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The content and the ratio of soluble sugars and organic acids in fruits are significant indicators for fruit quality. They are affected by multiple environmental factors, in which water-deficient is the most concern. Previous studies found that the content of soluble sugars and organic acids in fruit displayed great differences under varied water stress. It is important to clarify the mechanism of such difference and to provide researchers with systematic knowledge about the response to drought stress and the mechanism of sugar and acid changes in fruits, so that they can better carry out the study of fruit quality under drought stress. Therefore, the researchers studied dozens of research articles about the content of soluble sugar and organic acid, the activity of related metabolic enzymes, and the expression of related metabolic genes in fruits under water stress, and the stress response of plants to water stress. We found that after plants perceived and transmitted the signal of water deficit, the expression of genes related to the metabolism of soluble sugars and organic acids changed. It was then affected the synthesis of metabolic enzymes and changed their metabolic rate, ultimately leading to changes in soluble sugar and organic acid content. Based on the literature review, we described the pathway diagrams of sugar metabolism, organic acid metabolism, mainly malic acid, tartaric acid, and citric acid metabolism, and of the response to drought stress. From many aspects including plants’ perception of water stress signal, signal conversion and transmission, induced gene expression, the changes in soluble sugar and the enzyme activities of organic acids, as well as the final sugar and acid content in fruits, this thesis summarized previous studies on the influence of water stress on soluble sugars and the metabolism of organic acids in fruits.

Emerging evidence suggests that the meningeal compartment plays instrumental roles in various neurological disorders, however, we still lack fundamental knowledge about meningeal biology. Here, we utilized high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) techniques to investigate the transcriptional response of the meninges to traumatic brain injury (TBI) and aging in the sub-acute and chronic time frames. Using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), we first explored how mild TBI affects the cellular and transcriptional landscape in the meninges in young mice at one-week post-injury. Then, using bulk RNA-seq, we assessed the differential long-term outcomes between young and aged mice following TBI. In our scRNA-seq studies, we highlight injury-related changes in differential gene expression seen in major meningeal cell populations including macrophages, fibroblasts, and adaptive immune cells. We found that TBI leads to an upregulation of type I interferon (IFN) signature genes in macrophages and a controlled upregulation of inflammatory-related genes in the fibroblast and adaptive immune cell populations. For reasons that remain poorly understood, even mild injuries in the elderly can lead to cognitive decline and devastating neuropathology. To better understand the differential outcomes between the young and the elderly following brain injury, we performed bulk RNA-seq on young and aged meninges 1.5 months after TBI. Notably, we found that aging alone induced upregulation of meningeal genes involved in antibody production by B cells and type I IFN signaling. Following injury, the meningeal transcriptome had largely returned to its pre-injury signature in young mice. In stark contrast, aged TBI mice still exhibited upregulation of immune-related genes and downregulation of genes involved in extracellular matrix remodeling. Overall, these findings illustrate the dynamic transcriptional response of the meninges to mild head trauma in youth and aging.

To more scientifically and reasonably control the quality of Huangqi Granules, preliminary studies on the pharmacodynamics and serum pharmacochemistry of this medicine were performed. DPPH and MTT experiments showed that water extracts of Huangqi Granules had good antioxidant activity and increased immunity. Timed blood samples collected 5 min, 15 min, and 30 min after oral administration of a set amount of Huangqi Granules were collected and tested using UPLC-ESI-MS/MS. As a result, calycosin-7-O-β-D-glucoside, ononin, calycosin, astragaloside IV, and formononetin were found to exist in rat blood after dosing, indicating that the five chemical compounds might have pharmacological activity, and based on this result, they were designated biomarkers for quality control of Huangqi Granules. Consequently, a simple, rapid and efficient method was developed in the present study for the simultaneous determination of the five characteristic compounds in Huangqi Granules using HPLC-DAD-ELSD. The separation was performed using an Agilent Hypersil ODS column (4.6 × 250 mm, 5 μm) at 30 ℃. The mobile phase was composed of water (solvent A) and acetonitrile (solvent B) with a flow rate of 1 mL/min. The drift tube temperature of the ELSD system was set to 85 ℃, and the nitrogen pressure was 3.5 bar. All five characteristic compounds had good linear behavior with r2 values greater than 0.9972. The recoveries varied from 96.31% to 101.22%. Subsequently, the developed method was applied to evaluate the quality of Huangqi Granules from different batches, and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) was used to analyze the classification of the samples based on the values of the five compounds. The established HPLC method combined with HCA proved to be effective to evaluate the quality of Huangqi Granules.

