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Abstract Increasing the application of nitrogen fertilizer is the main approach to increase rice production, but it also brings problems of environmental pollution and increases agricultural production costs. Cultivating high‐yielding and high nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) rice varieties is an important approach to solving this problem. The rice varieties carrying dep1 (dense and erect panicle 1) have both high grain yield and high NUE. However, their plant traits have not been fully explored. In this study, two rice near‐isogenic lines carrying dep1 (NIL‐DEP1 and NIL‐dep1) were grown in paddy fields under 0, 120 and 270 kg N ha−1. We analyzed agronomic traits of panicle type, plant type, leaves and roots, and physiological traits of vascular bundles, photosynthetic rate and carbon and nitrogen transport. The results showed that the NIL‐dep1 exhibited higher grain yield and NUE than NIL‐DEP1, mainly due to the higher spikelet number per panicle, grain filling percentage and dry matter production. Compared with NIL‐DEP1, NIL‐dep1 had improved flag leaf morpho–physiological traits, including erect flag leaves, greater leaf thickness and specific leaf weight, higher root dry weight, root length, root volume and root surface area, and a better canopy structure, as reflected by a lower light interception percent and canopy extinction coefficient, leading to better photosynthetic performance and dry matter production. In addition, NIL‐dep1 exhibited better vascular bundle traits of peduncle and enhanced dry matter, stem carbon and nitrogen translocation during grain filling. In conclusion, NIL‐dep1 had high grain yield and NUE by improved agronomic and physiological traits and increasing carbon and nitrogen translocation during grain filling. These traits mentioned above could be used to select and breed high grain yield with high NUE rice varieties.

ObjectiveTo assess the effect of B cell depletion therapy (BCDT) on circulating T follicular helper (cTfh) and circulating T helper 17 (cTh17) cells and its relation to clinical improvement in patients with myasthenia gravis (MG).Methods28 anti-AchR positive MG patients treated with ofatumumab and 28 healthy controls (HCs) were included. Frequencies of cTfh and cTh17 cells were monitored by flow cytometry at baseline and 4, and 12 weeks after the initial dose ofatumumab. Serum cytokines associated with cTfh and cTh17, including IL-6, IL-21, and IL-17, were also analyzed.ResultsThe frequency of cTfh and cTh17 significantly increased in MG patients compared with HCs. Additionally, elevated levels of both T-cell subsets correlated with MG severity. During the follow-up, cTfh and cTh17 return to normal after BCDT. Furthermore, the decrease in cTfh and cTh17 was associated with MG scores improvement over time. Notably, cTfh- and cTh17-related cytokines, including IL-6, IL-21, and IL-17, exhibited a marked decrease following ofatumumab therapy.ConclusionsAbnormal expansion of cTfh and cTh17 cells may be key features in the immunopathology of MG. Their levels returned to normal after BCDT, which was closely correlated with clinical amelioration. This result suggests that these two T-cell subsets may be targets for BCDT treatment of MG.

Background: Sarcopenia is an intrinsic factor that leads to balance disorders and falls in older adults. However, the characterization of sarcopenia-related postural balance deficits remains unclear. Aims: This study aimed to explore the balance performance and postural control strategy in older adults with sarcopenia during static stance tasks using force platforms and surface electromyography. Methods: Older adults with right-sided dominance were recruited, including 27 adults with sarcopenia and 27 healthy counterparts. Postural sway was measured with eyes open/closed on rigid/compliant surfaces. The time- and frequency-domain indexes of bilateral lower extremity muscle activity were simultaneously recorded. Results: The postural sway and activity of multiple lower extremity muscles in the sarcopenia group were increased (P

Although reclaimed water (RW) has become a promising alternative source for alleviating water shortage in arid and semiarid regions, the ecological risks it poses to the receiving water bodies remain largely unknown. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is crucial for affecting the quality of RW and strongly influences bacterial communities (BCs) in aquatic ecosystems. In this study, we aimed to unravel the role of DOM signatures on the spatiotemporal composition of microbial communities (MCs) in a seasonally ice-sealed urban river that had been chronically replenished by RW. We found that discharging RW resulted in elevated DOM levels in the receiving river. Notably, an increase of 10% in protein-like substances was revealed. The differences between compositional characteristics of DOM and the abundance of riverine BCs between freezing and non-freezing periods were revealed. In the freezing season, humic-like components, aromaticity, and hydrophobicity of DOM were more significant, and bacterial taxa such as Bacteriodetes and Flavobacterium were increased, while Proteobacteria was decreased. Similarly, co-occurrence network analysis revealed an enhanced interplay between DOM and BCs at the same time. However, Klebsiella pneumoniae markedly decreased during the ice-sealed period. These results suggest that variations in DOM characteristics have remarkable impacts on the dynamics of aquatic BCs, which points to the need for a DOM−oriented RW quality monitoring strategy.

