Enhanced wheat productivity in saline soil through the combined application of poultry manure and beneficial microbes.

BACKGROUND: Soil salinity is one of the major menaces to food security, particularly in dealing with the food demand of the ever-increasing global population. Production of cereal crops such as wheat is severely affected by soil salinity and improper fertilization. The present study aimed to examine the effect of selected microbes and poultry manure (PM) on seedling emergence, physiology, nutrient uptake, and growth of wheat in saline soil. A pot experiment was carried out in research area of Institute of Soil and Environmental Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. Saline soil (12 dS m- 1 w/w) was developed by spiking using sodium chloride, and used in experiment along with two microbial strains (i.e., Alcaligenes faecalis MH-2 and Achromobacter denitrificans MH-6) and PM. Finally, wheat seeds (variety Akbar-2019) were sown in amended and unamended soil, and pots were placed following a completely randomized design. The wheat crop was harvested after 140 days of sowing. RESULTS: The results showed a 10-39% increase (compared to non-saline control) in agronomic, physiological, and nutritive attributes of wheat plants when augmented with PM and microbes. Microbes together with PM significantly enhanced seedling emergence (up to 38%), agronomic (up to 36%), and physiological (up to 33%) in saline soil as compared to their respective unamended control. Moreover, the co-use of microbes and PM also improved soil's physicochemical attributes and enhanced N (i.e., 21.7%-17.1%), P (i.e., 24.1-29.3%), and K (i.e., 28.7%-25.3%) availability to the plant (roots and shoots, respectively). Similarly, the co-use of amendments also lowered the Na+ contents in soil (i.e., up to 62%) as compared to unamended saline control. This is the first study reporting the effects of the co-addition of newly identified salt-tolerant bacterial strains and PM on seedling emergence, physiology, nutrient uptake, and growth of wheat in highly saline soil. CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that co-using a multi-trait bacterial culture and PM could be an appropriate option for sustainable crop production in salt-affected soil.

Biosynthesis of NIR-II Ag2Se Quantum Dots with Bacterial Catalase for Photoacoustic Imaging and Alleviating-Hypoxia Photothermal Therapy.

Developing the second near-infrared (NIR-II) photoacoustic (PA) agent is of great interest in bioimaging. Ag2Se quantum dots (QDs) are one kind of potential probe for applications in NIR-II photoacoustic imaging (PAI). However, the surfaces with excess anions of Ag2Se QDs, which increase the probability of nonradiative transitions of excitons benefiting PA imaging, are not conducive to binding electron donor ligands for potential biolabeling and imaging. In this study, Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) cells are driven for the biosynthesis of Ag2Se QDs with catalase (CAT). Biosynthesized Ag2Se (bio-Ag2Se-CAT) QDs are produced in Se-enriched environment of S. aureus and have a high Se-rich surface. The photothermal conversion efficiency of bio-Ag2Se-CAT QDs at 808 and 1064 nm is calculated as 75.3% and 51.7%, respectively. Additionally, the PA signal responsiveness of bio-Ag2Se-CAT QDs is ≈10 times that of the commercial PA contrast agent indocyanine green. In particular, the bacterial CAT is naturally attached to bio-Ag2Se-CAT QDs surface, which can effectively relieve tumor hypoxia. The bio-Ag2Se-CAT QDs can relieve heat-initiated oxidative stress while undergoing effective photothermal therapy (PTT). Such biosynthesis method of NIR-II bio-Ag2Se-CAT QDs opens a new avenue for developing multifunctional nanomaterials, showing great promise for PAI, hypoxia alleviation, and PTT.

An optimized deep strategy for recognition and alleviation of DDoS attack in SD-IoT.

