Search Results (56)

Cadmium (Cd) contamination in agricultural soils is increasing due to anthropogenic activities, posing a significant threat to plant growth and productivity. Phosphorus (P) has been suggested as a potential mitigator of Cd toxicity, yet the role of cotton genotypes with contrasting low-P tolerance in contaminated soils remains largely unexplored. A hydroponic experiment was conducted to assess the effects of Cd stress (5 μM) on Jimian169 (strong-low-P tolerant) and DES926 (weak-low-P tolerant) cotton genotypes under low-P (0.01 mM KH₂PO₄) and normal P (1 mM KH₂PO₄) conditions. The results revealed that Cd stress, especially under low-P, significantly reduced plant growth, dry matter, photosynthetic rate, and P use efficiency (PUE), while increasing oxidative damage through increased malonaldehyde levels and reactive oxygen species accumulation. These adverse impacts were very much evident in DES926 compared to Jimian169. In contrast, Jimian169 demonstrated greater resilience to Cd stress by mitigating oxidative damage through enhanced antioxidant enzyme activity, improved photosynthetic performance, and increased accumulation of osmoprotectants. These findings indicate that Jimian169 can better withstand Cd toxicity by enhancing photosynthesis, antioxidant defense mechanisms, and osmotic adjustment. This makes them a promising candidate for cultivation in Cd-contaminated, P-deficient soils. Full article

The endocarp of Exocarpium Citri Grandis (ECG) is abundant in various bioactive components, such as polysaccharides; however, there are few studies on them. Thus, it is highly necessary to carry out further research on the structural characterization and biological activities of ECG polysaccharides (EPs), which are important bioactive substances. In this study, water-extracted EPs were precipitated by ethanol with final concentrations of 50%, 70%, and 90% (v/v), respectively. Three crude polysaccharides (EP50, EP70, and EP90) were fractioned successively. The three polysaccharide fractions were structurally elucidated and were investigated in vitro for their biological activities related to glucose metabolism containing inhibitory effects on α-glucosidase and non-enzymatic glycosylation and their antioxidant capacities. The main results are summarized as follows: (1) Gradient ethanol precipitation and physicochemical properties of EPs: The yields of EP50, EP70, and EP90 were 11.18%, 0.57%, and 0.18%, respectively. The total sugar contents were 40.01%, 52.61%, and 53.46%, and the uronic acid contents were 30.25%, 18.11%, and 8.17%, respectively. In addition, the three fractions had the same composition of monosaccharides, including rhamnose, arabinose, galactose, glucose, xylose, mannose, galacturonic acid, and glucuronic acid, with differences in the content of neutral and acidic monosaccharides. They all may be branched polymers and spherical conformation, and they were acidic polysaccharides containing esterified and non-esterified uronic acids, pyranose-form sugars, and glycosidic linkages of α-configuration and β-configuration, with esterification degrees of 32.25%, 28.82%, and 15.58%, respectively. Meanwhile, EP50, EP70, and EP90 were mainly amorphous, and the molecular conformation in solution was a spherical branching polymer without a triple helix structure. The EPs exhibited excellent thermal stability, with their structures remaining stable below 170 °C. (2) In terms of activity research, the results showed that EPs had a good α-glucosidase inhibitory effect with IC₅₀ values of 1.17 mg/mL, 1.40 mg/mL, and 2.72 mg/mL, respectively, among which EP50 was the best. EP50, EP70, and EP90 displayed antioxidant activity by scavenging DPPH and ABTS radicals as well as oxygen radical absorbance capacity. Among them, EP90 had the strongest antioxidant activity. Furthermore, the EPs showed prominent effects on the inhibitory activity of non-enzymatic glycosylation. In summary, the research on the extraction of polysaccharide from ECG provides a technical reference for the further utilization of ECG resources. This study on antioxidant activity provides theoretical support for their use as a natural antioxidant. As oxidation and glycation are relevant to diabetic complications, the result of this work suggests that EPs may be effective in preventing and treating diabetic complications. Full article

