep vein thrombosis, deletion of OSM in hematopoietic cells or of gp130 in endothelial cells markedly inhibited adhesion of neutrophils and monocytes and the rate and extent of thrombus formation. Our results reveal a paracrine-signaling mechanism by which neutrophil-released OSM rapidly influences endothelial cell function during physiological and pathological inflammation.

Herein, a novel route to synthesize unsymmetrically N,N-disubstituted formamides is reported, which is achieved via reductive coupling of primary amine and aldehyde with CO2/H2over a cobalt-based catalytic system composed of CoF2, P(CH2CH2PPh2)3and K2CO3. The mechanism investigation indicates that a secondary amine is formed via hydrogenation of the imine originated from aldehyde and primary amine, which further reacts with HCOOH generated from CO2hydrogenation, resulting in the formation of NNFA finally.

Inflammation is a major contributor to deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Flow restriction of the inferior vena cava (IVC) in mice induces DVT like that in humans. In this model, P-selectin–dependent adhesion of neutrophils and monocytes leads to release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) and expression of tissue factor. However, it is not known what signals cause myeloid cells to generate these procoagulant effectors. Using ultrasonography and spinning-disk intravital microscopy in genetically engineered mice, we found that engagement of P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) and the chemokine receptor CXCR2 on rolling neutrophils propagated signals that cooperated to induce β2 integrin–dependent arrest in flow-restricted IVCs. Unlike previous reports, PSGL-1 signaling in neutrophils did not require L-selectin, and it used tyrosine 145 rather than tyrosines 112 and 128 on the adaptor Src homology domain-containing leukocyte phosphoprotein of 76 kDa. PSGL-1 and CXCR2 signaling cooperated to increase the frequency and size of thrombi, in part by stimulating release of NETs. Unlike in neutrophils, blocking PSGL-1 or CXCR2 signaling in monocytes did not affect their recruitment into thrombi or their expression of tissue factor. Our results demonstrate that neutrophils cooperatively signal through PSGL-1 and CXCR2 to promote DVT.

The reductive formylation of aryl iodides/bromides to aryl aldehydes using CO2/H2is presented for the first time. It was realized over a catalytic system composed of RhI3or RhI3/Pd(dppp)Cl2(dppp = 1,3-bis(diphenyphosphino)propane) and PPh3in the presence of Ac2O/Et3N at 100 °C, affording aromatic aldehydes in good to excellent yields, together with good functional-group tolerance and broad substrate scope. The reaction proceeds through three cascade steps, involving HCOOH formation, CO release, and formylation of aryl halides.

Basal silicon promotes rice growth and development at the tillering stage.After flooding, foliar spraying N or silicon timely had a better effect.Foliar spraying N had more advantages than silicon. Flooding is a major threat to rice (Oryza sativaL.) yields. We wondered if basal Si and foliar spraying fertilizer had an influence on rice submerged at tillering stage. The results showed that basal Si application promoted rice growth and development at the tillering stage, improving rice seedling tolerance to submergence stress. After the occurrence of flooding, timely foliar spraying of N or Si had significant remedial effects, and spraying N along with Si had a better effect. The combination of basal Si and post‐flooding N and Si spraying was the most promising method of nutrient application and as resistance to damage during submergence was enhanced, plants rapidly resumed growth and development. By maintaining a great number of green leaves and tillers as well as higher aboveground and belowground dry mass, sugar contents and antioxidant enzyme activities, these plants yielded significantly more grain. We conclude that reasonable use of Si leads to resistance and alleviation of the damaging effects of submergence and contributes to reducing yield losses in rice.

