Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations increase gaps of rice yields between low- and middle-to-high-income countries.

The rising carbon dioxide concentrations are expected to increase future rice yields. However, variations in the CO fertilization effect (CFE) between rice subspecies and the influence of concurrent global warming introduce uncertainty in future global rice yield projections. Here we conducted a meta-analysis of rising carbon dioxide field experiments and employed crop modelling to assess future global rice yields for the top 14 rice producing countries.

Does elevated CO enhance the arsenic uptake by rice? Yes or maybe: Evidences from FACE experiments.

Elevated CO (eCO) strongly affects rice yield and quality in arsenic (As) paddy soils. However, understanding of the As accumulation in rice under coupled stress of eCO and soil As is still limited while data are scarce. It greatly limits the prediction for future rice safety.

Elevated CO and temperature under future climate change increase severity of rice sheath blight.

Sheath blight (ShB), caused by , is one of the major threats to rice ( L.) production. However, it is not clear how the risk of rice ShB will respond to elevated CO and temperature under future climate change.

Effects of elevated CO on the Cd uptake by rice in Cd-contaminated paddy soils.

The rising atmospheric CO is a major driver for climate change, directly affects rice production. Cadmium (Cd) in paddy soils also serves as a persistent concern. Currently, few studies consider the rice response to coupled stresses of elevated CO (eCO) and soil Cd.

Activated Stellate Cell Paracrine HGF Exacerbated Pancreatic Cancer Cell Ferroptosis Resistance.

As a refractory tumor, pancreatic carcinoma is more vulnerable to ferroptosis, a novel regulated cell death mode. However, the exact role of pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) in pancreatic cancer ferroptosis is still unclear. Using the coculture system, we revealed that activated PSCs promote pancreatic cancer cell ferroptosis resistance.

Lipid metabolism of cancer stem cells.

Cancer stem cells (CSCs), also termed cancer-initiating cells, are a special subset of cells with high self-replicating and self-renewing abilities that can differentiate into various cell types under certain conditions. A number of studies have demonstrated that CSCs have distinct metabolic properties. The reprogramming of energy metabolism enables CSCs to meet the needs of self-renewal and stemness maintenance.

Exogenous HMGB1 Promotes the Proliferation and Metastasis of Pancreatic Cancer Cells.

Exogenous HMGB1 plays a vital role in tumor recurrence, and HMGB1 is ubiquitous in the tumor microenvironment. However, the mechanism of action is still unclear. We investigated the role of exogenous HMGB1 in tumor proliferation and metastasis using human SW1990 and PANC-1 cells after radiotherapy and explored the possible molecular mechanism.

Branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase 2 regulates ferroptotic cell death in cancer cells.

Ferroptosis, a form of iron-dependent cell death driven by cellular metabolism and iron-dependent lipid peroxidation, has been implicated as a tumor-suppressor function for cancer therapy. Recent advance revealed that the sensitivity to ferroptosis is tightly linked to numerous biological processes, including metabolism of amino acid and the biosynthesis of glutathione. Here, by using a high-throughput CRISPR/Cas9-based genetic screen in HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells to search for metabolic proteins inhibiting ferroptosis, we identified a branched-chain amino acid aminotransferase 2 (BCAT2) as a novel suppressor of ferroptosis.

Seasonal variations in the relationship between sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence and photosynthetic capacity from the leaf to canopy level in a rice crop.

Photosynthetic capacity (leaf maximum carboxylation rate, Vcmax) is a critical parameter for accurately assessing carbon assimilation by plant canopies. Recent studies of sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence (SIF) have shown potential for estimating Vcmax at the ecosystem level. However, the relationship between SIF and Vcmax at the leaf and canopy levels is still poorly understood.

Zirconium ion modified melamine sponge for oil and organic solvent cleanup.

Hydrophilic melamine sponge is transferred into hydrophobic melamine sponge by immersing the commercial melamine sponge cubes into zirconium oxychloride aqueous solution and followed by a simple dry process. The hydrophobicity transformation is assigned to the complex bonds constructed by the Zr ions and N atoms, thus reducing the surface polarity. The modified melamine sponge presents excellent absorption capacities toward various oils and organic solvents (70-181 g/g).

Highly transparent graphene oxide/cellulose composite film bearing ultraviolet shielding property.

