Environmental Stress and Plants

Land plants are constantly subjected to multiple unfavorable or even adverse environmental conditions. Among them, abiotic stresses (such as salt, drought, heat, cold, heavy metals, ozone, UV radiation, and nutrient deficiencies) have detrimental effects on plant growth and productivity and are increasingly important considering the direct or indirect effects of climate change. Plants respond in many ways to abiotic stresses, from gene expression to physiology, from plant architecture to primary, and secondary metabolism. These complex changes allow plants to tolerate and/or adapt to adverse conditions. The complexity of plant response can be further influenced by the duration and intensity of stress, the plant genotype, the combination of different stresses, the exposed tissue and cell type, and the developmental stage at which plants perceive the stress. It is therefore important to understand more about how plants perceive stress conditions and how they respond and adapt (both in natural and anthropogenic environments). These concepts were the basis of the Special Issue that International Journal of Molecular Sciences expressly addressed to the relationship between environmental stresses and plants and that resulted in the publication of 5 reviews and 38 original research articles. The large participation of several authors and the good number of contributions testifies to the considerable interest that the topic currently receives in the plant science community, especially in the light of the foreseeable climate changes. Here, we briefly summarize the contributions included in the Special Issue, both original articles categorized by stress type and reviews that discuss more comprehensive responses to various stresses.     

Multiplexed-Based Assessment of DNA Damage Response to Chemotherapies Using Cell Imaging Cytometry

The current methods for measuring the DNA damage response (DDR) are relatively labor-intensive and usually based on Western blotting, flow cytometry, and/or confocal immunofluorescence analyses. They require many cells and are often limited to the assessment of a single or few proteins. Here, we used the Celigo^® image cytometer to evaluate the cell response to DNA-damaging agents based on a panel of biomarkers associated with the main DDR signaling pathways. We investigated the cytostatic or/and the cytotoxic effects of these drugs using simultaneous propidium iodide and calcein-AM staining. We also describe new dedicated multiplexed protocols to investigate the qualitative (phosphorylation) or the quantitative changes of eleven DDR markers (H2AX, DNA-PKcs, ATR, ATM, CHK1, CHK2, 53BP1, NBS1, RAD51, P53, P21). The results of our study clearly show the advantage of using this methodology because the multiplexed-based evaluation of these markers can be performed in a single experiment using the standard 384-well plate format. The analyses of multiple DDR markers together with the cell cycle status provide valuable insights into the mechanism of action of investigational drugs that induce DNA damage in a time- and cost-effective manner due to the low amounts of antibodies and reagents required.     

Annealing process of fine grained co-stabilised (Y,Mg)-PSZ/MgAl2O4 ceramics

Abstract

Co-stabilised (Y,Mg) partially stabilised zirconia (PSZ) ceramics with MgAl₂O₄ spinel additions were produced, with industrial zirconia as the main starting material. Powders were prepared using a mechanical milling–mixing process. The effect of the annealing process on the mechanical properties, phase compositions, and microstructure of fine grained PSZ ceramics was investigated.     

Win2003 Server中用户的批量建立和管理

使用一种简单有效的批处理文件方法解决大量用户建立的问题,简化了管理任务繁重,重复性工作多,出错几率增大的网络管理工作,极大的提高了个人和单位的工作效率,减少了错误发生,对于在网络出现不可恢复故障后及时重新构建用户方面具有重要的意义。     

改善低压大电流变换器动态性能的新方案

提出一种新颖的采用DRC(DynamicLoadTransientResponseCircuit)辅助电路来改善低电压大电流变换器动态响应性能。通过一个小容量的能量存储电容和一个快速反应的误差放大器,可达到提高动态响应的效果。与传统方法相比,该法有成本低、空间小、效率高的特点。实验证明,DRC电路对提高动态响应有良好的效果。     

变压器绕组变形的综合诊断

通过对不同电压等级变压器运行情况的统计分析,发现变压器绕组的变形程度与绕组电容变化率密切相关,通过实例证明,变压器绕组电容变化量可以作为判断变压器绕组是否变形的辅助方法。     

圣海伦斯火山爆发对图特河北汊河床演变的影响

受1980年美国华盛顿州圣海伦斯火山爆发的影响,图特河北汊的流域特性、水沙条件和河床边界条件均发生了巨大变化,河流的调整和响应十分迅速,为研究河流受突发剧烈扰动后的河床再调整过程提供了一个很好的范例.本文选取图特河北汉上中游14个测量断面为研究对象,收集了近30年来的水文泥沙和断面资料,对河道的垂向、横向及纵向的形态调整过程进行了全面分析.结果表明,图特河北汉在火山爆发后前3年内的调整最为迅速,后期调整逐渐减缓,并向平衡状态发展,显示了河流受到扰动后调整速率逐渐衰减的重要特征,这一特点是冲积河流自动调整的反映.图特河北汉河床的调整在空间上呈现上冲下淤的特点,河流正是通过河床上冲下淤的调整方式,使得河道比降整体不断变缓,水流能量降低,上游河道冲刷减弱,进而使河流逐渐向平衡状态发展.此外,河岸崩塌展宽也是图特河北汉调整的重要方面,上游源区段和峡谷段的河岸侵蚀主要由河床持续冲刷下切导致,而宽谷段河岸的崩塌主要是由于河道的横向摆动引起.     

快速响应磁控电抗器抑制特高压操作过电压研究

针对高电压等级电网的过电压限制与无功补偿存在矛盾的问题,提出了一种大容量并具有快速响应能力的磁控电抗器的设计方案.磁控电抗器的本体采用单相双绕组结构,保证了运行可靠性;接入电网的三相电抗器组的工作绕组以星形联结,中性点接小电抗,控制绕组为三角形联结以减小输出谐波;通过对低压控制回路直流电压的调节实现对电抗器输出容量的控制.提出2种励磁方式实现了磁控电抗器响应速度的大幅提高;也可采用控制绕组短接的方法实现电抗器容量的突增,以限制线路的操作过电压水平.应用一条1000 kV特高压线路模型,对采用常规并联高压电抗器和磁控高压电抗器时对三相对称合闸过电压的限制效果进行了计算分析,结果表明应用快速响应磁控电抗器可以对特高压线路操作过电压进行有效限制.