Unique genes refer to genes specific to a particular organism and play crucial roles in the biological functions, evolutionary processes, and adaptations to external environments. However, the roles of unique genes in plant pathogenic fungi remain largely unexplored. In this study, we identified a novel unique gene in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae, named MoUNG (M. oryzae unique gene), through T-DNA insertion mutagenesis. The disruption of the MoUNG promoter region in the T-DNA insertion mutant (T30-104) led to an almost loss of MoUNG expression. MoUNG has no functional domains and lacks homologues in other organism. It is highly expressed during the early-infection stage between 16 and 32 h post-inoculation (HPI), in contrast to its expression in mycelia and at the later infection stage of 48 HPI. Notably, attempts to knock out MoUNG were unsuccessful, so we examined the T30-104 mutant and found it showed significantly reduced growth, conidiation, and pathogenicity. Introducing the full-length MoUNG with its promoter into T30-104 restored these phenotypic defects. Additionally, subcellular localization assays revealed that MoUNG exhibits a dot-like distribution within the cytoplasm of mycelium, conidium, appressorium, and invasive hypha. Furthermore, knock-down of MoUNG produced results similar to those observed with the insertion mutation. In conclusion, we identified a novel unique gene MoUNG in M. oryzae and demonstrated its involvement in growth, conidiation, and pathogenicity. Full article

Among numerous nucleating agents, organic carboxylate nucleating agents have been demonstrated to markedly improve the crystallization of polypropylene (PP). However, poor dispersion in the PP matrix affects the modification effect. In this work, erucamide (ECM) and sodium 4-[(4-chlorobenzoyl) amino] benzoate (SCAB) form a hydrogen-bonded self-assembled structure to obtain the SCAB-ECM composite nucleating agent in order to improve the dispersion of SCAB in the PP matrix and to exert internal lubrication on the PP matrix. The molecular structure of the SCAB-ECM composite was investigated by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and the result showed that SCAB and ECM could form a hydrogen-bonded self-assembled structure after physical blending. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results visualized that ECM promoted the dispersion of SCAB due to the formation of hydrogen-bonded self-assembled structures by SCAB and ECM. The crystallization behavior was studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). At the crystallization temperature of 135 °C, the K of PP, PP/ECM, PP/SCAB, and PP/SCAB-ECM were 0.0002, 0.0004, 1.1616, and 1.8539, respectively. The crystallization properties of PP/SCAB-ECM were the best, which was attributed to the fact that SCAB formed a hydrogen-bonded self-assembled structure with ECM, which promoted the dispersion of SCAB in the PP matrix. The results of the rheological behavior demonstrated that the ECM can act as a lubrication effect, which was also proved by flexural strength results. Full article

Accurate and timely air quality forecasting is crucial for mitigating pollution-related hazards and protecting public health. Recently, there has been a growing interest in integrating visual data for air quality prediction. However, some limitations remain in existing literature, such as their focus on coarse-grained classification, single-moment estimation, or reliance on indirect and unintuitive information from visual images. Here we present a dual-channel deep learning model, integrating surveillance images and multi-source numerical data for air quality forecasting. Our model, which combines a single-channel hybrid network consisting of VGG16 and LSTM (named VGG16-LSTM) with a single-channel Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) network, efficiently captures detailed spatiotemporal features from surveillance image sequences and temporal features from atmospheric, meteorological, and temporal data, enabling accurate time-series forecasting of PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ concentrations. Experiments conducted on the 2021 Shanghai dataset demonstrate that the proposed model significantly outperforms traditional machine learning methods in terms of accuracy and robustness for time-series forecasting, achieving R² values of 0.9459 and 0.9045 and RMSE values of 4.79 μg/m³ and 11.51 μg/m³ for PM_2.5 and PM₁₀, respectively. Furthermore, validation results on the datasets from two stations in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, with average R² values of 0.9728 and 0.9365 and average RMSE values of 1.89 μg/m³ and 5.69 μg/m³ for PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ using a pretrain–finetune training strategy, confirm the model’s adaptability across diverse geographical contexts. These findings highlight the potential of integrating surveillance images to enhance air quality prediction, offering an effective supplement to ground-level environmental monitoring. Future work will focus on expanding datasets and optimizing network architectures to further improve forecasting accuracy and computational efficiency, enhancing the model’s scalability for broader regional air quality management. Full article