The attacks like distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) are termed as severe defence issues in data centres, and are considered real network threat. These types of attacks can produce huge disturbances in information technologies. In addition, it is a complex task to determine and fully alleviate DDoS attacks. The new strategy is developed to identify and alleviate DDoS attacks in the Software-Defined Internet of Things (SD-IoT) model. SD-IoT simulation is executed to gather data. The data collected through nodes of SD-IoT are fed to the selection of feature phases. Here, the hybrid process is considered to select features, wherein features, like wrapper-based technique, cosine similarity-based technique, and entropy-based technique are utilized to choose the significant features. Thereafter, the attack discovery process is done with Elephant Water Cycle (EWC)-assisted deep neuro-fuzzy network (DNFN). The EWC is adapted to train DNFN, and here EWC is obtained by grouping Elephant Herd Optimization (EHO) and water cycle algorithm (WCA). Finally, attack mitigation is carried out to secure the SD-IoT. The EWC-assisted DNFN revealed the highest accuracy of 96.9%, TNR of 98%, TPR of 90%, precision of 93%, and F1-score of 91%, when compared with other related techniques.

Synergistic regulation of hydrogen sulfide and nitric oxide on biochemical components, exopolysaccharides, and nitrogen metabolism in nickel stressed rice field cyanobacteria.

The present study examined the regulatory mechanism of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and nitric oxide (NO) in nickel (Ni) stressed cyanobacteria viz., Nostoc muscorum and Anabaena sp. by analyzing growth, photosynthetic pigments, biochemical components (protein and carbohydrate), exopolysaccharides (EPS), inorganic nitrogen content, and activity of enzymes comprised in nitrogen metabolism and Ni accumulation. The 1 µM Ni substantially diminished growth by 18% and 22% in N. muscorum and Anabaena sp. respectively, along with declining the pigment contents (Chl a/Car ratio and phycobiliproteins), and biochemical components. It also exerted negative impacts on inorganic uptake of nitrate and nitrite contents; nitrate reductase and nitrite reductase; and ammonium assimilating enzymes (glutamine synthetase, glutamate synthase, and glutamate dehydrogenase exhibited a reverse trend) activities. Nonetheless, the adverse impact of Ni can be mitigated through the exogenous supplementation of NaHS [sodium hydrosulfide (8 µM); H2S donor] and SNP [sodium nitroprusside (10 µM); NO donor] which showed substantial improvement on growth, pigments, nitrogen metabolism, and EPS layer and noticeably occurred as a consequence of a substantial reduction in Ni accumulation content which minimized the toxicity effects. The accumulation of Ni on both the cyanobacterial cell surface (EPS layer) are confirmed by the SEM-EDX analysis. Further, the addition of NO scavenger (PTIO; 20 µM) and inhibitor of NO (L-NAME; 100 µM); and H2S scavenger (HT; 20 µM) and H2S inhibitor (PAG; 50 µM) reversed the positive responses of H2S and NO and damages were more prominent under Ni stress thereby, suggesting the downstream signaling of H2S on NO-mediated alleviation. Thus, this study concludes the crosstalk mechanism of H2S and NO in the mitigation of Ni-induced toxicity in rice field cyanobacteria.

Income inequality and depressive symptoms among Chinese adults: a quasi-experimental study.

OBJECTIVE: There is a lack of causal evidence on the impact of income inequality on depressive symptoms. The impact of China's Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA) policy on depressive symptoms is also unclear. Using a quasi-experimental design, this study aims to investigate the causal effects of TPA and income inequality on depressive symptoms among Chinese adults. STUDY DESIGN: This is a population-based study. METHODS: Three waves (2012, 2016, and 2018) of the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), a nationally representative sample of China, were included in this study. We performed difference-in-difference (DID) models to assess the effect of TPA and income inequality on depressive symptoms. We further conducted the mixed effect models to examine the impact of income inequality on depressive symptoms. The study considered a range of spatial factors and spatial splines to address spatial autocorrelations. RESULTS: This study included valid measures of depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale [CES-D-8] score) from 14,442 adults of CFPS. The DID results indicated that at the provincial level, the CES-D-8 score of the TPA treatment group was on average 0.570 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.358-0.783) less than the control group. Furthermore, a 0.1 increase in Gini index would lead to a 0.256 (95% CI: 0.064-0.448) increase in CES-D-8 score. The mixed effect model showed that income inequality was a risk factor for depressive symptoms at the provincial level (excess risk = 5.602% [95% CI: 3.047%-8.219%]). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that income inequality adversely affects mental health, but China's Targeted Poverty Alleviation improves the mental health of the Chinese population.