This work investigates the ultraviolet (UV) shielding property of composite films synthesized with graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets and regenerated cellulose. Regenerated cellulose was prepared from ZnCl/CaCl/GO solution. The GO sheets presented a homogenous dispersion in the film matrix.

Metal nanoparticle-embedded bacterial cellulose aerogels via swelling-induced adsorption for nitrophenol reduction.

Bacterial cellulose aerogels were chosen as the substrate for supporting and dispersing metal nanoparticles (Cu and Ni). During the catalyst preparation, we found that the swelling-induced adsorption process could control the metal size and dispersion simultaneously. Cu and Ni nanoparticles were confined into the bacterial cellulose network and SEM results demonstrated that Cu particles had a smaller size compared to Ni particles.

Dedifferentiation process driven by radiotherapy-induced HMGB1/TLR2/YAP/HIF-1α signaling enhances pancreatic cancer stemness.

Differentiated cancer cells reacquiring stem cell traits following radiotherapy may enrich cancer stem cells and accelerate tumor recurrence and metastasis. We are interested in the mechanistic role of dying cells-derived HMGB1 in CD133 pancreatic cancer cells dedifferentiation following radiotherapy. We firstly confirmed that X-ray irradiation induced differentiation of CD133 pancreatic cancer cells, from either sorted from patient samples or established cell lines, into cancer stem-like cells (iCSCs).

Variations and drivers of methane fluxes from a rice-wheat rotation agroecosystem in eastern China at seasonal and diurnal scales.

The paddy rice fields act as an important anthropogenic source of methane (CH) to the atmosphere. The study of pattern, magnitude, and environmental controls of CH emissions are still insufficient due to limited measurements and understand of underlying drivers for variations of CH fluxes at different temporal scales. In this study, CH fluxes from a rice-wheat rotation agroecosystem in eastern China were continuously measured using the eddy covariance technique.

Toll-like receptor 2 and Toll-like receptor 4 exhibit distinct regulation of cancer cell stemness mediated by cell death-induced high-mobility group box 1.

Background: High-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), a common extracellular damage associated molecular pattern molecule, is overexpressed in several solid tumors including pancreatic carcinoma. We previously observed that radiotherapy induced dying cells secrete HMGB1 and accelerate pancreatic carcinoma progression through an unclear mechanism.

Methods: Using the Millicell system as an in vitro co-culture model, we performed quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction, western blot and sphere forming ability analyses to access the effect of dying-cell-derived HMGB1 on CD133 cancer cell stemness in vitro and in vivo.

[Transformation of Protein in Sludge During High Solids Anaerobic Digestion].

Dewatered waste sludge with a total solid (TS) concentration of 12% was used for mesophilic (37℃) anaerobic digestion (AD). The biotransformation mechanism of protein and the reason for the low conversion efficiency of protein under high solids AD was investigated by analyzing the variation of protein composition in the sludge before and after AD. The results showed that the conversion rate of protein in the sludge was 34.

Satellite sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence detects early response of winter wheat to heat stress in the Indian Indo-Gangetic Plains.

Extremely high temperatures represent one of the most severe abiotic stresses limiting crop productivity. However, understanding crop responses to heat stress is still limited considering the increases in both the frequency and severity of heat wave events under climate change. This limited understanding is partly due to the lack of studies or tools for the timely and accurate monitoring of crop responses to extreme heat over broad spatial scales.

Radiotherapy-induced cell death activates paracrine HMGB1-TLR2 signaling and accelerates pancreatic carcinoma metastasis.

Background: Dying cells after irradiation could promote the repopulation of surviving cancer cells leading to tumor recurrence. We aim to define the role of dying cells in promoting pancreatic cancer cells metastasis following radiotherapy.

Methods: Using the transwell system as the in vitro co-culture model, a small number of untreated pancreatic cancer cells were seeded in the upper chamber, while a larger number of lethally treated pancreatic cancer cells were seeded in the lower chamber.

The relationship between the variants in the 5'-untranslated regions of equine chorionic gonadotropin genes and serum equine chorionic gonadotropin levels.

Objective: An experiment was conducted to study the association between the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 5'-untranslated regions (5'-UTR) of equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) genes and the serum eCG levels.

