Evaluation of sugar and organic acid composition and their levels in highbush blueberries from two regions of China

Sweet and sour are the most important taste of blueberries,and they are produced by sugar and acid,respectively.Their contributions to the taste depend not only on the levels of sugar and acid,but also on the types and relative proportions of sugar and acid.Therefore,it is very important to evaluate the composition and levels of sugar and acid in blueberries.Regional differences and variety diversity also affect the sugar and acid characteristics of fruits.Therefore,this study selected two main producing regions in northern China(Weihai and Yingkou)to examine the sugar and acid characteristics of 11 common blueberry cultivars.The indexes measured included soluble sugars,organic acids,soluble solid content and titratable acidity.The results showed that glucose and fructose were the major sugars,and citric acid and quinic acid were the major organic acids.Correlation analysis showed that glucose,fructose,and sucrose were positively correlated with total sugar content;the citric acid content was positively correlated with the titratable acidity and total organic acids.Titratable acidity,glucose,fructose,sucrose,total sugar content,citric acid,shikimic acid and total acid content of the blueberries varied significantly between regions(P<0.05).In general,compared with Weihai blueberries,Yingkou blueberries had higher sugar content and lower acid content.The results of this study may provide useful references for the evaluation of sweet and sour flavors and cultivar selection of blueberries.

Attitudes,awareness,and knowledge levels of the Turkish adult population toward organ donation:Study of a nationwide survey

BACKGROUND The most important factors affecting attitudes on organ donation are socioeconomic, educational, cultural, and religious factors in many countries.AIM To evaluate the attitudes, awareness, and knowledge levels of the Turkish adult population toward organ donation.METHODS This nationwide study surveyed 3000 adults(≥ 18 years) in Turkey. To ensure a representative sample, the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics-Ⅱ(modified for Turkey) was used. Turkey was divided into 26 regions based on social, economic, and geographic criteria as identified by the Turkish Statistical Institute. A stratified sampling method was used with an even distribution of adults across cities and towns based on population data. Data were collected by the PRP Research and Consultancy Company using computer-assisted personal interviews.RESULTS Out of 3000 individuals represented in the study population, 1465(48.8%) were male and 1535(51.2%) female. The results showed that most participants were under 45 years(59.0%) and married(72.1%), some had a bachelor’s degree or higher(21.9%), and very few(1.5%) had any direct experience with organ transplantation-whether in the family, or a family member on a transplantation waiting list. Most of the study population(88.3%) had not considered donating an organ, however, most(87.9%) said that they would accept an organ from a donor if they needed one. Among the individuals surveyed, 67% were willing to donate an organ to a close relative, while 26.8% would donate an organ to an unrelated person. Only 47.2% said they had adequate information about brain death, and 85.2% refused to consent to donating organs of family members declared brain dead. Only 33.9% thought they had adequate information about organ donation. The main source of information was the television. The two main reasons for refusing organ donation were that it was too soon to think about organ donation and the importance of retaining the integrity of the dead person’s body.CONCLUSION This study showed that Turkey’s adult population has inadequate knowledge about organ donation. The study advocates for public education programs to increase awareness among the general population about legislation related to organ donation.

Red Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Based on Energy Levels Matching of Dopant with the Host Materials

By doping red dye 4 dicyanomethylene 2 ( tert butyl) 6 methyl 4H pyran(DCJTB) in the tris (8 hydroxyquinolinato) metal Mq 3(where M = Al, Ga, In) chelate complexes, a series of red dopant organic light emitting diodes with different doping concentrations have been fabricated. The electroluminescence efficiency of these red diodes with a DCJTB doped Mq 3 emitting layer is found to be decreased markedly with the increasing of doping concentration. Electroluminescence characteristics of these devices are studied in terms of energy levels matching of red dopant with the host materials and carrier transporting layers.

