The X-ray diffraction pattern of soil FAs from the NPK and SM treatments during a long-term (i.e., 22-year) fertilization experiment.

<p>NPK, chemical nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium; SM, swine manure.</p

Fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectra of soil fulvic acids from the NPK (a) and SM (b) plots and FTIR spectra of the fulvic acids (c) during a long-term (i.e., 22-year) fertilization experiment.

<p>Note that peaks A, B and C were located at Ex/Em of 230/410, 250/410, and 330/410, respectively. NPK, chemical nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium; SM, swine manure.</p

One-dimensional FTIR spectra of soil FAs from the NPK (a) and M (b) treatments during a long-term (i.e., 22-year) fertilization experiment.

<p>NPK, chemical nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium; SM, swine manure.</p

TEM images of the soil FAs from the NPK (a–b) and SM (d–e) treatments during a long-term (i.e., 22-year) fertilization experiment.

<p>Selected area electron diffraction (SAED) patterns of the two images indicated by the blue squares, demonstrate that the black regions are polycrystal (c) or short-ranged-order (SRO) (f) minerals. NPK, chemical nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium; SM, swine manure. (g) and (h) energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) of region 1 and 2 located at the red square frames.</p

Synchronous 2D correlation maps generated from the FTIR spectra of soil FAs in the NPK (a, c and e) and SM (b, d and f) treatments with Al.

<p>Red represents positive correlation, and blue represents negative correlation; a higher color intensity indicates a stronger positive or negative correlation. NPK, chemical nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium; SM, swine manure.</p

Physiochemical characteristics of soil fulvic acids in the NPK and M treatments^*.

<p>*Note: Significance was determined using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s HSD post hoc tests, where conditions of normality and homogeneity of variance were met, means (<i>n</i> = 3) followed by different letters indicate significant differences between treatments at <i>P</i><0.05. Abbreviations: NPK, chemical nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium; SM, swine manure; SOC, soil organic carbon; DOC, dissolved organic carbon; EC, electricity conductivity.</p

Template-free Synthesis of Large-Pore-Size Porous Magnesium Silicate Hierarchical Nanostructures for High-Efficiency Removal of Heavy Metal Ions

It remains a big challenge to develop high-efficiency and low-cost adsorption materials to remove toxic heavy metal ions in water. Here, we developed a template-free synthesis method to fabricate high surface area and large pore size magnesium silicate hierarchical nanostructures in a mixed solvent of ethanol and water and carefully investigated the corresponding adsorption behavior for Pb2+, Zn2+, and Cu2+ in aqueous solution. The results reveal that the ethanol volume fraction in the solvent plays an important role to optimize the pore structure, which directly determines the adsorption capacity and the adsorption rate for heavy metal ions. When the ethanol volume fraction is beyond 50%, the obtained magnesium silicate presents a flowerlike structure with a hierarchical pore distribution: 0.5–2, 2–30, and 30–200 nm. When the ethanol volume faction is 90%, for example, the sample exhibits a maximum adsorption capacity of 436.68, 78.86, and 52.30 mg/g for Pb2+, Zn2+, and Cu2+ ions, which has a BET surface area of 650.50 m2/g and an average pore diameter of 6.89 nm, respectively. Also, the sample presents excellent repeated adsorption performance after three elutions. The obtained materials show widely promising and practical applications in water treatment in a wide pH range from 2.8 to 5.8

Expression of <i>AtEXP2</i> in response to paclobutrazol treatment.

<p><i>AtEXP2</i> expression was determined by quantitative real-time RT-PCR in 24 h imbibed seeds treated with 10 µM PAC or without (Mock). Error bars represent SD. A Student’s t-test was calculated at the probability of 5% (*P<0.05).</p

Effects of DELLA on <i>AtEXP2</i> expression during seed germination.

<p>Expression level of <i>AtEXP2</i> was measured in 24 h imbibed seeds of wild type, <i>ga1-3</i>, and various <i>DELLA</i> mutants. <i>penta</i> indicates the <i>ga1-3 gai-t6 rga-t2 rgl1-1 rgl2-1</i> mutant. Error bars represent SD. A Student’s t-test was calculated at the probability of 1% (**P<0.01).</p

Germination phenotype of the wild type, <i>exp2</i>, and <i>35S:AtEXP2</i> line in response to abiotic stresses.

<p>Seeds of wild type, <i>exp2</i> and <i>35S:AtEXP2</i> line were treated with different concentrations of NaCl (100 or 200 mM), sucrose (150 or 250 mM) and mannitol (200 or 400 mM). Error bars represent SD. A Student’s t-test was calculated at the probability of either 5% (*P<0.05) or 1% (**P<0.01).</p