Lanthanum chloride improves maize grain yield by promoting photosynthetic characteristics,antioxidants enzymes and endogenous hormone at reproductive stages

Despite an increase in application spectrum of rare earth elements in agriculture, all studies show that the suitable accumulation of rare earth elements can improve the crop seedling growth, but there is little research about REEs on physiological mechanisms of crops at reproductive stages. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the possible potential benefits of lanthanum chloride(LaCl_3) on the senescence and grain yield responses of maize. In this study, maize seeds were pre-treated by soaking with LaCl_3 at the concentrations of 0(CK), 400(LC1), 800(LC2) and 1200(LC3) μmol/L, to evaluate its effect on the green leaf area, chlorophyll contents, photosynthesis, antioxidants, endogenous hormones in the later crop growth stages. The results show that LC1 and LC2 treatments evidently increase green leaf area, above ground dry biomass, accompanied by a distinct increase in the chlorophyll contents, and photo synthetic capacity, which promote the ear characteristics and grain yield of maize. In addition, LC1 and LC2 treatments simultaneously increase the activities of antioxidants, including superoxide dismutases, catalases, peroxidases, soluble protein, and enhanced levels of auxin, gibberellin and zeatin,following a dose-response tendency. Themalondialdehyde and abscisic acid levels transiently increase with the progression in the growth stage of the crop but are markedly decreased at LC1 and LC2 treatments, while LC3 treatment has no significant effect on malondialdehyde and even accelerates the accumulation of abscisic acid in maize leaves. Our data suggest that seed priming with LaCl_3 at a suitable concentration range(400-800 μmol/L) can prolong the functional periods of leaves, increase photosynthetic capacity, enhance antioxidant activity, and alter endogenous hormone levels at reproductive stages, resulting in delaying leaf senescence rate and increasing yield. However, the moderate concentration of LaCl_3 for maize is LC2(800 μmol/L), and can be effectively used to improve grain yield of maize.     

Staphylococcus aureus induces autophagy in bovine mammary epithelial cells and the formation of autophagosomes facilitates intracellular replication of Staph. aureus

Staphylococcus aureus is an important pathogen causing chronic and subclinical mastitis of cows. Autophagy is an important regulatory mechanism that participates in the elimination of invading pathogenic organisms. Here, we hypothesize that autophagy is involved in the process of Staph. aureus survival in bovine mammary epithelial cells (BMEC). In this study, we detected the expression of autophagy-related proteins during infection and assessed the effect of autophagosome formation and degradation on the proliferation of intracellular Staph. aureus. Infection with Staph. aureus increased the protein expression of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3-II (MAP1LC3, also called LC3-II) and sequestosome-1 (SQSTM1, also called p62) in BMEC. After infection, the formation of the autophagosomes increased but the autophagosomes and lysosomes could not fuse normally to form autolysosomes. When the formation of the autophagosomes was enhanced or the degradation of the autolysosomes was inhibited, the number of Staph. aureus in the BMEC increased. However, the intracellular proliferation of Staph. aureus was slowed when formation of autophagosomes was inhibited. Therefore, autophagy was induced in BMEC challenged by Staph. aureus but the autophagic flux was obstructed. Inhibiting the formation of autophagosomes in BMEC facilitated the clearance of intracellular Staph. aureus, which may offer a new strategy for the treatment of mastitis in cows.     

Cow-level factors associated with subclinical hypocalcemia at calving in multiparous Jersey cows

The objective of our study was to identify cow-level factors associated with subclinical hypocalcemia at calving (SCH) in multiparous Jersey cows. A total of 598 Jersey and 218 Jersey × Holstein crossbreed cows from 2 commercial dairy herds were enrolled in a retrospective cohort study. Blood samples to determine total Ca concentration were collected from the coccygeal vessels at 3 h 19 min (±2 h 33 min) after calving. We used 2 serum Ca concentration thresholds to define SCH: <2.00 mmol/L (SCH-2.00) and <2.12 mmol/L (SCH-2.12). We evaluated the association of cow-level factors with SCH with multivariable Poisson regression models. Variables evaluated for association with SCH were herd; parity (2, 3, and ≥4); breed; previous lactation length and 305-d mature-equivalent milk yield; previous lactation first test milk yield and last test somatic cell count; lengths of calving interval, gestation, dry, and close-up periods; body condition and locomotion scores at calving; calving ease; and calf sex for singletons. We categorized continuous variables into quartiles (≤25th percentile, interquartile range and ≥75th percentile). The prevalence of SCH among Jersey cows was 40 (SCH-2.00) and 64% (SCH-2.12). Jersey cows of higher parity had greater risk of SCH-2.00 and SCH-2.12. The risk of SCH-2.12 was higher after birthing male calves. We also found a tendency for previous lactation length and previous lactation 305-d mature-equivalent milk yield effect to affect risk of SCH-2.12. The risk of SCH-2.12 was lower for cows that had a previous lactation length shorter than the 25th percentile compared with cows that had a previous lactation length within the interquartile range. The risk of SCH-2.12 was higher for cows that had a previous lactation 305-d mature-equivalent milk yield below the 25th percentile compared with cows that had a previous lactation 305-d mature-equivalent milk yield above the 75th percentile. Also, Jersey × Holstein crossbreed was associated with increased risk of SCH-2.00. In the multivariable analysis, we observed no association between SCH and previous lactation first test milk yield; last test somatic cell count; lengths of calving interval, gestation, dry, and close-up periods; body condition and locomotion scores at calving; and calving ease. Our study identified parity, breed, calf sex, previous lactation length, and previous lactation 305-d mature-equivalent milk yield as cow-level factors associated with SCH in multiparous Jersey cows.     