Small molecule donors with different conjugated π linking bridges: Synthesis and photovoltaic properties

Three small molecule(SM)donors,namely B-T-CN,B-TT-CN and B-DTT-CN,with differentπconjugated bridges were synthesized in this research.Interestingly,with the conjugated fused rings of theπlinking bridge increasing,the SM HOMO levels exhibit a decline tendency with–5.27 eV for B-T-CN,–5.31 eV for B-TT-CN and–5.40 eV for B-DTT-CN.After blending the SM donors with the fullerene acceptor PC71BM,the all SM organic solar cells(OSCs)achieved high Vocs of 0.90 to 0.96 V.However,the phase separation morphology and molecule stacking are also unexpectedly changed together with the enhancement of conjugated degree ofπbridges,resulting in a lower power conversion efficiency(PCE)for the B-DTT-CN:PC71BM device.Our results demonstrate and provide a useful way to enhance OSC Voc and the morphology needs to be further optimized.

The Effect of Energy Levels of the Electron Acceptor Materials on Organic Photovoltaic Cells

Organic photovoltaic cells have been fabricated using copper phthalocyanine CuPc as electron donor and C60 or PCBM as electron acceptor. We have investigated the I-V measurements of two different structures: ITO/PEDOT: PSS/(CuPc:C60 or CuPc:PCBM)/BCP/Al. We have observed that the substitution of PCBM by C60 scales up the photocurrent and the efficiency of the devices. As for the open-circuit voltage and the fill factor, we have seen that Voc and FF depend on the energy difference between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of CuPc and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO)of C60 or PCBM.

Substitution of chemical fertilizer by Chinese milk vetch improves the sustainability of yield and accumulation of soil organic carbon in a double-rice cropping system

The double-rice cropping system is a very important intensive cropping system for food security in China. There have been few studies of the sustainability of yield and accumulation of soil organic carbon (SOC) in the double-rice cropping system following a partial substitution of chemical fertilizer by Chinese milk vetch (Mv). We conducted a 10-year (2008–2017) field experiment in Nan County, South-Central China, to examine the double-rice productivity and SOC accumulation in a paddy soil in response to different fertilization levels and Mv application (22.5 Mg ha^–1). Fertilizer and Mv were applied both individually and in combination (sole chemical fertilizers, Mv plus 100, 80, 60, 40, and 0% of the recommended dose of chemical fertilizers, labeled as F100, MF100, MF80, MF60, MF40, and MF0, respectively). It was found that the grain yields of double-rice crop in treatments receiving Mv were reduced when the dose of chemical fertilizer was reduced, while the change in SOC stock displayed a double peak curve. The MF100 produced the highest double-rice yield and SOC stock, with the value higher by 13.5 and 26.8% than that in the F100. However, the grain yields increased in the MF80 (by 8.4% compared to the F100), while the SOC stock only increased by 8.4%. Analogous to the change of grain yield, the sustainable yield index (SYI) of double rice were improved significantly in the MF100 and MF80 compared to the F100, while there was a slight increase in the MF60 and MF40. After a certain amount of Mv input (22.5 Mg ha^–1), the carbon sequestration rate was affected by the nutrient input due to the stimulation of microbial biomass. Compared with the MF0, the MF100 and MF40 resulted in a dramatically higher carbon sequestration rate (with the value higher by 71.6 and 70.1%), whereas the MF80 induced a lower carbon sequestration rate with the value lower by 70.1% compared to the MF0. Based on the above results we suggested that Mv could partially replace chemical fertilizers (e.g., 40–60%) to improve or maintain the productivity and sustainability of the double-rice cropping system in South-Central China.

Residual Levels and New Inputs of Chlorinated POPs in Agricultural Soils from Taihu Lake Region

Selected persistent organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), including 1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethane (DDT) and its principal metabolites 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)ethylene (DDE) and 1,1-dichloro-2,2-bis(p-chlorophenyl)e- thane (DDD), hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) and its isomers (α-,β-, γ-, and δ-HCH), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), endo- sulfan, dieldrin, and endrin were quantified to determine current levels of organochlorine pesticides, to assess the eco- toxicological potential, and to distin…

Biomass accumulation and organic carbon stocks of Kandelia obovata mangrove vegetation under different simulated sea levels

