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As the founder of American psychology, James established the first psychological laboratory in America. However, he did few experiments, and even on some public occasions he was openly against experimental psychology and laboratory methods. Even so, he exerted a profound impact on American experimental psychology. In this paper, the author explores a number of little known historical facts about James' experimental psychology, and re-evaluates the relationship between James and experimental psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A series of Mg-doped LiNbO3 crystals were grown using Czochralski method with fixed 5mol% Mg doping and a variety of Li/Nb ratio (Li/Nb = 0.946–1.08). From the UV–vis absorption spectra, it is found that the absorption edges of the off-congruent crystals successively shift to the violet band in comparison with that of congruent pure LiNbO3. The birefringence gradient of these crystals was measured to investigate the optical homogeneity. In second harmonic generation (SHG) experiment, the SHG conversion efficiency was enhanced by the Mg doping and the increase of Li/Nb ratio. The dependences of the UV–vis absorption edges, the homogeneity and SHG properties on the Li concentration were explored. The results indicate that the crystal of Li/Nb = 1.02 is the most proper media for SHG application among the five crystals in the paper. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As an important component of urban green spaces, greenhouse gas uptake or emissions from urban lawns cannot be ignored. However, studies of greenhouse gas fluxes from subtropical urban lawns are relatively sparse. The static chamber-gas chromatography method was applied to monitor the ground-air exchange fluxes of various greenhouse gases(CO 2 , CH 4 , N 2 O, and CO) in typical urban lawns of Hangzhou City. Our results showed that the average fluxes had significant seasonal cycles but ambiguous diurnal variations. The grassland and the soil(naked soil without vegetation coverage) acted as sources of atmospheric N 2 O, with the average fluxes of (0.66±0.17) and (0.58±0.20) μg·(m 2 ·min) -1 for N 2 O, respectively; however, they were also sinks of CH 4 and CO, with the average fluxes of (-0.21±0.078) and (-0.26±0.10) μg·(m 2 ·min) -1 for CH 4 and (-6.36±1.28) and (-6.55±1.69) μg·(m 2 ·min) -1 for CO, respectively. The average CO 2 emission fluxes of urban grassland and soil were(5.28±0.75) and (4.83±0.91) mg·(m 2 ·min) -1 , respectively. The correlation analysis indicated that the CO 2 and N 2 O fluxes of grassland and soil were negatively correlated with precipitation, whereas the CH 4 and CO fluxes were positively correlated with it. There was no significant correlation between grassland CH 4 fluxes and soil temperature, and N 2 O fluxes had a significant negative correlation with soil temperature; the other greenhouse gas fluxes showed a significant positive correlation with soil temperature. In addition, the seasonal variation in CO 2 ( R 2 =0.371 and 0.314) and N 2 O( R 2 =0.371 and 0.284) fluxes from both grassland and soil was affected by precipitation, whereas CO fluxes ( R 2 =0.290 and 0.234) were mainly driven by soil temperature compared with the other greenhouse gases.

Dwarfing rootstocks enable high-density planting and are therefore highly desirable in modern apple (Malus domestica) production. M26 is a semi-dwarfing rootstock that is used worldwide, but identifying intensive dwarfing rootstock is a major goal of apple breeding programs. Herein, we show that MdWRKY9 mediates dwarfing by directly inhibiting the transcription of the brassinosteroid (BR) rate-limiting synthetase MdDWF4 and reducing BR production. We found that the transcriptional factor MdWRKY9 is highly expressed in all tested dwarfing rootstocks. Transgenic lines of M26 rootstock overexpressing MdWRKY9 exhibit further dwarfing, which resulted from the reduced BR levels and was reversed via exogenous brassinolide treatment. Both an in vivo chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) analysis and an in vitro electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) indicated that MdWRKY9 binds to the promoter of MdDWF4. Furthermore, MdWRKY9 repressed MdDWF4 expression in stable transgenic apple plants as determined by quantitative PCR. In addition, RNA-interfered expression of MdWRKY9 in transiently transformed apple calli led to a significant increase of MdDWF4, suggesting MdWRKY9 plays a critical role in regulating the expression of MdDWF4. We report a novel dwarfing mechanism in perennial woody plants that involves WRKY-controlled BR production, and present a new dwarfing M26 rootstock for potential applications in apple production., (© 2017 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2017 New Phytologist Trust.)