6-Benzylaminopurine mediated augmentation of cadmium phytostabilization potential in Strobilanthes alternata.

This study unveiled the cadmium phytoremediation potential and its augmentation using 6-Benzylaminopurine in Strobilanthes alternata. Cadmium stress was provided by applying 250 mg/kg cadmium chloride in soil and 25 ppm of 6-BAP (25 ml) was administered to the plants as foliar spray. The results revealed high bioconcentration factor (BCF) (18.82 ± 0.54) and low translocation factor (TF) values (0.055 ± 0.002) for the plant based on which we strongly recommend S. alternata as a promising candidate for Cd phytoremediation. The phytostabilization potential of the plant was further enhanced by applying 6-BAP, which augmented its BCF to 22.09 ± 0.64 and reduced the TF to 0.038 ± 0.001. Cd toxicity caused a reduction of plant growth parameters, root volume, adaxial-abaxial stomatal indices, relative water content, tolerance index, moisture content, membrane stability index, and xylem vessel diameter in S. alternata. However, Cd + 6-BAP treated plants exhibited an increase of the same compared to Cd-treated plants. FTIR analysis of Cd + 6-BAP treated plants revealed increased deposition of hemicellulose, causing enhanced retention of Cd in the root xylem walls, which is largely responsible for increased phytostabilization of Cd. Therefore, 6-BAP application in S. alternata can be exploited to restore Cd-contaminated areas effectively.

The research paper "6-Benzylaminopurine Mediated Augmentation of Cadmium Phytostabilization Potential in Strobilanthes alternata" has established the Cd phytostabilization potential of the plant Strobilanthes alternata and also identified the role of 6-BAP in augmenting the Cd phytoremediation potential of this plant for the very first time. The physiological and anatomical changes in relation to the applied stress signals were also studied for the first time in S. alternata.

How does digitalization affect the green transformation of enterprises registered in China's resource-based cities? Further analysis on the mechanism and heterogeneity.

Digitalization, as a crucial engine for promoting sustainable development, has created new prospects for enterprise green transformation. Utilizing panel data from enterprises registered in China's resource-based cities from 2010 to 2021, this study innovatively examines the role of digitalization in promoting green transformation across two key performance dimensions. The findings indicate that enterprise digitalization significantly enhances the green innovation performance, while its impact on environmental performance, although positive, is not statistically significant. Overall, enterprise digitalization greatly facilitates green transformation. Moreover, mechanism analysis reveals that enterprise digitalization promotes green transformation through the alleviation of financial mismatch and the increase of external market attention. In addition, heterogeneity analysis shows that the effectiveness of enterprise digitalization in promoting green transformation is significantly different in different opportunist risk scenarios, proving more effective in areas with low-marketization, high-competition industries, and high environmental regulation intensity. In terms of the policy level, the National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zone (NBDCPZ) and the Carbon Emission Trading Policy (CETP) played a positive stimulating role in the process of enterprise digitalization affecting green transformation. This paper broadens the scope of research on green transformation, offers new development philosophy for enterprises in resource-based cities, and provides new directions for the synergistic development of digitalization and greenization.

Lactobacillus paracasei AH2 isolated from Chinese sourdough alleviated gluten-induced food allergy through modulating gut microbiota and promoting short-chain fatty acid accumulation in a BALB/c mouse model.

