Exposure to PM2.5 is a leading environmental risk factor for many diseases and premature deaths, arousing growing public concerns. In this study, indoor and outdoor PM2.5 concentrations were ...investigated during the heating and non-heating seasons in an urban area in northwest China. Personal inhalation exposure levels among different age groups were evaluated, and the difference attributable to different cooking fuels including coal, gas and electricity, was discussed. The average concentrations of PM2.5 in the kitchen and the bedroom were 125±51 and 119±64μg/m3 during the heating season, and 80±67 and 80±50μg/m3 during the non-heating season, respectively. Indoor PM2.5, from indoor combustion sources but also outdoor penetration, contributed to about 75% of the total PM2.5 exposure. Much higher indoor concentrations and inhalation exposure levels were found in households using coal for cooking compared to those using gas and electricity. Changing from coal to gas or electricity for cooking could result in a reduction of PM2.5 in the kitchen by 40–70% and consequently lower inhalation exposure levels, especially for children and women.
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•Comparison and seasonal differences in indoor and outdoor PM2.5•Estimate personal inhalation exposure and indoor/outdoor contributions•Distinct indoor PM2.5 levels attributable to different cooking fuels•Use of coal for cooking leads to higher indoor pollution and exposure level.•Indoor PM2.5 exposure contributed to near 75% of total inhalation exposure.
The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway is essential in cell development and regeneration, which is activated by the ligand Sonic hedgehog (Shh). The binding of Shh to its receptor Patched1 (PTCH1) ...releases the inhibitory effect on the downstream protein Smoothened (SMO), a G-protein-coupled-receptor (GPCR) protein. Cholesterol was supposed to function as a secondary messenger between PTCH1 and SMO. However, the molecular mechanism of this regulation process is still unclear. Therefore, microsecond coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations were performed to investigate the protein-lipid interactions of the PTCH1 monomer and dimer-Shh complex. It was observed that the binding of cholesterols to the monomer is more stable than that to the dimer-Shh complex. It is regulated by the enrichment of Ganglioside lipids around proteins and the conformation of Y446, a residue in the sterol-sensing domain (SSD). The regulation of Shh on the dynamics of PTCH1 was further analyzed to explore the allosteric communication pathways between the Shh and the SSD. Our study provides structural and dynamic details of an additional perspective on the regulation of Hh signaling pathway through the lipid micro-environments of PTCH1.
Highly
-1,4 selective (up to 98%) coordination-insertion polymerization of 1,3-butadiene (BD) has been achieved herein using acenaphthene-based
-diimine cobalt complexes. Due to the presence of ...intra-ligand π-π stacking interactions, the complexes revealed high thermostability, affording polybutadiene products in high yields. Moreover, all of the obtained polymers possessed a relatively narrow molecular weight distribution as well as high molecular weight (up to 92.2 × 10
Dalton). The molecular weights of the resultant polybutadienes could be finely tuned by varying polymerization parameters, including temperature, Al/Co ratio, etc. Moreover, the copolymerization of butadiene with polar monomer 2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1,3-butadiene (2-MOPB) was also successfully realized to produce a type of polar
-1,4 polybutadiene (
-1,4 content: up to 98.1%) with a range of 2-MOPB content (0.46-1.83%). Water contact angle measurements indicated that the insertion of a polar monomer into a polymer chain could significantly improve the polymer's surface property.
Plant diseases caused by viruses and fungi have a serious impact on the quality and yield of crops, endangering food security. The use of new, green, and efficient pesticides is an important strategy ...to increase crop output and deal with the food crisis. Ideally, the best pesticide innovation strategy is to find and use active compounds from natural products. Here, we took the marine natural product hyrtinadine A as the lead compound, and designed, synthesized, and systematically investigated a series of its derivatives for their antiviral and antifungal activities. Compound
was found to have excellent antiviral activity against the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) (inactivation inhibitory effect of 55%/500 μg/mL and 19%/100 μg/mL, curative inhibitory effect of 52%/500 μg/mL and 22%/100 μg/mL, and protection inhibitory effect of 57%/500 μg/mL and 26%/100 μg/mL) and emerged as a novel antiviral candidate. These compound derivatives displayed broad-spectrum fungicidal activities against 14 kinds of phytopathogenic fungi at 50 μg/mL and the antifungal activities of compounds
,
,
, and
against
are higher than that of the commercial fungicide chlorothalonil. Therefore, this study could lay a foundation for the application of hyrtinadine A derivatives in plant protection.
Banana production has been severely hindered by fusarium wilt disease. The application of organic amendments to soil has been proposed as a strategy for management of the soil borne disease. The ...one-year effects of different composts and bio-organic fertilizer (BIO) on banana fusarium wilt disease incidence, crop yield, crop quality, and the soil microflora were investigated in field condition. A plate count method, real-time PCR, and PCR-DGGE were used to investigate the soil microflora. The BIO application more effectively controlled fusarium wilt disease. The highest total soluble sugars (TSS) to titratable acidity (TSS/TA) ratios, banana yield, culturable and total soil bacteria populations, and culturable actinobacteria population were observed from the BIO treatment. The ratio of bacteria to fungi (B/F) and actinomycetes to fungi (A/F) values from the plate count method and the B/F value from the real-time PCR analysis were also highest in the soils collected from the BIO application. Based on PCR-DGGE results, the soil bacteria structure was significantly altered in the soils collected from BIO treatment compared to the other treatments. All the results confirmed that application of bio-organic fertilizer could more effectively control fusarium wilt disease in field conditions by improving soil microbial communities.
