Effects of Resveratrol on Superficial Scald of 'Dangshansuli' Pears

The effects of resveratrol (Res) on the quality and superficial scald of ‘Dangshansuli’ pears (Pyrus bretchnederi Rehd.) during cold storage (0±0.5°C) and shelf life (20°C) were investigated. The results showed that treatments with 0.1, 1.0, 10 and 100 mg L-1 Res significantly delayed the decrease of firmness, soluble solids contents (SSC), juice rate, reduced the relative conductivity, MDA, α-farnesene and conjugated trienes in the cold storage. At the end of 210 d storage, α-farnesene of control, 0.1, 1.0, 10 and 100 mg L-1 Res treatments were 14.81, 11.0, 10.49, 9.31 and 11.4 nmol cm-2, respectively. Whereas conjugated trienes were 6.38, 4.17, 4.04, 3.67 and 4.39 nmol cm-2 respectively. After 210 d, the scald incidence of control, 0.1, 1.0, 10 and 100 mg L-1 Res treatment were 45.5%, 4.3%, 0%, 0% and 7.1%, respectively, and their scald index were 18.2%, 2.9%, 0%, 0% and 3.1%, respectively. After additional 7 d at 20°C, scald incidence successively were 100%, 21.4%, 22.4%, 14.1% and 20.9%, while the scald index were 71.2%, 23.3%, 22.9%, 15.4% and 22.8%, respectively. Res treatments maintained the quality and inhibited superficial scald, and 10 mg L-1 Res was the optimum treatment. Thus, it is likely that Res can serve as a potential antioxidant for the preservation and storage of postharvest ‘Dangshansuli’ pears

Genome-wide identification and characterization of LcCCR13 reveals its potential role in lignin biosynthesis in Liriodendron chinense

IntroductionWood formation is closely related to lignin biosynthesis. Cinnamoyl-CoA reductase (CCR) catalyzes the conversion of cinnamoyl-CoA to cinnamaldehydes, which is the initiation of the lignin biosynthesis pathway and a crucial point in the manipulation of associated traits. Liriodendron chinense is an economically significant timber tree. Nevertheless, the underlying mechanism of wood formation in it remains unknown; even the number of LcCCR family members in this species is unclear.Materials and ResultsThis study aimed to perform a genome-wide identification of genes(s) involved in lignin biosynthesis in L. chinense via RT-qPCR assays and functional verification. Altogether, 13 LcCCR genes were identified that were divided into four major groups based on structural and phylogenetic features. The gene structures and motif compositions were strongly conserved between members of the same groups. Subsequently, the expression patterns analysis based on RNA-seq data indicated that LcCCR5/7/10/12/13 had high expression in the developing xylem at the stem (DXS). Furthermore, the RT-qPCR assays showed that LcCCR13 had the highest expression in the stem as compared to other tissues. Moreover, the overexpression of the LcCCR13 in transgenic tobacco plants caused an improvement in the CCR activity and lignin content, indicating that it plays a key role in lignin biosynthesis in the stems.DiscussionOur research lays a foundation for deeper investigation of the lignin synthesis and uncovers the genetic basis of wood formation in L. chinense

Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration triggers redistribution of nitrogen to promote tillering in rice

Elevated atmospheric CO2 concentration (eCO2) often reduces nitrogen (N) content in rice plants and stimulates tillering. However, there is a general consensus that reduced N would constrain rice tillering. To resolve this contradiction, we investigated N distribution and transcriptomic changes in different rice plant organs after subjecting them to eCO2 and different N application rates. Our results showed that eCO2 significantly promoted rice tillers (by 0.6, 1.1, 1.7, and 2.1 tillers/plant at 0, 75, 150, and 225 kg N ha−1 N application rates, respectively) and more tillers were produced under higher N application rates, confirming that N availability constrained tillering in the early stages of growth. Although N content declined in the leaves (−11.0 to −20.7 mg g−1) and sheaths (−9.8 to −28.8 mg g−1) of rice plants exposed to eCO2, the N content of newly emerged tillers on plants exposed to eCO2 equaled or exceeded the N content of tillers produced under ambient CO2 conditions. Apparently, the redistribution of N within the plant per se was a critical adaptation strategy to the eCO2 condition. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that eCO2 induced less extensive alteration of gene expression than did N application. Most importantly, the expression levels of multiple N-related transporters and receptors such as nitrate transporter NRT2.3a/b and NRT1.1a/b were differentially regulated in leaf and shoot apical meristem, suggesting that multiple genes were involved in sensing the N signal and transporting N metabolites to adapt to eCO2. The redistribution of N in different organs could be a universal adaptation strategy of terrestrial plants to eCO2