The molecular chains of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) show breakage during daily use, causing poor crystallization and leading to mechanical properties that, when blended with the nucleating agent, become an effective method of solving this problem. The salt-nucleating agent sodium benzoate (SB), disodium terephthalate (DT), and trisodium 1,3,5benzene tricarboxylic (TBT) were synthesized, and an rPET/nucleating agent blend was prepared. The intrinsic viscosity (η) results showed that the η of the rPET/SB was decreased, which indicated the breakage of the rPET molecular chains. The FTIR results indicated that a chemical reaction occurred between the rPET and Na⁺ of the SB. Moreover, the Na⁺ content of the DT and TBT were higher than that of the SB, which increased the opportunity for low-molecular-weight rPET to reattach to the organic carboxylic acid portion of the nucleating agent, thereby increasing the η of the rPET/DT and rPET/TBT. The salt-nucleating agent sodium benzoate greatly improved the crystallization properties of the rPET, resulting in the half-crystallization time decreasing, the crystallization temperature increasing, and the effect of SB being better than that of DT and TBT. This was because the nucleating agent caused chemical nucleation with rPET, and the ionic groups acted as nucleation sites, while the rPET/DT and rPET/TBT, which had high molecular weights, hindered the improvement of the crystallization properties. The mechanical properties prove that the rPET/SB decreased due to the severe degradation of the rPET molecular chains. The mechanical properties of the rPET/DT and rPET/TBT were effectively improved because of the nucleating agent refining the grain size of the rPET and the high molecular weight. But the stacking of multitudinous rPET molecular chains can form a structure resembling physical cross-linking, causing a slight decrease in the mechanical properties of the rPET/TBT compared to the rPET/DT. Full article

With the increasing societal demand for sustainable and renewable energy, supercapacitors have become research hotspots. Transition metal oxides, due to their high capacitance and abundant resources, are the preferred electrode materials. However, their poor conductivity and volume changes limit performance enhancement. Therefore, the development of heterogeneous structure electrode materials has become an important research direction. In this study, Zn-CoS@Ni(OH)₂-1 nanosheets were synthesized on a nickel foam substrate via a three-step hydrothermal synthesis method, exhibiting excellent capacitance performance. In terms of capacitance, the material achieved a specific capacitance of 624 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g. When assembled into an asymmetric supercapacitor with Active Carbon materials, the device demonstrated an energy density of 35.4 Wh kg⁻¹. Full article

The application of dynamic data in biomechanics is crucial; traditional laboratory-level force measurement systems are precise, but they are costly and limited to fixed environments. To address these limitations, empirical evidence supports the widespread adoption of portable force-measuring platforms, with recommendations for their ongoing development and enhancement. Taiyuan University of Technology has collaborated with KunWei Sports Technology Co., Ltd. to develop a portable 3D force measurement system. To validate the reliability of this equipment, 15 male collegiate students were randomly selected to perform four distinct movements: walking, running, CMJ, and side-cutting. The Bertec system served as a reference device alongside the KunWei system to collect the kinetic characteristics of the test movements. The consistency and fitting quality between the two devices were evaluated through t-tests, ICC, and NRMSE. The research results indicated that there were no significant differences in peak force between the KunWei system and the Bertec system across all four movements (p > 0.05). The ICC values for force-time curves were all above 0.98, with NRMSE not exceeding 0.165. The KunWei system exhibited high consistency and reliability under various motion conditions compared to the Bertec system. This system maintains data accuracy, significantly broadens the application scope of force measurement systems, and reduces procurement and maintenance costs. It has been successfully applied in technical support for multiple water sports and winter projects with ideal results achieved. Full article

