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Summary: Plastoglobules (PGs) contiguous with the outer leaflets of thylakoid membranes regulate lipid metabolism, plastid developmental transitions, and responses to environmental stimuli. However, the function of OsFBN7, a PG‐core fibrillin gene in rice, has not been elucidated.Using molecular genetics and physiobiochemical approaches, we observed that OsFBN7 overexpression promoted PG clustering in rice chloroplasts.OsFBN7 interacted with two KAS I enzymes, namely OsKAS Ia and OsKAS Ib, in rice chloroplasts. Lipidomic analysis of chloroplast subcompartments, including PGs in the OsFBN7 overexpression lines, confirmed that levels of diacylglycerol (DAG), a chloroplast lipid precursor and monogalactosyldiacylglycerol (MGDG) and digalactosyldiacylglycerol (DGDG), the main chloroplast membrane lipids, were increased in PGs and chloroplasts. Furthermore, OsFBN7 enhanced the abundances of OsKAS Ia/Ib in planta and their stability under oxidative and heat stresses. In addition, RNA sequencing and real‐time quantitative reverse‐transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR) analyses showed that the expression of the DAG synthetase gene PAP1 and MGDG synthase gene MDG2 was upregulated by OsFBN7.In conclusion, this study proposes a new model in which OsFBN7 binds to OsKAS Ia/Ib in chloroplast and enhances their abundance and stability, thereby regulating the chloroplast and PG membrane lipids involved in the formation of PG clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the establishment of the models based on spectral characteristic parameter for estimating foliar nitrogen concentrations of Juglans regia 'Xinwen 185', this paper aimed to explore spectral technical approaches to rapidly monitoring the foliar N nutritional status of Juglans regia 'Xinwen 185'. Based on the field experiment of fertilizer efficiency, the foliar spectral reflectance and N concentrations of the foliar samples under different amounts of N fertilizer, which were applied in the fruit setting period, the fruit rapid-growth period, the fruit fat-change period and the fruit near-mature period, were measured separately with Unispec-SC and chemical analysis in the laboratory. The Pearson correlation analysis of the foliar spectral reflectance and foliar N element concentrations was done in the 4 phenological periods of fruit development, and the spectral characteristic parameters highly significantly correlated with the foliar spectral reflectance and foliar N element concentration were selected. Finally, the spectral characteristic parameter estimating models of the foliar N element concentration were established by employing regression analysis, with the adopted functions including power function, exponential function, semi-log function, linear function, quadratic function and cubic function, and then the independent sample was used to test the precision of the models, of which the one with the highest fitting degree was screened out. The results indicated that the spectral characteristic parameters, highly significantly correlated with the foliar N element concentration (P<0.01), were reflectance of the green peak position and ratio of red index in fruit setting period, yellow edge position, red valley position, ratio of green index, ratio of red index, normalized difference of green index and normalized difference of red index in the fruit fast-growing period, reflectance of the green peak position and ratio of red index in the fruit fat-change period, and reflectance of the green peak position, he spectra slop of yellow edge and red edge area in the fruit near-mature period. Moreover, the absolute values of the correlation coefficient were all greater than 0.96 in the 4 phenological periods of fruit development. Through cubic function analysis with the reflectance of the green peak position, yellow edge position, ratio of red index and the spectra slop of yellow edge as independent variables, the regression estimation models of the foliar N element concentration in the 4 phenological periods of fruit development were established respectively, and their fitting degrees R² were all above 0.99. In addition, the predicted values for foliar N concentration of Juglans regia 'Xinwen185' were relatively close to measured values, and all the models were examined by the confidence ellipse test; and RMSE and the relative errors (RE) of the independent sample tests were only 0.4533 g/kg and 0.4403%, 0.7716 g/kg and -0.3390%, 0.8793 g/kg and -0.3201%, 0.8145 g/kg and -0.1229% separately in the 4 phenological periods of fruit development. The models showed their significant stability and high estimation accuracy. The findings in this paper manifested that it was feasible to monitor foliar N nutritional levels of Juglans regia 'Xinwen 185' in the 4 phenological periods of fruit development by establishing spectral characteristic parameter models of foliar N element concentration estimation. Spectrum technology possesses great application potential in monitoring N element nutritional status of Juglans regia 'Xinwen 185'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water scarcity is an urgent issue for social and economic development in arid and semi-arid areas. Constructing long-distance pressurized water supply projects is a commonly used measure to solve water scarcity problems in these areas. With the increasing complexity of long-distance pressurized water supply projects, the issue of water hammer protection has become more and more prominent. Air chambers have been widely used to solve the issue of water hammer accidents. In this paper, we propose a novel air chamber with an adjustable central standpipe, and then analyze the hydraulic performance, as well as the water hammer protection characteristics, of the proposed novel air chamber using numerical simulations. The influences of the inner length, the diameter of the