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Abstract The HIV-1 fusion peptide (FP) represents a promising vaccine target, but global FP sequence diversity among circulating strains has limited anti-FP antibodies to ~60% neutralization breadth. Here we evolve the FP-targeting antibody VRC34.01 in vitro to enhance FP-neutralization using site saturation mutagenesis and yeast display. Successive rounds of directed evolution by iterative selection of antibodies for binding to resistant HIV-1 strains establish a variant, VRC34.01_mm28, as a best-in-class antibody with 10-fold enhanced potency compared to the template antibody and ~80% breadth on a cross-clade 208-strain neutralization panel. Structural analyses demonstrate that the improved paratope expands the FP binding groove to accommodate diverse FP sequences of different lengths while also recognizing the HIV-1 Env backbone. These data reveal critical antibody features for enhanced neutralization breadth and potency against the FP site of vulnerability and accelerate clinical development of broad HIV-1 FP-targeting vaccines and therapeutics.

Regenerative dentistry has rapidly progressed since the advancement of stem cell biology and material science. However, more emphasis has been placed on the success of tissue formation than on how well the newly generated tissue retains the original structure and function. Once dentin is lost, tertiary dentinogenesis can be induced by new odontoblastic differentiation or re-activation of existing odontoblasts. The characteristic morphology of odontoblasts generates the tubular nature of dentin, which is a reservoir of fluid, ions, and a number of growth factors, and protects the inner pulp tissue. Therefore, understanding the dynamic but delicate process of new dentin formation by odontoblasts, or odontoblast-like cells, following dentinal defects is crucial. In this regard, various efforts have been conducted to identify novel molecules and materials that can promote the regeneration of dentin with strength and longevity. In this review, we focus on recent progress in dentin regeneration research with biological molecules identified, and discuss its potential in future clinical applications.

Background Perioperative hyperglycemia can occur in surgical patients and may increase postoperative morbidity and mortality, especially in patients with diabetes. Therefore, we conducted the present study to evaluate whether the administration of 6% hydroxyethyl starch (HES)-130/0.4 increases blood glucose levels in patients with diabetes. Methods Forty patients undergoing lower limb surgery under spinal anesthesia were randomly allocated into two groups according to the fluids administered 20 min before spinal anesthesia (Group L, lactated Ringer’s solution; Group H, 6% HES-130/0.4). Patient characteristics, intraoperative variables, blood glucose levels, mean blood pressure (MBP), and heart rate (HR) were recorded at five time-points (0, 20, 60, 120, and 240 min). Results A total of 39 patients were analyzed (Group L, n = 20; Group H, n = 19). The amount of intraoperative fluid was significantly higher in Group L than in Group H (718.2 ml vs. 530.0 ml, P = 0.010). There were no significant differences in the changes in blood glucose levels, HR, or MBP between the two groups (P = 0.737, P = 0.896, and P = 0.141, respectively). Serial changes in mean blood glucose levels from baseline also showed no significant differences between the groups (P = 0.764). Conclusions There were no significant changes in blood glucose levels when lactated Ringer’s solution or 6% HES-130 was used. When compared to the lactated Ringer’s solution, no evidence that 6% HES-130/0.4 produces hyperglycemia in diabetic patients could be found. Further evaluation of larger populations is needed.

Summary: Soluble HIV-1-envelope (Env) trimers elicit immune responses that target their solvent-exposed protein bases, the result of removing these trimers from their native membrane-bound context. To assess whether glycosylation could limit these base responses, we introduced sequons encoding potential N-linked glycosylation sites (PNGSs) into base-proximal regions. Expression and antigenic analyses indicated trimers bearing six-introduced PNGSs to have reduced base recognition. Cryo-EM analysis revealed trimers with introduced PNGSs to be prone to disassembly and introduced PNGS to be disordered. Protein-base and glycan-base trimers induced reciprocally symmetric ELISA responses, in which only a small fraction of the antibody response to glycan-base trimers recognized protein-base trimers and vice versa. EM polyclonal epitope mapping revealed glycan-base trimers –even those that were stable biochemically– to elicit antibodies that recognized disassembled trimers. Introduced glycans can thus mask the protein base but their introduction may yield neo-epitopes that dominate the immune response.