The structural characteristics of electrode materials play a crucial role in their potential applications. Therefore, designing the material’s structure rationally is one of the most effective methods to achieve high-performance electrodes. In this study, V−ZnCo₂O₄ nanowires were synthesized on nickel foam using a simple hydrothermal method, and the prepared V−ZnCo₂O₄−2 electrode material exhibited a specific capacitance of 1621 C g⁻¹. The potential applications of the prepared material were evaluated through device assembly, using V−ZnCo₂O₄−2 as the positive electrode and activated carbon as the negative electrode. The resulting device delivered an energy density of 127.5 Wh/kg, with a corresponding power density of 2700 W/kg. Additionally, the mechanical properties of the device were assessed, revealing that after multiple bends at different angles, the shape of the device remained well-preserved, further confirming its excellent mechanical stability. Full article

Developing low-cost, efficient alternatives to catalysts for bifunctional oxygen electrode catalysis in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is critical for advancing the practical applications of alkaline fuel cells. In this study, Co particles and single atoms co-loaded on nitrogen-doped carbon (CoNC) were synthesized via pyrolysis of a C₃N₄ and cobalt nitrate mixture at varying temperatures (900, 950, and 1000 °C). The pyrolysis temperature and precursor ratios were found to significantly influence the ORR/OER performance of the resulting catalysts. The optimized CoNC-950 catalyst demonstrated exceptional ORR (E_1/2 = 0.85 V) and OER (E_j10 = 320 mV) activities, surpassing commercial Pt/C + RuO₂-based devices when used in a rechargeable zinc–air battery. This work presents an effective strategy for designing high-performance non-precious metal bifunctional electrocatalysts for alkaline environments. Full article

Genetic diversity is crucial for determining the evolutionary potential of a species and is essential for developing optimal conservation strategies. The impact of habitat fragmentation on the genetic diversity of food-deceptive orchids seems to be unpredictable because of their specialized seed and pollen dispersal mechanisms. The habitat of deceptive Cypripedium flavum was severely fragmented during the past half century. This study investigated the genetic diversity and structure of seven fragmented Cypripedium flavum populations in Shangrila County using AFLP markers. A total of 376 alleles were identified, with a range of 70 to 81 alleles per locus. The species exhibited considerable genetic diversity, as evidenced by an average Nei’s gene diversity (H) of 0.339 and a Shannon’s information index (I) of 0.505, with all loci being polymorphic. Based on Molecular Variance (AMOVA), 8.75% of the genetic differentiation was found among populations, while the remaining 91.25% of genetic variation occurred within populations. Population structure analysis revealed that the C. flavum germplasm can be categorized into 2 distinct groups, among which there was significant gene flow. Despite habitat fragmentation, C. flavum still retained a high level of genetic diversity, and the substantial gene flow (5.0826) is a key factor in maintaining the genetic diversity. These findings offer valuable insights for the conservation and potential use of C. flavum genetic resources. Full article

Zinc stearate (Znst) was physically blended with the sodium 4-[(4 chlorobenzoyl) amino] benzoate (SCAB) to obtain the SCAB-Znst composite nucleating agent. Znst was used to improve the dispersion property of SCAB and exert a lubricating effect on the PP matrix. The scanning electron microscopy and the fracture surface morphology of the PP/SCAB composite illustrated that the addition of Znst greatly reduced the aggregation phenomenon of SCAB in the PP matrix. The result of the rotary rheometer indicated that Znst exhibits internal lubrication in PP. The DSC result illustrated that the crystallization properties of PP were improved. Compared with pure PP, the T_c of the PP/SCAB composite increased by 1.44 °C (PP/Znst), 13.48 °C (PP/SCAB), and 14.96 °C (PP/SCAB-Znst), respectively. The flexural strength of pure PP, PP/SCAB, and PP/SCAB-Znst were 35.8 MPa, 38.8 MPa, and 40.6 MPa, respectively. The tensile strength of the PP/SCAB and PP/SCAB-Znst reached the values of 39.8 MPa and 42.9 MPa, respectively, compared with pure PP (34.1 MPa). The results demonstrated that Znst can promote the dispersion of SCAB in the PP matrix while exerting a lubricating effect, which enabled the enhancement of the crystalline and mechanical properties of PP. Full article

