Deciphering variation of 239 elite japonica rice genomes for whole genome sequences-enabled breeding.

Revealing genomic variation of representative and diverse germplasm is the cornerstone of deploying genomics information into genetic improvement programs of species of agricultural importance. Here we report the re-sequencing of 239 japonica rice elites representing the genetic diversity of japonica germplasm in China, Japan and Korea. A total of 4.8 million SNPs and PAV of 35,634 genes were identified. The elites from Japan and Korea are closely related and relatively less diverse than those from China. A japonica rice pan-genome was constructed, and 35 Mb non-redundant novel sequences were identified, from which 1131 novel genes were predicted. Strong selection signals of genomic regions were detected on most of the chromosomes. The heading date genes Hd1 and Hd3a have been artificially selected during the breeding process. The results from this study lay the foundation for future whole genome sequences-enabled breeding in rice and provide a paradigm for other species.

Coupling mechanism of activated carbon mixed with dust for flue gas desulfurization and denitrification.

To clarify the effect of coking dust, sintering dust and fly ash on the activity of activated carbon for various industrial flue gas desulfurization and denitrification, the coupling mechanism of the mixed activated carbon and dust was investigated to provide theoretical reference for the stable operation. The results show that coking dust had 34% desulfurization efficiency and 10% denitrification efficiency; correspondingly, sintering dust and fly ash had no obvious desulfurization and denitrification activities. For the mixture of activated carbon and dust, the coking dust reduced the desulfurization and denitrification efficiencies by blocking the pores of activated carbon, and its inhibiting effect on activated carbon was larger than its own desulfurization and denitrification activity. The sintering dust also reduced the desulfurization efficiency on the activated carbon while enhancing the denitrification efficiency. Fly ash blocked the pores of activated carbon and reduced its reaction activity. The reaction activity of coking dust mainly came from the surface functional groups, similar to that of activated carbon. The reaction activity of sintering dust mainly came from the oxidative property of Fe2O3, which oxidized NO to NO2 and promoted the fast selectively catalytic reduction (SCR) of NO to form N2. Sintering dust was activated by the joint action of activated carbon, and both had a coupling function. Sintering dust enhanced the adsorption and oxidation of NO, and activated carbon further promoted the reduction of NOx by NH3; thus, the denitrification efficiency increased by 5%-7% on the activated carbon.

Photocatalytically Stable Superhydrophobic and Translucent Coatings Generated from PDMS-Grafted-SiO2/TiO2@PDMS with Multiple Applications.

In this paper, we present a highly efficient, cost-effective, and widely applicable functionalized SiO2/TiO2-polymer based coating to fabricate a translucent, fluorine-free, chemically stable, photocatalytic active, self-healable superhydrophobic coating, which consisted of two mixed functionalized particles (MFP) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) in a proper ratio. Both SiO2 and TiO2 powders were functionalized with PDMS brushes to achieve superhydrophobicity. To maximally optimize its properties, including superhydrophobicity, transparency, and photocatalytic activity, the ratios between MFP with PDMS were carefully studied and optimized. Glass slides coated with this mixed coating (MC) showed translucence with a transparency of 75%. It also presented superior photocatalytic activity and strong UV resistance that could repeatedly degrade organic oil pollutants as many as 50 times, while still maintaining superhydrophobicity even upon exposure to UV light with a high intensity of 80 mW/cm2 for as long as 36 h. When low-surface-tension oils such as dodecane wetted the MC surface, it showed excellent slippery performance and could quickly repel strong acid/alkali/hot water and even very corrosive liquids such as aqua regia. MC achieved extremely stable underoil superhydrophobicity (toward liquids including water, strong acid and base, hot water, etc.) and self-cleaning properties, not only in oils at room temperature but also in a scalded oil environment. Moreover, MC showed self-healable performance after recycled plasma treatment. The stainless steel mesh coated with MC was also used to highly efficiently separate oil-water mixtures. Moreover, harsher liquids including strong acid/alkali solutions/hot water/ice water-oil mixtures could also be successfully separated by the coated mesh. This coating was believed to largely broaden both indoor and outdoor applications for superhydrophobic surfaces.

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.

Soil bacterial communities of paddy are dependent on root compartment niches but independent of growth stages from Mollisols of Northeast China.

