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This study explored the potential of ultrasonic-assisted three-phase partitioning (UTPP) to simultaneously extract lipids, proteins, and polysaccharides from Idesia polycarpa Maxim (IPM) cake meal, a significant byproduct of oil extraction. The impact of variables such as inorganic salt type, solid–liquid ratio, salt concentration, pH, ultrasonic time, temperature, and volume of dimethyl carbonate was examined. Based on the single-factor tests and response surface methodology (RSM), optimal conditions were identified as 30 % ammonium citrate, a 1:26 solid–liquid ratio, pH 3, 31 min of ultrasonic time, 30 °C temperature, and 15 mL of dimethyl carbonate. These conditions achieved extraction rates of 8.10 % for lipids, 5.03 % for proteins, and 10.03 % for polysaccharides, with recovery rates of 91.62 %, 83.08 %, and 93.95 % respectively. Chemical analysis showed the lipid fraction rich in linoleic acid, and the protein fraction high in glutamic acid, aspartate, and serine. The polysaccharide fraction, mainly RG-I pectin with a molecular weight of 226.58 kDa, exhibited strong thermal stability and inhibitory effects on α-glucosidase and glycation, suggesting potential for functional food and dietary supplement applications. This highlights UTPP as a sustainable method for effectively utilizing valuable compounds from IPM cake meal, outperforming traditional extraction techniques.

Drying conditions significantly impact the compositions and microstructures of polysaccharides, leading to various effects on their chemical characteristics and bioactivities. The objective of this study was to investigate how different industrial drying techniques, i.e., hot air drying, infrared drying, microwave vacuum drying, and freeze drying, affect the structural properties and biological activities of polysaccharides extracted from Rosa roxburghii Tratt fruit (RRTP). Results revealed that these drying methods significantly altered the extraction yield, molecular weights, monosaccharide ratios, contents of uronic acid and total sugars, gelling properties, particle sizes, thermal stability, and microstructures of RRTPs. However, the monosaccharide composition and functional groups of polysaccharides remained consistent across the different drying techniques. Biological activity assays demonstrated that RRTPs, particularly those processed through microwave vacuum drying (MVD-RRTP), exhibited excellent anti-linoleic acid oxidation, robust anti-glycosylation effects, and significant α-glucosidase inhibition in vitro. The outcomes of this research demonstrate that microwave vacuum drying serves as an effective pre-extraction drying method for RRTPs, enhancing their biological activities. This technique is particularly advantageous for preparing RRTPs intended for use in functional foods and pharmaceuticals, optimizing their health-promoting properties for industrial applications.

Reasonable nitrogen (N) and potassium (K) application rates can effectively improve fertilizer use efficiency, rice yield and quality. A two-year field experiment was conducted with combined application of three N rates (135, 180, and 225 kg ha-1, denoted as N1-N3) and four K rates (0, 90, 135, and 180 kg ha-1, denoted as K0-K3) using super indica hybrid rice cultivar Yixiangyou (YXY) 2115 to explore the effects of co-application of N and K on rice growth and development. The results indicated that the combined application of N and K had significantly interactive effects on dry matter (DM) accumulation, nutrients absorption, N harvest index (NHI), K harvest index (KHI), spikelets per panicle and most rice quality indexes. The highest total DM accumulation (17998.17-19432.47 kg ha-1) at maturity stage was obtained under N3K2. The effect of co-application of N and K on nutrients absorption and utilization varied between the two years and within each year. The highest total N and K accumulations at maturity stage were observed under N3K1 and N3K2, respectively, while the highest N recovery efficiency (NRE) and K recovery efficiency (KRE) were observed under N1K3. High expression levels of N and K metabolism-related genes in rice grains were observed under N3K2 or N3K3, consistent with N and K uptake. Co-application of N and K increased rice yield significantly and the highest yield (6745.02-7010.27 kg ha-1) was obtained under N2K2. As more N was gradually applied, rice appearance quality improved but milling, cooking and eating quality decreased. Although appropriate application of K could improve rice milling, cooking and eating quality, it reduced appearance quality. The optimal milling, cooking and eating quality were obtained under N1K2, while the best appearance quality was obtained under N3K0. Overall, a combination of 135-210 kg ha-1 N and 115-137 kg ha-1 K application rates was recommended for achieving relatively higher yield and better quality in rice production.