BACKGROUND: A large number of people worldwide suffer from gluten-induced food allergy. As investigated in our previous research, Lactobacillus paracasei AH2 isolated from traditionally homemade sourdough in Anhui province of China showed the potential to reduce the immune reactivity of wheat protein by in vitro evaluation. However, whether L. paracasei AH2 has a role in alleviating wheat allergy in an in vivo model and its underlying mechanisms have not been elucidated. RESULTS: In this study, the alleviative effects of L. paracasei AH2 on gluten-induced allergic response were evaluated. Compared with a gluten-allergic mouse, L. paracasei AH2 suppressed anaphylaxis symptoms, gluten-specific immunoglobulin E, histamine and interleukin-4. Moreover, L. paracasei AH2 attenuated splenomegaly and induced Th1 or Treg cell differentiation to modulate the Th1/Th2 immune balance toward Th1 polarization. Short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) levels were enhanced after L. paracasei AH2 supplementation, contributing to allergy relief as well as reducing the pH of colonic contents. The α and ß diversities of the gut microbiota were modulated by L. paracasei AH2 with increased relative abundance of Lacticaseibacillus and SCFA producers (Faecalibaculum, Alloprevotella and Bacteroides genera), as well as decreased unfavorable Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group and Alistipes. Additionally, L. paracasei AH2 protected the intestinal barrier function by upregulating tight junctions and improved the antioxidant activities in serum. CONCLUSION: Our findings indicate that L. paracasei AH2 could act as a potential probiotic for relieving wheat allergy by modulating the gut microbiota and elevating SCFA levels. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry.

Unveiling the Mysteries: Acetonitrile's Dance with Weakly-Solvating Electrolytes in Shaping Gas Evolution and Electrochemical Performance of Zinc-ion Batteries.

Aqueous Zn-metal battery (AZMB) is a promising candidate for future large-scale energy storage with commendable capacity, exceptional safety characteristics, and low cost. Acetonitrile (AN) has been widely used as an effective electrolyte constituent to improve AZMBs' performance. However, its functioning mechanisms remain unclear. In this study, we unveiled the critical roles of AN in AZMBs via comparative in situ electrochemical, gaseous, and morphological analyses. Despite its limited ability to solvate Zn ions, AN-modulated Zn-ion solvation sheath with increased anions and decreased water achieves a weakly-solvating electrolyte. As a result, the Zn||Zn cell with AN addition exhibited 63 times longer cycle life than cell without AN and achieved a 4 Ah cm-2 accumulated capacity with no H2 generation. In V2O5||Zn cells, for the first time, AN suppressing CO2 generation, elevating CO2-initiation voltage from 2→2.44 V (H2: 2.43→2.55 V) was discovered. AN-impeded transit and Zn-side deposition of dissolved vanadium ions, known as "crosstalk," ameliorated inhomogeneous Zn deposition and dendritic Zn growth. At last, we demonstrated an AN-enabled high-areal-capacity AZMB (3.3 mAh cm-2) using high-mass-loading V2O5 cathode (26 mg cm-2). This study shed light on the strategy of constructing fast-desolvation electrolytes and offered insights for future electrolyte accommodation for high-voltage AZMB cathodes.

Inpatient pain alleviation after orthopaedic trauma surgery-are we doing a good job?

PURPOSE: Poor pain alleviation (PPA) after orthopaedic surgery is known to increase recovery time, readmissions, patient dissatisfaction, and lead to chronic postsurgical pain. This study's goal was to identify the magnitude of PPA and its risk factors in the orthopaedic trauma patient population. METHODS: A single-institution's electronic medical records from 2015 to 2018 were available for retrospective analysis. Inclusion criteria included orthopaedic fracture surgery patients admitted to the hospital for 24 h or more. Collected variables included surgery type, basic demographics, comorbidities, inpatient medications, pain scores, and length of stay. PPA was defined as a pain score of ≥ 8 on at least three occasions 4-12 h apart. Associations between collected variables and PPA were derived using a multivariable logistic regression model and expressed in adjusted odds ratios. RESULTS: A total of 1663 patients underwent fracture surgeries from 2015 to 2018, and 25% of them reported PPA. Female sex, previous use of narcotics, increased ASA, increased baseline pain score, and younger age without comorbidities were identified as significant risk factors for PPA. Spine procedures were associated with increased risk of PPA, while procedures in the hip, shoulder, and knee had reduced risk. Patients experiencing PPA were less likely to receive NSAIDs compared to other pain medications. CONCLUSIONS: This study found an unacceptably high rate of PPA after fracture surgery. While the identified risk factors for PPA were all non-modifiable, our results highlight the necessity to improve application of current multimodal approaches to pain alleviation including a more personalized approach to pain alleviation.