Rice culm carbohydrate transport can simultaneously affect grain filling and stem lodging resistance by regulating non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) and structural carbohydrate (SC) contents. However, the relationship between carbohydrate transposition and culm strength is not well documented. Accordingly, a high-yielding hybrid rice cultivar (Y Liangyou 2) was tested under different N fertilization regimes at two locations, Taoyuan (a special high-yield eco-site), Yunnan province and Danyang (a representative eco-site of the middle and lower Yangtze), Jiangsu province, China. Significantly higher grain yield and basal stem strength were found at Taoyuan than Danyang under all N rates throughout the two-year experiment. At heading stage, soluble sugars, starch, cellulose and lignin contents of the basal culm at Taoyuan were significantly 132.0%, 73.7%, 1.2%, and 62.7% higher than those at Danyang, respectively. At 20days after heading, soluble sugars and starch content at Taoyuan decreased significantly compared to Danyang, but lignin content remained higher. Culm carbohydrate transport to kernels at Taoyuan was significantly greater than that at Danyang, and the proportion of soluble sugars and starch was correspondingly 62.9% lower. However, the proportion of lignin and cellulose was 22.7% higher at Taoyuan than that at Danyang. Soluble sugars and starch partitioning were significantly reduced under an increased nitrogen application rate, but SC partitioning was little affected. There were significant positive correlations between basal culm bending stress and dry weight and cellulose and lignin proportions at both locations under all N rates, suggesting that the higher SC proportion at 20days after heading was primarily responsible for culm strength. These results suggest that high-yielding rice populations with greater culm strength require both moderate NSC transport and greater SC accumulation.

The elimination of tetracycline hydrochloride (TC-HCl) from water has attracted extensive research attention. This study hydrothermally synthesized composite photocatalysts composed of BiVO4microspheres containing coexisting phases of monoclinic scheelite (M-BiVO4) and tetragonal zircon (T-BiVO4), i.e., MT-BiVO4, loaded onto P-doped g-C3N4nanosheets (PCNS). Furthermore, their morphology, structure, and photoelectrochemical properties were comprehensively characterized, and the performance and stability of photocatalytic degradation of TC-HCl were examined. Additionally, the effects of humic acid (HA), coexisting anions/cations, and actual water samples on the degradation efficiency of TC-HCl were investigated, and the degradation mechanism and pathways were examined. The findings indicated that the percentage of M-BiVO4in MT-BiVO4considerably influences the photocatalytic activity of the composite catalyst. Furthermore, the excellent photocatalytic performance of 5% BVO/PCNS was attributed to the synergistic effects of P-doping the modified g-C3N4, MT-BiVO4isotype heterojunction effects, and the Z-scheme heterojunction constructed from MT-BiVO4and PCNS, which can enhance the absorption range of the visible light and accelerate the transfer and separation of charge carriers between catalysts. The free radical capture experiments and electron spin resonance tests indicated that holes and O2-were the dominant active species in the photocatalytic degradation process. With high reusability and stability, the 5% BVO/PCNS composite has great potential for practical wastewater treatment applications. This study offers a new approach for preparing photocatalysts synergized by isotype and Z-scheme heterojunctions.

Global warming would deteriorate rice (Oryza sativaL.) quality, especially chalk characteristic. To better cope with the challenges from global warming, the effects of nitrogen (N) fertilizer at heading stage on rice quality under elevated temperature during grain‐filling stage were investigated. Four different growth regimes, including no warming without N fertilizer at heading stage (CK), elevated temperature without N fertilizer at heading stage (ET), elevated temperature with N fertilizer at heading stage (ET+N), no warming with N fertilizer at heading stage (CK+N), were conducted. Elevated temperature during grain filling was achieved by a free‐air temperature enhancement facility with the increase of 4°C in ET and 3.7°C in ET+N. Results showed that elevated temperature decreased rice appearance quality and cooking quality and increased rice nutritional quality and eating quality. Grain‐filling rate and amyloplast development for both superior and inferior spikelets were obviously accelerated during early grain‐filling stage by elevated temperature. The application of N fertilizer at heading stage could inhibit the deterioration of rice quality, particularly for chalk performance, and may be associated with the alleviation of grain‐filling rate and amyloplast development. The above evidence indicated that the application of N fertilizer at heading stage is efficient to mitigate rice quality deterioration under higher temperatures in the Yangtze River Valley.

The existed content authentication schemes based on digital watermark have some shortcomings. In order to solve the problems, a speech content authentication scheme based on high-capacity watermark embedding is proposed, and the high-capacity embedding method is discussed. Firstly, speech signal is framed and segmented, and the samples of each segment are scrambled. Secondly, DCT is performed on the scrambled signal, and low-frequency coefficients are selected as the watermark embedding domain. Lastly, frame number is mapped to a sequence of integers and embedded into the domain based on the embedding method. Theoretical analysis and experimental evaluation results show that the proposed algorithm is inaudible, robust to desynchronous attacks, enhances the embedding capacity, and improves the security of watermark system.