central standpipe, and the diameter of the bottom connecting pipe on the hydraulic performance of the air chamber are also studied. Then, the optimization of the relevant parameters of the central standpipe for the proposed air chamber is conducted. In addition, the volumes of the proposed air chamber and conventional air chambers are compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the issues of water scarcity, water environment deterioration, and unreasonable allocation of water resources in the urban area of the Yellow River Basin, this paper introduces the human–water harmony theory to the allocation of regional water resources. Based on an analysis of the structural characteristics of the regional water resource system, the harmonious water resource allocation (HWRA) model—which includes three sub-systems (i.e., the water service system, ecological environmental system, and economic and social system)—is established. In addition, considering the uncertain factors in the HWRA model, the inexact fuzzy multi-objective programming (IFMOP) method is used to solve the model, aiming at achieving the minimum amount of regional water scarcity, the minimum amount of sewage discharge, and the maximum total economic benefit. A case study of water resource allocation of Binzhou, a city located in the Yellow River Basin, is conducted to validate the model. The model solution results show that the water resource system in Binzhou in 2025 and 2035 could be optimized after harmonious allocation, especially in terms of the water service and ecological environmental systems. Compared with the optimal water resource allocation (OWRA) model, the HWRA model has a more scientific water supply structure, and a smaller amount of sewage discharge. The HWRA model solves the variables using an interval number, so it can flexibly and scientifically reflect the decision-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The condensed structure of a material is the basis for the properties of polymeric materials, where the crystalline structure is the most ordered conformation of the polymer condensed structure. The mechanical properties are one of the most fundamental properties of polymer materials and the crystalline state has an important influence on the mechanical properties. Here, the optimal chain conformation and the effect of optimization time on the temperature and energy of molecular thermodynamics and molecular dynamics are investigated using thiolated poly(ethylene glycol) as the base material. The simulation results show that the number of optimization steps and the simulation time are closely related to the molecular conformation of polymer single crystals. A new perspective is provided for exploring intra‐ and intermolecular interactions in polymer crystals and revealing their nature, establishing the link between chain structure and mechanical properties of materials, and designing and manufacturing polymer crystalline materials with better mechanical properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanical performance is critical for hydrogels that are used as strain sensors. p-Aramid nanofiber (ANF) is preferable as an additive to the reinforce the mechanical performance of a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). However, due to the limited hydrogen bond sites, the preparation of ultra-stretchable, ANF-based hydrogel strain sensor is still a challenge. Herein, we reported an ultra-stretchable PVA hydrogel sensor based on tea stain-inspired ANFs. Due to the presence of numerous phenol groups in the tannic acid (TA) layer, the interaction between PVA and the ANFs was significantly enhanced even though the mass ratio of TA@ANF in the hydrogel was 2.8 wt‰. The tensile breaking modulus of the PVA/TA@ANF/Ag hydrogel sensor was increased from 86 kPa to 326 kPa, and the tensile breaking elongation was increased from 356% to 602%. Meanwhile, the hydrogel became much softer, and no obvious deterioration of the flexibility was observed after repeated use. Moreover, Ag NPs were formed in situ on the surfaces of the ANFs, which imparted the sensor with electrical conductivity. The hydrogel-based strain sensor could be used to detect the joint movements of a finger, an elbow, a wrist, and a knee, respectively. This ultra-stretchable hydrogel described herein was a promising candidate for detecting large-scale motions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Dietary therapy (shiliao) is a distinctive feature of traditional Chinese pharmacology. But the Song period (960–1279) saw a new vogue for beverages and foods with added medicinal ingredients. 'Health drinks' containing aromatic medicinal herbs enjoyed great popularity in all strata of society. The writer distinguishes this phenomenon of medicated foods from the practice of 'curing illness with diet' and draws parallels with the current popularity of medicinal cuisine (yaoshan). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pH-responsive membrane is a new wastewater treatment technology developed in recent years. In this paper, a novel film with intelligent pH-responsiveness was first prepared by blending functional gates comprised of hydrolyzed aramid nanofibers (HANFs) into aramid nanofiber (ANF) membranes via a vacuum filtration method. Those as-prepared membranes exhibited dual pH-responsive characteristics, which were featured with a negative pH-responsiveness in an acidic environment and a positive pH-responsiveness in basic media. These dual pH-responsive membranes also exhibited a high tensile strength which could still reach 55.74 MPa (even when the HANFs content was as high as 50 wt%), a high decomposition temperature at ~363 °C, and good solvent resistance. The membranes described herein may be promising candidates for a myriad of applications, such as the controlled release of drugs, sensors, sewage treatment, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]