Mechanisms underlying probiotic effects on neurotransmission and stress resilience in fish via transcriptomic profiling.

In recent years, studies have highlighted the significant impact of probiotic treatment on the central nervous system (brain) and stress regulation through the microbiota-gut-brain axis, yet there have been limited knowledge on this axis in fish. Therefore, this study aimed to enhance the current understanding of the mechanisms underlying probiotic effects on neurotransmission and stress alleviation in fish through transcriptomic profiling. In this study, olive flounders (Paralichthys olivaceus) were subjected to two trial setups: a 1-month lab-scale trial and a 6-month field-scale trial, with and without the probiotic strain Lactococcus lactis WFLU12. RNA-Seq analysis was performed using liver samples collected from fish at one-month post-feeding (mpf) in both trials. Additionally, fish growth was monitored monthly, and serological parameters were measured at one mpf in the field-scale experiment. The results of the lab-scale trial showed that probiotic administration significantly upregulated genes related to neurotransmission, such as htr3a, mao, ddc, ntsr1, and gfra2. These findings highlight the impact of probiotics on modulating neurotransmission via the microbiota-gut-brain axis. In the field-scale experiment, fish growth was significantly promoted and the sera levels of AST, LDH, and cortisol were significantly higher in the control group compared to the probiotics group. Furthermore, genes involved in stress responses (e.g. hsp70, hsp90B1, hspE1, prdx1, and gss) and transcriptional regulators (e.g. fos, dusp1, and dusp2) exhibited significant upregulation in the control group compared to the probiotics group, indicating that probiotic administration can alleviate stress levels in fish. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of probiotics in fish, specifically regarding their impact on neurotransmission and stress alleviation.

Maintaining Antibacterial Activity against Biofouling Using a Quaternary Ammonium Membrane Coupling with Electrorepulsion.

Antibacterial modification is a chemical-free method to mitigate biofouling, but surface accumulation of bacteria shields antibacterial groups and presents a significant challenge in persistently preventing membrane biofouling. Herein, a great synergistic effect of electrorepulsion and quaternary ammonium (QA) inactivation on maintaining antibacterial activity against biofouling has been investigated using an electrically conductive QA membrane (eQAM), which was fabricated by polymerization of pyrrole with QA compounds. The electrokinetic force between negatively charged Escherichia coli and cathodic eQAM prevented E. coli cells from reaching the membrane surface. More importantly, cathodic eQAM accelerated the detachment of cells from the eQAM surface, particularly for dead cells whose adhesion capacity was impaired by inactivation. The number of dead cells on the eQAM surface was declined by 81.2% while the number of live cells only decreased by 49.9%. Characterization of bacteria accumulation onto the membrane surface using an electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance revealed that the electrorepulsion accounted for the cell detachment rather than inactivation. In addition, QA inactivation mainly contributed to minimizing the cell adhesion capacity. Consequently, the membrane fouling was significantly declined, and the final normalized water flux was promoted higher than 20% with the synergistic effect of electrorepulsion and QA inactivation. This work provides a unique long-lasting strategy to mitigate membrane biofouling.

Can Solar Photovoltaic Poverty Alleviation Policies Reduce Carbon Emissions and Increase Income in China?

