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The influence of low oxygen on the biosynthesis of aroma-related esters and alcohols in strawberries has been well revealed. However, how low-oxygen conditions affect other volatile compounds, such as terpenes and furans, is still to be elucidated.The effects of 2 kPa OThe 2 kPa O

The purpose of this research was to determine expression profiles of metacaspase (MC) genes during ripening and senescence of two apple cultivars with distinct ripening behavior. "Golden Delicious" and "Fuji" harvested at commercial maturity were used as materials. Our data revealed that flesh firmness, respiration rate, ethylene production, metacaspase (MC) activity, superoxide anion (O

The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) on ethanol fermentation of Nanguo pears during ripening. Pears were exposed to 1 µl/L 1-MCP and stored at 20 ± 2°C. Our data indicated that postharvest application of 1-MCP maintained flesh firmness and reduced ethylene production and respiration rate during storage compared with untreated fruits. 1-MCP treatment delayed the second glucose peak during fruit ripening. The contents of pyruvate and acetyl-CoA were generally reduced by 1-MCP treatment, and at the same time, their peaks were delayed by it during storage compared with controls. The contents of citric acid (CA) and oxaloacetate (OA) were increased by 1-MCP, whereas the contents of acetaldehyde and ethanol were reduced during the whole storage period compared with controls. Activities of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) were reduced by application of 1-MCP during the early stage of storage, and the appearance of their peak activities was also delayed after treatment with 1-MCP. These data showed that postharvest application of 1-MCP could effectively delay the production of the "alcohol taste" of Nanguo pears during ripening. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Nanguo pear is one of the most common cultivars that widely grow in northeast China. It is preferred by many consumers for its unique "alcohol taste", which is mainly produced through ethanol fermentation during ripening. Until now, the mechanisms for regulating ethanol fermentation in ripening Nanguo pears are still unclear. Our data indicated that postharvest application of the ethylene action inhibitor 1-MCP could effectively delay the production of the "alcohol taste" of Nanguo pears during ripening. The data from this study can provide reference data for maintaining the quality of postharvest Nanguo pears.

Background Liquid feed are the major nutrient source that can have a significant impact on the growth and development of immune system of calves before weaning. Waste milk containing antibiotic residue has been produced because of the continuous expansion of dairy farms. In order to reduce economic loss and prevent environmental pollution, most farms seem waste milk as one of the calves’ liquid feeds. However, there is limited information to report the effects of waste milk on growth performance, especially immunity function of calves. Thus, the objective of this study was to investigate the effects of waste milk on growth, immunity and gut health of dairy calves. Results Feeding WM improved hip width, hip height, heart girth, final body weight, and feed efficiency of dairy calves compared to MR. Plasma concentrations of IgA, IgM, IgG and IL-10 were higher and TNF-α was lower in WM group. In addition, treatment and time interactively affected plasma concentrations of IgG and IL-2, which increased and decreased in WM group but decreased and increased in MR group, respectively, from 49 to 70 d of age. There was no difference in diarrhea case and average days of diarrhea among treatments. Difference in fecal microbiota was observed between MR and WM groups only at 49 d of age. Analysis of differential abundance showed that the increase in the relative abundance of Prevotellaceae NK3B31 group and the decrease in that of Bacteroides was higher in WM than MM group from 49 to 70 d of age. Conclusions WM had beneficial effects on growth performance and did not affect health statue, which might be explained by enhanced immune function modulated by fecal microbiota.

Background Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with type 2 diabetes (T2D) and metabolic syndrome (MS) and its components. However, it is unclear whether a low concentration of vitamin D is the cause or consequence of these health conditions. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the association of vitamin D concentrations and its genetic risk scores (GRSs) with MS and its component diseases, such as T2D, in middle-aged and elderly participants from rural eastern China. Methods A subset of 2393 middle-aged and elderly individuals were selected from 70,458 participants of the Nantong Chronic Diseases Study of 2017–2018 in China. We used two 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) synthesis single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (DHCR7-rs12785878 and CYP2R1-rs10741657) and two 25(OH) D metabolism SNPs (GC-rs2282679 and CYP24A1-rs6013897) for creating GRSs, which were used as instrumental variables to assess the effect of genetically lowered 25(OH) D concentrations on MS and T2D based on the Wald ratio. F statistics were used to validate that the four SNPs genetically determined 25(OH) D concentrations. Results Compared to vitamin D sufficient individuals, individuals with vitamin D insufficiency had an odds ratio (OR [95% confidence interval {CI}]) of MS of 1.30 (1.06–1.61) and of T2D of 1.32 (1.08–1.64), individuals with vitamin D deficiency had an ORs (95% CI) of MS of 1.50 (1.24–1.79) and of T2D of 1.47 (1.12–1.80), and those with vitamin D severe deficiency had an ORs (95% CI) of MS of 1.52 (1.29–1.85) and of T2D of 1.54 (1.27–1.85). Mendelian randomization analysis showed a 25-nmol/L decrease in genetically instrumented serum 25(OH) D concentrations using the two synthesis SNPs (DHCR7 and CYP2R1 genes) associated with the risk of T2D and abnormal diastolic blood pressure (DBP) with ORs of 1.10 (95%CI: 1.02–1.45) for T2D and 1.14 (95%CI: 1.03–1.43) for DBP. Conclusions This one sample Mendelian randomization analysis shows genetic evidence for a causal role of lower 25(OH) D concentrations in promoting of T2D and abnormal DBP in middle-aged and elderly participants from rural China.

