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Land-use and land-cover changes (LUCCs) significantly impact carbon sequestration by modifying the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems. This study utilized GIS and remote sensing techniques to forecast future LUCC patterns and their influence on regional carbon budgets, which is essential for sustainable development. We devised a coupled system dynamics (SD) model integrated with a patch-generating land-use simulation (PLUS) model to simulate LUCCs under diverse future scenarios using multisource environmental data. Additionally, the InVEST model was employed to quantify carbon storage in terrestrial ecosystems. By establishing three scenarios—ecological priority (EP), highly urbanized (HU), and coordinated development (CD)—this study's aim was to predict the LUCC patterns and carbon storage distribution of the Tuojiang River Basin (TRB), China, up to 2035. The results showed that (1) from 2000 to 2020, significant LUCCs occurred in the TRB, primarily involving the conversion of cultivated land into construction areas and forestland; (2) LUCCs had a substantial impact on carbon storage in the TRB, with the EP scenario demonstrating the highest carbon storage by 2035 due to extensive forest expansion, while the HU scenario indicated a decline in carbon storage associated with rapid urbanization; and (3) the mountainous regions of the TRB, dominated by forestland, consistently exhibited higher carbon storage, whereas the Chengdu Plain region in the upper basin displayed the lowest. In conclusion, we recommend prioritizing the CD scenario in future development strategies to balance economic growth with ecological protection while simultaneously enhancing carbon storage. Our findings offer valuable insights to shape future LUCC policies in the Tuojiang River Basin, underscoring the adaptability of the coupled model approach to a wide range of geographic scales and contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Ningbo International Conference Center Project incorporates elements of Chinese traditional culture into its architectural style, resulting in the world's first cantilever bridge international conference center. During the construction process, it faced challenges such as complex engineering geological environments and diverse architectural styles. By harnessing building information modeling (BIM) technology, many challenges encompassing intricate environmental conditions, architectural structures, and construction complexities are effectively visualized in three dimensions, thereby offering viable solutions for engineering implementation. In the scheme design stage, BIM technology plays a pivotal role in bridging the gap between design and construction, optimizing engineering pile and wall material designs. During the deepening design stage, BIM aids in refining designs through intricate node optimization for the ultralong comb type inclined water panel curtain wall and glued wood column decoration, thereby enhancing construction efficiency. Additionally, BIM technology has also played an important role in the simulation and scheme analysis of the entire construction process of complex steel structures. Through the implementation of BIM technology, numerous challenges encountered during the construction phase of the Ningbo International Conference Center project have been effectively resolved, which serves as a valuable reference for employing BIM technology in large-scale international conference center projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) is an important tool for optogenetics, and some of its mutants are Ca2+-selective channels. However, the mechanism for Ca2+-selective permeation is still unclear. In this study, molecular dynamic (MD) simulations for the Ca2+ permeation of the CatCh mutant were carried out to investigate the fundamental features of the selectivity of Ca2+. Research on the conformational changes in the key residues near the central gate (CG) of the channel suggested that E83, E90, and D253 play an important role in Ca2+ conductivity. The clustering analysis indicates that the above "EED triad" acts as a filter, and Ca2+ can only pass through if the EED is in a certain conformation. It was also found that hydrated Ca2+ can be coordinated with carboxyl groups, resulting in the loss of part of the water molecules in the hydrated shell and a reduction in ionic radius, which helps Ca2+ enter the channel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yellow seed breeding is an effective method to improve oil yield and quality in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.). However, naturally occurring yellow-seeded genotypes have not been identified in B. napus. Mustard (Brassica juncea L.) has some natural, yellow-seeded germplasms, yet the molecular mechanism underlying this trait remains unclear. In this study, a BC9 population derived from the cross of yellow seed mustard "Wuqi" and brown seed mustard "Wugong" was used to analyze the candidate genes controlling the yellow seed color of B. juncea. Subsequently, yellow-seeded (BY) and brown-seeded (BB) bulks were constructed in the BC9 population and subjected to bulked segregant RNA sequencing (BSR-Seq). A total of 511 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between the brown and yellow seed bulks. Enrichment analysis revealed that these DEGs were involved in the phenylpropanoid biosynthetic process and flavonoid biosynthetic process, including key genes such as 4CL, C4H, LDOX/TT18, PAL1, PAL2, PAL4, TT10, TT12, TT4, TT8, BAN, DFR/TT3, F3H/TT6, TT19, and CHI/TT5. In addition, 111,540 credible single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 86,319 INDELs were obtained and used for quantitative trait locus (QTL) identification. Subsequently, two significant QTLs on chromosome A09, namely, qSCA09-3 and qSCA09-7, were identified by G' analysis, and five DEGs (BjuA09PAL2, BjuA09TT5, BjuA09TT6, BjuA09TT4, BjuA09TT3) involved in the flavonoid pathway were identified as hub genes based on the protein-to-protein network. Among these five genes, only BjuA09PAL2 and BjuA09F3H had SNPs between BY and BB bulks. Interestingly, the majority of SNPs in BjuA09PAL2 were consistent with the SNPs identified between the high-quality assembled B. juncea reference genome "T84-66" (brown-seed) and "AU213" (yellow-seed). Therefore, BjuA09PAL2, which encodes phenylalanine lyase, was considered as the candidate gene associated with yellow seed color of B. juncea. The identification of a novel gene associated with the yellow seed coloration of B. juncea through this study may play a significant role in enhancing yellow seed breeding in rapeseed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Confining stress response is considered an accompanying behavior of hydraulic fracturing. Along these lines, an evaluation model of confining stress response was presented in this work. It was established on a rock representative volume element (RVE) and based on the hydraulic volumetric opening model, which stems from the theories of poroelasticity, breakdown damage, and hydraulic fracture mechanics. From the extracted outcomes, it was demonstrated that the confinement of the stress response depends on the matching among