Argon non-thermal plasma treatment promotes the development of rice (Oryza sativa L.) in saline alkali environments.

Soil salinization leads to a reduction in arable land area, which seriously endangers food security. Developing saline-alkali land has become a key measure to address the contradiction between population growth and limited arable land. Rice is the most important global food crop, feeding half of the world's population and making it a suitable choice for planting on saline-alkali lands. The traditional salt-alkali improvement method has several drawbacks. Currently, non-thermal plasma (NTP) technology is being increasingly applied in agriculture. However, there are few reports on the cultivation of salt/alkali-tolerant rice. Under alkaline stress, argon NTP treatment significantly increased the germination rate of Longdao 5 (LD5) rice seeds. In addition, at 15 kV and 120 s, NTP treatment significantly increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes such as catalase and SOD. NTP treatment induced changes in genes related to salt-alkali stress in rice seedlings, such as chitinase and xylanase inhibitor proteins, which increased the tolerance of the seeds to salt-alkali stress. This experiment has expanded the application scope of NTP in agriculture, providing a more cost-effective, less harmful, and faster method for developing salt-alkali-tolerant rice and laying a theoretical foundation for cultivating NTP-enhanced salt-alkali-tolerant rice.

(6aS,11aR,11cS)-8-Sulfanylidene-2,3,5,6,6a,7,11,11a,11b,11c-decahydro-3a,7a-diaza-1H,4H-benzo[de]anthracen-3a-ium chloride hemihydrate.

The title compound, C(15)H(23)N(2)S(+)·Cl(-)·0.5H(2)O, was prepared from (6aS,11aR,11cS)-2,3,5,6,6a,7,11,11a,11b,11c-deca-hydro-3a,7a-diaza-1H,4H-benzo[de]anthracene-8-one (sophocarpine) and Lawesson's reagent. The thione-substituted ring is in an envelope conformation and the three other six-membered rings are in chair conformations. In the crystal, anions and cations are linked by N-H⋯Cl and weak C-H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds. One 0.5-occupancy solvent water mol-ecule lies on a twofold rotation axis and another 0.25-occupancy solvent water mol-ecule is in a general position. The H atoms of these water mol-ecules were not located or included in the refinement.

Strategies for implementing Health-Promoting Schools in a province in China.

After successful pilot projects in 10 schools (four schools with tobacco control and six schools with nutrition interventions, plus 10 control schools), Health and Education officials in Zhejiang Province, China, decided to scale up Health-Promoting Schools (HPS) systematically over the entire province, starting with an initial cohort of 51 additional schools, reaching from primary to vocational schools. Interviews with school personnel during the first phase of scaling up illuminated the key pre-implementation, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation activities. Pre-implementation activities included choosing an entry point, setting up a special HPS committee, and establishing a work plan. Implementation activities included conducting mobilization meetings, prioritizing health, popularizing the HPS concept, ensuring community cooperation and participation, acting as role models, offering training, and using new teaching and learning methods. Monitoring and evaluation activities included process, baseline, and final evaluations and changing standards of evaluation to a more holistic evaluation that schools go through to become Health-Promoting Schools. Schools also reported that they faced - and overcame - a number of challenges including understanding and integrating the HPS concept and lack of professional development and support. Results revealed that schools transitioned from a passive model of education to interactive pedagogy put priority on health and viewed it as a co-responsibility, reshaped assessment to a more holistic approach and called for more training and technical support. Participants mentioned that they gained knowledge and skills and developed a deeper understanding about health. Health impact was also demonstrated, for instance in reduced injuries and reduced smoking, and educational impact was demonstrated, for instance in improved relationships of children to parents and teachers, improved social qualities, and improved teacher satisfaction.

[Cognitive and behavioral strategies of stress management among Chinese urban residents].

OBJECTIVE: To identify the effective stress management strategies among the Chinese. METHODS: The sample was selected from Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Chongqing and Taiyuan by using a multi-stage sampling procedure, including 3679 subjects. The data were collected using the household interviewing survey method. The Chinese perceived stress scales (CPSS) measured stress. Stress management strategies included the cognitive and behavioral ones, the former were further divided into positive, neutral and negative ones and the latter were divided into three kinds, i.e. looking for support, liberating and displacing, and relaxing and detracting. The frequency of their usage and their perceived effectiveness were assessed. Multivariable analysis was used to examine the association between various stress management strategies and stress. RESULTS: The prevalence of health risk stress (HRS) was 44.54% (95% CI: 42.90% - 46.12%). Among the cognitive strategies, all the positive strategies and one of neutral strategies ("Suiyuan") were associated with lower HRS, and the rest of them had no effects. Among the behavioral strategies, all were associated with lower HRS except that of looking for support. CONCLUSION: The effective stress management strategies identified in this study might be used to develop a stress management program.