The objective of this study was to examine the impact of various foliar fertilization treatments on the growth of new shoots, photosynthetic characteristics of leaves, and mineral nutrient content in the leaves of ‘Marselan’ grapevines. Five distinct combinations of nano zero-valent iron (n ZVI), compound sodium nitrophenolate (CSN), and potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KH2PO4) were administered through foliar application to ‘Marselan’ grapevines cultivated in the Wuwei region of the Hexi Corridor, with water spray serving as the control treatment. The results showed that T5 treatment (15 mg·L−1 n ZVI + 0.4 g·L−1 CSN + 2.5 g·L−1 KH2PO4) significantly increased the leaf area and SPAD value of ‘Marselan’ grapes; T4 treatment (15 mg·L−1 n ZVI + 0.4 g·L−1 CSN + 1.67 g·L−1 KH2PO4) significantly increased the internode length of new grape shoots. T5 treatment was favorable to increase the basic coarseness of new grape shoots, the net photosynthetic rate of the leaves, and stomatal conductance; leaf transpiration rate was the highest under the T4 and T5 treatments; T3 (15 mg·L−1 n ZVI + 0.4 g·L−1 CSN + 1.25 g·L−1 KH2PO4), T4, and T5 treatments could improve leaf initial fluorescence at different periods. At 45 days after flowering, the maximum photochemical efficiency under the T3 and T4 treatments reached the highest value throughout the period, and the T3 treatment improved leaf potential maximum quantum yield. Meanwhile, the leaf nitrogen and phosphorus content under the T5 treatment were the highest in the five periods. Additionally, the contents of potassium (K), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) in the leaves increased significantly under the T4 and T5 treatments. The following conclusions emerged from a comprehensive analysis: the T4 treatment was the best, and the T5 treatment was the second most effective.

Foliar fertilizers are efficient in enhancing nutrient utilization. This experiment aims to improve leaf physiological functions, enhance fruit quality, increase yield, and boost orchard productivity through the screening of foliar fertilizers suitable for apple trees. The 6-year-old apple trees of the ‘Snick’ were used as experiment material. The results of measurements amino acids, calcium, boron, and potassium indicate that different foliar fertilizers can improve fruit quality and aroma by enhancing leaf physiological functions. In apple fruit, amino acid foliar fertilizer increased the tartaric acid content by 44.26%. Calcium foliar fertilizer resulted in a 32.39% increase in vitamin C, a 19.71% increase in sucrose compared to the control, with a total aroma substance increase of 13.41%. Boron foliar fertilizer elevated flavonoid content in the peel to 3.67 mg·g−1, a 70.69% increase over the CK. Potassium foliar fertilizer significantly improved fruit appearance, phenolic substances in the peel, soluble protein content by 25.39%, and glucose content by 55.91%. Therefore, mineral source fulvic acid potassium foliar fertilizer was demonstrated the best overall effect, effectively enhancing fruit quality and flavor. These results provide a theoretical basis and scientific reference for improving apple quality.

In the present study, we investigated the tissue distribution and urinary excretion of gallic acid (GA) and protocatechuic acid (PCA) after rat oral administration of aqueous extract of Polygonum capitatum (P. capitatum, named Herba Polygoni Capitati in China). An UHPLC-MS/MS analytical method was developed and adopted for quantification of GA and PCA in different tissue homogenate and urine samples. Interestingly, we found that GA and PCA showed a relatively targeted distribution in kidney tissue after dosing 60 mg/kg P. capitatum extract (equivalent to 12 mg/kg of GA and 0.9 mg/kg of PCA). The concentrations of GA and PCA in the kidney tissue reached 1218.62 ng/g and 43.98 ng/g, respectively, at one hour after oral administration. The results helped explain the empirical use of P. capitatum for kidney diseases in folk medicine. Further studies on urinary excretion of P. capitatum extract indicated that GA and PCA followed a concentrated elimination over a 4-h period. The predominant metabolites were putatively identified to be 4-methylgallic acid (4-OMeGA) and 4-methylprotocatechuic acid (4-OMePCA) by analyzing their precursor ions and characteristic fragment ions using tandem mass spectrometry. However, the amount of unchanged GA and PCA that survived the metabolism were about 14.60% and 15.72% of the total intake, respectively, which is reported for the first time in this study.

