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Nighttime warming decreased single rice production in southern China, while silicate supply increased the yield and stress resistance. It is still unclear regarding the impacts of silicate application on the growth, yield and quality in rice under nighttime warming. A field experiment was conducted to investigate the impacts of silicate application on the growth, yield and quality during rice growing period under nighttime warming. The warming was set at two levels, that is, ambient temperature (CK) and nighttime warming (NW). The open passive nighttime warming was used in this study, that is, rice canopy was covered with aluminium foil reflective film at night (19:00–6:00). Silicate fertiliser (steel slag) was applied at two levels, that is, Si0 (0 kg SiO2·hm−2) and Si1 (200 kg SiO2·hm−2). The results indicated that, compared with the control, the average nighttime temperature on rice canopy and at 5 cm soil layer increased by 0.51°C–0.59°C and 0.28°C–0.41°C during the rice growing period, respectively. Under nighttime warming, silicate supply increased the dry weight of shoot, total dry weight of the whole plant and yield by 64.1%, 55.3% and 7.1% at the filling‐maturity stage, respectively. Silicate application significantly reduced dry matter translocation rate with 15%–18%, but significantly increased the root‐shoot ratio with 0.39–0.41 in rice. Under nighttime warming, silicate supply significantly increased milled rice rate, head rice rate and total starch content by 2.3%, 2.5% and 41.8%, respectively. Nighttime warming reduced the yield by decreasing the number of effective panicle, seed setting rate and 1000‐grain weight, but increasing empty chaff grain. Silicate supply increased the yield by increasing the number of effective panicle, filled grains per panicle, seed setting rate and 1000‐grain weight, but reducing empty chaff grain. This study suggests that silicate supply can effectively alleviate the suppressive effects of nighttime warming on single rice growth, yield and quality in Southern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

WS2, as a potential cocatalyst to enhance the activation of H*, is usually used for H2 evolution. However, the activity of W atoms in the sandwich WS2 structure is blocked by the surface S atoms. An in situ F‐induced W‐exposure method is developed to boost the W‐site of WS2 (Wexp‐WS). Wexp‐WS is anchored on the surface of the porous g‐C3N4, and then the Wexp‐WS/g‐C3N4 photocatalyst with efficient H* activation is obtained. Particularly, the W‐exposed structure ensures the W coordination number decreases from 5.92 in WS2 to 5.15 in Wexp‐WS, which improves the H* activation ability of the W‐site and then results in an optimized W‐site ΔGH* (−0.08 kJ mol−1). Meanwhile, the II‐type heterojunction promotes the directional transfer of photogenerated electrons from g‐C3N4 to Wexp‐WS. Thus, the H2 production rate of the Wexp‐WS/g‐C3N4 photocatalyst exhibits 11.97 mmol h−1 g−1, which is 12 times higher than that of the porous g‐C3N4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main feature of climate warming is that nighttime warming is higher than the daytime warming. Nighttime warming reduced single rice production in southern China, while silicate application increased rice yield and stress resistance. It is still unclear regarding the effects of silicate application on growth, yield, and especially quality in rice under nighttime warming. We performed a field simulation experiment to investigate the effects of silicate application on tiller number, biomass, yield and quality of rice. Warming was set at two levels, ambient temperature (control, CK) and nighttime warming (NW). The open passive nighttime warming method was used, with rice canopy being covered with aluminum foil reflective film at night (19:00-6:00) to simulate nighttime warming. Silicate fertilizer (steel slag) was applied at two levels, i.e., Si0 (0 kg SiO2 ⋅ hm-2) and Si1 (200 kg SiO2 ⋅ hm-2). The results showed that, compared with the control (ambient temperature), average temperature at nighttime on rice canopy and at 5 cm soil layer increased by 0.51-0.58 T and 0.28-0.41 T during rice growing season, respectively. Nighttime warming decreased