•GHG emissions and crop water demand under various scenarios were evaluated.•Changes in planting structure in the study area increased water demand and GHG emissions.•The expansion of the planting ...area is the main reason for increasing water demand and GHG emissions.•Rice has the greatest impact on GWP during the study period in Heilongjiang.
The agriculture sector is one of the largest users of water and a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The development of low-GHG-emission and water-conserving agriculture will inevitably be the trend in the future. Because of the physiological differences among crops and their response efficiency to external changes, changes in planting structure, climate and input of production factors will have an impact on regional agricultural water use and GHG emissions. This paper systematically analyzed the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of crop planting structure, climate, and production factor inputs in Heilongjiang Province, the main grain-producing region of China, from 2000 to 2015, and quantified the regional agricultural water use and GHG emissions characteristics under different scenarios by using the Penman-Monteith formula and the Denitrification-Decomposition (DNDC) model. The results showed that the global warming potential (GWP) increased by 15% due to the change in planting structure. A large increase in the proportion of rice and corn sown was the main reason. During the study period, regional climate change had a positive impact on the water-saving and emission reduction of the agricultural industry. The annual water demand per unit area decreased by 19%, and the GWP decreased by 12% compared with that in 2000. The input of fertilizer and other means of production will have a significant impact on GHG emissions from farmlands. The increase in N fertilizer input significantly increased N2O emissions, with a 5% increase in GWP. Agricultural water consumption and carbon emissions are affected by changes in climate, input of means of production, and planting structure. Therefore, multiple regulatory measures should be taken in combination with regional characteristics to realize a new layout of planting structure with low emissions, water conservation, and sustainability.
Agriculture is very sensitive to climate change, and correct forecasting of climate change is a great help to accurate allocation of irrigation water. The use of irrigation water is influenced by ...crop water demand and precipitation. Potential evapotranspiration (ET0) is a measure of the ability of the atmosphere to remove water from the surface through the processes of evaporation and transpiration, assuming no control on water supply. It plays an important role in assessing crop water requirements, regional dry–wet conditions, and other factors of water resource management. This study analyzed the spatial and temporal evolution processes and characteristics of major meteorological parameters at 10 stations in the Loess Plateau of northern Shaanxi (LPNS). By using the Mann–Kendall trend test with trend–free pre–whitening and the ArcGIS platform, the potential evapotranspiration of each station was quantified by using the Penman–Monteith equation, and the effects of climatic factors on potential evapotranspiration were assessed by analyzing the contribution rate and sensitivity of the climatic factors. The results showed that the climate in LPNS has become warmer and drier. In terms of the sensitivity of ET0 to the variation of each climatic factor in LPNS, relative humidity (0.65) had the highest sensitivity, followed by daily maximum temperature, wind speed, sunshine hours, and daily minimum temperature (−0.05). In terms of the contribution rate of each factor to ET0, daily maximum temperature (5.16%) had the highest value, followed by daily minimum temperature, sunshine hours, relative humidity, and wind speed (1.14%). This study provides a reference for the management of agricultural water resources and for countermeasures to climate change. According to the climate change and the characteristics of the study area, farmers in the region should increase irrigation to guarantee crop water demand.
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•The Loess Plateau of northern Shaanxi (LPNS) experienced a warmer and drier period.•Sensitivity and contribution rate analysis were used to explore the driving factor of ET0.•ET0 showed a significant upward trend in the northern part of LPNS.•ET0 was most sensitive to the variation of relative humidity in LPNS。•Maximum temperature had a higher contribution rate to the variation of ET0 in LPNS
Technetium and transuranic elements (TRUs) are long-lived radionuclides, produced as a result of nuclear power generation. Co-immobilisation of these radionuclides in a ceramic wasteform is ...attractive as they are problematic for vitrification and would reduce the demand on a future geological disposal facility. A range of zirconolite ceramics have been produced via an oxide route using the surrogates Mo and Ce with a view to the co-immobilisation of Tc and TRUs. The resultant materials were characterised by XRD, SEM-EDX, TEM and XAS. Final phase assemblage was found to be affected by target stoichiometry, the Ca precursor used, processing temperature and processing atmosphere. Through appropriate optimisation of processing conditions and target stoichiometry, the results of this study show co-immobilisation of Tc and TRUs is a promising approach.