Modified tibial cortex transverse transport for diabetic foot ulcers with Wagner grade ≥ II: a study of 98 patients

BackgroundDiabetic foot ulcers constitute a substantial healthcare burden on a global scale and present challenges in achieving healing. Our objective was to assess the efficacy of modified tibial cortex transverse transport surgery in managing refractory diabetic foot ulcers.MethodsWe retrospectively analyzed clinical data from 98 patients suffering from diabetic foot ulcers classified as Wagner grade ≥II who were admitted to our medical facility between January 2020 and June 2022. All the patients were treated by modified tibial cortex transverse transport surgery, wherein the osteotomy scope was reduced to two rectangular bone windows measuring 1.5cm × 1.5cm each. Record the patient’s general information and ulcer healing time; ulcer area, ankle-brachial index, WIFi classification, and visual analogue scale before and 3 months following the surgical intervention.ResultsThe average duration of diabetes of 98 patients with diabetic foot ulcer was 20.22 ± 8.02 years, 52 patients had more than one toe gangrene on admission. The postoperative wound healing rate was 95.83% and the average healing time was 53.18 ± 20.18 days. The patients showed significant improvement in ankle-brachial index, WIFi classification, and visual analogue scale at 3 months postoperatively compared to preoperatively, with statistically significant differences (P< 0.05). Eight patients experienced complications, and the incidence of complications was 8.16%. Throughout the follow-up period, there were no instances of ulcer recurrence noted.ConclusionModified tibial cortex transverse transport surgery demonstrates effectiveness in the management of diabetic foot ulcers by enhancing lower limb microcirculation and facilitating the process of wound healing

Development of cylindrical laminated methanol steam reforming microreactor with cascading metal foams as catalyst support

In this study, the cascading metal foams were used as catalyst supports for constructing a new type of cylindrical laminated methanol steam reforming microreactor for hydrogen production. The two-layer impregnation method was used to load the Cu/Zn/Al/Zr catalysts, and the ultrasonic vibration method was then employed to investigate the loading performance of metal foams with different types and thicknesses. Furthermore, the effect of the type of catalyst placement, pores per inch (PPI) and foam type on the performance of methanol steam reforming microreactor was studied by varying the gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) and reaction temperature. Compared with two other types of catalyst placement studied, the microreactor containing catalyst-loaded metal foams without clearance cascading (3 × 2) showed the highest hydrogen production performance. When the PPI of the metal foam was increased from 50 to 100, both the methanol conversion and the H2 flow rate gradually increased. Our results also showed that a microreactor with Cu foam as a catalyst support exhibits increased hydrogen production and higher stability than those of a microreactor with Ni foam

Large expert-curated database for benchmarking document similarity detection in biomedical literature search

Document recommendation systems for locating relevant literature have mostly relied on methods developed a decade ago. This is largely due to the lack of a large offline gold-standard benchmark of relevant documents that cover a variety of research fields such that newly developed literature search techniques can be compared, improved and translated into practice. To overcome this bottleneck, we have established the RElevant LIterature SearcH consortium consisting of more than 1500 scientists from 84 countries, who have collectively annotated the relevance of over 180 000 PubMed-listed articles with regard to their respective seed (input) article/s. The majority of annotations were contributed by highly experienced, original authors of the seed articles. The collected data cover 76% of all unique PubMed Medical Subject Headings descriptors. No systematic biases were observed across different experience levels, research fields or time spent on annotations. More importantly, annotations of the same document pairs contributed by different scientists were highly concordant. We further show that the three representative baseline methods used to generate recommended articles for evaluation (Okapi Best Matching 25, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency and PubMed Related Articles) had similar overall performances. Additionally, we found that these methods each tend to produce distinct collections of recommended articles, suggesting that a hybrid method may be required to completely capture all relevant articles. The established database server located at https://relishdb.ict.griffith.edu.au is freely available for the downloading of annotation data and the blind testing of new methods. We expect that this benchmark will be useful for stimulating the development of new powerful techniques for title and title/abstract-based search engines for relevant articles in biomedical research.Peer reviewe

