Future Hydrological Drought Analysis Considering Agricultural Water Withdrawal Under SSP Scenarios

Hydrological drought is assessed through river flow, which depends on river runoff and water withdrawal. This study proposed a framework to project future hydrological droughts considering agricultural water withdrawal (AWW) for shared socioeconomic pathway (SSP) scenarios. The relationship between AWW and potential evapotranspiration (PET) was determined using a deep belief network (DBN) model and then applied to estimate future AWW using projections of the twelve global climate models (GCMs). 12 GCMs were bias-corrected using the quantile mapping method, climate variables were generated, and river flow was estimated using the soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) model. The standardized runoff index (SRI) was used to project the changes in hydrological drought characteristics. The results revealed a higher occurrence of severe droughts in the future. Droughts would be more frequent in the near future (2021–2060) than in the far future (2061–2100) and more severe when AWW is considered. Droughts would also be more severe for SSP5-8.5 than for SSP2-4.5. The study revealed that the increased PET due to rising temperatures is the primary cause of the increased drought frequency and severity. The AWW will accelerate the drought severities in the future in the Yeongsan River basin.

     

Fresh beef tumbling at different post-mortem times to improve tenderness and proteolytic features of M. longissimus lumborum

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of tumbling at different post-mortem times on the proteolytic features and quality attributes of beef loins (M. longissimus lumborum). Loins (n = 12) were cut into 4 sections and assigned to tumbling at 1, 6 or 11 days post-mortem or non-tumbled control. Upon tumbling, additional ageing was applied to a common post-mortem time of 16 days. In general, tumbling had no considerable impacts on water-holding ability of samples. Tumbling resulted in an immediate decrease in shear force values (WBSF) of beef samples. Tumbling at 1 day post-mortem with no ageing had similar WBSF compared to the non-tumbled controls at 16 days (P > 0.05). With ageing, tumbling increased amounts of protein degradation, myofibrillar fragmentation and calpain-1 autolysis of samples. These results suggest that early post-mortem tumbling coupled with ageing can synergistically impact the tenderness development of beef loins and shorten the necessary ageing period.     

Ferulic acid and EGCG alter the structural characteristics of ovalbumin and its application in mineral loading

This study aims to fabricate mineral-loading nanocarriers using natural materials. The interaction patterns between ovalbumin (OVA) and four water-soluble polyphenols, namely ferulic acid (FA), (-)-Epigallo-catechin 3-gallate (EGCG), gallic acid (GA) and epicatechin (EC), were investigated. Results showed that the optimised conditions for preparing stable OVA–polyphenol complexes are at the OVA–polyphenol ratio of 4:1 at pH 6, under which OVA–FA and OVA–EGCG showed the highest stability and mineral-loading capacity among four OVA–polyphenol complexes. The fluorescence results indicated that the addition of EGCG and FA induced a significant fluorescence quenching to OVA. The interaction between OVA and polyphenols involved hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interaction and electrostatic interaction. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis suggested that both FA and EGCG enhanced the stability and orderliness of the structure of OVA. The transmission electron microscopy images also exhibited the spherical structure of OVA after the addition of FA and EGCG. Furthermore, scanning electron microscope–energy dispersive X-ray spectrum results suggested that OVA–FA and OVA–EGCG complexes were better mineral carriers than OVA–GA and OVA–EC. This study may serve as the theoretical support for the promising application of OVA in the fabrication of mineral-loading nanocarriers in functional food and pharmaceutic.     

样品温度对在线pH计测量的影响

在线分析仪表的种类繁多，在工业中的应用日趋广泛。作为其中的一类分析仪表，无论按被测介质的相态来划分，还是按照测量原理来划分，在线pH计通常都被划分为简单的一类分析仪表，掌握pH计的维护一般都会作为在线分析仪表从业者技能的最低要求。然而，pH计的测量原理实际上非常复杂，运行过程中也会出现种种问题需要解决。这其中样品温度的变化导致的测量误差会经常发生。本文就着重对于样品温度对于在线pH计的影响情况进行了探讨并给出了解决方法。     

