Synaptotagmin 1 and Synaptic Vesicle Protein 2-like in Arabidopsis

The process of synaptic transmission at neuronal synapses is mediated by synaptic vesicle cycle. Synaptotagmins (SYTs) and Synaptic Vesicle Protein 2 (SV2), widely studied in animals since the 1990s, are important synaptic vesicle proteins that regulate synaptic neurotransmission in animal neurons. However, functions of these synaptic vesicle protein homologs in plants remain to be elucidated. In order to gain a better understanding of signal transmission in plants, this study focuses on the subcellular localizations of synaptotagmin 1 and SV2-like in Arabidopsis as well as the functions of these proteins. Arabidopsis synaptotagmin 1 (SYT1) is localized on the ER-PM contact sites in leaf and root cells. The ER-PM localization of Arabidopsis SYT1 resembles that of the extended synaptotagmins (E-SYTs) in animal cells. In mammals, E-SYTs have been shown to regulate calcium signaling, lipid transfer, and endocytosis. Arabidopsis SYT1 was reported to be essential for maintaining cell integrity by stabilizing the cytoskeleton. Our data provide detailed insight into the subcellular localization of SYT1 and VAP27-1, another ER-PM tethering protein. SYT1 and VAP27-1 were shown to be located on distinct ER-PM contact sites. The VAP27-1-enriched ER-PM contact sites (VECSs) were always associated with the SYT1-enriched ER-PM contact sites (SECSs), but not vice versa. The VAP27-1-enriched contact sites still existed in the leaf epidermal cells of SYT1 null mutant. However, the VAP27-1-enriched contact sites in SYT1 null mutant were less stable than that in the wild type. The polygonal networks of cortical ER disassembled and the mobility of VAP27-1 protein on the ER-PM contact sites increased in leaf cells of SYT1 null mutant. These results suggest that SYT1 is responsible for modulating the stability of ER network and the VAP27-1-enriched contact sites. Furthermore, cells of SYT1 mutant line have smaller BFA-induced compartments in the transition zone of root apices, indicating that the endocytic pathway is modulated by SYT1. Arabidopsis Synaptic Vesicle Protein 2-Like (SVL) belongs to the major facilitator superfamily and has been shown to be a niacin/trigonelline transporter. However, physiological studies of SVL in Arabidopsis still remain scarce. Our data have shown that Arabidopsis SVL protein is localized on the trans-Golgi network (TGN) and FM-dye stained early endosomes. The subcellular localization pattern of Arabidopsis SVL is similar to mammalian Synaptic Vesicle Protein 2 (SV2) and SV2-related Protein (SVOP) in neurons. The gene expression of SVL is developmental stage-dependent and can be detected in roots, hypocotyls, leaves, and anthers. One SVL mutant (svl-1) was identified and the transgenic Arabidopsis expressing SVL-GFP fusion protein was generated for functional and cytological studies. We have demonstrated that the primary root of SVL mutant grew slightly faster than the wild type during the early seedling stage in the control condition. The subcellular localization of SVL was sensitive to brefeldin A (BFA) treatment. In summary, Arabidopsis SVL participates in the endocytotic pathway in roots. Further studies on other possible functions of SVL in signal transduction and stress responses are still required. These data provide first insights into the sensory functions of SVL in Arabidopsis roots

The impact of CSR and green investment on stock return of Chinese export industry

A green and sustainable business environment has gained the attention of recent researchers and policymakers due to environmental and social issues globally. Therefore, the present research investigates the impact of corporate social responsibilities (CSR), green investment, green credit, and assets return on the stock return of the Chinese export industry. This study has taken the ten top export companies from China using the database of the Shanghai stock exchange. This study collected data from financial statements and stock exchange databases from 2009 to 2020. This study has used panel data analysis techniques such as robust standard error and fixed effect model (FEM) to examine the relations among the variables. The results revealed that CSR, green investment, green credit, and return on assets have a significant and positive association with the stock return of selected industries. These results imply that CSR instigates higher financial performance in the export industry; thus, improving CSR and sustainable financing promote socio-economic and societal development

Katanin-Dependent Microtubule Ordering in Association with ABA Is Important for Root Hydrotropism

Root hydrotropism refers to root directional growth toward soil moisture. Cortical microtubule arrays are essential for determining the growth axis of the elongating cells in plants. However, the role of microtubule reorganization in root hydrotropism remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that the well-ordered microtubule arrays and the microtubule-severing protein KATANIN (KTN) play important roles in regulating root hydrotropism in Arabidopsis. We found that the root hydrotropic bending of the ktn1 mutant was severely attenuated but not root gravitropism. After hydrostimulation, cortical microtubule arrays in cells of the elongation zone of wild-type (WT) Col-0 roots were reoriented from transverse into an oblique array along the axis of cell elongation, whereas the microtubule arrays in the ktn1 mutant remained in disorder. Moreover, we revealed that abscisic acid (ABA) signaling enhanced the root hydrotropism of WT and partially rescued the oryzalin (a microtubule destabilizer) alterative root hydrotropism of WT but not ktn1 mutants. These results suggest that katanin-dependent microtubule ordering is required for root hydrotropism, which might work downstream of ABA signaling pathways for plant roots to search for water

