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Sb2Se3 solar cells deposited by rapid thermal evaporation (RTE) have drawn extensive attention owing to their compatibility with the commercial production line of CdTe solar cells and can be used to fabricate high‐quality Sb2Se3 films with high reproducibility. However, the deposition pressure during the RTE process has not been clearly explored, although it has a significant effect on the Sb2Se3 film quality. A novel two‐step deposition strategy is proposed that finely regulates the deposition pressure to improve the quality of Sb2Se3 absorber layers, thereby improving the device performance of Sb2Se3 solar cells. This novel method includes a rapid deposition process under a low pressure (5 mTorr) and an in situ annealing process under a relatively high pressure (200 Torr). The maximum power conversion efficiency (PCE) of Sb2Se3 solar cells fabricated by two‐step deposited approach is up to 8.12%. The PCE enhancement is attributed to the increased grain size, reduced grain boundaries, modified surface Fermi level gradient of the absorber layer, and improved defect performance. This innovative deposition technique is expected to benefit other low‐melting‐point metal sulfoselenides for solar cell applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bifacial flexible solar cells are considerably attractive owing to their high generation of energy per area and multidirectional light irradiation in advanced applications, such as building-integrated photovoltaics. Their technological ability to reduce manufacturing costs and time is highly essential. Although the solution-processed technique has implemented bifacial flexible Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4 (CZTSSe) solar cells, no progress on the green electrodeposition process has occurred. Herein, we first propose symmetrical bifacial Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) solar cells through a facile electrodeposition process, in which Mo foils are used as a common back electrode for both sides. Stacked electrodeposition accomplished at one time is involved to produce high-quality bifacial CZTSe absorber layers. This strategy can guarantee the consistency of bifacial flexible solar cells and immensely low costs and time. The resultant high efficiencies of 6.43% and 6.20% for the two sides have made a great breakthrough for electrodeposited flexible CZTSSe devices and offered a cost-effective strategy for green-processed material fabrications. Compared with the solution-processed technique, the determined interfacial-suppressed Voc limiting the efficiency provides a clear aspect for further improving the efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To fully explore the influence mechanism of interactions between different monomer units of proanthocyanidins (PAs) on biological activity, a path analysis model of the PA structure-activity relationship was proposed. This model subdivides the total correlation between each monomer unit and activity into direct and indirect effects by taking into account not only each monomer unit but also the correlation with its related monomer units. In addition, this method can determine the action mode of each monomer unit affecting the activity by comparing the direct and total indirect effects. Finally, the advantage of this model is demonstrated through an influence mechanism analysis of Rhodiola crenulata PA monomer units on antioxidant and anti-diabetes activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern data centers often host multiple applications with diverse network demands. To provide fair bandwidth allocation to several thousand traversing flows, Approximate Fair Queueing (AFQ) utilizes multiple priority queues in switch to approximate ideal fair queueing. However, due to limited number of queues in programmable switches, AFQ easily experiences high packet loss and low link utilization. In this paper, we propose Elastic Fair Queueing (EFQ), which leverages limited priority queues to flexibly achieve both high network utilization and fair bandwidth allocation. EFQ dynamically assigns the free buffer space in priority queues for each packet to obtain high utilization without sacrificing flow-level fairness. The results of simulation experiments and real implementations show that EFQ reduces the average flow completion time by up to 82% over the state-of-the-art fair bandwidth allocation mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to the traditional processing method, fresh processing can significantly enhance the preservation of biologically active ingredients and reduce processing time. This study evaluated the influences of fresh and traditional processing based on different drying conditions (sun drying, oven drying and shade drying) on the active ingredients in the roots and rhizomes of S. miltiorrhiza. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was utilized to determine the contents of six active ingredients in the roots and rhizomes of S. miltiorrhiza. The data were analyzed by fingerprint similarity evaluation, hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA). The results suggest that compared to the traditional processing method, the fresh processing method may significantly increase the preservation of biologically active ingredients. Furthermore, the findings demonstrated that among the three drying methods under fresh processing conditions, the shade-drying (21.02–26.38%) method is most beneficial for retaining the active ingredients in the roots and rhizomes of S. miltiorrhiza. Moreover, the fingerprint analysis identified 17 common peaks, and the similarity of fingerprints among samples processed by different methods ranged from 0.989 to 1.000. Collectively, these results suggest novel processing methods that may improve the yield of active ingredients for S. miltiorrhiza and may be implemented for industrial production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rhizosphere soil microbial community under ice exhibits higher diversity and community turnover in the ice-covered stage. The mechanisms by which community assembly processes shape those patterns are poorly understood in high-latitude wetlands. Based on the 16S rRNA gene and ITS sequencing data, we determined the diversity patterns for the rhizosphere microbial community of two plant species in a seasonally ice-covered wetland, during the ice-covered and ice-free stages. The ecological processes of the community assembly were inferred using the null model at the phylogenetic bins (taxonomic groups divided according to phylogenetic relationships) level. Different effects of ecological processes on rare and abundant microbial sub-communities (defined by the relative abundance of bins) and bins were further analyzed. We found that bacterial and fungal communities had higher alpha and gamma diversity under the ice. During the ice-free stage, the dissimilarity of fungal communities decreased sharply, and the spatial variation disappeared. For the bacterial community, homogeneous selection, dispersal limitation, and ecological processes (undominated processes) were the main processes, and they remained relatively stable across all stages. For the fungal community, during the ice-covered stage, dispersal limitation was the dominant process. In contrast, during the ice-free stage, ecological drift processes were more important in the Scirpus rhizosphere, and ecological drift and homogeneous selection processes were more important in the Phragmites rhizosphere. Regarding the different effects of community