Our previous study demonstrated that conditional reprogramming (CR) allows the establishment of patient-derived normal and tumor epithelial cell cultures from a variety of tissue types including breast, lung, colon and prostate. Using CR, we have established matched normal and tumor cultures, GUMC-29 and GUMC-30 respectively, from a patient's prostatectomy specimen. These CR cells proliferate indefinitely in vitro and retain stable karyotypes. Most importantly, only tumor-derived CR cells (GUMC-30) produced tumors in xenografted SCID mice, demonstrating maintenance of the critical tumor phenotype. Characterization of cells with DNA fingerprinting demonstrated identical patterns in normal and tumor CR cells as well as in xenografted tumors. By flow cytometry, both normal and tumor CR cells expressed basal, luminal, and stem cell markers, with the majority of the normal and tumor CR cells expressing prostate basal cell markers, CD44 and Trop2, as well as luminal marker, CD13, suggesting a transit-amplifying phenotype. Consistent with this phenotype, real time RT-PCR analyses demonstrated that CR cells predominantly expressed high levels of basal cell markers (KRT5, KRT14 and p63), and low levels of luminal markers. When the CR tumor cells were injected into SCID mice, the expression of luminal markers (AR, NKX3.1) increased significantly, while basal cell markers dramatically decreased. These data suggest that CR cells maintain high levels of proliferation and low levels of differentiation in the presence of feeder cells and ROCK inhibitor, but undergo differentiation once injected into SCID mice. Genomic analyses, including SNP and INDEL, identified genes mutated in tumor cells, including components of apoptosis, cell attachment, and hypoxia pathways. The use of matched patient-derived cells provides a unique in vitro model for studies of early prostate cancer.

The exploration and identification of new brassinosteroid (BR) compounds is critical to improve the biosynthetic research of BRs and expand the chemodiversity of active BRs. However, traditional methods are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and less sensitive. Here, we present a facile screening strategy for discovering and identifying novel BRs from plant tissues based on ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS). A total of 14 potential BRs were discovered from only 1 g of rice tissues and structurally elucidated by following a MS-based clue, acquired through multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) data-dependent enhanced product ion (EPI) scan, high resolution MS, and MS survey-dependent MS/MS. One of the 14 candidates was identified as 6-deoxo-28-homotyphasterol, a brand new BR compound that is reported for the first time in the BRs biosynthesis pathway. Detailed comparison with reference standards and quantitative level analysis in rice BR mutants confirmed the availability of the other candidates. This effective, yet simple method provides an efficient way to find more and more chemically new BR biosynthetic intermediates in plants, which is significant for complementing the biosynthesis and metabolism network of BRs. This strategy may also be used to discover unknown compounds of other plant hormone species as well as their key metabolites.

Heterosis has been widely used in agriculture, but the underlying molecular principles are still largely unknown. During seed germination, we observed that maize (Zea mays) hybrid B73/Mo17 was less sensitive than its parental inbred lines to exogenous abscisic acid (ABA), and endogenous ABA content in hybrid embryos decreased more rapidly than in the parental inbred lines. ZmABA8ox1b, an ABA inactivation gene, was consistently more highly up-regulated in hybrid B73/Mo17 than in its parental inbred lines at early stages of seed germination. Moreover, ectopic expression of ZmABA8ox1b obviously promoted seed germination in Arabidopsis Remarkably, microscopic observation revealed that cell expansion played a major role in the ABA-mediated maize seed germination heterosis, which could be attributed to the altered expression of cell wall-related genes., (© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.)