Pumpkin seed cake (PSC), a byproduct of pumpkin seed oil processing, is used in ruminant feed as a beneficial protein source. Experiments were conducted to evaluate PSC as a substitute for soybean meal in the diets of lactating cows based on performance, rumen fermentation, antioxidant function and nitrogen partitioning. Six multiparous lactating cows were used in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square experiment with 27-d periods. The cows were randomly divided into three treatment groups: group (1) was fed a diet containing no PSC (0PSC), and groups (2) and (3) were fed diets in which soybean meal was replaced with PSC and dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) at levels of 50% (50PSC) and 100% (100PSC), respectively. The diets were isonitrogenous and contained identical roughage but different proportions of PSC and DDGS. Replacement of soybean meal with PSC and DDGS did not influence rumen degradation, milk performance, rumen fermentation, dry matter intake or apparent total tract digestibility, and nitrogen partitioning between milk, feces, and urine did not differ in the animals fed the three diets. However, compared with a diet containing no PSC, the total antioxidant capacity (P < 0 .05) and antioxidant enzymes (total superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and catalase) activities (P < 0 .05) were increased in the animals that received the 50PSC and 100PSC diets. In contrast, addition of PSC significantly reduced concentrations of aspartate transaminase (P < 0 .05), alkaline phosphatase (P < 0 .05) and malondialdehyde (P < 0 .05) in the plasma. These results demonstrate that PSC can be completely substituted for soybean meal in the diet of dairy cows without any negative impact on milk performance, rumen fermentation or apparent digestibility and that this dietary change improves antioxidant functions and blood parameters in dairy cows, indicating that PSC has the potential for use as a feed source for dairy cows.

The objective of this experiment was to investigate the effect of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and cellulase (CE) on the fermentation quality, rumen degradation rate and bacterial community of mixed silage of soybean residue (SR) and corn stover (CS). The experiment adopted a single-factor experimental design. Four treatment groups were set up: the control group (CON), lactic acid bacteria treatment group (LAB), cellulase treatment group (CE) and lactic acid bacteria + cellulase treatment group (LAB + CE). Among them, the amount of added LAB was 1 × 106 CFU/g, and the amount of added CE was 100 U/g. After 56 days of mixed silage, samples were taken and analyzed, and the chemical composition, fermentation quality, rumen degradation rate and microbial diversity were determined. The results showed that the pH of each treatment group was significantly (p &lt, 0.05) lower than that of CON, while the lactic acid and ammoniacal nitrogen contents of each treatment group were significantly higher than that of CON, with the highest contents in the LAB + CE group. The contents of DNFom (Ash-free NDF), ADFom (Ash-free ADF) and DM in the LAB + CE group were significantly lower than those in the CON group, while the content of crude protein (CP) was significantly higher than that in the CON group. The in situ effective degradation rates of DM (ISDMD), DNF (ISNDFD) and CP (ISCPD) were all significantly (p &lt, 0.05) higher in each treatment group than in the control group. The results of principal component analysis showed that the bacterial composition of the LAB, CE and LAB + CE groups was significantly different from that of the CON group (p &lt, 0.05). Bacterial genus level analysis showed that the content of lactic acid bacteria was significantly higher in the LAB + CE group than in the other treatment groups (p &lt, 0.05), while the content of undesirable bacteria was significantly lower than in the other treatment groups. The results showed that the addition of Lactobacillus and/or cellulase in mixed silage of SR and CS could effectively improve the quality of mixed silage fermentation, rumen degradation rate and microbial diversity, with better results when Lactobacillus and cellulase were added together, which provides new ideas for better application of SR and CS in dairy production.