assembly processes on abundant and rare microbes, abundant microbes were controlled more by homogeneous selection. In contrast, rare microbes were controlled more by ecological drift, dispersal limitation, and heterogeneous selection, especially bacteria. This is potentially caused by the low growth rates or the intermediate niche breadths of rare microbes under the ice. Our findings suggest the high diversity of microbial communities under the ice, which deepens our understanding of various ecological processes of community assembly across stages and reveals the distinct effects of community assembly processes on abundant and rare microbes at the bin level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planktonic microorganisms in aquatic ecosystems form complex assemblages of highly interactive taxa and play key roles in biogeochemical cycles. However, the microbial interactions within bacterial and microeukaryotic communities, and the mechanisms underpinning the responses of abundant and rare microbial taxa to environmental disturbances in the river estuary remain unknown. Here, 16S and 18S rRNA gene sequencing were used to investigate the compositional changes and the co-occurrence patterns of bacterial and microeukaryotic communities. The results showed that the rare taxa in the bacterial communities were more prevalent than those in the microeukaryotic communities and may influence the resilience and resistance of microorganisms to environmental variations in estuarine ecosystems. The environmental variations had strong effects on the microeukaryotic communities and their assembly mechanisms but not on the bacterial communities in our studied area. However, based on co-occurrence network analyses, the bacterial communities had stronger links and more complex interactions than microeukaryotic communities, suggesting that bacterial networks may help improve the buffering capacities of the estuarine ecosystem against environmental change. The keystone taxa of bacteria mainly belonged to rare subcommunities, which further illustrates that rare taxa may play fundamental roles in network persistence. Overall, these results provide insights into the microbial responses of aquatic ecosystems to environmental heterogeneity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emerging latency-sensitive services such as smart grid and tactile internet require deterministic network performance including deterministic end-to-end latency, latency jitter and bounded packet loss rate. To empower standard Ethernet with such capability, we provide a deterministic forwarding system named DLCC with end-to-end congestion control and queue management available at common hardwares to provide bounded delay over Internet. Meanwhile, DLCC provides a per-hop delay correction scheme to minimize delay variation under dynamic scenarios. Compared with other schemes, DLCC effectively reduces the delay jitter by up to 90% and is able to quickly converge to the required end-to-end delay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (DASH) has been widely deployed to provide various video services in the Internet. However, the HTTP/1.1 or HTTP/2 utilized by the DASH system cannot ensure high quality of user experience in highly dynamic network scenarios. Specifically, when the clients fetch the video chunks from servers, it is well known that HTTP/1.1 protocol suffers from low utilization due to its stop-wait fashion. Though HTTP/2 enables the servers proactively push multiple chunks to clients on a single request, it exhibits poor adaptability to the network dynamic, since the bitrate of multiple chunks is fixed in one push cycle. To address these inefficiencies, we propose elastic chunk scheduling (ECS) to adaptively adjust the batch size of chunks in each push cycle according to network dynamic. To achieve high utilization, ECS increases the batch size of chunks under low network dynamic. Otherwise, ECS reduces the batch size to flexibly change the bitrate of chunks to avoid rebuffer and overflow at the player buffer. Through achieving good tradeoff between high link utilization and flexible rate switching, ECS improves overall QoE performance. The experimental results of testbed implementations show that ECS greatly decreases the rebuffer ratio by up to 36% and increases the average bitrate by up to 10% compared with the state-of-the-art solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integration strategy of chemical welding and subsequent protection was demonstrated to address silver nanowires (Ag NWs)-based issues. Preferentially, a halogenated salt of NaCl solution was used to stimulate the junction welding thus to reduce the junction resistance, by virtue of the autocatalytic redox of Ag atoms with halogen ions and dissolved oxygen molecules. Subsequently, chitosan, possessing the biocompatible, degradable, environmentally friendly non-toxic features, was embedded to protect Ag NWs. With these two steps, the composite electrode consisting Ag NWs and chitosan reaches a lowest sheet resistance of ∼8 Ω, with a transmittance over 80% at 550 nm, along with high thermal and chemical stabilities, accompanying with excellent flexibility. Besides, it also prompts a synergistic improvement when pioneered in Cu(In, Ga)Se2 (CIGS) device as a transparent conductive electrode. It yields a power conversion efficiency of 6.6%, with 32% improvement relative to that bare Ag NWs, and 85% of the conventional one. Our findings present a new strategy for addressing instable/inefficient Ag NWs-based devices, driving their rapid development and its practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microneedles (MNs) have attracted widespread scientific and industrial interest in the past decade as an efficient, painless, low‐cost, and relatively safe transdermal drug delivery device. However, their drawbacks such as insufficient dose accuracy and limited penetration depth may limit the clinical applications. Here, a light‐controlled liquid band‐aid based on MNs is developed for antibacterial applications. Metal–organic framework‐derived peroxidase‐like nanozyme loaded in MNs can not only convert light energy into heat to enhance drug permeation but also decompose hydrogen peroxide into hydroxyl radicals for antibacteria. The heat generated by the nanozyme can facilitate MNs to melt and form a liquid band‐aid, which is beneficial to insulate the wound from the surrounding bacterial environment. These studies in a Staphylococcus aureus‐infected mice model also prove that this laser‐triggered liquid band‐aid can efficiently reduce skin inflammation and promote wound healing. Together, these results demonstrate that the rational design of MNs can enhance antibacterial and wound healing efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bacteria are important soil components that function as both decomposers and plant symbionts and play a major role in plant–microbe interactions. However, little is known about the diversity of bacterial communities in the rhizosphere of the native invasive plant Echinochloa caudata. In this study, we used high-throughput sequencing to investigate bacterial communities in the rhizospheres of Echinochloa caudata collected from areas with differing degrees of invasion. We found that the rhizosphere microbiome networks had small-world properties and modular structures, and the soil rhizosphere microbial communities differed significantly in the different areas analyzed. We speculate that disturbances (such as grazing) form a sediment-water environment that is beneficial for the colonization of rhizosphere microorganisms and ultimately improves the invasive ability of the species by allowing the occupation of more ecological niches and more diverse functions, eventually promoting Echinochloa caudata invasion in wetland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Then, one of us (J-DG) took his first teaching position with The University of Hong Kong in 1999 and the situations on exchange of information and research collaboration improved significantly between us to the days after his retirement from Nanjing University in 2012. Graph: Shu-Pei Cheng (1947-2019) in Harbin in 2005 (taken by J-DG) We were shocked deeply by the news that Shu-Pei passed away suddenly without any prior sign about 2 years ago. Over the time of a stretch for 20 years, he came to spend several months visiting my Laboratory of Environmental Microbiology/Toxicology at The University of Hong Kong in early 2000's and I, in return, visited him and his research group at Nanjing University regularly to advance our research collaboration and many academic related activities. [Extracted from the article]

