Zhishi Xiebai Guizhi Decoction modulates hypoxia and lipid toxicity to alleviate pulmonary vascular remodeling of pulmonary hypertension in rats.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a severe cardio-pulmonary vascular disease, involves complex molecular mechanism especially during the pathological process of pulmonary vascular remodeling, brings a significant challenge to clinical treatment and thus resulting in high mortality rates. Classic Traditional Chinese medicine formula, Zhishi Xiebai Guizhi Decoction (ZXGD), holds therapeutic potential for PH. In present study, we sought to explore therapeutic potential of ZXGD against PH in rats.

Do network externalities and perceived gratifications boost WeChat continued use? Combining perspectives of network externalities and uses and gratifications.

Rapid burgeoning of mobile social media has become the primary channel by which individuals construct interpersonal networks and contact with each other recently. The primary objectives of this study are to explore how and whether network externalities would enhance WeChat users' distinct types of perceived gratifications, and how such perception of gratifications subsequently impacts their attitudes and continuous usage behavior. This article utilized a structured web-based survey questionnaire to conduct empirical research, and gathered and analyzed data of 788 WeChat users by structural equation modeling (SEM) approach.

Automated pretreatment of environmental water samples and non-targeted intelligent screening of organic compounds based on machine experiments.

The complexity of environmental pollutants poses significant challenges for monitoring and analysis, especially with the emergence of numerous emerging contaminants. Traditional analysis methods rely mainly on laboratory analysis, which involves labor-intensive and time-consuming sample preparation procedures and non-target data analysis, greatly limiting the rapid detection of water organic pollutants. In this study, we designed a robot experimenter combined with GC × GC-TOFMS.

An ABC transporter-mediated transport and metabolism of the pesticide bentazone in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

Introduction: Bentazon (BNTZ) is a selective contact herbicide widely used to control field weeds for crop production. Excessive use of BNTZ leads to its accumulation in soils and crops, becoming an environmental contaminant. Therefore, investigation of the mechanisms for BNTZ detoxification and degradation in crops is fundamentally important to reduce crop contamination and ensure food safety.

μMET: A Novel Reusable Microfluidic Chip for Precision Microbial Enumeration Tests.

This work describes μMET, a novel microfluidic device for precise microbial enumeration tests (MET), essential in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries for ensuring microbiological safety standards. The μMET chip, comprising two hydrophobic glass plates, features a 15-μm deep μMET chamber enhanced by nanopillars and air supply units, facilitating both immediate and growth-dependent MET. Experimental results, with as a model bacterium, demonstrate that μMET provides counting linearity that outperforms traditional hemocytometers.

Visual whole-process monitoring of pesticide residues: An environmental perspective using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy with dynamic borohydride-reduced silver nanoparticles.

Environmental monitoring of pesticide residues in crops is essential for both food safety and environmental protection. Traditional methodologies face challenges due to the interference of endogenous compounds in peel and pulp tissues, often being invasive, labor-intensive, and inadequate for real-time observation of hazardous substance distribution. In this study, dynamic borohydride-reduced nanoparticles were employed as enhanced substrates.

Accelerating effects of growing-season warming on tree seasonal activities are progressively disappearing.

The phenological changes induced by climate warming have profound effects on water, energy, and carbon cycling in forest ecosystems. In addition to pre-season warming, growing-season warming may drive tree phenology by altering photosynthetic carbon uptake. It has been reported that the effect of pre-season warming on tree phenology is decreasing.

Multiple Metabolism Pathways of Bentazone Potentially Regulated by Metabolic Enzymes in Rice.

Bentazone (BNTZ) is a selective and efficient herbicide used in crop production worldwide. However, the persistence of BNTZ residues in the environment has led to their increasing accumulation in farmland and crops, posing a high risk to human health. To evaluate its impact on crop growth and environmental safety, a comprehensive study was conducted on BNTZ toxicity, metabolic mechanism, and resultant pathways in rice.

An ABCG-type transporter intensifies ametryn catabolism by Phase III reaction mechanism in rice.

Pesticide residues in food crops are one of the seriously environmental contaminants that risk food safety and human health. Understanding the mechanism for pesticide catabolism is critical to develop effective biotechniques for rapid eliminating the residues in food crops. In this study we characterized a novel ABC transporter family gene ABCG52 (PDR18) in regulating rice response to pesticide ametryn (AME) widely used in the farmland.

Acetyltransferase OsACE2 acts as a regulator to reduce the environmental risk of oxyfluorfen to rice production.

The constant use of the pesticide oxyfluorfen (OFF) in farmland contaminates the soil, posing threats to crop growth and human health. To avoid the contamination of food crops with OFF, it is critically important to understand its absorption and degradation mechanisms. In this study, we characterized a new functional locus encoding an acetyltransferase (OsACE2) that can facilitate OFF degradation in rice.

Interpretation of ametryn biodegradation in rice based on joint analyses of transcriptome, metabolome and chemo-characterization.

Agrochemicals such as pesticide residues become environmental contaminants due to their ecotoxic risks to plant, animal and human health. Ametryn (AME) is a widely used farmland pesticide and its residues are widespread in soils, surface stream and groundwater. However, its toxicological and degradative mechanisms in plants and food crops are largely unknown.

Online prediction of total sugar content and optimal control of glucose feed rate during chlortetracycline fermentation based on soft sensor modeling.