Mangrove forests are vulnerably threatened by sea level rise(SLR).Vegetation organic carbon(OC)stocks are important for mangrove ecosystem carbon cycle.It is critical to understand how SLR affects vegetation OC stocks for evaluating mangrove blue carbon budget and global climate change.In this study,biomass accumulation and OC stocks of mangrove vegetation were compared among three 10 year-old Kandelia obovata(a common species in China)mangrove forests under three intertidal elevations through species-specific allometric equations.This study simulated mangrove forests with SLR values of 0 cm,40 cm and 80 cm,respectively,representing for the current,future~100 a and future~200 a SLR of mangrove forests along the Jiulong River Estuary,China.SLR directly decreased mangrove individual density and inhibited the growth of mangrove vegetation.The total vegetation biomasses were(12.86±0.95)kg/m^2,(7.97±0.90)kg/m^2 and(3.89±0.63)kg/m^2 at Sites SLR 0 cm,SLR40 cm and SLR 80 cm,respectively.The total vegetation OC stock decreased by approximately 3.85 kg/m^2(in terms of C)from Site SLR 0 cm to Site SLR 80 cm.Significantly lower vegetation biomass and OC stock of various components(stem,branch,leaf and root)were found at Site SLR 80 cm.Annual increments of vegetation biomass and OC stock also decreased with SLR increase.Moreover,significant lower sedimentation rate was found at Site SLR 80 cm.These indicated that SLR will decrease mangrove vegetation biomass and OC stock,which may reduce global blue carbon sink by mangroves,exacerbate global warming and give positive feedback to SLR.

Enhancing the stability of planar perovskite solar cells by green and inexpensive cellulose acetate butyrate

Although the efficiency of organic–inorganic hybrid halide perovskite solar cells has been improved rapidly, the intrinsic instability of perovskite materials restricts their commercial application. Here, an eco-friendly and low-cost organic polymer, cellulose acetate butyrate(CAB), was introduced to the grain boundaries and surfaces of perovskite, resulting in a high-quality and low-defect perovskite film with a nearly tenfold improvement in carrier lifetime. More importantly, the CAB-treated perovskite films have a well-matched energy level with the charge transport layers, thus suppressing carrier nonradiative recombination and carrier accumulation. As a result, the optimized CAB-based device achieved a champion efficiency of 21.5% compared to the control device(18.2%). Since the ester group in CAB bonds with Pb in perovskite, and the H and O in the hydroxyl group bond with the I and organic cations in perovskite,respectively, it will contribute to superior stability under heat, high humidity, and light soaking conditions. After aging under 35% humidity(relative humidity, RH) for 3300 h, the optimized device can still maintain more than 90% of the initial efficiency;it can also retain more than 90% of the initial efficiency after aging at 65 ℃, 65% RH, or light(AM 1.5G) for 500 h. This simple optimization strategy for perovskite stability could facilitate the commercial application of perovskite solar cells.

Paleoecology of Early Ordovician Reefs in the Yichang Area,Hubei:a Correlation of Organic Reefs Between Early Ordovician and Jurassic

The Early Ordovician System is composed mainly of a series of carbonate platform deposits interbedded with shale and is especially characterized by a large number of organic reefs or buildups that occur widely in the research area.The reefs have different thicknesses ranging from 0.5 m to 11.5 m and lengths varying from 1 m to 130 m.The reef-building organisms include Archaeoscyphia, Recepthaculitids,Batostoma,Cyanobacteria and Pulchrilamina.Through the research of characteristics of the reef-bearing strata of the Early Ordovician in the Yichang area,four sorts of biofacies are recognized,which are(1) shelly biofacies:containing Tritoechia-Pelmatozans community and Tritoechia-Pomatotrema community;(2) reef biofacies:including the Batostoma,Calathium-Archaeoscyphia, Pelmatozoa-Batostoma,Archeoscyphia and Calathium-Cyanobacteria communities; (3) standing-water biofacies:including the Acanthograptus-Dendrogptus and Yichangopora communities;and(4) allochthonous biofacies:containing Nanorthis-Psilocephlina taphocoense community.The analysis of sea-level changes indicates that there are four cycles of sea-level changes during the period when reef-bearing strata were formed in this area,and the development of reefs is obviously controlled by the velocity of sea-level changes and the growth of accommodation space.The authors hold that reefs were mostly formed in the high sea level periods.Because of the development of several subordinate cycles during the sea-level rising,the reefs are characterized by great quantity, wide distribution,thin thickness and small scale,which are similar to that of Juassic reefs in northern Tibet.The research on the evolution of communities shows that succession and replacement are the main forms.The former is favorable to the development of reefs and the latter indicates the disappearance of reefs.