Looming labor shortages and lower efficiency demand a shift from the cultivation of seedlings via the traditional nutritive soil method (CK) to hydroponically grown long‐mat seedlings (HLMS), a new method of raising rice (Oriza sativaL.) seedlings. This study was conducted to investigate the seedling quality and field growth characteristics of HLMS. We examined the effect of HLMS on seedling quality, mechanical transplantation quality, field growth characteristics, yield and benefit/cost ratio compared with those of CK (as a control). A widely grown conventional japonica rice cultivar (Wuyunjing24) and an indica hybrid rice cultivar (6Liangyou9368) were used as test material. The HLMS and CK showed no significant differences in weight/height ratio, seedling emergence rate, N content of leaves or antioxidant enzyme activities after transplantation; however, HLMS exhibited a more vigorous root system, a significantly decreased leaf area index and an extended transplantation period. The mechanical transplantation quality of HLMS was similar to that of CK but showed a significantly improved force of root entanglement. Compared with CK, the dry matter accumulation of HLMS differed quite low at the early field growth stage, whereas increased rapidly at the late growth stage. The yield and benefit/cost ratio of HLMS were equivalent or superior to those of CK. Briefly, the seedling quality of HLMS was better than that of the control, and its mechanical transplantation quality was comparable to that of the CK, enabling high‐yield and high‐efficiency rice production. Core Ideas Hydroponically grown long‐mat rice seedlings is a novel seedling cultivation method that reduces labor costs and improves efficiency.The force of root entanglement of hydroponically grown long‐mat rice seedlings was significantly improved.The yield and benefit/cost ratio of hydroponically grown long‐mat rice seedlings were equivalent or superior to those of the control. Hydroponically grown long‐mat rice seedlings is a novel seedling cultivation method that reduces labor costs and improves efficiency. The force of root entanglement of hydroponically grown long‐mat rice seedlings was significantly improved. The yield and benefit/cost ratio of hydroponically grown long‐mat rice seedlings were equivalent or superior to those of the control.

To explore the common characteristics of high‐yield rice (Oryza sativaL.) production and the influence of transplanting density on yield, field experiments were conducted in eight ecological zones with local popular high‐yield rice varieties in China in 2009. This study revealed that different ecological types of rice exhibit robust differences in growth stage, yield composition, source, sink, grain/leaf ratio, plant type traits, and dry matter (DM) accumulation and partitioning. The different ecological types of rice displayed the following common features: (i) grain yield was correlated with sink such that larger sink was always associated with larger yield; (ii) DM accumulation before and after the heading stage showed large variation in contribution to yield regardless of DM accumulation enhancement, especially for postheading accumulation, which was beneficial for increasing yield; and (iii) under the suitable seedling population (36 seedlings m−2or 25 seedlings m−2), wide rows with narrow within‐row plant spacing was conducive for building high‐yield populations. Overall, transplanting density and ecological site both have significant effects on rice yield, source‐sink relationship, and DM accumulation. Core IdeasYield was closely correlated with sink such that larger sink was always associated with higher yield.The dry matter accumulation before and after the heading stage had enormous variation in contribution to yield regardless of the dry matter accumulation enhancement, especially the yield of postheading accumulation, which was beneficial for increasing yield.Under the suitable seedling population, wide rows and narrow within‐row plant spacing was conducive for building high‐yield populations to improve the yield. Yield was closely correlated with sink such that larger sink was always associated with higher yield. The dry matter accumulation before and after the heading stage had enormous variation in contribution to yield regardless of the dry matter accumulation enhancement, especially the yield of postheading accumulation, which was beneficial for increasing yield. Under the suitable seedling population, wide rows and narrow within‐row plant spacing was conducive for building high‐yield populations to improve the yield.

