Alternative splicing of the PECTINESTERASE gene encoding a cell wall-degrading enzyme affects postharvest softening in grape

The firmness of table grape berries is a crucial quality parameter. Despite extensive research on postharvest fruit softening, its precise molecular mechanisms remain elusive. To enhance our comprehension of the underlying molecular factors, we initially identified differentially expressed genes(DEGs) by comparing the transcriptomes of folic acid(FA)-treated and water-treated(CK) berries at different time points. We then analyzed the sequences to detect alternatively spliced(AS) genes associated with postharvest softening. A total of 2,559 DEGs were identified and categorized into four subclusters based on their expression patterns, with subcluster-4 genes exhibiting higher expression in the CK group compared with the FA treatment group. There were 1,045 AS-associated genes specific to FA-treated berries and 1,042 in the CK-treated berries, respectively. Gene Ontology(GO) annotation indicated that the AS-associated genes in CK-treated berries were predominantly enriched in cell wall metabolic processes,particularly cell wall degradation processes. Through a comparison between treatment-associated AS genes and subcluster-4 DEGs, we identified eight genes, including Pectinesterase 2(VvPE2, Vitvi15g00704), which encodes a cell wall-degrading enzyme and was predicted to undergo an A3SS event. The reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction further confirmed the presence of a truncated transcript variant of VvPE2 in the FA-treated berries.Our study provides a comprehensive analysis of AS events in postharvest grape berries using transcriptome sequencing and underscores the pivotal role of VvPE2 during the postharvest storage of grape berries.

Flow softening and dynamic recrystallization behavior of a Mg-Gd-Y-Nd-Zr alloy under elevated temperature compressions

Flow softening behavior of a homogenized Mg-7Gd-4Y-1Nd-0.5Zr alloy under compression to a final strain of∼1.8 at elevated temperatures of 450∼550℃ and a constant strain rate of 2s^(−1) has been investigated by optical microscopy,scanning electron microscopy,electron back-scattered diffraction and transmission electron microscopy.The results show that true stress first rises to the peak point and then drops to the bottom value and increases again with further increasing strain at each temperature.Twinning dynamic recrystallization(DRX)and continuous DRX contribute to the formation of new fine grains at temperatures 450∼475℃ when the restoration is caused by both DRX and texture change due to extension twinning,resulting in the larger softening degrees compared with the softening effects owing to continuous DRX and discontinuous DRX at 500∼550℃ when twinning activation is suppressed.500℃ is the transition temperature denoting a significant decline in the contribution of twinning and TDRX to the strain with increasing temperature.The cuboid-shape phase exists in both homogenized and compressed samples,while the compositions are varied.

Water‑immersion softening mechanism of coal rock mass based on split Hopkinson pressure bar experiment

The coal mining process is afected by various water sources such as groundwater and coal seam water injection.Understanding the dynamic mechanical parameters of water-immersed coal is helpful for coalmine safe production.The impact compression tests were performed on coal with diferent moisture contents by using theϕ50 mm Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar(SHPB)experimental system,and the dynamic characteristics and energy loss laws of water-immersed coal with diferent compositions and water contents were analyzed.Through analysis and discussion,it is found that:(1)When the moisture content of the coal sample is 0%,30%,60%,the stress,strain rate and energy frst increase and then decrease with time.(2)When the moisture content of the coal sample increases from 30%to 60%,the stress“plateau”of the coal sample becomes more obvious,resulting in an increase in the compressive stress stage and a decrease in the expansion stress stage.(3)The increase of moisture content of the coal sample will afect its impact deformation and failure mode.When the moisture content is 60%,the incident rod end and the transmission rod end of the coal sample will have obvious compression failure,and the middle part of the coal sample will also experience expansion and deformation.(4)The coal composition ratio suitable for the coal immersion softening impact experiment is optimized.

