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The electricity spot market can reflect the power supply and demand situation in real time through price signals, guiding users to shift peaks and fill valleys, and enhancing the level of new energy consumption. Gansu Province, one of the first pilot spot market provinces in China, has designed a bilateral spot market for generations and users. The power supply mode and grid operation mode will undergo changes according to the operation results of the power market to achieve the optimal allocation of power resources, thus posing a huge challenge to the original grid dispatching mode. The article analyses the dispatch management articulation model based on the high penetration of new energy grids in the power market reform, adapts the work focus after changes in the power market business, and explores efficient dispatching business processes for the power spot market to ensure a smooth transition of dispatching work and effective integration of the market business.

Developing a non-platinum catalyst that effectively catalyzes the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is highly significant for metal–air batteries. Metal and nitrogen co-doped carbons (M-N-Cs) have emerged as alternative candidates to platinum. In this work, dual-metal Pd/Fe-N-C electrocatalysts were synthesized by the one-step pyrolysis of phytic acid, melamine, and Pd/Fe-based salts. The Pd/Fe-N-C catalyst exhibited a good catalytic ability during the ORR process and outperformed the commercial Pt/C catalyst as regards mass activity, catalytic stability, and methanol tolerance. It was found that Pd-Nx is the active center, and the synergistic effect from the Fe component introduction endowed the Pd/Fe-N-C with an excellent catalytic performance towards the ORR. When assembled into a Zn–air battery, its specific capacity was ~775 mAh gZn−1. Meanwhile, the peak power density could reach 3.85 W mgPd−1, i.e., 3.4 times that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst (1.13 W mgPt−1). This implies that the Pd/Fe-N-C catalyst has potential applications in metal–air batteries.

Headspace–solid-phase microextraction coupled to gas chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (HS–SPME–GC–MS) method was used to determine the composition and content of volatiles in dried flower buds of Lonicera macranthoides obtained by five processing methods (PMs). Sixty-five compounds were identified, which included alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, hydrocarbons, acids, esters, terpenoids, and others. Alcohols were the most abundant compounds in most of the samples while acids were present in negligible amounts. Samples obtained by sun drying (PM4) and by heating in an oven with a programmed temperature cycle (PM2) were characterized by higher amounts of esters and terpenoids. PM4 resulted in larger numbers of compounds albeit in lower amounts. The principal component analysis confirmed that terpenoids and esters were the most prominent volatiles from PM2. The HS–SPME–GC–MS method can be used to rapidly ascertain the volatile content in L. macranthoides samples; the results herein provided provide a valuable source for comparing the effects of applying different processing methods.

The contamination of pesticides has been recognized as a major stressor in fresh water ecosystems in terms of the losses of services and population declines and extinctions. However, information on the adverse effects of pesticides on zooplankton communities under natural field conditions are still lacking, although zooplankton is quite sensitive to most of pesticides in laboratory studies. In this study, a natural lake ecosystem (Liangzi Lake) was used to determine the relationship between pesticide contamination and abundance decline of metazoan zooplankton. In August 2020, the comprehensive trophic level indexes and the abundance of phytoplankton in the 14 sampling sites of Liangzi Lake were comparable, but the abundance of metazoan zooplankton showed significant variations across two orders of magnitude. These results suggested that other factors, such as pesticide contamination, might be responsible for the variations of metazoan zooplankton community. Furthermore, the responsible pesticides were screened, and totally 29 pesticides were obtained. Finally, five pesticides were identified to provide more than 99.4% toxic contributions and chlorpyrifos and cypermethrin were two main causal agents. These results were further supported by laboratory exposure experiments using D. magna and field study in November 2020, where the concentrations of the 29 pesticides were strongly decreased and the abundance of metazoan zooplankton was comparable across the 14 sites of Liangzi Lake. Taken together, this work provided an evidence that the contamination of pesticides might be responsible for the abundance decline of metazoan zooplankton in a natural freshwater ecosystem.