China implemented a solar photovoltaic (PV) poverty alleviation (PVPA) policy of building nearly 0.24 million PVPA power plants in 2014-2020 to fight poverty. However, our current knowledge of its effects, encompassing not only primary poverty alleviation but also secondary objectives such as carbon emission-reduction, remains comparatively constrained. Here, we present a comprehensive assessment of the emission-reducing and income-increasing effects of the PVPA policy using estimated carbon emission factors and a staggered difference-in-difference model based on integrated data from almost all actual PVPA plants in China. Our analysis revealed the co-benefits of emission-reduction and poverty alleviation, with PVPA policy boosting villagers' per capita net income by 2-3% in villages with PV plants. A nonlinear, inverted U-shaped relationship between income and PVPA plant investment was identified with a $2.21 million inflection point. Spatial heterogeneity was observed in the income-increasing effect, with centralized village-level plants proving more effective than rooftop household plants. China's PVPA plants reduced carbon emissions by nearly 3% in 2020 and are projected to generate 774 billion kW h of electricity by 2045, mitigating 715.75 million tons of carbon emissions. The findings from this research offer insights for optimizing antipoverty and climate change policies to facilitate sustainable development goal achievement in China and other developing nations.

Transcriptomic analysis reveals the mechanism of the alleviation of salt stress by salicylic acid in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.).

BACKGROUND: The growth and yield of pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) is often affected by the critical salt stress. Salicylic acid (SA) can improve plants' stress tolerance by promoting growth and regulating ion absorption and transportation. METHODS AND RESULTS: To uncover the alleviated mechanism of salt stress by SA in pepper, we conducted morphological, physiological, cytological, and transcriptomic analyses under a single SA treatment and NaCl with and without SA pre-treatment for 9 days. Seedlings under NaCl treatment showed yellow shrunken leaves, this tatus were alleviated by NS treatment (NaCl with SA pre-treatment). Compared with plants under NaCl treatment, those in the NS treatment showed reduced lipid peroxidation, and significantly increased contents of chlorophyll and osmotic regulators (proline, soluble sugars). Treatment with SA balanced the Na+/K+ ratio. We conducted transcriptome sequencing and identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) contributing to alleviation of salt stress by SA in pepper. Besides photosynthesis related genes, GO and KEGG analyses revealed that the DEGs were enriched in 'sequence-specific DNA binding', 'transcription regulator activity' and 'DNA binding transcription factor activity' by GO terms. And our results showed that TFs, such as MYB, bZIP, BBX, AP2/ERF, NAC, etc., probably make a great contribution in the alleviation of salt stress by SA. CONCLUSIONS: These results reveal that SA can improve plants' stress tolerance by balancing ion absorption, gene expression and transcriptional regulation, which provide new ideas and resources for subsequent research on the mechanism of salt tolerance in pepper.

Acinetobacter oleivorans IRS14 alleviates cold stress in wheat by regulating physiological and biochemical factors.

AIMS: Climate change is responsible for extreme cold winters, causing a significant loss in crop yield and productivity due to chilling stress. This study aims to investigate the potential of psychrotrophic plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) strain to promote wheat growth under cold stress and explore the adaptive responses of wheat. METHODS AND RESULTS: Wheat seeds and seedlings were inoculated with the psychrotrophic strain IRS14 and the plants were cultivated for five weeks at 6°C ± 2°C. The genetic, biochemical, physiological, and molecular analysis of the bacterium and plant was done to evaluate the effect of the PGPR strain in alleviating chilling stress. IRS14 possesses antioxidant activity and produced multiple phytohormones, which enhanced seed germination (∼50%) and plant growth (∼50%) during chilling stress. CONCLUSIONS: Here, we reported that the application of IRS14 helps to regulate the biochemical and metabolic pathways in wheat plants. It alleviates chilling stress and increases plant growth rate and biomass. Strain IRS14 in wheat effectively increased chlorophyll content, antioxidants, carotenoid, proline, and endogenous phytohormones compared with untreated wheat.