Organic Carbon Deposition on the Inner Shelf of the East China Sea Constrained by Sea Level and Climatic Changes Since the Last Deglaciation

The East China Sea(ECS),which is located in the transitional zone between land and ocean,is the main site for the burial of sedimentary organic carbon.Despite good constraints of the modern source to the sinking process of organic carbon,its fate in response to changes in climate and sea level since the last deglaciation remains poorly understood.We aim to fill this gap by presenting a high-resolution sedimentary record of core EC2005 to derive a better understanding of the evolution of the depositional environment and its control on the organic deposition since 17.3 kyr.Our results suggest that sedimentary organic carbon was deposited in a terrestrial environment before the seawater reached the study area around 13.1 kyr.This significant transition from a terrestrial environment to a marine environment is reflected by the decrease in TOC/TN and TOC/TS ratios,which is attributed to deglacial sea level rise.The sea level continued to rise until it reached its highstand at approximately 7.3 kyr when the mud depocenter was developed.Our results further indicate that the deposition of the sedimentary organic carbon could respond quickly to abrupt cold events,including the Heinrich stadial 1 and the Younger Dryas during the last deglaciation,as well as‘Bond events'during the Holocene.We propose that the rapid response of the organic deposition to those cold events in the northern hemisphere is linked to the East Asian winter monsoon.These new findings demonstrate that organic carbon deposition and burial on the inner shelf could effectively document sea level and climatic changes.

The Complete K-Level Tree and Its Application to Data Warehouse Filtering

This paper presents a simple complete K level tree (CKT) architecture for text database organization and rapid data filtering. A database is constructed as a CKT forest and each CKT contains data of the same length. The maximum depth and the minimum depth of an individual CKT are equal and identical to data’s length. Insertion and deletion operations are defined; storage method and filtering algorithm are also designed for good compensation between efficiency and complexity. Applications to computer aided teaching of Chinese and protein selection show that an about 30% reduction of storage consumption and an over 60% reduction of computation may be easily obtained.

Design on AM-OLED display control ASIC with high gray scale levels

The paper puts forward a method on controlling the AM-OLED panel to display image with high gray scale levels. It also gives an ASIC design sample to implement this method. A twenty sub-fields scan scheme has been taken into use in the chip to display 256 gray scale levels on a QVGA resolution AM-OLED display screen. The functions of image scaling and rotating have also been implemented for multiply application. The simulation and chip test result show that the chip design has met the design requirements.

Linking Monsoon Activity with River-Derived Sediments Deposition in the Northern South China Sea

The history of the East Asian monsoon(EAM)since Last Glacial Maximum is reconstructed based on records in a sediment core retrieved from the northern South China Sea.The provenance of organic carbon and the EAM’s evolution are investigated using combined organic carbon,grain size,and AMS 14 C dating analysis.Responding to the strong winter monsoon,the marine organic matter was dominated in the sediments,andδ13 C of organic matter was high during the last glacial period.During the Holocene,the primary productivity decreased and the dilution effect of riverine inorganic clastics strengthened.Accordingly,the total organic carbon contents andδ13 C values decreased,and terrestrial organic matter content increased in the core sediments.The 4μm grain size fraction,as the environmental sensitive grain size component,is determined to reconstruct the paleoclimatic records.During the last glacial period,the contents of 4μm grain size component were mainly controlled by the sea level changes.Upon the Holocene,the influence of the sea level changes weakened and the roles of current system and provenance strengthened.The correlation between the EAM and solar insolation forcing is also discussed in this paper.

Zonal Differences in Correlation Patterns Between Soil Organic Carbon and Climate Factors at Multi-extent

Studying the relationship between climate factors and soil organic carbon （SOC） is vitally important. However, how SOC responses to climate （temperature and precipitation） at cohesive extents is poorly studied. Two transects of approximately the same length （transect P and transect T） were selected to examine the variation of SOC content in relation to mean annual temperature （MAT） and mean annual precipitation （MAP）. The coefficients of partial correlation between SOC density and MAT （Rt） and MAP （Rp） were determined to quantify the relationships between SOC density and the two climate factors. The results indicated that for transect T, Rt was statistically significant once the extent level was greater than or equal to two fundamental extent units, while for transect P, Rp showed statistical significance only at extent levels which were greater than two fundamental extent traits. At the same extent levels but in different transects, Rts exhibited no zonal difference, but Rps did once the extent level was greater than two fundamental extent units. Therefore, to study the relationship between SOC density and different climate factors, different minimum extent levels should be ex- amined. The results of this paper could deepen the understanding of the impacts that SOC pool has on terrestrial ecosystem and global carbon cycling.

