Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Rice

Food security is a major global issue because of the growing population and decreasing land area. Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the most important staple cereal crop in the world. Application of nitrogen (N) fertilizer has improved crop yield in the world during the past five decades but with considerable negative impacts on the environment. New solutions are therefore urgently needed to simultaneously increase yields while maintaining or preferably decreasing applied N to maximize the nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of crops. Plant NUE is inherently complex with each step (including N uptake, translocation, assimilation, and remobilization) governed by multiple interacting genetic and environmental factors. Based on the current knowledge, we propose some possible approaches enhancing NUE, by molecular manipulation selecting candidate genes and agricultural integrated management practices for NUE improvement. Developing an integrated research program combining approaches, mainly based on whole-plant physiology, quantitative genetics, forward and reverse genetics, and agronomy approaches to improve NUE, is a major objective in the future

E-commerce Innovative Development in Rural China

Developing rural e-commerce, constructing new beautiful socialist countryside is the Chinese farmer\u27s dream, and also is a beautiful Chinese Dream. Based on achieving the beautiful dream, this paper begins with an exploratory research on E-commerce Innovative Development in Rural china. This paper firstly reviews the development status of rural e-commerce at home and abroad, secondly originally designs a blueprint and gives the corresponding countermeasures for realizing the blueprint, Lastly makes feasible solutions to achieve key technical issues. Part of the research fruits has been applied to Conghua City in Guangdong and has achieved experimental success. In view of the development and construction of new rural countryside of e-commerce is a new thing, this thesis research is only for peer discussion

An electromagnetic wearable 3-DoF resonance human body motion energy harvester using ferrofluid as a lubricant

Wearable energy harvester offers clean and continuous power for wearable sensors or devices, and plays an important role in a wide range of applications such as the health monitoring and motion track. In this study, we investigate a small electromagnetic resonance wearable kinetic energy harvester. It consists of a permanent magnet (PM) supported by two elastic strings within a rectangular box form a 3-degree-of-freedom (3-DoF) vibrator. Copper windings are attached to the outer surface of the box to generate electrical energy when the PM is forced to vibrate. To minimize any frictional losses, ferrofluid is used such that the poles of PM are cushioned by the ferrofluid, to the effect that the PM will not touch the inner of the box. Simulation results show that the ferrofluid can keep the PM ‘contactless’ from the box even subject to 10 times gravity acceleration. A prototype is built and tested under different loading conditions. Resistance load experimental results indicate the proposed harvester can generate 1.11.1 mW in walking condition and 2.282.28 mW in running condition. An energy storage circuit is employed and the energy storage experimental results show that the average storage power during walking and running conditions are 0.0140.014 mW and 0.1490.149 mW respectively. It is shown that the developed harvester can be readily attached on a shoe to offer continuous power supply for wearable sensors and devices

Relationship between polymorphisms in -572G/C interleukin 6 promoter gene polymorphisms (rs1800796) and risk of rheumatoid arthritis: A meta-analysis.

AIMS(#br)This meta-analysis was aimed to investigate the association between -572G/C interleukin (IL)-6 gene polymorphism and occurrence risk of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).(#br)METHODS(#br)Literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Springer and Google Scholar up to November 2018. The pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated by Revman 5.3.(#br)RESULTS(#br)A total of six case-control studies were included in this meta-analysis. In the allele model (G vs C), homozygous gene model (GG vs CC), recessive gene model (GG vs GC + CC), and dominant gene model (GG + GC vs CC), the pooled estimate indicated there was significant association between -572G/C IL-6 gene polymorphism and risk of RA. However, no significant statistical results were found in meta-analyses of heterozygote gene models.(#br)CONCLUSIONS(#br)The -572G/C IL-6 gene polymorphism is associated with the risk of RA. The GG genotype may be the main contributor in increasing susceptibility to RA