Synergetic effect on fouling alleviating of membrane distillation in urine resource recovery by thermally activated peroxydisulfate pretreatment.

Given that the spontaneous precipitation of minerals caused by urea hydrolysis and abundant organic compounds, membrane fouling became a major obstacle for urine recovery by membrane distillation (MD). Herein, this study developed a combined system (TAP-MD) by integrating thermally activated peroxydisulfate (TAP) and MD process to inhibit membrane fouling and improve separation efficiency. Based on the TAP-MD system, the separation performance was improved significantly, improving nutrient recovery efficiency and quality of reclaimed water. More than 80% of water could be recovered from urine, and about 94.13% of total ammonia nitrogen (TAN), 99.02% of total nitrogen (TN), 100% of total phosphate (TP), and 100% of K+ were rejected. The mechanism for alleviating urine-induced fouling was systematically and intensively studied. With TAP pretreatment, the TAN concentration of pretreated urine was kept at a low level steadily and the pH was at neutral or weakly acidic. Hence, inorganic scaling represented by carbonate and phosphate precipitates were significantly inhibited by creating unfavorable solvent environment for crystallization with TAP pretreatment. Additionally, aromatic proteins were found as the main organic foulants. According to the secondary structure of protein, the proteins were degraded by the cleavage of peptide bonds by TAP pretreatment. Meanwhile, the hydrophilicity of protein increased, which reduced the hydrophobic interaction of protein and membrane surface and thus alleviated protein-induced membrane fouling. This study revealed the inorganic and organic foulants in urine that caused membrane fouling and demonstrated the mechanism of membrane fouling alleviation by TAP-MD system. The experimental results will be instrumental in better understanding the mechanisms of membrane fouling induced by urine and optimize MD process for resource recovery from urine.

Thermostability enhancement and insight of L-asparaginase from Mycobacterium sp. via consensus-guided engineering.

Acrylamide alleviation in food has represented as a critical issue due to its neurotoxic effect on human health. L-Asparaginase (ASNase, EC 3.5.1.1) is considered a potential additive for acrylamide alleviation in food. However, low thermal stability hinders the application of ASNase in thermal food processing. To obtain highly thermal stable ASNase for its industrial application, a consensus-guided approach combined with site-directed saturation mutation (SSM) was firstly reported to engineer the thermostability of Mycobacterium gordonae L-asparaginase (GmASNase). The key residues Gly97, Asn159, and Glu249 were identified for improving thermostability. The combinatorial triple mutant G97T/N159Y/E249Q (TYQ) displayed significantly superior thermostability with half-life values of 61.65 ± 8.69 min at 50 °C and 5.12 ± 1.66 min at 55 °C, whereas the wild-type was completely inactive at these conditions. Moreover, its Tm value increased by 8.59 °C from parent wild-type. Interestingly, TYQ still maintained excellent catalytic efficiency and specific activity. Further molecular dynamics and structure analysis revealed that the additional hydrogen bonds, increased hydrophobic interactions, and favorable electrostatic potential were essential for TYQ being in a more rigid state for thermostability enhancement. These results suggested that our strategy was an efficient engineering approach for improving fundamental properties of GmASNase and offering GmASNase as a potential agent for efficient acrylamide mitigation in food industry. KEY POINTS: • The thermostability of GmASNase was firstly improved by consensus-guided engineering. • The half-life and Tm value of triple mutant TYQ were significantly increased. • Insight on improved thermostability of TYQ was revealed by MD and structure analysis.

Understanding the Predictors of Low Take-Up of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): A Nationwide Longitudinal Study.