Summary: Elicitation of antibodies that neutralize the tier-2 neutralization-resistant isolates that typify HIV-1 transmission has been a long-sought goal. Success with prefusion-stabilized envelope trimers eliciting autologous neutralizing antibodies has been reported in multiple vaccine-test species, though not in humans. To investigate elicitation of HIV-1 neutralizing antibodies in humans, here, we analyze B cells from a phase I clinical trial of the “DS-SOSIP”-stabilized envelope trimer from strain BG505, identifying two antibodies, N751-2C06.01 and N751-2C09.01 (named for donor-lineage.clone), that neutralize the autologous tier-2 strain, BG505. Though derived from distinct lineages, these antibodies form a reproducible antibody class that targets the HIV-1 fusion peptide. Both antibodies are highly strain specific, which we attribute to their partial recognition of a BG505-specific glycan hole and to their binding requirements for a few BG505-specific residues. Prefusion-stabilized envelope trimers can thus elicit autologous tier-2 neutralizing antibodies in humans, with initially identified neutralizing antibodies recognizing the fusion-peptide site of vulnerability.

Protected cultivation systems, such as high tunnels, have gained popularity for their ability to enhance growth conditions and extend the growing season of horticultural crops. The choice of the covering film in these systems can significantly impact crop productivity and quality while influencing pest and pathogen incidence. This study aimed to evaluate the yield, physiological responses, and nutritional quality of green and purple basil grown in high tunnels using different plastic film covers. The study was conducted in Central Pennsylvania using twelve research high tunnels covered with four alternative polyethylene films with varying light diffusion and ultraviolet (UV) radiation transparency levels: TuffLite IV (TIV), KoolLite Plus (KLP), UV-transparent (UVT), and UV-opaque (UVO). Green ‘Genovese Compact Improved’ and purple ‘Amethyst Improved’ basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) cultivars were grown as test crops. The plastic covering film had a significant effect on the growth of both basil cultivars, with a significant interaction between the film and basil genotype. Green basil generally exhibited higher fresh and dry biomass compared to purple basil, and the film effect varied with the basil genotype. Leaf area, stem, leaf, and total plant biomass were influenced by the plastic cover, with UVO and UVT films resulting in higher biomass production. The plastic covering films showed varying effects on the mineral content, total chlorophyll, carotenoids, total phenolic compounds, and antioxidant activity, with UVO and UVT films often resulting in improved nutritional quality compared to traditional films. Furthermore, covering films influenced the downy mildew severity on both cultivars and the UVT film consistently limited the severity of the foliar disease in both genotypes. Overall, this study highlights the importance of selecting appropriate plastic covering films with varying levels of UV transparency in high tunnel production systems.

Airlines provide one of the most popular and important transportation services for passengers. While the importance of the airline industry is rising, flight cancellations are also increasing due to abnormal weather factors, such as rainfall and wind speed. Although previous studies on cancellations due to weather factors considered both aircraft and weather factors concurrently, the complex network studies only treated the aircraft factor with a single-layer network. Therefore, the aim of this study was to apply a multilayer complex network (MCN) method that incorporated three different factors, namely, aircraft, rainfall, and wind speed, to investigate aircraft cancellations at 14 airports in the Republic of Korea. The results showed that rainfall had a greater impact on aircraft cancellations compared with wind speed. To find out the most important node in the cancellation, we applied centrality analysis based on information entropy. According to the centrality analysis, Jeju Airport was identified as the most influential node since it has a high demand for aircraft. Also, we showed that characteristics and factors of aircraft cancellation should be appropriately defined by links in the MCN. Furthermore, we verified the applicability of the MCN method in the fields of aviation and meteorology. It is expected that the suggested methodology in this study can help to understand aircraft cancellation due to weather factors.