Bone marrow contains a population of rare progenitor cells capable of differentiating into osteoblasts, chondrocytes, adipocytes, myoblasts, and hematopoiesis‐supporting stromal cells. These cells, ...referred to as mesenchymal progenitor cells (MPCs), can be purified and culture‐expanded from animals and humans. Using bone‐marrow‐conditioned medium combined with basic fibroblast growth factor, we cultured a relatively homogeneous population of MPCs from murine bone marrow, which uniformly expressed stem cell antigen‐1, CD29, CD44, c‐kit, and CD105, while being negative for expression of CD45, CD31, and CD34. In vitro differentiation assays showed the tripotential differentiation capacities of these cells toward adipogenic, osteogenic, and chondrogenic lineages. Most importantly, immunophenotypic analyses demonstrated that MPCs did not express major histocompatibility complex class II molecules or the T‐cell costimulatory molecules CD80 and CD86, consistent with further investigation showing that MPCs failed to elicit a proliferative response from allogeneic lymphocytes. Moreover, when allogeneic or third‐party MPCs were added to T cells stimulated by allogeneic lymphocytes or the potent T‐cell mitogen concanavalin‐A, a significant reduction in T‐cell proliferation was observed. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that we successfully isolated and culture‐expanded a relatively homogeneous population of MPCs from adult murine bone marrow. Additionally, these primary cells could suppress T‐lymphocyte proliferation induced by cellular or nonspecific mitogenic stimuli. This immunoregulatory feature of MPCs strongly implies that they may have potential applications in allograft transplantation.
Model experiments were conducted to investigate the performance of a vortex drop structure with a relatively small height to diameter ratio. Detailed measurements of wall pressure and water thickness ...of annular jet flow were obtained along the vertical drop shaft, and the rate of air entrainment was measured. The results confirmed the high efficiency of energy dissipation in the vortex drop structure even for a relatively small drop height. The air entrainment rate was found to be significant, and good correlation was observed between the rate of air entrainment and the water jet velocity. The one-dimensional frictional free-vortex flow model was extended to include the effects of pressure forces. While the energy loss in the drop shaft can be simulated by correcting the friction factor, both the frictional model and the extended model significantly underpredict the wall pressure.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) core has a pleiotropic effect on various promoters. In this study, we found that the expression of nucleolar phosphoprotein B23 was enhanced in HCV core-expressing cells and, ...moreover, HCV core interacts directly with the C-terminal end of B23. Using sucrose gradient centrifugation analysis and immunoprecipitation assays, HCV core was found in a large complex containing B23 and its interacting partner transcription factor YY1. Both B23 and HCV core associated with YY1 in the central GA/GK-rich and C-terminal zinc finger domain. These physical interactions between core, B23, and YY1 led to ternary complex formation that was bound to the YY1 response element. In a transient cotransfection experiment, relief of the trans-suppression activity of YY1 on the YY1-response element-driven reporter by core and B23 was found. This is also true when examining the effects of these three constructs on the B23 promoter-driven reporter. Additionally, chromatin immunoprecipitation assays indicated that a transcriptional activation complex consisting of core, together with B23, p300, and YY1, was recruited to the YY1 response element of B23 promoter, and this probably occurred through complex formation between core and these three cellular transcription regulators. This is different from the situation in the absence of core, where YY1 and histone deacetylase 1, but not B23 and p300, were associated on the YY1 element as the transcription repression complex. Together, our results indicate that HCV core can recruit B23 and p300 to relieve the repression effect of YY1 on B23 promoter activity, a property that requires the intrinsic histone acetyltransferase activity of p300. Thus, because these three core-associated cellular transcription regulators have a multitude of cellular interacting proteins and are involved in a versatility of cellular processes, the complex formation described here may partially account for the pleiotropic effects of core protein on gene expression and cellular function in HCV-infected cells.