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Slow‐release N fertilizer is considered an effective method of improving the N use efficiency (NUE). To investigate yield and N uptake of bowl‐seedling machine‐transplanted rice (Oryza sativaL.) with slow‐release N fertilizer, three fertilizers treatments including slow‐release fertilizer blend (SFB), polymer‐coated urea (PCU), and sulfur‐coated urea (SCU), and two fertilizer methods including single basal application (B), and combined with tillering urea (BT) were performed from 2013 to 2014 in Jiangsu Yellow Sea Farm of China. Conventional split fertilization (CK) and zero N treatment (N0) are controls. Yield and NUE improvement was found in PCU under both fertilization methods in both years when compared with the CK. The SCU only showed a slight yield increase in 2014, while SFB increased the yields and NUEs under both fertilization methods in both years. The BT‐SFB got the highest yields as 13.6 and 13.3 Mg ha−1, as well as increased 7.9 and 10.8% compared with CK in both years, respectively. The recovery efficiency of N was also the highest for BT‐SFB with 52.7 and 38.5% for 2013 and 2014, respectively. The results indicated that SFB can meet the rice N demand and improve the yield and NUE, and the combined application of tillering urea and SFB was better than that of single basal application with SFB.

Strong-field-enhanced spectroscopy in a hybrid dipole resonance system composed of a low-loss semiconductor nanoparticle and metal film is proposed and demonstrated. This hybrid Si nanoparticle on silver system is featuring extraordinary near-field enhancement and large field confinement. Extensive numerical calculations are carried out to investigate the influence of the gap size, particle diameter, and metal substrate on the near-field enhancement response in the Si particle–metal gap in order to properly model their hybridization. Our analysis reveals that this near-field enhancement originates from the strong gap magnetic resonance response by the Si nanoparticle dipole interaction with metal mirror image and metal film surface plasmon effects. We further demonstrate the strong enhanced Raman spectroscopy of a single silicon nanoparticle over Ag film with a precisely sized molecular spacer layer between them. These results illustrate the capacity and tunability of the low-loss silicon particle on the metal system on surface-enhanced spectroscopic techniques as well as possible applications in optical circuits or building new metamaterials.

Neutrophil recruitment, mediated by β2 integrins, combats pyogenic infections but also plays a key role in ischemia–reperfusion injury and other inflammatory disorders. Talin induces allosteric rearrangements in integrins that increase affinity for ligands (activation). Talin also links integrins to actin and other proteins that enable formation of adhesions. Structural studies have identified a talin1 mutant (L325R) that perturbs activation without impairing talin’s capacity to link integrins to actin and other proteins. Here, we found that mice engineered to express only talin1(L325R) in myeloid cells were protected from renal ischemia–reperfusion injury. Dissection of neutrophil function in vitro and in vivo revealed that talin1(L325R) neutrophils had markedly impaired chemokine-induced, β2 integrin–mediated arrest, spreading, and migration. Surprisingly, talin1(L325R) neutrophils exhibited normal selectin-induced, β2 integrin–mediated slow rolling, in sharp contrast to the defective slow rolling of neutrophils lacking talin1 or expressing a talin1 mutant (W359A) that blocks talin interaction with integrins. These studies reveal the importance of talin-mediated activation of integrins for renal ischemia–reperfusion injury. They further show that neutrophil arrest requires talin recruitment to and activation of integrins. However, although neutrophil slow rolling requires talin recruitment to integrins, talin-mediated integrin activation is dispensable.

Watermark schemes content-based provide one way to solve the veracity and integrity of speech content. Some existed content-based schemes are vulnerable to feature-analysed substitution attack. Aiming to solve the problems, a secure speech content authentication algorithm is proposed, on the basic of the undeterminate angle of discrete fractional fourier transform. In the paper, the definition and calculation of discrete fractional fourier transform are given. And the watermark generation method based on discrete fractional fourier transform is analyzed. Frame number and watermark bits are embedded into hybrid domain of scrambled signals. Compared with the existed watermark schemes, the features for watermark generation and embedding are secret, which improves the security of watermark system. Theoretical analysis and experimental evaluation results show that the proposed algorithm is inaudible, robust to desynchronous attacks and has the excellent ability of tamper detection and tamper location.

In rice–wheat rotation systems, crop straw is usually retained in the field at land preparation in every, or every other, season. We conducted a 3-year-6-season experiment in the middle–lower Yangtze River Valley to compare the grain qualities of rice under straw retained after single or double seasons per year. Four treatments were designed as: both wheat and rice straw retained (WR), only rice straw retained (R), only wheat straw retained (W), and no straw retained (CK). The varieties were Yangmai 16 wheat and Wuyunjing 23 japonicarice. The results showed contrasting effects of W and R on rice quality. Amylopectin content, peak viscosity, cool viscosity, and breakdown viscosity of rice grain were significantly increased in W compared to the CK, whereas gelatinization temperature, setback viscosity, and protein content significantly decreased. In addition, the effect of WR on rice grain quality was similar to that of W, although soil fertility was enhanced in WR due to straw being retained in two cycles. The differences in protein and starch contents among the treatments might result from soil nitrogen supply. These results indicate that wheat straw retained in the field is more important for high rice quality than rice straw return, and straw from both seasons is recommended for positive effects on soil fertility.