Here, the authors analyse the distance between the body of an antibody and a protein antigen denoted as the Antibody-Framework-to-Antigen Distance (AFAD) for about 2000 non-redundant antibody-protein antigen complexes in the Protein Data Bank. They observe that antibodies with exceptionally long AFADs were all broad HIV-1-neutralizing antibodies that targeted densely glycosylated regions on the HIV-1-envelope trimer. The connection between long AFAD and dense glycan was further validated by the cryo-EM structure of antibody 2909 recognizing a glycan hole and by glycan shielding analyses based on molecular dynamics simulations.

Pectobacterium brasiliense (P. brasiliense) is a necrotrophic bacterium that causes the soft rot disease in Brassica rapa. However, the mechanisms underlying plant immune responses against necrotrophic bacterial pathogens with a broad host range are still not well understood. Using a flg22-triggered seedling growth inhibition (SGI) assay with 455 Brassica rapa inbred lines, we selected six B. rapa flagellin-insensitive lines (Brfin2-7) and three B. rapa flagellin-sensitive lines (Brfs1-3). Brfin lines showed compromised flg22-induced immune responses (oxidative burst, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activation, and seedling growth inhibition) compared to the control line R-o-18; nevertheless, they were resistant to P. brasiliense. To explain this, we analyzed the phytohormone content and found that most Brfin lines had higher P. brasiliense-induced jasmonic acid (JA) than Brfs lines. Moreover, MeJA pretreatment enhanced the resistance of B. rapa to P. brasiliense. To explain the correlation between the resistance of Brfin lines to P. brasiliense and activated JA signaling, we analyzed pathogen-induced glucosinolate (GS) content in B. rapa. Notably, in Brfin7, the neoglucobrassicin (NGBS) content among indole glucosinolates (IGS) was significantly higher than that in Brfs2 following P. brasiliense inoculation, and genes involved in IGSs biosynthesis were also highly expressed. Furthermore, almost all Brfin lines with high JA levels and resistance to P. brasiliense had higher P. brasiliense-induced NGBS levels than Brfs lines. Thus, our results show that activated JA-mediated signaling attenuates flg22-triggered immunity but enhances resistance to P. brasiliense by inducing indole glucosinolate biosynthesis in Brassica rapa. This study provides novel insights into the role of JA-mediated defense against necrotrophic bacterial pathogens within a broad host range.

Abstract Tumors are composed of subpopulations of cancer cells with functionally distinct features. Intratumoral heterogeneity limits the therapeutic effectiveness of cancer drugs. To address this issue, it is important to understand the regulatory mechanisms driving a subclonal variety within a therapy-resistant tumor. We identified tumor subclones of HN9 head and neck cancer cells showing distinct responses to radiation with different levels of p62 expression. Genetically identical grounds but epigenetic heterogeneity of the p62 promoter regions revealed that radioresistant HN9-R clones displayed low p62 expression via the creation of repressive chromatin architecture, in which cooperation between DNMT1 (DNA methyltransferases 1) and HDAC1 (histone deacetylases 1) resulted in DNA methylation and repressive H3K9me3 and H3K27me3 marks in the p62 promoter. Combined inhibition of DNMT1 and HDAC1 by genetic depletion or inhibitors enhanced the suppressive effects on proliferative capacity and in vivo tumorigenesis following irradiation. Importantly, ectopically p62-overexpressed HN9-R clones increased the induction of senescence along with p62-dependent autophagy activation. These results demonstrate the heterogeneous expression of p62 as the key component of clonal variation within a tumor against irradiation. Understanding the epigenetic diversity of p62 heterogeneity among subclones allows for improved identification of the functional state of subclones and provides a novel treatment option to resolve resistance to current therapies.

The importance of E3 ubiquitin ligases from different families for plant immune signaling has been confirmed. Plant RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligases are members of the E3 ligase superfamily and have been shown to play positive or negative roles during the regulation of various steps of plant immunity. Here, we present Arabidopsis RING-type E3 ubiquitin ligases AtRDUF1 and AtRDUF2 which act as positive regulators of flg22- and SA-mediated defense signaling. Expression of AtRDUF1 and AtRDUF2 is induced by pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and pathogens. The atrduf1 and atrduf2 mutants displayed weakened responses when triggered by PAMPs. Immune responses, including oxidative burst, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) activity, and transcriptional activation of marker genes, were attenuated in the atrduf1 and atrduf2 mutants. The suppressed activation of PTI responses also resulted in enhanced susceptibility to bacterial pathogens. Interestingly, atrduf1 and atrduf2 mutants showed defects in SA-mediated or pathogen-mediated PR1 expression; however, avirulent Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000-induced cell death was unaffected. Our findings suggest that AtRDUF1 and AtRDUF2 are not just PTI-positive regulators but are also involved in SA-mediated PR1 gene expression, which is important for resistance to P. syringae.