Introduction: Deep insights into adhering soil of root zones (rhizosphere and rhizoplane) microbial community could provide a better understanding of the plant-microbe relationship. To better understand the dynamics of these microbial assemblies over the plant life cycle in rhizodeposition along rice roots. Methods: Here, we investigated bacterial distribution in bulk, rhizosphere, and rhizoplane soils at tillering, heading, and mature stage, from rice (Oryza sativa) fields of the Northeast China. Results and Discussion: Our results revealed that soil bacterial α-diversity and community composition were significantly affected by root compartment niches but not by temporal change. Compared to rhizoplane soils in the same period, bulk in the heading and rhizosphere in the mature had the largest increase in Shannon's index, with 11.02 and 14.49% increases, respectively. Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Bacteroidetes, and Acidobacteria are predominant across all soil samples, bulk soil had more phyla increased across the growing season than that of root related-compartments. Deterministic mechanisms had a stronger impact on the bacterial community in the compartments connected to the roots, with the relative importance of the bulk soil, rhizoplane and rhizosphere at 83, 100, and 56%, respectively. Because of ecological niche drivers, the bacterial networks in bulk soils exhibit more complex networks than rhizosphere and rhizoplane soils, reflected by more nodes, edges, and connections. More module hub and connector were observed in bulk (6) and rhizoplane (5) networks than in rhizosphere (2). We also detected shifts from bulk to rhizoplane soils in some functional guilds of bacteria, which changed from sulfur and nitrogen utilization to more carbon and iron cycling processes. Taken together, our results suggest distinct bacterial network structure and distribution patterns among rhizosphere, rhizoplane, and bulk soils, which could possibly result in potential functional differentiation. And the potential functional differentiation may be influenced by plant root secretions, which still needs to be further explored.

Carbon consumption and regeneration of oxygen-containing functional groups on activated carbon for flue gas purification.

High carbon consumption is an important factor restricting the wide application of activated carbon technology for flue gas purification. A fixed-bed reactor combined with a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer was used to explore the source of carbon consumption at various SO2 concentrations and cyclic adsorption-regeneration times. The results demonstrate that carbon consumption originates from two sources and is mainly determined by the reaction of H2SO4 and C at high SO2 concentrations and by the thermal decomposition of oxygen-containing functional groups at low SO2 concentrations. An interesting observed phenomenon is that carbon consumption does not increase as the SO2 concentration increases. The conversion mechanism reveals that carboxylic and anhydride groups are converted to phenol and quinone groups, which do not easily decompose with increasing SO2 concentration. In the process of cyclic adsorption-regeneration, it is discovered that the carbon consumption in the first cycle is several times higher than that in the following cycles due to the decomposition of functional groups from the activated carbon itself. The regeneration mechanism of functional groups has been elucidated. The carboxylic acid and the phenolic hydroxyl on the surface of activated carbon are consumed in the regeneration process and formed again from the conversion of carbonyl groups in the next adsorption process under the roles of O2 and H2O. It is proposed that the functional groups are regenerated in the adsorption process rather than in the regeneration process.

(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.

Carbon consumption and adsorption-regeneration of H2S on activated carbon for coke oven flue gas purification.

Carbon consumption of activated carbon varies with sulfur-containing products. In this work, differential thermogravimetric (DTG), electron paramagnetic resonance (ESR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and temperature programmed desorption (TPD) we re used to reveal the adsorption-regeneration process of H2S and the effect of adsorption products on carbon consumption. The results show that H2S reacts with the C=C bond to form the C-S bond as an intermediate state, followed by the formation of elemental sulfur. It directly sublimates at approximately 380 °C, about 30 °C higher than the decomposition temperature of H2SO4. In the thermal regeneration process, the elemental sulfur in the form of monoclinic sulfur (S8) first breaks into infinitely long chain molecules (S∞) and then into small molecules, finally into sulfur vapor. The desorption of elemental sulfur consumes less oxygen and carbon functional groups, reducing the chemical carbon consumption by 59.8% than H2SO4; moreover, the compressive strength reduces less due to its slight effect on the disordered graphitic structure. H2S also reacts with the C=O bond to form H2SO3 or H2SO4. The desorption of H2SO3 does not require carbon consumption. The decomposition of H2SO4 needs to react with the C=C bond to release SO2, CO2, and CO, and the compressive strength of activated carbon significantly decreases. The carbon consumption originates from two aspects; the one from the regeneration of sulfur-containing products is more than twice the other one from the decomposition of oxygen-containing functional groups.

Carbon consumption mechanism of activated coke in the presence of water vapor.