Improvement of yield in rice (Oryza sativaL.) is vital for ensuring food security in China. Both rice breeders and growers need an improved understanding of the relationship between yield and yield-related traits. New indicacultivars (53 in 2007 and 48 in 2008) were grown in Taoyuan, Yunnan province, to identify important components contributing to yield. Additionally, two standard indicarice cultivars with similar yield potentials, II You 107 (a large-panicle type) and Xieyou 107 (a heavy-panicle type), were planted in Taoyuan, Yunnan province and Nanjing, Jiangsu province, from 2006 to 2008 to evaluate the stability of yield and yield-related attributes. Growth duration (GD), leaf area index (LAI), panicles per m2(PN), and spikelets per m2(SM) were significantly and positively correlated with grain yield (GY) over all years. Sequential path analysis identified PN and panicle weight (PW) as important first-order traits that influenced grain yield. All direct effects were significant, as indicated by bootstrap analysis. Yield potential varied greatly across locations but not across years. Plant height (PH), days from heading to maturity (HM), and grain weight (GW) were stable traits that showed little variation across sites or years, whereas GD (mainly the pre-heading period, PHP) and PN varied significantly across locations. To achieve a yield of 15tha−1, a cultivar should have a PH of 110–125cm, a long GD with HM of approximately 40days, a PN of 300–400m−2, and a GW of 29–31mg.

We investigate a nanoscale active hybrid plasmonic laser with a metal-clad metal–insulator–semiconductor (MIS) square resonator. By forming a metal layer surrounding the MIS structure, the cavity mode can be well bound to the ultrasmall volume in the spacer region atop a semiconductor nanosquare, and the cavity Q factor can be statically tuned by changing the spacer height and has little influence on the wafer bonding substrate. Numerical simulations for an optimized structure show that the cavity feedback has been significantly improved due to the near-zero radiative loss and low metal loss. Abundant direct-gap InGaN gain material and low threshold gain make this structure a promising platform for nanolaser operating at room temperature. A four-level two-electron finite-difference time-domain simulation shows that this cavity can achieve room-temperature lasing at visible wavelengths with an estimated optical pump threshold of 190 μW, and the active material gain of InGaN should reach 0.855  μm^−1.

Abstract: For audio watermark schemes, the method robust against desynchronization attacks based on synchronization codes faces security challenges. In this paper, a content-based method robust against insertion and deletion attacks is given, which is aimed to solve the insecurity problem of synchronization codes embedding, and a speech content authentication algorithm based on Bessel–Fourier moments is proposed. The definition and fast computation of Bessel–Fourier moments of discrete signal are given, and the attack on synchronization codes embedding method is described. For the scheme proposed, the non-synchronized signals caused by desynchronization attack can be re-synchronized by finding the frame that the watermark generated and extracted are equal. Comparing with the synchronization codes embedding method, the scheme not only is robust against insertion and deletion attacks, but also improves the security of watermark system. Theoretical analysis and experimental evaluation results show that the scheme is effective. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract:White-belly and white-core are the major two types of grain chalkiness in japonica rice. This study aims to compare the morphological features of white-belly and white-core using a scanning electron microcope (SEM). A japonica rice cultivar Wuyujing3 and its mutants were used as materials. Nearly 1000 SEM images were observed, and 12 representative photos were selected. SEM images showed contrasting differences between white-belly and white-core in endosperm microstructure including the shape of endosperm cell, the size distribution of starch granules, and the amount of protein bodies. White-belly and white-core also varied markedly in morphological features of the cracked compound starch granules. Our findings should help to advance our understanding of the multi-faceted nature of grain chalkiness from the perspective of starch and protein accumulation, and should be of value for future work on rice grain chalkiness.