the characteristic parameters (ε b , ε s , m) of the rock breakdown, the volumetric opening, and channel flow regimes of the fracturing fluid. Examples in four limiting fracturing regimes show that (1) the confinement of the stress response is strongly determined by the existence of various fracturing regimes and takes place in a different manner during fracture initiation and opening. More specifically, during fracturing initiation, the ratio of the confining stress response to the far-field stress ( P c m a x / σ h ) is 2.0500 in the M regime, 1.9600 in the M ˜ regime, 2.7126 in the K regime, and 1.7448 in the K ˜ regime, while when the fracture is opened, these values ( P C / σ h ) are 1.8994, 1.8314, 1.6378, and 1.2846, respectively. (2) The impact of the confined stress response to the fluid pressure is also affected by the fracturing regimes; e.g., in both M and M ˜ regimes, the peak confinement stress responses lag behind peak pore pressures, but in the K and K ˜ regimes, lag off disappears. (3) The pore volumetric opening ( V p e ) leads to an increase in the confining stress response, while the fracture opening ( V p d ) leads to a reduction in the confining stress response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-cost UAV RGB imagery combined with deep learning models has demonstrated the potential for the development of a feasible tool for field-scale yield prediction. However, collecting sufficient labeled training samples at the field scale remains a considerable challenge, significantly limiting the practical use. In this study, a split-merge framework was proposed to address the issue of limited training samples at the field scale. Based on the split-merge framework, a yield prediction method for winter wheat using the state-of-the-art Efficientnetv2_s (Efficientnetv2_s_spw) and UAV RGB imagery was presented. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the split-merge framework, in this study, Efficientnetv2_s_pw was built by directly feeding the plot images to Efficientnetv2_s. The results indicated that the proposed split-merge framework effectively enlarged the training samples, thus enabling improved yield prediction performance. Efficientnetv2_s_spw performed best at the grain-filling stage, with a coefficient of determination of 0.6341 and a mean absolute percentage error of 7.43%. The proposed split-merge framework improved the model ability to extract indicative image features, partially mitigating the saturation issues. Efficientnetv2_s_spw demonstrated excellent adaptability across the water treatments and was recommended at the grain-filling stage. Increasing the ground resolution of input images may further improve the estimation performance. Alternatively, improved performance may be achieved by incorporating additional data sources, such as the canopy height model (CHM). This study indicates that Efficientnetv2_s_spw is a promising tool for field-scale yield prediction of winter wheat, providing a practical solution to field-specific crop management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of BIM technology in building construction provides the possibility to realize design accuracy, to visualize the construction details, to optimize construction schemes, and to enhance cooperation among various professionals. The Yancheng Nanyang Airport terminal 2 project, with its large span of steel roof structure, complex installation in mechanical and electrical pipeline (MEP) engineering, and difficulty in construction organization, is taken as the engineering background. The whole process application of BIM technology in the construction process is introduced. In structural engineering construction, the application of BIM technology can provide guidance for plane layout of the construction site, and can also assist in deepening the designs of irregular steel components. In steel construction, the application of BIM technology gives a commendable visual demonstration of the construction process of the metal roof system and the single-layer reticulated shell. In MEP engineering, the application of BIM technology provides a great approach to establish a synthesis of pipeline drawings to further form pipeline section diagrams and operation drawings. By integrating the dimension of time, precision control, and deviation rectification, a recursive construction drawing can be built. With respect to synergistic management, the quality and safety management in the construction site can be implemented on the basis of BIM terminal equipment as well. This paper will give a great reference on the application of BIM technology in the airport terminal construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Winter wheat is a major food source for the inhabitants of North China. However, its yield is affected by drought stress during the growing period. Hence, it is necessary to develop drought-resistant winter wheat varieties. For breeding researchers, yield measurement, a crucial breeding indication, is costly, labor-intensive, and time-consuming. Therefore, in order to breed a drought-resistant variety of winter wheat in a short time, field plot scale crop yield estimation is essential. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have developed into a reliable method for gathering crop canopy information in a non-destructive and time-efficient manner in recent years. This study aimed to evaluate strategies for estimating crop yield using multispectral (MS) and hyperspectral (HS) imagery derived from a UAV in single and multiple growth stages of winter wheat. To accomplish our objective, we constructed a simple linear regression model based on the single growth stages of booting, heading, flowering, filling, and maturation and a multiple regression model that combined these five growth stages to estimate winter wheat yield using 36 vegetation indices (VIs) calculated from UAV-based MS and HS imagery, respectively. After comparing these regression models, we came to the following conclusions: (1) the flowering stage of winter wheat showed the highest correlation with crop yield for both MS and HS imagery; (2) the VIs derived from the HS imagery performed better in terms of estimation accuracy than the VIs from the MS imagery; (3) the regression model that combined the information of five growth stages presented better accuracy than the one that considered the growth stages individually. The best estimation regression model for winter wheat yield in this study was the multiple linear regression model constructed by the VI of ' b 1 − b 2 / b 3 − b 4 ' derived from HS imagery, incorporating the five growth stages of booting, heading, flowering, filling, and maturation with r of 0.84 and RMSE of 0.69 t/ha. The corresponding central wavelengths were 782 nm, 874 nm, 762 nm, and 890 nm, respectively. Our study indicates that the multiple temporal VIs derived from UAV-based HS imagery are effective tools for breeding researchers to estimate winter wheat yield on a field plot scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is an acute, highly contagious, immunosuppressive, and fatal infectious disease of young chickens caused by infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). Since 2017, a new trend has been discovered in the IBDV epidemic, with