THE DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF A STRAIN-SOFTENING BEAM

The dynamic response of a strain-softening beam subjected to a transverse impulsive on its tip is investigated.A softening moment-curvature relation is assumed for the beam and a closed form solution is obtained for a special kind of load,which shows that there exists a softening region in the beam and this re- gion propagates along the beam.This result indicates that,except for the possible discrete softening points with rotation discontinuity caused by the deformation localization,the existence of the softening region and its travelling along the beam are the essential features of the dynamic response of a strain-softening beam.The results also show that the failure of the beam should take place under a special load and the critical condition on which the dynamic failure occurs is given.

Effect of MgO content in sinter on the softening–melting behavior of mixed burden made from chromium-bearing vanadium–titanium magnetite

The effect of sinter with different MgO contents on the softening-melting behavior of mixed burden made from chro- mium-bearing vanadium-titanium magnetite was investigated. The results show that with increasing MgO content in the sinter, the softening interval and melting interval increased and the location of the cohesive zone shifted downward slightly and became moderately thicker. The softening-melting characteristic value was less pronounced when the MgO content in the sinter was 2.98wt%-3.40wt%. Increasing MgO content in the sinter reduced the content and recovery of V and Cr in the dripped iron. In addition, greater MgO contents in the sinter resulted in the generation of greater amounts of high-melting-point components, which adversely affected the permeability of the mixed burden. When the softening-melting behavior of the mixed burden and the recovery of valuable elements were taken into account, proper MgO con- tents in the sinter and slag ranged from 2.98wt% to 3.40wt% and from 11.46wt% to 12.72wt%, respectively, for the smelting of burden made from chromium-bearing vanadium-titanium magnetite in a blast furnace.

ELASTO-PLASTIC CONSTITUTIVE MODEL OF SOIL-STRUCTURE INTERFACE IN CONSIDERATION OF STRAIN SOFTENING AND DILATION

The behavior of soil-structure interface plays a major role in the definition of soil-structure interaction. In this paper a bi-potential surface elasto-plastic model for soil-structure interface is proposed in order to describe the interface deformation behavior,including strain softening and normal dilatancy. The model is formulated in the framework of generalized potential theory,in which the soil-structure interface problem is regard as a two-dimensional mathematical problem in stress field,and plastic state equations are used to replace the traditional field surface. The relation curves of shear stress and tangential strain are fitted by a piecewise function composed by hyperbolic functions and hyperbolic secant functions,while the relation curves of normal strain and tangential strain are fitted by another piecewise function composed by quadratic functions and hyperbolic secant functions. The approach proposed has the advantage of deriving an elastoplastic constitutive matrix without postulating the plastic potential functions and yield surface. Moreover,the mathematical principle is clear,and the entire model parameters can be identified by experimental tests. Finally,the predictions of the model have been compared with experimental results obtained from simple shear tests under normal stresses,and results show the model is reasonable and practical.

Hydrophilic and strength-softening characteristics of calcareous shale in deep mines

To better understand the mechanism of the strength weakening process of soft rocks in deep mines after interacting with water, a self-developed experimental system, Intelligent Testing System for Water Absorption in Deep Soft Rocks （ITSWADSR）, is employed to analyze the hydrophilic behavior of deep calcareous shale sampled from Daqiang coal mine. Experimental results demonstrate that the relation between water absorption and time can be expressed by power functions, and the soakage rate decreases while the soakage increases with time. In order to quantitatively calculate the weight coefficients of the influential factors for water absorbing capacity of rocks, a series of testing methods are adopted, including scanning electron microscope （SEM）, X-ray diffraction and mercury injection test. It is demonstrated that the effective porosity has a positive correlation with the water absorbing capacity of rocks and the contents of illite and illite/smectite. The initial water content presents a negative correlation with the water absorption capacity of rocks. According to the absolute value of weight coefficients of various influential factors, the order of magnitude from high to low is captured： initial water content, illite, illite/smectite formation （S=5%）, and the effective porosity. After water absorption tests, uniaxial compressive strength （UCS） tests were performed on rock specimens allowing a linear relationship between the UCS and the water content of rock to be established, indicating that the strength of calcareous shale decreases linearly with the increasing water content.

