Search Results (14)

Sponge gourd fruit is highly favored by consumers because of its nutritional and medicinal properties. Continuous increases in living standards have led to an increase in the demand for high-quality fruits and vegetables. Hence, we explored the mechanisms that regulate fruit taste development. Specifically, two sponge gourd materials, ZS203 (GT) and ZAAS-106 (BT), which differ in fruit taste, were selected for transcriptomic and metabolomic analyses. Ascorbic acid, soluble solids, and crude protein contents were significantly higher in GT than in BT. Similarly, the lysine, phenylalanine, and tryptophan contents were higher in GT than in BT (1.48-, 1.60-, and 1.38 times higher, respectively). Transcriptomic analysis of GT and BT fruits identified 1821 upregulated and 1185 downregulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in GT, while metabolomic analysis detected 25 upregulated differentially accumulated metabolites (DAMs) and 28 downregulated DAMs in GT. A correlation analysis suggested that DAMs and DEGs related to vitamin B6 metabolism, tryptophan metabolism, and phenylalanine metabolism contribute to the differences in sponge gourd fruit taste; a potential mechanism underlying this diversity was proposed. Additionally, expression data for the 15 DEGs were consistent between transcriptomic and qRT-PCR analyses. Notably, this study revealed a potential mechanism for regulating differences in sponge gourd fruit taste, with possible implications for breeding novel varieties with optimized fruit taste. Full article

The aim of this study was to investigate the possible effects of phosphorylation and ubiquitination on the degradation of myofibrillar proteins in mutton with different tenderness. The longissimus thoracis lumborum muscles were chosen and divided into tender and tough groups (n = 9), and then stored at 4 °C for 1 h, 12 h, 1 d, 3 d, and 5 d postmortem. Shear force, pH, myofibril fragmentation index, AMPK activity, E3 ubiquitin ligase abundance, protein phosphorylation, and the ubiquitination levels of muscle samples were measured. The results demonstrated that the meat of samples in the tender group had a higher degradation of desmin and a lower phosphorylation level of desmin at 1 d compared with the tough group. The ubiquitination level of desmin, AMPK activity, and E3 ubiquitin ligase abundance in the tender group were noticeably higher than those in the tough group at 12 h. There was a negative correlation between the shear force and desmin degradation. The desmin degradation was negatively correlated with desmin phosphorylation and ubiquitination levels. The phosphorylation level of desmin was positively correlated with its ubiquitination. In summary, this study suggests that AMPK and E3 ubiquitin ligase concurrently play significant roles in regulating meat tenderness by regulating phosphorylation and ubiquitination in meat postmortem. Full article

As a common fungal disease, powdery mildew (PM) is one of the main diseases that harm the growth and development of cucumbers. Understanding the types of pathogenic fungus and analysis of the genetic and molecular mechanisms of cucumber resistance to PM at the molecular level are important when breeding disease-resistant varieties. The present review summarizes the hazards, prevention, and control of PM, and it discusses resistance inheritance rules, molecular markers, quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping, gene cloning, omics, and gene editing technology, providing research insights on cucumber breeding varieties resistant to PM. Full article

Multimodal change detection (MCD) harnesses multi-source remote sensing data to identify surface changes, thereby presenting prospects for applications within disaster management and environmental surveillance. Nonetheless, disparities in imaging mechanisms across various modalities impede the direct comparison of multimodal images. In response, numerous methodologies employing deep learning features have emerged to derive comparable features from such images. Nevertheless, several of these approaches depend on manually labeled samples, which are resource-intensive, and their accuracy in distinguishing changed and unchanged regions is not satisfactory. In addressing these challenges, a new MCD method based on iterative optimization-enhanced contrastive learning is proposed in this paper. With the participation of positive and negative samples in contrastive learning, the deep feature extraction network focuses on extracting the initial deep features of multimodal images. The common projection layer unifies the deep features of two images into the same feature space. Then, the iterative optimization module expands the differences between changed and unchanged areas, enhancing the quality of the deep features. The final change map is derived from the similarity measurements of these optimized features. Experiments conducted across four real-world multimodal datasets, benchmarked against eight well-established methodologies, incontrovertibly illustrate the superiority of our proposed approach. Full article

cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) activity regulates protein phosphorylation, with Na⁺ playing a crucial role in PKA activity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different Na⁺ concentrations on PKA activity and protein phosphorylation level in postmortem muscle. The study consisted of two experiments: (1) NaCl of 0, 20, 100, 200 and 400 mM was added to a muscle homogenate incubation model to analyze the effect of Na⁺ concentration on PKA activity, and (2) the same concentrations were added to pure PKA in vitro incubation models at 4 °C to verify the effect of Na⁺ on PKA activity. The PKA activity of the muscle homogenate model increased with storage time in groups with different Na⁺ concentrations. High concentrations of Na⁺ inhibited sarcoplasmic protein phosphorylation. The PKA activity at 24 h of storage and the sarcoplasmic protein phosphorylation level at 12 h of storage in the group with 200 mM Na⁺ was lower than that of the other groups. After 1 h incubation, the PKA activity of samples in the 200 mM Na⁺ group was inhibited and lower than that in the other Na⁺ groups in the in vitro incubation model. These results suggest that the Na⁺ concentration at 200 mM could better inhibit PKA activity. This study provided valuable insights for enhancing curing efficiency and improving meat quality. Full article

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of adding cinnamon bark oil (CBO) on the quality of ground lamb meat, considering different packaging conditions, including modified atmospheric packaging (MAP) using Hengxian HX-300H and overwrapped packaging. The CBO was incorporated into lamb meat samples at three different levels: 0% (control), 0.025% and 0.05% (v/w). The samples were then subjected to three packaging methods: MAP1 (80% O₂ + 20% CO₂), MAP2 (40% O₂ + 30% CO₂ + 30% N₂) and overwrapped packaging and stored at 4 °C for 0, 4, 8, 12 and 16 days. The findings of the present study revealed that the addition of 0.025% and 0.05% CBO under MAP1 condition significantly improved the color of the meat samples after 12 days of storage at 4 °C (p < 0.05). The overwrapped samples exhibited higher levels of thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) compared to all other treatments, starting from day 4 of storage (p < 0.05). Furthermore, microbial counts were notably higher in the overwrapped samples than in all other samples after day 8 of storage (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the combination of 0.05% CBO with MAP proved to be an effective strategy for enhancing the color stability and oxidative stability of ground lamb meat. These results suggest that CBO can be utilized as a beneficial protective agent in meat packaging processes. Full article

Tenderness is an important characteristic of meat quality. Calpastatin and calpain play important roles in meat tenderization. However, it is not clear how phosphorylation affects the regulation of calpastatin on μ-calpain and, consequently, meat tenderness. Calpastatin with high and low phosphorylation levels were obtained in vitro corresponding to the treatments by protein kinase A (PKA) and alkaline phosphatase. Then, calpain was incubated with calpastatin with different phosphorylation levels, and the effect of calpastatin on calpain activity under different phosphorylation levels was analyzed. The results showed that PKA promoted the phosphorylation of calpastatin, and a high phosphorylation level was maintained during incubation. The degradation rate of μ-calpain in AP group was higher than that in the other groups, meaning there was lower inhibition of calpastatin on calpain activity. The degradation of calpastatin was lower and its structure was more stable after phosphorylation. One more serine 133 site of calpastatin was identified in PKA group compared with the other groups. Phosphorylation at serine 133 of calpastatin enhanced its inhibition on calpain activity by maintaining its structural stability, thus inhibiting the tenderization of meat. Full article