The United Nations formally adopted 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) at the summit in 2015. With the goal of SDGs, China has formulated the “3,060” dual carbon target, that is, to achieve a carbon peak before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. Consequently, this goal will direct positive changes in industrial transformation, and employment quality will be impacted. In this article, 106 listed manufacturing enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta are selected to explore the impacts of industrial transformation and just transition on employment. The result shows that the industrial transformation has no significant promoting effect on employment quality in state-owned enterprises (SOEs), and just transition has no significant moderating effect. However, in private enterprises, industrial transformation has a significant negative impact on employment equality. Moreover, employee training can alleviate the negative impact of industrial transformation on employment quality. On the contrary, employee welfare will play a negative moderating role. The conclusions of this research can help enterprises make better strategies to guarantee the interests of employees and stimulate staff. In addition, the government should advise relevant enterprises to transform steadily.

Synthetic lethality (SL) refers to a genetic interaction in which the simultaneous perturbation of two genes leads to cell or organism death, whereas viability is maintained when only one of the pair is altered. The experimental exploration of these pairs and predictive modeling in computational biology contribute to our understanding of cancer biology and the development of cancer therapies. We extensively reviewed experimental technologies, public data sources, and predictive models in the study of synthetic lethal gene pairs and herein detail biological assumptions, experimental data, statistical models, and computational schemes of various predictive models, speculate regarding their influence on individual sample- and population-based synthetic lethal interactions, discuss the pros and cons of existing SL data and models, and highlight potential research directions in SL discovery.

Cancer is a complex disease with usually multiple disease mechanisms. Target combination is a better strategy than a single target in developing cancer therapies. However, target combinations are generally more difficult to be predicted. Current CRISPR-cas9 technology enables genome-wide screening for potential targets, but only a handful of genes have been screend as target combinations. Thus, an effective computational approach for selecting candidate target combinations is highly desirable. Selected target combinations also need to be translational between cell lines and cancer patients. We have therefore developed DSCN (double-target selection guided by CRISPR screening and network), a method that matches expression levels in patients and gene essentialities in cell lines through spectral-clustered protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. In DSCN, a sub-sampling approach is developed to model first-target knockdown and its impact on the PPI network, and it also facilitates the selection of a second target. Our analysis first demonstrated a high correlation of the DSCN sub-sampling-based gene knockdown model and its predicted differential gene expressions using observed gene expression in 22 pancreatic cell lines before and after MAP2K1 and MAP2K2 inhibition (R2 = 0.75). In DSCN algorithm, various scoring schemes were evaluated. The 'diffusion-path' method showed the most significant statistical power of differentialting known synthetic lethal (SL) versus non-SL gene pairs (P = 0.001) in pancreatic cancer. The superior performance of DSCN over existing network-based algorithms, such as OptiCon and VIPER, in the selection of target combinations is attributable to its ability to calculate combinations for any gene pairs, whereas other approaches focus on the combinations among optimized regulators in the network. DSCN's computational speed is also at least ten times fast than that of other methods. Finally, in applying DSCN to predict target combinations and drug combinations for individual samples (DSCNi), DSCNi showed high correlation between target combinations predicted and real synergistic combinations (P = 1e-5) in pancreatic cell lines. In summary, DSCN is a highly effective computational method for the selection of target combinations.

