Insight into the Amelioration Effect of Nitric Acid-Modified Biochar on Saline Soil Physicochemical Properties and Plant Growth.

Soil salinization is a major factor threatening global food security. Soil improvement strategies are therefore of great importance in mitigating the adverse effect of salt stress. Our study aimed to evaluate the effect of biochar (BC) and nitric acid-modified biochar (HBC) (1%, 2%, and 3%; m/m) on the properties of salinized soils and the morphological and physiological characteristics of pakchoi.

Automatic face detection based on bidirectional recurrent neural network optimized by improved Ebola optimization search algorithm.

Face detection is a multidisciplinary research subject that employs fundamental computer algorithms, image processing, and patterning. Neural networks, on the other hand, have been widely developed to solve challenges in the domains of feature extraction, pattern detection, and the like in general. The presented study investigates the DNN (deep neural networks) use in the creation of facial detection operating systems.

Stronger biogeographical pattern of bacterioplankton communities than biofilm communities along a riverine ecosystem: A local scale study of the Kaidu river in the arid and semi-arid northwest of China.

Although the biogeographical pattern and mechanisms underlying microbial assembly have been well-explored in lentic ecosystems, the relevant scenarios in lotic ecosystems remain poorly understood. By sequencing the bacterial communities in bacterioplankton and biofilm, our study detected their distance-decay relationship (DDR), and the balance between deterministic and stochastic processes, along the Kaidu river in an arid and semi-arid region of northwest China. Our results revealed that bacterioplankton and biofilm had significantly contrasting community structures.

Reduced primary productivity and notable resilience of phytoplankton community in the coastal water of southern China under a marine heatwave.

Increasing frequency, intensity and duration of marine heatwaves (MHWs) are supposed to affect coastal biological production in different regions to different extents. To understand how MHWs impact coastal primary productivity and community succession of phytoplankton and assess the changes in resilience of phytoplankton communities, we conducted a mesoscale enclosure experiment simulating a MHW in the coastal water of southern China. After 8 days of the MHW (+3 °C) treatment, community biomass was significantly lower than the control's, and primary productivity per volume of water was reduced by about 56%.

Seasonal dynamics of environmental heterogeneity augment microbial interactions by regulating community structure in different trophic lakes.

Understanding how environmental heterogeneity drives microbial communities in lakes is essential for developing effective strategies to manage and restore aquatic ecosystems. However, the mechanisms by which environmental heterogeneity influences microbial community structure, network patterns, and interactions remain largely unexplored. To bridge this gap, we collected 84 water samples from four typical lakes in China (Fuxian, Tianmu, Taihu, and Xingyun) representing a range of trophic levels, across wet and dry seasons.

Cost-Effective and Wireless Portable Device for Rapid and Sensitive Quantification of Micro/Nanoplastics.

The accumulation of micro/nanoplastics (MNPs) in ecosystems poses tremendous environmental risks for terrestrial and aquatic organisms. Designing rapid, field-deployable, and sensitive devices for assessing the potential risks of MNPs pollution is critical. However, current techniques for MNPs detection have limited effectiveness.

Mechanisms of Lanthanum-mediated mitigation of salt stress in soybean (Glycine max L.).

Salinity is considered one of the abiotic stresses that have the greatest impact on soybean production worldwide. Lanthanum (La) is a rare earth element that can reduce adverse conditions on plant growth and productivity. However, the regulatory mechanism of La-mediated plant response to salt stress has been poorly studied, particularly in soybeans.

Differential response of proline metabolism defense, Na absorption and deposition to salt stress in salt-tolerant and salt-sensitive rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) genotypes.

Soil salinization is a major abiotic factor threatening rapeseed yields and quality worldwide, yet the adaptive mechanisms underlying salt resistance in rapeseed are not clear. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the differences in growth potential, sodium (Na) retention in different plant tissues, and transport patterns between salt-tolerant (HY9) and salt-sensitive (XY15) rapeseed genotypes, which cultivated in Hoagland's nutrient solution in either the with or without of 150 mM NaCl stress. The results showed that the inhibition of growth-related parameters of the XY15 genotype was higher than those of the HY9 in response to salt stress.

PDX1+ cell budding morphogenesis in a stem cell-derived islet spheroid system.

Remarkable advances in protocol development have been achieved to manufacture insulin-secreting islets from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). Distinct from current approaches, we devised a tunable strategy to generate islet spheroids enriched for major islet cell types by incorporating PDX1+ cell budding morphogenesis into staged differentiation. In this process that appears to mimic normal islet morphogenesis, the differentiating islet spheroids organize with endocrine cells that are intermingled or arranged in a core-mantle architecture, accompanied with functional heterogeneity.

Marine heatwaves alter competition between the cultured macroalga Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis and the harmful bloom alga Skeletonema costatum.

Seaweed cultivation can inhibit the occurrence of red tides. However, how seaweed aquaculture interactions with harmful algal blooms will be affected by the increasing occurrence and intensity of marine heatwaves (MHWs) is unknown. In this study, we run both monoculture and coculture systems to investigate the effects of a simulated heatwave on the competition of the economically important macroalga Gracilariopsis lemaneiformis against the harmful bloom diatom Skeletonema costatum.

The characteristics of PtHSP40 gene family in Phaeodactylum tricornutum and its response to environmental stresses.

Diatom has evolved response mechanisms to cope with multiple environmental stresses. Heat shock protein 40 (HSP40) plays a key role in these response mechanisms. HSP40 gene family in higher plants has been well-studied.