Ten species of the spider genus Microdipoena Banks, 1895 are reported from China, Laos, Indonesia, Georgia, and Seychelles. DNA sequences of the eight species are obtained to confirm their correct identification. The molecular phylogenetic analysis based on five gene fragments (16S, 18S, 28S, COI, and H3) were used to test the relationships and taxonomic placements of eight Microdipoena species, of which five species are documented as new to science: i.e., M. huisun sp. nov. (♀, China), M. lisu sp. nov. (♀, China), M. shenyang sp. nov. (♂♀, China), M. thatitou sp. nov. (♀, Laos), and M. zhulin sp. nov. (♂♀, China). Five known species are redescribed: M. elsae Saaristo, 1978 (♂♀, Seychelles), M. gongi (Yin, Peng & Bao, 2004) (♂♀, China), M. menglunensis (Lin & Li, 2008) (♂♀, China), M. jobi (Kraus, 1967) (♂♀, Georgia), and M. yinae (Lin & Li, 2013) (♂♀, China). All but M. menglunensis are diagnosed and illustrated. The family Mysmenidae is also the first recorded from Laos and Georgia.

Abstract Background Ocular trauma is a leading cause of vision loss. Penetrating ocular injury is a major type of open globe injury(OGI), while its epidemiology and clinical characteristics are still uncertain. The aim of this study is to reveal the prevalence and prognostic factors of penetrating ocular injury in the Shandong province. Methods A retrospective study of penetrating ocular injury was performed at the Second Hospital of Shandong University, from January 2010 to December 2019. Demographic information, injury causes, ocular trauma types, and initial and final visual acuity(VA) were analyzed. To obtain more precise characteristics of penetrating injury, the eye global was divided into three zones and analyzed. Results Among 210 OGI, there are 83 penetrating injuries which account for 39.5% of all. In addition, the final VA of 59 penetrating injuries recovered to 0.1 or better, which possesses the highest frequency among OGI. In order to research the relationship between the wound location and the final VA, we took 74 cases of penetrating injuries without retina or optic nerve damage for analysis. Results show that 62 were male and 12 were female. The average age was 36.01 ± 14.15. The most frequent occupation is the worker followed by the peasant. Statistics show that there is an obvious deviation in the Ocular trauma score (OTS) predicting the final VA and the actual final VA in the 45–65 score group (p

Seedless chestnut rose (Rosa sterilis S. D. Shi, RS) is a fresh type of R. roxburghii Tratt with copious functional components in its fruit. Polysaccharides are recognized as one of the vital bioactive compounds in RS fruits, but their antioxidant and hypoglycemic properties have not been extensively explored. Hence, in this study, accelerated solvent extraction (RSP-W), citric acid (RSP-C), 5% sodium hydroxide/0.05% sodium borohydride (RSP-A), and 0.9% sodium chloride (RSP-S) solution extraction were individually utilized to obtain RS fruit polysaccharides. The physicochemical properties, structural characteristics, and biological activities were then compared. Results indicated that extraction methods had significant influences on the extraction yield, uronic acid content, monosaccharide composition, molecular weight, particle size, thermal stability, triple-helical structure, and surface morphology of RSPs apart from the major linkage bands and crystalline characteristics. The bioactivity tests showed that the RSP-S, which had the greatest amount of uronic acid and a comparatively lower molecular weight, exhibited more potent antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory property. Furthermore, all RSPs inhibited α-glucosidase through a mixed-type manner and quenched their fluorescence predominantly via a static quenching mechanism, with RSP-S showing the highest binding efficiency. Our findings provide a theoretical basis for utilizing RSPs as functional ingredients in food industries.

Climate is the most important environmental factor influencing yield during rice growth and development. To investigate the relationships between climate and yield under different crop rotation patterns and planting methods, three typical rotation patterns (vegetable–rice (V), rape–rice (R), and wheat–rice (W)) and two mechanical planting methods (mechanical transplanting (T1) and mechanical direct seeding (T2)) were established. The results showed that compared to the V rotation pattern, the average daily temperature (ADT) during the sowing to heading stage increased under both R and W rotation patterns, which significantly shortened the growth period. Thus, the effective accumulated temperature (EAT), photosynthetic capacity, effective panicle (EP), and spikelet per panicle (SP) under R and W rotation patterns significantly decreased, leading to reductions in grain yield (GY). VT2 had a higher ratio of productive tillers (RPT), relative chlorophyll content (SPAD), leaf area index (LAI), and net photosynthetic rate (Pn) than those of VT1, which significantly increased panicle dry matter accumulation (DMA), resulting in an increase in GY. Although RT2 and WT2 had a higher RPT than those of RT1 and WT1, the GY of RT1 and WT1 decreased due to the significant reductions in EAT and photosynthetic capacity. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that the comprehensive score for different rotation patterns followed the order of V > R > T with VT2 ranking first. The structural equation model (SEM) showed that EAT and ADT were the most important climate factors affecting yield, with total effects of 0.520 and −0.446, respectively. In conclusion, mechanical direct seeding under vegetable–rice rotation pattern and mechanical transplanting under rape–rice or wheat–rice rotation pattern were the rice-planting methods that optimized the climate resources in southwest China.