The growth and fruit quality of grapevines are widely affected by abnormal climatic conditions such as water deficits, but many of the precise mechanisms by which grapevines respond to drought stress are still largely unknown. Here, we report that VaNAC26, a member of the NAC transcription factor family, was upregulated dramatically during cold, drought and salinity treatments in Vitis amurensis, a cold and drought-hardy wild Vitis species. Heterologous overexpression of VaNAC26 enhanced drought and salt tolerance in transgenic Arabidopsis. Higher activities of antioxidant enzymes and lower concentrations of H2O2 and O2 (-) were found in VaNAC26-OE lines than in wild type plants under drought stress. These results indicated that scavenging by reactive oxygen species (ROS) was enhanced by VaNAC26 in transgenic lines. Microarray-based transcriptome analysis revealed that genes related to jasmonic acid (JA) synthesis and signaling were upregulated in VaNAC26-OE lines under both normal and drought conditions. VaNAC26 showed a specific binding ability on the NAC recognition sequence (NACRS) motif, which broadly exists in the promoter regions of upregulated genes in transgenic lines. Endogenous JA content significantly increased in the VaNAC26-OE lines 2 and 3. Our data suggest that VaNAC26 responds to abiotic stresses and may enhance drought tolerance by transcriptional regulation of JA synthesis in Arabidopsis., (© The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.)

Cryptochrome 1 (CRY1) is a blue light receptor that mediates primarily blue-light inhibition of hypocotyl elongation. Very little is known of the mechanisms by which CRY1 affects growth. Blue light and temperature are two key environmental signals that profoundly affect plant growth and development, but how these two abiotic factors integrate remains largely unknown. Here, we show that blue light represses high temperature-mediated hypocotyl elongation via CRY1. Furthermore, CRY1 interacts directly with PHYTOCHROME-INTERACTING FACTOR 4 (PIF4) in a blue light-dependent manner to repress the transcription activity of PIF4. CRY1 represses auxin biosynthesis in response to elevated temperature through PIF4. Our results indicate that CRY1 signal by modulating PIF4 activity, and that multiple plant photoreceptors [CRY1 and PHYTOCHROME B (PHYB)] and ambient temperature can mediate morphological responses through the same signaling component-PIF4.

Ethylene and abscisic acid (ABA) act synergistically or antagonistically to regulate plant growth and development. ABA is derived from the carotenoid biosynthesis pathway. Here, we analyzed the interplay among ethylene, carotenoid biogenesis, and ABA in rice (Oryza sativa) using the rice ethylene response mutant mhz5, which displays a reduced ethylene response in roots but an enhanced ethylene response in coleoptiles. We found that MHZ5 encodes a carotenoid isomerase and that the mutation in mhz5 blocks carotenoid biosynthesis, reduces ABA accumulation, and promotes ethylene production in etiolated seedlings. ABA can largely rescue the ethylene response of the mhz5 mutant. Ethylene induces MHZ5 expression, the production of neoxanthin, an ABA biosynthesis precursor, and ABA accumulation in roots. MHZ5 overexpression results in enhanced ethylene sensitivity in roots and reduced ethylene sensitivity in coleoptiles. Mutation or overexpression of MHZ5 also alters the expression of ethylene-responsive genes. Genetic studies revealed that the MHZ5-mediated ABA pathway acts downstream of ethylene signaling to inhibit root growth. The MHZ5-mediated ABA pathway likely acts upstream but negatively regulates ethylene signaling to control coleoptile growth. Our study reveals novel interactions among ethylene, carotenogenesis, and ABA and provides insight into improvements in agronomic traits and adaptive growth through the manipulation of these pathways in rice., (© 2015 American Society of Plant Biologists. All rights reserved.)

