High-throughput phenotyping for plant growth and biomass yield of switchgrass under a controlled environment

Switchgrass(Panicum virgatum L.)is a native and prominent perennial grass species used for feedstocks.High-throughput phenotyping of biomass component traits is desirable for switchgrass improvement and production.The objective of this study was to establish correlations between the manually measured traits and image-extracted measurements in switchgrass grown in a controlled environment.Red-green-blue(RGB)images from side-and top-views were automatically collected from the plants varying in growth stages for assessing their relationships with manually measured traits.Plant height,tiller number,crown diameter,and shoot dry weight were all significantly correlated with RGB image-based measurements including side-view height(SHT),side convex hull(SCH),side projected area(SPA),top convex hull(TCH),and top projected area(TPA).For a particular plant trait,a good prediction was observed based on an image-based measurement,including plant height and SHT(R2=0.992),tiller number and SPA(R2=0.86),crown diameter and SCH(R2=0.72),and shoot dry weight and SPA(R2=0.88).Plant height was also well predicted by SCH(R2=0.94)and SPA(R2=0.88).Overall,SHT,SCH,and SPA extracted from RGB images well predicted plant height,tiller number and shoot dry weight.The results demonstrated that the image-based parameters could be leveraged in quantifying the growth and development of switchgrass.

Hypoxia inducible factor-1α related mechanism and TCM intervention in process of early fracture healing

As a common clinical disease, fracture is often accompanied by pain, swelling, bleeding as well as other symptoms and has a high disability rate, even threatening life, seriously endangering patients’ physical and psychological health and quality of life. Medical practitioners take many strategies for the treatment of fracture healing, including Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM). In the early stage of fracture healing,the local fracture is often in a state of hypoxia, accompanied by the expression of hypoxia inducible factor-1α(HIF-1α), which is beneficial to wound healing. Through literature mining, we thought that hypoxia, HIF-1α and downstream factors affected the mechanism of fracture healing, as well as dominated this process. Therefore, we reviewed the local characteristics and related signaling pathways involved in the fracture healing process and summarized the intervention of TCM on these mechanisms,in order to inspirit the new strategy for fracture healing, as well as elaborate on the possible principles of TCM in treating fractures based on the HIF molecular mechanism.

Characteristics and genesis of the Feixianguan Formation oolitic shoal reservoir, Puguang gas field, Sichuan Basin, China

The Lower Triassic Feixianguan Formation at the well-known Puguang gasfield in the northeastern Sichuan Basin of southwest China produces a representa- tive oolitic reservoir, which has been the biggest marinesourced gasfield so far in China （discovered in 2003 with proven gas reserves greater than 350× 10^8 m3）. This study combines core, thin section, and scanning electron microscopy observations, and geochemical analysis （C, O, and Sr isotopes） in order to investigate the basic characteristics and formation mechanisms of the reservoir. Observations indicate that platform margin oolitic dolomites are the most important reservoir rocks. Porosity is dominated by intergranular and intragranular solution, and moldic pore. The dolomites are characterized by medium porosity and permeability, averaging at approximately 9% and 29.7 mD, respectively. ^87Sr/^86Sr （0.707536-0.707934） and δ^13CpDB （1.8 ‰--3.5 ‰） isotopic values indicate that the dolomitization fluid is predominantly concentrated seawater by evaporation, and the main mechanism for the oolitic dolomite formation is seepage reflux at an early stage of eodiagenesis. Both sedimentation and diagenesis （e.g., dolomitization and dissolution） have led to the formation of high-quality rocks to different degrees. Dolomite formation may have little contribution, karst may have had both positive and negative influences, and burial dissolution-TSR （thermochemical sulfate reduction） may not impact widely. The preservation of primary intergranular pores and dissolution by meteoric or mixed waters at the early stage of eogenesis are the main influences. This study may assist oil and gas explorationactivities in the Puguang area and in other areas withdolomitic reservoirs.