Dynamic softening behaviors of 7075 aluminum alloy

The dynamic softening behaviors during hot deformation of 7075 aluminum alloy were studied by isothermal hot compression tested at temperatures of 250, 300, 350, 400 and 450 ℃ and strain rates of 0.01, 0.1, 1 and 10 s-1 on Gleeble1500. The results show that the temperature changes have a significant effect on the dynamic softening rate. It is indicated that the considerable dynamic softening rate associated with dynamic recrystallization leads flow stress value decreasing gradually. A group of coefficients needed by the phenomenological constitutive model containing a softening ratio item were calculated by the multiple linear regression method. The optical microstructures show that the grains of billets compressed become more and more refined with strain rate increasing as well as the degree of dynamic softening and work-hardening higher. The phenomenological constitutive description of 7075 aluminum alloy can accurately describe the relationships among flow stress, temperature, strain rate, strain and dynamic softening, and offer the basic model for plastic forming process simulation.

EFFECT OF MICROSTRUCTURE ON THE HARDENING AND SOFTENING BEHAVIORS OF POLYCRYSTALLINE SHAPE MEMORY ALLOYS PART Ⅰ:MICROMECHANICS CONSTITUTIVE MODELING

The effects of microstructure and its evolution on the macroscopic superelastic stress-strain response of polycrystalline Shape Memory Alloy(SMA)are studied by a microstructure-based constitutive model developed in this paper.The model is established on the following basis:(1)the transformation conditions of the unconstrained single crystal SMA microdomain(to be distinguished from the bulk single crystal),which serve as the local criterion for the derivation of overall transfor- mation yield conditions of the polycrystal;(2)the micro-to macro-transition scheme by which the connection between the polycrystal aggregates and the single crystal microdomain is established and the macroscopic transformation conditions of the polycrystal SMA are derived;(3)the quantitative incorporation of three microstruc- ture factors(i.e.,nucleation,growth and orientation distribution of martensite)into the modeling.These microstructural factors are intrinsic of specific polycrystal SMA systems and the role of each factor in the macroscopic constitutive response is quan- titatively modeled.It is demonstrated that the interplay of these factors will result in different macroscopic transformation kinematics and kinetics which are responsible for the observed macroscopic stress-strain hardening or softening response,the latter will lead to the localization and propagation of transformation bands in TiNi SMA.

Strain Softening and Hardening Behavior in AZ61 Magnesium Alloy

The deformation behavior of AZ61 Mg alloy during hot deformation has been investigated in wide temperature and strain rate range by a Gleeble simulator. Specimens are deformed in compression in the temperature range of 523-673 K and at strain rates of 0.001-1 s-1. It is found that the flow curves exhibit a peak and then decrease towards steady-state of classical DRX, which decrease with rising temperature and decreasing strain rate. The deformation behavior of the specimens can be attributed to the occurrence of strain hardening and softening. As stress decreases, the strain hardening rate declines at a fast rate when temperature rises or strain rate decreases. The shapes of θ-σ curves indicate some important features such as subgrain formation, the criticai stress, the peak stress and steady stress. The onset of DRX can be determined by the point of inflection on θ-σ or Inθ-σ curves.

ANALYTICAL SOLUTIONS TO EXPANSION OF CYLINDRICAL CAVITY IN LINEAR SOFTENING SOIL

Based on the results of conventional triaxial compression tests for a soil, a trilinear elasto-plastic model is proposed to simulate the stress-strain softening curve. According to this curve, the constitutive relation between the bulk strain and two principal strains is established. By using Mohr-Coulomb’s yield criterion as the initial yield function with plastic ?ow phases stage and constructing the rational yield function for the strain softening phase stage, the analytical solutions to the stress, strain, and displacement ?elds for the expansion of cylindrical cavity are presented. Finally, a computational example is used to show the radii of di?erent stress zones and the corresponding internal pressure.