To enhance the advantage of a long-term stability and low-toxicity active packaging system, two biodegradable covalent immobilized antibacterial packaging films were developed and applied to fresh beef preservation in this study. A polylactic acid (PLA) film was prepared by the extrusion-casting method. The surface of the PLA film was modified with plasma treatment to generate carboxylic acid groups, and then antibacterial agent nisin or e-poly lysine (e-PL) was covalently attached to the modified film surface. Physical, chemical, and antimicrobial properties of films were then characterized. Scanning electron microscopy and water contact angle images confirmed that nisin or e-PL was successfully grafted onto the film surface. The values of protein loading on the nisin-g-PLA film and e-PL-g-PLA film were 5.34 ± 0.26 and 3.04 ± 0.25 μg of protein/cm2 on the surface. Microbial analysis indicated that the grafted films effectively inhibit the growth of bacteria. Finally, the effects of the nisin-g-PLA film or e-PL-g-PLA film on physicochemical changes and microbiological counts of fresh beef during cold storage at 4 °C were investigated. The total viable count of the control sample exceeded 7 logarithms of the number of colony forming units per gram (log CFU/g) after 11 days of cold storage (7.01 ± 0.14 log CFU/g) versus 15 days for the e-PL-g-PLA film (7.37 ± 0.06 log CFU/g) and the nisin-g-PLA film (6.83 ± 0.10 log CFU/g). The results showed that covalent immobilized antibacterial packaging films had positive impacts on the shelf life and quality of fresh beef. Therefore, a covalent immobilized antibacterial packaging system could be a novel preservative method for foods.

Active packaging is an innovative and effective way to extend the shelf life of food, but few studies have focused on the effect of its active ingredients on food flavor. This study aimed to develop slow-release polylactic acid/polyhydroxyalkanoates (PLA/PHA) active packaging containing oregano essential oil (OEO) and investigate the effect of active composite packaging on the flavor and quality of pufferfish fillets. The plasticizing effect of OEO increased the elongation at break (EAB) of the films from 23.36% to 65.80%. The adsorption of montmorillonite (MMT) reduces the loss of OEO during processing. The amount of active substance (carvacrol) released from PLA/PHA/OEO/MMT film to pufferfish was 9.70 mg/kg. The pufferfish fillets packed in PLA/PHA/OEO/MMT film showed the slightest difference on the 8th day from the beginning of storage. The slow-release composite films could extend the shelf life of pufferfish fillets by 2-3 days at 4 °C ± 1 °C.

Due to the depletion of the fossil fuel and the caused deterioration of the environment and resources, renewable energy is becoming increasingly important to achieve the sustainable development of mankind. Wind power, as one of the vital renewable energy resources, has been explored and utilized in power systems to promote the green energy production in the past decades around the world. However, the wind power curtailment is still a serious problem in real industry which undermines its potential. To address the wind power utilization problem in transmission systems, this paper proposes an integrated optimization model to maximize the wind power utilization from the viewpoint of transactive energy control (TEC). The problem is formulated into a mixed integer quadratic programming (MIQP) model where the transactive conditions proposed by each participant, e.g. wind power plants, conventional power plants, neighboring provinces, energy-intensive load and gird operator in the network is transformed into linear constraints. Case study based on the real wind power data is conducted in the paper and through the TEC, the wind power utilization can be maximized and the benefit of each participants in the system can be guaranteed as well.