Study region: South Korea (KR), Ulsan tidal river. Study focus: Climate change and urbanization pose a serious threat to rising water levels and flooding in the estuary region. In particular, tidal river, which is located in the estuary area, is impacted by many hydrological factors such as tide, wave height, and rainfall. This paper develops a new rating curve that can predict the water level of the tidal river. It also assesses the accuracy of the developed rating curve through the verification event. New hydrological insights: Tidal rivers show non-linear hydrological characteristics that are influenced by various hydrological factors. Thus, no rating curve has been developed for them. This study proposes a method to develop a rating curve that can estimate the water level by using the runoff from rainfall in a tidal river. To develop the rating curve, the water level at Ulsan station, Korea was decomposed into four components, which are tide, wave, noise and runoff component by using wavelet analysis, curve fitting, and a high pass filter. A distributed grid-based rainfall-runoff model (GRM) was applied to simulate the runoff. The simulated runoff and the water level components influenced by rainfall were used to develop a rating curve and estimate the water level from the simulated runoff. The results were then added to the other three components (tide, wave, noise) to calculate an integrated water level, which was compared with the observed water level at Ulsan station. With less than 10 % error during validation, the results are expected to contribute to the accurate prediction of water level of tidal river during flood season.

Light plays an important role in influencing the nutritional quality of food crops, especially with regard to the health-promoting phytochemicals. However, its role in affecting the nutritional quality with regard to the essential nutrients is not well understood. In this study, the effects of preharvest UV-A treatment on the nutritional quality of lettuce (Lactuca sativa, cv. red-leaf ‘New Red Fire’ and green-leaf ‘Two Star’) in relation to the essential nutrients and health-promoting phytochemicals were explored. Lettuce plants were grown in a growth chamber and were subjected to supplemental UV-A LEDs (peak wavelength 375 nm) for a brief period (3–6 days) prior to harvest. UV-A LEDs were equipped with lenses to control the light dispersion. Many growth indices such as shoot fresh mass, leaf area, and leaf number were unaffected by supplemental UV-A in both varieties while shoot dry mass decreased in response to a 6-day UV-A treatment compared to the control. Leaf chlorophyll and carotenoid concentrations increased significantly in green-leaf lettuce after 3 or 6 days of UV-A treatment, but only after 3 days of UV-A treatment in red-leaf lettuce compared to the control. Leaf protein concentration increased significantly in both lettuce varieties along with a number of essential nutrients such as phosphorus, potassium, calcium, manganese, and sulfur in response to supplemental UV-A. Supplemental UV-A increased the accumulation of protein by approximately 48% in green-leaf lettuce and 31% in red-leaf lettuce compared to the control plants. Moreover, in addition to the above essential nutrients, green-leaf lettuce accumulated higher amounts of magnesium, copper, and zinc compared to the control plants, indicating that green-leaf lettuce was more responsive to preharvest supplemental UV-A treatment than red-leaf lettuce. However, the accumulation of total phenolic compounds and flavonoids in both varieties was lower under supplemental UV-A. Furthermore, the use of LED lenses did not have a consistent impact on most of the plant responses studied. Overall, the results indicate that a brief preharvest exposure of both red- and green-leaf lettuce varieties to UV-A increased their nutritional quality by enhancing the accumulation of protein and other major essential nutrients.