In this paper, a slot microring with an asymmetric grating structure is proposed. Through the coupling between the grating and the slot microring, a high free spectral range or EIT-like effects with a high quality factor can be achieved in the same device. The grating is designed as an asymmetric structure to realize the modulation of the optical signal and the control of the resonance peak by changing the grid number, and the effect of different grating periods on the output spectrum is explored. The results show that changing the grating on slot sidewalls can increase or decrease the number of resonant peaks. By selecting a specific period of the gratings on both sides of the slot, the distance between adjacent resonance peaks can be increased to achieve modulation of the free spectral range. In this paper, depending on the grating period, we obtain a quality factor of 5016 and an FSR of 137 nm, or a quality factor of 10,730 and an FSR of 92 nm. The refractive index sensing simulation is carried out for one of the periods, which can achieve a sensitivity of 370 nm/RIU. Therefore, the proposed new structure has certain advantages in different sensing applications. Full article

The multi-path ultrasonic flowmeter is widely used in engineering practice, and the flow algorithm is important for its accuracy. The least-squares estimation method is simple and efficient and has good engineering application value. In practical applications, noises are inevitably introduced to the measurement process because of the flowmeter itself or flow-field interference. The results of classical least squares will deviate from reality because it lacks robustness. In this regard, two flow algorithms of multi-path ultrasonic flowmeter are proposed based on least-squares and random-sampling consensus algorithms, which are widely used in the image field. The two algorithms can resist gross errors effectively by avoiding the interference of external points in the sampling points. To verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms, we take the double-bend flow field, which is a typical damaged flow field in engineering, as the research object, and then we compare the four algorithms. It can be seen that the two flow algorithms have higher accuracy and better robustness in the presence of interference noise. Full article

Cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), belonging to the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), is one of the major vegetable crops in China. Conventional genetic breeding methods are ineffective for improving the tolerance of cucumber to various environmental stresses, diseases, and pests in the short term, but bio-engineering technologies can be applied to cucumber breeding to produce new cultivars with high yield and quality. Regeneration and genetic transformation systems are key technologies in modern cucumber breeding. Compared with regeneration systems, genetic transformation systems are not yet fully effective, and the low efficiency of genetic transformation is a bottleneck in cucumber cultivation. Here, we systematically review the key factors influencing the regeneration and genetic transformation of cucumber plants, including the selection of genotype, source of explants and forms of exogenous hormones added to the medium, the methods of transgene introduction and co-cultivation, and selection methods. In addition, we also focus on recent advances in the study of molecular mechanisms underlying important agronomic traits using genetic transformation technology, such as fruit length, fruit warts, and floral development. This review provides reference information for future research on improvements in cucumber varieties. Full article

Northern China’s agropastoral ecotone has been a key area of desertification control for decades, and digital maps of its soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks are needed to reveal the gaps between the actual SOC levels and baseline to support land degradation neutrality (LDN) under the Sustainable Development Goals. However, reliable soil information is scarce, and accurate prediction is hindered by the fragmented landscape, which is a dominant characteristic of desertified land. To improve the patchiness identification and accuracy of SOC prediction, we conducted field surveys and collected low-altitude aerial images along the desertification degrees (severe and extremely severe, moderate, slight) in the Horqin Sandy Land. Linear regressions were performed on the relationships between the normalized difference vegetation index and the fractional vegetation cover (FVC) extracted from aerial images, and regression kriging was applied to predict SOC stocks based on the soil-forming factors (vegetation, climate, and topography). Our prediction and cross-validation showed that the fragmented structure and prediction accuracy of SOC stocks were both greatly improved for desertified land. The FVC (R²_c = 0.94) and evapotranspiration (R²_c = 0.86) had significant positive effects on SOC stocks, respectively, with indirect and direct causal relationships. Our results could provide soil information with better patchiness and accuracy to help policymakers determine the future LDN status in this fragmented desertification landscape. As drone technology becomes more available, it will fully support digital mapping of soil properties. Full article