Side deep placement of nitrogen plays an important role in improving rice yield and nitrogen use efficiency. Few studies have examined the effects of reducing the times of nitrogen (RTN) application and reducing the nitrogen rate (RNR) of application on rice yield and nitrogen use efficiency under side deep placement of nitrogen in paddy fields. Therefore, a field experiment of RNT and RNR treatments was conducted with nine fertilization modes during the 2018–2019 rice growing seasons in a rice–wheat cropping system of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China. Rice yield and nitrogen use efficiency were investigated under side deep placement of nitrogen. We found that under the same nitrogen application rate, the yield of RTN3 increased by 9.64 and 10.18% in rice varieties NJ9108 and NJ5718, respectively, compared with the farmers’ fertilizer practices (FFP). The nitrogen accumulation of RTN3 was the highest at heading stage, at 11.30 t ha−1 across 2018 and 2019. Under the same nitrogen application rate, the N agronomic use efficiency (NAE), N physiological efficiency (NPE) and N recovery efficiency (NRE) of RTN3 were 8.1–21.28%, 8.51–41.76% and 0.28–14.52% higher than those of the other fertilization modes, respectively. RNR led to decreases in SPAD value, leaf area index (LAI), dry matter accumulation, nitrogen accumulation, and nitrogen use efficiency. These results suggest that RTN3 increased rice yield and nitrogen use efficiency under the side deep placement of nitrogen, and RNR1 could achieve the goals of saving cost and increasing resource use efficiency. Two fertilization modes RTN3 and RNR1 both could achieve the dual goals of increasing grain yield and resource use efficiency and thus are worth further application and investigation.

Air-transmitted pathogens are a recognized threat to public health. Here, the authors develop a self-powered, rapid disinfection method toward air-transmitted microbes using the localized electric field to damage the outer structures of microbes driven by a triboelectric nanogenerator.

Abstract In this paper, groundwater treatment sludge (GTS) was recycled as a magnetic adsorbent via a facile calcination process without adding any reductant. The prepared magnetic adsorbents (MAs) were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), vibrating sample magnenometer (VSM) and Mössbauer spectroscopy. The results showed that GTS comprised 33.2% Fe, 1.4% Al and 6.2% Si, and exhibited a weak saturation magnetization of 0.0008 emu/g. Without NaOH, the GTS calcinated at 700 and 500 °C were well magnetized with Ms of 20.1 and 7.1 emu/g, separately, but exhibited a low Ms of 0.43 emu/g at 300 °C. By adding NaOH powder, the Ms of GTS apparently increased to 4.9 emu/g after calcination at 300 °C, and further to 8.5 emu/g at 500 °C. In GTS, about 96.1% Fe was involved in ferrihydrite form. The Ms of calcinated GTS was accompanied with the phase transformation of ferrihydrite to maghemite. Si/Al oxides in GTS coordinated on the surface sites of ferrihydrite and inhibited the conjunction and phase transformation of adjacent ferrihydrite particles, but were effectively desorbed as in the presence of NaOH. Na500, preparing by calcinating GTS at 500 °C with NaOH, showed an optimal total surface sites (H s) of 0.65 mmol/g. Oxytetracycline (OTC) was used as a target for studying the adsorption characteristics of synthetic magnetic adsorbents and a high adsorption capacity of oxytetracycline of 862.1 mg/g in comparison with the other calcinated GTS, and the adsorption data was consistent with the Langmuir model. By adding 6 g/L Na-500, approximately 100% of oxytetracycline and tetracycline and nearly 40% total organic carbon were removed from real pharmaceutical wastewater. With the method, GTS can be converted in mass production to magnetic adsorbent that exhibits effective application in pharmaceutical wastewater treatment.

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are a crucial source of bioaerosols, which account for both environmental and health hazards. Although various culture-based studies on bioaerosols have been reported, little knowledge remains about distribution and potential risks for more omnipresent non-culturable bacterial aerosols. Here, in summer, an eight-stage Andersen air sampler was applied to capture particles of various sizes from the atmospheric environment of eight treatment units from two WWTPs in northeastern China. Particles of various sizes in aeration tank (AT) were sampled in autumn and winter. The abundance and community composition of the bacterial aerosols were investigated using 16S rRNA gene sequencing. In order to explore the importance of particle size on community composition of bacterial aerosols, this study investigated the particle size distribution of bacterial aerosols in different treatment units. The results indicated that the sludge dewatering room was the major source of bacterial aerosols in both WWTPs, with the abundance of stage VII (0.65–1.1 μm) demonstrating a 4-fold to 9-fold increase when compared to any other treatment unit. The highest relative abundance of bacterial aerosols was in autumn, while the lowest was found in winter. However, most particles detected in autumn were larger than 4.7 µm in diameter, while submicron particles (less than 1.1 µm, over 40%) were detected primarily in winter. The most 15 dominant bacterial aerosol genera in were observed at submicron level, and about half of the genera (6 and 8) were detected as human pathogens, suggesting their easier penetration to human respiratory tracts. This study demonstrates that size distribution characteristics should be crucial information for the comprehensive assessment of the potential health risks of bacterial aerosols from WWTPs.