Background As a major disease affecting dairy cow production worldwide, bovine mastitis is caused by a variety of pathogenic microorganisms that eventually cause mammary gland inflammation. Acremonium terricola culture (ATC) is a new type of affordable feed additive produced by the solid fermentation of A. terricola isolated from Cordyceps gunnii and exerted its anti-inflammatory effect. Objectives To evaluate the protective effects of ATC on mastitis and investigate its active mechanism, a lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced rat mastitis model was used in two experiments. Design In Experiment 1, a total of 40 female Sprague-Dawley rats were used to determine the optimal supplementary dose of ATC via gavage trial. In Experiment 2, we examined the effects of an optimal dose of ATC on LPS-induced mastitis in rats. Results The results of Experiment 1 showed that administration of ATC improved growth performance and antioxidant functions in the serum and the liver, as well as immunoglobulin A, G, and M levels in rat serum, and it decreased the content of alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, triglyceride, cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, and serum urea nitrogen in rat serum; a dosage of 250-1,250 mg/kg/day was shown to be high enough to be effective. The results of Experiment 2 indicated that ATC can relieve the inflammatory reaction of mammary glands in rats, and the LPS-induced expression of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, and inducible nitric oxide synthase significantly decreased after ATC treatment. Moreover, our results demonstrated that ATC markedly enhanced the activity of antioxidase in this rat mastitis model. The results of Western blot analysis revealed that ATC could suppress the expression of toll-like receptor 4, phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase, and activity of c-Jun N-terminal kinase in the LPS-stimulated mastitis model. Conclusion Taken together, ATC was shown to exert its anti-inflammatory effect by blocking mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways. These results demonstrate that ATC exerts anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects in mastitis prevention.

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of 1-MCP on the sprouting and preservation of ginger rhizomes during storage at room temperature. Ginger rhizomes were treated with 1 µL L−1 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) and stored at 23 ± 0.2 °C. Our data showed that application of 1-MCP reduced the rate of sprouting during storage compared with the control rhizome. Respiration rate and the reducing sugar content were also reduced following 1-MCP treatment, while the starch content increased. 1-MCP treatment increased the total phenol content and inhibited polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity. 1-MCP treatment was also associated with a higher ascorbic acid content but a reduced crude fiber content. The generation of superoxide anion free radicals (O2 −), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and malondialdehyde (MDA) was lower following 1-MCP treatment, while the activities of catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were higher compared with the controls. These results suggested that application of 1-MCP could reduce sprouting rates, decrease the accumulation of ROS, and maintain the quality of ginger rhizomes during storage at room temperature. It would be useful to further explore the role and mechanisms of action of ethylene in regulating the sprouting of ginger rhizomes.

Blue mould caused by Penicillium expansum comprises a notable disease of apple fruit during storage. ϵ-Poly-l-lysine (PL) consists of ϵ-amino and α-hydroxyl and has been used in food preservation. In the present study, apple fruits (cv. Fuji) were used to investigate the effects of PL dipping treatment, at different concentrations of PL, on the lesion diameter of fruit inoculated with P. expansum, aiming to screen the optimal concentration for controlling blue mould. The effects of PL at the optimal concentration on reactive oxygen species (ROS) metabolism and the phenylpropanoid pathway were also investigated.; Results: The results indicated that 25, 50, 100 and 200 µL L-1 PL treatment significantly decreased the lesion diameter in apple fruit inoculated with P. expansum and the smallest lesion diameter was determined for 50 µL L-1 PL-treated fruits. The results also indicated that 50 µL L-1 PL treatment increased the hydrogen peroxide content and the activities of enzymes involved in ROS metabolism, including superoxide dismutase, catalase, ascorbate peroxidase, glutathione reductase and peroxidase in apple fruit. The activity of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase and the contents of lignin, total phenolic compounds and flavonoids were also enhanced by PL treatment.; Conclusion: The disease resistance to P. expansum in apple fruits enhanced by PL treatment is related to activating ROS metabolism and the phenylpropanoid pathway and the accumulation of antifungal compounds. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.; © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Ethylene plays a key regulatory role in the ripening of climacteric fruit. In addition to ethylene, jasmonates (JAs) have also been demonstrated to play a role in the regulation of the fruit ripening. Apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) fruit is a common climacteric fruit. Research has been conducted to illustrate the effects of JAs on ethylene production in apple fruit, but little is known about the molecular mechanisms underlying the role of JAs in ethylene biosynthesis and signaling pathway during the ripening of apple fruit. To better understand the effects of JAs on the expression of key genes involved in the ethylene biosynthesis and signaling pathway during postharvest ripening of apple fruit, apples harvested at commercial maturity were treated with methyl jasmonate (MeJA). Our data indicated that MeJA treatment increased ethylene production during fruit ripening. The expression of MdACS1, MdACS6, MdETR1, MdCTR1-3, MdCTR1-4, MdCTR1-5, MdEIN2A, MdEIN2B, MdEIL4 and MdERF1 was positively regulated by MeJA treatment at the early ripening stage, whereas the expression of MdEIL3 was positively regulated by it at the late ripening stage. MeJA treatment enhanced the expression of MdACS3a, MdACS8, MdACO1, MdACO2, MdETR2, MdERS1, MdERS2 and MdEIL1 during the entire storage period, whereas it had no effect on the expression of MdCTR1-1, MdCTR1-2 and MdEIL2 during fruit ripening. The expression of MdERF2 and MdACS1 was negatively by MeJA treatment during the period when the ethylene peak existed. These results indicated that the expression of genes involved in the ethylene biosynthesis and signaling pathway was differentially regulated by JAs during postharvest ripening of apple fruit.