The importance of efficient water resource supply has been acknowledged, and it is essential to predict short-term water consumption in the future. Recently, it has become possible to obtain data on water consumption at the household level through smart water meters. The pattern of these data is nonlinear due to various factors related to human activities, such as holidays and weather. However, it is difficult to accurately predict household water consumption with a nonlinear pattern with the autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model, a traditional time series prediction model. Thus, this study used a deep learning-based long short-term memory (LSTM) approach to develop a water consumption prediction model for each customer. The proposed model considers several variables to learn nonlinear water consumption patterns. We developed an ARIMA model and an LSTM model in the training dataset for customers with four different water-use types (detached houses, apartment, restaurant, and elementary school). The performances of the two models were evaluated using a test dataset that was not used for model learning. The LSTM model outperformed the ARIMA model in all households (correlation coefficient: mean 89% and root mean square error: mean 5.60 m3). Therefore, it is expected that the proposed model can predict customer-specific water consumption at the household level depending on the type of use.

For risk assessment, two methods, quantitative risk assessment and qualitative risk assessment, are used. In this study, we identified the regional risk level for a disaster-prevention plan for an overall area at the national level using qualitative risk assessment. To overcome the limitations of previous studies, a heavy rain damage risk index (HDRI) was proposed by clarifying the framework and using the indicator selection principle. Using historical damage data, we also carried out hierarchical cluster analysis to identify the major damage types that were not considered in previous risk-assessment studies. The result of the risk-level analysis revealed that risk levels are relatively high in some cities in South Korea where heavy rain damage occurs frequently or is severe. Five causes of damage were derived from this study—A: landslides, B: river inundation, C: poor drainage in arable areas, D: rapid water velocity, and E: inundation in urban lowlands. Finally, a prevention project was proposed considering regional risk level and damage type in this study. Our results can be used when macroscopically planning mid- to long-term disaster prevention projects.

Abstract Background Water-soluble anthocyanin pigments are important ingredients in health-improving supplements and valuable for the food industry. Although great attention has been paid to the breeding and production of crops containing high levels of anthocyanin, genetic variation in red or purple cabbages (Brassica oleracea var. capitata F. rubra) has not yet been characterized at the molecular level. In this study, we identified the mechanism responsible for the establishment of purple color in cabbages. Results BoMYBL2–1 is one of the regulatory genes in the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway in cabbages. It is a repressor whose expression is inversely correlated to anthocyanin synthesis and is not detectable in purple cabbages. Sequence analysis of purple cabbages revealed that most lacked BoMYBL2–1 coding sequences, although a few had a substitution in the region of the promoter 347 bp upstream of the gene that was associated with an absence of BoMYBL2–1 expression. Lack of transcriptional activity of the substitution-containing promoter was confirmed using transgenic Arabidopsis plants transformed with promoter::GUS fusion constructs. The finding that the defect in BoMYBL2–1 expression was solely responsible for purple coloration in cabbages was further demonstrated using genomic PCR and RT-PCR analyses of many other structural and regulatory genes in anthocyanin biosynthesis. Molecular markers for purple cabbages were developed and validated using 69 cabbage lines. Conclusion Expression of BoMYBL2–1 was inversely correlated to anthocyanin content, and purple color in cabbages resulted from a loss of BoMYBL2–1 expression, caused by either the promoter substitution or deletion of the gene. This is the first report of molecular markers that distinguish purple cabbages. Such markers will be useful for the production of intraspecific and interspecific hybrids for functional foods, and for industrial purposes requiring high anthocyanin content.

This study assessed the characteristics of water-level time series of a tidal river by decomposing it into tide, wave, rainfall-runoff, and noise components. Especially, the analysis for chaotic behavior of each component was done by estimating the correlation dimension with phase-space reconstruction of time series and by using a close returns plot (CRP). Among the time series, the tide component showed chaotic characteristics to have a correlation dimension of 1.3. It was found out that the water level has stochastic characteristics showing the increasing trend of the correlation exponent in the embedding dimension. Other components also showed the stochastic characteristics. Then, the CRP was used to examine the characteristics of each component. The tide component showed the chaotic characteristics in its CRP. The CRP of water level showed an aperiodic characteristic which slightly strayed away from its periodicity, and this might be related to the tide component. This study showed that a low water level is mainly affected by a chaotic tide component through entropy information. Even though the water level did not show chaotic characteristics in the correlation dimension, it showed stochastic chaos characteristics in the CRP. Other components showed stochastic characteristics in the CRP. It was confirmed that the water level showed chaotic characteristics when it was not affected by rainfall and stochastic characteristics deviating from the bounded trajectory when water level rises due to rainfall. Therefore, we have shown that the water level related to the chaotic tide component can also have chaotic properties because water level is influenced by chaotic tide and rainfall shock, thus it showed stochastic chaos characteristics.

