An optimization approach to determining the power of active filters

The coal grading plants in Vietnam extensively apply asynchronous motors with frequency control. They consume reactive power and non-sinusoidal current from the supply network. The nonsinusoidal currents and voltages lead to additional energy losses in electrical equipments, reduce their service life and cause an economic damage. Because of the low load power factor the companies with such plants pay penalties to power supply utilities. These problems can be solved by the active filters. The paper suggests an optimization algorithm to calculate the power of the active filter, which provides a load power factor corresponding to the normative documents and power quality indices corresponding to the standard requirements. The algorithm is used to calculate the power of the active filter for the coal grading plant owned by the company “Kua Ong-Vinakomin”

Cambial Age Influences PCD Gene Expression during Xylem Development and Heartwood Formation

Heartwood formation is an important ontogenetic stage in Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). The amount of heartwood determines the proportion of functionally active sapwood in the total trunk biomass as well as the quality of wood. The key criterion for heartwood formation is the death of xylem ray parenchyma cells. Previously, models that described the patterns of heartwood formation, depending on the cambial age, were derived from Scots pine trees of different ages. The cambial age is the number of annual xylem layers at the core sampling site at a certain trunk height. We studied the features of the occurrence of programmed cell death (PCD) processes during the xylem differentiation and heartwood formation of 80-year-old Scots pine trees, depending on the cambial age, under the lingonberry pine forest conditions in the transition area of the northern taiga subzone and tundra. We have shown that the distance from the cambial zone to the heartwood boundary does not change significantly with stem height. As the cambial age increases, the lifespan of the formed xylem ray parenchyma cells increases and the activity of PCD genes decreases during the formation of both (1) xylem (in the outer layers of sapwood) and (2) heartwood (in the inner layers of sapwood and transition zone). We hypothesized that the decisive factor in the PCD initiation during heartwood formation is the distance of the xylem ray parenchyma cells from the cambial zone. The younger cambium forms wider annual increments, and therefore the xylem ray parenchyma cells in these parts of the trunk reach the distance from the cambial zone earlier, which is necessary for PCD initiation

Prospects for the treatment of gluten-associated diseases: on our daily bread, celiac disease, gluten proteins and more…

Food safety all over the world is largely dependent on production of grains that are cultivated in 60% of agricultural lands. Wheat is the main food for millions of people and one of the three most commonly cultivated grain cultures worldwide, along with corn and rice. Modern wheat is a product of gene engineering interventions aimed at increased productivity, yields, nutrient quota, and storage time, as well as immunogenic properties. However, the consumption of gluten, a proline and glutamine-rich wheat, rye and barley protein, triggers gluten-dependent disorders, such as celiac disease, wheat allergy, baker's asthma and wheat-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis. This group of disorders are curable provided the correct diagnosis has been made and strict lifelong gluten-free diet is implemented. Continuous patient's adherence to the gluten-free diet is associated with a number of medical and paramedical challenges, and the adherence level of the most compliant patients does not exceed 80%. The paper discuss other treatment strategies to improve the nutrition of people with gluten-sensitive disorders, in particular, the reduction grain gluten content, gluten sequestration in the gut before its digestion, prevention of gluten absorption and subsequent immune cell activation, and administration of tissue transglutaminase 2 inhibitors

Molecular Genetic Characteristics of Different Scenarios of Xylogenesis on the Example of Two Forms of Silver Birch Differing in the Ratio of Structural Elements in the Xylem

Silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) is an economically important species in Northern Europe. The current research focused on the molecular background of different xylogenesis scenarios in the birch trunks. The study objects were two forms of silver birch, silver birch trees, and Karelian birch trees; the latter form is characterized by the formation of two types of wood, non-figured (straight-grained) and figured, respectively, while it is currently not clear which factors cause this difference. We identified VND/NST/SND genes that regulate secondary cell wall biosynthesis in the birch genome and revealed differences in their expression in association with the formation of xylem with different ratios of structural elements. High expression levels of BpVND7 accompanied differentiation of the type of xylem which is characteristic of the species. At the same time, the appearance of figured wood was accompanied by the low expression levels of the VND genes and increased levels of expression of NST and SND genes. We identified BpARF5 as a crucial regulator of auxin-dependent vascular patterning and its direct target—BpHB8. A decrease in the BpARF5 level expression in differentiating xylem was a specific characteristic of both Karelian birch with figured and non-figured wood. Decreased BpARF5 level expression in non-figured trees accompanied by decreased BpHB8 and VND/NST/SND expression levels compared to figured Karelian birch trees. According to the results obtained, we suggested silver birch forms differing in wood anatomy as valuable objects in studying the regulation of xylogenesis

Changes in the Differentiation Program of Birch Cambial Derivatives following Trunk Girdling

