Role of CaCl_(2) in Cold Acclimation-Induced Freezing Resistance of Populus tomentosa Cuttings

Populus tomentosa cuttings were treated with 1mmol·L -1 , 5mmol·L -1 , 10mmol·L -1 or 15mmol·L -1 of CaCl 2 for 1\|7 d, respectively, for studying the effects of different concentrations of CaCl 2 on freezing resistance. Results indicated that 10?mmol·L -1 of CaCl 2 has greater effect than other concentrations on the enhancement of freezing resistance, and the optimum time of pretreatment was 5?d. In addition, cuttings used for cold acclimation at -3℃ were pretreated with or without 10?mmol·L -1 of CaCl 2, 3?mmol·L -1 of Ca 2+ chelator EGTA, 0 05?mmol·L -1 of CaM antagonist CPZ or 0 1?mmol·L -1 of Ca 2+ channel inhibitor LaCl 3 The changes in CaM and freezing resistance of all cuttings were investigated. The results showed that cold acclimation at -3℃ increased CaM content and decreased the minimum temperature for 100% survival. The CaCl 2 pretreatment enhanced the effect of cold acclimation and obviously increased CaM content and decreased the minimum temperature for 100% survival, but this effect was strongly inhibited by the EGTA, CPZ or LaCl 3 It is concluded that the effect of CaCl 2 on freezing resistance is associated with its concentration and time of pretreatment, Ca 2+ CaM may be involved in the induction of freezing resistance of the cuttings.

Effects of Cold Acclimation and CaCl_2 on Total Soluble Protein, CaM and Freezing Resistance of Populus tomentosa Seedlings

Populus tomentosa seedlings used for cold acclimation at -3℃ were pretreated with or without 10?mmol·L -1 CaCl 2, 3?mmol·L -1 of Ca 2+ chelator EGTA, 0 1?mmol·L -1 of Ca 2+ channel inhibitor LaCl 3,and 0 05?mmol·L -1 of CaM antagonist CPZ. The changes in the contents of total soluble protein and CaM, and freezing resistance in all pretreated seedlings in various periods ( viz: following cold acclimation, chilling stress and recovery) were investigated. Results showed that cold acclimation increased the contents of total soluble protein and CaM, and freezing resistance of seedlings, which could be strongly reduced by the pretreatments of EGTA CPZ and LaCl 3 Cold acclimation combined with CaCl 2 pretreatment enhanced the effect of cold acclimation on freezing resistance, and obviously increased the contents of total soluble protein and CaM, reduced the declining degree of the contents of total soluble protein and CaM caused by chilling stress as compared with cold acclimation, augmented the increase in the level of total soluble protein and CaM during the recovery periods. Further analysis found that an increase in total soluble protein content during cold acclimation with or without CaCl 2 pretreatment mainly resulted from the increase in content of heat stable protein in total soluble protein. It is suggested that Ca 2+ calmodulin may be involved in the synthesis of total soluble protein, and the induction of freezing resistance of seedlings.

Cold Acclimation-Induced Changes in Total Soluble Protein, RNA, DNA, RNase and Freezing Resistance in Populus tomentosa Cuttings

The changes in the contents of total soluble protein and RNA, the activity of RNase in leaves and branches of Populus tomentosa cuttings at various periods (viz: cold acclimation, deacclimation, chilling stress and the recovery after chilling stress), and the survival rate and the freezing resistance of cuttings during cold acclimation at -3℃ were investigated. Results showed that cold acclimation not only increased the contents of total soluble protein and RNA, the survival rates and the freezing resistance of cuttings, decreased the activity of RNase, but also reduced the declining degree of total soluble protein and RNA contents, and the increasing level of RNase caused by chilling stress as compared with the controls. In addition, cold acclimation augmented the increase in the level of total soluble protein and RNA, and facilitated the decrease of RNase during the recovery periods. Further analysis found that the DNA content of all treatments kept relative stability at various periods. The changes in total soluble protein, RNA and RNase were closely related to the freezing resistance of cuttings. It appears that the increase of RNA content caused by cold acclimation induced decrease of RNase activity may be involved in the accumulation of total soluble protein and the induction of freezing resistance of cuttings.