Thirteen spider species belonging to the family Mysmenidae Petrunkevitch, 1928 are reported from Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden (XTBG), Menglun Township, Mengla County, Yunnan Province of China. One genus and five species are documented as new to science: Mengmena banna gen. nov. et. sp. nov. (♂♀), Mengmena yulin sp. nov. (♀), Mosu heguomu sp. nov. (♂♀), Mysmena luosuo sp. nov. (♂♀), and Mysmena dai sp. nov. (♀). One species is proposed as a new combination: Mosu zhengi (Lin & Li, 2008) comb. nov. (♂♀, ex Mysmena Simon, 1894). The females of Microdipoena menglunensis (Lin & Li, 2008), Mysmena arcilonga Lin & Li, 2008, Mysmena furca Lin & Li, 2008, and Mysmena rostella Lin & Li, 2008 are described for the first time. Three known species are re-examined and photographed: Gaoligonga taeniata Lin & Li, 2014, Mysmena biangulata (Lin & Li, 2008), and Mysmena cornigera (Lin & Li, 2008). Morphological diagnoses and illustrations are provided for these thirteen mysmenid species.

Rice is a water intensive crop and soil water conditions affect rice yield and quality. However, there is limited research on the starch synthesis and accumulation of rice under different soil water conditions at different growth stages. Thus, a pot experiment was conducted to explore the effects of IR72 (indica) and Nanjing (NJ) 9108 (japonica) rice cultivars under flood-irrigated treatment (CK, 0 kPa), light water stress treatment (L, -20 ± 5 kPa), moderate water stress treatment (M, -40 ± 5 kPa) and severe water stress treatment (S, -60 ± 5 kPa) on the starch synthesis and accumulation and rice yield at booting stage (T1), flowering stage (T2) and filling stage (T3), respectively. Under LT treatment, the total soluble sugar and sucrose contents of both cultivars decreased while the amylose and total starch contents increased. Starch synthesis-related enzyme activities and their peak activities at mid-late growth stage increased as well. However, applying MT and ST treatments produced the opposite effects. The 1000-grain weight of both cultivars increased under LT treatment while the seed setting rate increased only under LT3 treatment. Compared with CK, water stress at booting stage decreased grain yield. The principal component analysis (PCA) showed that LT3 got the highest comprehensive score while ST1 got lowest for both cultivars. Furthermore, the comprehensive score of both cultivars under the same water stress treatment followed the trend of T3 > T2 > T1, and NJ 9108 had a better drought-resistant ability than IR72. Compared with CK, the grain yield under LT3 increased by 11.59% for IR72 and 16.01% for NJ 9108, respectively. Overall, these results suggested that light water stress at filling stage could be an effective method to enhance starch synthesis-related enzyme activities, promote starch synthesis and accumulation and increase grain yield.

Camellia spiny whitefly, Aleurocanthus camelliae (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae), is a major pest in tea, which poses a serious threat to tea production. Similar to many insects, various bacterial symbioses inside A. camelliae may participate in the reproduction, metabolism, and detoxification of the host. However, few reports included research on the microbial composition and influence on A. camelliae growth. We first applied high-throughput sequencing of the V4 region in the 16S rRNA of symbiotic bacteria to study its component and effect on the biological trait of A. camelliae by comparing it with the antibiotic treatment group. The population parameters, survival rate, and fecundity rate of A. camelliae were also analyzed using the age–stage two-sex life table. Our results demonstrated that phylum Proteobacteria (higher than 96.15%) dominated the whole life cycle of A. camelliae. It unveiled the presence of Candidatus Portiera (primary endosymbiont) (67.15–73.33%), Arsenophonus (5.58–22.89%), Wolbachia (4.53–11.58%), Rickettsia (0.75–2.59%), and Pseudomonas (0.99–1.88%) genus. Antibiotic treatment caused a significant decrease in the endosymbiont, which negatively affected the host's biological properties and life process. For example, 1.5% rifampicin treatment caused a longer preadult stage in the offspring generation (55.92 d) compared to the control (49.75d) and a lower survival rate (0.36) than the control (0.60). The decreased intrinsic rate of increase (r), net reproductive rate (R0), and prolonged mean generation time (T) were signs of all disadvantageous effects associated with symbiotic reduction. Our findings confirmed the composition and richness of symbiotic bacteria in larva and adult of A. camelliae by an Illumina NovaSeq 6000 analysis and their influence on the development of the host by demographic research. Together, the results suggested that symbiotic bacteria play an important role in manipulating the biological development of their hosts, which might help us for developing new pest control agents and technologies for better management of A. camelliae.

