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The processing technology measures for the spinning of machine picked cotton with new blowing-carding unit were discussed. The technology performance of JWF1213 carding machine and the cotton assorting, processing configuration and processing parameters for Xinjiang machine picked cotton spinning were introduced. The indexes changing situation like neps and short fiber content of half finished product in each process together with the quality indexes of sliver and yarn were analyzed. The technology measures and matters needing attention for the spinning of Xinjiang machine picked cotton with blowing-carding unit were summarized. It is considered that picking process should focus on impurity removal, the drop gauge should be in larger control and the beater speed in each part should all be in smaller control according to the property of Xinjiang machine picked cotton with higher impurity rate. Carding should be moderated for carding machine and focusing on removing more short fibers and tiny impurities. The cotton feeding parameters of blowing-carding unit should be optimized and the function of auto-levelling should be well played to ensure the weight unevenness index of silver after blowing-car ding meeting the spinning requirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Di- n-butyl phthalates (DBP) are recognized as ubiquitous contaminants in soil and adversely impact the health of organisms. Changes in the activity of antioxidant enzymes and levels of glutathione- S-transferase (GST), glutathione (GSH), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were used as biomarkers to evaluate the impact of DBP on earthworms ( Eisenia fetida) after exposure to DBP for 28 days. DBP was added to artificial soil in the amounts of 0, 5, 10, 50, and 100 mg kg of soil. Earthworm tissues exposed to each treatment were collected on the 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th day of the treatment. We found that superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) levels were significantly inhibited in the 100 mg kg treatment group on day 28. After 21 days of treatment, GST activity in 10-50 mg kg treatment groups was markedly stimulated compared to the control group. MDA content in treatment groups was higher than in the control group throughout the exposure time, suggesting that DBP may lead to lipid peroxidation (LPO) in cells. GSH content increased in the treatment group that received 50 mg kg DBP from 7 days of exposure to 28 days. These results suggest that DBP induces serious oxidative damage on earthworms and induce the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in earthworms. However, DBP concentration in current agricultural soil in China will not constitute any threat to the earthworm or other animals in the soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influences of fiber preform structure and thread engagement length on the mechanical properties of Carbon fiber reinforced silicon carbide matrix ( C/SiC) threaded joints were studied. The results show that stacking 3K carbon fiber cloth followed by stitching is a good preform for preparing a C/SiC nut because of its high bearing ability. Stacking 1K carbon fiber cloth followed by stitching is a preferred preform to prepare a C/SiC bolt, and its minimum thread engagement length resulting in bolt rupture instead of thread spalling failure is 4 mm, which is obviously smaller than those of other bolts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new method to form helical C/ Si C spring is proposed. Using paraffin mold as a sacrificial core, unidirectional carbon fiber bundles (infiltrated with resin) are wrapped around the mold to form helical spring, and after resin curing, the mold is removed, leaving a preform of C/ Si C spring. Following densification is finished with precursor infiltration and pyrolysis ( PIP) process. The spring constant of C/ Si C spring reaches 7.88 N/mm and could be regulated by varying composite density and carbon fiber content. The spring properties could be improved by twisting the carbon fibers at 35-50 twist/m. The restoration ratio reaches 100%, but energy dissipation happens during unloading process. After oxidation in air at 1200°C for 10 min, the spring has an 82.4% spring constant remaining ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A field experiment was conducted in 2017 and 2018 to investigate the responses of fine root growth and morphology plasticity to drip irrigation and nitrogen fertigation (DIF) in a young triploid P. tomentosa plantation in the North China Plain. We monitored four DIF treatments (I20F0, I20FH, I45F0, I45FH), which were the combinations of two irrigation thresholds (− 20 kPa and − 45 kPa, denoted as I20 and I45) and two N fertigation amounts (0, denoted as F0; 220 and 260 kg N ha−1 year−1 in 2017 and 2018, denoted as FH). Some soil properties and aboveground growth parameters were also monitored. I20 significantly improved fine root biomass density (FRBD) by 156.92% and induced a significant reduction of specific root length (SRL) by 28.79% in 0–30 cm soil layers than I45, and FH significantly decreased fine root length density (− 62.88%), surface area (− 54.01%), and SRL (− 39.01%) in 30–80 cm soil layers than F0 in 2017. Fine root traits differed little among DIF treatments in 0–30 cm soil layers in 2018, but I20 significantly improved FRBD by 259.98% than I45 