The mechanism underlying overwintering death in poplar:the cumulative effect of effective freeze-thaw damage

We analyzed the relationships linking overwintering death and frost cracking to temperature and sunlight as well as the effects of low temperatures and freeze–thaw cycles on bud-burst rates,relative electrical conductivity,and phloem and cambial ultrastructures of poplar.Overwintering death rates of poplar were not correlated with negative accumulated temperature or winter minimum temperature.Freeze–thaw cycles caused more bud damage than constant exposure to low temperatures.Resistance to freeze–thaw cycles differed among clones,and the budburst rate decreased with increasing exposure to freeze–thaw cycles.Cold-resistant clones had the lowest relative electrical conductivity.Chloroplasts exhibited the fastest and the most obvious reaction to freeze–thaw damage,whereas a single freeze–thaw cycle caused little damage to cambium ultrastructure.Several such cycles resulted in damage to plasma membranes,severe damage to organelles,dehydration of cells and cell death.We conclude that overwintering death of poplar is mainly attributed to the accumulation of effective freeze–thaw damage beyond the limits of freeze–thaw resistance.

Freezing Resistance of HPC with Nano-SiO_2

The test of fast-freezing method is employed to research the freezing resistance of C60 and C80 high-performance concrete with nanometer-SiO2, and XRD and SEM are employed to analyze the mechanism of its influence. The experimental results show that the freezing resistance of high-performance concrete has been effectively improved. The compressive strength of C60, C70 and C80 high-performance concrete added with nano-SiO2 can be improved by 8%, 6% and 5% respectively, the weight loss can be reduced by 1%, 0.6% and 0.3% respectively and the relative dynamic elastic modulus can be improved by 7%, 4% and 6% respectively after the 300 times freeze-thaw cycle.

Characterization and Role of Glucose-6-phosphate Dehydrogenase of Populus suaveolens in Induction of Freezing Resistance

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH, EC 1.1.1.49) was purified from the leaves of 8-week-old Populus suaveolens cuttings. The enzyme activity in the absence and presence of reduced dithiothreitol (DTTred) was determined. The results show that the G6PDH activity is not inactivated by pre-incubation with DTTred, indicating that the purified enzyme probably pre- sented in cytosol of P. suaveolens. The catalytic characteristics and kinetic parameters of cytosolic G6PDH purified from P. suaveolens cuttings were also studied. The results show that G6PDH is characterized by Kmvalue of 360 μmol·L–1 for G6P and 16 μmol·L–1 for NADP, a pH range of 7.3–8.9, and the maximum activity around pH 8.2. The enzyme activity is inhibited by various metabolites such as NADPH, NADH, GTP, UTP, ATP, AMP, ADP, CoA, acetyl CoA, fructose-6-phosphate (F6P), eryth- rose-4-phosphate (E4P), ribose-5-phosphate (R5P) and 3-phosphoglycerate (3-PG) (all at 1 mmol·L–1 except for NADPH and NADH) to different extents. NADPH is the most effective inhibitor of enzyme activity, with an inhibition of 72.0%. The addition of metal ions such as MgCl2, CaCl2and KCl (all 1.0 mmol·L–1) to the standard reaction mixture has no remarkable influence on the cytosolic G6PDH activity. However, CdCl2 (1.0 mmol·L–1) causes high inhibitory effect on the enzyme activity. To explore the role of G6PDH on the enhancement of freezing resistance induced by freezing acclimation, the changes in the cytosolic G6PDH activity and freezing resistance (expressed as LT50) of P. suaveolens cuttings during freezing acclimation at –20 °C were investigated. The results reveal that freezing acclimation decreases LT50 of cuttings, and increases the activity of cytosolic G6PDH compared with control ones, while 2 d of de-acclimation at 25 °C result in a decrease in cytosolic G6PDH activity, and caused an increase in LT50. Furthermore, the change in cytosolic G6PDH activity is found to be closely correlated to the degree of freezing resistance of cuttings during freez- ing acclimation. It is suggested that cytosolic G6PDH may be involved in the induction of freezing resistance of cuttings.