Background: Cerebral small vessel disease (cSVD) and neurodegeneration are the two main causes of dementia and are considered distinct pathological processes, while studies have shown overlaps and interactions between the two pathological pathways. Medial temporal atrophy (MTA) is considered a classic marker of neurodegeneration. We aimed to investigate the relationship of total cSVD burden and MTA on MRI using a total cSVD score and to explore the impact of the two MRI features on cognition.Methods: Patients in a memory clinic were enrolled, who underwent brain MRI scan and cognitive evaluation within 7 days after the first visit. MTA and total cSVD score were rated using validated visual scales. Cognitive function was assessed by using Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scales. Spearman's correlation and regression models were used to test (i) the association between MTA and total cSVD score as well as each cSVD marker and (ii) the correlation of the MRI features and cognitive status.Results: A total of 312 patients were finally enrolled, with a median age of 75.0 (66.0–80.0) years and 40.7% (127/312) males. All of them finished MRI and MMSE, and 293 subjects finished MoCA. Of note, 71.8% (224/312) of the patients had at least one of the cSVD markers, and 48.7% (152/312) of them had moderate–severe MTA. The total cSVD score was independently associated with MTA levels, after adjusting for age, gender, years of education, and other vascular risk factors (OR 1.191, 95% CI 1.071–1.324, P = 0.001). In regard to individual markers, a significant association existed only between white matter hyperintensities and MTA after adjusting for the factors mentioned above (OR 1.338, 95% CI 1.050–1.704, P = 0.018). Both MTA and total cSVD score were independent risk factors for MMSE ≤ 26 (MTA: OR 1.877, 95% CI 1.407–2.503, P < 0.001; total cSVD score: OR 1.474, 95% CI 1.132–1.921, P = 0.004), and MoCA < 26 (MTA: OR 1.629, 95% CI 1.112–2.388, P = 0.012; total cSVD score: OR 1.520, 95% CI 1.068–2.162, P = 0.020). Among all the cSVD markers, microbleed was found significantly associated with MMSE ≤ 26, while no marker was demonstrated a relationship with MoCA < 26.Conclusion: Cerebral small vessel disease was related to MTA in patients of a memory clinic, and both the MRI features had a significant association with cognitive impairment.

Summary: Water treatment based on advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) supplies clean water to rural areas lacking electric power supply and/or during natural disasters and pandemics. Considering the abundance of solar energy in the ambient environment, the solar-driven AOPs show an interesting potential to driving the water purification process. Involving the energy harvester (EH) that harvests mechanical or thermal energy into electricity to the solar-driven AOPs can achieve sustainable and self-powered water purification. Herein, we summarize the recent progress in the application of solar-induced hybrid EHs that harvest solar and mechanical/thermal energy simultaneously to drive AOP water treatment. A detailed discussion of the solar-induced hybrid EHs enabling AOP water treatment based on the mechanisms of piezo-, tribo-, pyro-, and thermo-assisted photocatalysis is provided. In addition, this paper explores future opportunities and strategies of the solar-induced hybrid EHs to drive the AOP water treatment in actual situations with unstable and fluctuating environmental conditions.

