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Jiang, Kai-Wen, Chen, Yue, Li, Hua-Dong, Ma, Dan-Dan, Pan, Bo, Song, Zhu-Qiu, Wan, Kai-Yuan, Chen, Zheng-Hai, Li, Gen-You (2023): Weizhia (Fabaceae: Phaseoleae), a new endemic genus from East China supported by morphological and molecular evidence. Phytotaxa 603 (3): 235-248, DOI: 10.11646/phytotaxa.603.3.3, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1094/PDIS-04-22-0755-PDN

Weizhia pentaphylla G. Y. Li, Z. H. Chen, K. W. Jiang & B. Pan bis, gen. & sp. nov. (Figs. 3 and 4). Iẽk r yuè dòu téng l Type: CHINA. Zhejiang: Shengzhou, Shantouding, on the S slope, under the forest, moist place, alt. ca. 60 m, 3 October 2021 (fl. with young fruits), Y. Chen ZY08 (holotype: NPH001335!; isotype: NPH001336!). Generic-specific description: —Perennial twining climbers, herbaceous, wholly pubescent with spreading hairs except for the corolla and pod, ca. 1.5 m long, the overground part deciduous in winter. Roots woody, thick. Stems slender. Leaves pinnate, leaflets (3–)5(–7); stipules lanceolate, 2–2.5 mm, basifixed, persistent or caducous; petiole 3–7 cm; rachis between two pairs of lateral leaflets 2–4 cm, that of terminal leaflet 0.5–1.5 cm; stipels awl-shaped, 1–2 mm, persistent; petiolules blackish-brown, 1–2 mm; leaflets thinly chartaceous, terminal leaflet 2.5–5.6 × 1.4–5.3 cm, rhomboid-ovate to ovate, acuminate to acute at apex, broadly cuneate, rounded to truncate at base, mid-vein and lateral veins slightly prominent on the adaxial surface, lateral veins 4–5 pairs; lateral leaflets slightly oblique, 1.4–5.3 × 1.1–4.5 cm. Pseudoraceme axillary, 0.4–10 cm, occasionally branched at base, slightly to strongly nodose with 2–5 flowers per node; bract 1, awl-shaped, minute, borne at base of pedicels. Pedicels 2–4 mm, 5–6 mm when fruiting; bracteoles 2, resembling bracts, borne at base of calyx. Calyx shortly tubular, 5-lobed, purple, ca. 6 mm, the lowest lobe longest, broadly triangular, ca. 1.3 × 1.1 mm, lateral lobes broadly deltoid, ca. 1 × 1.3 mm, the upper two 0.6 × 2.1 mm, slightly connate, emarginate at apex. Corolla grayish-green initially, turns white with violet petal-tips when mature; standard sub-elliptic, blade ca. 27 × 13 mm, with a basal claw ca. 3.5 mm, and two auricles at the connecting point of the blade and the claw; wing petals sub-oblong, blade ca. 10 × 3.5 mm, basal claw ca. 4 mm, the side opposite the claw with a spur ca. 1 mm long; keel petals slightly falcate, blade ca. 10 × 4.5 mm, basal claw ca. 5 mm, auricle minute, ca. 0.5 mm. Stamens 10; filaments ca. 15 mm, the free part upcurved, glabrous; anther uniform, basifixed. Pistil ca. 14 mm; ovary slender, light green, ca. 9 mm; style upcurved, white, ca. 5 mm; stigma capitate. Pods linear-oblong, sometimes slightly curved, 3.6–7.7 cm, compressed, sparsely hairy when young, glabrescent, slightly turgid between the seeds, valves turn greyish-brown when mature, twisted along both sutures when dehiscent. Seeds ellipsoid, ca. 7 × 4 mm, black with light yellow-brown speckles, smooth, slightly glossy. Additional specimens examined (paratypes):— CHINA. Zhejiang: Shengzhou, Shengzhou Development Committee, Qianyuan Village, 2 October 2020, G. Y. Li, H. D. Li & Z. H. Chen SZ20100201 (ZM). Forest Park of Mt. Chenghuangshan, under the forest, roadside, alt. 60 m, 23 June 2021, Z. H. Chen, L. Chen, G. K. Chen & G. Y. Li SZ21062301 (ZM). ibid., under the sparse forest, near the walking trails, alt. 58 m, 12 October 2021, G. Y. Li, Z. H. Chen & D. D. Ma SZ21101201 (ZM). ibid., alt. 60 m, 12 October 2021, G. Y. Li, Z. H. Chen & D. D. Ma SZ21101202 (ZM). ibid., on the S slope, under the forest, moist place, alt. ca. 60 m, 21 August 2021, K. W. Jiang, Y. Chen & H. D. Li ZY01 (NPH). Distribution: — Weizhia pentaphylla is currently only known from its type locality in Shengzhou City, Zhejiang Province, E China (Fig. 5). Habitat: — Weizhia pentaphylla grows in shady and moist slopes under forest at an elevation from 60 to 100 m above sea level. Phenology: —Flowering usually in October, fruiting from October to November. Etymology: —The generic name, Weizhia, is in honor of Prof. Zhi Wei (1929–), a Chinese taxonomist at Zhejiang Museum of Natural History (ZM), who made outstanding contributions to the taxonomy of Chinese legumes. The epithet pentaphylla refers to the usually 5-foliolate pinnate leaves of the new species. The Chinese name of Weizhia pentaphylla is proposed here as Iẽk: I refers to the name of an ancient State (IOi, Yue Guo) in Zhejiang Province; ẽ means pea in Chinese; k means vines or lianas, referring to the climbing habit of the species. Conservation status: —In the type locality of Weizhia pentaphylla, only two populations with less than 20 individuals were discovered by the current authors, in which one population is located close to a residential area and is frequently disturbed by human activity. According to IUCN Standards and Petitions Subcommittee (2022), here we considered this species as Critically Endangered (CR-D). Conservation work for this species is urgently needed. The ex situ conservation efforts are currently underway at Ningbo Botanical Garden and Jiyang College of Zhejiang A & F University.