Reassortant variant viruses generated between 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza virus [A(H1N1)pdm09] and endemic swine influenza viruses posed a potential risk to humans. Surprisingly, genetic analysis showed that almost all of these variant viruses contained the M segment from A(H1N1)pdm09, which originated from Eurasian avian-like swine influenza viruses. Studies have shown that the A(H1N1)pdm09 M gene is critical for the transmissibility and pathogenicity of the variant viruses. However, the M gene encodes two proteins, M1 and M2, and which of those plays a more important role in virus pathogenicity remains unknown. In this study, the M1 and M2 genes of A(H1N1)pdm09 were replaced with those of endemic H3N2 swine influenza virus, respectively. The chimeric viruses were rescued and evaluated in vitro and in mice. Both M1 and M2 of H3N2 affected the virus replication in vitro. In mice, the introduction of H3N2 M1 attenuated the chimeric virus, where all the mice survived from the infection, compared with the wild type virus that caused 100 % mortality. However, the chimeric virus containing H3N2 M2 was still virulent to mice, and caused 16.6% mortality, as well as similar body weight loss to the wild type virus infected group. Compared with the wild type virus, the chimeric virus containing H3N2 M1 induced lower levels of inflammatory cytokines and higher levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines, whereas the chimeric virus containing H3N2 M2 induced substantial pro-inflammatory responses, but higher levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines. The study demonstrated that Eurasian avian-like M1 played a more important role than M2 in the pathogenicity of A(H1N1)pdm09 in mice. Full article

Making full use of the cooperation of multi-robots can improve the success rate of apursuit task. Therefore, this paper proposes a multi-robot cooperative pursuit strategy based on the zero-sum game and surrounding points adjustment. First, a mathematical description of the multi-robot pursuit problem is constructed, and the zero-sum game model is established considering the cooperation of the pursuit robots and the confrontation between the pursuit robots and the escape robot. By solving the game model, the optimal movement strategies of the pursuit robots and the escape robot are obtained. Then, the position adjustment method of the pursuit robots is studied based on the Hungarian algorithm, and the pursuit robots are controlled to surround the escape robot. Based on this, a multi-robot cooperative pursuit strategy is proposed that divides the pursuit process into two stages: pursuit robot position adjustment and game pursuit. Finally, the correctness and effectiveness of the multi-robot cooperative pursuit strategy are verified with simulation experiments. The multi-robot cooperative pursuit strategy allows the pursuit robots to capture the escape robot successfully without conflicts among the pursuit robots. It can be seen from the documented simulation experiments that the success rate of the pursuit task using the strategy proposed in this paper is 100%. Full article

Atractylodis Rhizoma is the dried rhizome of Atractylodes lancea (Thunb.) DC. or Atractylodes chinensis (DC.) Koidz and is often processed by stir-frying with wheat bran to reduce its dryness and increase its spleen tonifying activity. However, the mechanism by which the processing has this effect remains unknown. To explain the mechanism based on the pharmacokinetics of the active compounds, a rapid, sensitive ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method was developed to analyze atractylenolides I, II, and III, and atractyloside A simultaneously in rat plasma after oral administration of raw and processed Atractylodis Rhizoma. Acetaminophen was used as the internal standard and the plasma samples were pretreated with methanol. Positive ionization mode coupled with multiple reaction monitoring mode was used to analyze the four compounds. The method validation revealed that all the calibration curves displayed good linear regression over the concentration ranges of 3.2–350, 4–500, 4–500, and 3.44–430 ng/mL for atractylenolides I, II, and III, and atractyloside A, respectively. The relative standard deviations of the intra- and inter-day precisions of the four compounds were less than 6% with accuracies (relative error) below 2.38%, and the extraction recoveries were more than 71.90 ± 4.97%. The main pharmacokinetic parameters of the four compounds were estimated with Drug and Statistics 3.0 and the integral pharmacokinetics were determined based on an area under the curve weighting method. The results showed that the integral maximum plasma concentration and area under the curve increased after oral administration of processed Atractylodis Rhizoma. Full article