The EU and the Catalan Crisis

List of all differentially expressed proteins (n = 45) identified in the study. (XLSX 11 kb

Host-Sensitized and Tunable Luminescence of GdNbO₄:Ln³⁺ (Ln³⁺ = Eu³⁺/Tb³⁺/Tm³⁺) Nanocrystalline Phosphors with Abundant Color

Up to now, GdNbO₄ has always been regarded as an essentially inert material in the visible region with excitation of UV light and electron beams. Nevertheless, here we demonstrate a new recreating blue emission of GdNbO₄ nanocrystalline phosphors with a quantum efficiency of 41.6% and host sensitized luminescence in GdNbO₄:Ln³⁺ (Ln³⁺ = Eu³⁺/Tb³⁺/Tm³⁺) nanocrystalline phosphors with abundant color in response to UV light and electron beams. The GdNbO₄ and GdNbO₄:Ln³⁺ (Ln³⁺ = Eu³⁺/Tb³⁺/Tm³⁺) nanocrystalline phosphors were synthesized by a Pechini-type sol–gel process. With excitation of UV light and low-voltage electron beams, the obtained GdNbO₄ nanocrystalline phosphor presents a strong blue luminescence from 280 to 650 nm centered around 440 nm, and the GdNbO₄:Ln³⁺ nanocrystalline phosphors show both host emission and respective emission lines derived from the characterize f–f transitions of the doping Eu³⁺, Tb³⁺, and Tm³⁺ ions. The luminescence color of GdNbO₄:Ln³⁺ nanocrystalline phosphors can be tuned from blue to green, red, blue-green, orange, pinkish, white, etc. by varying the doping species, concentration, and relative ratio of the codoping rare earth ions in GdNbO₄ host lattice. A single-phase white-light-emission has been realized in Eu³⁺/Tb³⁺/Tm³⁺ triply doped GdNbO₄ nanocrystalline phosphors. The luminescence properties and mechanisms of GdNbO₄ and GdNbO₄:Ln³⁺ (Ln³⁺ = Eu³⁺/Tb³⁺/Tm³⁺) are updated

Contrasting Effects of Long-Term Grazing and Clipping on Plant Morphological Plasticity: Evidence from a Rhizomatous Grass

<div><p>Understanding the mechanism of plant morphological plasticity in response to grazing and clipping of semiarid grassland can provide insight into the process of disturbance-induced decline in grassland productivity. In recent studies there has been controversy regarding two hypotheses: 1) grazing avoidance; and 2) growth limiting mechanisms of morphological plasticity in response to defoliation. However, the experimental evidence presented for the memory response to grazing and clipping of plants has been poorly reported. This paper reports on two experiments that tested these hypotheses in field and in a controlled environment, respectively. We examined the effects of long-term clipping and grazing on the functional traits and their plasticity for <i>Leymus chinensis</i> (Trin.) Tzvelev (the dominate species) in the typical-steppe grassland of Inner Mongolia, China. There were four main findings from these experiments. (i) The majority of phenotypic traits of <i>L</i>. <i>chinensis</i> tended to significantly miniaturize in response to long-term field clipping and grazing. (ii) The significant response of morphological plasticity with and without grazing was maintained in a hydroponic experiment designed to remove environmental variability, but there was no significant difference in <i>L</i>. <i>chinensis</i> individual size traits for the clipping comparison. (iii) Plasticity indexes of <i>L</i>. <i>chinensis</i> traits in a controlled environment were significantly lower than under field conditions indicating that plants had partial and slight memory effect to long-term grazing. (iv) The allometry of various phenotypic traits, indicated significant trade-offs between leaf and stem allocation with variations in plant size induced by defoliation, which were maintained only under grazing in the hydroponic controlled environment experiment. Taken together, our findings suggest that the morphological plasticity of <i>L</i>. <i>chinensis</i> induced by artificial clipping was different with that by livestock grazing. The miniaturization of plant size in long-term grazed grassland may reflect retained characteristics of dwarf memory for adaptation to long-term grazing by large herbivores.</p></div

Trade-offs between the <i>SL</i> to <i>PH</i> ratio and the <i>LL</i> to <i>PH</i> ratio affected by long-term grazing (<i>a</i>) and clipping (<i>b</i>) treatments in hydroponic habitats.