Hydrological conditions is a driving factor in wetland ecosystems, and excessive changes in hydrological conditions will lead to severe degradation of wetlands. Assessment of ecosystem status is essential for wetland protection and restoration. We analyze the effect of hydrological conditions on food webs from the perspective of eco-exergy. The results showed that the wet environment with low water depth (0~50 cm) is conducive to the growth of aquatic plants. The suitable water depth for benthic and phytoplankton was 40~100 cm, for periphyton, zooplankton and fish was 40~120 cm, 80~120 cm, and 80~100 cm, respectively. With the increase of water depth, the trend of the eco-exergy and specific eco-exergy of plankton was basically the same, while the eco-exergy and specific eco-exergy of other aquatic organisms change in the opposite direction. The results demonstrated that water depth have a significant impact on the structure and function of the food web, the contributors of eco-exergy were producers and consumers within the water depth of 20~60 cm. and the contributors of eco-exergy was the consumers within the water depth of 80~120 cm. The results showed that this approach can serve as a useful tool for assessing ecosystem status by determining ecological water levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: River flow fluctuation has an important influence on riparian vegetation dynamics. A temporally segmented stochastic model focusing on a same‐aged population is developed for the purpose of describing both spatial and temporal dynamics of riparian vegetation. In the model, the growth rate of population, rather than carrying capacity, is modeled as the random variable. This model has explicit physical meaning. The model deduces a process‐based solution. From the solution process, the probability density of spatial distribution can be derived; therefore, the spatial distribution of population abundance can be described. The lifespan of a same‐aged population and the age structure of the species‐specific population can also be studied with the aid of this temporally segmented model. The influence of correlation time of river flow fluctuation is also quantified according to the model. The calibration of model parameters and model application are discussed. The model provides a computer‐aided method to simulate and predict vegetation dynamics during river flow disturbances. Meanwhile, the model is open and allows for more accurate and concrete modeling of growth rate. Because of the Markov property involved in the process‐based solution, the model also has the ability to deal with cases of nonstationary disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution, composition, and source of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the Luan River, China, were investigated in this study. The compositional profiles of PAHs in the three mediums represented different characteristics. In different land-use areas, compositional profiles of PAHs in water were familiar, while that in sediment and bank soil presented differences. The spatial distribution of PAHs indicated that the most polluted sites all gathered in the middle and lower reaches of the region, which was different from other rivers in China. The PAH data of bank soilwere used for source identification. Both diagnostic ratios of selected PAHs and principal component analysis (PCA) with multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis were studied, suggesting mixed source of PAHs in the Luan River Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tanshinone is one of the major medicinal components of the roots of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge, and SmCPS1 and SmKSL1 are key enzymes in the tanshinone biosynthesis pathway. To increase our understanding of the coding single nucleotide polymorphisms (cSNPs) involved in tanshinone biosynthesis, seven S. miltiorrhiza landraces were examined. Our results revealed that the tanshinone content was significantly different among the seven landraces. In total, 48 cSNPs in SmCPS1 and 47 cSNPs in SmKSL1 were identified, and of these, 38 and 42 cSNPs, respectively, were associated with tanshinone content. The highest A/G and C/T base substitution rates were in SmCPS1 and SmKSL1, respectively. SmKSL1 expression was significantly, positively correlated with tanshinone IIA and tanshinone I contents, and SmCPS1 expression was significantly associated with tanshinone IIA content. Interestingly, subcellular SmCPS1 and SmKSL1 expression was enriched in the plastids. Therefore, cSNPs of SmCPS1 and SmKSL1 are involved in tanshinone biosynthesis in the plastids, where SmCPS1 and SmKSL1 enzymes catalyze tanshinone production in this species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Senna obtusifolia L. is an important medicinal plant in Asia. This study was the first report on the genetic diversity and population structure of S. obtusifolia which were collected from 47 geographic populations widespread in China. Inter-Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR) and Start Codon Target Polymorphism (SCoT) combined with seeds morphological traits were used to investigate the relationship of 47 populations. 11 ISSR primers yielded 98 polymorphic bands with 81.67% polymorphism. 24 SCoT primers yielded 267 polymorphic bands with 89.59% polymorphism. The number of allele (Na), the number of effective allele (Ne), Nei's diversity index ( H), and Shannon's information index ( I) reflected a high level of genetic diversity of S. obtusifolia species. The greatest genetic distance ( G ) existed between Southwest and Northwest (0.4022/0.5019), while the Eastern and Northern showed the least genetic distance (0.1751/0.2186). The genetic differentiation (Gst) was 0.4875/0.4434, and the gene flow (Nm) was 0.5256/0.6275, which indicated that gene exchange among four regions was limited. 