Application fruit tree hole storage brick fertilizer is beneficial to increase the nitrogen utilization of grape under subsurface drip irrigation

It is very important to promote plant growth and decrease the nitrogen leaching in soil, to improve nitrogen (N) utilization efficiency. In this experiment, we designed a new fertilization strategy, fruit tree hole storage brick (FTHSB) application under subsurface drip irrigation, to characterise the effects of FTHSB addition on N absorption and utilization in grapes. Three treatments were set in this study, including subsurface drip irrigation (CK) control, fruit tree hole storage brick A (T1) treatment, and fruit tree hole storage brick B (T2) treatment. Results showed that the pore number and size of FTHSB A were significantly higher than FTHSB B. Compared with CK, T1 and T2 treatments significantly increased the biomass of different organs of grape, N utilization and 15N content in the roots, stems and leaves, along with more prominent promotion at T1 treatment. When the soil depth was 15–30 cm, the FTHSB application significantly increased the soil 15N content. But when the soil depth was 30–45 cm, it reduced the soil 15N content greatly. T1 and T2 treatments obviously increased the activities of nitrite reductase (NR) and glutamine synthetase (GS) in grape leaves, also the urease activity(UR) in 30 cm of soil. Our findings suggest that FTHSB promoted plant N utilization by reducing N loss in soil and increasing the enzyme activity related to nitrogen metabolism. In addition, this study showed that FTHSB A application was more effective than FTHSB B in improving nitrogen utilization in grapes

Metabolomics and Its Application in the Development of Discovering Biomarkers for Osteoporosis Research

Osteoporosis is a progressive skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass and increased risk of fracture in later life. The incidence and costs associated with treating osteoporosis cause heavy socio-economic burden. Currently, the diagnosis of osteoporosis mainly depends on bone mineral density and bone turnover markers. However, these indexes are not sensitive and accurate enough to reflect the osteoporosis progression. Metabolomics offers the potential for a holistic approach for clinical diagnoses and treatment, as well as understanding of the pathological mechanism of osteoporosis. In this review, we firstly describe the study subjects of osteoporosis and bio-sample preparation procedures for different analytic purposes, followed by illustrating the biomarkers with potentially predictive, diagnosis and pharmaceutical values when applied in osteoporosis research. Then, we summarize the published metabolic pathways related to osteoporosis. Furthermore, we discuss the importance of chronological data and combination of multi-omics in fully understanding osteoporosis. The application of metabolomics in osteoporosis could provide researchers the opportunity to gain new insight into the metabolic profiling and pathophysiological mechanisms. However, there is still much to be done to validate the potential biomarkers responsible for the progression of osteoporosis and there are still many details needed to be further elucidated

β-Phenethyl Isothiocyanate Induces Cell Death in Human Osteosarcoma through Altering Iron Metabolism, Disturbing the Redox Balance, and Activating the MAPK Signaling Pathway

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary malignancy of the skeleton in children and adults. The outcomes of people with osteosarcomas are unsatisfied. β-Phenethyl isothiocyanate (PEITC) exhibits chemoprevention and chemotherapeutic activities against many human cancers. The molecular mechanism underlying its action on osteosarcoma is still unknown. This study was aimed at investigating the effect of PEITC on human osteosarcoma both in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that PEITC reduced cell viability, inhibited proliferation, and caused G2/M cell cycle arrest in four human osteosarcoma cell lines (MNNG/HOS, U-2 OS, MG-63, and 143B). Then, we found that PEITC altered iron metabolism related to the processes of iron import, storage, and export, which resulted in increased labile iron. Expectedly, PEITC caused oxidative stress as a consequence of GSH depletion-inducing ROS generation and lipid peroxidation. Multiple cell death modalities, including ferroptosis, apoptosis, and autophagy, were triggered in human osteosarcoma cells. Three MAPKs (ERK, p38, and JNK) were all activated after PEITC treatment; however, they presented different responses among the four human osteosarcoma cell lines. ROS generation was proved to be the major cause of PEITC-induced decreased proliferative potential, altered iron metabolism, cell death, and activated MAPKs in human osteosarcoma cells. In addition, PEITC also significantly delayed tumor growth in a xenograft osteosarcoma mouse model with a 30 mg/kg administration dose. In conclusion, this study reveals that PEITC simultaneously triggers ferroptosis, apoptosis, and autophagy in human osteosarcoma cells by inducing oxidative stress

An Energy-Efficient Timetable Optimization Approach in a Bi-DirectionUrban Rail Transit Line: A Mixed-Integer Linear Programming Model

The quick growth of energy consumption in urban rail transit has drawn much attention due to the pressure of both operational cost and environmental responsibilities. In this paper, the timetable is optimized with respect to the system cost of urban rail transit, which pays more attention to energy consumption. Firstly, we propose a Mixed-Integer Non-Linear Programming (MINLP) model including the non-linear objective and constraints. The objective and constraints are linearized for an easier process of solution. Then, a Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model is employed, which is solved using the commercial solver Gurobi. Furthermore, from the viewpoint of system cost, we present an alternative objective to optimize the total operational cost. Real Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) data from the Changping Line of Beijing urban rail transit is applied to validate the model in the case study. The results show that the designed timetable could achieve about a 35% energy reduction compared with the maximum energy consumption and a 6.6% cost saving compared with the maximum system cost

The Synthesis, Structure, and Dielectric Properties of a One-Dimensional Hydrogen-Bonded DL-α-Phenylglycine Supramolecular Crown-Ether-Based Inclusion Compound