•Compost and biofertilizer application induced soil microbial suppression of banana fusarium wilt disease.•Highest banana yield and total soluble sugars to titratable acidity ratio were observed from the BIO treatment.•BIO treatment significantly altered soil bacteria structure compared to the other treatments.•Highest culturable and total bacteria/fungi values were observed from the BIO treatment.•Fusarium wilt was more effectively controlled by application of biofertilizer than of composts in field condition.
Abstract
As the cornerstone of enterprises, employees have played a pivotal role in navigating the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuring the survival and growth of businesses. The ...global wave of unemployment triggered by the pandemic has given rise to innovative work engagements, including remote work and employee sharing. This shift prompts employees to reconsider their relationship with the organization, the extent of their collaboration, and their commitment to sustaining the enterprise’s viability and development. Amidst the diverse performance level of employees, the question arises: will they redouble their efforts to showcase their value or succumb to a state of inertia? Additionally, the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic has brought about adverse impacts, making enterprises think about how to inhibit employees’ social loafing, stimulate their enthusiasm, and to rely on collective strength to overcome the crisis. During the pandemic, uncertainty of the work environment was elevated, and the factors influecing employees’ social loafing, perception of organizational justice, and organizational commitment became more significant. Based on the social exchange theory, this paper conducts research on how employees’ perception of organizational justice level weakens their social loafing and incorporates organizational commitment into the research framework in order to explore new presentations of relationships between these variables in the context of the epidemic. Through the data analysis of 276 questionnaires, the study found that: (1) the organizational justice has a negative impact on the social loafing of employees; (2) the organizational commitment plays a complete mediating role between the organizational justice and employees’ social loafing.
Sintering of active metal species often happens during catalytic reactions, which requires redispersion in a reactive atmosphere at elevated temperatures to recover the activity. Herein, we report a ...simple method to redisperse sintered Cu catalysts via O
-H
O treatment at room temperature. In-situ spectroscopic characterizations reveal that H
O induces the formation of hydroxylated Cu species in humid O
, pushing surface diffusion of Cu atoms at room temperature. Further, surface OH groups formed on most hydroxylable support surfaces such as γ-Al
O
, SiO
, and CeO
in the humid atmosphere help to pull the mobile Cu species and enhance Cu redispersion. Both pushing and pulling effects of gaseous H
O promote the structural transformation of Cu aggregates into highly dispersed Cu species at room temperature, which exhibit enhanced activity in reverse water gas shift and preferential oxidation of carbon monoxide reactions. These findings highlight the important role of H
O in the dynamic structure evolution of supported metal nanocatalysts and lay the foundation for the regeneration of sintered catalysts under mild conditions.
The lifetime of an ac-dc LED driver can be increased by eliminating the electrolytic capacitor. Unfortunately, it results in pulsation with twice the line frequency in the driving current. Injection ...of the third and fifth harmonics into the input current can reduce the peak-to-average ratio of the driving current, which is beneficial for reliable operation of the LEDs. This letter discusses the relationship between the peak-to-average ratio and the injected harmonics, and the optimum injected third and fifth harmonics to minimize the peak-to-average ratio are obtained, while ensuring that the input power factor is higher than 0.9 to meet the regulatory requirement such as the ENERGY STAR. This optimum injected current harmonics is verified by a flyback-based electrolytic capacitor-less LED driver with 25 V, 0.35 A output.
Pear black spot disease, caused by
is a devastating disease in pears and leads to enormous economic losses worldwide. In this investigation, we isolated a
from the rhizosphere soil of pear plants in ...China. Indoor confrontation experiments results showed that both SZF-179 and its aseptic filtrate had excellent inhibitory effects against
. Afterwards, the main antifungal compound of SZF-179 was identified as polyene, with thermal and pH stability in the environment. A microscopic examination of
mycelium showed severe morphological abnormalities caused by SZF-179. Protective studies showed that SZF-179 fermentation broth could significantly reduce the diameter of the necrotic lesions on pear leaves by 42.25%. Furthermore, the potential of fermentation broth as a foliar treatment to control black leaf spot was also evaluated. Disease indexes of 'Hosui' and 'Wonwhang' pear plants treated with SZF-179 fermentation broth were lower than that of control plants. Overall, SZF-179 is expected to be developed into a safe and broad-spectrum biocontrol agent. No studies to date have evaluated the utility of
for the control of pear black spot disease; our study fills this research gap. Collectively, our findings provide new insights that will aid the control of pear black spot disease, as well as future studies of
strains.
Pleioblastus ovatoauritus T.H.Wen ex W.Y.Zhang is bamboo species published in 2018, originated from and existing in southeastern China. The chloroplast genome of Pl. ovatoauritus was obtained using a ...high-throughput sequencing platform. The chloroplast genome is up to 139,708 bp in length and displays a typical quadripartite structure with one large single-copy region, one small single-copy region, and two inverted repeat regions. There are 82 protein-coding genes, 8 rRNA genes, and 39 tRNA genes in the plastome genome. However, the interspecific relationship of Pleioblastus species originated from China and Japan has not been revealed explicitly. To understand their relationship, data from four Chinese species and four Japanese species were selected to investigate the distinctions between their genome structures, codon usage patterns, and SSR sites. We moved forward to examine the sequence divergence and polymorphic sites between the eight species. Phylogenetic trees were then plotted using the maximum likelihood method based on different parts of the sequences. Obvious difference found in the JLB boundary and a split in the phylograms contributed to our decision to split Pleioblastus species of China and Japan into different clades. Moreover, taxonomy using the subgenera concept in Flora Reipublicae Popularis Sinicae proved untenable. Nine SSR primers for Pleioblastus genus were then developed from cp genomes, aimed at facilitating identification and germplasm investigation.
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