Zn2+ is a heavy metal ion, and hazardous sludge from the electroplating and alloy industry is rich in Zn and impure Al and Ca. Such sludge is commonly recycled by dissolution in strong acid and then selective extraction to recycle Zn2+ by a special extraction reagent. In this process, impurity Al3+ is dissolved and then participates in the extraction of Zn2+, so Al3+ should be removed first. Here, a new strategy was reported for the effective removal of Al3+ and recovery of Zn2+ from a simulated Al/Zn-bearing sludge via an improved acid solution–precipitation route. The sludge was simulated by coagulating Zn-bearing waste water (290 mg/L Zn2+) with 600 mg/L polyaluminium chloride. The sludge was dissolved in sulphuric acid and nitric acid to form an acidic solution with Al3+ and Zn2+ concentrations of 3.2 g/L and 5.7 g/L, respectively. The solution was treated directly by hydrothermal method at 270 °C, in which 55% Al3+ was precipitated as boehmite and Al hydroxide. After the addition of 0.2 mL of ethylene glycol, the removal rate of Al3+ dramatically increased to 99.8%, with Zn2+ loss of 1.5%. The residual Zn2+ was 5620 mg/L in the treated solution and further directly precipitated by adjusting the pH of the solution to pH 7.5 with NaOH. The precipitated Zn2+ was in the form of simonkolleite with ZnO content of 63.1%, with Al content of only 0.8%. In the hydrothermal precipitation, the removal rate of Al3+ increased with the temperature and extension of reaction time. Al3+ was hydrolysed and precipitated as aluminium oxonium sulphate hydroxide and then recrystallised in boehmite form. Then, H+ was generated and consumed in the redox reaction of nitrate and ethylene glycol, accelerating the Al3+ precipitation. This method provides a way to efficiently separate Al3+ from a Zn-bearing solution and can be applied in the recycling of Al/Zn-bearing sludge.

Mechanical transplanting has been applied to rice cultivation to save labor costs and ease labor shortages in Asian countries, especially in China. However, little information is available related to the characteristics of agronomic performance when comparing inter-sub-specific hybrid rice (IHR) and inbred japonica rice (IJR) under mechanical transplanting method. In 2013 and 2014, field experiments were conducted using IHR (Yongyou 2640) and IJR (Wuyunjing 24) under two cultivation patterns, that is, pot seedlings mechanically transplanted (PS) and carpet seedlings mechanically transplanted (CS). Grain yield, yield components, leaf area index (LAI), leaf area duration (LAD), aboveground biomass, crop growth rate (CGR), nitrogen (N) uptake, and N accumulation were investigated. When compared with CS, PS displayed significantly increased grain yield for both varieties because the larger sink size allowed higher N accumulation from panicle initiation to maturity. Moreover, total aboveground biomass under PS increased significantly compared with that under CS; that is, higher photosynthetic productivity resulted from a greater LAI and higher LAD during the grain filling stage. Higher N absorption capacity in the middle and late growth periods resulted in significantly enhanced total N uptake under PS. When compared with IJR for both treatments, IHR generated 75.2% more grain yield. However, the characteristics creating high yield of IHR were different from those of IJR. Greater aboveground biomass production as well as higher N uptake and accumulation created higher grain yield in IHR than in IJR. These results suggest higher yield could be achieved using PS with IHR, attributing to exploit both yield superiority and productive potential.

In order to improve the quality of the gluten free rice bread (GFRB), pre-gelatinised rice flour (PGRF) was made and used to partially replace natural rice flour in the production of GFRB. The pre-gelatinisation parameters were optimised and the effects of PGRF on the quality of the GFRB and its batter were studied. The results showed that optimal PGRF was obtained when 50% total water was mixed with 1.0% rice flour and the mixture heated at 80 °C for 2 min. Supplementation with PGRF significantly improved the properties of GFRB by affecting its baking properties, textural properties, colour, and crumb grain features. Effects of PGRF on GFRB were mainly caused by the more closely packed gel structure of rice starch in the bread batter, the higher onset temperature during gelatinisation and the complex effect of PGRF on water-binding capacity in bread batter during the baking process. As the pre-gelatinisation parameters of flours and their effect on gluten-free baked products varied with grain variety, processing properties should be studied before using them, and emphasis should be placed on new techniques such as flour pre-gelatinisation to obtain gluten-free foods with improved quality.