Enhancement of Cell Behavior by the Polysaccharide Extract of <i>Arthrospira</i> and Potential Biomedical Applications

Arthrospira is one of the most studied cyanobacteria and has been reported with practical applications. Among the substances derived from Arthrospira, polysaccharides have received relatively less attention than phycocyanins, though they have more abundant structural variations and specific properties. Herein, a new Arthrospira-derived sulfated polysaccharide was explored for its potential bioactive functions. The ability of this sulfated polysaccharide to promote the behavior of neural stem cells (NSCs) in three-dimensional hydrogel was examined for the first time. NSCs encapsulated in the sulfated polysaccharide-containing hydrogel showed better proliferation than the control hydrogel as well as a unique cell clustering behavior, i.e., formation of multicellular spherical clusters (40–60 μm). The sulfated polysaccharide, in an appropriate range of concentration (5 mg/mL), also maintained the stemness of NSCs in hydrogel and facilitated their differentiation. In addition, the potentials of the new sulfated polysaccharide as a coating material and as a component for drug carrier were verified. The sulfated polysaccharide-modified substrate exhibited superhydrophilicity (contact angle ~9°) and promoted cell adhesion to the substrate. Composite nanoparticles composed of the sulfated polysaccharide and other differently charged polysaccharides were produced with an average diameter of ~240 nm and estimated drug loading of ~18%. The new Arthrospira-derived sulfated polysaccharide is a promising candidate for cell culture, surface-modification, and drug-delivery applications in the biomedical field

Self-healing hydrogel as an injectable implant: translation in brain diseases

Abstract Tissue engineering biomaterials are aimed to mimic natural tissue and promote new tissue formation for the treatment of impaired or diseased tissues. Highly porous biomaterial scaffolds are often used to carry cells or drugs to regenerate tissue-like structures. Meanwhile, self-healing hydrogel as a category of smart soft hydrogel with the ability to automatically repair its own structure after damage has been developed for various applications through designs of dynamic crosslinking networks. Due to flexibility, biocompatibility, and ease of functionalization, self-healing hydrogel has great potential in regenerative medicine, especially in restoring the structure and function of impaired neural tissue. Recent researchers have developed self-healing hydrogel as drug/cell carriers or tissue support matrices for targeted injection via minimally invasive surgery, which has become a promising strategy in treating brain diseases. In this review, the development history of self-healing hydrogel for biomedical applications and the design strategies according to different crosslinking (gel formation) mechanisms are summarized. The current therapeutic progress of self-healing hydrogels for brain diseases is described as well, with an emphasis on the potential therapeutic applications validated by in vivo experiments. The most recent aspect as well as the design rationale of self-healing hydrogel for different brain diseases is also addressed

Molecular dynamics simulation of the thermal pulse explosion of metal nanowire

Molecular dynamics simulation of the thermal pulse explosion of metal nanowire, which modeled the slow mode electric explosion of metal wire, was carried out. The potential calculated in the framework of the embedded atom method (EAM). The expansion of wire core and the explosion products in the simulated system were investigated. Simulation results confirm that the collapse of material tensile stress triggers the cavitation and subsequent explosion; due to size effect, the thermal pulse explosion is not preferential atoms evaporation, but clustered together into clusters synchronously; small clusters and free atoms formed in the nanowire explosion account for a certain proportion of the total mass which cannot be ignored in nanoscale objects. It is shown that this method can simulate the slow mode electric explosion of metal wires (EEW) effectively