Grazing intensity and soil depth effects on soil properties in alpine meadow pastures of Qilian Mountain in northwest China

<div><p>In the mountainous rangeland of inland arid regions of Eurasia, seasonal grazing has been important to local communities for production of food, fiber, and for income, for the past thousand years. Recent population increases and other changes have put traditional grazing systems under pressure. However, empirical data describing soil properties or the impact of traditional grazing practice on the thresholds at which increase in animal stocking rate (SR) may result in degradation are lacking. Here, we provide, for alpine “typical steppe” at Qilian Mountain on the Tibetan plateau in China, a description of variation in some soil properties with soil depth, and with variation in grazing intensity. The soils studied have a humus-rich epipedon typically exceeding our sampling depth of 40 cm. As commonly reported, increased grazing intensity has correlated with depletion in soil organic carbon (SOC). Regression of our SOC data on SR indicated no “safe” threshold for grazing intensity below which SOC depletion would not occur. Other soil changes linked to increased grazing intensity in our study included a lowering of the carbon:nitrogen ratio (indicating possibly increased risk of nitrogen loss from farming systems to the wider environment), an increase in soil bulk density, a decrease in soil moisture content, and transfer of phosphorus from less intensively grazed areas toward animal night pens. Our study site is experiencing a climate warming trend which may be contributing to loss of SOC.</p></div

Development of Planar Chiral Iodoarenes Based on [2.2]Paracyclophane and Their Application in Catalytic Enantioselective Fluorination of β‑Ketoesters

The design and synthesis of novel planar chiral iodoarenes based on [2.2]­paracyclophane is reported. A process of highly enantioselective oxidative fluorination of a β-ketoester with 3HF–Et₃N as a nucleophilic fluoride source mediated by these new hypervalent iodine catalysts has been developed. This represents the first highly enantioselective reaction catalyzed by planar chiral hypervalent iodine

Supplemental Material - Development and characterization of kapok/waste silk nonwoven as a multifunctional bio-based material for textile applications

Supplemental Material for Development and characterization of kapok/waste silk nonwoven as a multifunctional bio-based material for textile applications by Hongchang Wang, Liyao Cao, Hang Yuan, Yuling Li, Run Wen and guangbiao Xu in Journal of Industrial Textiles.</p

Kinetics of cytokine and interferon stimulated gene expression in XSCID canine keratinocytes stimulated with poly(dA:dT).

<p><b>A and B</b> Keratinocytes were seeded into multiple wells and cultured as a monolayer for 24(dA:dT) or medium alone. RNA was extracted after 2, 4, and 6 days post-stimulation. Cytokine (<b>A</b>) and interferon stimulated gene (<b>B</b>) expression was determined by quantitative RT-PCR. Resulting Cq values were normalized to a reference gene and calibrated to mRNA expression in unstimulated keratinocytes (ΔΔCq). Results are expressed as mean +/− SD of three replicate experiments performed in triplicate. Each experiment used keratinocytes derived from a different normal control dog (n = 3) and one of two different XSCID dogs (n = 2).</p

Kinetics of cytokine and interferon stimulated gene expression in XSCID canine keratinocytes infected with CPV-2.

<p><b>A and B</b> Keratinocytes were seeded into multiple wells and cultured as a monolayer for 24-2 (CPV-2) (200 viral particle per cell) or medium alone. RNA was extracted after 2, 4, and 6 days post-infection (DPI). Cytokine (<b>A</b>) and interferon stimulated gene (<b>B</b>) expression was determined by quantitative RT-PCR. Resulting Cq values were normalized to a reference gene and calibrated to mRNA expression in unstimulated keratinocytes (ΔΔCq). Results are expressed as mean +/− SD of three replicate experiments performed in triplicate. Each experiment used keratinocytes derived from a different normal control dog (n = 3) and one of two different XSCID dogs (n = 2). <b>C</b> RT-PCR for the CPV-2 spliced transcripts E1∧E2 and reference gene (GAPDH) in non-infected and infected keratinocytes. Results are shown from one experiment performed in triplicate at 2 DPI. Similar results obtained at 4 and 6 days post infection in all replicate experiments. Data is representative of three independent experiments performed in triplicate.</p

Treatment type, date of treatment, and course of papillomavirus infection in XSCID dogs from this study.

<p>* No SCC; SCC =  squamous cell carcinoma.</p

Primer sets, product size, and GenBank accession numbers for RT-PCR.

<p>*Primer pair used to detect 4-bp deletion in XSCID keratinocytes.</p

Cs₂CO₃‑Promoted One-Pot Synthesis of Alkynylphosphonates, -phosphinates, and -phosphine Oxides

A novel and efficient Cs₂CO₃-promoted phosphorylation or phosphinylation of various 1,1-dibromo-1-alkenes with readily available trialkyl phosphites, ethyl diphenylphosphinite, or diethyl phenylphosphonite has been developed under metal-free conditions, providing a practical and powerful tool for one-pot synthesis of valuable alkynylphosphonates, -phosphinates, and -phosphine oxides in good to excellent yields

Confirmation of γ_c-deficient primary keratinocyte cultures from bone marrow transplanted XSCID dogs.

<p><b>A</b> The genetic mutation in XSCID dogs is a 4 base pair deletion in exon 1 of γ_c. <b>B</b> RT-PCR was performed in duplicate on cDNA isolated from primary keratinocyte cultures using primer pairs that span the 4 base pair deletion in γ_c. Results are shown from one experiment performed on one normal dog and one XSCID dog. Similar results were obtained from two other experiments using keratinocytes derived from a second XSCID dog and two normal control dogs. The PCR product size from normal dogs is 114 bps and from XSCID dogs is 110 bps. Positive controls included genomic DNA from normal canine skin and splenic genomic DNA from non-bone marrow transplanted XSCID dog.</p

Expression of γ_c -dependent cytokine receptors in XSCID and normal keratinocyte cultures.

<p>RT-PCR for γ_c and alpha subunits was performed on monolayer keratinocyte cultures 24 hours after seeding. Results shown are from cultures derived from two XSCID dogs and three normal control dogs. Positive control included cDNA from either canine histiocytic or lymphocytic cell lines.</p