Relationship between trade enhancement, firm characteristics and CSR: key mediating role of green investment

Organisations are increasingly implementing socially responsible strategies in response to increased rivalry in trade and commercial activities. Organisations are expected to increase their profitability through corporate social responsibility (CSR). Hence, this study investigates the relationship between trade enhancement, firm characteristics, and CSR. Further, this study also explored the critical mediating role of green investment (GI). The data were collected from 456 respondents from manufacturing organisations in China through a questionnaire and analysed by partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). PLS-SEM results revealed that trade enhancement has a significant positive effect on CSR and GI. GI also has a significant effect on CSR. In comparison, firm characteristics do not have a substantial impact on CSR and GI. However, GI significantly mediates the relationship between trade enhancement, firm characteristics, and CSR. This study provides insights to managers and stakeholders regarding GI and CSR in the Chinese manufacturing industry. Lastly, this study proposes theoretical and practical implications andoffers valuable information for practitioners and policymakers

Improvement of Pyroelectric Cells for Thermal Energy Harvesting

This study proposes trenching piezoelectric (PZT) material in a thicker PZT pyroelectric cell to improve the temperature variation rate to enhance the efficiency of thermal energy-harvesting conversion by pyroelectricity. A thicker pyroelectric cell is beneficial in generating electricity pyroelectrically, but it hinders rapid temperature variations. Therefore, the PZT sheet was fabricated to produce deeper trenches to cause lateral temperature gradients induced by the trenched electrode, enhancing the temperature variation rate under homogeneous heat irradiation. When the trenched electrode type with an electrode width of 200 μm and a cutting depth of 150 μm was used to fabricate a PZT pyroelectric cell with a 200 μm thick PZT sheet, the temperature variation rate was improved by about 55%. Therefore, the trenched electrode design did indeed enhance the temperature variation rate and the efficiency of pyroelectric energy converters

Improving Generalization in Visual Reinforcement Learning via Conflict-aware Gradient Agreement Augmentation

Learning a policy with great generalization to unseen environments remains challenging but critical in visual reinforcement learning. Despite the success of augmentation combination in the supervised learning generalization, naively applying it to visual RL algorithms may damage the training efficiency, suffering from serve performance degradation. In this paper, we first conduct qualitative analysis and illuminate the main causes: (i) high-variance gradient magnitudes and (ii) gradient conflicts existed in various augmentation methods. To alleviate these issues, we propose a general policy gradient optimization framework, named Conflict-aware Gradient Agreement Augmentation (CG2A), and better integrate augmentation combination into visual RL algorithms to address the generalization bias. In particular, CG2A develops a Gradient Agreement Solver to adaptively balance the varying gradient magnitudes, and introduces a Soft Gradient Surgery strategy to alleviate the gradient conflicts. Extensive experiments demonstrate that CG2A significantly improves the generalization performance and sample efficiency of visual RL algorithms.Comment: accepted by iccv202

Temperature Field Analysis for PZT Pyroelectric Cells for Thermal Energy Harvesting

This paper proposes the idea of etching PZT to improve the temperature variation rate of a thicker PZT sheet in order to enhance the energy conversion efficiency when used as pyroelectric cells. A partially covered electrode was proven to display a higher output response than a fully covered electrode did. A mesh top electrode monitored the temperature variation rate and the electrode area. The mesh electrode width affected the distribution of the temperature variation rate in a thinner pyroelectric material. However, a pyroelectric cell with a thicker pyroelectric material was beneficial in generating electricity pyroelectrically. The PZT sheet was further etched to produce deeper cavities and a smaller electrode width to induce lateral temperature gradients on the sidewalls of cavities under homogeneous heat irradiation, enhancing the temperature variation rate

Orderly arranged NLO materials on exfoliated layeredtemplates based on dendrons with alternating moietiesat the periphery†

Nonlinear optical dendrons with alternating terminal groups of the stearyl group (C18) and chromophorewere prepared through a convergent approach. These chromophore-containing dendrons were used asthe intercalating agents for montmorillonite via an ion-exchange process. An orderly exfoliatedmorphology is obtained by mixing the dendritic structure intercalated layered silicates with a polyimide.As a result, optical nonlinearity, i.e. the Pockels effect was observed for these nanocomposites withoutresorting to the poling process. EO coefficients of 9–22 pm V 1 were achieved despite that relativelylow NLO densities were present in the nanocomposites, particularly for the samples comprising thedendrons with alternating moieties. In addition, the hedging effects of the stearyl group on the selfalignmentbehavior, electro-optical (EO) coefficient and temporal stability of the dendron-intercalatedmontmorillonite/polyimide nanocomposites were also investigated