Spectral characteristics of solar radiation have a major role in plant growth and development and the overall metabolism, including secondary metabolism, which is important for the accumulation of health-promoting phytochemicals in plants. The primary focus of this study was to determine the effect of spectral characteristics of solar radiation on the nutritional quality of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L., cv. red leaf ‘New Red Fire’ and green leaf ‘Two Star’ and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L., cv. BHN-589) grown in high tunnels in relation to the accumulation of essential nutrients and phytochemicals. Solar spectrum received by crops was modified using photo-selective poly covers. Treatments included commonly used standard poly, luminescence poly (diffuse poly), clear poly, UV blocking poly, exposure of crops grown under the standard poly to full sun 2 weeks prior to harvest (akin to movable tunnel), and 55% shade cloth on the standard poly. All the poly covers and shade cloth reduced the PAR levels in the high tunnels, and the largest reduction was by the shade cloth, which reduced the solar PAR by approximately 48%. Clear poly allowed the maximum UV-A and UV-B radiation, while standard poly allowed only a small fraction of the solar UV-A and UV-B (between 15.8% and 16.2%). Clear poly, which allowed a higher percentage of solar UV-A (60.5%) and UV-B (65%) than other poly covers, increased the total phenolic concentration and the antioxidant capacity in red leaf lettuce. It also increased the accumulation of flavonoids, including quercetin-3-glucoside, luteolin-7-glucoside, and apigenin-3-glucoside in red leaf lettuce, compared to the standard poly. Brief exposure of crops grown in high tunnels to full sun prior to harvest produced the largest increase in the accumulation of quercetin-3-glucoside, and it also resulted in an increase in luteolin-7-glucoside and apigenin-3-glucoside in red leaf lettuce. Thus, clear poly and brief exposure of red leaf lettuce to the full sun, which can increase UV exposure to the plants, produced a positive impact on its nutritional quality. In contrast, shade cloth which allowed the lowest levels of solar PAR, UV-A and UV-B relative to the other poly covers had a negative impact on the accumulation of the phenolic compounds in red leaf lettuce. However, in green leaf lettuce, luminesce poly, clear poly, UV-block poly, and shade treatments increased the accumulation of many essential nutrients, including protein, magnesium, and sulfur in green leaf lettuce compared to the standard poly. Poly cover treatments including shade treatment did not affect the accumulation of either carotenoids (lutein, β-carotene, and lycopene) or essential nutrients in mature tomato fruits. The results show that clear poly cover can enhance the accumulation of many phenolic compounds in red leaf lettuce, as does the brief exposure of the crop to the full sun prior to harvest. Thus, UV radiation plays an important role in the accumulation of phenolic compounds in red leaf lettuce while the overall spectral quality of solar radiation has a significant influence on the accumulation of essential nutrients in green leaf lettuce.

Leaf senescence is a developmental process induced by various molecular and environmental stimuli that may affect crop yield. The dark-induced leaf senescence-91 (DLS-91) plants displayed rapid leaf senescence, dramatically decreased chlorophyll contents, low photochemical efficiencies, and upregulation of the senescence-associated marker gene BrSAG12-1. To understand DLS molecular mechanism, we examined transcriptomic changes in DLS-91 and control line DLS-42 following 0, 1, and 4 days of dark treatment (DDT) stages. We identified 501, 446, and 456 DEGs, of which 16.7%, 17.2%, and 14.4% encoded TFs, in samples from the three stages. qRT-PCR validation of 16 genes, namely, 7 MADS, 6 NAC, and 3 WRKY, suggested that BrAGL8-1, BrAGL15-1, and BrWRKY70-1 contribute to the rapid leaf senescence of DLS-91 before (0 DDT) and after (1 and 4 DDT) dark treatment, whereas BrNAC046-2, BrNAC029-2/BrNAP, and BrNAC092-1/ORE1 TFs may regulate this process at a later stage (4 DDT). In-silico analysis of cis-acting regulatory elements of BrAGL8-1, BrAGL42-1, BrNAC029-2, BrNAC092-1, and BrWRKY70-3 of B. rapa provides insight into the regulation of these genes. Our study has uncovered several AGL-MADS, WRKY, and NAC TFs potentially worthy of further study to understand the underlying mechanism of rapid DLS in DLS-91.