very virulent IBDV (vvIBDV) and novel variant IBDV (nVarIBDV) becoming the two current dominant strains in East Asia including China. In this study, we compared the biological characteristics of the vvIBDV (HLJ0504 strain), nVarIBDV (SHG19 strain), and attenuated IBDV (attIBDV, Gt strain) using specific-pathogen-free (SPF) chicken infection model. The results showed that vvIBDV distributed in multiple tissues, replicated the fastest in lymphoid organs such as bursa of Fabricius, induced significant viremia and virus excretion, and is the most pathogenic virus with a mortality of more than 80%. The nVarIBDV had a weaker replication capability and did not kill the chickens but caused severe damage to the central immune organ bursa of Fabricius and B lymphocytes and induced significant viremia and virus excretion. The attIBDV strain was found not to be pathogenic. Further studies preliminarily suggested that the expression level of inflammatory factors triggered by HLJ0504 was the highest, followed by the SHG19 group. This study is the first to systematically compare the pathogenic characteristics of three IBDVs closely related to poultry industry from the perspectives of clinical signs, micro-pathology, virus replication, and distribution. It is of great importance to obtain an extensive knowledge of epidemiology, pathogenicity, and comprehensive prevention, and control of various IBDV strains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The superimposed slab shear wall has been found to be more and more applicable in the building construction industry due to its building industrialization superiority. The hysteretic behavior of superimposed slab shear walls accounts for an important part of seismic performance analysis. This paper presents the results of a numerical study to investigate the hysteretic behavior of superimposed slab shear walls. Different calculation methods of the shear capacity of the combined interface and horizontal connection are introduced. The calculated results show that the shear capacity of the combined interface and horizontal connection is much larger than the ultimate shear capacity of a superimposed slab shear wall. Therefore, the bond slip effect of a combined interface and horizontal connection can be ignored in finite element analysis on the premise of it not affecting calculation precision. Three different theoretical analysis models, namely the vertical multi-line element model, bend–shear coupled fiber model and layered shell element model, were established in OpenSEES based on a macro-model and a micro-model. The results show that the calculated results of the vertical multi-line element model and the bend–shear coupled fiber model agree reasonably with the experiment results, whereas the calculated results of the layered shell model gave a relatively larger initial stiffness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acer truncatum Bunge is a versatile, oil-producing, woody tree natively and widely distributed in northern China. In 2011, The People's Republic of China's Ministry of Health certified Acer truncatum seed oil (Aoil) as a new food resource. Unsaturated fatty acids account for up to 92% of the entire Aoil. When Aoil is processed or stored, it can easily oxidize. In this study, the effects of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.) extract on the oxidation stability of Aoil were analysed from multiple angles. The results of radical scavenging ability, malondialdehyde, and free fatty acid reveal that rosemary crude extract (RCE), rosmarinic acid (RA), and carnosic acid (CA) can significantly inhibit the oxidation of Aoil, and CA has the best oxidative stability for Aoil among the tested components of the crude rosemary. The delayed oxidation ability of CA for Aoil was slightly weaker than that of tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ), but stronger than that of butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), and α-tocopherol (α-T), which was confirmed by microstructures, kinematic viscosity, Aoil weight change, and functional group. Additionally, CA-enriched Aoil had the smallest content of volatile lipid oxidation products. Moreover, lecithin-CA particles were added to enhance the oxidative stability of Aoil. These findings show that CA is a potent antioxidant, capable of successfully preventing Aoil oxidation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) has been one of the most important objects in the study of optogenetics. The retinal chromophore molecule absorbs photons and undergoes an isomerization reaction, which triggers the photocycle, resulting in a series of conformational changes. In this study, a series of intermediate structures (including D470, P500, P390-early, P390-late, and P520 states) of ChR2 in the photocycle were modeled, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to elucidate the mechanism of ion channel opening of ChR2. The maximum absorption wavelength of these intermediates calculated by time-dependent density function theory (TD-DFT) is in general agreement with the experimental values, the distribution of water density gradually increases in the process of photocycle, and the radius of the ion channel is larger than 6 Å. All these results indicate that our structural models of the intermediates are reasonable. The evolution of protonation state of E90 during the photocycle is explained. E90 will deprotonate when the P390-early transforms into P390-late, in which the two conformations of P390-early and P390-late obtained from the simulations are consistent with the experimental descriptions. To validate the conductive P520 state, the potential mean force (PMF) of Na + ions passing through the P520 intermediate was calculated by using steered molecular dynamics (SMD) simulation combined with umbrella sampling. The result shows that the Na + ions passing through the channel with a very low energy barrier, especially in the central gate, is almost barrierless. This indicates that the channel is open in the P520 state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meteorological factors have significant impacts on crop yield. To account for the impact of meteorological factors on foxtail millet (Setaria italica Beauv.) production in different water conditions, a total of 38 collected varieties were grown in nine seasons from 2011 to 2020 (except 2016) under well-watered (WW) and water-stressed (WS) conditions. The results showed that there was a large seasonal variation in GY; the variation ranged from 4.92 t ha−1 to 6.95 t ha−1 under the WW treatment and from 3.50 t ha−1 to 5.77 t ha−1 under the WS treatment. The impacts of meteorological factors on foxtail millet under the WW and WS treatments were different; sunshine duration during the whole stage, vegetative stage and reproductive stage had the greatest impact under the WW treatment, while under the WS treatment, sunshine duration and the diurnal temperature range during the whole stage and reproductive stage were the greatest impact factors on grain yield. This work could help us in high-yield foxtail millet cultivation and breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-phase four-wire power cables are a primary kind of power transmission method in low-voltage distribution