and FH significantly improved fine root averaged diameter by 67.14% in 30–80 cm soil layers than F0. These suggested that fine root had a conservative foraging strategy in water- and nitrogen-rich conditions. All the trait plasticity might be due to the changeable soil properties (i.e. soil water content, organic matter, nitrate and ammonium nitrogen, and total phosphorus). Based on the little difference of fine root mass among DIF treatments in two years, we hold the view that fine root distribution pattern and some growth and morphological traits adapted to water-nitrogen heterogeneity more easily than the mass plasticity in young aged P. tomentosa plantations. Yet enhancing our understanding of fine root foraging strategy in response to DIF practices and how it affects tree growth requires more attention to some physiological and biochemical processes and the growth dynamics of the root systems. • Fine root had a conservative foraging strategy in resource-rich conditions. • Key indices affecting fine root trait plasticity were SWC, OM, NO 3- -N, NH 4+ -N, and TP. • Fine root showed higher trait plasticity compared with mass plasticity under DIF practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Populus tomentosa is a dominant poplar species in North China. Clarifying the short-term response of fine roots to soil water gradient in the P. tomentosa plantation is helpful to have a better understanding on the ecological adaption strategy of plant roots to soil moisture. Three irrigation treatments were set in a two-year-old P. tomentosa stand planted on the sandy loam, i.e. full irrigation (DIFI), controlled irrigation (DICI), and control (CK). After 2 months of irrigation, root sampling down to 150 cm depth was conducted in each treatment using the soil core method. Through the measurement of root samples, the root growth, distribution and morphology data in each treatment, soil depth and horizontal distance were obtained. Vertically, in each soil layer, there is no significant difference in fine root biomass density (FRBD) among treatments (p > 0.05). In the whole root zone and the area with a large moisture difference in shallow soil layer among treatments, the distribution depth of fine root showed a characteristic of CK > DICI > DIFI. However, this characteristic was not observed in the area with less difference in soil water content. Horizontally, FRBD in CK decreased gradually with the increase of the distance from tree, but this trend was very weak in DIFI and DICI treatment. There was no significant difference of FRBD among treatments at each horizontal distance (p > 0.05), except for the distance of 30 cm from tree, where FRBD of CK was obviously higher than DIFI and DICI treatment (p < 0.05). On a two-dimensional scale, fine roots distribution tended to be shallower with the increasing distance from tree. Under irrigation, fine roots mainly concentrated in the shallow soil layers at both sides of the dripper, while a majority of fine roots in CK distributed in the relatively deeper soil layers close to the tree. For each soil layer within 0–50 cm, no significant difference in fine root morphology was found among treatments (p > 0.05). Both the variation of the total fine root biomass and length among the treatments followed an order of CK > DIFI > DICI. In conclusion, when a short-term moisture difference occurred in the shallow soil layers, 1) the fine roots of P. tomentosa distributed deeper and tended to concentrate closer to the tree with the aggravation of drought stress, 2) P. tomentosa preferentially adjusted the fine root distribution rather than the fine root morphology in the shallow soil layer to adapt to soil water stress, 3) as to the total amount of fine roots, P. tomentosa adopted a regulation strategy of slight decrease at first and then distinct increase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) genes were confirmed to confer resistance to drought and water deficiency. An LEA gene from Tamarix androssowii (named TaLEA) was transformed into Xiaohei poplar (Populus simonii × P. nigra) via Agrobacterium. Twenty-five independent transgenic lines were obtained that were resistant to kanamycin, and 11 transgenic lines were randomly selected for further analysis. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) gel blot indicated that the TaLEA gene had been integrated into the poplar genome. The height growth rate, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, relative electrolyte leakage and damages due to salt or drought to transgenic and non-transgenic plants were compared under salt and drought stress conditions. The results showed that the constitutive expression of the TaLEA gene in transgenic poplars could induce an increase in height growth rate and a decrease in number and severity of wilted leaves under the salt and drought stresses. The MDA content and relative electrolyte leakage in transgenic lines under salt and drought stresses were significantly lower compared to those in non-transgenic plants, indicating that the TaLEA gene may enhance salt and drought tolerance by protecting cell membranes from damage. Moreover, amongst the lines analyzed for stress tolerance, the transgenic line 11 (T11) showed the highest tolerance levels under both salinity and drought stress conditions. These results indicated that the TaLEA gene could be a salt and drought tolerance candidate gene and could confer a broad spectrum of tolerance under abiotic stresses in poplars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) genes were confirmed to confer resistance to drought and water deficiency. An LEA gene from Tamarix androssowii (named TaLEA) was transformed into Xiaohei poplar (Populus simonii × P. nigra) via Agrobacterium. Twenty-five independent transgenic lines were obtained that were resistant to kanamycin, and 11 transgenic lines were randomly selected for further analysis. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and ribonucleic acid (RNA) gel blot indicated that the TaLEA gene had been integrated into the poplar genome. The height growth rate, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, relative electrolyte leakage and damages due to salt or drought to transgenic and non-transgenic plants were compared under salt and drought stress conditions. The results showed that the constitutive expression of the TaLEA gene in transgenic poplars could induce an increase in height growth rate and a decrease in number and severity of wilted leaves under the salt and drought stresses. The MDA content and relative electrolyte leakage in transgenic lines under salt and drought stresses were significantly lower compared to those in non-transgenic plants, indicating that the TaLEA gene may enhance salt and drought tolerance by protecting cell membranes from damage. Moreover, amongst the lines analyzed for stress tolerance, the transgenic line 11 (T11) showed the highest tolerance levels under both salinity and drought stress conditions. These results indicated that the TaLEA gene could be a salt and drought tolerance candidate gene and could confer a broad spectrum of tolerance under abiotic stresses in poplars. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Chronic pain associated with osteoarthritis (OA) remains an intractable problem with few effective treatment options. New approaches are needed to model the disease biology and to drive discovery of therapeutics. We present an in vitro model of OA pain, where dorsal root ganglion (DRG) sensory neurons were sensitized by a defined mixture of disease-relevant inflammatory mediators, here called Sensitizing PAin Reagent Composition or SPARC. Osteoarthritis-SPARC components showed synergistic or additive effects when applied in combination and induced pain phenotypes in vivo. To measure the effect of OA-SPARC on neural firing in a scalable format, we used a custom system for high throughput all-optical electrophysiology. This system enabled light-based membrane voltage recordings from hundreds of neurons in parallel with single cell and single action potential resolution and a throughput of up to 500,000 neurons per day. A computational framework was developed to construct a multiparameter OA-SPARC neuronal phenotype and to quantitatively assess phenotype reversal by candidate pharmacology. We screened ∼3000 approved drugs and mechanistically focused compounds, yielding data from over 1.2 million individual neurons with detailed assessment of functional OA-SPARC phenotype rescue and orthogonal "off-target" effects. Analysis of confirmed hits revealed diverse potential analgesic mechanisms including ion channel modulators and other mechanisms including MEK inhibitors and tyrosine kinase modulators. Our results suggest that the Raf-MEK-ERK axis in DRG neurons may integrate the inputs from multiple upstream inflammatory mediators found in osteoarthritis patient joints, and MAPK pathway activation in DRG neurons may contribute to chronic pain in patients with osteoarthritis., (Copyright © 2023 International Association for the Study of Pain.)

Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha is a well validated therapeutic target for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. TNF-alpha is initially synthesized as a 26-kDa membrane-bound form (pro-TNF) that is cleaved by a Zn-metalloprotease named TNF-alpha-converting enzyme (TACE) to generate the 17-kDa, soluble, mature TNF-alpha. TACE inhibitors that prevent the secretion of soluble TNF-alpha may be effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Using a structure-based design approach, we have identified a novel dual TACE/matrix metalloprotease (MMP) inhibitor 4-[[4-(2-butynyloxy)phenyl]sulfonyl]-N-hydroxy-2,2-dimethyl-(3S)thiomorpholinecarboxamide (TMI-1). This molecule inhibits TACE and several MMPs with nanomolar IC(50) values in vitro. In cell-based assays such as monocyte cell lines, human primary monocytes, and human whole blood, it inhibits lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced TNF-alpha secretion at submicromolar concentrations, whereas there is no effect on the TNF-alpha mRNA level as judged by RNase protection assay. The inhibition of LPS-induced TNF-alpha secretion is selective because TMI-1 has no effect on the secretion of other proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6, and IL-8. Importantly, TMI-1 potently inhibits TNF-alpha secretion by human synovium tissue explants of RA patients. In vivo, TMI-1 is highly effective in reducing clinical severity scores in mouse prophylactic collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) at 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg p.o. b.i.d. and therapeutic CIA model at 100 mg/kg p.o. b.i.d. In summary, TMI-1, a dual TACE/MMP inhibitor, represents a unique class of orally bioavailable small molecule TNF inhibitors that may be effective and beneficial for treating RA.