Polypropylene crisper and 1-MCP delay the softening,lignification and transcription levels of related enzyme genes of golden needle mushrooms(Flammulina velutipes)

The fresh postharvest golden needle mushroom(Flammulina velutipes) sporocarp has a high moisture content and crisp texture, but it still has high physiological activity and respiration, leading to senescence and quality deterioration.Treatments with 1-methylcyclopropene(1-MCP) and polypropylene(PP) crispers were used to study the changes of lignification and softening of F. velutipes during storage. The main findings were as follows: the crisper packaging could effectively prolong the storage time of F. velutipes;either the 1-MCP treatment, crisper packaging or the combination of the two treatments could significantly inhibit the accumulation of lignin and the decreases in the contents of cellulose and pectin, and had certain inhibitory effects on the activities of enzymes involved in lignification and softening including phenylalanine ammonia-lyase(PAL), cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase(CAD), cellulase(Cx), pectin methylesterase(PME) and polygalacturonase(PG). Among them, the inhibitory effect of the crisper packaging was higher than the 1-MCP treatment, while the combination of the two treatments was the best. The results of transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and scanning electron microscopy(SEM) showed that the crisper packaging in combination with the 1-MCP treatment could effectively maintain the integrity and stability of the F. velutipes cellular structure and inhibit the emergence of plasmolysis to prevent cell membrane rupture. The transcription levels showed that the crisper packaging and the combination of the 1-MCP treatment and crisper packing could effectively affect the expression of genes for enzymes related to lignification and softening of F. velutipes. In conclusion, 1-MCP and PP crispers could delay the lignification and softening of F. velutipes during storage.

Molecular Cloning and Characterization of Fruit Softening Related Gene β-Mannanase from Banana Fruit

A 1 250 bp cDNA fragment encoding β-mannanase, named MaMAN, was cloned from banana （Musa spp cv. Baxi） fruit using degenerate primers designed with reference to the conserved nucleic acid sequences of known β-mannanase genes by RT-PCR. Sequence analysis showed that MaMAN cDNA encompassed a 1 085 bp open-reading frame （ORF）, encoding a predicted polypeptide of 395 amino acids. Alignment of the deduced amino acid sequence of MaMAN and other putative β-mannanases showed that MaMAN has an identity of 86, 70, 69, 54, and 57%, respectively, to β-mannanases from tomato, lettuce, arabidopsis, carrot and oryza sativa. The catalytic residues： Asn203, Glu204, Glu318 and the active site residues： Arg86, His277, Tyr279, and Trp360, which were strictly conserved in the glycoside hydrolase family 5 to which all β-mannanases belonged, were found in MaMAN. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR revealed that the level of MaMAN transcript in the pulp increased during banana fruit ripening, suggesting that MaMAN was likely to be involved highly in banana fruit softening.

A COMBINED PARAMETRIC QUADRATIC PROGRAMMING AND PRECISE INTEGRATION METHOD BASED DYNAMIC ANALYSIS OF ELASTIC-PLASTIC HARDENING/SOFTENING PROBLEMS

The objective of the paper is to develop a new algorithm for numerical solution of dynamic elastic-plastic strain hardening/softening problems. The gradient dependent model is adopted in the numerical model to overcome the result mesh-sensitivity problem in the dynamic strain softening or strain localization analysis. The equations for the dynamic elastic-plastic problems are derived in terms of the parametric variational principle, which is valid for associated, non-associated and strain softening plastic constitutive models in the finite element analysis. The precise integration method, which has been widely used for discretization in time domain of the linear problems, is introduced for the solution of dynamic nonlinear equations. The new algorithm proposed is based on the combination of the parametric quadratic programming method and the precise integration method and has all the advantages in both of the algorithms. Results of numerical examples demonstrate not only the validity, but also the advantages of the algorithm proposed for the numerical solution of nonlinear dynamic problems.