networks. This paper addresses the problem that calibration currents are not easily electrified during the transporting of three-phase four-wire power cable measurements, and proposes a method for obtaining the magnetic field strength distribution in the tangential direction around the cable, finally enabling online self-calibration. The simulation and experimental results show that this method can self-calibrate the sensor arrays and reconstruct the phase current waveforms in three-phase four-wire power cables without calibration currents, and this method is not affected by disturbances such as wire diameter, current amplitudes, and high-frequency harmonics. This study reduces the time and equipment costs required to calibrate the sensing module compared to related studies using calibration currents. This research offers the possibility of fusing sensing modules directly with running primary equipment, and the development of hand-held measurement devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigated the seismic behavior of a prefabricated steel braced frame structure with hinged joints. Six steel frame specimens with different enclosure walls were tested under pseudo-static loading. The results indicated that the vertical load of the hinged braced frame system was mainly resisted by the beam and column members, and the lateral stiffness was completely provided by the bracing members. The final failure mode of all specimens was the failure of the bracings, while the beam-column members and the joints remained largely intact. The rigidly braced specimen was mainly damaged by buckling, yielding, and tearing, and the flexibly braced specimen was mostly damaged by buckling, yielding, and node failure. The energy dissipation of the specimens primarily depended on lateral force-resistant components such as braces and enclosure walls. Different building envelopes exert significant effects on the lateral stiffness and energy dissipation capacity of the structure. The ductility coefficient of all specimens ranged between 1.4 and 1.9, which indicates that the structural system mainly relies on lateral stiffness and elastic deformation to resist earthquakes, rather than structural ductility. The proposed prefabricated steel frame system with hinged connections has wide prospects of application in economically underdeveloped areas because of its convenience in transportation and installation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is an acute, highly contagious, immunosuppressive disease of chickens caused by the virus (IBDV), which critically threatens the development of the global chicken industry and causes huge economic losses. As a large country in the poultry industry, the epidemic history of IBDV in China for more than 40 years has been briefly discussed and summarized for the first time in this report. The first classic strain of IBDV appeared in China in the late 1970s. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the very virulent IBDV (vvIBDV) rapidly swept across the entirety of China, threatening the healthy development of the poultry industry for more than 30 years. Variants of IBDV, after long-term latent circulation with the accumulation of mutations since the early 1990s, suddenly reappeared as novel variant strains (nVarIBDV) in China in the mid-2010s. Currently, there is a coexistence of various IBDV genotypes; the newly emerging nVarIBDV of A2dB1 and persistently circulating vvIBDV of A3B3 are the two predominant epidemic strains endangering the poultry industry. Continuous epidemiological testing and the development of new prevention and control agents are important and require more attention. This report is of great significance to scientific cognition and the comprehensive prevention and control of the IBDV epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Origanum vulgare L. (oregano) is an aromatic plant with wide applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries. Cronobacter sakazakii, which has a high detection rate in powdered infant formula, adversely impacts susceptible individuals. Oregano essential oil (OEO) is a natural antibacterial agent that can be used to fight bacterial contamination. Here, OEO chemical compounds from eight oregano varieties were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry and their antibacterial properties were assessed. The eight OEOs were clustered into two groups and were more diverse in group 2 than in group 1. Six compounds, including p-cymene, 3-thujene, γ-terpinene, thymol, carvacrol, and caryophyllene, were shared by eight OEOs. Among the eight oregano varieties, OEOs from O. vulgare sc2 had the strongest antibacterial activity against C. sakazaki, with the inhibition zone of 18.22mm. OEOs from O. vulgare jx, O. 'Nvying', O. vulgare 'Ehuang', and O. vulgare ssp. virens were also potent. Moreover, the antibacterial activity of OEOs was positively correlated with the relative content of thymol. As the main OEO antibacterial compound, thymol affected the normal growth and metabolism of C. sakazakii cells by destroying the bacterial membrane and decreasing the intracellular ATP concentration. Thus, in light of the antibacterial activity detected in the OEOs from the eight oregano varieties, this study provides a theoretical foundation for oregano cultivar management and development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weather factors and drought could impact the yield of foxtail millet, and varieties with traits that could alleviate the negative effects of deteriorating weather factors in the future should be developed. A total of 25 foxtail millet varieties were evaluated in experiments from 2016 to 2020 under well-watered (WW) and water-stressed (WS) treatments. Future climate change might favor an increased temperature that impedes grain yield, so varieties with characters that are less sensitive to temperature change are preferred. Varieties with a high panicle dry-weight per plant, thousand grain weight, leaf area and water productivity in deep soil layer usually gave better grain production under both water treatments. Under the WW treatment, low grain abortion rate, optimal chlorophyll and canopy temperature and more roots in the upper soil layer could favor a high yield and drought resistance. Under the WS treatment, varieties with a high harvest index, low rate of water loss and more roots in the upper soil layer usually produced a high yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sweet potato is a hexaploid heterozygote with a complex genetic background, self-pollination infertility, and cross incompatibility, which makes genetic linkage analysis quite difficult. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) provide a new strategy for gene mapping and cloning in sweet potato. Storage root flesh color (SRFC) is an important sensory evaluation, which correlates with storage root flesh composition, such as starch, anthocyanin, and carotenoid. We performed GWAS using SRFC data of 300 accessions and 567,828 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Furthermore, we analyzed transcriptome data of different SRFC varieties, and conducted real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) to measure the expression level of the candidate gene in purple and non-purple fleshed sweet potato genotypes. The results showed that five unique SNPs were significantly (−log10P > 7) associated with SRFC. Based on these trait-associated SNPs, four candidate genes, g55964 (IbF3′H), g17506 (IbBAG2-like), g25206 (IbUGT-73D1-like), and g58377 (IbVQ25-isoform X2) were identified. Expression profiles derived from transcriptome data and qRT-PCR analyses showed that the expression of g55964 in purple-fleshed sweet potato was significantly (p < 0.01) higher than that of non-purple fleshed sweet potato. By combining the GWAS, transcriptomic analysis and qRT-PCR, we inferred that g55964 is the key gene related to purple formation of storage root in sweet potato. Our results lay the foundation for accelerating sweet potato genetic improvement of anthocyanin through marker-assisted selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil flooding severely impairs agricultural crop production. Plants can cope with flooding conditions by embracing an orchestrated set of morphological adaptations and physiological adjustments that are regulated by the elaborated hormonal signaling network. The most prominent of these hormones is ethylene, which has been firmly established as a critical signal in flooding tolerance. ABA (abscisic acid) is also known as a "stress hormone" that modulates various responses to abiotic stresses; however, its role in flooding tolerance remains much less established. Here, we discuss the progress made in the elucidation of morphological adaptations regulated by ABA and its crosstalk with other phytohormones under flooding conditions in model plants and agriculturally important crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of antibiotics in the food industry is highly regulated owing to the potential harmful effects of antibiotics on human health. Therefore, it is crucial to seek alternatives for ensuring food safety. Essential oils (EOs) extracted from plants of the genus Origanum exhibit a wide range of chemical and antibacterial activities. Species and tissue factors shape the production and accumulation processes of EOs in Origanum plants, thereby affecting their bactericidal activity. In this study, the morphologies and EO yields from the inflorescences, leaves, and stems of three oregano cultivars were evaluated. In addition, the chemical compositions and antibacterial abilities of oregano EOs (OEOs) were assessed. The results showed that OEOs from the different parts of the plant displayed only minor differences in chemical composition, whereas the yield of EOs varied considerably. Additionally, the chemical profiles of OEOs differed significantly among cultivars. The carvacrol content in the OEOs was closely related to its activity against Staphylococcus aureus; the antibacterial properties of the OEOs were further verified using carvacrol. These findings suggested that OEOs possessing high antibacterial activity may have the potential to be developed as bactericides in the food industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) is a non-enveloped, bi-segmented double-stranded RNA virus and the causative agent of a poultry immunosuppressive disease known as infectious bursal disease (IBD). The novel variant IBDV (nVarIBDV) recently posed a great threat to the development of the poultry industry. In this study, we identified a novel segment-reassortant IBDV strain, IBDV-JS19-14701 (Genotype A2dB3). Phylogenic analysis showed that Segments A and B of IBDV-JS19-14701 were derived from emerging nVarIBDV (Genotype A2dB1) and long-prevalent HLJ0504-like strains (Genotype A3B3) in China, respectively. The pathogenicity of IBDV-JS19-14701 was further evaluated via animal experiments. IBDV-JS19-14701 exhibited a similar virulence to chickens with the nVarIBDV. The identification of this reassortment event is beneficial for understanding the epidemiology of nVarIBDV and will contribute to the efficient prevention and control of IBD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subclinical mastitis is one of the major problems affecting dairy animals' productivity and is classified based on milk somatic cell counts (SCC). Previous data showed that marine-derived Bacillus amyloliquefaciens-9 (GB-9) improved the immunity and the nonspecific immune defense system of the body. In this study, the potential role of GB-9 in improving subclinical mastitis was assessed with Radix Tetrastigmae (RT) as a positive control in subclinical mastitis Saanen dairy goats. The current data showed that GB-9 and RT significantly reduced the SCC in dairy goats. After being fed with GB-9 or RT, the decreased concentrations of malondialdehyde, IgA, IgM, IL-2, IL-4, and IL-6 were observed. The amplicon sequencing analysis of fecal samples revealed that GB-9 significantly altered the bacterial community. Bacteroides and Phascolarctobacterium were the major genera that respond to GB-9 feeding. The correlation analysis using weighted gene co-expression network analysis showed a MePink module was most associated with the serum concentrations of immunoglobulin and interleukin. The MePink module contained 89 OTUs. The feeding of GB-9 in decreasing the SCC was associated with the altered abundance of Bacteroides, which was correlated with the concentrations of immunoglobulins and chemokines. Collectively, the current data suggested that marine-derived GB-9 could be a helpful probiotic to control subclinical mastitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For Ethiopia's wheat production, drought is a major natural disaster. Exploration of drought-resistant varieties from a bulk of wheat germplasm conserved in the gene bank is of paramount importance for breeding climate change-resilient modern cultivars. The present study was aimed at identifying the best performing drought-resistant genotypes under non-stress and polyethylene glycol simulated (PEG) stress conditions in a growth chamber. Forty diverse Ethiopian bread and durum wheat cultivars along with three Chinese bread wheat cultivars possessing strong drought resistance and susceptibility were evaluated. After acclimation with the natural environment, the seedlings were imposed to severe drought stress (20% PEG6000), and 15 seedling traits including photosynthetic and free proline were investigated. Our findings indicated that drought stress caused a profound decline in plant water consumption (83.0%), shoot fresh weight (64.9%), stomatal conductance (61.6%), root dry weight (55.2%), and other investigated traits except root to shoot length ratio and proline content which showed a significant increase under drought stress. A significant and positive correlation was found between photosynthetic pigments in both growth conditions. Proline exhibited a negative correlation with most of the investigated traits except root to shoot length ratio and all photosynthetic pigments which showed a positive and non-significant association. Our result also showed a wide range of genetic variation (CV) ranging from 3.23% to 47.3%; the highest in shoot dry weight (SDW) (47.3%) followed by proline content (44.63%) and root dry weight (36.03%). Based on multivariate principal component biplot analysis and average sum of ranks (ASR), G12, G16 and G25 were identified as the best drought tolerant and G6, G42, G4, G11, and G9 as bottom five sensitive. The potential of these genotypes offers further investigation at a molecular and cellular level to identify the novel gene associated with the stress response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Diarrhea is often the main cause of neonatal deaths on dairy goat farms. Poor management leads to infection with pathogenic bacteria and viruses causing enteritis, the main cause of diarrhea. Efficient drugs should be developed to prevent and treat kids with diarrhea. In the current study, the role of GBacillus-9 in the prevention and treatment of Saanen kids suffering diarrhea was assessed. Our data showed that GBacillus-9 restored the intestinal microbial disorder that resulted from diarrhea and suggested that GBacillus-9 could be used as a product to improve the gut health of kids. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens-9 (GBacillus-9), derived from the intestinal tract of the white-spotted bamboo shark, secretes a variety of antimicrobial compounds that inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria. In this study, the role of GBacillus-9 in the prevention and treatment of Saanen kids with diarrhea was assessed. Six healthy kids (HL) and six kids with diarrhea (DL) were selected. All kids were fed with 0.3% (w/v) GBacillus-9 (spray power) in raw milk for two weeks. The proportion of kids with diarrhea decreased gradually as the trial progressed, and 100% DL kids were cured at day 15. GBacillus-9 increased the serum immunoglobulin (Ig) G, interleukin (IL)-4, and IL-6 concentration (p < 0.05). The amplicon sequencing analysis of the fecal bacterial community revealed that the fecal microbiota was remarkably different between the HL and the DL groups at day 0. After two weeks of feeding with GBacillus-9, no significant difference in fecal microbiota was observed between HL and DL groups at the phylum level. GBacillus-9 restored the intestinal microbial disorder associated with serum immunoglobulin and interleukin concentration. Correlation analysis showed that GBacillus-9 altered globulin and interleukin concentration and that immunoglobulin was associated with Firmicutes. Collectively, our results revealed that GBacillus-9 improved the gut health of kids by improving microbial homeostasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infectious bursal disease (IBD), an immunosuppressive disease of young chickens, is caused by infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). Novel variant IBDV (nVarIBDV), a virus that can evade immune protection against very virulent IBDV (vvIBDV), is becoming a threat to the poultry industry. Therefore, nVarIBDV-specific vaccine is much needed for nVarIBDV control. In this study, the VP2 protein of SHG19 (a representative strain of nVarIBDV) was successfully expressed using an Escherichia coli expression system and further purified via ammonium sulfate precipitation and size-exclusion chromatography. The purified protein SHG19-VP2-466 could self-assemble into 25-nm virus-like particle (VLP). Subsequently, the immunogenicity and protective effect of the SHG19-VLP vaccine were evaluated using animal experiments, which indicated that the SHG19-VLP vaccine elicited neutralization antibodies and provided 100% protection against the nVarIBDV. Furthermore, the protective efficacy of the SHG19-VLP vaccine against the vvIBDV was evaluated. Although the SHG19-VLP vaccine induced a comparatively lower vvIBDV-specific neutralization antibody titer, it provided good protection against the lethal vvIBDV. In summary, the SHG19-VLP candidate vaccine could provide complete immune protection against the homologous nVarIBDV as well as the heterologous vvIBDV. This study is of significance to the comprehensive prevention and control of the recent atypical IBD epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human Cav1.3 (hCav1.3) is of great interest as a potential target for Parkinson's disease. However, common medications like dihydropyridines (DHPs), a kind of classic calcium channel blocker, have poor selectivity to hCav1.3 in clinical treatment, mainly due to being implicated in cardiovascular side-effects mediated by human Cav1.2 (hCav1.2). Recently, pyrimidine-2,4,6-triones (PYTs) have received extensive attention as prominent selective inhibitors to hCav1.3. In this study, we describe the selectivity mechanism of PYTs for hCav1.2 and hCav1.3 based on molecular dynamic simulation methods. Our results reveal that the van der Waals (vdW) interaction was the most important force affecting selectivity. Moreover, the hydrophobic interaction was more conducive to the combination. The highly hydrophobic amino acid residues on hCav1.3, such as V162 (IR1), L303 (IR2), M481 (IR3), and F484 (IR3), provided the greatest contributions in the binding free energy. On the other hand, the substituents of a halogen-substituted aromatic ring, cycloalkyl and norbornyl on PYTs, which are pertinent to the steric hindrance of the compounds, played core roles in the selectivity and affinity for hCav1.3, whereas strong polar substituents needed to be avoided. The findings could provide valuable information for designing more effective and safe medicines for Parkinson's disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional method of designing wayfinding systems has been used in tourism management for decades. However, the absence of quantitative evaluations for the wayfinding system at tourist resorts may affect information transmission and cause visitors to feel lost. This article proposes a quantitative approach and applies it to the wayfinding system at the Shanghai Disneyland Resort from 2017 to 2019, where the layouts and the contents of wayfinding signboards are systematically evaluated. The analytic hierarchy process is used in conjunction with expert advice to rank 11 elements of content design, and four reasonable indices are calculated to explore the spatial–topological relationships at the tourism resort. According to both the field and expert investigation and tourists' responses to designed questionnaires, the results show that this method containing content and layout evaluation can enhance tourist satisfaction in certain aspects, thus helping to improve tourism management by considering important indices in wayfinding signage design and modification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesoscale simulation using the material point method (MPM) was conducted to study the pressure–volume (PV) variations of Octahydro-1,3,5,7-Tetranitro-1,2,3,5-Tetrazocine (HMX)/Estane polymer-bonded explosive (PBX) under impact loading. The PV isotherms and Hugoniot data were calculated for the different porosities and binder volume fractions. The PV isotherms were used to determine the parameters for the Birch– Murnaghan equation of state (EOS) for the PBX. From the EOS, the isothermal bulk modulus (K0) and its pressure derivative ( K ′ 0 ) were calculated. Additionally, the pseudo particle velocity and pseudo shock velocity variations were used to obtain the bulk wave speed c and dimensionless coefficient s for the Mie–Grüneisen EOS. The simulations provide an alternative approach for determining an EOS that is consistent with experimental observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Channelrhodopsins (ChRs) are light-gated transmembrane cation channels which are widely used for optogenetic technology. Replacing glutamate located at the central gate of the ion channel with positively charged amino acid residues will reverse ion selectivity and allow anion conduction. The structures and properties of the ion channel, the transport of chloride, and potential of mean force (PMF) of the chimera protein (C1C2) and its mutants, EK-TC, ER-TC and iChloC, were investigated by molecular dynamics simulation. The results show that the five-fold mutation in E122Q-E129R-E140S-D195N-T198C (iChloC) increases the flexibility of the transmembrane channel protein better than the double mutations in EK-TC and ER-TC, and results in an expanded ion channel pore size and decreased steric resistance. The iChloC mutant was also found to have a higher affinity for chloride ions and, based on surface electrostatic potential analysis, provides a favorable electrostatic environment for anion conduction. The PMF free energy curves revealed that high affinity Cl− binding sites are generated near the central gate of the three mutant proteins. The energy barriers for the EK-TC and ER-TC were found to be much higher than that of iChloC. The results suggest that the transmembrane ion channel of iChloC protein is better at facilitating the capture and transport of chloride ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Misfolding and aggregation of transthyretin (TTR) is widely known to be responsible for a progressive systemic disorder called amyloid transthyretin (ATTR) amyloidosis. Studies suggest that TTR aggregation is initiated by a rate-limiting dissociation of the homo-tetramer into its monomers, which can rapidly misfold and self-assemble into amyloid fibril. Thus, exploring conformational change involved in TTR monomer misfolding is of vital importance for understanding the pathogenesis of ATTR amyloidosis. In this work, microsecond timescale hybrid-resolution molecular dynamics (MD) simulations combined with Markov state model (MSM) analysis were performed to investigate the misfolding mechanism of the TTR monomer. The results indicate that a macrostate with partially unfolded conformations may serve as the misfolded state of the TTR monomer. This misfolded state was extremely stable with a very large equilibrium probability of about 85.28%. With secondary structure analysis, we found the DAGH sheet in this state to be significantly destroyed. The CBEF sheet was relatively stable and sheet structure was maintained. However, the F-strand in this sheet was likely to move away from E-strand and reform a new β-sheet with the H-strand. This observation is consistent with experimental finding that F and H strands in the outer edge drive the misfolding of TTR. Finally, transition pathways from a near native state to this misfolded macrostate showed that the conformational transition can occur either through a native-like β-sheet intermediates or through partially unfolded intermediates, while the later appears to be the main pathway. As a whole, we identified a potential misfolded state of the TTR monomer and elucidated the misfolding pathway for its conformational transition. This work can provide a valuable theoretical basis for understanding of TTR aggregation and the pathogenesis of ATTR amyloidosis at the atomic level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brackish water used for irrigation can restrict crop growth and lead to environmental problems. The alternate irrigation with saline water at different growth stages is still not well understood. Therefore, field trials were conducted during 2015–2018 in the NCP to investigate whether alternate irrigation is practicable for winter wheat production. The treatments comprised rain-fed cultivation (NI), fresh and saline water irrigation (FS), saline and fresh water irrigation (SF), saline water irrigation (SS) and fresh water irrigation (FF). The results showed that the grain yield was increased by 20% under SF and FS treatments compared to NI, while a minor decrease of 2% in grain yield was observed compared with FF treatment. The increased soil salinity and risk of long-term salt accumulation in the soil due to alternate irrigation during peak dry periods was insignificant due to leaching of salts from crop root zone during monsoon season. Although Na+ concentration in the leaves increased with saline irrigation, resulting in significantly lower K+:Na+ ratio in the leaves, the Na+ and K+ concentrations in the roots and grains were not affected. In conclusion, the alternate irrigation for winter wheat is a most promising option to harvest more yield and save fresh water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) is a light-activated and non-selective cationic channel protein that can be easily expressed in specific neurons to control neuronal activity by light. Although ChR2 has been extensively used as an optogenetic tool in neuroscience research, the molecular mechanism of cation channel formation following retinal photoisomerization in ChR2 is not well understood. In this paper, studies of the closed and opened state ChR2 structures are presented. The formation of the cationic channel is elucidated in atomic detail using molecular dynamics simulations on the all-trans-retinal (ChR2-trans) configuration of ChR2 and its isomerization products, 13-cis-retinal (ChR2-cis) configuration, respectively. Photoisomerization of the retinal-chromophore causes the destruction of interactions among the crucial residues (e.g., E90, E82, N258, and R268) around the channel and the extended H-bond network mediated by numerous water molecules, which opens the pore. Steering molecular dynamics (SMD) simulations show that the electrostatic interactions at the binding sites in intracellular gate (ICG) and central gate (CG) can influence the transmembrane transport of Na+ in ChR2-cis obviously. Potential of mean force (PMF) constructed by SMD and umbrella sampling also found the existing energy wells at these two binding sites during the transportation of Na+. These wells partly hinder the penetration of Na+ into cytoplasm through the ion channel. This investigation provides a theoretical insight on the formation mechanism of ion channels and the mechanism of ion permeation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crashes that occur on curved roadways are often more severe than straight road accidents. Previously, most studies focused on the associations between curved sections and roadway geometric characteristics. In this study, significant factors such as driver behavior, roadway features, vehicle factors, and environmental characteristics are identified and involved in analyzing traffic accident severity. Bayesian network analysis was conducted to deal with data, to explore the associations between variables, and to make predictions using these relationships. The results indicated that factors including point of impact, site of location, accident side of road, alcohol/drugs condition, etc., are relatively critical in crashes on horizontal curves. Accident severity increases when crashes occur on bridges. The sensitivity of accident severity to vehicle use, traffic control, point of impact, and alcohol/drugs condition is