The interest in renewable energy to replace fossil fuel is increasing as the problem caused by climate change has become more severe. In this study, small hydropower (SHP) was evaluated as a resource with high development value because of its high energy density compared to other renewable energy sources. SHP may be an attractive and sustainable power generation environmental perspective because of its potential to be found in small rivers and streams. The power generation potential could be estimated based on the discharge in the river basin. Since the river discharge depends on the climate conditions, the hydropower generation potential changes sensitively according to climate variability. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the SHP potential in consideration of future climate change. In this study, the future prospect of SHP potential is simulated for the period of 2021 to 2100 considering the climate change in three hydropower plants of Deoksong, Hanseok, and Socheon stations, Korea. The results show that SHP potential for the near future (2021 to 2040) shows a tendency to be increased, and the highest increase is 23.4% at the Deoksong SPH plant. Through the result of future prospect, we have shown that hydroelectric power generation capacity or SHP potential will be increased in the future. Therefore, we believe that it is necessary to revitalize the development of SHP to expand the use of renewable energy. In addition, a methodology presented in this study could be used for the future prospect of the SHP potential.

(1) Background: We assessed the impact of high tunnel coverings and harvest maturity (breaker and light red) on antioxidant capacity, ascorbic acid (AsA), lycopene, β–carotene, and phenolic compound (flavonoid and phenolic acid) accumulation in tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) at harvest and postharvest. (2) Methods: The two-year study in Olathe, KS, included six different coverings: a standard polyethylene (standard poly), diffuse poly (diffuse), clear poly (clear), UV-A/UV-B blocking poly (block), 55% shade cloth + standard poly (shade), and removal of standard poly two weeks prior to harvest (movable). (3) Results: Antioxidant capacity increased in fruit grown under the clear covering, compared to the shade covering (p < 0.05); similarly, AsA accumulation increased under the standard and clear coverings, relative to the movable and shade coverings (p < 0.001). Postharvest, at the point of consumption (POC), rutin increased in fruit harvested at light red stage versus breaker stage (p < 0.001), and chlorogenic acid increased in light red harvested fruit by 60% under movable, 55% under shade, and 43% under block covering than breaker harvested fruit (p < 0.01). (4) Conclusions: Based on these results, we conclude that both high tunnel covering and postharvest maturation alter antioxidant capacity, AsA, lycopene, and phenolic compound accumulation profiles by the POC.

Global warming accelerates the development of high temperature (HT)- and high humidity (HH)-tolerant varieties. This is further facilitated by the identification of HTHH-tolerant genes and the development of molecular markers based on these genes. To identify genes involved in HTHH tolerance in cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata), we performed RNA-seq analysis of two inbred lines, BN1 (HTHH-tolerant) and BN2 (HTHH-susceptible), and selected trehalose 6- phosphate phosphatase I-2 (BoTPPI-2) as one of the HTHH-tolerant-associated genes. We also developed a segregating F2 population from a cross between BN1 and BN2. RNA-seq results showed that BoTPPI-2 transcript levels were high in the HTHH-tolerant inbred line BN1, but not detectable in the HTHH-susceptible inbred line BN2. The expression pattern of BoTPPI-2 was not related to the expression of heat shock-related genes. Soft rot resistance, used as an indicator of HTHH tolerance, was higher in BN1 than in BN2. F2 individuals similar to BN1 with respect to phenotype appeared to be HTHH-tolerant, whereas BN2-types were susceptible to HTHH. Analysis of the genomic DNA revealed the presence of a long terminal repeat (LTR; ca. 4.6 kb) in the ninth intron of the BoTPPI-2_BN2 allele, thereby suppressing its transcription and exhibiting HTHH phenotype. Except for the LTR insertion, the sequence of BoTPPI-2_BN2 was almost identical to that of BoTPPI-2_BN1. On the basis of the LTR and BoTPPI-2 sequences, we developed a molecular marker to identify HTHH-tolerant genotypes and validated its efficiency using F2 individuals, inbred lines, and cultivars from diverse sources. The marker explained the genetic basis of HTHH tolerance in at least 80%, but not 100%, of the cabbage genotypes. Thus, additional markers associated with HTHH tolerance are needed for perfect selection.