Sound Speed in a Shocked Tungsten Alloy: Its Significance in Studying “Softening” Mechanism to Multiphase Alloys

Optical analyzer technique are used to measure the sound speed as a function of pressure for shocked multiphase alloy 93 W containing 93%W, with 4.2%Ni-2.45%Fe-0.35%Co alloy as binder, all in wt.%. Below 250 GPa, the speed increases with pressure, then a bulk“softening” process occurs at 250 to 340 GPa, afterwards the speed again rises with pressure and coincides with the calculated bulk sound speed, showing a fluid-like behavior for this alloy. Lindemann melting law calculations were made for both the binder and the tungsten. The results showed that 250 GPa corresponds approximately to the pressure for the binder beginning to melt, and 340GPa corresponds to that for tungsten. Therefore, we believe that the shock-induced “softening” mechanism for this kind of multiphase alloys can be attributed to the binder melting.

Strength softening models of soil and its application in rainfall-induced landslide simulation

In this study, strength softening models are developed for exploring rainfall-induced landslide mechanism based on Mohr Coulomb strength theory with both saturation degree and temporal evolution into consideration. According to the ratio of two time scales available, the model can be classified into three categories, i.e., instant softening model, delay softening model, and coupling softening model. Corresponding evolution functions are specified to represent these kinds of softening processes and then applied to simulate landslide of homogeneous slopes triggered by rainfall, therefrom, useful conclusions can be drawn in the end.

EFFECT OF MICROSTRUCTURE ON THE HARDENING AND SOFTENING BEHAVIORS OF POLYCRYSTALLINE SHAPE MEMORY ALLOYS PART Ⅱ:NUMERICAL SIMULATION UNDER AXISYMMETRICAL LOADING

Based on the microstructure-based constitutive model established in Part Ⅰ,a detailed numerical investigation on the role of each microstructure pa- rameter in the kinematical and kinetic evolution of polycrystalline SMA under ax- isymmetrical tension loading is performed.Some macroscopic constitutive features of stress-induced martensite transformation are discussed.

Influence of RE on Ageing Precipitate Characteristics and Softening Resistance of Copper Alloys Contact Wire

The effect of RE （such as Ce, Y and mixed Ce ＋ Y, etc） on ageing precipitate, characteristics and softening resistance of Cu-Cr-Zr alloys contact wire used in electrical railway were investigated in this paper. The results show that the tested Cu-Cr-Zr alloy with trace RE addition could attain higher microhardness and lower electrical conductivity to some extent after being soluted at 950 ℃ for 1 h and aged at 480 ℃. The precipitation process of secondary phase could be accelerated by cold working before ageing treatment which resulted in ageing hardening. Aged at 480 ℃ after 60% cold working, the values of electrical conductivity and microhardness improved significantly compared with that without deformation. The mixed RE （Ce ＋ Y） improved the softening resistance substantially in these trace RE additions, which could increase the soften temperature by 45 ℃.

Zirconium-Induced Softening in Hyperstoichiometric Ni_3Al

The room temperature compressive properties and microhardness of Ni3AI alloys doped with Zr were studied. For the hypostoichiometric Ni3AI alloys, the compressive strength and microhardness increased with an increase in Zr content, while softening behavior induced by doping with a certain amount of Zr was observed in hyperstoichiometric Ni3AI alloy. Possible mechanisms for the softening effect were suggested.

Softening–melting behavior of mixed burden based on low-magnesium sinter and fluxed pellets

A low MgO content in sinter is conducive to reduce the MgO content in blast furnace slag.This study investigated the effect of MgO content in sinter on the softening–melting behavior of the mixed burden based on fluxed pellets.When the MgO content increased from 1.31 wt% to 1.55 wt%, the melting temperature of sinter increased to 1521℃.Such an increase was due to the formation of the high-meltingpoint slag phase.The reduction degradation index of sinter with 1.31 wt% MgO content was better than that of others.The initial softening temperature of the mixed burden increased from 1104 to 1126℃ as MgO content in sinter increased from 1.31 wt% to 1.55 wt%, and the melting temperature decreased from 1494 to 1460℃.The permeability index(S-value) of mixed burden decreased to 594.46 kPa·℃ under a high MgO content with 1.55 wt%, indicating that the permeability was improved.The slag phase composition of burden was mainly akermarite(Ca_(2)MgSiO_(7)) when the MgO content in sinter was 1.55 wt%.The melting point of akermarite is 1450℃, which is lower than other phases.