Methods: SNPs in 5'-UTR of eCG genes were screened across 10 horse breeds, including 7 Chinese indigenous breeds and 3 imported breeds using iPLEX chemistry, and the association between the serum eCG levels of 174 pregnant Da'an mares and their serum eCG levels (determined with ELISA) was analyzed.

Results: Four SNPs were identified in the 5'-UTR of the eCGα gene, and one of them was unique in the indigenous breeds.

Aptamer-PEG-modified FeO@Mn as a novel T1- and T2- dual-model MRI contrast agent targeting hypoxia-induced cancer stem cells.

Hypoxia-induced cancer stem cells have been known to be involved in tumour metastasis, resistance to chemo/radio therapy and tumour recurrence. Magnetic Resonance Imaging is a widely used imaging tool for cancers in clinics and research. To develop T1-positive and T2-negative dual mode MRI agents for more comprehensive and accurate diagnostic information under hypoxic conditions, a hypoxia-inducible factor-1α based aptamer and Mn(II)-modified nanoparticles D-FeO@PMn were synthesized and characterized.

[Estimation of soil's heavy metal concentrations (As, Cd and Zn) in Wansheng mining area with geochemistry and field spectroscopy].

In the present paper, Chongqing Wansheng mining area was selected as the study area, and the ASD FieldSpec Pro III portable spectroradiometer (350 to 2,500 nm) was used as the spectral measurement instrument to collect the reflectance spectra of 171 soil samples and 123 soil samples in March and in August 2012 respectively. In order to create the retrieval model to retrieve soil heavy metal concentration, 40 among the 123 soil samples in August 2012 were collected to do chemical analysis. Then, the heavy metals' concentration and the reflectance of the 40 soil samples were analyzed together.

Four recombinant pluripotency transcriptional factors containing a protein transduction domain maintained the in vitro pluripotency of chicken embryonic stem cells.

Long-term in vitro maintenance of embryonic stem cell (ESC) pluripotency enables the pluripotency and differentiation of ESCs in animals to be investigated. The ability to successfully maintain and differentiate chicken embryonic stem cells (cESCs) would provide a useful tool for avian biology research and would be a resource directly applicable to agricultural production. In this study, endogenous chicken pluripotency transcription factors, POUV, Sox-2, Nanog and Lin28 were cloned and expressed as recombinant proteins containing a nine consecutive arginine protein transduction domain (PTD).

Oxime linkage: a robust tool for the design of pH-sensitive polymeric drug carriers.

Oxime bonds dispersed in the backbones of the synthetic polymers, while young in the current spectrum of the biomedical application, are rapidly extending into their own niche. In the present work, oxime linkages were confirmed to be a robust tool for the design of pH-sensitive polymeric drug delivery systems. The triblock copolymer (PEG-OPCL-PEG) consisting of hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and hydrophobic oxime-tethered polycaprolactone (OPCL) was successfully prepared by aminooxy terminals of OPCL ligating with aldehyde-terminated PEG (PEG-CHO).

The synthesis, X-ray crystal structure and optical properties of novel 5-aryl-3-ferrocenyl-1-pyridazinyl-pyrazoline derivatives.

A series of novel 5-aryl-3-ferrocenyl-1-pyridazinyl pyrazoline derivatives was synthesized by the reaction of ferrocenyl chalcone and 3-chloro-6-hydrazinylpyridazine in 10-65% yields. The compounds were characterized using IR, (1)H NMR, HRMS spectroscopic techniques and representative compounds 3c and 4c were assigned based on the X-ray crystallographic structure. The absorption and fluorescence characteristics of the compounds were investigated in chloroform, tetrahydrofuran and acetonitrile, respectively.

The synthesis, X-ray crystal structure and optical properties of novel 1-ferrocenyl-2-(3-phenyl-1H-1,2,4-triazol-5-ylthio)ethanone derivatives.

A series of novel 1-ferrocenyl-2-(3-phenyl-1H-1,2,4-triazol-5-ylthio)ethanone derivatives was synthesized by the reaction of 3-substituted-1H-1,2,4-triazole-5-thiol and chloroacetyl ferrocene in the presence of sodium hydride and potassium iodide at reflux. The structures of the new compounds were determined by IR and (1)H NMR spectroscopy and HRMS. The structure of compound 5c was established by X-ray crystallography.