To reduce chemical carbon consumption in activated coke technology used for flue gas purification, the carbon consumption mechanism of commercial activated coke in the presence of water vapor was studied. A fixed-bed reactor and a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer were combined to study the amount of carbon consumption. Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) coupled with in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (in situ DRIFT) spectra were used to investigate functional group changes of activated coke. The sources and factors influencing carbon consumption in various adsorption atmospheres and in the N2 regeneration atmosphere were compared. Carbon consumption during the adsorption and regeneration process was mainly due to the release of C-O and C=C groups. The addition of H2O increased the formation of carbonates and carboxylic acids during the adsorption process, which decomposed during the regeneration process, thereby increasing carbon consumption. Carbon consumption was reduced during regeneration in an H2O-SO2 adsorption atmosphere, mainly because of the formation of C-S bonds, which reduced the formation of CO2. The C-N bonds generated in an H2O-NO adsorption atmosphere were decomposed during the regeneration process, thereby increasing carbon consumption. In a complex atmosphere of SO2, NO, NH3, and H2O, SO2 was absorbed by NH3, and the amount of carbon consumption was consistent with that in the NO atmosphere during the regeneration process. The total carbon consumption in various adsorption atmospheres ranged from 85.4 to 125.2 µmol/g. Compared with an anhydrous atmosphere, chemical carbon consumption increased by 6.5-14.3% in the presence of H2O. Chemical carbon consumption was reduced by decreasing the H2O concentrations, which provides a reference concept for reducing the operating cost of the activated coke process in industry.

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.

Ligand-modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes for potentiometric detection of silver.

Three novel hybrid materials have been synthesized by ligands: N-(2-vinylsulfanyl-ethylidene)-benzene-1,2-dimine (SBD), N-pyridin-2-ylmethylene-benzene-1,2-dimine (NBD) and N-furan-2-ylmethylene-benzene-1,2-dimine (OBD), covalently linking to multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). These MWCNT hybrid materials were used both as ionophores and as ion-to-electron transducers to construct Ag(+) carbon paste electrodes. The resulting electrodes show higher selectivity to Ag(+) than other cations tested. Among the three electrodes, the electrode based on SBD-g-MWCNTs with optimum composition shows the best performance to Ag(+). It exhibits an excellent Nernstian response to Ag(+) in the concentration range from 8.8 × 10(-8) to 1.0 × 10(-1) M with a detection limit of 6.3 × 10(-8) M, and it can also be used over a wide pH range of 3.0-8.0 with a quick response time of 5 s. The response mechanism of the proposed electrode was also investigated by using AC impedance and UV-vis spectroscopy techniques.

Synthesis and antifungal activities of glycosylated derivatives of the cyclic peptide fungicide caspofungin.

Diseases caused by systemic fungal infections have become a significant clinical problem in recent decades. A series of glycosyl derivatives of the approved cyclic peptide antifungal drug caspofungin conjugated with ß-D-glucopyranose, ß-D-galactopyranose, ß-D-xylopyranose, ß-L-rhamnopyranose, ß-maltose and ß-lactose units were designed, synthesized, and evaluated as new potential antifungal drugs. The compounds were obtained by coupling the corresponding glycosyl amines to the free primary amino groups of caspofungin through a bifunctional glutaryl linker. In contrast to caspofungin, these glycosylated derivatives are soluble in water, but are not hygroscopic and moreover, are more stable than caspofungin under high humidity and temperature. CD studies showed that glycosylation has very little impact on the conformation of the cyclic peptide of caspofungin. In vitro antifungal tests against seven human pathogenic fungi revealed that the caspofungin-monosaccharide conjugates, but not the disaccharide conjugates, have increased antifungal activities against the majority of tested fungus species relative to caspofungin. The ß-D-glucopyranosyl derivative 2 a showed the strongest and broadest antifungal activity, providing a lead for further studies.

Organically nanoporous silica gel based on carbon paste electrode for potentiometric detection of trace Cr(III).

A new ion-selective electrode (ISE) for the detection of trace chromium(III) was designed by using 2-acetylpyridine and nanoporous silica gel (APNSG)-functionalized carbon paste electrode (CPE). The presence of APNSG acted as not only a paste binder, but also a reactive material. With 7.5 wt% APNSG proportions, the developed electrode exhibited wide dynamic range of 1.0 x 10(-8) to 1.0 x 10(-3) M toward Cr(III) with a detection limit of 8.0 x 10(-9) M and a Nernstian slope of 19.8 +/- 0.2 mV decade(-1). The as-prepared electrode displayed rapid response (approximately 55 s), long-time stability, and high sensitivity. Moreover, the potentiometric responses could be carried out with wide pH range of 1.5-5.0. In addition, the content of Cr(III) in food samples, e.g. coffee and tea leaves, has been assayed by the developed electrode, atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) and atomic emission spectrometer (ICP-AES), respectively, and consistent results were obtained. Importantly, the response mechanism of the proposed electrode was investigated by using AC impedance and UV-vis spectroscopy.