The purpose of this study is to reduce the uncertainty in the generation of rainfall data and runoff simulations. We propose a blending technique using a rainfall ensemble and runoff simulation. To create rainfall ensembles, the probabilistic perturbation method was added to the deterministic raw radar rainfall data. Then, we used three rainfall-runoff models that use rainfall ensembles as input data to perform a runoff analysis: The tank model, storage function model, and streamflow synthesis and reservoir regulation model. The generated rainfall ensembles have increased uncertainty when the radar is underestimated, due to rainfall intensity and topographical effects. To confirm the uncertainty, 100 ensembles were created. The mean error between radar rainfall and ground rainfall was approximately 1.808–3.354 dBR. We derived a runoff hydrograph with greatly reduced uncertainty by applying the blending technique to the runoff simulation results and found that uncertainty is improved by more than 10%. The applicability of the method was confirmed by solving the problem of uncertainty in the use of rainfall radar data and runoff models.

The water-level time series of a tidal river is influenced by various factors and has a complex structure, which limits its use as hydrological forecast data. This study proposes a methodology for decomposing the water-level time series of a tidal river into various components that influence the water level. To this end, the tide, wave, rainfall-induced runoff and noise components were selected as the main components that affect the water-level time series. The tide component and the wave component were first separated through wavelet analysis and curve fitting and then they were removed from the water-level data. A high-pass filter was then applied to the resulting time series to separate the rainfall-induced runoff component and the noise component. These methods made it possible to determine the rate of influence that each component has on the water level of a tidal river. The results could be used as a basis for calibrating a rainfall-runoff model and issuing flood forecasts and warnings for a tidal river.

High-resolution photoemission spectroscopy (HRPES) measurements were collected and density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to track the exposure-dependent variation of the adsorption structure of 2-thiophenecarboxaldehyde (C4H3SCHO: TPCA) on the Ge(100) 2 × 1 reconstructed surface at room temperature. In an effort to identify the most probable adsorption structures on the Ge(100)-2 × 1 reconstructed surface, we deposited TPCA molecules at low exposure and at high exposure and compared the differences between the electronic features measured using HRPES. The HRPES data suggested three possible adsorption structures of TPCA on the Ge(100)-2 × 1 reconstructed surface, and DFT calculations were used to determine the plausibility of these structures. HRPES analysis corroborated by DFT calculations, indicated that an S-dative bonded structure is the most probable adsorption structure at relatively low exposure levels, the [4 + 2] cycloadduct structure is the second most probable structure, and the [2 + 2]-C=O cycloadduct structure is the least probable structure on the Ge(100)-2 × 1 reconstructed surface at relatively high exposure levels.

The effect of martensite–austenite (M–A) constituents and simulated microstructure on low-temperature toughness was investigated in YS 500 MPa grade structural steel welds. The specimens were fabricated using a direct quenching and tempering process. After simulated weld thermal cycles, the coarse-grained heat-affected zone (CGHAZ) and intercritically reheated coarse-grained heat-affected zone (IRCGHAZ) were produced using a Gleeble tester and real welded joint to support the simulation results. The largest low-temperature toughness was observed in the fine-grained heat-affected zone (FGHAZ) owing to the fine-ferrite microstructure. However, the toughness decreased in the IRCGHAZ because of the slender morphology of the M–A constituents that formed primarily along the prior austenite grain boundaries in the IRCGHAZ.