ROS-Mediated Anti-Tumor Effect of Coptidis Rhizoma against Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Hep3B Cells and Xenografts

Coptidis Rhizoma is the dried rhizome from the Coptis chinensis Franch. that has been shown to have a number of beneficial pharmacological properties including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer effects. However, the anti-cancer effects of Coptidis Rhizoma on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the anti-cancer properties of Coptidis Rhizoma ethanol extract (CR) in HCC Hep3B cells and in a xenograft mouse model. Our results showed that the CR significantly inhibited cell growth and induced apoptosis in Hep3B cells through increased expression of Bcl-2 associated x-protein (Bax) and cleavage of poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP), reduced expression of Bcl-2, and activated caspases. CR also increased the generation of intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS), which caused a loss of mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP, ΔΨm) and activation of the mitochondria-mediated intrinsic apoptosis pathway. Moreover, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a ROS inhibitor, markedly blocked the effects of CR on apoptotic pathways. CR also induced the expression of light chain 3 (LC3)-I/II, a key autophagy regulator, whereas CR-mediated autophagy was significantly suppressed by NAC. In addition, pre-treatment with NAC perfectly attenuated the inhibition of cell invasion and migration of CR-stimulated Hep3B cells. Furthermore, oral administration of CR suppressed Hep3B tumor growth in xenograft mice without toxicity, alterations to body weight, or changes in hematological and biochemical profiles. Taken together, our findings suggest that CR has anti-tumor effects that result from ROS generation, and may be a potential pharmacological intervention for HCC.     

E7766, a Macrocycle-Bridged Stimulator of Interferon Genes (STING) Agonist with Potent Pan-Genotypic Activity

A strategy for creating potent and pan-genotypic stimulator of interferon genes (STING) agonists is described. Locking a bioactive U-shaped conformation of cyclic dinucleotides by introducing a transannular macrocyclic bridge between the nucleic acid bases leads to a topologically novel macrocycle-bridged STING agonist (MBSA). In addition to substantially enhanced potency, the newly designed MBSAs, exemplified by clinical candidate E7766 , exhibit broad pan-genotypic activity in all major human STING variants. E7766 is shown to have potent antitumor activity with long lasting immune memory response in a mouse liver metastatic tumor model. Two complementary stereoselective synthetic routes to E7766 are also described.     

Far-red-emitting YAl3(BO3)4:Cr3+ phosphors with excellent thermal stability and high luminescent yield for plant growth LEDs

Phosphors-converted LEDs (pc-LEDs) are excellent artificial light sources for indoor plant cultivation, in which the far-red-emitting component (700−780 nm) plays an important role in regulating the photomorphogenesis of plants. Accordingly, highly efficient and thermally stable far-red-emitting phosphors are indispensable for developing high-performance plant cultivation pc-LEDs. Herein, far-red-emitting YAl₃(BO₃)₄:Cr³⁺ (YAB:Cr³⁺) phosphors were synthesized by solid-state reaction, and their photoluminescence characteristics, thermal quenching, quantum yield (QY), and application in pc-LEDs were systematically investigated. The YAB:Cr³⁺ phosphor has an intense broadband absorption to the blue light, simultaneously exhibiting the sharp-line ²E emission and the broadband ⁴ T₂ emission of Cr³⁺ with a QY of ~86.7%. The far-red broadband emissions of YAB:Cr³⁺ centered at ~735 nm show a high resemblance to the active-state (P_FR) absorption of plant phytochrome. Moreover, the YAB:Cr³⁺ phosphor shows the thermally enhanced luminescence at temperatures of 303−393 K and the near-zero thermal quenching up to 423 K. The anomalous thermal enhancement is attributed to the temperature-dependent repopulation between ²E and ⁴ T₂ states. Finally, a pc-LED device was fabricated with the YAB:Cr³⁺ phosphor and blue chip, exhibiting the light out power of ~50.6 mW and energy conversion efficiency of ~17.4% at 100 mA drive current, respectively. The exceptional PL features including suitable excitation/emission wavelengths, suppressed thermal quenching and high QY make YAB:Cr³⁺ phosphors very promising for applications in plant growth pc-LEDs.