Short communication: Effects of porcine plasma or combined sodium butyrate and Bacillus subtilis on growth and health of grain-fed veal calves

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of incorporating 2 commonly used additives or spray-dried porcine plasma in calf milk replacer (CMR) on calf performance and health. Male Holstein calves (n = 158) transported from auction barns and local dairy farms were randomly assigned to receive 1 of 3 decoquinate-containing CMR for the first 49 d of the experiment: all milk protein and no additives (CONT); 15% of crude protein (CP) replaced with spray-dried porcine plasma, no additives (PLM); or all milk protein and an added combination of sodium butyrate (rate 1.4 kg of butyric acid/Mt) and Bacillus subtilis (1.28 million cfu/g of feed; BB). All milk replacers were formulated to contain 26% CP and 17% fat, 2.4% Lys, and 0.8% Met, and were bucket-fed at daily feeding rates of 520 g during wk 1 and 2, 650 g during wk 3, and 900 g during wk 4 and 5, in a total of 4, 5, and 6 L of solution, respectively. Calves were offered texturized calf starter (18% CP) upon arrival until wk 3 and transitioned to a corn and pellet ration with 2% straw (18.1% CP). No prophylactic administration of antibiotics occurred. All calves were gradually weaned over a 2-wk period. Calves were individually housed until weaned and then housed in groups of 5 in a mechanically ventilated facility in southwestern Ontario, Canada. Fecal scores, treatments administered (antibiotic or supportive therapy), and mortalities were recorded daily. Body weight was measured using a digital scale at arrival and at 14, 49, 56, and 78 d after arrival. No differences were found among the groups with respect to growth, feed efficiency, or incidence of diarrhea or respiratory infection treatment. Calves supplemented with BB had a greater hazard of mortality over the growing period compared with CONT. An interaction was found between the BB group and the level of total serum protein, with the BB group having a lower proportion of days with a fecal score of 3 when the calves had a higher total serum protein level. Calves fed PLM had a lower proportion of d with a fecal score of 3 relative to CONT but no difference in the proportion of d with a fecal score of 2 or higher. This study found that the addition of spray-dried plasma in CMR reduced diarrhea severity; however, supplementing BB was associated with a higher hazard of calf mortality and had a varying response on fecal score.     

Dynamic buckling mechanism of pillar rockbursts induced by stress waves

Rockbursts are sudden and violent rock failures that can lead to huge production and equipment losses,injury or death of mining workers.Buckling has been regarded as one of the key mechanisms of rockbursts,which are often induced by dynamic loads from mining excavations,such as drilling and blasting in underground mining.The paper attempts to investigate the dynamic buckling mechanism of pillar rockbursts in underground mining,by considering rockbursts as a dynamic stability problem of underground rock structures.The results include:(1) A new explanation of the "sudden and violent" phenomenon of rockbursts,characterized by exponential growth of the amplitudes of transverse displacement responses,even in the presence of rock damping;(2) Identification of the critical role in inducing rockbursts of dynamic loads that bear frequencies approximately double the natural pillar frequency;(3) The greater influence on rockburst occurrence of the amplitude of dynamic component relative to the static component of loads;and(4) Quantification of the relative effects of stress waveform of dynamic loads on pillar rockbursts,which are in decreasing order if other parameters remain constant:rectangular,sinusoidal,and exponential waveforms.Application examples are provided and limitations of the approach are discussed.This research is motivated by the on-going and ubiquitous occurrence of rockbursts in underground excavations all around the world.In contrast to conventional methods that use rock specimens or rock materials to study rockbursts,this investigation emphasizes the structural effects on rockbursts,which has potential applications in hard rock mining engineering.     