The QM gene encodes a 24.5 kDa ribosomal protein L10 known to be highly homologous to a Jun-binding protein (Jif-1), which inhibits the formation of Jun-Jun dimers. Here we have carried out screening ...with the c-Yes protein and found that a QM homologous protein showed interactions with c-Yes and other Src family members. We have found that two different regions of QM protein were associated with the SH3 domain of c-Yes. The QM protein does not contain canonical SH3 binding motifs or previously reported amino acid fragments showing interaction with SH3 domains. Several c-Yes kinase activity assays indicated that the QM protein reduced c-Yes kinase activity by 70% and that this suppression is related not only to the two SH3 binding regions but also to the C-terminal region of QM. Moreover, our autophosphorylation assays clarified that this regulation resulted from the inhibition of c-Yes autophosphorylation. Immunofluorescence studies showed that the QM proteins and c-Yes are able to interact in various tumor cell linesin vivo. The increases of the c-Yes protein and mRNA levels were detected when the QM was transfected. These results suggest that the QM protein might be a regulator for various signal transduction pathways involving SH3 domain-containing membrane proteins.
Genome physical mapping with large-insert clones by fingerprint analysis is becoming an active area of genomics research. Here, we report two new capillary electrophoresis-based fingerprinting ...methods for genome physical mapping and the effects of different fingerprinting methods and source clone genome coverage on quality physical map construction revealed by computer simulations and laboratory experiments. It was shown that the manual sequencing gel-based two-enzyme fingerprinting method consistently generated larger and more accurate contigs, followed by the new capillary electrophoresis-based three-enzyme method, the new capillary electrophoresis-based five-enzyme (SNaPshot) method, the agarose gel-based one-enzyme method, and the automatic sequencing gel-based four-enzyme method, in descending order, when 1% or fewer questionable clones were allowed. Analysis of clones equivalent to 5×, 8×, 10×, and 15× genomes using the fingerprinting methods revealed that as the number of clones increased from 5× to 10×, the contig length rapidly increased for all methods. However, when the number of clones was increased from 10× to 15× coverage, the contig length at best increased at a lower rate or even decreased. The results will provide useful knowledge and strategies for effective construction of quality genome physical maps for advanced genomics research.
Ascospores of
Sclerotinia sclerotiorum produced from apothecia are the primary source of inoculum for causing diseases such as white mold of common bean, pod rot of pea, stem blight of canola and ...head rot of sunflower and safflower in the Canadian prairies. A field study was conducted for 4 years to determine efficacy of control of production of apothecia from carpogenically germinated sclerotia of
S. sclerotiorum by soil amendment with Perlka
® (calcium cyanamide) and S–H mixture (a formulated compound). Results of the 4-year experiments showed that amendment of soil with Perlka
® at low (30
g/m
2) or high (60
g/m
2) rate was effective in reducing carpogenic germination of sclerotia and production of apothecia under the canopy of host crops (common bean and canola) and a non-host crop (wheat). In the experiments of 1988, for example, the numbers of apothecia produced in the treatments of Perlka
®-low rate (30
g/m
2), Perlka
®-high rate (60
g/m
2) and untreated control were 42, 46, and 182 apothecia/plot (m
2), respectively, for bean; 89, 42, and 318 apothecia/plot (m
2), respectively, for canola; and 146, 143, and 412 apothecia/plot (m
2), respectively, for wheat. However, soil amendment of S–H mixture at low (30
g/m
2) or high (60
g/m
2) rate was ineffective in reducing carpogenic germination of sclerotia and production of apothecia for all the 4 years of testing in all three crops. The ineffectiveness of S–H mixture and the practicality of Perlka
® for control of Sclerotinia diseases of crops grown under Canadian prairie conditions are discussed.
The initial-boundary value problem of Burgers equation is considered. A predictioncorrection Legendre collocation scheme is presented, which is easy to be performed. Its numerical solution possesses ...the accuracy of second-order in time and higher order in space. Numerical results are reported, which show the high accuracy of this approach. The techniques used in this paper are also applicable to other nonlinear evolutionary problems.
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