Giant embryo rice is known as a highly nutritious functional rice because it is rich in gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which has various regulatory functions in the human body. To study the response of giant embryo rice yield and quality to nitrogen (N) application, and to verify the effect of giant embryo brown rice on alleviating hyperlipidemia in rats. In this study, field experiments were conducted in 2020 and 2021 using the giant embryo rice varietiers J20 (japonica) and Koshihikari (japonica) rice as experimental materials and five N levels, 0 (N0), 90 (N1), 135 (N2), 180 (N3) and 225 (N4) kg ha-1. The results showed that the yield of both varieties increased with increasing N and the maximum values were observed under the N2 treatment. As more N was gradually applied, the brown rice rate, milled rice rate, head rice rate and GABA content of both varieties first increased and then decreased, while the chalky grain rate and chalkiness showed the opposite trend. The optimal values of these indexes were observed under the N2 treatment. The peak viscosity and breakdown value of J20 decreased, while its setback value and pasting temperature increased with increasing N. In contrast, Koshihikari showed the opposite trend. The protein content and protein component contents of both varieties showed an increasing trend with increasing N, among which gliadin was the most sensitive protein component to N fertilizer. Animal experiments results showed that J20 brown rice could significantly slow the rate of weight gain of rats, reduce serum total cholesterol and triglyceride levels and increase high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. Therefore, increasing N could effectively enhance J20 yield and improve processing, appearance and nutritional quality but decrease cooking and eating quality. The brown rice J20 had the effect of slowing the rate of weight gain and reducing the hyperlipidemia level of rats, the optimal N application rate for achieving high yield, high quality and good functional characteristics in the giant embryo rice J20 was 135 kg ha-1. These findings will provide a theoretical and technical foundation for the popularization and application of giant embryo rice in the future.

Abstract Background Choroidal melanoma is the most common primary intraocular malignancy that occurs in adults. Lithium Chloride Promotes Apoptosis in Human Leukemia NB4 Cells by Inhibiting Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 Beta. In this study, we aimed to understand whether LiCl exerts anticancer effects on choroidal melanoma cells and elucidate the underlying molecular mechanisms. Methods Human choroidal melanoma cells were treated with LiCl, and cell survival was assessed with MTT assays. Cell reproductive viability was measured by plate colony formation assays. Cell apoptosis was evaluated using flow cytometry, and proteins were detected using western blotting. A human choroidal melanoma xenograft model was established to demonstrate the effect of LiCl on human choroidal melanoma in vivo. Results We found that LiCl inhibited cell survival and clonogenic potential and induced apoptosis in human choroidal melanoma cells. LiCl also reduced the proliferation of choroidal melanoma cells in vivo. Moreover, the upregulation of NOXA and downregulation of Mcl-1 were responsible for LiCl-induced apoptosis. Mcl-1 overexpression obviously impaired LiCl-induced apoptosis and cleavage of caspase8, caspase9, caspase3 and PARP. Moreover, the protein expression of endoplasmic reticulum stress markers, including IRE1α, Bip, p-eIF2α, ATF4 and CHOP, were upregulated following treatment with LiCl. When CHOP expression was knocked down and cells were treated with LiCl, the protein level of NOXA was partially increased, and Mcl-1 expression was increased, while the cleavage of caspase8, caspase9, caspase3 and PARP that was induced by the LiCl was reduced compared with the vehicle treated group. Prolonged ER stress results in the activation of the apoptotic pathway. Conclusions In summary, LiCl induced an endoplasmic reticulum stress response while activating intrinsic apoptosis. Furthermore, the CHOP/NOXA/Mcl-1 axis contributed to LiCl-induced apoptosis both in vitro and in vivo. The present study provides important mechanistic insight into potential cancer treatments involving LiCl and enhances the understanding of human choroidal melanoma.

Chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) has been abundantly studied for its application on regulating plant growth of many horticultural and agricultural crops. We presented here the effect of COS on tea plant growth and yield by physiological and transcriptomic checking. The results showed that COS treatment can enhance the antioxidant activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POD) and increase the content of chlorophyll and soluble sugar in tea plants. The field trail results show that COS treatment can increase tea buds’ density by 13.81–23.16%, the weight of 100 buds by 15.94–18.15%, and the yield by 14.22–21.08%. Transcriptome analysis found 5409 COS-responsive differentially expressed genes (DEGs), including 3149 up-regulated and 2260 down-regulated genes, and concluded the possible metabolism pathway that responsible for COS promoting tea plant growth. Our results provided fundamental information for better understanding the molecular mechanisms for COS’s acting on tea plant growth and yield promotion and offer academic support for its practical application in tea plant.

This study aimed to clarify the functional response and control potential of O. sauteri in relation to tea thrips. The functional response, interference response, and control potential of O. sauteri on adult tea thrips, in different insect stages and environment temperatures, were studied. The results showed that the predation of O. sauteri against tea thrips was positively correlated with prey density, while the effects of searching for O. sauteri on the adult tea thrips were negatively correlated with prey density. The predation effects of O. sauteri on tea thrips were also influenced by prey density, which indicated that there was an intra-specific interference response from predators to tea thrips. The population density of tea thrips was significantly decreased, and O. sauteri showed a remarkable ability to control them when the benefit-to-harm ratio was 3:100.

Tea green leafhopper (Empoasca onukii Matsuda) is a critical pest in tea production. Wolbachia has attracted much attention as a new direction of pest biological control for its ability of manipulating the hosts’ reproductive biology. In this work, we focused on the detection of Wolbachia in tea green leafhopper and its effect on host reproduction and development. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), real-time PCR, and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) techniques were used to detect the distribution of Wolbachia in tea green leafhopper. Wolbachia infection levels were different in different organs of hosts in different insect stages. In addition, comparison between the infected populations and cured population (treated by tetracyclines) revealed that presence of Wolbachia apparently influenced the growth, life cycle, and other reproductive factors of tea green leafhopper, caused, for example, by cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI), thereby reducing number of offspring, shortening lifespan, and causing female-biased sex ratio. This research confirmed that the bacteria Wolbachia was of high incidence in tea leafhoppers and could significantly affect the hosts’ reproductive development and evolution.

Tea green leafhoppers and thrips are key pests in tea plantations and have widely invaded those of Asian origin. Pesticides are currently a favorable control method but not desirable for frequent use on tea plants. To meet Integrated Pest Management (IPM) demand, biological control with a natural enemy is viewed as the most promising way. Orius sauteri are slated to be a natural enemy to tea pests. However, more knowledge of rearing O. sauteri and selecting banker plant systems is strongly needed. The reproductive biology evaluation of the egg oviposition and population life parameters of O. sauteri under laboratory conditions were examined, and the supporting ability of 11 plant species—motherwort, white clover, red bean, mung bean, peanut, soybean, kidney bean, herba violae, bush vetch, smooth vetch, and common vetch—in a greenhouse was assessed. Most of the selected plants, except for herba violae, performed relatively well with high oviposition quantity and survival. The mean fecundity per female on red bean and motherwort was 148.75 eggs and 148.25 eggs, respectively, and 90.20 eggs for tea plants (the smallest); there also were significant differences. In an experiment to determine the life parameters of O. sauteri, all the tested plants, except herba violae, were found to be able to complete the growth and development of the life cycle; there also were significant differences. The intrinsic rate of increase of motherwort and red bean was 1.18 and 1.17, respectively, and higher compared to that of the other plants, including tea plants (1.13). This result of the O. sauteri population development index was also confirmed in a greenhouse with the number of motherwort and red beans being as high as 113.33 and 112.67. Since motherwort was found to be susceptible to aphids and powdery mildew in each trial, it cannot be used for intercropping in tea gardens. Among the 11 plants, red bean was found to be the most suitable to support O. sauteri in tea plantations.

Cold stress caused by a low temperature is a significant threat to tea production. The application of chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) can alleviate the effect of low temperature stress on tea plants. However, how COS affects the cold stress signaling in tea plants is still unclear. In this study, we investigated the level of physiological indicators in tea leaves treated with COS, and then the molecular response to the cold stress of tea leaves treated with COS was analyzed by transcriptomics with RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq). The results show that the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, peroxidase (POD) activity, content of chlorophyll and soluble sugar in tea leaves in COS-treated tea plant were significantly increased and that photosynthesis and carbon metabolism were enriched. Besides, our results suggest that COS may impact to the cold stress signaling via enhancing the photosynthesis and carbon process. Our research provides valuable information for the mechanisms of COS application in tea plants under cold stress.