In the process of chlortetracycline (CTC) fermentation, no instrument can be used to measure the total sugar content of the fermentation broth online due to its high viscosity and large amount of impurities, so it is difficult to realize the optimal control of glucose feed rate in the fermentation process. In order to solve this intractable problem, the relationship between on-line measurable parameters and total sugar content (One of the parameters that are difficult to measure online) in fermentation tank is deeply analyzed, and a new soft sensor model of total sugar content in fermentation tank and a new optimal control method of glucose feed rate are proposed in this paper. By selecting measurable variables of fermentation tank, determining different fermentation stages, constructing recursive fuzzy neural network (RFNN) and applying network rolling training method, an online soft sensor model of total sugar content is established.

Warming-induced increase in carbon uptake is linked to earlier spring phenology in temperate and boreal forests.

Under global warming, advances in spring phenology due to rising temperatures have been widely reported. However, the physiological mechanisms underlying the advancement in spring phenology still remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated the effect of temperature during the previous growing season on spring phenology of current year based on the start of season extracted from multiple long-term and large-scale phenological datasets between 1951 and 2018.

OsBR6ox, a member in the brassinosteroid synthetic pathway facilitates degradation of pesticides in rice through a specific DNA demethylation mechanism.

This manuscript described a comprehensive study on a pesticide degradation factor OsBR6ox that promoted the degradation of pesticides atrazine (ATZ) and acetochlor (ACT) in rice tissues and grains through an epigenetic mechanism. OsBR6ox was transcriptionally induced under ATZ and ACT stress. Genetic disruption of OsBR6ox increased rice sensitivity and led to more accumulation of ATZ and ACT, whereas transgenic rice overexpressing OsBR6ox lines (OEs) showed opposite effects with improved growth and lower ATZ and ACT accumulation in various tissues, including grains.

Acute Alcohol Intake Affects Internal Additive Noise and the Perceptual Template in Visual Perception.

A reduction in visual performance is among the serious consequences of acute alcohol intake. Contrast sensitivity (CS) is a fundamental feature of visual function. Here, we investigated the negative effect of a moderate dose of alcohol on CS across a wide range of spatial frequencies and with multiple levels of external noise and clarified the corresponding mechanisms in the context of a perceptual template model (PTM).

Genome-wide identification of Oryza sativa: A new insight for advanced analysis of ABC transporter genes associated with the degradation of four pesticides.

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter is a large genes superfamily. It involves transportation of diverse substrates (e.g.

Daytime warming triggers tree growth decline in the Northern Hemisphere.

Global warming has been linked to declines in tree growth. However, it is unclear how the asymmetry in daytime and nighttime warming influences this response. Here, we use 2947 residual tree-ring width chronologies covering 32 species at 2493 sites, between 1901 and 2018, across the Northern Hemisphere, to analyze the effects of daytime and nighttime temperatures, precipitation, and drought stress on the radial growth of trees.

Fluorescence-activated droplet sorting of PET degrading microorganisms.

Enzymes that can decompose synthetic plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are urgently needed. Still, a bottleneck remains due to a lack of techniques for detecting and sorting environmental microorganisms with vast diversity and abundance. Here, we developed a fluorescence-activated droplet sorting (FADS) pipeline for high-throughput screening of PET-degrading microorganisms or enzymes (PETases).

Tunable and Contamination-Free Injection with Microfluidics by Stepinjection.

Droplet microfluidics with picoinjection provides significant advantages to multistep reactions and screenings. The T-junction design for picoinjection is convenient in adding picoliter reagents into passing droplets to initiate reactions. However, conventional picoinjectors face difficulties in eliminating cross-contamination between droplets, preventing them from widespread use in sensitive biological and molecular assays.

Characterization of diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2 from Idesia polycarpa and function analysis.

Idesia polycarpa is an oil-producing tree native to China and Northeast Asia. The fruits of I. polycarpa which are named oil grape are unique in that they contain large amounts saturated and unsaturated lipids.

Dissipation and dietary risk assessment of kasugamycin and saisentong in Chinese cabbage.

A quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe pretreatment method using dispersive solid-phase extraction was developed to quantify kasugamycin in Chinese cabbage samples by using ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. A pretreatment method involving precolumn transformation was utilized to determine the residue of saisentong in Chinese cabbage through high-performance liquid chromatography/ultraviolet detection. These methods were successfully applied through field trials to determine the contents of kasugamycin and saisentong in Chinese cabbage.

Effects of fertilization on the triafamone photodegradation in aqueous solution: Kinetic, identification of photoproducts and degradation pathway.

Triafamone is a highly effective, low toxicity sulfonamide herbicide widely used for weeding paddy fields. The triafamone photodegradation in water environment must be explored for its ecological risk assessment. In this work, the effects of chemical fertilizer (urea, diammonium phosphate, potassium chloride, and potassium sulfate), urea metabolites (CO and HCO), and organic fertilizers (unfermented organic fertilizer [UOF] and fermented organic fertilizer [FOF]) on the triafamone photodegradation in aqueous solution under simulated sunlight were evaluated.

Identification and Characterization of Herbicide Penoxsulam Transformation Products in Aqueous Media by UPLC-QTOF-MS.

Photodegradation is an important non-biodegradation process of pesticide degradation in aquatic environments. In this study, the effect of different forms of nitrogen on the photodegradation kinetics of penoxsulam was investigated. The photodegradation of penoxsulam was accelerated by NO and NO but was not affected by NH.

Photodegradation of tefuryltrione in water under UV irradiation: Identification of transformation products and elucidation of photodegradation pathway.

Photodegradation is an important abiotic degradation process in the aquatic environment. In this study, the photodegradation of tefuryltrione in aqueous solution was investigated under UV-Visible irradiation. Effects of carbonate (CO), bicarbonate (HCO), nitrate (NO), hydrogen phosphate (HPO), potassium (K), and ammonium (NH) on the photodegradation kinetics of tefuryltrione were evaluated.