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Various studies have demonstrated that the long-term flow regime plays an important role in stimulating fish spawning. The flow regime is altered by the construction and operation of reservoirs. In this study, a flow-regime identification method is proposed, which extracts the rising hydrograph processes with a certain amplitude and duration through multiple passes of denoising and filtering algorithms to filter out random fluctuations with different amplitudes. The identified rising hydrograph processes were then quantitatively characterized using three parameters. A multiobjective optimization model was constructed to mimic the natural flow process in reservoir discharge and to maximize the output value of the power plant using the Nondominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II). Finally, the proposed model was applied to the planning of a large-scale reservoir on the upper reaches of the Yellow River in China. The derived Pareto front in different hydrological years was analyzed using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) method, and various operational schemes were evaluated on this basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dendrobium officinale is an important traditional Chinese medicinal herb, and the stem tissue is the main medicinal that is harvested from D. officinale. Recently, the first viroid was identified from D. officinale in China, and it has been named Dendrobium viroid (DVd). Whether DVd interferes with metabolic pathways in dendrobium plants and affects the medicinal value of the host is unknown. In this study, metabolomics data from stem tissues supported by transcriptome studies were used to investigate how metabolism modulate of D. officinale is altered by DVd infection. Our results show that metabolism of D. officinale is reprogrammed in many ways during DVd infection, and this is reflected by significant changes in the levels of flavonoids, alkaloids, and phenolic acids. Furthermore, we found that DVd infection significantly decreased the accumulation of flavonoids and alkaloid metabolites in infected stems, and the decreases in these metabolites appears to affect the medicinal components of the infected plants, weakening the host antiviral immune response as well. Conversely, phenolic acids occupy a larger proportion of the up-regulated metabolites from DVd infection in comparison with the mock-inoculated control, and the increase in the total phenolic acids may reflect the activation of the pathogen defense response in D. officinale. Taken together, our results provide an interesting overview and give a better understanding of the relationship between metabolism and DVd infection in the orchid D. officinale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The apple-shaped pear, the fruit of the Pyrus pyrifolia cv. pingguoli (Rosaceae) tree, is one of the most popular fruits in the northern part of China. The current study is the 1st report of its bioactive components. We identified 10 metabolites from the peels (exocarp) of apple-shaped pear and assessed their toxicity. We then compared the anti-oxidant activity, amount of total phenolic compounds, and total condensed tannin content of the peels and flesh (mesocarp) of apple-shaped pear. The 6 major components in the peels and flesh of this fruit were quantified with Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography-Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry. Results revealed that the peels possessed stronger anti-oxidant activity and contained larger amounts of phenolic compounds than the flesh. These results provide insights into the potential health benefits of this fruit and support the use of the fruit peels and products containing peels or peel components. Practical Application: The present research provided evidences that the pulp and peel waste from the juice industry of apple-shaped pear may be a source of useful compounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel viroid-like RNA (324 nt) was discovered in Dendrobium TSA. • Its infectivity and circularity were proven in D. officinal. • Tentatively designated as Dendrobium viroid (DVd). • DVd has a predicted rod-like secondary structure containing a CCR and a TCR. • DVd groups in the genus Apscaviroid and shares 56% nucleotide identity with CVd V. • DVd had a low incidence (0.96%) in Dendrobium species under natural conditions. Viroids are small circular RNA molecules which have been found to infect many dicot species. Only coconut cadang-cadang viroid and coconut tinangaja viroid have been reported so far to infect a monocot (coconut). Data mining in silico has proven an efficient approach to identify new viruses/viroids, and a systematic screen of public transcriptomic data revealed a 648 nucleotides (nt) sequence potentially representing a novel viroid-like RNA in a transcriptome shotgun assembly from Dendrobium officinale. This sequence contained two central conserved regions (CCRs) characteristic of members of the genus Apscaviroid , indicating that the viroid-like RNA is 324 nt in length. The infectivity of dimeric RNA transcripts generated by in vitro transcription of a synthetic cDNA, was demonstrated by directly injecting into the stems of young Dendrobium officinale plants. The presence of this novel viroid, tentatively designated as Dendrobium viroid (DVd), in the inoculated plants was confirmed by 2D-PAGE together with northern hybridization. DVd is predicted to have a rod-like secondary structure containing a CCR and a terminal conserved region (TCR), and phylogenetic analysis shows that it groups with the known members of the genus Apscaviroid. It is most closely related to citrus viroid V (56% nt identity). A field survey revealed a low DVd incidence (0.96%) in Dendrobium species in China. To our best knowledge, DVd is the only viroid known to infect orchids and the third one from monocotyledonous plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) in China as of March 2016. Topics include the critical impact of medical decisions on the treatment strategies for AIS on the welfare patients with AIS and their families, the treatment options for AIS including observation, surgery and bracing, and the adverse long-term effects of general anesthesia on the behavior and cognition of adolescents.