Source sink balance is one of the major determinants of carbon partitioning in plants. However, its effects on photosynthesis in fruit trees are largely unknown. In this work, the effects of low sink demand on net photosynthetic rate (Pn) and chlorophyll fluorescence after fruit removal (-fruit) in peach (Prunus persica (L.) Batsch cv. ‘Zaojiubao’) trees were investigated. The stepwise energy flow through photosystem II (PSII) at the reaction center (RC) was analyzed with quantitative analyses of fluorescence transient, also called JIP-test. We found that Pn was significantly lower and closely correlated to the leaf stomatal conductance (Gs) of -fruit trees than that of fruit retained (+fruit) trees. Leaf temperature (Tleaf) of -fruit trees was remarkably higher than that of +fruit trees. Day-time-period assays of chlorophyll (Chl) fluorescence revealed that, in the leaves of -fruit trees, the fluorescence parameters, such as NPQ (non-photochemical quenching coefficient) and ΦD0 (maximum quantum yield of non-photochemical de-excitation), decreased in the morning and recovered to the normal level in the afternoon, whereas other parameters, such as ΦE0 (quantum yield for electron transport at t = 0), Ψ0 (probability that a trapped exciton moves an electron to QA pool), F0 (minimum fluorescence, when all PSII RCs are open) and Wk (relative variable fluorescence at 300 μs of the chlorophyll fluorescence transient), did not. These results suggest that OEC complex and QA pool were irreversibly affected by low sink demand, whereas light harvest antenna and PSII potential efficiency retained a strong ability to recover.

The types and amounts of volatiles in denucleated fruit of 30 Chinese dwarf cherry germplasms were determined by headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to assess the genotypic variation. Eighty-five volatiles were identified; hexyl acetate, 4-penten-1-yl acetate, prenyl acetate, (Z)-pent-2-enyl hexanoate, geranyl acetate, n-butyl acetate, (3Z)-3,7-dimethylocta-1,3,6-triene, geraniol, pent-2-enyl butanoate, ethyl caprylate, butyl hexanoate, and linalool were the main volatiles. The type and content of volatile varied with genotype. Red fruits had the most abundant aroma and vinicolor fruits exhibited the least. Principal component analysis clustered the 30 Chinese dwarf cherry germplasms into four groups: (1) 2 germplasms (NM2 and HN3) had high ester content, (2) 24 germplasms (BJ1-BJ6, HB1, HB2, HN1, HN2, NM1, NM3, SX1, SX2, SX4-SX6, SX8-SX10, SX12, SX13, SX15, and SX16) contained mainly esters, lactones, and terpenes, (3) 2 germplasms (SX11 and SX14) had high ester and lactone content, and (4) 2 germplasms (SX3 and SX7) had high ester and terpene content.

Considering that self-owned power plant (SPP) can accommodate more new energy generation, this paper proposes a joint dispatch optimization method of SPP. First, two market patterns of SPP considering its load characteristics were established. Then, a self-optimization model of SPP was built with the goal of minimizing SPP operating costs, and a joint optimization model of both SPP and the grid was constructed with the goal of minimizing total system operating costs which comprehensively considered the constraints of SPP interests, unit generation capacity, new energy accommodation requirement and grid security in optimizing the output of SPP and grid-connected units. Next, the optimization models were solved by NSGA-II algorithm. Finally, a comparative case-study on the two models was carried out, and the results showed that SPP can help to accommodate more new energy and reduce system operating costs.

With the deepening marketization of the electric sector, building power market regulation systems is worthy of concern. As the shaping of the spot market continually goes on in Gansu, market monitoring institutions should be built, market monitoring mechanism should be established, and market monitoring methods should be implemented. This article discusses the situation in Gansu, including the power structure and trading patterns. Then discussed the necessity and path to build a market regulation system. With possible monitoring methods illustrated, this article implemented the methods on past market data, analysed market forces situation, and proposed possible future investigations.