The aim of this study was to explore the role of abscisic acid (ABA) in ethanol fermentation during postharvest ripening of Nanguo pear fruit (Pyrus ussuriensis Maxim.). Pears harvest at commercial maturity were treated with 100 μmol L−1 ABA or its biosynthesis inhibitor nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA). Our data indicated that ABA treatment promoted respiration rate and ethylene production during ripening compared with controls, while NDGA treatment had the opposite effects. During the early ripening stage, flesh firmness in ABA treatment group was lower than in controls; while in NDGA treatment group, it was higher than in controls. The contents of glucose, ethanol and acetaldehyde were increased by ABA treatment while reduced by NDGA treatment during ripening compared with the controls. ABA treatment promoted pyruvate and acetyl-CoA contents, whereas application of NDGA reduced pyruvate content and delayed the peak of acetyl-CoA content compared with the controls. The oxaloacetic acid (OA) and citric acid (CA) contents were reduced by ABA treatment while increased by NDGA treatment during ripening. ABA treatment promoted pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) activities, whereas NDGA treatment reduced their activities mainly at the early ripening stage. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) showed that expression of PDC1, ADH1 and ADH2 was differentially up-regulated by ABA treatment during ripening while down-regulated by NDGA treatment compared with the controls. PDC2 expression was enhanced after application of NDGA during ripening while reduced by ABA treatment at the early ripening stage. Our data indicated that ABA had a promoting effect on ethanol fermentation during ripening of Nanguo pear fruit.

Cellular energy is closely related to fruit ripening, senescence, physiological disorder and disease resistance after harvest. Nanguo pear fruit were immersed in 100 mg L −1 Acibenzolar- S -methyl (ASM) for 10 min, then air-dried at ambient conditions and stored for 12 d at 20 °C to investigate the effect of ASM on the activity of enzymes involved in energy metabolism. The effect of ASM on lesion development of the pear fruit inoculated with Penicillium expansum was also investigated in this study. Same treament with distilled water was used as control. The results demonstrated that ASM dipping treatment significantly decreased lesion diameter on the pear fruit inoculated with P. expansum . ASM dipping treatment enhanced ATP content, energy charge, the activity of H + -ATPase, Ca 2+ -ATPase, cytochrome C oxidase and succinic dehydrogenase in pear fruit. These results suggest that postharvest ASM treatment induced disease resistance in Nanguo pear fruit through mediating energy metabolism.

Trichothecium roseum causes decay in muskmelons, apples, tomatoes and mangoes, which leads to economic losses. In this study, we investigated the effect of sodium silicate on the growth of T. roseum and the cell wall-degrading enzymes (CWDEs) secreted by the hyphae. The results indicated that sodium silicate significantly inhibited mycelial growth and spore germination of T. roseum. The sodium silicate treatment also retarded the secretion of several CWDEs, including pectate lyase (PL), polygalacturonic acid transeliminase (PGTE), pectin methyltranseliminase (PMTE), pectin methylgalacturonase (PMG), polygalacturonase (PG), cellulase (Cx) and β-glucosidase. These results suggest that sodium silicate exerts its effects on T. roseum through direct inhibition of its growth and secretion of CWDEs.

