Characterization of the 19 Novel Cotton FLA Genes and Their Expression Profiling in Fiber Development and in Response to Phytohormones and Salt Stress

Fasciclin-like arabinogalactan proteins(FLAs),a subclass of arabinogalactan proteins(AGPs),are usually involved in cell development in plants.To investigate the expression profiling as well

An Application of the Modified Shear Lag Model to Study the Influence of Thermal Residual Stresses on the Stiffness and Yield Strength of Short Fiber Reinforced Metal Matrix Composites

The modified shear lag model proposed recently was applied to calculate thermal residual stresses and subsequent stress distributions under tensile and compressive loadings. The expressions for the elastic moduli and the yield strengths under tensile and compressive loadings were derived which take account of thermal residual stresses. The asymmetries in the elastic modulus and the yield strength were interpreted using the derived expressions and the obtained results of the stress calculations. The model predictions have exhibited good agreements with the experimental results and also with the other theoretical predictions

Susceptible time window and endurable duration of cotton fiber development to high temperature stress

The development of the cotton fiber is very sensitive to temperature variation, and high temperature stress often causes reduced fiber yield and fiber quality. Short-term high temperature stress often occurs during cotton production, but little is known about the specific timing and duration of stress that affects fiber development. To make this clear, pot experiments were carried in 2014 and 2015 in a climate chamber using cotton cultivars HY370WR（less sensitive variety） and Sumian 15（heat sensitive variety）, which present different temperature sensitivities. Changes of the most important fiber quality indices（i.e., fiber length, fiber strength and marcironaire） and three very important fiber development components（i.e., cellulose, sucrose and callose） were analyzed to define the time window and critical duration to the high temperature stress at 34°C（max38°C/min30°C）. When developing bolls were subjected to 5 days of high temperature stress at different days post-anthesis（DPA）, the changes（Δ%） of fiber length, strength and micronire, as a function of imposed time followed square polynomial eq. as y=a＋bx＋cx^2, and the time around 15 DPA was the most sensitive period for fiber quality development in response to heat stress. When 15 DPA bolls were heat-stressed for different durations（2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 days）, the changes（Δ%） of fiber length, strength and micronire, as a function of stress duration followed logistic equations y=A_1-A_2/1＋（x/x_0）~p＋A_2. Referred to that 5, 10 and 15% are usually used as criteria to decide whether techniques are effective or changes are significant in crop culture practice and reguard to the fiber quality indices change range, we suggested that 5% changes of the major fiber quality indices（fiber length, fiber strength and micronaire） and 10% changes of fiber development components（cellulose, sucrose and callose） could be taken as criteria to judge whether fiber development and fiber quality have been significantly affected by high temperature stress. The key time window for cotton fiber development in response to the high temperature stress was 13–19 DPA, and the critical duration was about 5 days.

Landslide Monitoring Based on High-Resolution Distributed Fiber Optic Stress Sensor

A landslide monitoring application is presented by using a high-resolution distributed fiber optic stress sensor. The sensor is used to monitor the intra-stress distribution and variations in landslide bodies, and can be used for the early warning of the occurrence of the landslides. The principle of distributed fiber optic stress sensing and the intra-stress monitoring method for landslides are described in detail. By measuring the distributed polarization mode coupling in the polarization-maintaining fiber, the distributed fiber stress sensor with stress measuring range 0 to 15 MPa, spatial resolution 10 cm and measuring range 0.5 km, is designed. The warning system is also investigated experimentally in the field trial.

Ezrin Promotes the Proliferation, Migration, and Invasion of Ovarian Cancer Cells

Objective The underlying mechanism of Ezrin in ovarian cancer(OVCA) is far from being understood.Therefore, this study aimed to assess the role of Ezrin in OVCA cells(SKOV3 and Ca OV3) and investigate the associated molecular mechanisms.Methods We performed Western blotting, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, MTT, cell colony, cell wound healing, transwell migration and invasion, Rho A and Rac active pull down assays, and confocal immunofluorescence experiments to evaluate the functions and molecular mechanisms of Ezrin overexpression or knockdown in the proliferation and metastasis of OVCA cells.Results The ectopic expression of Ezrin significantly increased cell proliferation, invasiveness, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition(EMT) in OVCA cells. By contrast, the knockdown of endogenous Ezrin prevented OVCA cell proliferation, invasiveness, and EMT. Lastly, we observed that Ezrin can positively regulate the active forms of Rho A rather than Rac-1 in OVCA cells, thereby promoting robust stress fiber formation.Conclusion Our results indicated that Ezrin regulates OVCA cell proliferation and invasiveness by modulating EMT and induces actin stress fiber formation by regulating Rho-GTPase activity, which provides novel insights into the treatment of the OVCA.