This study aimed to develop a bilayer active film by using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) and antioxidant essential oils. The effect of the bilayer active film on the quality and shelf-life of mutton was investigated. PVA laminated material was considered to improve the barrier capacity, while essential oils incorporated into EVA laminated material conferred antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. The effect of the addition of essential oils on the film by mechanical properties, oxygen permeability, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was investigated. Releasing of active compound into mutton and antioxidant activity was investigated to evaluate the films. The antibacterial effects of bilayer active films were subsequently evaluated based on the antibacterial properties of active film and Total viable counts (TVC) of mutton. Microbial community structure in the mutton of different packaging was analyzed by Illumina MiSeq sequencing. Based on total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), the shelf life of mutton was tested. The results showed that the active compound improved flexibility and ductility of active PVA/EVA films. The results also showed a high release of OEO (21.99 mg/kg) and TTO (17.96 mg/kg) as well as high antioxidant and antimicrobial efficiency of PVA/EVA films with essential oils. High-throughput sequencing has shown that the addition of OEO and TTO can reduce the type of dominant bacteria, reducing Acinetobacter by 15.8% and 15.55%, respectively. The release test of active compounds into the mutton showed that the higher contents of the active compounds released, the more microbial proliferation limited, thereby it effectively retarded the increase of TVB-N, which extended the shelf life of mutton by 5–6 days.

Due to the intermittency and randomness of solar photovoltaic (PV) power, it is difficult for system operators to dispatch PV power stations. In order to find a precise expectation for day-ahead PV power generation, conventional models have taken into consideration the temperature, humidity, and wind speed data for forecasting, but these predictions were always not accurate enough under extreme weather conditions. Aerosol index (AI), which indicates the particulate matter in the atmosphere, has been found to have strong linear correlation with solar radiation attenuation, and might have potential influence on the power generated by PV panels. A novel PV power forecasting model is proposed in this paper, considering AI data as an additional input parameter. Based on seasonal weather classification, the back propagation (BP) artificial neural network (ANN) approach is utilized to forecast the next 24-h PV power outputs. The estimated results of the proposed PV power forecasting model coincide well with measurement data, and the proposed model has shown the ability of improving prediction accuracy, compared with conventional methods using ANN.

Psoriatic arthritis is a form of inflammatory arthritis found among patients with psoriasis, which can lead to pain, swelling or stiffness in one or more joints and even movement disorders. Epidemiological studies have shown a higher heritability for psoriatic arthritis compared with psoriasis vulgaris. With the evolvement of DNA sequencing, many genes have been associated with psoriasis vulgaris and psoriatic arthritis, which included MHC, TNF, LCE, IL23R, IL12B, TRAF3IP2 and TNFAIP3, though some, such as MHC, IL-13 and PTPN22, have been specifically associated with psoriatic arthritis. These studies have laid a foundation for risk prediction, diagnosis and drug development for psoriatic arthritis.

Due to negative impacts of non-biodegradable plastic films to the environment, biodegradable packaging materials have become a research hotspot. Novel biodegradable active films based on polylactic acid (PLA) blended with poly (butylene succinate adipate) (PBSA), carvacrol, and thymol were developed. Mechanical properties of films including tensile strength (TS), elongation at break (EAB), optical properties including transmittance (T) and haze (H), barrier properties including water vapor permeability (WVP), oxygen transmission rate (OTR), and releasing rates of active compound from films and antioxidant efficiency of films were investigated to evaluate the films. A shelf life test of salmon slices packed with PLA-PBSA bags (with and without active compound) were carried out. The results showed that PLA-PBSA based films had better mechanical properties than those of similar biodegradable films such as PLA-PHB, and even better than EVOH in terms of two major mechanical properties, TS and EAB. As to active properties, the results also showed a high release of active compound and high antioxidant efficiency of PLA-PBSA films with either carvacrol or thymol. The shelf life test of salmon slices showed the antibacterial and antioxidant properties of the PLA–PBSA films were enhanced when the active compound were released into salmon slices at equilibrium. As a result, spoilage and deterioration of the salmon slices were reduced, which extended the shelf life of salmon slices by 3–4 days during cold storage. Thus, the biodegradable PLA–PBSA films with active compound could prolong shelf life of fisheries products in particular, and food in general.

