Update on the Roles of Rice MAPK Cascades

The mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades have been validated playing critical roles in diverse aspects of plant biology, from growth and developmental regulation, biotic and abiotic stress responses, to phytohormone signal transduction or responses. A classical MAPK cascade consists of a MAPK kinase kinase (MAPKKK), a MAPK kinase (MAPKK), and a MAPK. From the 75 MAPKKKs, eight MAPKKs, and 15 MAPKs of rice, a number of them have been functionally deciphered. Here, we update recent advances in knowledge of the roles of rice MAPK cascades, including their components and complicated action modes, their diversified functions controlling rice growth and developmental responses, coordinating resistance to biotic and abiotic stress, and conducting phytohormone signal transduction. Moreover, we summarize several complete MAPK cascades that harbor OsMAPKKK-OsMAPKK-OsMAPK, their interaction with different upstream components and their phosphorylation of diverse downstream substrates to fulfill their multiple roles. Furthermore, we state a comparison of networks of rice MAPK cascades from signal transduction crosstalk to the precise selection of downstream substrates. Additionally, we discuss putative concerns for elucidating the underlying molecular mechanisms and molecular functions of rice MAPK cascades in the future.     

新时代长江鱼类多样性保护的思考

长江是我国第一大河流,是世界生物多样性的热点区域,也是我国鱼类多样性最高的河流之一。在介绍长江鱼类主要生态习性生境条件的基础上,分析了导致鱼类多样性下降的主要因素——生境丧失和过度捕捞,并简要总结了目前已采取的保护措施及存在的问题,提出了关于新时期长江鱼类多样性保护的思考与建议:①建立以流域管理机构牵头,相关部门和地方共同组建流域生态保护机制;②有计划开展支流及通江湖泊的生态恢复,使支流的小水电逐步退出,使原本的通江湖泊恢复自然江湖关系;③提高民众环保意识,积极建立全流域禁捕机制和休闲垂钓机制,并让垂钓者成为渔政的管理者和监督者。     

淮河入江水道行洪能力分析

入江水道是淮河下游最大的泄洪河道,承担着淮河上中游70%以上的洪水泄入长江。根据1961—2018年大洪水期间的实测资料,利用水位流量法计算分析入江水道的泄洪能力和防洪能力。结果表明:因历史客观条件限制以及4个梯级控制河段整治的难度与复杂性,在不同时期各控制河段的行洪能力呈现各自不同的特点;经过多年持续有效治理,河道行洪能力整体得到提高;由近年来实测资料推算,各控制河段的行洪能力基本达到设计要求。对入江水道行洪能力的分析为淮河下游区的防汛抗洪和降低特大洪水威胁提供借鉴和参考,对区域经济社会又好又快发展具有现实意义。     

A Topical Formulation of Melatoninergic Compounds Exerts Strong Hypotensive and Neuroprotective Effects in a Rat Model of Hypertensive Glaucoma

Melatonin is of great importance for regulating several eye processes, including pressure homeostasis. Melatonin in combination with agomelatine has been recently reported to reduce intraocular pressure (IOP) with higher efficacy than each compound alone. Here, we used the methylcellulose (MCE) rat model of hypertensive glaucoma, an optic neuropathy characterized by the apoptotic death of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), to evaluate the hypotensive and neuroprotective efficacy of an eye drop nanomicellar formulation containing melatonin/agomelatine. Eye tissue distribution of melatonin/agomelatine in healthy rats was evaluated by HPLC/MS/MS. In the MCE model, we assessed by tonometry the hypotensive efficacy of melatonin/agomelatine. Neuroprotection was revealed by electroretinography; by levels of inflammatory and apoptotic markers; and by RGC density. The effects of melatonin/agomelatine were compared with those of timolol (a beta blocker with prevalent hypotensive activity) or brimonidine (an alpha 2 adrenergic agonist with potential neuroprotective efficacy), two drugs commonly used to treat glaucoma. Both melatonin and agomelatine penetrate the posterior segment of the eye. In the MCE model, IOP elevation was drastically reduced by melatonin/agomelatine with higher efficacy than that of timolol or brimonidine. Concomitantly, gliosis-related inflammation and the Bax-associated apoptosis were partially prevented, thus leading to RGC survival and recovered retinal dysfunction. We suggest that topical melatoninergic compounds might be beneficial for ocular health.     