47 samples were divided into four clusters mainly according to their geographic distribution through clustering and structure analysis. The analysis on the combined data of ISSR and SCoT showed more reliable and superior results than single analysis of ISSR and SCoT. This study explored the effectiveness of ISSR and SCoT markers to evaluate the genetic diversity and population structure of S. obtusifolia and provided useful information for S. obtusifolia germplasm research and breeding program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Aims: Autophagy modulation has been considered a potential therapeutic strategy for human chondrosarcoma, and a previous study indicated that salidroside exhibits significant anti-carcinogenic activity. However, the ability of salidroside to induce autophagy and its role in human chondrosarcoma cell death remains unclear. Methods: We exposed SW1353 cells to different concentrations of salidroside (0.5, 1 and 2 mM) for 24 h. RT-PCR, Western-blotting, Immunocytofluorescence, and Luciferase Reporter Assays were used to evaluate whether salidroside activated the TFEB-dependent autophagy. Results: We show that salidroside induced significant apoptosis in the human chondrosarcoma cell line SW1353. In addition, we demonstrate that salidroside-induced an autophagic response in SW1353 cells, as evidenced by the upregulation of LC3-II and downregulation of P62. Moreover, pharmacological or genetic blocking of autophagy enhanced salidroside -induced apoptosis, indicating the cytoprotective role of autophagy in salidroside-treated SW1353 cells. Salidroside also induced TFEB (Ser142) dephosphorylation, subsequently to activated TFEB nuclear translocation and increase of TFEB reporter activity, which contributed to lysosomal biogenesis and the expression of autophagy-related genes. Importantly, we found that salidroside triggered the generation of ROS in SW1353 cells. Furthermore, NAC, a ROS scavenger, abrogated the effects of salidroside on TFEB-dependent autophagy. Conclusions: These data demonstrate that salidroside increased TFEB-dependent autophagy by activating ROS signaling pathways in human chondrosarcoma cells. These data also suggest that blocking ROS-TFEB-dependent autophagy to enhance the activity of salidroside warrants further attention in treatment of human chondrosarcoma cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gibberellin-responsive element binding factor (GRAS) family of proteins plays an important role in the transcriptional regulation of plant development and hormone signaling. To date, there are no reports on GRAS family proteins expressed in Salvia miltiorrhiza. In this study, 28 ESTs that contained the GRAS domain were identified from a S. miltiorrhiza cDNA library. Of these, full-length sequences of five genes were cloned and sequence analysis indicated that all five proteins contain only one GRAS domain and therefore, belong to the GRAS family. The five genes were designated S. miltiorrhiza GRAS1-5 (SmGRAS1-5), which belong to groups I (SmGRAS2 and SmGRAS4), II (SmGRAS3), III (SmGRAS1), and VIII (SmGRAS5) respectively. Additionally, SmGRAS1-5 have different expression patterns in the reed head, stems, leaves, flowers, and roots of S. miltiorrhiza. In this study, the expression of SmGRAS1-5 was sensitive to Gibberellin (GA) stress and that of SmGRAS1, SmGRAS4 and SmGRAS5 was sensitive to Ethephon (Eth) stress respectively. Moreover, S. miltiorrhiza copalyl diphosphate synthases 1 (SmCPS1) and S. miltiorrhiza kaurene synthase like 1 (SmKSL1), which are two key enzymes gene in the diterpenoid biosynthesis pathway, were also response to GA and Eth stress. In addition, Dihydrotanshinone (DT-I) and Tanshinone I (T-I) content were enhanced by GA and Eth stress, Tanshinone IIA (T-IIA) content was increased by GA stress, and the accumulation of Cryptotanshinone (CT) was insensitive to both GA and Eth stress. Together, these results provide insights into functional conservation and diversification of SmGRASs and are useful information for further elucidating SmGRAS functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CuZnSn(S,Se) (CZTSSe) absorber layers are fabricated by co-electrodeposited Cu-Zn-Sn-S (CZTS) precursors followed by selenization. In order to complex the Cu ions and shift its reduction potential to more negative, trisodium citrate is applied as the complexing agent during the co-electrodeposition. After the co-electrodeposition, CZTS precursors are preliminary annealed at 280 °C in order to improve the homogeneity by intermixing of the elements. The influences of selenization temperatures on the chemical compositions, crystal phases, optical properties and photovoltaic device performances are also systematically investigated by X-ray energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, UV-vis absorption spectroscopy, and J- V measurements. EDS results reveal that the CZTSSe absorber layers are all in a Cu-poor and Zn-rich nature, which is beneficial for fabricating cells with high efficiency. It is found that the crystalline quality and morphology of the CZTSSe absorber can be greatly improved by post-selenization at 550 °C. Photovoltaic devices are fabricated with standard soda-lime glass (SLG)/Mo/CZTSSe/CdS/i-ZnO/ITO/Ag grid structures. Champion cell demonstrates 2.81% efficiency based on the optimized CZTSSe absorber. These results validate co-electrodeposition as a promising strategy for developing earth-abundant thin film solar cells at low-cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a systematic research at basin scale, this study explored the composition and concentration characteristics of 16 priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in sediments, water, and suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the water systems (rivers, lakes, and reservoirs) in the Hai River Basin through literature review. The sources and the ecosystem risks of PAHs in the sediments in the entire basin were specially discussed with diagnostic ration, PAHs composition, and an improved risk quotient method. Results showed that the total concentration of PAHs varied from 99.65 to 25,303 ng g dry weight in sediments, from 51.0 to 559.1 ng L in water, and from 4528 to 51,080 ng g dry weight in SPM, respectively. The dominant PAHs in the three examined phases were 2-3 rings in most waterbodies. PAHs in the rivers were from mixed sources (petrogenic and pyrolytic inputs), whereas those in lakes and reservoirs were mainly from biomass combustion and petroleum combustion. PAHs in the entire basin exhibited moderate to high ecological risk, and the rivers (especially Hai River, Jiyun River, Chaobai River, and Beiyun River) suffered higher ecological risk than reservoirs and lakes. Most of the rivers with higher PAHs risk flow through or around megacity Beijing and Tianjin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution and characteristics of seven heavy metals in sediments located in the typical ecological units (eco-units) (e.g., rivers, lakes, and estuaries) of Haihe River Basin were analyzed. The Hakanson potential ecological risk index was used for ecological risk assessment. The results indicated that the concentration scales of As, Hg, Cr, Cd, Pb, Cu, and Zn in the eco-units were 2.08 to 24.80 mg·g, 0.01 to 1135.50 mg·g, 28.70 to 152.73 mg·g, 0.03 to 195765.83 mg·g, 8.65 to 157.82 mg·g, 6.47 to 178.61 mg·g, and 21.09 to 1076.25 mg·g, respectively. The maximum concentrations of Hg, Cd, and Zn showed higher levels than other water bodies around the world. Hg and Cd have high concentrations in Zhangweinanhe River (1135.50 and 195765.83 mg·g, respectively) and Haihe Estuary (790.50 and 548.47 mg·g, respectively). According to the ecological factor, Cd and Hg showed very strong ecological risks. The seven heavy metals, namely, Cd, Hg, As, Cr, Pb, Cu, and Zn, exhibited ecological risk levels in descending order. Based on the potential ecological risk index, Luanhe River and Baiyangdian Lake had moderate ecological risks, whereas every site in Zhangweinanhe River and Haihe Estuary had substantial risk levels. The risk order of the typical eco-units are as follows: Zhangweinan River (2278345.68) > Estuary (161914.74) > Luanhe River (191.54)>Baiyangdian Lake (120.95). These results provided a scientific basis for water environment improvement and risk management of the Haihe River Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface sediments of rivers can exhibit spatial and temporal variations in contaminant concentrations that may significantly affect risk evaluations. As to pollution control and remediation of watershed, large-scale and further background data on PAHs in China were required urgently. Spatial distribution and compositional characteristics of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface sediments from Haihe River Basin were investigated. A method based on effects range (ER) was used to assess ecosystem risk of ΣPAHs (the total of 16 PAH) sensitively and accurately. The results indicated that ΣPAHs content levels ranged from 257 to 16901 μg·kg dry weight. The lower rings predominated in the samples, and 2-, 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-ring PAHs accounted for 12%, 21%, 30%, 30%, and 7% respectively in total PAHs. The ratio of Fl / (Fl + Py) uniformly distributed in the interval 0.20-0.80, indicating that it may be affected by petroleum origin, oil combustion, biomass and coal combustion jointly. ΣPAHs in Cetian (S6), Dongwushi (S19), Handan (S20), Aixinzhuang (S21) and Tianjin (S37) exceeded effects range low (ERL), in which biologic effects were in a medium level with an adverse effect on biologic organisms. Thus, it is necessary to strengthen the PAHs monitoring and research of the Haihe River Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phthalate esters (PAEs) are widely used in the manufacturing of plastics, and the demand for PAEs has grown rapidly, especially in China. This trend will lead to much more environmental PAE contamination. PAEs are listed as priority substances in the European Union and are therefore subject to ecological risk assessments. This paper reviews the literature concerning the pollution status of PAEs and their ecological risk to aquatic environments. Risk quotients (RQs) based on the predicted no effect concentration and PAE concentrations in aquatic environments demonstrated significant (10 ≤ RQ < 100) or expected (RQ ≥ 100) potential adverse effects for algae, Daphnia, and fish in aquatic environments near PAE-based industrial and urban areas. Thus, the ecological risk of PAEs in Chinese aquatic environments should be considered, especially in areas where commercial plastics are produced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of spatial differences, which are caused by different anthropogenic disturbances, and temporal changes, which are caused by natural conditions, on macroinvertebrates with periphyton communities in Baiyangdian Lake was compared. Periphyton and macrobenthos assemblage samples were simultaneously collected on four occasions during 2009 and 2010. Based on the physical and chemical attributes in the water and sediment, the 8 sampling sites can be divided into 5 habitat types by using cluster analysis. According to coefficients variation analysis (CV), three primary conclusions can be drawn: (1) the metrics of Hilsenhoff Biotic Index (HBI), Percent Tolerant Taxa (PTT), Percent dominant taxon (PDT), and community loss index (CLI), based on macroinvertebrates, and the metrics of algal density (AD), the proportion of chlorophyta (CHL), and the proportion of cyanophyta (CYA), based on periphytons, were mostly constant throughout our study; (2) in terms of spatial variation, the CV values in the macroinvertebratebased metrics were lower than the CV values in the periphyton-based metrics, and these findings may be caused by the effects of changes in environmental factors; whereas, the CV values in the macroinvertebrate-based metrics were higher than those in the periphyton-based metrics, and these results may be linked to the influences of phenology and life history patterns of the macroinvertebrate individuals; and (3) the CV values for the functionalbased metrics were higher than those for the structuralbased metrics. Therefore, spatial and temporal variation for metrics should be considered when assessing applying the biometrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pollution loads continuously increased in Haihe estuary, of Tianjin, China, due to intensive human activities, especially the construction of the Haihe Gate and Lingang Industrial Area. In 2011, hydrological variability in Haihe estuary was investigated and sediments were collected. Total organic carbon (TOC), particle size, total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (ΣPAHs), heavy metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn), and benthic diatom community were analyzed. The highest concentrations of ΣPAHs and heavy metals were found near the Haihe Gate. The Shannon diversity index and the relative abundance of Coscinodiscus perforatus (RC) indicated a decreasing trend seaward. Results of Pearson correlation analysis illustrated significant relations between water current velocity and ΣPAHs ( p < 0.01), Cr ( p < 0.05), and RC ( p < 0.05). Path analysis further indicated that water current played an important role in the distribution of PAH, Cr, and RC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The variations and associations of abiotic and biotic variables in Baiyangdian Lake, China, were analyzed in situ. Abiotic variables included eleven water quality parameters, and were characterized by water quality index (WQI). Biotic variables included periphyton function and diversity metrics. WQI differed in different seasons at sampling sites and the highest value of WQI was observed in October 2009. Periphyton function metrics, expressed by extracellular enzyme activities of alkaline phosphatase, β-glucosidase and leucine aminopeptidase, gross primary productivity and daily respiration rate, and diversity indices, in terms of Shannon diversity index and Berger-Parker abundance index, showed significantly temporal and spatial variations. Regression linear analysis illustrated a fairly good correlation of WQI with periphyton function and diversity indices, Shannon diversity index was the best correlated with WQI (r = 0.904, P < 0.01), followed by leucine aminopeptidase (r = −0.847, P < 0.01) and Berger-Parker abundance index (r = −0.840, P < 0.01), alkaline phosphatase, β-glucosidase and gross primary productivity also showed a good inverse correlation with WQI. Redundancy analysis suggested that eleven environmental variables explained a significant amount of the variation in the periphyton community data. The study was helpful for us to understand chemical and ecological status of water quality, and give us messages for monitoring water quality accurately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heavy metals may adversely affect the structure and function of the periphyton community in lake ecosystems. We carried out samplings of three habitats at eight sites located in the Lake Baiyangdian that is strongly influenced by wastewater discharge (Sites 1 and 2), aquaculture and densely populated villages (Sites 3, 6, and 8), and the least disturbed (Sites 4, 5, and 7). Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Hg, Cd, and Cr were determined in these samples, and the periphyton community was simultaneously studied. The contamination factor ( C) was estimated for every metal as the ratio between pre-industrial records from sediments ( C) and present concentration values ( C), and the individual potential risk ( E) was calculated by multiply the toxic response factor ( Tr) and C for a given substance were based on Hakanson's methodology. The RI was obtained for each sampling site by summing the values of E first and the average was calculated across the sampling sites. The results showed that the RI for all three habitats was lower than 94, and they are in decreasing order: wastewater discharge, aquaculture and densely populated villages, and the least anthropogenic impacted. When the three sampling seasons were compared, August appeared to show the highest risk, followed by April and November. The RI values showed negative correlations ( r = −0.444 to −0.851, p < 0.05) with the structural and functional metrics. The best correlation was detected between chlorophyll c/chlorophyll a (Chl c/ a) ratio and E Hg ( r = −0.851, p < 0.01). Our results suggest the periphyton community can be used in bio-monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Haihe River Basin is a semiarid water resources area of China. River ecosystem was degraded for high population density and intensive water resources development activities. To assist in the improvement of the ecological integrity of this river ecosystem, an environmental flow assessment model was developed that consider both spatial structure and dominant eco-function parameters. River ecosystem was divided into three sub-ecosystems which including river reach, wetland and estuary based on the spatial structure of river ecosystem. River reach was divided into three types which including habitat restoration type (HR), water quality restoration type (WQR) and vegetation restoration substitute water quantity restoration type (VRSWQR) according to their dominant eco-function. The spatio-temporal distribution of environmental flow (EF) for the river ecosystem in the Haihe River Basin was assessed based on the model. The results indicate that the EF for the river reach, wetland, and estuary are 2.267, 1.532, and 0.972 billion m, respectively. The EF for HR type of river reach, the WQR type of river reach and VRSWQR type of river reach are 1.140, 1.138, and 0.154 billion m, which are equal to 4.320, 4.312, and 0.584 % of the average annual flow of 26.39 billion m, respectively. EF for river ecosystem in wet period (June-September), normal period (October-January) and dry period (February-May) are 2.999, 0.951, and 0.821 billion m, respectively. Annual EF for river ecosystem of the Basin are 4.771 billion m, which accounts for 18 % of the average annual flows of 26.39 billion m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The southern part of the Haihe River system, the largest river system in the Haihe River Basin, is important to maintain a healthy ecosystem and safe drinking water as well as for the economic development of China. To assess the effect of rapid industrialization and urbanization on the pattern of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contamination, the PAH pollution characteristics of the southern part of the Haihe River system was investigated. Sixteen PAHs in surface sediments samples collected from 24 sites covering the southern part of the Haihe River system from the upstream to the estuaries were detected and analyzed. The total PAH concentration ranged from 258.77 to 11296.66 ng/g dry weight. On average, 2-, 3-, 4-, 5- and 6-ring PAHs comprised 25.32%, 27.22%, 22.62%, 14.89% and 9.96% of the total PAHs, respectively. Sites with high concentrations were concentrated in the Fuhe River, Fuyang River and Wei River, which are located near cities. A risk quotient (RQ) was used to assess the ecological risk of PAHs. The mean values of the RQ of individual PAHs were lower than 1.00, except for those of naphthalene (2.00) and pyrene (1.67). The RQ calculated for the samples indicated that the Xidayang reservoir and the estuary of the Ziya River were determined to be at a low risk level, while Baoding City, Handan City and Aixinzhuang were determined to be at a high risk level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dry sediments were collected from one roof and two roads in the central area of Beijing. The sediments were dry and wet sieved. The concentrations of total phosphorus (TP) and heavy metals were analyzed. The highest mass proportion of the dry sediments from the roads were between 125 and 300 μm in diameter, while the roof sediments were much smaller, with 75% of the total sediment mass between 40 and 74 μm in diameter. The concentrations of TP and heavy metals in the roof sediments were much higher than in the road sediments. The concentrations of the six heavy metals investigated had a similar order for all three sampling sites, with the Zn concentration always being the highest, followed by the Mn concentration, and the Ni concentration was always the lowest. After wet sieving, 76.9% to 91% of the TP in the sediments from the three sites remained in undesorbable particulate form, and 68.9% to 97% of the heavy metals were present in undesorbable particulate form. The concentrations of undesorbed heavy metals in the roof sediments tended to increase with increasing sediment size, but a similar trend was not found in the road sediments. This study shows that more attention should be given to the particulate matter in stormwater runoff, as reducing the amount of particulates will improve the efficiency of pollution control measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge (Lamiaceae) root, generally called Danshen, is an important herb in Chinese medicine widely used for treatment of various diseases. Phenolic acids in S. miltiorrhiza, as important effective compounds, have become a new research focus in plant secondary metabolism in recent years. This review summarizes the recent advances in the regulation of water-soluble phenolic acid biosynthesis in S. miltiorrhiza via regulators at molecular level, such as the phenylalanine ammonia-lyase gene ( PAL), cinnamic acid 4-hydroxylase gene ( C4H), 4-coumarate-CoA ligase gene ( 4CL), tyrosine aminotransferase gene ( TAT), 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvate reductase gene ( HPPR), 4-hydroxyphenylpyruvated dioxygenase gene ( HPPD), hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA:hydroxyphenyllactate hydroxycinnamoyl transferase-like gene ( RAS-like), and v-myb avian myeloblastosis viral oncogene homolog 4 gene ( MYB4), and production of anthocyanin pigmentation 1 gene ( AtPAP1), and via regulators at cell level, such as methyl jasmonate, salicylic acid, abscisic acid, polyamines, metal ions, hydrogen peroxide (HO), ultraviolet-B radiation, and yeast elicitor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural biofilms were simultaneously grown on glass, plexi-glass, glass fiber and activated carbon fiber for 60 days in a shallow Lake in Haihe basin. Biofilm production and abundance of algae were influenced by the substratum. Magnitude of the substratum effect was glass < plexi-glass < glass fiber < activated carbon fiber. The bacteria communities in biofilms of nature substrata were similar with the biofilms on plexi-glass and glass fiber after 60-day growing, as well as the ones on activated carbon fiber after 14-day growing. On basis of algological and bacteriological investigations, as well as literature data, the activated carbon fiber substratum is recommended for biomonitoring the lake in Haihe basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methionine enkephalin (MENK), the endogenous neuropeptide, is known to exert direct effects on the neuroendocrine and the immune systems and participates in regulation of various functions of cells related to