Search

Rice is the main staple food for more than half of the world's population. Yet, rice cultivation is subjected to criticism because of its important role in methane (CH4) emissions. Although several agronomic practices such as controlled irrigation and conservation tillage have been widely adopted to mitigate CH4 emissions from rice cultivation, the benefits gained by these practices are highly dependent on site-specific soil and climate conditions, and often offset by yield reduction. The use of plant growth regulating compounds having the potential to increase the crop yield and mitigate CH4 emissions may be an innovative approach to sustainable agriculture. Ethylene (C2H4), a plant growth regulator is known to have a strong inhibitory effect on methanogenesis. However, due to gaseous form and low water solubility, C2H4 has not been used to suppress methanogenesis in paddy fields. To develop C2H4 as a prospective soil amendment for reducing methane (CH4) emissions, ethephon (2-Chloroethylphosphonic acid), a precursor of C2H4 was tested. We found that ethephon reduced CH4 formation by 43%, similar to other well known methanogenic inhibitors (2-Bromoethanesulfonate, 2-Chlomoethanesulfonate, 2-Mercaptoethanesulfonate). However, ethephon rapidly hydrolyzed to C2H4 and methanogenic activity recuperated completely after C2H4 removal. To slow down the release of C2H4, ethephon was mixed with bio-degradable polymers such as cellulose acetate and applied to paddy soils. We found that compared with the control, the C2H4 release of ethephon slowed down to 90 days, and the CH4 emissions were reduced by 90%. The application of ethephon at lower concentrations did not significantly alter bacterial communities, their relative abundance, and the abundance of methanotrophs, but it significantly reduced archaeal communities and the relative abundance and expression level of methanogens in paddy soils. Results suggest that cellulose acetate-mixed ethephon has great promise to suppress CH4 emissions in rice paddies while ensuring sustainable yields.

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a major greenhouse gas (GHG) with high global warming potential. A majority of the N2O flux comes from agricultural sources, mainly due to nitrogen (N) fertilization. The soil N2O flux, induced by N fertilization, mainly originated from two different sources, i.e., fertilizer and soil organic nitrogen (SON). It is essential to know the individual contribution of these two different sources in total N2O flux for planning necessary mitigation strategies. It is also indispensable to know the seasonal difference of emission factors (EF) for having more accurate N2O inventory. Therefore, an experiment was conducted in a South Korean upland soil during summer and winter seasons using 15N labeled urea as an artificial N source and source specific N2O emissions were distinguished under different environmental conditions. To characterize the N2O emissions from urea, 0, 50, 100 and 200% of the Korean N recommendation rate was selected for specified crops. The Korean N recommendation rate for red pepper (Capsicum annuum) and garlic (Allium sativum) was 190 and 250 kg N ha−1, respectively. Direct emissions from urea were estimated from the difference of 15N2O flux emitted from 15N-urea treated soil and the natural abundance of 15N2O. From total N2O fluxes, urea originated N2O flux was 0.87% and 0.13% of the applied N in warm and cold seasons, respectively and the rest comes from SON. Nitrous oxide EF in the warm season was 2.69% of applied N and in the cold season that was 0.25%. Nitrous oxide fluxes showed a significant exponential relationship with soil temperature. The results show the necessity of considering the different N2O EF for warm and cold cropping seasons to reduce uncertainty in N2O inventory. The findings of this research may help better understand N2O source partitioning and the emission budget from warm and cold cropping seasons.

