6-Benzylaminopurine treatment maintains the quality of Chinese chive(Allium tuberosum Rottler ex Spreng.) by enhancing antioxidant enzyme activity

Chinese chive usually develops an off-flavor after a short storage time. To explore effective ways to maintain the postharvest quality of Chinese chive, the effect of exogenous application of 6-benzylaminopurine（6-BA） on postharvest quality and antioxidant activity of chive was evaluated, and the mechanism of the physiological responses of chive to 6-BA treatment was explored. Chives were sprayed for 10 min with 100, 300, or 500 mg L–1 6-BA or with alkaline solution as the control, then stored at（2±1）°C with a relative humidity（RH） of 80–85%. We found that 300 mg L–1 6-BA significantly delayed yellowing and chlorophyll degradation, maintained the total phenolic and flavonoid content, and improved the activities of antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase（SOD）, catalase（CAT） and peroxidase（POD）. In conclusion, we identified exogenous application of 6-BA as an effective method for maintaining postharvest quality of Chinese chive. In addition, our finding that the activities of antioxidant enzymes increase in response to exogenous 6-BA provides new insights into the mechanism of cytokinin-based postharvest fresh-keeping.

Effect of phytate on the amylosynthetase activity and rice grain quality

Phytate of three concentrations was sprayed on the leaves of an indica rice Yuanfengzao in heading stage, full heading stage, filling stage and wax ripeness stage respectively. The effects of phytate on the enzyme activity in endosperm and rice grain quality were determinated. Plants sprayed with distilled water were used as control. It was showed that spraying solutions in full heading stage had the most manifest effect. The activity of amylosynthetase between the 100mg/kg and 150mg/kg phytate treatment was identical, which was 7.4% higher than that of 50mg/kg treatment. On the other hand, amylase activity on the 50mg/kg treatment was 12.5% and 8.7% lower than those

Long-term agricultural activity affects anthropogenic soil on the Chinese Loess Plateau

Anthropogenic activities largely influence the soil quality of agricultural fields and the composition of soil. Samples of typical anthropogenic Loutu soil in the Guanzhong area of the Loess Plateau, Shaanxi Province, China were collected and measured for soil compaction, bulk density, total organic carbon（TOC）, active organic carbon（AOC）, and soil enzyme activities to investigate spatial variations in soil quality. The results indicate that soil compaction and bulk density increased with increasing distance from the farm village, whereas soil TOC, AOC, and soil enzyme activities firstly increased and subsequently decreased with increasing distance from the farm village. All of the tested parameters presented clear concentric distribution. Vertically, soil compaction and bulk density in the topsoil were lower than those in the subsoil, but all other tested parameters in the topsoil were significantly higher than those in the subsoil. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between organic carbon content and enzyme activities, confirming that the spatial distribution of Loutu soil characteristics has been affected by long-term anthropogenic activities to some extent. The results of this study imply that the use of farmyard manure and appropriate deep plowing are important and effective ways to maintain and improve soil quality.

A novel control scheme for simultaneous elimination of imbalance, disturbance and voltage harmonic in power systems

In recent years, the increasing application of nonlinear and unbalanced electronic equipment and large single phase loads have made voltage imbalance a serious problem in power distribution systems. A novel approach has been proposed to eliminate voltage imbalance and disturbances. The main strategy of this scheme is based on series active filter. By improving control circuit toward existing schemes and proposing a new strategy to control the voltage amplitude, simultaneous elimination of voltage imbalance, faults, voltage harmonics and also compensation of voltage drop in transmission lines become possible. Eventually, the voltage on the load side is a perfectly balanced three phase voltage with specific proper amplitude. The proposed scheme has been simulated in a test network and the results show high capability of this scheme for the complete elimination of imbalance without phase shift.

Quality-control method for the determination of biological activity of engineered calcineurin subunit B

The aim of this study was to establish a quality-control method for calcineurin subunit B(CNB) biological activity determinations. CNB enhances the p-nitrophenylphosphate(p NPP) dephosphorylating activity of calcineurin subunit A Δ316 mutant(CNAΔ316). A series of CNB concentrations were fitted to a four-parameter equation to calculate the corresponding p NPP maximum dephosphorylation rates. Values were calculated based on biological activity references using a parallel line method. The method was then validated for accuracy, precision, linearity, linear range, sensitivity, specificity, and robustness. The recovery results were greater than 98%. Intra-plate precision was 6.7%, with inter-plate precision of 10.8%. The coefficient of determination was greater than 0.98. The linear range was 0.05–50 μg m L?1, with sensitivity of 50 μg m L?1. Tested cytokines did not induce CNAΔ316 dephosphorylation of p NPP. The chosen CNAΔ316 concentration range did not affect activity determinations.

Health related quality of life:is it another comprehensive evaluation indicator of Chinese medicine on acquired immune deficiency syndrome treatment?