Neutrophils emigrate from venules to sites of infection or injury in response to chemotactic gradients. How these gradients form is not well understood. Some IL-6 family cytokines stimulate endothelial cells to express adhesion molecules and chemokines that recruit leukocytes. Receptors for these cytokines share the signaling subunit gp130. We studied knockout mice lacking gp130 in endothelial cells. Unexpectedly, gp130-deficient endothelial cells constitutively expressed more CXCL1 in vivo and in vitro, and even more upon stimulation with tumor necrosis factor-α. Mobilization of this increased CXCL1 from intracellular stores to the venular surface triggered β2 integrin–dependent arrest of neutrophils rolling on selectins but impaired intraluminal crawling and transendothelial migration. Superfusing CXCL1 over venules promoted neutrophil migration only after intravenously injecting mAb to CXCL1 to diminish its intravascular function or heparinase to release CXCL1 from endothelial proteoglycans. Remarkably, mice lacking gp130 in endothelial cells had impaired histamine-induced venular permeability, which was restored by injecting anti–P-selectin mAb to prevent neutrophil rolling and arrest. Thus, excessive CXCL1 expression in gp130-deficient endothelial cells augments neutrophil adhesion but hinders migration, most likely by disrupting chemotactic gradients. Our data define a role for endothelial cell gp130 in regulating integrin-dependent adhesion and de-adhesion of neutrophils during inflammation.

Nitrogen (N) fertilization increases rice yield, but inappropriate N fertilizer application increases N loss and the risk of environmental pollution. Short-term fertilizer postponing (FP) generally reduces N apparent surplus and increases rice yields, but the effects of long-term FP on N surplus and rice yields remain unknown. Our study was the first to investigate the impacts of long-term FP (11 years) on N apparent surplus and rice yields. FP effects in the short term (≤6 years) did not affect rice yields, whereas FP effects in the long term (>6 years) increased rice yields by 13.9% compared with conventional fertilization (CF). FP did not affect panicles per unit area, 1000-kernel weight, and filled-kernel rate, but spikelets per panicle increased over time due to spikelet formation stimulation. FP also reduced the N apparent surplus over time more strongly than CF owing to higher N accumulation and N utilization efficiency. FP effects in the long term also significantly increased soil organic matter, total N, and NH4+-N content. Our results were supported by a pot experiment, showing that rice yields in soils with a history of FP were significantly higher than those for soils without a history of FP, indicating that FP increased rice yields more strongly in later years mainly because of soil quality improvement. Our findings suggest that long-term FP can reduce N loss while increasing rice yields by improving soil quality.

A speech content authentication algorithm based on pseudo-Zernike moments in DCT domain is proposed in this paper, which is aimed at some shortcomings in some existing digital watermark schemes. The definition of coefficients self-correlation degree is given. Then the frequency domain watermark embedding method based on pseudo-Zernike moments in DCT domain is proposed. Watermark bits are generated by coefficients self-correlation degree and embedded by quantizing the pseudo-Zernike moments of DCT domain low-frequency coefficients. Comparing with the existing audio watermark algorithms based on pseudo-Zernike moments, the algorithm increases the watermarking embedding capacity and improves the efficiency greatly. Theoretical analysis and experimental evaluation results show that the proposed speech content authentication algorithm is effective.

The electronic transport properties are characterized for single-walled zigzag (9, 0) ZnO nanotubes sandwiched between two lithium electrodes using a combined nonequilibrium Green’s function and DFT-based formalism. By applying different bias voltages, the current−voltage characteristics are calculated for nanotubes of different lengths. The results indicate that the conductance of the system decreases exponentially with the increased length of the nanotubes. Metallic behavior is predicted for very short nanotubes, which is caused by the interface states from the metal−nanotubes interface. For longer nanotubes, the effect of the interface becomes smaller with the increased lengths. And semiconductor-like behaviors are observed, which are mainly determined by the ZnO nanotubes themselves. In addition, a peculiar phenomenon is observed that the values of the current at high bias are insensitive to the lengths. The behaviors can be understood in terms of the transmission spectrum, which shows that the transport properties are dominated by the electron states above the Fermi energy.