Excessive nutrient balance is a very crucial issue for environmental hazards. The constant addition of high-amounts of nutrient sources in agricultural production generates negative environmental conditions in Korea and Japan yet to be resolved. Therefore, it is obligatory to comprehend the nutrient (nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)) balance that is assessed by the difference between nutrient input and output in the soil surface in Korea and Japan. Among 34 Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, Korea and Japan had the highest N and P balances and thus both countries are primarily responsible for severe environmental pollution via nutrient release. The cultivable land area in both countries has constantly decreased during 1990–2017 at approximately 20 and 15% in Korea and Japan, respectively. Even N and P use efficiency sharply decreased with increasing N and P balance in both targeted countries. Japanese P balance, Korean N and P balances were decreased after the mid-1990s whereas, Japanese N balance almost unchanged for the last 28 years. Unlike chemical fertilizer input, Korean manure input level significantly increased from 78 kg N ha−1 in 1990 to 157 kg N ha−1 in 2017. Japanese manure input level was higher than that of chemical fertilizer without any big change for the last 28 years. The lion share of high N and P balance in both countries could generate from manure inputs, therefore, the number of livestock and their produced debris need to be used with more cautious for the reduction of national N and P surpluses at a benchmark level. These findings ensure to make a more environment friendly policy that can further reduce nutrient balance as well as improve soil health.

In rice paddy, the closed chamber method is broadly used to estimate methane (CH4) emission rate. Since rice plants can significantly affect CH4 production, oxidation and emission, rice plantation inside the chamber is standardized in IPCC guidelines. Methane emission rate is calculated using the increased concentration inside the headspace. Biomass growth might decrease the headspace volume, and thus CH4 emission rates might be overestimated. To evaluate the influence of chamber headspace decreased by rice plant development on CH4 emission rates, five Korean rice cultivars were cultivated in a typical rice paddy, and physical volume changes in rice biomass were assayed using water displacement method. The recommended acrylic closed chambers (H. 1.2 m x W. 0.6 m x L. 0.6 m) were installed, and eight rice plants were transplanted inside the chamber with the same space interval with the outside. Biomass growth significantly decreased the headspace volume of the chamber. However, this volume covered only 0.48–0.55% of the closed chamber volume at the maximum growth stage. During the whole cropping period, mean 0.24–0.28% of chamber headspace was allocated by plant biomass, and thus this level of total CH4 emissions was overestimated. However, this overestimation was much smaller than the errors coming from other investigation processes (i.e., chamber closing hour, temperature recording, inconstant flooding level, different soil environments, etc.) and rice physiological changes. In conclusion, the influence of physical biomass volume inside the closed chamber was negligible to make the error in total CH4 emission assessment in rice paddies.

Blast furnace slag (BFS), a by-product of iron making, has been utilized as silicate fertilizer in Korean and Japanese rice paddy. Silicate fertilizer, which has high contents of active iron and manganese as electron acceptor, was newly known to suppress methane (CH4) emission in flooded rice paddies, but the effect of its long-term application on rice cropping environment is still debatable. To evaluate the effect of silicate fertilization on suppressing CH4 emissions, the changes of CH4 index, indicating the ratio (%) of seasonal CH4 flux at the silicate fertilization treatment to that at the control, were generalized using the global investigation data (42 observations from 8 fields in Bangladesh, China, and Korea). Seasonal CH4 fluxes significantly decreased with increasing silicate fertilization levels. In CH4 index changes, 1.5 Mg ha−1 of silicate fertilizer application (the recommended level of rice cultivation in Korea) decreased by 15% of seasonal CH4 fluxes. Rice grain yield highly increased with increasing silicate fertilization rates and maximized at approximately 4 Mg ha−1 with 18% higher than no-silicate fertilization due to overall improvement of soil properties. To evaluate the long-term silicate fertilization effect on rice cropping environments, silicate (1.5 Mg ha−1 year−1) and non-silicate fertilization treatments were installed in a typical temperate-monsoon climate paddy field in South Korea in 1990. Periodic silicate fertilization significantly increased rice grain productivity by an average of 14% over the control for the last 28 years. This fertilization evidently improved rice quality without changes in chemical quality. Consecutive silicate fertilization effectively improved soil physical and chemical properties but did not increase any acid extractable heavy metal concentration in soil. In conclusion, BFS as silicate fertilizer could be a beneficial amendment to mitigate CH4 emission in the rice paddy and improve soil properties and rice productivity and quality without hazardous material accumulation.