both the innate and adaptive immune systems. Dendritic cells (DCs) play important role in initiating and regulating T cell responses. The aim of this work is to investigate the effects of MENK on differentiation, maturation, and function of DCs derived from murine bone marrow progenitors (BM-derived DCs). Our result showed that MENK could induce BM-derived DCs to polarize predominantly to mDC subtype, rather than pDC both in vivo and in vitro, and this was in favor of Th1 response. BM-derived DCs, after treatment with MENK, up-regulated the expressions of MHC class II and key costimulatory molecules. Result by RT-PCR showed MENK could increase expressions of delta and kappa receptors on BM-derived DCs. Also MENK promoted BM-derived DCs to secret higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines of IL-12p70, TNF-α. Furthermore, differentiated BM-derived DCs treated with MENK displayed higher activity to induce allogeneic T cell proliferation and MENK also inhibited tumor growth in vivo and induced apoptosis of tumor cells in vitro. Thus, it is concluded that MENK could be an effective inducer of BM-derived DCs and might be a new therapeutic agent for cancer, as well as other immune handicapped disease. Also we may consider MENK as a potential adjuvant in vaccine preparation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relative risk model (RRM) was applied in regional ecological risk assessments successfully. In this study, the RRM was developed through increasing the data of risk source and introducing the source-stressor-habitat exposure filter (SSH), the endpoint-habitat exposure filter (EH) and the stressor-endpoint effect filter (SE) to reflect the meaning of exposure and effect more explicit. Water environment which include water quality, water quantity and aquatic ecosystems was selected as the ecological risk assessment endpoints. The Luanhe River Basin located in the North China was selected as model case. The results showed that there were three low risk regions, one medium risk region and two high risk regions in the Luanhe River Basin. The results also indicated habitat destruction was the largest stressor with the risk scores as high as 11.87 for the Luanhe water environment, the second was oxygen consuming organic pollutants (9.28) and the third was nutrients (7.78). So these three stressors were the main influencing factors of the ecological pressure in the study area. Furthermore, animal husbandry was the biggest source with the risk scores as high as 20.38, the second was domestic sewage (14.00), and the third was polluting industry (9.96). For habitats, waters and farmland were enduring the bigger pressure and should be taken considerable attention. Water deterioration and ecological service values damaged were facing the biggest risk pressure, and secondly was biodiversity decreased and landscape fragmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) was studied by determining the levels of 16 PAH in the water and sediment samples of the Luan River; a very important drinking water source for Tianjin and Tangshan in Hebei province, China. A total of 11 water samples and 11 sediment samples were collected in April 2008. The total PAH concentrations in water varied from 9.8 to 310 ng L-1, and those in surficial sediments ranged from not detected (ND) to 478 ng g-1 dry weight. The results showed that the upstream and downstream areas were low-polluted and high-polluted sites concentrated in the middle reaches of the river, respectively. The concentrations of PAH in rural areas (5 sites), which could be considered as the “background” levels, were lower than those near city zones (6 sites), which could be regarded as the “maximum” values. The PAH were dominated by 3- (38.4%) and 4-ring (60.7%) components in water samples and by 3- (27.4%), 4- (38.5%), and 5-ring (15.8%) compounds in sediments. High molecular weight PAH were inclined to be absorbed into sediments. The 3- and 4-ring PAH were the most common components in the Luan River. The molecular indices and the distribution of different rings were used to infer the sources of PAH, and the results suggested that anthropogenic heavy fuel combustion was likely to be the main source. The petroleum PAH had a high contribution to the PAH pollution at Baohekou and Daheiting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The assessment of the ecosystem health of urban rivers and lakes is the scientific basis for their management and ecological restoration. This study developed a three-level indicator system for its assessment. The results indicated that: Zhonghai and Nanhai are in the state of transition from unhealthy to critical state and all the other lakes are in unhealthy states. Water environmental quality, structure and function of the aquatic ecosystem, and the structure of waterfront areas were the constraints. Nanhai was ranked as poor and the others were all ranked as very poor. However, the ecological environment of Zhonghai and Nanhai were better than the others, the sums of the degree of membership to the healthy state and critical state were all close to 0.6. and the restorations of these lakes were moderate. The sums of the degree of membership to the healthy state and critical state of the other lakes were under 0.3, as it was difficult to restore these lakes. Some suggestions on scientific management and ecological restoration of the six lakes were proposed: ①To control non-point pollution and to improve the water quality of six lakes and the water entering into these lakes; ②To improve the hydrological conditions of six lakes; ③To rehabilitate the aquatic ecosystem and waterfront areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the hydrological characters of Baiyangdian Wetland have changed greatly, which, in turn, influence the biotic component, the structure and function of the wetland ecosystem. In order to determine the demands for water resources of ecological wetland system, a method of ecological water level coefficient was suggested to calculate the water resources demands for wetland environment use. This research showed that the minimum coefficient is 0.94 and the optimal coefficient is more than 1.10. According to these two coefficients, the ecological water level and water quantity can be estimated. The results indicate that the amount of the minimal and optimal eco-environmental water requirements are 0.87 × 108 and 2.78 × 108 m3 in average monthly, respectively, with the maximum eco-environmental water requirement in summer and the minimum in winter. The annual change of eco-environment water demand is in according with the climate change and hydrological characters. The method of ecological water level emphasizes that wetland ecosystem adapts to the hydrological conditions, so it can be used in practice well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supplying water to the ecological environment with certain quantity and quality is significant for the protection of diversity and the realization of sustainable development. The conception and connotation of eco-environmental water requirements, including the definition of the conception, the composition and characteristics of eco-environmental water requirements, are evaluated in this paper. The classification and estimation methods of eco-environmental water requirements are then proposed. On the basis of the study on the Huang-Huai-Hai Area, the present water use, the minimum and suitable water requirement are estimated and the corresponding water shortage is also calculated. According to the interrelated programs, the