Fruit ripening is a complex process involving many physiological changes and the dynamic interplay between different phytohormones. In addition to ethylene, jasmonates (JAs) have also been demonstrated to play an important role in the regulation of fruit ripening. However, the mechanisms underlying the interaction between these two pathways during fruit ripening are unknown. In recent years, research has been conducted to illustrate the effects of JAs on the ethylene biosynthesis and signaling pathway, but little is known regarding the effects of ethylene on JA biosynthesis and the signaling pathway during fruit ripening. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the effects of ethylene on JA biosynthesis in ripening apple (Malus ×domestica) fruit and on the expression of key genes involved in the JA biosynthesis and the signaling pathway. For this purpose, we treated apple fruit with ethephon and 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) at commercial maturity. Our data indicated that endogenous JA content and allene oxide synthase (AOS) activity were reduced by ethephon treatment at the early ripening stage, whereas they were enhanced by 1-MCP treatment at the late ripening stage. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis revealed that the expression profiles of three AOS genes (MdAOS2, MdAOS3, and MdAOS5) and two lipoxygenase (LOX) genes (MdLOX22 and MdLOX28) showed similar trends with the change of AOS activity in all groups during fruit ripening. The expression of MdLOX21 and MdLOX23 was in accordance with the change of ethylene production on ripening, and it was positively regulated by ethylene, whereas the opposite effect was observed for MdLOX39 expression. The transcription of MdLOX310 and MdLOX61 appeared unaffected by ethylene during fruit ripening. Three jasmonate ZIM-domain (JAZ) genes (MdJAZ9, MdJAZ10, and MdJAZ18) were differentially upregulated by ethephon treatment whereas being downregulated by 1-MCP treatment during fruit ripening. Expression of MdJAZ13 and MdJAZ14 was downregulated at the early ripening stage by both treatments. Our results suggested regulating roles of ethylene on the JA biosynthesis and signaling pathway during fruit ripening and senescence.

"Golden delicious" apples were dipped in 100 mg/L acibenzolar-S-methyl (ASM) to investigate the fruit quality and softening during 12 days of storage. Weight loss, flesh firmness, ethylene release, respiratory rate, content of total soluble solids and titratable acid, the activity of pectinase, cellulase, and β-glucosidase, and water-insoluble pectin and water-soluble pectin contents were investigated. The results demonstrated that ASM treatment inhibited ethylene release and respiratory rate, reduced titratable acidity, and enhanced total soluble solids content in apples. Moreover, application of ASM suppressed the reduction of flesh firmness, activity of pectin methylesterase, and polygalacturonase. Cellulase, β-glucosidase, and degradation of protopectin in apple fruit were also suppressed by ASM treatment during storage. In conclusion, ASM could maintain fruit quality by regulating cell wall-degrading enzymes during storage. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Application of acibenzolar-S-methyl after harvest has the potential of delaying fruit softening by regulating cell wall-degrading enzymes, thus retain fruit quality.

Background Trisodium phosphate (TSP), generally recognized as safe (GRAS), could control postharvest diseases and maintain fruit quality. However, changes of fruit quality and sucrose metabolism in harvested jujube after TSP treatment remain largely unknown. In the current study, jujube fruit (cv. sanxing) was used to study the effects of TSP on storage quality and sucrose metabolism during storage at 20 ± 2 °C with 40-50% relative humidity (RH). Results The results showed that 0.5 g L-1 TSP treatment reduced weight loss and reduced sugar content, suppressed the reduction of fruit firmness, maintained ascorbic acid (AsA) content and inhibited respiratory rate of jujube fruit. In addition, TSP treatment also reduced acid invertase (AI) and neutral invertase (NI) activities in sucrose metabolism in jujube fruit. Sucrose synthase-cleavage (SS-c), sucrose synthase-synthesis (SS-s) and sucrose phosphate synthase (SPS) activities were also suppressed by TSP treatment. Conclusion Treatment with TSP could effectively reduce enzymes activities in sucrose metabolism and maintain storage quality of jujube fruit during storage. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry.

The key to success of person re-identification(re-id) is extracting the discriminative person features. Various part-level feature extraction methods are proposed to capture local person features for re-id. A prerequisite of part feature extraction is that each part should be well located. We believe that ID predictions in different parts of the same image should be consistent. Instead of using the external dataset and pose estimator for guiding, we propose a re-id model with Part Prediction Alignment (PPA), which aims at aligning the predicted distributions between each part. Due to the global feature and local feature contains different spacial information, we consider that the combination of two sides will further improve the detection effect. Therefore, in this paper we adopt the teacher–student training strategy based on PPA for global–local feature extraction, and the global feature extraction branch as a teacher to guide the training of local feature branch. Experimental results on Market-1501, DukeMTMC-reID and CUHK03 (including CUHK03_Detected and CUHK03_Labeled) datasets confirm the effectiveness of our proposal, we achieve Rank1 with 92.4%, 85.1%, 65.5%, 69.2% on Market-1501, DukeMTMC-reID, CUHK03_Detected and CUHK03_Labeled, respectively.