To solve the decrease in the crystallization, mechanical and thermal properties of recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET) during mechanical recycling, the aromatic amide fatty acid salt nucleating agents Na-4-ClBeAmBe, Na-4-ClBeAmGl and Na-4-ClAcAmBe were synthesized and the rPET/nucleating agent blend was prepared by melting blending. The molecular structure, the thermal stability, the microstructure and the crystal structure of the nucleating agent were characterized in detail. The differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) result indicated that the addition of the nucleating agent improved the crystallization temperature and accelerated the crystallization rate of the rPET. The nucleation efficiencies (NE) of the Na-4-ClBeAmBe, Na-4-ClBeAmGl and Na-4-ClAcAmBe were increased by 87.2%, 87.3% and 41.7% compared with rPET which indicated that Na-4-ClBeAmBe and Na-4-ClBeAmGl, with their long-strip microstructures, were more conducive to promoting the nucleation of rPET. The equilibrium melting points ($T_m^0$) of rPET/Na-4-ClBeAmBe, rPET/Na-4-ClBeAmGl and rPET/Na-4-ClAcAmBe were increased by 11.7 °C, 18.6 °C and 1.9 °C compared with rPET, which illustrated that the lower mismatch rate between rPET and Na-4-ClBeAmGl (0.8% in b-axis) caused Na-4-ClBeAmGl to be the most capable in inducing the epitaxial crystallization and orient growth along the b-axis direction of the rPET. The small angle X-ray diffraction (SAXS) result proved this conclusion. Meanwhile, the addition of Na-4-ClBeAmGl caused the clearest increase in the rPET of its flexural strength and heat-distortion temperature (HDT) at 20.4% and 46.7%. Full article

The utilization efficiency of conventional pesticides is relatively low in agricultural production, resulting in excessive application and environmental pollution. The efficient utilization of pesticides is crucial for promoting sustainable agriculture, and the development of nanopesticides presents a promising solution to the challenges associated with traditional pesticides. In order to explore an efficient application method for indendicarb (IDC), a star polymer nanocarrier (SPc) was employed to design and construct an efficient nanodelivery system for IDC. In this study, the morphology and physicochemical properties of the complex were determined, and its bioactivity and control efficacy were assessed using leaf-dipping and field spraying methods. The results show that IDC could be spontaneously incorporated into the hydrophobic core of SPc via hydrophobic association. This assembly disrupted the self-aggregated structure of IDC and significantly reduced its particle size to nanoscale. Furthermore, IDC emulsifiable concentrate (IDC EC) demonstrated improved adhesion to plant leaves with the aid of SPc, increasing retention from 8.083 to 10.418 mg/cm². The LC₅₀ (1d) of IDC EC against Plutella xylostella (Linnaeus) and Pieris rapae (Linnaeus) decreased by 6.784 and 1.931 times, respectively, with the addition of SPc. The inclusion of SPc increased the control effect of IDC EC by up to 8.28% (7d, 3000×) for P. xylostella and 12.53% (3d, 8000×) for P. rapae. This reveals that the IDC EC + SPc formulation exhibits superior insecticidal activity against these two highly destructive insect pests. This study successfully developed a novel nanodelivery system for the efficient application of IDC, which has the potential to reduce over-application and promote sustainable agricultural practices. Full article

A sensitive and simple method for detecting Cu²⁺ in the water source was proposed by using surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectroscopy (SERS) based on the Ag@SiO₂/Au core–shell composite. The Ag@SiO₂ SERS tag was synthesized by a simple approach, in which Ag nanoparticles were first embedded with Raman reporter PATP and next coated with a SiO₂ shell. The Ag@SiO₂ nanoparticles had strong stability even in a high-concentration salty solution, and there were no changes to their properties and appearance within one month. The Ag@SiO₂/Au composite was fabricated through a controllable self-assemble process. L-cysteine was decorated on the surface of a functionalized Ag@SiO₂/Au composite, as the amino and carboxyl groups of it can form coordinate covalent bond with Cu²⁺, which shows that the Ag@SiO₂/Au composite labelled with L-cysteine has excellent performance for the detection of Cu²⁺ in aqueous media. In this study, the SERS detection of Cu²⁺ was carried out using Ag@SiO₂ nanoparticles, and the limit of detection (LOD) as low as 0.1 mg/L was achieved. Full article