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In this study, 17 deoxynivalenol (DON) contaminated wheat samples were assessed for safety and quality index such as unit weight, water absorption of gluten, crude protein content, unsound kernel content, sprouted kernel content, gibberella damaged kernel content and insect infested kernel content as well as the pollution status of DON and heavy metals. Furthermore, the relationship between the content of DON in wheat grains and other parameters was analyzed. The impact of the processing of gluten and starch in the break and reduction systems on the level of DON contamination was examined. The results showed that the pollution level of DON in wheat samples had a good linear correlation with unit weight, water absorption of gluten, crude protein content, unsound kernel content, sprouted kernel content, gibberella damaged kernel content and insect infested kernel content. The correlation between gluten water absorption and the content of DON was not significant, indicating that DON content could not affect the storage quality of wheat. Additionally, it was found that the heavy metals As and Cd as well as the elements Ca and P were not significantly correlated with DON content, but only Ca in whole wheat flour was correlated with the content of DON. The levels of DON in gluten and starch from the break and reduction systems, respectively were both lower than 200 µg/kg, indicating that wheat with DON over-standard can be used commercially for the preparation of gluten or starch.

The Tsiolkovsky crater is located on the farside of the Moon. It formed in the late Imbrian epoch and was filled with a large area of mare basalts. Multisource remote sensing data are used to interpret the geological features of the Tsiolkovsky area. Compared with previous studies, new remote sensing data and a chronological model based on crater size–frequency distribution are used to further refine the stratigraphic units and determine the absolute ages of the mare basalt units. The evolution of volcanic activity in this crater is discussed. The results are as follows: Abundances of major elements, Th, and silicate minerals suggest that the mare basalt in the crater floor is not a uniform unit but rather nine units with different compositions. The nine basalt units are divided into two episodes of volcanic activity: The first occurred at 3.5–3.7 Ga, when highly evolved lava erupted at the crater floor at a large scale; the second occurred at ~3.4 Ga, when a small area of more primitive lava extended to the northern portion of the crater floor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovative business models are emerging to promote the popularization of electric vehicles. This study investigates a firm's service innovation strategy and the choice between sales and rental business models in the presence of consumer behavioral preferences and service innovation subsidies within a given supply chain. The optimal price and service quality decisions are unique and determined by a profit-maximization model. We find that when customers have an obvious preference for high quality service or a relatively low preference for traditional sales model, the firm will profitably invest in service innovation. The firm will choose the rental model and offer a higher level of service rather than the sales model when the customer preference for traditional sales is relatively low or customers are more constrained by the initial purchase price. We also examine the efficiency of service innovation subsidy policy and find that service innovation subsidy will promote the adoption of electric vehicles and improve service quality. Our analysis also suggests that policy makers should set the appropriate service innovation subsidy rather than the higher the better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cytochrome P450s (CYPs) play crucial roles in regulating plant growth, development, and stress tolerance. In this study, a perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) CYP gene, LpCYP72A15, was identified as a candidate gene regulating plant osmotic stress tolerance based on a cDNA library screening in the background of yeast ∆hog1 mutant. LpCYP72A15 is localized in the plastids, and its expression was regulated by osmotic stress and ABA treatment. Overexpressing LpCYP72A15 significantly enhanced plant drought tolerance in both Arabidopsis and perennial ryegrass. Under drought stress, the transgenic ryegrass showed significant lower reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, higher ROS‐scavenging enzymatic activities, and higher soluble sugar contents than the wildtype plants. Transient over‐expressing the gene also enhanced survival rates of ryegrass mesophyll protoplasts under H2O2‐induced oxidative or mannitol‐enforced osmotic stresses. Taken together, LpCYP72A15 confers oxidative‐ and osmotic‐stress tolerances that positively regulates plant drought tolerance in perennial ryegrass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elucidating the mechanism of photoinduced water splitting on TiO 2 is important for advancing the understanding of photocatalysis and the ability to control photocatalytic surface reactions. However, incomplete experimental information and complex coupled electron-nuclear motion make the microscopic understanding challenging. Here we analyse the atomic-scale pathways of photogenerated charge carrier transport and photoinduced water dissociation at the prototypical water-rutile TiO 2 (110) interface using first-principles dynamics simulations. Two distinct mechanisms are observed. Field-initiated electron migration leads to adsorbed water dissociation via proton transfer to a surface bridging oxygen. In the other pathway, adsorbed water dissociation occurs via proton donation to a second-layer water molecule coupled to photoexcited-hole transfer promoted by in-plane surface lattice distortions. Two stages of non-adiabatic in-plane lattice motion-expansion and recovery-are observed, which are closely associated with population changes in Ti3d orbitals. Controlling such highly correlated electron-nuclear dynamics may provide opportunities for boosting the performance of photocatalytic materials., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.)

Aims: The high salinity of soil, nutrient scarcity, and poor aggregate structure limit the exploitation and utilization of coastal mudflat resources and the sustainable development of saline soil agriculture. In this paper, the effects of applying exogenous organic acids combined with biological substrate on the composition and diversity of soil bacterial community were studied in moderately saline mudflats in Jiangsu Province., Methods: A combination of three exogenous organic acids (humic acid, fulvic acid, and citric acid) and four biological substrates (cottonseed hull, cow manure, grass charcoal, and pine needle) was set up set up on a coastal saline mudflat planted with a salt-tolerant forage grass, sweet sorghum. A total of 120 kg ha -1 of organic acids and 5,000 kg ha -1 of substrates were used, plus two treatments, CK without application of organic acids and substrates and CK 0 in bare ground, for a total of 14 treatments., Results: No significant difference was found in the alpha diversity of soil bacterial community among all treatments ( p  ≥ 0.05), with the fulvic acid composite pine needle (FPN) treatment showing the largest increase in each index. The beta diversity differed significantly ( p  < 0.05) among all treatments, and the difference between citric acid-grass charcoal (CGC) and CK treatments was greater than that of other treatments. All treatments were effective in increasing the number of bacterial ASVs and affecting the structural composition of the community. Citric acid-cow manure (CCM), FPN, and CGC treatments were found to be beneficial for increasing the relative abundance of Proteobacteria , Chloroflexi , and Actinobacteria , respectively. By contrast, all treatments triggered a decrease in the relative abundance of Acidobacteria ., Conclusion: Among the 12 different combinations of exogenous organic acid composite biomass substrates applied to the coastal beach, the CGC treatment was more conducive to increasing the relative abundance of the salt-tolerant bacteria Proteobacteria , Chloroflexi and Actinobacteria , and improving the community structure of soil bacteria. The FPN treatment was more conducive to increase the species diversity of the soil bacterial community and adjust the species composition of the bacterial community., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Liu, Zhong, Yang, Wang, Liu, Xue, Yang, Shen, Li and Sun.)