A multilevel sampled‐data approach for resilient navigation and control of autonomous systems

Autonomous systems are rapidly becoming an integrated part of the modern life. Safe and secure navigation and control of these systems present significant challenges in the presence of uncertainties, physical failures, and cyber attacks. In this paper, we formulate a navigation and control problem for autonomous systems using a multilevel control structure, in which the high‐level reference commands are limited by a saturation function, whereas the low‐level controller tracks the reference by compensating for disturbances and uncertainties. For this purpose, we consider a class of nested, uncertain, multiple‐input–multiple‐output systems subject to reference command saturation, possibly with nonminimum phase zeros. A multirate output‐feedback adaptive controller is developed as the low‐level controller. The sampled‐data (SD) design of this controller facilitates the direct implementation on digital computers, where the input/output signals are available at discrete time instances with different sampling rates. In addition, stealthy zero‐dynamics attacks become detectable by considering a multirate SD formulation. Robust stability and performance of the overall closed‐loop system with command saturation and multirate adaptive control are analyzed. Simulation scenarios for navigation and control of a fixed‐wing drone under failures/attacks are provided to validate the theoretical findings.     

Investigations on Selectivity of Gas-Liquid Reactions in Capillaries

Biocatalysis offers a broad spectrum of possible ecological and economic advantages over conventional chemical catalysis processes, e.g., lower energy consumption and high enantio selectivity. The focus of this work is on gas-liquid reactions. These are of great importance in the chemical and biochemical industry and subject of current research since they are often limited by mass transfer or show low selectivity. Different suitable biocatalytically gas-liquid reaction systems were tested in capillary reactor designs in order to obtain information about the interaction between reaction and fluid mechanics. Furthermore, an optical measuring method was established. The experiments were performed in batch mode in a glass beaker with a flow cuvette for UV/Vis measurement of product concentration.     

Iron Loss Calculation of AC Filter Inductor for Three‐Phase PWM Inverters

In recent years, remarkable advancement of new power semiconductor devices, such as SiC and GaN, enables the increase of switching frequency of power converters, and hence the volume of passive components, such as ac filters and transformers, can be reduced. However, temperature rise caused by the inductor loss is increasing, and hence iron loss evaluation of the inductor is one of the most important issues to realize high power density converters. Conventionally, an improved generalized Steinmetz equation (iGSE) has proposed in order to calculate the iron loss under a pulse voltage magnetizing condition. However, accurate iron loss calculation of the ac filter inductor used in a PWM inverter cannot be realized. The authors have proposed two methods of iron loss evaluation of ac filter inductors. The first one is a loss map method which can calculate the iron loss without using a real PWM inverter. Another one is an ILA (Inductor Loss Analyzer) which can measure the iron loss in every switching period in a real PWM inverter. In this paper, comparisons of the iron loss between the ILA and the loss map method on both the single‐phase and three‐phase inverters are studied. It is found that iron loss of the ac filter inductor in the three‐phase PWM inverter which is calculated by the loss map method cause a large error on a specific condition. In order to prevent the calculation error, the authors proposed a revised loss map method and proved the effectiveness of the method.     

Confined Transformation of UiO‐66 Nanocrystals to Yttria‐Stabilized Zirconia with Hierarchical Pore Structures for Catalytic Applications

Solid acids as a substitution for hazardous liquid acids (e.g., HF and H₂SO₄) can promote many important reactions in the industry, such as carbon cracking, to proceed in a more sustainable way. Starting from a zirconium‐based metal‐organic framework (UiO‐66 nanocrystals), herein a transformative method is reported to prepare micro/mesoporous yttria‐stabilized zirconia (YSZ) encapsulated inside a mesoporous silica shell. It is then further demonstrated that the resultant reactor‐like catalysts can be used for a wide range of catalytic reactions. The acidity of the YSZ phase is found with rich accessible Lewis acid and Brønsted acid sites and they display superior performances for esterification (acetic acid and ethanol) and Friedel‐Crafts alkylation (benzylation of toluene). After being loaded with different noble metals, furthermore, hydrogenation of CO₂ and a one‐pot cascade reaction (nitrobenzene and benzaldehyde to N‐benzylaniline) are used as model reactions to prove the versatility and stability of catalysts. Based on the findings of this work, it is believed that this class of reactor‐like catalysts can meet future challenges in the development of new catalyst technology for greener heterogeneous catalysis.