Assessment of the Restoration Potential of Forest Vegetation Coverage in the Alxa Desert Region of China.

To scientifically evaluate the sustainability of tree planting and afforestation in the Alxa Desert region, this study, grounded in the principles of water balance within the natural water cycle, employed multi-source remote sensing products and ground-based measurements to construct a quantitative response relationship model. This model links evapotranspiration (ET) with meteorological variables and the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI). Furthermore, the study estimated the recovery thresholds and potential of forest and grassland vegetation coverage in the Alxa Desert region under various precipitation scenarios.

A Dye-Sensitized Sensor for Oxygen Detection under Visible Light.

Sensors that can accurately assess oxygen (O) concentrations in real time are crucial for a wide range of applications spanning personal health monitoring, environmental protection, and industrial process development. Here a high-performance chemiresistive sensor that allows for the rapid detection of O at room temperature under visible light illumination is described. Inspired by the operating principles of dye-sensitized solar cells, the chemiresistor is based on a single-walled carbon nanotube-titania hybrid (SWCNT-TiO) bearing a molecular Re-based photosensitizer [(bpy)(CO)ReBr] (bpy = 4,4'-[P(O)(OH)]-2,2'-bipyridine).

Triphenylphosphine Oxide: A Versatile Covalent Functionality for Carbon Nanotubes.

Broadening the scope of functionalities that can be covalently bound to single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) is crucial for enhancing the versatility of this promising nanomaterial class in applied settings. Here we report the covalent linkage of triphenylphosphine oxide [PhP(O)] to SWCNTs, a hitherto overlooked surface functionality. We detail the synthesis and structural characterization of a new family of phosphine oxide-functionalized diaryliodonium salts that can facilitate direct PhP(O) transfer and afford novel SWCNTs with tunable PhP(O) content (SWCNT-P).

Prevalence, genomic characteristics, and pathogenicity of fowl adenovirus 2 in Southern China.

In recent years, the occurrence of fowl adenovirus 2 (FAdV-2) has been on the rise in China, posing a significant threat to the poultry industry. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiology, phylogenetic relationship, genomic characteristics, and pathogenicity of FAdV-2. The epidemiological analysis revealed the detection of multiple FAdV serotypes, including FAdV-1, FAdV-2, FAdV-3, FAdV-4, FAdV-8a, FAdV-8b, and FAdV-11 serotypes.

Effects of working pressure on the material and defect properties of SbS thin-film solar cells achieved by the VTD method.

Antimony sulfide (), an emerging material for photovoltaic devices, has drawn growing research interest due to its inexpensive and high-throughput device production. In this study, the material and defect properties of thin films prepared by the vapor transport deposition (VTD) method at different working pressures were studied. Solar cells based on a structure of //// were fabricated.

Facile synthesis of air-stable heterobimetallic osmium-silver hydride complexes.

The synthesis and characterization of air-stable heterobimetallic Os-Ag hydrides are described. All of the new heterobimetallic Os-Ag hydrides are neutral, and the generated and presynthesized -[Os](H)-CC-R units in these frameworks act as organometallic bidentate chelating ligands coordinating with the AgPPh cation, which makes these complexes more stable. Our results provide a new synthetic route for the construction of stable heterobimetallic complexes.

B-H and O-H bonds activation a single electron transfer of frustrated radical pairs.

The rare examples of B-H bond activation in a frustrated radical pair regime have been observed by treatment of TEMPO radicals with Piers' borane HB(C6F5)2 or bis-borane, respectively. The resulting concomitant formation of zwitterionic products and geminal N/B frustrated Lewis pairs implied a one electron process. In addition, the reaction of a TEMPO/B(C6F5)3 pair with H2O·B(C6F5)3 was assumed to involve one-electron reduction of water.

Emotion anticipation induces emotion effects in neutral words during sentence reading: Evidence from event-related potentials.

This study examined whether emotion responses during reading are co-constituted by lexical items and the preceding context. Event-related potentials to coherent emotion and neutral words finishing sentences with or without strong constraint for the incoming valence were analyzed. Typical frontal P200 and posterior late positive component (LPC) emotion responses were seen to emotion words relative to neutral words in the neutral context, indicating heightened attention allocation and further valence analysis induced by word-level emotionality.

Mechanical Milling-Assisted Spark Plasma Sintering of Fine-Grained W-Ni-Mn Alloy.

Fine-grained W-6Ni-4Mn alloys were fabricated by spark plasma sintering (SPS) using mechanical milling W, Ni and Mn composite powders. The relative density of W-6Ni-4Mn alloy increases from 71.56% to 99.