Animals must detect aversive compounds to survive. Bitter taste neurons express heterogeneous combinations of bitter receptors that diversify their response profiles, but this remains poorly understood. Here we describe groups of taste neurons in Drosophila that detect the same bitter compounds using unique combinations of gustatory receptors (GRs). These distinct complexes also confer responsiveness to non-overlapping sets of additional compounds. While either GR32a/GR59c/GR66a or GR22e/GR32a/GR66a heteromultimers are sufficient for lobeline, berberine, and denatonium detection, only GR22e/GR32a/GR66a responds to strychnine. Thus, despite minimal sequence-similarity, Gr22e and Gr59c show considerable but incomplete functional overlap. Since the gain- or loss-of-function of Gr22e or Gr59c alters bitter taste response profiles, we conclude a taste neuron’s specific combination of Grs determines its response profile. We suspect the heterogeneity of Gr expression in Drosophila taste neurons diversifies bitter compound detection, improving animal fitness under changing environmental conditions that present a variety of aversive compounds., Taste sensilla are Drosophila sensory organs containing taste neurons, which have differential tuning for bitter compounds. Here, the authors systematically examine what combinations of gustatory receptor genes confer a specific taste response profile in different bitter taste neurons.

Highlights • Fisetin inhibits PI3K activity at the enzymatic and cellular levels. • Fisetin induces the apoptosis of Raji cells by downregulating cIAP-2 protein expression. • The pro-apoptotic activity of fisetin may be linked to a potential to inhibit mTOR signaling and to induce DNA damage., Aberrant regulation of phosphatidylinositol-3-kinases (PI3Ks) is known to be involved in the progression of cancers. PI3K-binding flavonoids such as quercetin and myricetin have been shown to inhibit PI3K activity, but the direct targeting of fisetin to PI3K has not been established. Here, we carried out an in silico investigation of fisetin binding to PI3K and determined fisetin’s inhibitory activity in enzymatic and cell-based assays. In addition, fisetin induced apoptosis in human Burkitt’s lymphoma Raji cells by inhibiting both PI3Ks and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR). Our results indicate that fisetin may serve as a natural backbone for the development of novel dual inhibitors of PI3Ks and mTOR for the treatment of cancer.

Objective To intra-individually compare 3T magnetic resonance (MR) images obtained with one dose gadoterate meglumine to 1.5T MR using conventional double dose for assessment of chronic myocardial infarction. Materials and Methods Sixteen patients diagnosed with chronic myocardial infarctions were examined on single-dose 3T MR within two weeks after undergoing double-dose 1.5T MR. Representative short-axis images were acquired at three points after administration of gadoterate meglumine. Contrast-to-noise ratios between infarcted and normal myocardium (CNRinfarct-normal) and between infarct and left ventricular cavity (CNRinfarct-LVC) were calculated and compared intra-individually at each temporal scan. Additionally, two independent readers assessed relative infarct size semi-automatically and inter-observer reproducibility was evaluated using intraclass correlation coefficient. Results While higher CNRinfarct-normal was revealed at single-dose 3T at only 10 minutes scan (p = 0.047), the CNRinfarct-LVC was higher at single-dose 3T MR at each temporal scan (all, p < 0.05). Measurement of relative infarct size was not significantly different between both examinations for both observers (all, p > 0.05). However, inter-observer reproducibility was higher at single-dose 3T MR (all, p < 0.05). Conclusion Single-dose 3T MR is as effective as double-dose 1.5T MR for delineation of infarcted myocardium while being superior in detection of infarcted myocardium from the blood cavity, and provides better reproducibility for infarct size quantification.

