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Photocatalytic has received considerable attention for hydrogen production and degradation of organic matter. For TiO2, however, its wide applications are severely limited by low utilization of visible light and fast recombination of photogenerated carriers. Novel visible light-induced ZnSe/TiO2 nanorod heterojunction photocatalyst was obtained by a physical method of glancing angle deposition technology. The TiO2 nanorods can increase specific surface area, resulting in more reactive sites. Besides, the introduction of ZnSe can increase visible-light absorption ability and promote the separation of photogenic carriers, improving photocatalytic efficiency. Photocurrent density of ZnSe/TiO2 reached a maximum of 0.55 mA/cm2, which was more than two times higher than that of pure TiO2 nanorods (0.24 mA/cm2). The prepared ZnSe/TiO2 nanorod heterojunction materials were also employed as photocatalysts for the degradation of methyl orange under visible light illumination. It exhibited higher photodegradation efficiency in comparison with those of pure TiO2 nanorod. Importantly, a possible mechanism of photocatalytic degradation was proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, machine learning, a popular artificial intelligence technique, has been successfully applied to monthly runoff forecasting. Monthly runoff autoregressive forecasting using machine learning models generally uses a sliding window algorithm to construct the dataset, which requires the selection of the optimal time step to make the machine learning tool function as intended. Based on this, this study improved the sliding window algorithm and proposes an interval sliding window (ISW) algorithm based on correlation coefficients, while the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) method was used to combine three machine learning models, Random Forest (RF), LightGBM, and CatBoost, into an ensemble to overcome the preference problem of individual models. Example analyses were conducted using 46 years of monthly runoff data from Jiutiaoling and Zamusi stations in the Shiyang River Basin, China. The results show that the ISW algorithm can effectively handle monthly runoff data and that the ISW algorithm produced a better dataset than the sliding window algorithm in the machine learning models. The forecast performance of the ensemble model combined the advantages of the single models and achieved the best forecast accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The percentage of chalky grains in WYJ30 was 12.1%, whereas that of WYJ30-T3-1, WYJ30-T3-2 and WYJ30-T3-3 was 10.0%, 7.8% and 4.5%, respectively (Figure 1f). Keywords: rice; appearance quality; grain shape; chalkiness; promoter editing; regulatory element EN rice appearance quality grain shape chalkiness promoter editing regulatory element 1305 1307 3 06/22/23 20230701 NES 230701 Rice, an important food crop consumed by more than half of the world's population, is also a tradeable commodity. Unlabelled WYJ30-T3-1, WYJ30-T3-2 and WYJ30-T3-3 promoter probes were used (100-fold) for the competition in (p). Compared with WYJ30, the mutants WYJ30-T3-1, WYJ30-T3-2 and WYJ30-T3-3 produced more slender grains (Figure 1c, e). [Extracted from the article]

Kinetic studies of the extraction of chromium(VI) [Cr(VI)] from the hydrochloric acid solution with tri-n-octylamine (N235) have been mad by a Lewis cell. The influences of various kinetic parameters, such as stirring rate, interfacial area, temperature, N235 and initial Cr (VI) concentrations were evaluated. The rate equations for the extraction of Cr(VI) by N235 were obtained on the basis of the slop analysis data. The results indicated that the reaction rate of Cr (VI) increased with increasing of the stirring rate and interfacial area until that a "plateau" was observed with increasing stirring rate. The activation energies of Cr(VI) extraction by N235 dissolved in diluents were calculated. Kinetics analysis proved that the mass transfer was controlled mainly by diffusion and the chemical reaction between Cr(VI) anions and N235 could be achieved at the liquid-liquid interface. On the basis of the relation between ln[Cr(VI)] and ln R0 or ln[N235] and ln R0, the rate equations can be obtained. This research provides a proof-in-concept analysis for kinetic mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Heterotrimeric G proteins, which consist of Gα, Gβ and Gγ subunits, function as molecular switches that regulate a wide range of developmental processes in plants. In this study, we characterised the function of rice RGG2, which encodes a type B Gγ subunit, in regulating grain size and yield production. The expression levels of RGG2 were significantly higher than those of other rice Gγ‐encoding genes in all tissues tested, suggesting that RGG2 plays essential roles in rice growth and development. By regulating cell expansion, overexpression of RGG2 in Nipponbare (NIP) led to reduced plant height and decreased grain size. By contrast, two mutants generated by the clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/CRISPR‐associated protein 9 (Cas9) system in the Zhenshan 97 (ZS97) background, zrgg2‐1 and zrgg2‐2, exhibited enhanced growth, including elongated internodes, increased 1000‐grain weight and plant biomass and enhanced grain yield per plant (+11.8% and 16.0%, respectively). These results demonstrate that RGG2 acts as a negative regulator of plant growth and organ size in rice. By measuring the length of the second leaf sheath after gibberellin (GA3) treatment and the GA‐induced α‐amylase activity of seeds, we found that RGG2 is also involved in GA signalling. In summary, we propose that RGG2 may regulate grain and organ size via the GA pathway and that manipulation of RGG2 may provide a novel strategy for rice grain yield enhancement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, lung cancer is still a main cause of malignancy-associated death worldwide. Even though various methods for prevention and treatment of lung cancer have been improved in recent decades, the 5-year survival rate has remained very low. Insights into the anticancer function of small-molecule anticancer compounds have opened our visual field about cancer therapy. α-Solanine has been well studied for its antitumor properties, but its effect in lung cancer and associated molecular mechanisms have not yet been evaluated. To explore the anticancer function of α-solanine, we performed an MTT assay, Transwell arrays, colony-forming survival assay, quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR), Western blotting, and dual luciferase reporter assays in A549 and H1299 cells. We found that α-solanine not only inhibited cell migration and invasion ability but also enhanced the chemosensitivity and radiosensitivity of A549 and H1299 cells. Moreover, we discovered that α-solanine could affect the expression of miR-138 and focal adhesion kinase (FAK), both of which were also found to affect the chemosensitivity and radiosensitivity of A549 and H1299 cells. In conclusion, α-solanine could affect miR-138 and FAK expression to restrict cell migration and invasion and enhance the chemosensitivity and radiosensitivity of A549 and H1299 cells. The α-solanine/miR-138/FAK cascade can probably be a potential therapy target against lung adenocarcinoma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]