The aim of this investigation was to study the effect of replacing alfalfa hay with malt sprouts and corn stover on feed intake and apparent digestibility, rumen fermentation, milk production and composition, and N partitioning in dairy cows. Six multiparous Holstein dairy cows were used a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square design with each period lasting 27 d. The cows were assigned randomly to one of three treatment groups: (1) 0 g/kg malt sprouts and 0 g/kg corn stover (0MS), (2) 49.1 g/kg malt sprouts and 34.4 g/kg corn stover (5MS), and (3) 133 g/kg malt sprouts and 49.1 g/kg corn stover (13MS). The diets were isonitrogenous and contained identical corn silage and concentrate mixtures, but different proportions of corn stover and malt sprouts. The in situ effective degradability of dry matter, neutral detergent fiber and crude protein were higher in cows fed 13MS or 5MS diets than in those fed the 0MS diet. The respective intake and total-tract apparent digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber, and acid detergent fiber were greater for 13MS than for 5MS or 0MS. Cows fed the 13MS diet had greater milk production, energy-corrected milk, milk protein and lactose yields and percent milk protein than cows fed other diets, but fat yield, percentage of milk fat, lactose, somatic cell count, milk urea nitrogen concentration and feed efficiency were similar for the three treatments. Compared with the 0MS diet, cows fed 5MS or 13MS diets had higher rumen ammonia nitrogen and total volatile fatty acids concentration, PD to creatinine ratio. Moreover, the cows that consumed a MS diet had a higher rate of manure excretion. Thus, it appeared that the combination of malt sprouts and corn stover effectively replaced a portion of alfalfa hay in diets without affecting the performance of dairy cows.

Online multi-object tracking (MOT) is a fundamental problem in video analysis and multimedia applications. The major challenge in the popular tracking-by-detection framework is knowing how to associate candidate detections results with existing tracklets. In this, we propose a non-local attention association approach and apply it to a unified online MOT framework that integrates the merits of single object tracking and data association methods. Specifically, we use non-local attention association networks (NAAN) to incorporate both spatial and temporal characteristics to associate new detections. The non-local attention mechanism generates global attention maps across space and time, enabling the network to focus on the whole tracklet information, as opposed to the local attention mechanism to overcome the problems of noisy detections, occlusion, and frequent interactions between targets. Experimental results on MOT benchmark datasets show that the proposed algorithm performs favorably against various online trackers on the basis of identity-preserving metrics.

The objective of this research was to determine the role that ethylene plays in superoxide dismutase (SOD) gene expression of apple fruit (Malus × domestica Borkh.) during ripening. Apple fruit at commercial maturity were treated with ethylene antagonists 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) and stored at shelf temperature of 20 °C. Our data indicated that application of 1-MCP resulted in a reduced rate of softening and a delayed peak of ethylene and respiration. 1-MCP treatment reduced accumulation of superoxide anion (O2 −) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in both peel and pulp, enhanced SOD activity in pulp and peel to varying degrees during ripening. Expression of Cu/ZnSOD2, Cu/ZnSOD3, Cu/ZnSOD5, Cu/ZnSOD6, Cu/ZnSOD8, MnSOD2, MnSOD7 and MnSOD9 in pulp was enhanced by treatment with 1-MCP during the early ripening period, and conversely, their expression in pulp was reduced by it during the late ripening period compared to control group. Most SOD genes presented a fluctuating pattern of expression in peel after 1-MCP treatment during ripening. Expression of Cu/ZnSOD10 and MnSOD7 in peel was promoted by 1-MCP treatment during the late ripening period, while expression of MnSOD4 and FeSOD1 in peel was generally enhanced by it during the entire shelf life period compared with controls. Our results suggested that ethylene played a role in regulating SOD genes expression in both pulp and peel of ripening apple fruit.

The ripening of the apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) fruit is regulated by the phytohormone ethylene, where degreening is an important physiological metabolism caused by chlorophyll (Chl) degradation. However, to date, research on how ethylene affects the Chl degradation pathway of apple peel during ripening remains scarce. In this study, the effects of ethylene on the expression of Chl catabolic genes (CCGs) of apple peel during ripening were studied by treating harvested commercial mature apples with 0.5 μL L−1 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP). The results showed that 1-MCP treatment led to a delayed climacteric peak of respiration and ethylene production, exhibiting higher Chl content and hue angle (H˚) compared to untreated fruit during ripening. Lower quantities of pheophorbide a oxygenase (PAO), pheophytinase (PPH) and red Chl catabolite reductase (RCCR) were also observed in peel tissues under 1-MCP treatment during ripening. Further study with quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) revealed that the expression of CCGs, except for MdNYE1a, increased at different degrees upon ripening. Meanwhile, the apples treated with 1-MCP presented a downregulated expression of MdRCCR2, MdNYC1, MdNYC3 and MdNOL2 and a fluctuating expression of MdNYE1a, MdPPH1, MdPAO6, MdPAO8 and MdHCAR compared with the controls during ripening. Our results indicated the regulatory role of ethylene in the Chl degradation pathway of apple peel during ripening.