Health related quality of life(HRQOL) can better reflect changes in acquired immune deficiency syndrome(AIDS) patients and inform economic evaluation of AIDS treatment services,and the assessment of HRQOL can help us to detect problems that may influence the progression of the disease,hence HRQOL has become a particularly important assessment indictor for HIV comprehensive interventions.Being a multi-angle,multi-level,and diversified complex intervention,roles of Chinese medicine(CM) in AIDS treatment have been recognized and accepted by more and more patients,and HRQOL has been widely used to evaluate the comprehensive management effects of CM on AIDS.In this article,the authors analyze the definition and measurement of HRQOL,measurement of HRQOL of HIV/AIDS patients and effects of CM on AIDS,and give some reasonable advices for the usage of the scale of HRQOL.The authors hold that some new HRQOL instruments specific for CM treatment of AIDS should be developed and further prospective studies should be carried out to demonstrate the practicality,reliability and validity of HRQOL as an evaluation indictor for CM treatment of AIDS.

A water quality analysis system to evaluate the impact of agricultural activities on N outflow in river basins in Japan

We have developed a personal-computer-based water quality analysis system for river basins. The system estimates potential N outflow by model and calculates actual N outflow from monitoring data. For the former it uses the potential load factor method to estimate annual nitrogen load from various sources and runoff potential from each area of land in a basin. For the latter it analyzes water quality monitoring data in relation to meteorological data. We used the system to analyze N outflow in basins around Lake Kasumigaura and the Yahagi River in central Honshu, Japan. The land around Lake Kasumigaura is rather flat, and about 25% is periodically flooded for rice and lotus cultivation. The land around the Yahagi River is mountainous, and much less land is flooded. In the Yahagi River basin the actual N outflow agreed closely with the potential. However, the actual N outflow in the basin around Lake Kasumigaura was much less than the potential, suggesting that a large part of the N load is denitrified in flooded soils. This further indicates that a sequence of different land uses including flooded rice fields is an important factor determining N outflow in basins in Japan. On the basis of the above analyses, we incorporated a denitrification model into the system that enables us to estimate N balance in a designated basin;this system may be helpful in the formulation of scenarios of land use andsoil management for improving water quality.

Does vitamin D affect disease severity in patients with ankylosing spondylitis？

Background Vitamin D has been found to have a role in the function of the immune system. There have been a lot of studies investigating a relation between vitamin D and disease activity in ankylosing spondylitis （AS）. However, there have not been any studies arranging AS in groups according to vitamin D levels and determining any differences among these patients in terms of disease activity, functional status, quality of life, and other clinical parameters. The aim of this study is to compare 25-hydroxy-vitamin D3 （25（OH）D3） levels in AS patients with those in normal healthy subjects and to determine the relationship between 25（OH）D3 levels and AS disease activity, functional status, and quality of life. Methods Ninety-nine consecutive patients and 42 healthy volunteers were included in this study. After a comparison between the patient group and the control group, the patient group was divided into normal, insufficient and deficient subgroups according to the plasma 25（OH）D3 levels for another comparison. Results The differences in the 25（OH）D3 level between the patient and the control groups were statistically insignificant. The number of AS patients whose 25（OH）D3 levels were classified as normal, insufficient, and deficient were 34, 29, and 36, respectively. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate （ESR）, C-reactive protein （CRP）, and Bath AS Disease Activity Index （BASDAI） scores were higher in the low （including insufficient and deficient） 25（OH）D3 level subgroups （P 〈0.05）. The Bath AS Functional Index （BASFI） and AS Quality of Life （ASQoL） scores were significantly different between the normal and the deficient subgroups （P 〈0.05）. Pain, BASDAI, ESR, and CRP were inversely correlated to the 25（OH）D3 levels （P 〈0.05）. Conclusions The plasma 25（OH）D3 levels may decrease in AS patients and this may negatively affect disease activity, functional status and quality of life.

Performanceanalysisofalowpowerlownoisetunablebandpassfilterformultiband RF front end

This paper presents a low power tunable active inductor and RF band pass filter suitable for multiband RF front end circuits. The active inductor circuit uses the PMOS cascode structure as the negative transconductor of a gyrator to reduce the noise voltage. Also, this structure provides possible negative resistance to reduce the inductor loss with wide inductive bandwidth and high resonance frequency. The RF band pass filter is realized using the proposed active inductor with suitable input and output buffer stages. The tuning of the center frequency for multiband operation is achieved through the controllable current source. The designed active inductor and RF band pass filter are simulated in 180 nm and 45 nm CMOS process using the Synopsys HSPICE simulation tool and their performances are compared. The parameters, such as resonance frequency, tuning capability, noise and power dissipation, are analyzed for these CMOS technologies and discussed. The design of a third order band pass filter using an active inductor is also presented.