Several studies have demonstrated the effect of planting methods on rice yield, but information on the climate resources is limited. This study aims to reveal the effects of planting methods on climate resources associated with rice yield in a rice-wheat rotation system in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China. Field experiments were conducted in 2014 and 2015 with two japonica, two indica hybrid, and two japonica-indica hybrid varieties grown under three mechanized planting methods: carpet seedling of mechanical transplanting (CT), mechanical direct seeding (DS), and pot-hole seedling of mechanical transplanting (PT). The rice yield and total dry matter under PT were greater than those under CT and DS methods. Besides, the entire growth duration and daily production showed significant positive relations with rice yield. Compared with CT and DS, the effective accumulated temperature and cumulative solar radiation of rice under PT were higher in phenological phases. In addition, the dry matter/effective accumulated temperature and solar energy utilization of rice under CT and DS were higher during vegetative phase and lower during reproductive and grain filling phases in contrast to PT. The mean daily temperature and mean daily solar radiation in the entire growth duration showed significant positive correlation with rice yield, total dry matter, and harvest index. This study demonstrated that when the mean daily temperature is 20.1°C in grain filling phase, rice yield could be increased by selecting mechanized planting methods. Most varieties under PT method exhibited high yield and climate resources use efficiency compared with CT and DS. In conclusion, the PT method could be a better cultivation measure for high rice yield, accompanied with high temperature and solar radiation use efficiency in a rice-wheat rotation system in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China.

Understanding the differences in yield traits of rice among pothole seedling of mechanical transplanting (PSMT), carpet seedling of mechanical transplanting (CSMT) and mechanical direct seeding (MDS) is of great importance not only for rice scientists but also for rice farmers to develop a high-yield production system under mechanical conditions in a rice-wheat rotation system. However, such traits are yet to be studied among rice varieties of japonica-indica hybrid rice (JIHR), japonica conventional rice (JCR) and indica hybrid rice (IHR). Field experiments were conducted in 2014 and 2015, where six cultivars of the three rice types JIHR, JCR and IHR were grown individually with PSMT, CSMT and MDS methods, under respective managements for each method to achieve the maximum attainable yield. Results showed that (i) the PSMT significantly increased grain yield of JIHR by 22.0 and 7.1%, of JCR by 15.6 and 3.7% and of IHR by 22.5 and 7.4%, compared to MDS and CSMT on average across the two years, respectively. The highest yield was produced by the combination of JIHR and PSMT; (ii) high yield under PSMT was mainly attributed to large sink capacity and high-efficient dry matter accumulation. With sufficient panicles per hectare, the increase of spikelet number per panicle, especially the increase in spikelet number of the secondary rachis-branches was determined to be the optimal approach for developing a large sink capacity for rice under PSMT. The optimal tillers development, large leaf area index at heading stage, and high leaf area duration, crop growth rate and net assimilation rate during grain-filling phase could be the cause of sufficient dry matter accumulation for rice under PSMT; (iii) moreover, the PSMT favored plant growth as well as enriched the stems plus sheaths during grain-filling phase, as compared with CSMT and MDS. These results suggest that PSMT may be an alternative approach to increasing grain yield in a rice-wheat rotation system in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China.

Although studies on the balance between yield and quality of japonica soft super rice are limited, they are crucial for super rice cultivation. In order to investigate the effects of nitrogen application rate on grain yield and rice quality, two japonica soft super rice varieties, Nanjing 9108 (NJ 9108) and Nanjing 5055 (NJ 5055), were used under seven N levels with the application rates of 0, 150, 187.5, 225, 262.5, 300, and 337.5 kg ha−1. With the increasing nitrogen application level, grain yield of both varieties first increased and then decreased. The highest yield was obtained at 300 kg ha−1. The milling quality and protein content increased, while the appearance quality, amylose content, gel consistency, cooking/eating quality, and rice flour viscosity decreased. Milling was significantly negatively related with the eating/cooking quality whereas the appearance was significantly positively related with cooking/eating quality. These results suggest that nitrogen level significantly affects the yield and rice quality of japonica soft super rice. We conclude that the suitable nitrogen application rate for japonica soft super rice, NJ 9108 and NJ 5055, is 270 kg ha−1, under which they obtain high yield as well as superior eating/cooking quality.