In the person re-identification (re-ID) community, pedestrians often have great changes in appearance, and there are many similar persons, which incurs will degrades the accuracy. Re-ranking is an effective method to solve these problems, this paper proposes an expanded neighborhoods distance (END) to re-rank the re-ID results. We assume that if the two persons in different image are same, their initial ranking lists and two-level neighborhoods will be very similar when they are taken as the query. Our method follows the principle of similarity, and selects expanded neighborhoods in initial ranking list to calculate the END distance. Final distance is calculated as the combination of the END distance and Jaccard distance. Experiments on Market-1501, DukeMTMC-reID and CUHK03 datasets confirm the effectiveness of the novel re-ranking method in this article. Compare with re-ID baseline, the proposed method in this paper increases mAP by 14.2% on Market-1501 and Rank1 by 12.9% on DukeMTMC-reID.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of trisodium phosphate (TSP) (0.5 g L−1) treatment on softening of harvested jujube fruit during storage at 20 ± 2 °C with a relative humidity of 50–55 %. The results showed that jujube fruit treated with TSP showed a higher firmness. The activity of pectin methylesteras, polygalacturonase, cellulase and β-glucosidase was also suppressed by TSP treatment. The results demonstrated that the content of water soluble pectin in jujube fruit treated with TSP was lower than in the control (dipped in distilled water) during storage. TSP treated fruits had higher pectin content than control fruits. The results of atomic force microscopy showed that water soluble pectin structure treated by TSP was denser compared with the control. Taken together, these results demonstrated that TSP could delay softening of jujube fruit by regulating cell wall-degrading enzymes activities and controlling the pectin substances.

The plant hormones regulate most physiological processes including apple fruit ripening by integrating diverse developmental cues and environmental signals. In addition to the well-characterized role of ethylene, jasmonic acid (JA) and its derivatives have also been suggested to play an important role during apple fruit maturation and ripening. Till now, the role JA on apple fruit ripening was only observed through exogenous application of JA or its derivatives. The de novo JA biosynthesis and signal transduction in apple fruit tissues have not been studied. In this study, the members of major gene families implicated in JA biosynthesis were identified from apple genome sequences; and their expression profiles were characterized in ‘Golden Delicious’ using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reactions. Our data indicated that the expression patterns of MdLOX23, MdAOS2 and MdJMT2 in JA biosynthesis pathway are coordinated with those of MdACS3, MdERF1 and MdERF2 genes during 12 consecutive weeks of apple fruit maturation toward commercial harvest. Both MdLOX23 and MdAOS2 showed comparable expression patterns in both core and cortex suggesting localized synthesis of JA in different fruit tissues. Most of JA biosynthesis genes were transiently up-regulated in response to exogenous application of methyl jasmonate to on-tree maturing apple fruit, though in a maturity dependent manner. Our results suggested regulating roles of JA biosynthesis and its signaling on apple fruit maturation and ripening.

Two genes of the lipoxygenase (LOX) family, DkLox1 and DkLox3 (GenBank accession No.

Xyloglucan endotransglucosylase/hydrolase (XTH) is thought to contribute to fruit softening by degrading xyloglucan that is a predominant hemicellulose in the cell wall. In this study, two full-length XTH genes (DKXTH1 and DKXTH2) were identified from 'Fupingjianshi' persimmon fruit, and the expression level of both XTH genes was investigated during softening for 18-24 d using RT-qPCR. Sequence analysis showed that DKXTH1 and DKXTH2 contained a putative open reading frame of 861 and 876 bp encoding polypeptides of 287 and 292 amino acid residues, respectively, which contained the conserved DEIDFEFLG motif of XTH, a potential N-linked glycosylation signal site. RT-qPCR analysis showed that DKXTH1 and DKXTH2 in untreated fruit had different expression patterns during fruit softening, in which maximum expression occurred on days 3 and 12 of ripening, respectively. 1-Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) and gibberellic acid (GA(3)) treatments delayed the softening and ethylene peak of persimmon fruit, as well as suppressed the expression of both XTH genes, especially DKXTH1. These results indicated that the expression of both XTH genes might be ethylene dependent action, and closely related to softening of persimmon in the early (DKXTH1) and later (DKXTH2) ripening stages.