Extraction of water bodies from high-resolution remote sensing imagery based on a deep semantic segmentation network.

The precise delineation of urban aquatic features is of paramount importance in scrutinizing water resources, monitoring floods, and devising water management strategies. Addressing the challenge of indistinct boundaries and the erroneous classification of shadowed regions as water in high-resolution remote sensing imagery, we introduce WaterDeep, which is a novel deep learning framework inspired by the DeepLabV3 + architecture and an innovative fusion mechanism for high- and low-level features. This methodology first creates a comprehensive dataset of high-resolution remote sensing images, then progresses through the Xception baseline network for low-level feature extraction, and harnesses densely connected Atrous Spatial Pyramid Pooling (ASPP) modules to assimilate multi-scale data into sophisticated high-level features.

Ocean acidification alters microeukaryotic and bacterial food web interactions in a eutrophic subtropical mesocosm.

Ocean acidification (OA) is known to influence biological and ecological processes, mainly focusing on its impacts on single species, but little has been documented on how OA may alter plankton community interactions. Here, we conducted a mesocosm experiment with ambient (∼410 ppmv) and high (1000 ppmv) CO concentrations in a subtropical eutrophic region of the East China Sea and examined the community dynamics of microeukaryotes, bacterioplankton and microeukaryote-attached bacteria in the enclosed coastal seawater. The OA treatment with elevated CO affected taxa as the phytoplankton bloom stages progressed, with a 72.

Sediment DNA Records the Critical Transition of Bacterial Communities in the Arid Lake.

It is necessary to predict the critical transition of lake ecosystems due to their abrupt, non-linear effects on social-economic systems. Given the promising application of paleolimnological archives to tracking the historical changes of lake ecosystems, it is speculated that they can also record the lake's critical transition. We studied Lake Dali-Nor in the arid region of Inner Mongolia because of the profound shrinking the lake experienced between the 1300 s and the 1600 s.

Selective Hydrogenation of Diethyl Malonate to 1,3-Propanediol Over Ga-Promoted Cu/SiO Catalysts With Enhanced Activity and Stability.

Cu catalysts with different compositions and different Cu and promoter contents were prepared by precipitation-gel method and studied for the selective hydrogenation of syngas or biomass-based diethyl malonate (DEM) to valuable 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO). The Ga-promoted 70Cu6Ga/SiO catalyst was found to exhibit the highest catalytic performance, achieving 100 % DEM conversion and 76.6 % 1,3-PDO selectivity under reaction conditions of 160 °C and 8 MPa H.

Carbon removal, sequestration and release by mariculture in an important aquaculture area, China.

To combat with climate change, most countries have set carbon neutrality target. However, our understanding on carbon removal, release and sequestration by mariculture remains unclear. Here, carbon removal, release and sequestration by maricultured seaweeds, shellfish and fish in Shandong Province during 2003-2022 were assessed using a comprehensive method that considers the processes of biological metabolism, seawater chemistry and carbon footprint.

Quantitative and rapid detection of nanoplastics labeled by luminescent metal phenolic networks using surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

The escalating prevalence of nanoplastics contamination in environmental ecosystems has emerged as a significant health hazard. Conventional analytical methods are suboptimal, hindered by their inefficiency in analyzing nanoplastics at low concentrations and their time-intensive processes. In this context, we have developed an innovative approach that employs luminescent metal-phenolic networks (L-MPNs) coupled with surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) to separate and label nanoplastics, enabling rapid, sensitive and quantitative detection.

Unraveling the impact of climatic warming and wetting on eukaryotic microbial diversity and assembly mechanisms: A 10-year case study in Lake Bosten, NW China.

Over the last six decades, northwest China has undergone a significant climatic shift from "warm-dry" to "warm-wet", profoundly impacting the structures and functions of lake ecosystem across the region. However, the influences of this climatic transition on the diversity patterns, co-occurrence network, and assembly processes of eukaryotic microbial communities in lake ecosystem, along with the underlying mechanisms, remain largely unexplored. To bridge this knowledge gap, our study focused on Lake Bosten, the largest inland freshwater body in China, conducting a comprehensive analysis.

Nanomolar anti-SARS-CoV-2 Omicron activity of the host-directed TMPRSS2 inhibitor N-0385 and synergistic action with direct-acting antivirals.

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron subvariants with increased transmissibility and immune evasion are spreading globally with alarming persistence. Whether the mutations and evolution of spike (S) Omicron subvariants alter the viral hijacking of human TMPRSS2 for viral entry remains to be elucidated. This is particularly important to investigate because of the large number and diversity of mutations of S Omicron subvariants reported since the emergence of BA.

Construction of Synergistic Co/CoO Interface to Enhance Hydrogenation Activity of Ethyl Lactate to 1,2-Propanediol.

The development of effective and stable non-precious catalysts for hydrogenation of ester to diols remains a challenge. Herein, the catalytic hydrogenation of ethyl lactate (EL) to 1,2-propanediol (1,2-PDO) with supported Co catalysts derived from layered double hydroxides (LDHs) is investigated. Catalytic tests reveal that LDH-derived Co catalysts exhibit the best catalytic performance with 98 % of EL conversion and >99 % of 1,2-PDO selectivity at mild conditions, compared with other Co catalysts (supported on AlO, and TiO) and LDH-derived Cu catalysts.