INTRODUCTION: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is among the largest U.S. social safety net programs. Although strong evidence exists regarding the benefits of WIC, take-up (i.e., participation among eligible individuals) has steadily declined in the past decade. This study addresses gaps in our knowledge regarding predictors of WIC take-up during this time. METHODS: Data were drawn from the 1998-2017 waves of the National Health Interview Study (NHIS), a serial cross-sectional study of the U.S. POPULATION: The analytic sample included 23,645 children and 10,297 women eligible for WIC based on self-reported demographic characteristics. To investigate predictors of WIC take-up, we regressed self-reported WIC receipt on a range of individual-level predictors (e.g., age, nativity, income) and state- level predictors (e.g., unemployment rate, governor's political affiliation) using multivariable logistic regression. In secondary analyses, results were additionally stratified by race/ethnicity, time period, and age (for children). RESULTS: For both women and children, older maternal age and higher educational attainment were associated with decreased take-up of WIC. Associations differed by race/ethnicity, time period, and state characteristics including caseload of other social programs (e.g., Medicaid). DISCUSSION: Our study identifies groups that are less likely to take up WIC benefits for which they are eligible, thereby contributing important evidence to inform programs and policies to increase WIC participation among groups with lower take-up. As WIC evolves past the COVID-19 pandemic, special attention will be needed to ensure that resources to encourage and support the participation of racially and economically marginalized individuals are equitably distributed.

Seed Priming with Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles to Enhance Crop Tolerance to Environmental Stresses.

Drastic climate changes over the years have triggered environmental challenges for wild plants and crops due to fluctuating weather patterns worldwide. This has caused different types of stressors, responsible for a decrease in plant life and biological productivity, with consequent food shortages, especially in areas under threat of desertification. Nanotechnology-based approaches have great potential in mitigating environmental stressors, thus fostering a sustainable agriculture. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) have demonstrated to be biostimulants as well as remedies to both environmental and biotic stresses. Their administration in the early sowing stages, i.e., seed priming, proved to be effective in improving germination rate, seedling and plant growth and in ameliorating the indicators of plants' well-being. Seed nano-priming acts through several mechanisms such as enhanced nutrients uptake, improved antioxidant properties, ROS accumulation and lipid peroxidation. The target for seed priming by ZnO NPs is mostly crops of large consumption or staple food, in order to meet the increased needs of a growing population and the net drop of global crop frequency, due to climate changes and soil contaminations. The current review focuses on the most recent low-cost, low-sized ZnO NPs employed for seed nano-priming, to alleviate abiotic and biotic stresses, mitigate the negative effects of improper storage and biostimulate plants' growth and well-being. Taking into account that there is large variability among ZnO NPs and that their chemico-physical properties may play a role in determining the efficacy of nano-priming, for all examined cases, it is reported whether the ZnO NPs are commercial or lab prepared. In the latter cases, the preparation conditions are described, along with structural and morphological characterizations. Under these premises, future perspectives and challenges are discussed in relation to structural properties and the possibility of ZnO NPs engineering.

Chitosan Spraying Enhances the Growth, Photosynthesis, and Resistance of Continuous Pinellia ternata and Promotes Its Yield and Quality.

The continuous cropping obstacle has become the key factor that seriously restricts the growth, yield, and quality of Pinellia ternata. In this study, the effects of chitosan on the growth, photosynthesis, resistance, yield, and quality of the continuous cropping of P. ternata were investigated by two field spraying methods. The results indicate that continuous cropping significantly (p < 0.05) raised the inverted seedling rate of P. ternata and inhibited its growth, yield, and quality. Spraying of 0.5~1.0% chitosan effectively increased the leaf area and plant height of continuous P. ternata, and reduced its inverted seedling rate. Meanwhile, 0.5~1.0% chitosan spraying could notably increase its photosynthetic rate (Pn), intercellular carbon dioxide concentration (Ci), stomatal conductance (Gs), and transpiration rate (Tr), and decrease its soluble sugar, proline (Pro), and malonaldehyde (MDA) contents, as well as promoting its superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) activities. Additionally, 0.5~1.0% chitosan spraying could also effectively enhance its yield and quality. This finding highlights that chitosan can be proposed as an alternative and practicable mitigator for alleviating the continuous cropping obstacle of P. ternata.