We investigated the effect of valproic acid (VPA), a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, and the mechanism of VPA-induced growth inhibition on three cervical cancer cell lines with different molecular and genetic background. We found that VPA induced proliferation suppression, cell apoptosis and cell cycle arrest in all tested cell lines, with an increase of Notch1 active form ICN1 as a tumor suppressor and its target gene HES1. Noteworthy, blocking of Notch signaling with DAPT resulted in growth inhibition in ICN1-overexpressing CaSki and HT-3 cells. Thus, endogenous Notch signaling may be necessary for survival of ICN1-overexpressing cervical cancer cell lines. Furthermore, G1 phase arrest was induced in HeLa and CaSki cells by VPA while G2 phase arrest was induced in HT-3 cells, suggesting different mechanism in this cycle arrest. We also found VPA suppressed oncogene E6 in a Notch-independent manner, and induced significant apoptosis in E6-overexpressing HPV positive CaSki cells. Cell morphological change was also observed in HeLa and HT-3 cell lines after VPA treatment with an upregulation of EMT transcription factor Snail1. Notch signaling inhibitor DAPT partly reversed VPA-induced Snail1 upregulation in HeLa cells. This discovery supports that VPA may induce EMT at least partly via Notch activation.

The lipoxygenase (LOX) pathway is a key regulator for lipid peroxidation, which is crucial for plant senescence and defense pathways. In this study, the transcriptional expression patterns of three persimmon (Diospyros kaki L. 'Fupingjianshi') 9-lipoxygenase genes (DkLOX1, DkLOX3, and DkLOX4) were investigated. DkLOX1 was specifically expressed in fruit, particularly in young fruit, and showed little response to the postharvest environments. DkLOX4 was expressed in all tissues and slightly stimulated by mechanical damage and low temperature. DkLOX3 was expressed mainly in mature fruit, and the expression was extremely high throughout the storage period, apparently up-regulated by mechanical damage and high carbon dioxide treatments. Further functional analysis showed that overexpression of DkLOX3 in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum cv. Micro-Tom) accelerated fruit ripening and softening. This was accompanied by higher malondialdehyde (MDA) content and lycopene accumulation, advanced ethylene release peak and elevated expression of ethylene synthesis genes, including ACS2, ACO1, and ACO3. In addition, DkLOX3 overexpression promoted dark induced transgenic Arabidopsis leaf senescence with more chlorophyll loss, increased electrolyte leakage and MDA content. Furthermore, the functions of DkLOX3 in response to abiotic stresses, including osmotic stress, high salinity and drought were investigated. Arabidopsis DkLOX3 overexpression (DkLOX3-OX) transgenic lines were found to be more tolerant to osmotic stress with higher germination rate and root growth than wild-type. Moreover, DkLOX3-OX Arabidopsis plants also exhibited enhanced resistance to high salinity and drought, with similar decreased O2 (-) and H2O2 accumulation and upregulation of stress-responsive genes expression, including RD22, RD29A, RD29B, and NCED3, except for FRY1, which plays a negative role in stress response. Overall, these results suggested that DkLOX3 plays positive roles both in promoting ripening and senescence through lipid peroxidation and accelerated ethylene production and in stress response via regulating reactive oxygen species accumulation and stress responsive genes expression.

Apple replant disease (ARD) is a significant economic restraint to the successful re-establishment of new apple orchards on sites previously planted to the same crop. Pythium ultimum, an oomycete, is a significant component of the ARD pathogen complex. Although ethylene (ET)- and jasmonic acid (JA)-mediated defense responses are intensively studied in the foliar pathosystem, the transferability of this knowledge to the interaction between a perennial root system and soilborne pathogens is unknown. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the ET/JA-mediated defense response is conserved in roots of tree crops in response to infection by P. ultimum. Apple genes with the annotated function of ET/JA biosynthesis, MdERF (ethylene response factor) for signaling transduction and a gene encoding a pathogenesis-related (PR) protein (β-chitinase, the target of ERF) were identified from the apple genome sequences. The transcriptional profiles of these genes during P. ultimum infection and after exogenous ET and/or JA treatment were characterized using qRT-PCR. Several genes showed a 10- to 60-fold upregulation in apple root tissue 24-48 h post inoculation (hpi). Exogenous ET and JA treatment exhibited either a positive or negative influence on expression of ET or JA biosynthesis genes, depending upon gene isoforms and the tissue types, while the expression of MdERF and the PR protein encoding gene was upregulated by both ET and JA treatment. Our data are consistent with the hypothesis that ET/JA-mediated defense pathways are functional in the root system of perennial tree species defending soilborne pathogens.