Corrosion behavior of carbon composite brick in high alumina slags

The corrosion behavior of carbon composite brick used in blast furnace hearth by CaO-SiO₂-MgO-Al₂O₃-Cr₂O₃-based slag with and without B₂O₃ at different rotation speeds and temperatures was investigated in this work. The radius decrement of the brick increased with the increase of rotation speed, temperature and content of B₂O₃ in slag. Furthermore, the square of the radius decrement of brick changed linearly with the immersion time, indicating that the dissolution of the brick into slag may be controlled by the mass diffusion step. A slag penetration layer or product layer may be firstly formed during the corrosion process of carbon composite brick in slags, and then the components of brick dissolved into the molten slag by diffusing through this layer. The corrosion of the carbon composite brick by B₂O₃-containing slag is much severer than that by slag without B₂O₃ due to the lower viscosity and melting temperature of B₂O₃-containing slag.     

Multiferroic and magnetoelectric properties of Pb0.99[Zr0.45Ti0.47(Ni1/3Sb2/3)0.08]O3–CoFe2O4 multilayer composites fabricated by tape casting

A 2-2 type multiferroic composite device encompassing three CoFe₂O₄ (CFO) layers confined between four Pb_0.99[Zr_0.45Ti_0.47(Ni_1/3Sb_2/3)_0.08]O₃ (PZT) layers was fabricated by tape casting. X-ray diffraction data showed good chemical compatibility between the two phases, whereas Scanning Electron Microscopy imaging also revealed an intimate contact between CFO and PZT layers. Under an applied electric field of 65 kV/cm, this multilayer device shows a saturated polarisation of 7.5 μC/cm² and a strain of 0.12%, whereas under a magnetic field of 10 kOe it exhibits a typical ferromagnetic response and a magnetic moment of 33 emu/g. This device can be electrically poled, after which it exhibits magnetoelectric coupling.     

Adhesion at cerium doped metal-ceramic α-Fe/WC interface:A first-principles calculation

Electronic structure, stability and bonding strength of a-Fe/WC interfaces between Ce-doped and undoped WC cermet coating were investigated by first-principles methodology based on densityfunctional theory(DFT). Based on the minimum mismatched lattices, the relatively stable interface that forms between WC(100) and bcc a-Fe(100) was employed to predict the atomic structure, bonding,and ideal work of adhesion. There are three possible positions which were defined as OT, MT, HCP, taking into account both C-and W-terminations. The sequence of structural stability tested in this paper was:MT OT HCP. After full relaxation, the results show that only the first and second layers of the interface have significant influence on the electronic structure between Fe and WC. The interaction of Ce elements at the interface is achieved by comparing the interface structure and electronic structure of the doped and undoped interfaces. Ce doped interface possesses a shorter interface distance(d_0 = 0.09776 nm)and a larger interface energy(W_(ad) = 8.98 J/m~2) than undoped interface(W_(ad) = 8.76 J/m~2,d_0= 0.10134 nm).Charge density distribution and difference, and density of states were utilized to characterize the electronic properties and determine the interfacial bonding.The results demonstrate that strong covalent bonding existed in the undoped interface, while a mixed covalent/ionic bonding was formed at the Ce-doped interface.     

Synthesis of MgO thin films grown by SILAR technique

Different thickness MgO thin films were grown on the glass substrate by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method as the first study in literature. X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements demonstrate the cubic MgO structures and samples have (002), and (220) peaks. All film has nanoball structures observed from the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. The band gap and transmittance values of MgO thin films decrease with increasing thickness. The photoluminescence (PL) spectrum demonstrates that samples have three visible emissions changing with thickness at 381?nm violet emission, 457?nm blue emission and 535?nm green emission. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectrum present confirms the elemental signals from carbon (C), oxygen (O) and magnesium (Mg) atoms in the sample. Both Moss and Herve and Vandamme relations refractive index values n, ε₀, and ε_∞ values and amount of oxygen increase with raising thickness of MgO thin films.     

Numerical modelling of strength and energy release characteristics of pillar-scale coal mass

Coal burst is a manifestation of rapid energy release,which is considered as one of the most critical operational hazards in underground coal mines.This study numerically investigates the effects of discontinuities on the strength and energy release characteristics of coal mass samples under uniaxial compression.The universal distinct element code(UDEC) was used to model pillar-scale coal mass samples that were represented by an assembly of triangular deformable blocks,and pre-existing discontinuities such as bedding planes and cleats were also included in the models.It shows that cleat spacing can have a significant impact on compressive strength and energy release,with both strength and energy release(magnitude and rate) reducing as the number of cleats was increased.This work is one of the first attempts to numerically model and quantify the energy release which occurs during the failure of pillar-scale coal mass samples with varying cleat densities.The insights from the numerical modelling can help to understand the possible energy release mechanisms and associated coal burst potential in changing coal cleat conditions.