A novel hydrogen-bonded supramolecular crown-ether-based inclusion compound, [(DL-α-Phenylglycine)(18-crown-6)]+[(CoCl4)0.5]−(1), was obtained via evaporation in a methanolic solution at room temperature using DL-α-phenylglycine, 18-crown-6, cobalt chloride (CoCl2), and hydrochloric acid. Its structure, thermal properties, and electrical properties were characterized via elemental analysis, single-crystal X-ray diffraction, variable-temperature infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, and variable temperature–variable frequency dielectric constant testing. The compound was a monoclinic crystal system in the C2 space group at low temperature (100 K) and room temperature (293 K). Analysis of the single crystal structure showed that [(CoCl4)0.5]− presented an edge-sharing ditetrahedral structure in the disordered state, while the protonated DL-α-phenylglycine molecule in the disordered state and intramolecular hydroxyl group (-OH) underwent dynamic rocking, causing a significant stretching motion of the O-H···Cl-type one-dimensional hydrogen bond chain. This resulted in dielectric anomalies in the three axes of the crystal, thus showing significant dielectric anisotropy

Individual and Combined Effects of 3D Buildings and Green Spaces on the Urban Thermal Environment: A Case Study in Jinan, China

This study aimed to accurately grasp the impact mechanism and change rule of buildings and green spaces on land surface temperature (LST), which is of great significance for alleviating urban heat islands (UHIs) and formulating adaptation measures. Taking Jinan, China, as the study area, combined multisource remote sensing data were used in this study to construct an index system of the influencing factors. We used a spatial regression model to explore the relative contribution of the influencing indicators on LST. We also drew a marginal utility curve to quantify the heating/cooling effect of the leading indicators. The results showed that, firstly, among the 3D building indicators, the leading indicators affecting LST were the degree of spatial convergence (SCD) and the building surface area (BSA). Among the green space indicators, the largest patch index (LPI), green coverage rate (GCR), and edge density (ED) were significantly negatively correlated with LST. Secondly, when we considered the 15 indicators comprehensively, SCD was the most influential indicator, with a contribution of 24.7%, and the contribution of the green space indicators to LST was significantly reduced. Thirdly, among the leading indicators, SCD was positively correlated with LST. When SCD was less than 60%, LST increased by about 0.38 °C for every 10% increase. When GCR > 44%, LST was significantly reduced, and when GCR > 62%, a cooling effect of 1.1 °C was observed. Beyond this threshold, the cooling effect will not improve significantly. This study shows that when 3D buildings are densely distributed and crowded, the cooling effect of green space will be limited to some extent by 3D buildings. The key to mitigating UHIs is to rationally configure and optimize the spatial structure of 3D buildings

Effect of Aerated Irrigation on the Growth and Rhizosphere Soil Fungal Community Structure of Greenhouse Grape Seedlings

Conventional irrigation methods decrease greenhouse soil aeration, which leads to restricted root growth and reduced soil fungal abundance in greenhouse grapes. In this study, aerated irrigation equipment was used to investigate the effects of aerated irrigation on the biomass accumulation, root growth, and soil fungal community structure of grape seedlings. The results show that aerated irrigation significantly increased the root length, root surface area, root volume, and number of root tips by 38.5%, 32.1%, 62.1%, and 23.4%, respectively, at a soil depth of 20–40 cm (p ≤ 0.05). The chao1 index and ACE index of fungi at different soil depths under aerated irrigation were higher than those without aerated treatment; aerated irrigation changed the relative abundance of dominant fungi in rhizosphere soil. At a soil depth of 20–40 cm, aerated irrigation increased the abundance of Fusarium by 42.2%. Aerated irrigation also contributed to the abundance of the beneficial fungal genera Mortierella, Cladosporium, and Glomus. At a soil depth of 0–20 cm, the abundance of Mortierella in the soil that received aerated treatment was 180.6% higher than in the control treatment. These findings suggest that aerated irrigation is a promising strategy for the promotion of grape root growth and biomass accumulation, and it can also increase the abundance of some beneficial fungi

Structural and functional brain alterations in end stage renal disease patients on routine hemodialysis: a voxel-based morphometry and resting state functional connectivity study.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Cognitive impairment is a well-described phenomenon in end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. However, its pathogenesis remains poorly understood. The primary focus of this study was to examine structural and functional brain deficits in ESRD patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty ESRD patients on hemodialysis (without clinical neurological disease) and 30 age- and gender-matched control individuals (without renal or neurological problems) were recruited in a prospective, single-center study. High-resolution structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and resting state functional MRI were performed on both groups to detect the subtle cerebral deficits in ESRD patients. Voxel-based morphometry was used to characterize gray matter deficits in ESRD patients. The impact of abnormal morphometry on the cerebral functional integrity was investigated by evaluating the alterations in resting state functional connectivity when brain regions with gray matter volume reduction were used as seed areas. RESULTS: A significant decrease in gray matter volume was observed in ESRD patients in the bilateral medial orbito-prefrontal cortices, bilateral dorsal lateral prefrontal cortices, and the left middle temporal cortex. When brain regions with gray matter volume reduction were used as seed areas, the integration was found to be significantly decreased in ESRD patients in the fronto-cerebellum circuits and within prefrontal circuits. In addition, significantly enhanced functional connectivity was found between the prefrontal cortex and the left temporal cortex and within the prefrontal circuits. CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed that both the structural and functional cerebral cortices were impaired in ESRD patients on routine hemodialysis