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of Actinomyces sp. and Bacillus sp., United States granular microorganisms and Japan granular microorganisms on turfgrass growth and thatch decomposing of creeping bentgrass in golf course by measuring turf color index, chlorophyll index, thatch content of soil, root length, turf density and chemical properties and thatch content of soil. Fertilizer treatment was designed as follows; control(CF; compound fertilizer), microorganism medium(M; CF+M), microorganism medium and livestock manure fertilizer(M-L; CF+M+LMF), microorganism medium, livestock manure fertilizer and amino acid liquid fertilizer(M-L-A; MM+LMF+ALF), United States granular microorganisms(USGM; CF+USGM), Japan granular microorganisms(CF+JGM). Soil properties investigated after experiment was scarcely affected by applied fertilizers in root zone of creeping bentgrass. The turf color index and chlorophyll index of M, M-L, M-L-A, USGM, JGM treatment were higher than those of CF. The turfgrass root in M-L treatment was longer than others. The thatch content of soil in M treatment was longer than others. The thatch content of M was decreased than that of CF by 6.8%. These was suggested that application of M induced the development of quality and growth of creeping bentgrass by assisting turfgrass growth and thatch decomposing.Keywords : Acinetobacter, Bacillus sp., Creeping bentgrass, Thatch decomposing, Turf growth

Oxidative stress induces numerous biological problems. Lipid oxidation and peroxidation appear to be important steps by which exposure to oxidative stress leads the body to a disease state. For its protection, the body has evolved to respond to and eliminate peroxidation products through the acquisition of binding proteins, reducing and conjugating enzymes, and excretion systems. During the past decade, researchers have identified a group of ion channel molecules that are activated by oxidized lipids: transient receptor potential (TRP) channels expressed in sensory neurons. These ion channels are fundamentally detectors and signal converters for body-damaging environments such as heat and cold temperatures, mechanical attacks, and potentially toxic substances. When messages initiated by TRP activation arrive at the brain, we perceive pain, which results in our preparing defensive responses. Excessive activation of the sensory neuronal TRP channels upon prolonged stimulations sometimes deteriorates the inflammatory state of damaged tissues by promoting neuropeptide release from expresser neurons. These same paradigms may also work for pathologic changes in the internal lipid environment upon exposure to oxidative stress. Here, we provide an overview of the role of TRP channels and oxidized lipid connections during abnormally increased oxidative signaling, and consider the sensory mechanism of TRP detection as an alert system.

Lipids have long been studied as constituents of the cellular architecture and energy stores in the body. Evidence is now rapidly growing that particular lipid species are also important for molecular and cellular signaling. Here we review the current information on interactions between lipids and transient receptor potential (TRP) ion channels in nociceptive sensory afferents that mediate pain signaling. Sensory neuronal TRP channels play a crucial role in the detection of a variety of external and internal changes, particularly with damaging or pain-eliciting potentials that include noxiously high or low temperatures, stretching, and harmful substances. In addition, recent findings suggest that TRPs also contribute to altering synaptic plasticity that deteriorates chronic pain states. In both of these processes, specific lipids are often generated and have been found to strongly modulate TRP activities, resulting primarily in pain exacerbation. This review summarizes three standpoints viewing those lipid functions for TRP modulations as second messengers, intercellular transmitters, or bilayer building blocks. Based on these hypotheses, we discuss perspectives that account for how the TRP-lipid interaction contributes to the peripheral pain mechanism. Still a number of blurred aspects remain to be examined, which will be answered by future efforts and may help to better control pain states.

SUMMARY This work explores the opportunity to reduce the cost and enhance the stability of RuO2 as an oxygen evolution reaction catalyst by coating RuO2 on chemically stable SnO2 support. Nano-sized RuO2/SnO2 composites of different mass ratios of RuO2 to SnO2 (0.45:1, 0.67:1, and 1.07:1) were synthesized using solution-based hydrothermal method. The physicochemical properties of the RuO2/SnO2 were studied by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms. The electrochemical activity of RuO2/SnO2 as anode electrocatalyst was investigated in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) water electrolysis cell of Pt/C cathode and Nafion membrane. Experimental results showed that RuO2/SnO2 of ratio (1.07:1) exhibit higher electrochemical activity compared to pure RuO2, resulting ~50% reduction of noble metal content. The extended life test of electrocatalysts for 240 h implied that RuO2/SnO2 (1.07:1) significantly improved the stability of electrode in comparison to pure RuO2 in oxygen evolution processes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Electrodeposited mixed nanostructures composed of conducting polyaniline (PANI) and hydrous ruthenium oxide (H-RuO 2 ) referred as a hybrid nanostructure was synthesized. The surface morphology was investigated from the field-emission scanning electron microscopy digital photoimages. Fibrous network of PANI and spheres of H-RuO 2 were obtained. PANI embedded H-RuO 2 was confirmed from the Raman spectroscopy analysis. Cyclic-voltammetry, used to characterize the electrochemical capacitive properties of hybrid PANI/H-RuO 2 (RP 30) nanostructure, showed a specific capacitance as high as 322 F/g in 0.5 M H 2 SO 4 electrolyte. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurement revealed the low equivalent series resistance.