The mechanisms regulating the tree trunk radial growth can be studied in original experiments. One technique for studying cambium activity (the meristem involved in radial growth) under conditions of an increased photoassimilate level is trunk girdling. We girdled the trunks of 17- to 22-year-old silver birch plants (Betula pendula Roth var. pendula) during the active growth period and collected xylem and phloem samples at two height levels (1 cm and 35 cm) above girdle, 10, 20, and 30 days after girdling. We investigated the changes that occurred at the anatomical level, as well as the activities of sucrose-metabolizing enzymes and antioxidant-system enzymes and the expression of genes that encode proteins involved in sucrose and auxin transport and metabolism. A moderate increase in photoassimilates (35 cm above the girdle) resulted in a change in the ratio of phloem to xylem increments and an increase in the proportion of parenchyma in the conducting tissues. The increase of photoassimilates above the level at which they can be used in the processes of normal tissue growth and development (1 cm above the girdle) led to xylogenesis suppression and the stimulation of phloem formation, a significant increase in the parenchyma proportion in the conducting tissues, and formation of large sclereid complexes. The differentiation of parenchyma and sclereid cells coincided with biochemical and molecular markers of abnormal conducting tissue formation in Karelian birch, which are also characterized by high proportions of parenchyma and sclereid near the cambium. The results obtained are important in understanding the cambium responses to the photoassimilate distribution changes and estimating tree productivity and survival under changing environmental conditions

Plant-Programmed Cell Death-Associated Genes Participation in Pinus sylvestris L. Trunk Tissue Formation

Molecular genetic markers of various PCD (programmed cell death) variants during xylo- and phloemogenesis have been identified for the first time in Scots pine under lingonberry pine forest conditions in Northwest Russia (middle taiga subzone). PCD is a genetically determined process. Gene profiles of serine and cysteine proteases (endopeptidases), endonucleases, and metacaspases families are often considered markers of the final xylogenesis stage. In the present study, we examined the gene expression profiles of the BFN (bifunctional endonuclease) family—BFN, BFN1, BFN2, BFN3, and peptidase (cysteine endopeptidase, CEP and metacaspase, MC5) in the radial row, in addition to the vascular phloem and cambium (F1), differentiating xylem (F2), sapwood (SW), and transition zone during the active cambial growth period of uneven-aged pine trees (25-, 63- and 164-cambial age (c.a.) years old). We have shown that the expression patterns of the PCD-related genes did not depend on the cambial age but were largely determined by plant tissue type. In the radial row F1-F2-SW, we studied the activities of enzymes, including sucrose in metabolism (sucrose synthase, three forms of invertase); antioxidant system (AOS) enzymes (superoxide dismutase, catalase); and peroxidase andpolyphenol oxidase, which belonged to AOS enzymes and were involved in the synthesis of phenolic components of cell walls. The activity of the enzymes indicated that the trunk tissues of pine trees had varying metabolic status. Molecular genetic PCD regulation mechanisms during xylem vascular and mechanical element formation and parenchyma cells’ PCD during the formation of Scots pine heartwood were discussed

Identification and Expression Profile of <i>CLE41/44-PXY-WOX</i> Genes in Adult Trees <i>Pinus sylvestris</i> L. Trunk Tissues during Cambial Activity

WUSCHEL (WUS)-related homeobox (WOX) protein family members play important roles in the maintenance and proliferation of the stem cells in the cambium, the lateral meristem that forms all the wood structural elements. Most studies have examined the function of these genes in angiosperms, and very little was known about coniferous trees. Pine is one of the most critical forest-forming conifers globally, and in this research, we studied the distribution of WOX4, WOX13, and WOXG genes expression in Pinus sylvestris L. trunk tissues. Further, we considered the role of TDIF(CLE41/44)/TDR(PXY) signaling in regulating Scots pine cambial activity. The distribution of CLE41/44-PXY-WOXs gene expression in Scots pine trunk tissues was studied: (1) depending on the stage of ontogenesis (the first group of objects); and (2) depending on the stage of cambial growth (the second group of objects). The first group of objects is lingonberry pine forests of different ages (30-, 80-, and 180-year-old stands) in the middle taiga subzone. At the time of selection, all the trees of the studied groups were at the same seasonal stage of development: the formation of late phloem and early xylem was occurring in the trunk. The second group of objects is 40-year-old pine trees that were selected growing in the forest seed orchard. We took the trunk tissue samples on 27 May 2022, 21 June 2022, and 21 July 2022. We have indicated the spatial separation expressed of PsCLE41/44 and PsPXY in pine trunk tissues. PsCLE41/44 was differentially expressed in Fraction 1, including phloem cells and cambial zone. Maximum expression of the PsPXY gene occurred in Fraction 2, including differentiating xylem cells. The maximum expression of the PsCLE41/44 gene occurred on 27 May, when the number of cells in the cambial zone was the highest, and then it decreased to almost zero. The PsPXY gene transcript level increased from May to the end of July. We found that the highest transcript level of the PsWOX4 gene was during the period of active cell proliferation in the cambial zone, and also in the trees with the cambial age 63 years, which were characterized by the largest number of cell layers in the cambial zone. In this study, we have examined the expression profiles of genes belonging to the ancient clade (PsWOXG and PsWOX13) in stem tissues in Scots pine for the first time. We found that, in contrast to PsWOX4 (high expression that was observed during the period of active formation of early tracheids), the expression of genes of the ancient clade of the WOX genes was observed during the period of decreased cambial activity in the second half of the growing season. We found that PsWOX13 expression was shifted to Fraction 1 in most cases and increased from the phloem side, while PsWOXG expression was not clearly bound to a certain fraction. Based on the data, the role of the CLE41/44-PXY-WOX signaling module in regulating P. sylvestris cambial growth is discussed