This study analyzed the trend in semen quality of infertile male patients in Wenzhou, China, based on the data obtained from 38 905 patients during 2008-2016 in The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University (Wenzhou, China). The results showed that only 24.9% of the patients had normal semen quality. For the semen quality of infertile male patients, that of the workers and 40-year-olds was significantly worse than the other occupational and age groups. For all the infertile patients, low semen volume, asthenozoospermia, and teratozoospermia accounted for 8.4%, 50.5%, and 54.1%, respectively. During 2008-2016, the annual mean percentage of fast forward motile spermatozoa, percentage of total forward motile spermatozoa, and percentage of spermatozoa with normal morphology decreased linearly with slopes of -2.11, -2.59, and -0.70, respectively. The proportion of patients with asthenozoospermia and multi-abnormal spermatozoa increased during 2008-2016 with slopes of 4.70 and 4.87, respectively, while for low semen volume, it decreased with a slope of -0.47 in the same time period. The proportion of patients with teratozoospermia increased from 2008 to 2011 and from 2011 to 2016 with slopes of 17.10 and 2.09, respectively. In general, the deteriorating trend of semen quality of infertile male patients in Wenzhou was obvious. Future efforts should be made to reveal the adverse influences on semen quality, such as occupational exposure, environmental quality, and living habits. Furthermore, more pervasive reproduction health education is necessary., Competing Interests: None

In order to breed and spread a new cultivar of Curcuma wenyujin, the C. wenyujin germplasm resources were investigated in authentic regions. Better varieties were chosen by comparing the yield, economic characters and quality differences between different cultivars. The results showed that the character of new selected cultivar was stable, the yield of zedoary, turmeric and curcuma was reached 313.7, 177.9, 91.2 kg per 667 m2, respectively, it increased 11.6%, 10.2%, 14.2% comparing with farmer varieties. The volatile oil contents in zedoary and turmeric was 4.0%, 3.0%, respectively. The target ingredients (germacrone) content was stable. It is demonstrated that the new cultivar "Wenyujin No. 1" has value for extension at authentic regions.

Objective: To study the germination property of the seeds of Achyranthes bidentata from different producing area, providing foundation for choosing the better seed resources., Method: The germination rate, germination energy, germination index, vigor and the characteristics of the seeds of A. bidentata from different producing area were compared, and the relative electric conductivity was measured. The characteristics of the seed were recorded through the Anymicro DSS YT-5M microscope digital camera, and the differences were analyzed., Result: Seed from Henan Boai and Hebei Anguo showed the better germination rate, germination energy, germination index and vigor., Conclusion: The seeds from both Henan Boai and Hebei Anguo showed the better quality.

Objective: To define the genetic relationship and other genetic characters of different varieties of Rehmannia glutinosa., Method: RAPD reactions were conducted on total 54 samples from 16 varieties and 2 populations of R. glutinosa. The data were analyzed by Phylips, Popgene and Arlequin software., Result: The majority rule consensus tree defined the 54 samples to 3 groups. Population genetics analysis and AMOVA showed that the genetic diversity among varieties/populations much greater than that within varieties/populations, but within group II the genetic diversity among varieties was similar to that within varieties., Conclusion: Due to the long-time asexual propagation of R. glutinosa, some genetic differentiation has been accumulated and fixed within the species. It was shown that the genetic distance between wild population and cultivated varieties was greater than the genetic distance among cultivated varieties. The wild resource of the plant should be paid more attention and studies.