One-step and template-free synthesis of polyaniline nanobuds (PANI NBs), synthesized using anodic electrochemical polymerization method, is reported at room temperature onto a conducting indium-tin-oxide glass substrate. The PANI NBs are characterized for their structural, morphological, and electrochromic properties. Scanning electron microscopy image reveals NBs type architecture, perpendicular to the substrate surface. These NBs are broader at their bottoms and narrower at the tops. Individual NB has confirmed 30 nm top diameter and 100-200 nm length. Electrochemical supercapacitive behavior of the PANI NBs electrode is investigated by measuring cyclic voltammetry curves. Moderate specific capacitance of 128 F/g is achieved in the potential range of 0.2 to 1.0 V at 10 mV/s sweep rate in 0.5 M H2SO4 electrolyte. Influence of inner and outer charges on a resultant specific capaci- tance is also investigated. V C 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 000: 000-000, 2012

One pot run mass-production of polyaniline (PANI) nanorice is carried out using a simple room temperature ingenious low temperature wet-chemical method. Different bondings are identified using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis. Crystalline structure, due to presence of well-defined rings in selected area electron diffraction pattern, and nanorice morphology, from the scanning electorn miscropy photoimages, of as-prepared PANI are confirmed. Using high-resolution trasmission electron microscopy digital photoimage 0.46 nm and 0.37 nm fringe widths are monitored. Surface area of 41.06 m2 g−1 is justified from the adsorption–desorption isotherms. The PANI nanorice electrode reveals 17.33 W h kg−1 energy density and the 480 W kg−1 power density due to significant inner charge contribution (68.28 C g−1) compared to outer charge.

Gold nanoparticles(AuNP) were electrodeposited on a glassy carbon(GC) which was electrochemically modified by potentiodynamic cyclic polarization in acidic medium. The AuNP deposits were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and linear sweep voltammetry. Results of these studies showed that very small sized AuNP are deposited with significantly high particle density which is attributed to the surface modification of GC. The resulted AuNP/GC electrode showed high catalytic activity for electrochemical reduction of NAD+ to NADH, indicating its potential for electrocatalytic applications. Keywords: Glassy carbon (GC), Electrodeposition, Electrochemical activation, Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), β-Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide monohydrate (NAD+)

The efficacy of many of pain-relieving drugs is based on mechanisms by which the drugs interfere with the body’s natural pain-mediating pathways. By contrast, although it is less popular, other drugs including opioids exert more powerful analgesic actions by augmenting endogenous inhibitory neural circuits for pain mediation. Recently, a novel endogenous pain-inhibitory principle was suggested and is now attracting both scientific and clinical attentions. The central players for the actions are particular body lipids: resolvins. Although research is in the preclinical phase, multiple hypotheses have actively been matured regarding the potency and molecular and neural processes of the analgesic effects of these substances. Consistently, accumulating experimental evidence has been demonstrating that treatment with these lipid substances is strongly effective at controlling diverse types of pain. Treatment of resolvins does not appear to disturb the body homeostasis as severely as many other therapeutic agents that interrupt the body’s natural signaling flow, which enables us to predict their fewer adverse effects. This paper serves as a review of currently documented painkilling actions of resolvins, summarizes the potential cellular and receptor-mediated mechanisms to date, and discusses the many clinical uses for these therapeutic lipids that have not yet been tested. Future scientific efforts will more concentrate to unveil such aspects of the substances and to construct clear proofs of concept for pain relief.