relatively high. Moreover, a combination of negative factors will aggravate accident severities. The results also proposed some suggestions regarding the design of vehicles, as well as the construction and improvement of curved roadways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the management of intermodal transportation, incentive contract design problem has significant impacts on the benefit of a multimodal transport operator (MTO). In this paper, we analyze a typical water-rail-road (WRR) intermodal transportation that is composed of three serial transportation stages: water, rail and road. In particular, the entire transportation process is planned, organized, and funded by an MTO that outsources the transportation task at each stage to independent carriers (subcontracts). Due to the variability of transportation conditions, the travel time of each transportation stage depending on the respective carrier's effort level is unknown (asymmetric information) and characterized as an uncertain variable via the experts' estimations. Considering the decentralized decision-making process, we interpret the incentive contract design problem for the WRR intermodal transportation as a Stackelberg game in which the risk-neutral MTO serves as the leader and the risk-averse carriers serve as the followers. Within the framework of uncertainty theory, we formulate an uncertain bi-level programming model for the incentive contract design problem under expectation and entropy decision criteria. Subsequently, we provide the analytical results of the proposed model and analyze the optimal time-based incentive contracts by developing a hybrid solution method which combines a decomposition approach and an iterative algorithm. Finally, we give a simulation example to investigate the impact of asymmetric information on the optimal time-based incentive contracts and to identify the value of information for WRR intermodal transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Sweet potato ( Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.) is widely cultivated as an important food crop. However, the molecular regulatory mechanisms affecting root tuber development are not well understood., Methods: The aim of this study was to systematically reveal the regulatory network of sweet potato root enlargement through transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis in different early stages of sweet potato root development, combined with phenotypic and anatomical observations., Results: Using RNA-seq, we found that the differential genes of the S1 vs. S2, S3 vs. S4, and S4 vs. S5 comparison groups were enriched in the phenylpropane biosynthesis pathway during five developmental stages and identified 67 differentially expressed transcription factors, including AP2, NAC, bHLH, MYB, and C2H2 families. Based on the metabolome, K-means cluster analysis showed that lipids, organic acids, organic oxides, and other substances accumulated differentially in different growth stages. Transcriptome, metabolome, and prophetypic data indicate that the S3-S4 stage is the key stage of root development of sweet potato. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) showed that transcriptome differential genes were mainly enriched in fructose and mannose metabolism, pentose phosphate, selenium compound metabolism, glycolysis/gluconogenesis, carbon metabolism, and other pathways. The metabolites of different metabolites are mainly concentrated in amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism, flavonoid biosynthesis, alkaloid biosynthesis, pantothenic acid, and coenzyme A biosynthesis. Based on WGCNA analysis of gene-metabolite correlation, 44 differential genes and 31 differential metabolites with high correlation were identified., Conclusions: This study revealed key gene and metabolite changes in early development of sweet potato root tuber and pointed out potential regulatory networks, providing new insights into sweet potato root tuber development and valuable reference for future genetic improvement.

Material Point Method (MPM) mesoscale simulation was used to study the constitutive relation of a polymer bonded explosive (PBX) consisting of 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) and a fluorine polymer binder F 2314 . The stress-strain variations of the PBX were calculated for different temperatures and different porosities, and the results were found to be consistent with experimental observations. The stress-strain relations at different temperatures were used to develop the constitutive equation of the PBX by using numerical data fitting. Stress-strain data for different porosities were used to establish the constitutive equation by fitting the simulation data to an improved Hashion-Shtrikman model. The equation can be used to predict the shear modulus and bulk modulus of the PBX at different densities of the sample. The constitutive equations developed for TATB/F 2314 PBX by MPM mesoscale simulation are important equations for the numerical simulations of the PBX at macroscale. The method presented in this study provides an alternative approach for studying the constitutive relations of PBX.

A deactivation channel for laser-excited 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) was studied by semiclassical dynamics. Results indicate that the excited state resulting from an electronic transition from the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) to the lowest unoccupied molecular mrbital (LUMO) is deactivated via pyramidalization of the activated N atom in a nitro group, with a lifetime of 2.4 ps. An approximately 0.5-electron transfer from the aromatic ring to the activated nitro group led to a significant increase of the C⁻NO₂ bond length, which suggests that C⁻NO₂ bond breaking could be a trigger for an explosive reaction. The time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) method was used to calculate the energies of the ground and S₁ excited states for each configuration in the simulated trajectory. The S₁←S₀ energy gap at the instance of non-adiabatic decay was found to be 0.096 eV, suggesting that the decay geometry is close to the conical intersection.

As one of the most important crops, rice provides the major food for more than half of the world population. However, its production is limited by many environmental factors, among which high temperature stress (HS) frequently occurs during anthesis and reduces its spikelet fertility. To explore the mechanism of HS tolerance in rice, we conducted a comparative proteomics analysis on the anthers between HS resistant and sensitive cultivars under different levels of high temperature. Under the same HS treatment, the resistant cultivar showed much higher spikelet fertility than the sensitive cultivar. Proteomic data showed that HS lead to the degradation of ribosomal proteins in the sensitive cultivar but not in the resistant one, which might result in the injury of protein biosynthetic machinery. In contrast, HS induced the increase of sHSP, β-expansins and lipid transfer proteins in the resistant cultivar, which might contribute to its ability to tolerate HS. The results provide some new insights into the mechanism of rice HS response., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.