Understanding the morphological and physiological traits associated with improved filling efficiency in large-panicle rice varieties is critical to devise strategies for breeding programs and cultivation management practices. Information on such traits, however, remains limited. Two large-panicle varieties with high filled-grain percentage (HF) and two check large-panicle varieties with low filled-grain percentage (LF) were field-grown in 2012 and 2013. The number of spikelets per panicle of HF and LF both exceeded 300, and the filled-grain percentage (%) of HF was approximately 90, while that of LF was approximately 75 over the two years. The results showed that when the values were averaged across two years, HF yielded 12.9 t ha−1, while LF yielded 11.0 t ha−1. HF had a greater leaf area duration, biomass accumulation and transport of carbohydrates stored in the culm to the grains from heading to maturity compared with LF. HF exhibited a higher leaf photosynthetic rate, more green leaves on the culm, and higher root activity during filling phase, especially during the middle and late filling phases, in relative to LF. The length of HF for upper three leaves was significantly higher than that of LF, while the angle of upper three leaves on the main culm was less in both years. Meanwhile, specific leaf weight of HF was significantly higher when compared with LF. In addition, the grain filling characteristics of HF and LF were investigated in our study. Our results suggested that a higher leaf photosynthetic rate and root activity during filling phase, greater biomass accumulation and assimilate transport after heading, and longer, thicker and more erect upper three leaves were important morphological and physiological traits of HF, and these traits could be considered as selection criterion to develop large-panicle varieties with high filled-grain percentage.

A hydrated hydrazone compound, 4-fluoro-N'-(2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylidene)benzohydrazide monohydrate (H2L·H2O), was prepared and characterized by elemental analysis, HRMS, IR, UV-Vis and 1H NMR spectroscopy. Reaction of H2L, kojic acid (5-hydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)-4H-pyran-4-one; Hka) and VO(acac)2 in methanol afforded a novel oxidovanadium(V) complex, [VO(ka)L]. The complex was characterized by elemental analysis, IR, UV-Vis and 1H NMR spectroscopy. Thermal analysis was also performed. Structures of H2L and the complex were further confirmed by single crystal structural X-ray diffraction. The vanadium complex is the first structurally characterized vanadium complex of kojic acid. Insulin-mimetic tests on C2C12 muscle cells indicate that the complex significantly stimulated cell glucose utilization with cytotoxicity at 0.11 g L–1.

Late-maturity type of Yongyou japonica/indica hybrids series (LMYS) have shown great yield potential, and are being widely planted in the lower reaches of Yangtze River, China. Knowledge about suitable growing zone and evaluation of yield advantage is of practical importance for LMYS in this region. Fifteen LMYS, two high-yielding inbred japonica check varieties (CK-J) and two high-yielding hybrid indica check varieties (CK-I) were grown at Xinghua (119.57°E, 33.05°N) of Lixiahe region, Yangzhou (119.25°E, 32.30°N) of Yanjiang region, Changshu (120.46°E, 31.41°N) of Taihu Lake region, and Ningbo (121.31°E, 29.45°N) of Ningshao Plain in 2013 and 2014. The results showed that maturity dates of the 15 were later than the secure maturity date at Xinghua and 6, 14 and 15 LMYS were mature before the secure maturity date at Yangzhou, Changshu and Ningbo, respectively. One variety was identified as high-yielding variety among LMYS (HYYS) at Yangzhou, 8 HYYS in 2013 and 9 HYYS in 2014 at Changshu, 9 HYYS at Ningbo. HYYS here referred to the variety among LMYS that was mature before the secure maturity date and had at least 8% higher grain yield than both CK-J and CK-I at each experimental site. Grain yield of HYYS at each experimental site was about 12.0 t ha−1 or higher, and was significantly higher than CK varieties. High yield of HYYS was mainly attributed to larger sink size due to more spikelets per panicle. Plant height of HYYS was about 140 cm, and was significantly higher than check varieties. Significant positive correlations were recorded between duration from heading to maturity stage and grain yield, and also between whole growth periods and grain yield. HYYS had obvious advantage over check varieties in biomass accumulation and leaf area duration from heading to maturity stage. Comprehensive consideration about safe maturity and yield performance of LMYS at each experimental site, Taihu Lake region (representative site Changshu) and Ningshao Plain (representative site Ningbo) were thought suitable growing zones for LMYS in the lower reaches of Yangtze River. The main factors underlying high yield of HYYS were larger sink size, higher plant height, longer duration from heading to maturity stage and whole growth periods, and higher biomass accumulation and leaf area duration during grain filling stage.