Population genetics of foxtail millet and its wild ancestor

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Foxtail millet (<it>Setaria italica </it>(L.) P. Beauv.), one of the most ancient domesticated crops, is becoming a model system for studying biofuel crops and comparative genomics in the grasses. However, knowledge on the level of genetic diversity and linkage disequilibrium (LD) is very limited in this crop and its wild ancestor, green foxtail (<it>Setaria viridis </it>(L.) P. Beauv.). Such information would help us to understand the domestication process of cultivated species and will allow further research in these species, including association mapping and identification of agricultural significant genes involved in domestication.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, we surveyed DNA sequence for nine loci across 50 accessions of cultivated foxtail millet and 34 of its wild progenitor. We found a low level of genetic diversity in wild green foxtail (θ = 0.0059), θ means Watterson's estimator of θ. Despite of a 55% loss of its wild diversity, foxtail millet still harbored a considerable level of diversity (θ = 0.0027) when compared to rice and sorghum (θ = 0.0024 and 0.0034, respectively). The level of LD in the domesticated foxtail millet extends to 1 kb, while it decayed rapidly to a negligible level within 150 bp in wild green foxtail. Using coalescent simulation, we estimated the bottleneck severity at k = 0.6095 when ρ/θ = 1. These results indicated that the domestication bottleneck of foxtail millet was more severe than that of maize but slightly less pronounced than that of rice.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results in this study establish a general framework for the domestication history of foxtail millet. The low level of genetic diversity and the increased level of LD in foxtail millet are mainly caused by a population bottleneck, although gene flow from foxtail millet to green foxtail is another factor that may have shaped the pattern of genetic diversity of these two related gene pools. The knowledge provided in this study will benefit future population based studies in foxtail millet.</p

Varespladib Inhibits the Phospholipase A 2 and Coagulopathic Activities of Venom Components from Hemotoxic Snakes

Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) enzymes are important toxins found in many snake venoms, and they can exhibit a variety of toxic activities including causing hemolysis and/or anticoagulation. In this study, the inhibiting effects of the small molecule PLA2 inhibitor varespladib on snake venom PLA2s was investigated by nanofractionation analytics, which combined chromatography, mass spectrometry (MS), and bioassays. The venoms of the medically important snake species Bothrops asper, Calloselasma rhodostoma, Deinagkistrodon acutus, Daboia russelii, Echis carinatus, Echis ocellatus, and Oxyuranus scutellatus were separated by liquid chromatography (LC) followed by nanofractionation and interrogation of the fractions by a coagulation assay and a PLA2 assay. Next, we assessed the ability of varespladib to inhibit the activity of enzymatic PLA2s and the coagulopathic toxicities induced by fractionated snake venom toxins, and identified these bioactive venom toxins and those inhibited by varespladib by using parallel recorded LC-MS data and proteomics analysis. We demonstrated here that varespladib was not only capable of inhibiting the PLA2 activities of hemotoxic snake venoms, but can also effectively neutralize the coagulopathic toxicities (most profoundly anticoagulation) induced by venom toxins. While varespladib effectively inhibited PLA2 toxins responsible for anticoagulant effects, we also found some evidence that this inhibitory molecule can partially abrogate procoagulant venom effects caused by different toxin families. These findings further emphasize the potential clinical utility of varespladib in mitigating the toxic effects of certain snakebites

LH/FSH Ratio Is Associated With Visceral Adipose Dysfunction in Chinese Women Older Than 55

No study examined the association of luteinizing hormone to follicular stimulating hormone (LH/FSH) ratio with both visceral obesity outside the context of polycystic ovary syndrome. Thus, we hypothesized that the LH/FSH ratio was associated with visceral adipose accumulation and dysfunction among Chinese women older than 55. From 2014 to 2015, a total of 2,525 women aged 55–89 years were identified from a cross-sectional survey on the prevalence of metabolic diseases and risk factors in East China. Anthropometric indices, biochemical parameters, sex hormones and clinical characteristics were measured. Visceral adipose accumulation and function were identified by visceral adiposity index (VAI), Chinese visceral adiposity index (CVAI) and lipid accumulation product (LAP). Linear regression and logistic regression analyses were conducted to explore the association. A total of 1,462 (57.9%) participants had visceral obesity. In the linear regression, after full adjustment for demographic variables, metabolic factors, total testosterone (T), and estradiol (E2), LH/FSH ratio was positively associated with all indices estimating visceral obesity [B (95% CI): Log VAI 0.060 (0.030–0.090), Log CVAI 0.045 (0.029–0.061), Log LAP 0.103 (0.063–0.142), all P &lt; 0.001]. Logistic regression analyses showed that the risk of visceral obesity increased with increasing LH/FSH ratio after controlling for age and smoking [OR (95% CI): 1.99 (1.52, 2.59), P &lt; 0.001]. After further controlling for metabolic factors, the association was attenuated but remained significant [OR (95% CI): 1.89 (1.42, 2.53), P &lt; 0.001]. The OR of visceral obesity in the fully adjusted model was 1.83 (95% CI 1.37, 2.45) (P &lt; 0.001). Thus, high LH/FSH ratio was significantly associated with visceral adipose over-accumulation and dysfunction in women over 55 years old. This ratio may be an early marker for metabolic disorders in Chinese women older than 55, which warrants further investigation