With the increase in China’s new energy installed capacity, the pace of domestic power market reform is also steadily accelerating. Having the feature of randomness, volatility and intermittency which makes power generation fragmented, higher risks occur when new energy generation is involved in spot market. The proposal of a new round of electricity reform also brings great challenges for The Independent System Operator (ISO), including decomposing mid- and long-term contract curve which not only requires consideration of monthly electricity balance but also makes the curve conform with the power forecasting to the greatest extent. The Independent System Operator should formulate reasonable mid- and long-term curve decomposition combined with the signed contracts as well as ensure reasonable and fair income of new energy plants in spot market to increase their enthusiasm in the market in the process of decomposing mid- and long-term contract curve.

Inheritance of grape berry volatile compounds was studied in the half-sib populations of ‘Jingxiu’ × ‘Muscat of Alexandria’ and ‘Jingxiu’ × ‘Xiangfei’ during two successive years. Twenty-two volatile compounds were identified via GC–MS. Monoterpenes were detected in the paternal parents ‘Muscat of Alexandria’ and ‘Xiangfei’, which were Muscat grapes, but not in the non-Muscat maternal parent ‘Jingxiu’. Four C6 compounds, five carbonyls and one ester (ethyl acetate) were found in all the parents, 2-ethylhexanol (alcohol) in ‘Jingxiu’ and ‘Muscat of Alexandria’, and hexyl acetate (ester) in ‘Jingxiu’. The paternal effect varied with year, while the inheritance patterns of volatile compounds, except for (Z)-linalool oxide, were stable between years and between populations. Four C6 compounds, five carbonyls, two esters and one alcohol were typical quantitative traits in both half-sib populations in 2 years. Most monoterpenes, including geraniol, α-terpineol and linalool, exhibited continuous variation in the half-sib progenies, but some other monoterpenes, such as (Z)-rose oxide, nerol oxide, nerol, neral, geranial and geranic acid, appeared to segregate into presence or absence in the progenies (1:1). However, (Z)-linalool oxide, behaved as a quantitative trait in the ‘Jingxiu’ × ‘Muscat of Alexandria’ population, but segregated into presence or absence (1:1) in the ‘Jingxiu’ × ‘Xiangfei’ population for both years.

The volatiles of 75 plums belonging to five species and one interspecific hybrid were investigated by headspace-SPME–GC–MS; 88 volatiles were identified. Prunus salicina and its hybrids had much more compounds and higher contents of volatiles than Prunus domestica and other three Chinese wild species. Aldehydes were the dominant volatiles in P. domestica and Prunus spinosa while esters were the major volatiles in P. salicina, P. salicina hybrids and Prunus ussuriensis fruits. Regarding terpenoids and alcohols, they were relatively high in several P. salicina cultivars, P. salicina hybrids and P. spinosa, and in Prunus cerasifera, respectively. All the plum germplasms could be divided into three groups via principal component analysis: (1) nine cultivars of P. salicina with high ester content, (2) nine Chinese cultivars and one P. salicina hybrid with ester content and two terpenoids, and (3) the rest of the cultivars and three Chinese wild species without characteristic volatiles.

Volatile compounds of three different flavour table-grapes, ‘Jingxiu’, ‘Bimeijia’ and ‘Jingya’, were investigated during and after maturation using SPME/GC–MS. All the alcohols and carbonyls, along with most of the C6 compounds and terpenoids, were evident before veraison, while most of the esters were detected at or after veraison. C6 compounds increased in the early period of maturation, and then decreased. Most alcohols and carbonyls tended to continuously decrease during ripening. Except for geraniol, terpenoids increased until maturation, then decreased. Some esters continued to increase after maturation. Principal component analysis showed that terpenoids and esters were the characteristic volatiles of ripe ‘Bimeijia’ and ‘Jingya’ grapes, respectively. ‘Bimeijia’ had the highest terpenoid content at maturity, while ‘Jingya’ continued to accumulate some esters after maturation. To achieve berries of full-bodied aroma, ‘Bimeijia’ should be harvested at maturity and ‘Jingya’ should have a delayed harvest. For the neutral grape ‘Jingxiu’, delayed harvest is recommended to reduce the ‘green’ odour.