As one of the most commonly used nanoparticles, titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2-NPs) are widely used as coating reagents in cosmetics, medicine and other industries. The increasing risk of exposure to TiO2-NPs raises concerns about their safety. In this study, we investigated the mechanism by which TiO2-NPs cross the blood-testis barrier (BTB). TM-4 cells were selected as an in vitro Sertoli cell model of BTB. Cell viability, cell morphological changes, apoptosis, oxidative damage, and the expression levels of actin regulatory and tight junction (TJ) proteins were assessed in TM-4 cells treated with 3-nm and 24-nm TiO2-NPs. Cells treated with 3-nm TiO2-NPs exhibited increased cytotoxicity and decreased Annexin II expression, whereas cells treated with 24-nm TiO2-NPs exhibited increased Arp 3 and c-Src expression. Both TiO2-NPs induced significant oxidative stress, decreased the expression of TJ proteins (occludin, ZO-1 and claudin 5), damaged the TJ structure, and exhibited enlarged gaps between TM-4 cells. Our results indicated that both TiO2-NPs crossed the BTB by disrupting actin-based adhesive junctions of TM-4 cells; however, apoptosis was not observed. Our results provide new insights into how TiO2-NPs cross the BTB.

Additional file 5: Table S5. Uni- and multivariate analysis of preoperative predictors of AL (right hemi colectomy).

Additional file 3: Table S3. Distribution of predictor variables in overall cohorts for model for prediction of AL. Continuous variables are expressed as mean±standard deviation. Categorical variables are expressed as numbers (percentages) of patients.

Additional file 1: Table S1. Comparison of the distribution of variables in the internal and temporal validation cohorts.

Additional file 4: Table S4. Uni- and multivariate analysis of preoperative predictors of AL (overall analysis).

Additional file 2: Table S2-1. Correlation analysis of AL severity (Jonckheere-Terpstra Test), Table S2-2. Correlation of AL severity with LCR and other factors.

A quantum gas of ultracold molecules, with long-range and anisotropic interactions, will enable a series of fundamental studies in physics and chemistry. In particular, samples of ground-state molecules at ultralow temperatures and high number densities will facilitate the explorations of a large number of many-body physical phenomena and applications in quantum information processing. However, due to the lack of efficiently cooling techniques such as laser cooling for atomic gases, high number densities for ultracold molecular samples are not readily attainable. Associating ultracold atoms to weakly bound dimer molecules via Feshbach resonance and subsequently transferring them to a wanted molecular ro-vibronic ground state by a stimulated Raman adiabatic passages (STIRAP) have proved to be an effective way in producing ideal ultracold molecular samples. As a typical illustration, in a recent study (2010 Nat. Phys. 6 265) Danzl et al. experimentally realized the preparation of Cs2 molecule into its ro-vibronic ground state via two different multi-level STIRAPs:one is based on a single conversion route and the others are based on a cascade-connected route (labeled by 4p-STIRAP and s-STIRAP, respectively). In this work, we present a theoretical study for these two STIRAP schemes, focusing on the differences in physical principle and realistic performance between them. On the one hand, according to the theoretical approach of quasi-dark eigenstates, we conclude that a highly efficient population transfer is achievable in both schemes. On the other hand, by systematically studying the influences of the relevant parameters, including the spontaneous decays and the detunings from the intermediate states, and the temporal sequence and the amplitude of the laser pulses, we disclose their respective advantages and weaknesses in the realistic implementation. We theoretically predict that for both schemes their maximal conversion efficiencies each can attain 0.97 as long as the spontaneous decays from the intermediate excited states are sufficiently suppressed. Yet considering the fact that the already implemented efficiency is only around 0.6 for both schemes, there is still room for optimization, e.g. using stable Rydberg energy levels in future experiment. Furthermore, the success of these two schemes can provide a new route to the controllable entanglement preparation, opening more applications in the fields of quantum logic gate and so on.