<p>The correlations between the <i>SL</i> to <i>PH</i> ratio or the <i>LL</i> to <i>PH</i> ratio and grazing or clipping treatment were tested by Spearman’s method. The trade-offs between the <i>SL</i> to <i>PH</i> ratio and the <i>LL</i> to <i>PH</i> ratio were tested using Pearson’s method. Abbreviations are as described in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0141055#pone.0141055.g001" target="_blank">Fig 1</a> and <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0141055#pone.0141055.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>.</p

Relationships between the difference-value of plasticity index (<i>PI</i>) of grazing and clipping treatments.

<p>Difference-value of <i>PI</i>: <i>PI</i> (<i>in situ</i>)–<i>PI</i> (hydroponics). The correlation between the differences in <i>PI</i> was tested by Pearson’s method (<i>r</i> = 0.87, <i>P</i> < 0.01). The gray area represents traits that exhibit a larger change in <i>PI</i> after clipping treatments than grazing treatments. Solid line: linear fit; dashed line: 1:1 line.</p

Effects of long-term grazing and clipping on phenotypic traits of <i>Leymus chinensis</i> (Trin.) Tzvelev individuals in field experiments.

<p>Symbols</p><p>(-), treatments that had negative effects on phenotypic traits</p><p>(+), treatments that had positive effects on phenotypic traits</p><p>(0), treatments that had no effects on phenotypic traits.</p><p>Other abbreviations are the same as those in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0141055#pone.0141055.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>.</p><p>Effects of long-term grazing and clipping on phenotypic traits of <i>Leymus chinensis</i> (Trin.) Tzvelev individuals in field experiments.</p

Differences in the plasticity index of <i>Leymus chinensis</i> (Trin.) Tzvelev phenotypic traits between field grazing and hydroponic conditions.

<p>Symbols: **, <i>P</i> < 0.01; *, <i>P</i> < 0.05; NS, <i>P</i> > 0.05.</p

Effects of long-term grazing and clipping on phenotypic traits of <i>Leymus chinensis</i> (Trin.) Tzvelev individuals in hydroponic experiments. Abbreviations and symbols are the same as those in Table 1 and Table 2.

<p>Effects of long-term grazing and clipping on phenotypic traits of <i>Leymus chinensis</i> (Trin.) Tzvelev individuals in hydroponic experiments. Abbreviations and symbols are the same as those in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0141055#pone.0141055.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a> and <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0141055#pone.0141055.t002" target="_blank">Table 2</a>.</p

Standardized major axis (<i>SMA</i>) regression slopes and their confidence intervals for the log-log transformed relationship between <i>PH</i> and <i>SL</i> of <i>Leymus chinensis</i> (Trin.) Tzvelev in grazing exclusion and grazing groups.

<p>Symbols and abbreviations are as described in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0141055#pone.0141055.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0141055#pone.0141055.g001" target="_blank">Fig 1</a> and <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0141055#pone.0141055.g004" target="_blank">Fig 4</a>.</p

PCA bi-plot of <i>Leymus chinensis</i> (Trin.) Tzvelev functional traits for hydroponic treatment based on the variance in 10 functional traits explained by the first (PCA 1), second (PCA 2), and third (PCA 3) principal axes.

<p>(a1) and (b1): PCA ordination of <i>Leymus chinensis</i> (Trin.) Tzvelev plants from the ungrazed or unclipped (solid circle) and grazed or clipped (empty circle) treatments in hydroponic conditions, respectively. (a2) and (b2): Box plots illustrate the score distribution of <i>Leymus chinensis</i> (Trin.) Tzvelev functional traits from different communities along the three principal axes. Abbreviations are as described in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0141055#pone.0141055.g001" target="_blank">Fig 1</a>.</p