A high precision GC system with a pulsed discharge helium ionization detector was set up based on the commercial Agilent 7890A gas chromatography. The gas is identified by retention time and the concentration is calculated through the peak height. Detection limit of the system is about 1 x 10(-9) (mole fraction, the same as below). The standard deviation of 140 continuous injections with a standard cylinder( concentration is roughly 600 x 10(-9)) is better than 0.3 x 10(-9). Between 409.30 x 10(-9) and 867.74 x 10(-9) molecular hydrogen mole fractions and peak height have good linear response. By using two standards to quantify the air sample, the precision meets the background molecular hydrogen compatibility goal within the World Meteorological Organization/Global Atmosphere Watch (WMO/GAW) program. Atmospheric molecular hydrogen concentration at Guangzhou urban area was preliminarily measured by this method from January to November 2013. The results show that the atmospheric molecular hydrogen mole fraction varies from 450 x 10(-9) to 700 x 10(-9) during the observation period, with the lowest value at 14:00 (Beijing time, the same as below) and the peak value at 20:00. The seasonal variation of atmospheric hydrogen at Guangzhou area was similar with that of the same latitude stations in northern hemisphere.

To strengthen scientific management and sharing of greenhouse gas data obtained from atmospheric background stations in China, it is important to ensure the standardization of quality assurance and quality control method for background CO2 sampling and analysis. Based on the greenhouse gas sampling and observation experience of CMA, using portable sampling observation and WS-CRDS analysis technique as an example, the quality assurance measures for atmospheric CO,sampling and observation in the Waliguan station (Qinghai), the glass bottle quality assurance measures and the systematic quality control method during sample analysis, the correction method during data processing, as well as the data grading quality markers and data fitting interpolation method were systematically introduced. Finally, using this research method, the CO2 sampling and observation data at the atmospheric background stations in 3 typical regions were processed and the concentration variation characteristics were analyzed, indicating that this research method could well catch the influences of the regional and local environmental factors on the observation results, and reflect the characteristics of natural and human activities in an objective and accurate way.

Based on the in-situ observation results of atmospheric CO2 molar fractions at two levels (10 m and 80 m above the ground) at Longfengshan (LFS) regional background station in Heilongjiang Province during January 2009 to December 2011, this study mainly focused on the results from 10 m above the ground level (a. g. l.). The results indicated that the observed data from 10 m were strongly affected by the local sources/sinks. The differences between the 10 m and 80 m results were relatively small during the daytime (08:00-17:00) with values smaller than (0.5 +/- 0.5) x 10(-6). In spring, summer and winter, higher CO2 molar fractions were observed when surface winds came from the E-ESE-SE-SSE sectors, while, in winter, surface winds from the N-NNW-NW-WNW sectors obviously enhanced the observed values. Generally, lower CO2 values were accompanied with higher wind speed in the four seasons. This phenomenon was most obvious in winter. Based on the analysis of the observed diurnal cycles and the local meteorological conditions, the observed data from 10 m were filtered into background/non-background events. About 30.7% valid hourly data were filtered as regional background representative. The background CO2 variation displayed a peak in winter and a valley in summer with a seasonal peak to peak amplitude of (36.3 +/- 1.4) x 10(-6), which was higher than the values at similar latitude from Marine Boundary Layer (MBL) References and WMO/GAW stations. The yearly CO2 increasing rate at LFS was roughly estimated to be 2.4 x 10(-6) a(-1).

Background CO mole fractions were continuously measured at Lian'an background station in Zhejiang province from September, 2010 to February, 2012 using Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy (CRDS) system. The diurnal variation of CO was strongly influenced by anthropogenic activities with two peaks occurring at 07:00-10:00 and 19:00-20:00 (local time). The average daily mole fraction and amplitude in summer were the lowest among four seasons with values of 314.3 x 10(-9) +/- 7.6 x 10(-9) (mole fraction, the same below) and 50.1 x 10(-9) +/- 47.9 x 10(-9), respectively. The seasonal variations displayed peak values during winter-spring period and valley in summer, which roughly consisted with those observed variations at other sites located at northern hemisphere such as Jungfraujoch in Switzerland and Waliguan in China. However, the average mole fractions were much higher than those from other stations. The amplitude of monthly CO mole fractions was 286.8 x 10(-9) +/- 19.2 x 10(-9). The cluster analysis of backward trajectories and surface wind influence might suggest that the non-background CO mole fractions at Lin'an station were mainly affected by the emissions from the megacities and industrial area on the N-NNE-ENE sectors. The maximum enhancements in spring, summer and winter all occurred on ENE sector, with a maximum value of 106.3 x 10(-9) +/- 58.0 x 10(-9) in winter.