Influence of Energy Level Matching on Device Performances of Organic Light-emitting Diodes

Through experiments and computer simulation,the influence of the energy levels of organic materials and electrode materials in the organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) on the device performances is discussed.Results show that the device performances are influenced by not only the carrier injection barriers at the electrode interface but also the barriers at the organic heterojunction interface.This result is helpful to the selection of the organic materials and their arrangement in the optimal design of OLEDs.

Some Investigations on Early Organization of Karst System

Some investigations on the early organization of karst system are carried out through modeling the dissolution evolution processes of stochastic fracture networks in carbonate rock. It is assumed that water flow in fracture network is laminar, and the dissolution rate process can be described with an empirical equation, The results suggest that a karst system is a self-organization system. It can spontaneously create higher hierarchical level out of a relative homogeneous structure through amplifying the microscopic heterogeneity of initial flow field. Under given boundary conditions, a karst system with initial fracture network of varied hierarchical levels is likely to have stronger tendency to lead to a typical karst system featuring conduit passages than a system with initial network of unique hierarchical level. Through merging local flow systems, a karst system concentrates the limited flow into a few pathways to promote the formation of higher hierarchical level.

TTA as a potential hole transport layer for application in conventional polymer solar cells

Hole transport layers(HTLs)play a vital role in organic solar cells(OSCs).In this work,a derivative of tetrathiafulvalene with four carboxyl groups TTA was introduced as a novel HTL to fabricate OSC with high performance.Displaying a better energy level match between HTL and active layers,the TTA based devices show a peak power conversion efficiency of 9.09%,which is comparable to the devices based on PEDOT:PSS.The favorable surface morphology recorded via atomic force microscopy,low series loss and charge recombination indicated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy,synchronously verify the potential of TTA for application in OSCs as a valid kind of HTLs.

Analysis of Micro Organic Compound Pollution in Major City River Reaches of the Main Stem of the Changjiang River

It has become general for surface waters being polluted by micro organic compounds. In order to know the current pollution situation and the properties of micro organic compounds in the Changjiang River, a test was performed on micro organic compounds in the water, bottom material and fish bodies which were sampled from major city river reaches of the Changjiang River. Based on the test result, researchers described and analyzed the sorts, concentration level and distribution features of micro organic compounds. A comprehensive evaluation was conducted by adopting the method of MEG (Multimedia Environmental Goals). The study indicated that ① the water body of major city river reaches of the Changjiang River has been generally polluted. In the test, totally 12 types with 308 kinds of organic compounds were detected. The main pollutants were paraffins, PAHs and lipids; and ② micro organic pollutant content in fish bodies was generally higher than that in bottom material which is in turn higher than that in water; and ③ pollution is relatively severe in the river reaches of mid-to-large comprehensive industrial cities with fairly great TAS (Total Ambient Severity) of public health and ecological system.

Civil Society in Traditional China: Governance and Ownership System——Evidence from Construction and Management of Public Facilities in the Qing Dynasty

This paper focuses on the bridge council and free ferry services as the private organizers of public infrastructure construction in the Qing Dynasty, uncovers the legal entity ownership system and governance model with China's native origin, and reveals the attributes and characteristics of ownership by legal entities in China's traditional era. Bridge councils and free ferry services are non-profit and non-government public-interest institutions, whose members were elected by local communities. These councils were responsible for the fundraising, construction, and long-term maintenance and operation of public facilities and infrastructure at the grassroots level. They adopted open and transparent management procedures and could coordinate cross-jurisdictional affairs and mediate disputes. They possessed independent assets such as lands and fund reserves, and such exclusive legal-entity ownership received protection from the government and under the laws. Such form of legal-entity ownership provided the institutional foundation for the development of clans, temples, charitable groups, academies of classical learning, and various associations and societies. These self-organizing groups demonstrate remarkable mobilization and organizational capabilities and institutional creativity of civil society in traditional China. They served as a link between the government and communities and played a unique and active role in maintaining social order at the grassroots level.