Fruits of the late-ripening peach cultivar "Wanmi" were bagged at the early period of fruit endocarp hardening, and the bags were removed 1 wk before maturity harvest. The effects of bagging on volatile compounds and polyphenols were studied. Total volatiles and the sum of C(6) compounds, esters from bagged fruits were significantly lower than from nonbagged fruits from the beginning of the final rapid fruit growth stage to maturity. As the most dominant compounds of C(6) compounds and esters, the lower contents of hexanal, trans-2-hexenal, hexyl acetate, cis-3-hexenyl acetate, and trans-2-hexenyl acetate attributed to the lower content of C(6) compounds and esters in bagged fruit. γ-Hexalactone and δ-decalactone were produced earlier in bagged fruits than in nonbagged ones, suggesting that bagging accelerates fruit maturity. Level of γ-decalactone in bagged fruits was significantly lower than in nonbagged fruits at 159 days after full blossom (DAFB), so did δ-decalactone at 166 DAFB. Bagging did not affect chlorogenic acid and catechol contents of either fruit peel or flesh, nor did it affect contents of keracyanin or quercetin-3-rutinoside in fruit flesh during fruit development. However, keracyanin and quercetin-3-rutinoside levels were significantly reduced in bagged fruit peels before ripening compared to nonbagged fruit peels. Considering the large changes in volatiles and polyphenols, the key stage for "Wanmi" fruit maturity was between 126 DAFB and 147 DAFB, about 1 mo ahead of maturity.

Grape calli systems were used to study the relationships between stilbene production and: (1) four grape genotypes, (2) leaf, berry exocarp and seed tissues and (3) UV-C irradiation. All explants could be de-differentiated. However, subsequent callus growth depended mainly on genotype and tissue type. Non-embryogenic callus accumulated more resveratrols and piceids and had a higher growth index than pro-embryogenic and embryogenic calli. UV-C irradiation for 20 min was most efficient in promoting both the accumulation of resveratrols and piceids and callus growth index. There was dynamic production of resveratrols and piceids in UV-C-irradiated leaf-derived calli over a 72 h period, with optimum harvest time for the highest total stilbene content at 48 h. Accumulation of stilbenes in UV-C-irradiated calli depended upon genetic background and tissue type, with higher stilbene contents in two interspecific root stocks and leaf or exocarp explants.

Using HS–SPME–GC–MS, characteristics of the volatiles of 50 peaches and nectarines representing different germplasm origins were investigated. Ten of these peaches and nectarines were studied in two successive years. Eighty-four compounds were identified. Volatile composition was relatively consistent, but the amount of total volatiles and certain individual compounds varied between years. Moreover, the composition of volatiles and their contents depended on genotypic background and germplasm origin. Total volatiles in wild peaches and a Chinese local cultivar ‘Wutao’ were much higher than in the other groups. All the peaches and nectarines could be classified into four groups by principal component analysis of the volatiles (excluding C6 compounds): ‘Ruipan 14’ and ‘Babygold 7’ with high contents of lactones, Chinese wild peaches and ‘Wutao’ with high contents of terpenoids and esters, seven cultivars with American or European origins with high content of linalool, and others without characteristic composition of volatiles.