The real-time, automatic, highly accurate and efficient system for measuring the mixing ratios of CO2, CH4, CO and N2O has been developed by combining the commercial FTIR system (Wollongong University) with an auto-sampling system and a working standard module. Based on the tests conducted, the FTIR showed the high precision and a relatively low accuracy associated with its poor determination of correction factors. The absolute error of the mixing ratio of CO was above 38.8 x 10(-9), suggesting that FTIR alone could not meet the requirement for the real time measurement. Using the working standard gases to adjust results from the FTIR significantly improved the accuracy of measurements. For both static and dynamic conditions, the discrepancies between the measured results and the real values were below 0.11 x 10(-6), 1.8 x 10(-9), 0.15 x 10(-9) and 0.5 x 10(-9) for CO2, CH4, N2O and CO respectively, meeting the requirements for the atmospheric real-time measurements. During 6 days in-situ measurements of greenhouse gas outside the lab, the precision of target gas can reach 0.05 x 10(-6), 0.2 x 10(-9), 0.07 x 10(-9), 0.5 x 10(-9) for CO2, CH4, N2O, CO, and inaccuracy can be 0.09 x 10(-6), 0.4 x 10(-9), 0.14 x 10(-9), 0.5 x 10(-9), respectively.

Impacts of surface wind direction, surface wind speed, surface air temperature and sunshine hours on the CH4 concentration at Lin'an regional atmospheric background station were studied based on the results from Jan. 2009 to Dec. 2011. The results revealed that the diurnal variation of atmospheric CH4 concentration presented a single-peak curve at Lin'an regional background station. The diurnal amplitude varied from 19.0 x 10(-9) to 74.7 x 10(-9), with the lowest value observed in the afternoon and the highest at dawn. The monthly mean CH4 concentrations varied from 1955.7 x 10(-9) to 2036.2 x 10(-9), with the highest concentration observed in autumn and the lowest in spring. The wind directions NE-SSE could induce higher CH4 concentrations while SW-NNW wind directions had negative effects on the observed results. The CH4 concentration turned out to be lower with higher surface wind speed. With the increase of surface air temperature or sunshine hours, the CH4 concentration went up first till reaching a peak, and then decreased.

Background CH4 concentrations were continuously measured at the 4 WMO/GAW stations [Waliguan in Qinghai (WLG), Lin'an in Zhejiang (LAN), Shangdianzi in Beijing (SDZ), and Longfengshan in Heilongjiang (LFS)] by Cavity Ring Down Spectroscopy system. From 2009 to 2010, the diurnal cycle of hourly average CH4 concentration at LAN was found to be similar in all four seasons, with the highest level detected at 05:00 (Beijing Time) and the lowest at about 14:00. Similar CH4 diurnal cycles were observed at LFS in the summer time. However, the daily amplitude was much higher than that at LAN and reached 216. 8 x 10(-9) (molar ratio). For SDZ station, there were similar trends in spring, autumn and winter. The daily average concentration in the summer was much higher than those of the other seasons and reached the highest at about 20:00. No apparent CH4 diurnal cycle was observed at the WLG station during the whole year. The seasonal variations were obvious at the three regional stations (LAN, SDZ, LFS). The background concentration was the lowest in July at LAN while reached the highest level in August at LFS. The yearly background concentration variation at LFS displayed a "W" pattern. At LFS and SDZ, the wintertime CH4 concentrations were higher than those in spring and autumn. WLG represented a clean area and its CH4 value was the lowest among the four stations with the monthly average amplitude to be about 11.5 x 10(-9). At all three regional stations, non-background data accounted for more than 70% of the whole data. Cluster analysis of 3 day backward trajectories corresponding to the high CH4 concentration (WLG: CH4 > 1 870 x 10(-9), LFS: CH4 > 2100 x 10(-9), LAN: CH4 > 2 150 x10(-9), SDZ: CH4 > 2050 x 10(-9)) data points suggested that the high CH4 level measured in summer might be associated with the air mass transportation.