tiller number and chlorophyll content by 2.5%-15.9% and 0.2%- 7.7%, respectively. In contrast, silicate application increased tiller number and chlorophyll content by 1.7%- 16.2% and 1.6%-16.6%, respectively. Under nighttime warming, silicate application increased dry weight of shoot, total dry weight of the whole plant, and yield at grain filling-maturity stage by 64.1%, 55.3%, and 7.1%, respectively. Under nighttime warming, silicate application significantly increased milled rice rate, head rice rate, and total starch content by 2.3%, 2.5%, and 41.8%, respectively. Nighttime warming reduced rice yield by decreasing the number of effective panicles, seed setting rate, and 1000-grain weight, but increasing empty grains. Silicate application increased rice yield by increasing the number of effective panicles, filled grains per panicle, seed setting rate and 1000-grain weight, but reducing empty grains. In conclusion, silicate application could effectively alleviate the suppressive effects of nighttime warming on growth, yield, and quality of single rice in Southern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TiO 2 nanohelices (NHs) have attracted extensive attention owing to their high aspect ratio, excellent flexibility, elasticity, and optical properties, which endow promising performances in a vast range of vital fields, such as optics, electronics, and micro/nanodevices. However, preparing rigid TiO 2 nanowires (TiO 2 NWs) into spatially anisotropic helical structures remains a challenge. Here, a pressure-induced hydrothermal strategy was designed to assemble individual TiO 2 NWs into a DNA-like helical structure, in which a Teflon block was placed in an autoclave liner to regulate system pressure and simulate a cell-rich environment. The synthesized TiO 2 NHs of 50 nm in diameter and 5-7 mm in length approximately were intertwined into nanohelix bundles (TiO 2 NHBs) with a diameter of 20 μm and then assembled into vertical TiO 2 nanohelix arrays (NHAs). Theoretical calculations further confirmed that straight TiO 2 NWs prefer to convert into helical conformations with minimal entropy ( S ) and free energy ( F ) for continuous growth in a confined space. The excellent elastic properties exhibit great potential for applications in flexible devices or buffer materials.

Objective: To investigate the risks of facial, trigeminal and acoustic neuropathies after acoustic schwannoma gamma knife radiosurgery., Methods: The clinical data of forty-three patients with 46 masses of acoustic schwannoma who underwent gamma knife radiosurgery with the dose of 12 approximately 15 Gy to the tumor margin between January 1997 and October 2000 and were followed up for 6 approximately 24 months (on average 16.9 months) were studied. The tumor diameter was 10 approximately 20 mm in 12 cases, 21 approximately 30 mm in 23 cases, >/= 31 mm in 11 cases, with the average value of 28 mm., Results: The general tumor control rate was 91.3%. The useful hearing preservation rate was 100% immediately after radiosurgery, 87% 6 months later and 78% 2 years later. The hearing preservation rate was high for small tumors. The facial and trigeminal neuropathies began to appear after 6 months. The incidence rates of facial neuropathy was 15.3%, 7.6%, and 3.8% 6 months, 1 year and 2 years after radiosurgery respectively. The incidence rates of trigeminal neuropathy was 11.4%, 3.8%, and 3.8% respectively 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years after radiosurgery. The incidence of neuropathy was 3.8% for tumors with a diameter < 30 mm for both facial and trigeminal nerves. The hearing in 2 out of 15 cases with dysaudia began to improve 6 months after radiosurgery. The incidence of neuropathy for tumors with the diameter > 30 mm was 3.8% for both nerves 2 years after raadiosurgery. The preservation rate of useful hearing for tumors with the diameter < 20 mm was 100% after radiosurgery., Conclusion: Stereotactic radiosurgery using gamma knife with a dose of 12 approximately 15 Gy to the tumor margin succeeds in controlling acoustic schwannoma and preserving useful hearing. The incidence of facial and trigeminal neuropathies are low. The neuropathy caused by gamma knife radiosurgery is sub-lethal and can be recovered gradually.