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【Objective】 The delta of Yellow River is characterized by soil salinity. Different methods have been proposed to remediate it, and the objective of this paper is to investigate the efficacy of amending it with Yellow River sediments in reliving the salinity and improving winter wheat yield. 【Method】 The field experiment was conducted in a saline clay soil which was amended with Yellow River sediment at rates of 0 kg/m2, 5 kg/m2, 10 kg/m2, 15 kg/m2, 20 kg/m2, 25 kg/m2, 30 kg/m2, 35 kg/m2 respectively. For each treatment, we measured the changes in saturated hydraulic conductivity, soil water content and soil salinity, as well as grain yield and yield traits. 【Result】 Soil amendment reduced the soil bulk density, with the decrease increased with the amending rate. The sediment amendment also increased the saturated hydraulic conductivity, exponentially as sediment application increased. The amendment reduced soil moisture content and salt content in the 0~40 cm of soil layer. Applying 15 kg/m2 of the sediment reduced the soil water content and salt content in the 0~20 cm and 20-40cm of soils by 16.61% and 22.89%, and 12.86% and 22.44%, respectively, compared to the control without amendment. Soil amendment also increased winter wheat yield. As the sediment application increased, the yield increased first followed by decline. Of all treatments we compared, applying 15 kg/m2 of the sediment was optimal, increasing the yield to 7 530.98 kg/hm2, a 32.78% increase over the control. 【Conclusion】 Amending the saline clay soil in the delta of the Yellow River with Yellow River sediment at a rational rate can improve soil quality and winter wheat yield. For our experiments, the optimal application rate was 15 kg/m2.

【Objective】 Clay soil is less permeable and could become hard for roots to penetrate when soil is drying. These could combine to impede crop growth and reduce crop yield. The aim of this paper is to investigate experimentally the feasibility of using fluvial sediment amendment to improve physical properties of clay soils and the consequence for winter wheat yield. 【Method】 A three-year experiment was conducted in field, and the sediment used for the amendment was taken from the Yellow river. We amended the clay soil with the sediment at rates ranging from 50 to 350 t/hm2, with no amendment taken as the control (CK). The water release curve of each amended soil was measured in laboratory using the pressure-film method, and in the field we measured the change in soil moisture content, bioavailable soil water and the ultimate winter wheat yield. 【Result】 Amendment with the sediment altered water release curves of the soil significantly, reducing water content under the same matric potential. Both soil moisture and bioavailable water increased with the amount of sediment added in the amendment; the soil water content decreased linearly as the mass of the sediment increased, except for moisture in the range of 0%~14.85% in which their relationship was nonlinear. It was also found that adding the sediment not only reduced soil moisture but also salinity at significant level. These combined to improve winter wheat yield, especially the amendments at rates 50, 100, 150, 200 and 350 t/hm2, which increased the three-year average yield by 26.47%, 26.51%, 18.33%, 27.27% and 30.90% respectively, compared with the CK. 【Conclusion】 Considering changes in soil physical properties, soil water content and crop traits measured in the lab and field, the optimal ratio (weight/weight) to amend the clay soil using the Yellow river sediments was 6.75%.

This study investigated the distribution of sedimentary phosphorus (P) species along an area of a rapid current at the southern coast of Zhoushan Island. The objective of this study was to improve the understanding of P cycling in a zone of rapid water cycling. Results showed that the average percentage of each P form to total P (TP) was in the following order: apatite P (Ca-P; 52%) was found in the most abundant, followed by organic P (OP; 16%), exchangeable-P (Ex-P; 14%), detrital P (De-P; 11%), and iron-bound P (Fe-P; 7%). Ca-P showed a trend of an increasing concentration from a location at the west (ZS1 has mean Ca-P = 45.6 mg kg−1) toward the east (ZS2 has mean Ca-P = 82.69 mg kg−1) and south-east (ZS3 has mean Ca-P = 82.17 mg kg−1); De-P also increased from 15.12 mg kg−1 at ZS1 to 22.53 mg kg−1 at ZS2 and 27.45 mg kg−1 at ZS3, but the three bioavailable P species, OP, Ex-P, and Fe-P, decreased from the west toward the east of the coastal area. Results along the cores showed the occurrences of sediment P adsorption and release throughout the time span from the 1930s to the present, with an overall trend of decreasing Ca-P and TP from the bottom to surface sediments. There was a tendency of Ca-P formation at the expense of Ex-P and OP release during transport and organic matter decomposition. The likely impact of climate change in the coastal zone would be an increased temperature resulting in elevated organic matter decomposition and P release. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In chemical industrial process, conversion of alkenes to functional oxygenates plays a key role in bridging between the feedstock and downstream application. Traditionally, the oxidation required highly‐active oxygen sources or molecular oxygen under high temperature and pressure. This poses challenges to the green and safe production of oxygenates. To circumvent the issues of massive consumption of fossil fuel and serious CO2 footprints, approaches of electro‐oxidation are developed under ambient conditions, adopting O2 and H2O as oxygen source. Utilizing electricity from renewable resources and the involved electron transfer, the performance is closely related to the interface characteristics of electrodes and electrolytes. This review presents the progress in catalysts design, electrolytes optimization, cells integration to effectively regulate the microenvironment of the interfaces. Further discussion of the mechanism analysis and potential issues are emphasized, based on the in‐situ characterization techniques, isotopic experiments and quenching tests. We hope this review can provide an outline for green approaches to oxidation of alkenes via electrocatalytic pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite of high conductivity and reducing ability, transition metal nanoparticles tend to aggregate and unavoidably impact the selectivity during the proton‐coupled reduction process of CO2RR. New strategy to regulate and utilize the electronic property of transition‐metal particles allows for effective tuning of eCO2RR activity. Through simple creation of N‐doped carbon shells surrounding Ni nanoparticles and controlling the amount and arrangement of the N atoms, successful and long‐lasting electrochemical reduction of CO2 was accomplished. The inherent HER activity was almost completely suppressed. It exhibited FECO above 90 % in a 500 mV potential window, with the optimal up to 96.5 % at −0.78 V vs RHE. In flow cell electrolysis, a current density of 289.4 mA/cm2 was achieved with Faradic efficiency of 96.4 % towards CO. The results of control experiments using different catalysts imply that electron transfer between Ni core and shells was significantly influenced by the property of N atoms. High content of graphitic nitrogen is crucial for the catalytic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera) is one of the major economic fruit crops but suffers many diseases, causing damage to the quality of grapes. Strain G166 was isolated from the rhizosphere of grapevine and was found to exhibited broad-spectrum antagonistic activities against fungal pathogens on grapes in vitro, such as Coniella diplodiella, Botrytis cinerea, and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. Whole-genome sequencing revealed that G166 contained a 6,613,582 bp circular chromosome with 5749 predicted coding DNA sequences and an average GC content of 60.57%. TYGS analysis revealed that G166 belongs to Pseudomonas viciae. Phenotype analysis indicated that P. viciae G166 remarkably reduced the severity of grape white rot disease in the grapevine. After inoculation with C. diplodiella, more H2O2 and MDA accumulated in the leaves and resulted in decreases in the Pn and chlorophyll content. Conversely, G166-treated grapevine displayed less oxidative damage with lower H2O2 levels and MDA contents under the pathogen treatments. Subsequently, G166-treated grapevine could sustain a normal Pn and chlorophyll content. Moreover, the application of P. viciae G166 inhibited the growth of mycelia on detached leaves and berries, while more disease symptoms occurred in non-bacterized leaves and berries. Therefore, P. viciae G166 served as a powerful bioagent against grape white rot disease. Using antiSMASH prediction and genome comparisons, a relationship between non-ribosomal peptide synthase clusters and antifungal activity was found in the genome of P. viciae G166. Taken together, P. viciae G166 shows promising antifungal potential to improve fruit quality and yield in ecological agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ninety percent of congenital nephrogenic diabetes insipidus (NDI) are X‐linked inherited and are caused by mutations in the vasopressin type 2 receptor gene (AVPR2). Most affected individuals are males. Only sporadic female cases have been reported. Here, we first reported a female monozygotic twin with discordant phenotypes for NDI carrying a missense variant c.845T>C (p.Leu282Pro) in exon 4 of AVPR2. Intracellular cAMP concentrations in COS7 cells transfected with AVPR2‐L282P were significantly decreased by about 60% compared with those in wild‐type AVPR2 plasmid transfected cells, suggesting this variation was pathogenic. The X‐inactivation pattern was investigated in peripheral leukocytes and urine sediments in both the unaffected and affected pair. Results showed that the affected pair had a skewed X chromosome inactivation (XCI) pattern in urine sediments and a random XCI pattern in leukocytes, while the unaffected pair showed a random XCI pattern both in leukocytes and urine sediments. This was the first report of monozygotic twins who developed different phenotypes of NDI. Our study suggested that the development of NDI symptoms is more closely associated with the XCI pattern in urine sediments compared with the XCI pattern in peripheral leukocytes. Analysis of XCI in peripheral leukocytes may not be enough to explore possible mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The strong Ti-O bonds in TiO2 and poor compatibility with Sb2Se3 result in poor performance when used as electron transport layers (ETL) for Sb2Se3 solar cells. Therefore, cadmium sulfide is usually used as a buffer layer to improve its compatibility. In the present work, we deposited a layer of CdS by spin coating method on TiO2 ETL and fabricated TiO2/CdS dual ETL. The CdS layer improved the electronic properties of TiO2 and grain orientation of Sb2Se3 thin films. As a result, the average short circuit current and fill factor of Sb2Se3 solar cells were improved, and the final champion power conversion efficiency was enhanced from 2.6% to 4.71%. This study supplied a route for the application of titanium dioxide as a broad band gap electron transfer material for Sb2Se3 solar cells. Highlights: We adopt a facile spin-coating method to fabricated CdS buffer layer on TiO2 electron transport layer. The CdS buffer layer altered the orientation of Sb2Se3 film and enhanced its performance. The champion PCE of Sb2Se3 solar cells was enhanced to 4.71% from 2.60% by inserting the CdS buffer layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]