Thellungiella salsuginea, a close relative of Arabidopsis, represents an extremophile model for abiotic stress tolerance studies. We present the draft sequence of the T. salsuginea genome, assembled based on ~134-fold coverage to seven chromosomes with a coding capacity of at least 28,457 genes. This genome provides resources and evidence about the nature of defense mechanisms constituting the genetic basis underlying plant abiotic stress tolerance. Comparative genomics and experimental analyses identified genes related to cation transport, abscisic acid signaling, and wax production prominent in T. salsuginea as possible contributors to its success in stressful environments.

In-situ GC-FID system for atmospheric CH4 and CO mixing ratio measurements at the Shangdianzi (SDZ) GAW regional station in Beijing was designed and optimized in 2009 based on a comparable system at the Waliguan GAW global station in Qinhai. Results from this study indicate that the system's precisions for CH4 and CO are higher than 0.03% and 0.45% respectively, which can meet the quality target on background greenhouse gas observations by the World Meteorology Organization's Global Atmosphere Watch (WMO/GAW) program. The selection method of working standards for this system was established: two working standards (WH for the high concentration and WL for the low concentration) were selected, the concentrations of CH4 and CO in these two standards can cover the ambient mixing ratios of CH4 (2 007.1 x 10(-9) and 1 809.5 x 10(-9)) and CO (405.6 x 10(-9) and 123.8 x 10(-9)), an injection sequence was programmed so that the two standards were analyzed alternatively for every three runs. The measurement accuracies are high, as shown by the standard deviations less than 1.7 x 10(-9) and 1 x 10(-9), for CH4 and CO, respectively. This method has been applied to in-situ measurement of atmospheric CH4 and CO in North China.

To strengthen scientific management and sharing of greenhouse gas data obtained from atmospheric background stations in China, it is important to ensure the standardization of observations and establish the data treatment and quality control procedure so as to maintain consistency in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) measurements from different background stations. An automated gas chromatographic system (Hewlett Packard 5890GC employing flame ionization detection) for in situ measurements of atmospheric CO2 and CH4 has been developed since 1994 at the China Global Atmosphere Watch Baseline Observatory at Mt. Waliguan, in Qinhai. In this study, processing and quality control flow of CO2 and CH4 data acquired by HP ChemStation are discussed in detail, including raw data acquisition, data merge, time series inspection, operator flag, principal investigator flag, and the comparison of the GC measurement with the flask method. Atmosphere CO2 and CH4 mixing ratios were separated as background and non-background data using a robust local regression method, approximately 72% and 44% observed values had been filtered as background data for CO2 and CH4, respectively. Comparison of the CO1 and CH, in situ data to the flask sampling data were in good agreement, the relative deviations are within +/- 0.5% for CO2 and for CH4. The data has been assimilated into global database (Globalview-CO2, Globalview-CH4), submitted to the World Data Centre for Greenhouse Gases (WDCGG), and applied to World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Greenhouse Gas Bulletin and assessment reports of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

A four-dynamic-chamber system was constructed to measure NOx and NH3 surface-exchange between a typical wheat field and the atmosphere in the Yangtze Delta, China. The average fluxes ofNO, NO2 and NH3 were 79, -5.6 and -5.1 ngN/(m2 x s), and 91, -1.8 and 23 ngN/(m2 x s), respectively for the wheat field and the bare soil. The NO flux was positively correlated with soil temperature and the fluxes of NO2 and NH3 were negatively correlated with their ambient concentrations during the investigated period. The compensation point of NO2 between the wheat field and the atmosphere was 11.9 microg/m3. The emissions of NO-N and NH3-N from the urea applied to the wheat field were 2.3% and 0.2%, respectively, which indicated that the main pathway of N loss from the investigated winter wheat field was NO. Application of a mixture of urea and lignin increased the emissions of NO, but also greatly increased the yield of the winter wheat.