eco-environmental water requirements in the coming years (2010, 2030, 2050) are estimated. The result indicates that the minimum and suitable eco-environmental water requirements fluctuate with the differences of function setting and the referential standard of water resources, and so as the water shortage. Moreover, the study indicates that the minimum eco-environmental water requirement of the study area ranges from 2.84×1010m3 to 1.02×1011m3, the suitable water requirement ranges from 6.45×1010m3 to 1.78×1011m3, the water shortage ranges from 9.1×109m3 to 2.16×1010m3 under the minimum water requirement, and it is from 3.07×1010m3 to 7.53×1010m3 under the suitable water requirement. According to the different values of the water shortage, the water priority can be allocated. The ranges of the eco-environmental water requirements in the three coming years (2010, 2030, 2050) are 4.49×1010m3-1.73×1011m3, 5.99×10m3-2.09×1011m3, and 7.44×1010m3-2.52×1011m3, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proanthocyanidins are natural glycosidase inhibitors with excellent antioxidant activity. This study aims to search for a new source of proanthocyanidins for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes with higher content and better activity and get their structure elucidated. First, the total proanthocyanidins contents (TOPCs), antioxidant activity, antidiabetic activity of seven common Polygonaceae plants were analyzed and compared. Then proanthocyanidins from the rhizome of Fagopyrum dibotrys were purified, and the detailed structure was comprehensively analyzed by ultraviolet visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), 13C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (13C NMR), reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray mass spectrometry (RP-HPLC-ESI-MS), and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). The rhizome of F. dibotrys showed the highest TOPCs, the strongest antioxidant, and antidiabetic activities; the TOPCs, antioxidant and antidiabetic activities were all very significantly positively correlated. Proanthocyanidins purified from the rhizome of F. dibotrys showed better antidiabetic activity than grape seed proanthocyanidins (GsPs). Seventy-two proanthocyanidins from trimer to undecamer with a mean degree of polymerization (mDP) of about 5.02 ± 0.21 were identified with catechin and epicatechin as the dominant monomers. Conclusion: Proanthocyanidins are the main antioxidant and antidiabetic active substances of F. dibotrys and are expected to be developed into potential antioxidant and hypoglycemic products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Salvia miltiorrhiza is one of the most important traditional Chinese medicinal plants with high medicinal value. Gibberellins are growth-promoting phytohormones that regulate numerous growth and developmental processes in plants. However, their role on the secondary metabolism regulation has not been investigated. Results: In this study, we found that gibberellic acid (GA) can promote hairy roots growth and increase the contents of tanshinones and phenolic acids. Transcriptomic sequencing revealed that many genes involved in the secondary metabolism pathway were the GA-responsive. After further analysis of GA signaling pathway genes, which their expression profiles have significantly changed, it was found that the GRAS transcription factor family had a significant response to GA. We identified 35 SmGRAS genes in S. miltiorrhiza, which can be divided into 10 subfamilies. Thereafter, members of the same subfamily showed similar conserved motifs and gene structures, suggesting possible conserved functions. Conclusions: Most SmGRAS genes were significantly responsive to GA, indicating that they may play an important role in the GA signaling pathway, also participating in the GA regulation of root growth and secondary metabolism in S. miltiorrhiza. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrodeposition (ED) presents a substantially technical advantage over other methods, conducted with a simply equipped nonvacuum green process. Zn deposition is recognized as the biggest challenge in the process of electrodepositing CuZnSn‐based photovoltaic materials, due to the fiercely competitive reaction with H2O. Herein, Cu‐promoted Zn deposition from a preferred Cu/Sn/Zn stacked electrodeposition process is proposed. Intermetallic diffusion is confirmed to be positively reinforced during Zn electrodeposition, leading to a dense prefabricated alloyed layer with a reversed elemental distribution. Thus, a high‐quality Cu2ZnSnSe4 (CZTSe) absorber layer with up–down microsized grains is achieved by a two‐step sequence selenization, thereby reducing the Voc deficit and space‐charge‐region (SCR) recombination. With these sequential positive effects, a power conversion efficiency of 9.1% is achieved, accompanied with a depressed Voc deficit of 556 mV, to be the highest efficiency on electrodeposited CZTSe‐based devices. Additional processes of antireflective coating or surface treatments are expected to further improve the efficiency. This work highly contributes to the progress of high‐performance Cu‐kesterite solar cells by the low‐cost green electrodeposition process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flavonoids play multiple roles in plant coloration and stress resistance and are closely associated with human health. Flavonoids and non-flavonoids (such as phenolic acids) are produced via the phenylpropanoid-derived pathway. Anthocyanidin synthase (ANS) catalyzes the synthesis of anthocyanins from leucoanthocyanidin in the flavonoids branched pathway. In this study, SmANS from Salvia miltiorrhiza was cloned and mainly localized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), plastids, Golgi, plasma membrane, and nucleus of tobacco epidermal cells, and was most highly expressed in purple petals in S. miltiorrhiza, whereas it showed almost no expression in white petals, green calyxes, and pistils in S. miltiorrhiza Bge f. alba. Overexpressed SmANS enhanced anthocyanin accumulation but reduced salvianolic acid B (SAB) and rosmarinic acid (RA) biosynthesis in S. miltiorrhiza and S. miltiorrhiza Bge f. alba plantlets, meanwhile, it restored the purple-red phenotype in S. miltiorrhiza Bge f. alba. These changes were due to reallocation of the metabolic flow, which was influenced by the SmANS gene. These findings indicate that SmANS not only plays a key role in anthocyanin accumulation in S. miltiorrhiza, but also acts as a "switch" for the coloration of S. miltiorrhiza Bge f. alba. This study provides baseline information for further research on flavonoids metabolism and improvement of anthocyanin or phenolic acid production by genetic engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wetland acts as an important part of climatic regulation, water purification, and biodiversity maintenance. As an integral part of wetlands, large shallow lakes play an essential role in protecting ecosystem diversity and providing water sources. Baihe Lake in the Momoge Wetland is one such example, so it is necessary to study the flow pattern characteristics of this lake under different conditions. A new model, based on the lattice Boltzmann method, was used to investigate the effects of different impact factors on flow fields, such as water discharge from surrounding farmland, rainfall, wind speed, and aquatic vegetation. Importantly, this study provides a hydrodynamic basis for local ecological protection and restoration work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]