In inflamed venules, leukocytes use P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) to roll on P-selectin and E-selectin and to activate integrin αLβ2 (lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1, LFA-1) to slow rolling on intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1). Studies in cell lines have suggested that PSGL-1 requires its cytoplasmic domain to localize in membrane domains, to support rolling on P-selectin, and to signal through spleen tyrosine kinase (Syk). We generated “ΔCD” mice that express PSGL-1 without the cytoplasmic domain. Unexpectedly, neutrophils from these mice localized PSGL-1 normally in microvilli, uropods, and lipid rafts. ΔCD neutrophils expressed less PSGL-1 on their surfaces because of inefficient export from the endoplasmic reticulum. Limited digestion of wild-type neutrophils with O-sialoglycoprotein endopeptidase was used to reduce the PSGL-1 density to that on ΔCD neutrophils. At matched PSGL-1 densities, both ΔCD and wild-type neutrophils rolled similarly on P-selectin. However, ΔCD neutrophils rolling on P-selectin did not trigger Syk-dependent activation of LFA-1 to slow rolling on ICAM-1. These data demonstrate that the PSGL-1 cytoplasmic domain is dispensable for leukocyte rolling on P-selectin but is essential to activate β2 integrins to slow rolling on ICAM-1.

Most commercial scanning probe microscopes have multiple embedded digital microprocessors and utilize complex software for system control, which is not easily obtained or modified by researchers wishing to perform novel and special applications. In this paper, we present a simple and flexible control solution that just depends on software running on a single‐processor personal computer with real‐time Linux operating system to carry out all the control tasks including negative feedback, tip moving, data processing and user interface. In this way, we fully exploit the potential of a personal computer in calculating and programing, enabling us to manipulate the scanning probe as required without any special digital control circuits and related technical know‐how. This solution has been successfully applied to a homemade ultrahigh vacuum scanning tunneling microscope and a multiprobe scanning tunneling microscope. SCANNING 29: 000‐V000, 2007. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

By carefully controlling the reacting conditions, including atmosphere, temperature, and time, we directly acquire the nanowires of -Fe2O3from the nanowires of -Fe2O3in a reduced atmosphere. X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectrum, and transmission electronic microscope analyses demonstrate that the nanowires are single-crystalline -Fe2O3. The nanowires have a diameter ranging from 50 to 90 nm and their typical lengths are in the range of 10∼20 m. The optical property of the nanowires is observed by photoluminescence spectrum. The magnetic behavior of it is investigated by a magnetic property measurement system. The blocking temperature is found to be about 200 K. In addition, the mechanism of the transformation from -Fe2O3nanowires to -Fe2O3nanowires is preliminarily studied by ab initio approach. It is found that the role of H2is to change the Fe−O bonds in -Fe2O3nanowires, and then -Fe2O3is transformed into -Fe2O3.

The effect of grain position within a panicle on chalky occurrence, and its relation to phytic acid and protein content, were studied using 6 Japonica rice cultivars with compact panicles and through leaf and floret removal treatments to alter source-sink ratio. There were significant differences in total chalky grain (TCG), white core grain (WCG), white belly grain (WBG), and WCG/WBG among grains within a panicle, with the top and primary rachides having higher WBG than the bottom and secondary rachides. Alteration of source-sink ratio had a remarkable influence on chalky grain occurrence and its positional distribution within a panicle, and the extent of the influence varied greatly with cultivars. In comparison with WCG, WBG occurrence was more susceptible to the alteration of source-sink ratio. No significant correlation was found between chalky percentage and phytic acid and protein contents for the grains in the different positions within a panicle. Chalky occurrence had little effect on the nutritional quality.

Interaction between the embryo and endosperm affects seed development, an essential process in yield formation in crops such as rice. Signals that mediate communication between embryo and endosperm are largely unknown. We used the notched-belly (NB) mutant with impaired communication between embryo and endosperm to investigate the effect of the embryo on developmental staging of the endosperm and signaling pathways in the embryo that regulate endosperm development. Hierachical clustering of mRNA datasets from embryo and endosperm samples collected during development in NB and a wild type showed a delaying effect of the embryo on the developmental transition of the endosperm by extension of the middle stage. K-means clustering further identified coexpression modules of gene sets specific to embryo and endosperm development. Combined gene expression and biochemical analysis showed that T6P–SnRK1, gibberellin and auxin signaling by the embryo regulate endosperm developmental transition. We propose a new seed developmental staging system for rice and identify the most detailed signature of rice grain formation to date. These will direct genetic strategies for rice yield improvement.

Noradrenergic signaling sensitizes pathological GSK3β/tau activation to nanomolar Aβ.