Melatonin Enhances the Postharvest Disease Resistance of Blueberries Fruit by Modulating the Jasmonic Acid Signaling Pathway and Phenylpropanoid Metabolites

In this study, to investigate the physiological and molecular mechanisms of melatonin inhibiting the postharvest rot of blueberry fruits, blueberry fruits were dipped in 0.3 mmol L−1 melatonin solution for 3 min and stored at 0°C for 80 days. The results indicated that melatonin did not significantly (p > 0.05) inhibit the mycelial growth or spore germination of Alternaria alternata, Botrytis cinerea, and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. In addition, an in vivo study revealed that melatonin treatment increased the enzymatic activities of phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), cinnamate 4-hydroxylase (C4H), 4-coumarate-CoA ligase (4CL), cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), and peroxidase (POD) in fruits. Furthermore, genes related to jasmonic acid synthesis were upregulated (VaLOX, VaAOS, and VaAOC), as were those related to pathogenesis-related proteins (VaGLU and VaCHT) and phenylpropane metabolism (VaPAL, VaC4H, Va4CL, VaCAD, VaPPO, and VaPOD), which promoted the accumulation of total phenols, flavonoids, anthocyanins, and lignin in the fruits. These results suggest that melatonin enhances the postharvest disease resistance of blueberry fruits by mediating the jasmonic acid signaling pathway and the phenylpropane pathway

Impacts of Tides and Typhoon Fanapi (2010) on Seas Around Taiwan

We used satellite data, typhoon-resolving atmospheric forcing and a data assimilating ocean model, the East Asian Seas Nowcast/Forecast System (EASNFS), to investigate circulation and three upwelling regions perturbed by tides and Typhoon Fanapi (2010) in the seas around Taiwan. The three upwelling areas located off northeast Taiwan, off southeast China and over the Penghu Channel off southwest Taiwan are normally limited in expanse before Fanapi. The tidal currents enhance all three. To cope with typhoon strength atmospheric forcing, we applied typhoon-resolving Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model wind fields that significantly enhanced Fanapi-induced upwelling. Approaching Taiwan, Fanapi induces a cold wake spreading preferably on the right side of the essentially westward running track in the western Pacific. The three upwelling areas in the East China Sea and Taiwan Strait subsequently become expansive as Fanapi approaches and enters the Taiwan Strait. The mechanisms leading to normal or Fanapi-perturbed upwelling and circulation in seas around Taiwan, especially the latter two mentioned above, are suggested. In essence, Fanapi disrupts circulation in the Taiwan Strait, and also the Taiwan Strait outflow entering the East China Sea, leading to expanded upwelling areas. We also suggest that high-resolution wind and tides application is essential for the upwelling modeling study and also the general circulation in the region with and without typhoons

Isolated pancreatic metastasis from rectal cancer: a case report and review of literature

Isolated pancreatic metastases from a non-pancreatic primary malignancy are very rare. Studies have shown that resection of metastases is of proven benefit in some types of tumors. We report a case of 76-year-old Taiwanese woman with rectal adenocarcinoma treated with neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and abdominoperineal resection 2 years ago presenting with an asymptomatic mass at the pancreatic tail on a routine follow up abdominal computed tomography scan. The patient underwent distal pancreatectomy and splenectomy under the preoperative impression of a primary pancreatic malignancy. Histological examination of the surgical specimen showed metastatic adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemical studies confirmed the diagnosis of pancreatic metastasis from rectal adenocarcinoma. Postoperative chemotherapy in the form of oral capecitabine was given. The patient is alive and disease free 12 months after the surgery. In a patient presenting with a pancreatic mass with history of a non-pancreatic malignancy, a differential diagnosis of pancreatic metastasis should be considered. Surgical resection of a solitary pancreatic mass is justified not only to get the definitive diagnosis but also to improve the survival

Statefinder Diagnosis for Ricci Dark Energy

Statefinder diagnostic is a useful method which can differ one dark energy model from each others. In this letter, we apply this method to a holographic dark energy model from Ricci scalar curvature, called the Ricci dark energy model(RDE). We plot the evolutionary trajectories of this model in the statefinder parameter-planes, and it is found that the parameter of this model plays a significant role from the statefinder viewpoint. In a very special case, the statefinder diagnostic fails to discriminate LCDM and RDE models, thus we apply a new diagnostic called the Om diagnostic proposed recently to this model in this case in Appendix A and it works well.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, v2:minor error corrected in Section II, v3: refs adde

Reconstructing f(R)f(R) Theory from Ricci Dark Energy

In this letter, we regard the $f(R)$ theory as an effective description for the acceleration of the universe and reconstruct the function $f(R)$ from the Ricci dark energy, which respects holographic principle of quantum gravity. By using different parameter $\alpha$ in RDE, we show the behaviors of reconstructed $f(R)$ and find they are much different in the future.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figure

Experimental Gaussian Boson Sampling

Gaussian Boson sampling (GBS) provides a highly efficient approach to make use of squeezed states from parametric down-conversion to solve a classically hard-to-solve sampling problem. The GBS protocol not only significantly enhances the photon generation probability, compared to standard boson sampling with single photon Fock states, but also links to potential applications such as dense subgraph problems and molecular vibronic spectra. Here, we report the first experimental demonstration of GBS using squeezed-state sources with simultaneously high photon indistinguishability and collection efficiency. We implement and validate 3-, 4- and 5-photon GBS with high sampling rates of 832 kHz, 163 kHz and 23 kHz, respectively, which is more than 4.4, 12.0, and 29.5 times faster than the previous experiments. Further, we observe a quantum speed-up on a NP-hard optimization problem when comparing with simulated thermal sampler and uniform sampler.Comment: 12 pages, 4 figures, published online on 2nd April 201