Water-induced disasters in long-distance pipelines are prevalent geological hazards, characterized by their frequency and widespread distribution. The complexity of factors contributing to pipeline damage in practical engineering poses a significant challenge for analysis using solely theoretical models. This study systematically reveals the cross-scale failure mechanism of long-distance pipelines under hydrodynamic impact through the combination of multi-scale experimental representation and theoretical modeling. Employing a combination of macroscopic measurements, advanced material testing of residual samples from failed pipelines, and consideration of operational conditions and environmental factors, the failure modes is systematically analyzed. The findings reveal that under the vibrations induced by water impulses, the pipe material exhibits a pronounced ratchet effect, leading to an 8.92% reduction in elongation at break. Furthermore, the Bauschinger effect is observed, resulting in a 2.95% decrease in yield strength. Cyclic hardening significantly diminishes the impact toughness of the weld by 22.2%. Notably, at high vibration frequencies of approximately 18.98 Hz, the stress concentration in the girth weld near the axial midpoint of the pipe section initiates cracking, ultimately leading to failure under the alternating load generated by the oscillation. This study provides valuable insights into the scientific understanding of pipeline failure mechanisms under water impact, contributing to the development of more robust and resilient pipeline systems.

Previously, we have shown TGF-β-induced NOX4 expression is involved in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process critical for cancer metastasis, and that wild-type (WT) and mutant (Mut) p53 have divergent effects on TGF-β induction of NOX4: WT-p53 suppresses whereas Mut-p53 augments NOX4 mRNA and protein production in several tumor cell models. We sought to validate and extend our model by analyzing whole-exome data of primary tumor samples in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We constructed a Pan-Cancer dataset from 23 tumor types and explored NOX4 expression patterns in relation to EMT and patient survival. NOX4 mRNA levels increase as a function of cancer progression in several cancers and correlate with Mut-p53 mRNA and genes involved in programs of EMT, cellular adhesion, migration, and angiogenesis. Tumor macrophages appear to be a source of NOX2, whose association with genetic programs of cancer progression emulate that of NOX4. Notably, increased NOX4 expression is linked to poorer survival in patients with Mut-TP53, but better survival in patients with WT-TP53. NOX4 is negatively associated with markers of apoptosis and positively with markers of proliferation in patients with Mut-TP53, consistent with their poorer survival. These findings suggest that TP53 mutations could “switch” NOX4 from being protective and an indicator of good prognosis to deleterious by promoting programs favoring cancer progression.

Weld samples imitating the inservice girth welds in station (L245 straight pipe jointed to WPHY-70 tee joint and L415MB straight pipe jointed to WPHY-80 tee joint) were prepared. Tensile, bending, impact toughness and hardness of the joints were investigated. Results show that under tensile or bending load, failure occurred from the side with lower grade and smaller wall thickness. Relatived to the lower grade side, the weld seam is strong match. Significant change of impact toughness can be found in weld seam center and the heat affected zones (HAZ). The impact energy of seam center is the lowest in the weld joint. The impact energy show a trend of increase from seam center to base metal. In HAZ zone, impact toughness of the fusion line is the lowest. Impact toughness of higher grade side is higher than that of the lower grade side. Hardness of positions in HAZ zones are different distinctly. From coarse grained region to fine grained region, the hardness decrease. For the in-station girth welds jointed with different materials, lower grade and samller wall thickness side should be intensive monitored.

The paper reviews current situation of high design factor application abroad, and analyzes development of high-strength pipeline in China. It shows that related technology has greatly improved in China, such as manufacture of high strength pipe, inspection, quality control, pipeline construction and pipeline integrity management. So it is available to use 0.8 design factor for the class one location in China. And the paper also introduces trial section experiences in the third West-East pipeline on safety pre-assessment, design check, pipe specification, construction technology and integrity management plan. With relative specifications further perfected, it is promising to put the 0.8 design factor into a wide use in Chinese pipeline project.