Volatile aroma compounds are one of the important characteristics determining fruit quality. Evaluation of volatiles at the germplasm level is useful for future breeding efforts, aimed at improvement of fruit quality, via effects on fruit aroma. The composition and concentration of volatiles in berries of forty-two grape cultivars belonging to seven genotypic groups were evaluated by headspace solid-phase microextraction with GC–MS. Sixty volatiles were detected, of which C6 compounds were the dominant volatiles in V. amurensis grape, neutral cultivars V. vinifera grapes and hybrid grapes between V. vinifera with V. thunbergii or V. amurensis. Alcohols and carbonyls were relatively low in all Vitis germplasm studied. Terpenoids were abundant in V. vinifera with muscat aroma, while esters were dominant in V. labrusca and its hybrids with V. vinifera or V. amurensis. Via principal component analysis, all the grape germplasm studied could be divided into three groups: (1) V. labrusca and its hybrids with V. vinifera or V. amurensis, (2) V. vinifera with muscat aroma and (3) the others, including V. vinifera without muscat aroma plus V. amurensis, and hybrids between V. vinifera and V. thunbergii or V. amurensis. Seasonal quantitative variations of volatiles were observed, but the qualitative volatile composition of the cultivars was consistent.

Inheritance patterns for table grape anthocyanins were investigated on three cross offspring populations during two successive years. Sixteen anthocyanins were detected, and all were monoglucoside derivatives. The proportion of anthocyanins in the maternal parent determined the proportion of anthocyanins in the offspring. But the absolute content of the maternal parent had no significant effect on progenies. Peonidin 3-O-glucoside and malvidin 3-O-glucoside were the most abundant anthocyanins, not only in the maternal parent but also in the progenies. The presence or absence of anthocyanins in grape skin was inheritance of a quality character controlled by oligogenes, and anthocyanins content was a quantitative character controlled by polygenes. Via principal component (PC) analysis, factors that affected the total content of cross progeny populations were peonidin 3-O-glucoside, malvidin 3-O-glucoside, delphinidin 3-O-glucoside, cyanidin 3-O-glucoside, petunidin 3-O-glucoside, peonidin 3-O-(6-O-coumaryl)-glucoside, and malvidin 3-O-(6-O-coumaryl)-glucoside. Anthocyanins content was a high broad sense heritability character (H2), and H2 was stable in different cross combinations (ranging from 0.65 to 0.98).

The composition and content of anthocyanins were surveyed by HPLC–MS for assessing genotypic variation in berry skin of 110 grape cultivars, including 3 species and 5 interspecific hybrids. Twenty-nine anthocyanins were identified. For total anthocyanin content, Vitis vinifera and hybrids of Vitis labrusca and V. vinifera were low, and in general, wild species and rootstock were higher than interspecific hybrids, and wine grapes were higher than table grapes in the same species. As regards the composition of anthocyanins, malvidin-derivatives were the most abundant anthocyanins in the majority of germplasms. All anthocyanins were monoglucoside derivatives in V. vinifera , but all the other Vitis germplasms had both mono- and di-glucoside derivatives. Moreover, peonidin-derivatives and malvidin 3- O -glucoside were, respectively, main anthocyanins in table and wine grapes of V. vinifera . Via principal component analysis, the distribution of the cultivars in a scatter plot depended upon their total anthocyanins content, mono- and di-glucoside derivatives .

Long myosin light chain kinase (L-MLCK) contains five DFRXXL motifs with ability to bind F-actin. Binding stoichiometry data indicated that each DFRXXL motif might bind each G-actin, but its biological significance remained unknown. We hypothesized that L-MLCK might act as an F-actin bundle peptides by its multiple binding sites of 5DFRXXL motifs to actin. In order to characterize F-actin-bundle formation properties of 5DFRXXL region of long myosin light chain kinase, we expressed and purified 5DFRXXL peptides tagged with HA in vitro. The properties of 5DFRXXL peptides binding to myofilaments or F-actin were analyzed by binding stoichiometries assays. The results indicated that 5DFRXXL peptides bound to myofilaments or F-actin with high affinity. KD values of 5DFRXXL binding to myofilaments and F-actin were 0.45 and 0.41 μmol/L, respectively. Cross-linking assay demonstrated that 5DFRXXL peptides could bundle F-actin efficiently. Typical F-actin bundles were observed morphologically through determination of confocal and electron microscopy after adding 5DFRXXL peptides. After transfection of pEGFP-5DFRXXL plasmid into eukaryocyte, spike structure was observed around cell membrane edge. We guess that such structure formation may be attributable to F-actin over-bundle formation caused by 5DFRXXL peptides. Therefore, we suppose that L-MLCK may be a new bundling protein and somehow play a certain role in organization of cell skeleton besides mediating cell contraction by it kinase activity.