, the Target Gene of SiARDP from , Improves Abiotic Stress Adaption in Plants.

Drought and other types of abiotic stresses negatively affect plant growth and crop yields. The abscisic acid-, stress-, and ripening-induced (ASR) proteins play important roles in the protection of plants against abiotic stress. However, the regulatory pathway of the gene encoding this protein remains to be elucidated.

A Non-specific Lipid Transfer Protein Gene Plays a Critical Role under Abiotic Stress.

Lipid transfer proteins (LTPs) are a class of cysteine-rich soluble proteins having small molecular weights. LTPs participate in flower and seed development, cuticular wax deposition, also play important roles in pathogen and abiotic stress responses. A non-specific LTP gene () was isolated from a foxtail millet () suppression subtractive hybridization library enriched for differentially expressed genes after abiotic stress treatments.

SiLEA14, a novel atypical LEA protein, confers abiotic stress resistance in foxtail millet.

Background: Late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are involved in protecting higher plants from damage caused by environmental stresses. Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is an important cereal crop for food and feed in semi-arid areas. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying tolerance to these conditions are not well defined.

Spatial and temporal activity of the foxtail millet (Setaria italica) seed-specific promoter pF128.

pF128 drives GUS specifically expressed in transgenic seeds of foxtail millet and Zea mays with higher activity than the constitutive CaMV35S promoter and the maize seed-specific 19Z promoter. Foxtail millet (Setaria italica), a member of the Poaceae family, is an important food and fodder crop in arid regions. Foxtail millet is an excellent C4 crop model owing to its small genome (~490 Mb), self-pollination and availability of a complete genome sequence.

Fine structural tuning of whereabout and clustering of metal-metal oxide heterostructure for optimal photocatalytic enhancement and stability.

In this work, we demonstrate the fine structural tuning of metal-metal oxide heterostructure with regards to the individual tuning of the various core and shell components from shell thickness to metal core constitution. Furthermore, we deliberately engineered spatially confined and clustered Au nanoparticles in the core of a porous shell structure without the assistance of template or linker. Our findings unambiguously highlight that whilst it is important to incorporate metal nanoparticles into metal oxide for higher photocatalytic performance through enhanced light absorption and charge separation, the "whereabout" and clustering of Au nanoparticles affect the photocatalytic performance.

Two-photon induced photoluminescence and singlet oxygen generation from aggregated gold nanoparticles.

Metal nanoparticles have potential applications as bioimaging and photosensitizing agents. Aggregation effects are generally believed to be adverse to their biomedical applications. Here we have studied the aggregation effects on two-photon induced photoluminescence and singlet oxygen generation of Au nanospheres and Au nanorods of two different aspect ratios.

Excitation Nature of Two-Photon Photoluminescence of Gold Nanorods and Coupled Gold Nanoparticles Studied by Two-Pulse Emission Modulation Spectroscopy.

Gold nanorods (Au NRs) and coupled gold nanospheres (Au NSs) are known to display strong two-photon photoluminescence (TPPL). Here two-pulse emission modulation (TPEM) and pump-probe measurements were performed on Au NRs and coupled Au NSs to understand their excitation mechanisms. The TPEM cross contributions of Au NRs and coupled Au NSs showed much slower decay compared with a two-photon absorption organic dye.

TiO2 coated Au/Ag nanorods with enhanced photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation.

A facile method was used to prepare uniform Au NR/TiO2 and Au/Ag NR/TiO2 core-shell composite nanoparticles. Au/Ag NR/TiO2 nanoparticles were found to display significantly enhanced visible light photo-catalytic activity compared to Au NR/TiO2 and the commercially available TiO2 nanoparticles. The enhancement mechanism was ascribed to injection of hot electrons of photo-excited Au/Ag NRs to TiO2, which was confirmed by 633 nm laser induced reduction of silver ions on the surface of Au/Ag NR/TiO2 composite nanoparticles.

Plasmon-enhanced photocatalytic properties of Cu2O nanowire-Au nanoparticle assemblies.

Cu(2)O-Au nanocomposites (NCs) with tunable coverage of Au were prepared by a facile method of mixing gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) with copper(I) oxide nanowires (Cu(2)O NWs) in various ratios. These Cu(2)O-Au NCs display tunable optical properties, and their photocatalytic properties were dependent on the coverage density of Au NPs. The photocatalytic activity of Cu(2)O-Au NCs was examined by photodegradation of methylene blue.