Objective This study was aim to determine the role and underling mechanism of ribosomal protein S6 kinases 1 (S6k1) phosphorylation in Parkinson's disease (PD). Methods The dopaminergic neuron MN9D was employed and 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridium (MPP) iodide (MPP + ) was used to generate PD model in vitro . The S6k1 phosphorylation and UNC-51-like kinase 1 (ULK1) protein levels were analyzed by western blot. The ULK1 mRNA level was evaluated by Real-time RT-PCR. The S6k1 threonine 389 (T389) site-directed mutagenesis, the phosphodeficit T389A (threonine to alanine) and the phosphomimetic T389D (threonine to aspartate) were generated to examine the phosphorylation site of S6k1. Results An increase in the ULK1 mRNA and protein levels were detected in the MPP + -treated MN9D cells compared to control. ULK1 knockdown increased neuronal cell viability, and enhanced S6k1 phosphorylation. Further investigation demonstrated ULK1 knockdown promoted the S6k1 T389 phosphorylation in particular. T389A enhanced the viability of MPP iodide-treated MN9D, whereas T389D decreased the cell viability. Conclusion ULK1 acts to inhibit S6k1 phosphorylation at T389, leading to MN9D viability reduction under MPP + treatment. These results provide evidence for a novel mechanism by which the ULK1 inhibit S6k1 T389 phosphorylation contributes to neurodegeneration in MPP + treated-MN9D, and suggests a new therapeutic strategy for PD.

Wind power generation have attracted great concentration in the last decade due to its clean and renewable characteristics. In this research, solar Photovoltaic(PV) power is utilized to compensate the active power imbalances of wind farm installed in Western Gansu Province, because of the rich solar and wind energy in that area. Firstly, Weibull and Beta distribution are introduced to simulate the wind speed and solar irradiance fluctuations separately, during a certain period of time. Then wind and PV power generation is calculated on a stochastic basis during that period of time in the same region. The impact of joint stochastic properties of wind and solar power generation on power system voltage is analyzed, based on the probabilistic load flow approach using nodal cumulants. Finally, an increased wind power penetration level is verified through simulations on IEEE-24 bus test system, by comparing the probabilities of bus voltages which violate their operation limits.

The composition of modes in double-clad multimode active fiber is studied. The bending influence on numerical apertures of fibers is analyzed by means of geometrical optics. When the optical fiber is bent, different modes have different bending losses, A numerical simulation was used to calculate the bending losses of LP 01 and LP 11 in different bending radii. Optimum bending radius was chosen to inhibit the high-order modes so that the fundamental mode signal amplification was assured. A 10 meters long Yb 3+ -doped double-cladding fiber with core diameter of 30μm and core numerical aperture of 0.06 was used to verify our theoretical calculation. The fiber amplifier was pumped by a diode laser array emitting at 976nm. A non-planar ring oscillator with cw single frequency output at 1064 nm was used as signal source. By coiling the double-cladding fiber, the amplified signal of fundamental mode was obtained. When the pump power was 49.6 W and the signal power was 200 mW, 16.1W of single frequency output power was obtained, the amplification factor was 80.5. The spectra of output signals before and after amplification were measured with Fabry-Perot interferometer. Fundamental mode output is verified.

0308-8146/$ see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2010.07.038 DOI of original article: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2010.03.055 * Corresponding author at: Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing E-mail address: shhli@wbgcas.cn (S. Li). International Partnership Program for Creative Research Teams (Grant No. 0921101001) and the Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KSCX2-YW-G075-24).