Effect of Methylene Blue (MB)-value of Manufactured Sand on the Durability of Concretes

The relation between the methylene blue （MB） value of MS and its limestone powder content and clay content was investigated. The effects of MB values ranging from 0.35 to 2.5 on the workability of fresh concrete, the mechanical properties, the resistance to freezing as well as the resistance to chlorine ion permeation of the hardened concrete were all investigated. The experimental results showed that the MB value had no correlation with the limestone powder content of MS, while it was directly related to the clay content. With an increase of MB value, concrete workability decreased, as did the flexural and 7-day compressive strengths, however, the 28-day compressive strength was not affected. Furthermore, influence of MB value on concretes of different strength levels was different. For low-strength concretes, an increase of MB value could improve its impermeability, but this was not the case for high-strength concretes. Instead, their resistance to chloride ion permeability decreased slightly. However, even a slight increase in MB value remarkably accelerated freeze-thaw damage of MS concrete. It was thus concluded that the critical MB value of 1.4 would not cause significant deterioration in the performance of MS concretes.

Comparison of G6PDH Activity and LT50 Between P. tomentosa and P. suaveolens During Freezing Acclimation

The differences of glucose-6P dehydrogenase (G6PDH) activity and freezing resistance induced by freezing acclimation between cuttings of freezing-sensitive P. tomentosa and freezing-resistant P. suaveolens were compared for exploring the role of G6PDH on the enhancement of freezing resistance induced by freezing acclimation. After 5 d of freezing acclimation at -3 ℃, the LT50 of P. tomentosa has decreased from -6.2 ℃ in control cuttings to -14.3 ℃ in freezing acclimated ones, and the increase of G6PDH activity was observed in freezing acclimated cuttings as compared with control ones. Whereas, when P. suaveolens was freezing acclimated at -20℃ for 5 d, the LT50 has decreased from -27.1℃ in control cuttings to -43.5 ℃ in freezing acclimated ones, and the activity of G6PDH increased considerably. In addition, the increase of LT50 and the decrease of G6PDH activity resulting from 2 d of deacclimation at 25 ℃ were found in two kinds of freezing acclimated cuttings. It is concluded that the increase in the activity of G6PDH may associate with the inherited freezing resistance of species and the enhancement of freezing resistance of cuttings, and may play an important role in the antifreeze process under freezing temperature, which would provide the basis for the study on the molecular mechanism of freezing resistance in P. suaveolens and the cloning of gene associated with freezing resistance.

Salt freezing resistance improvement of cement-based materials incorporated with calcined layered double hydroxide

Salt freezing damage has severe impacts on durability of cement-based materials(CBMs).Calcined layered double hydroxide(CLDH),as an efficient environmental-friendly adsorption material,can impart excellent salt freezing resistance to CBMs.In this work,salt freezing resistance improvement of CBMs incorporated with CLDH was experimentally evaluated by chloride binding capacity,mass loss rate,relative dynamic elastic modulus,setting time,compressive strength,and micro structure tests.Beside these,the salt freezing damage model was established to effectively express the quantitative relationship between influencing factors and evaluation indexes of the salt freezing resistance of CBMs.Results show that CLDH can reconstruct its original layered structure to form reconstructed layered double hydroxide(RLDH).RLDH combines with chloride ions to form RLDH-Cl recrystallization,which can improve chloride binding capacity and pore structures of CBMs to relieve the salt freezing damage.The salt freezing damage model indicates that the suitable CLDH content can evidently alleviate the salt freezing damage,which facilitates the quantitative analysis of the effect of CLDH on the salt freezing resistance of CBMs.

Wearable multifunctional organohydrogel-based electronic skin for sign language recognition under complex environments

Language barrier is the main cause of disagreement.Sign language,which is a common language in all the worldwide language families,is difficult to be entirely popularized due to the high cost of learning as well as the technical barrier in real-time translation.To solve these problems,here,we constructed a wearable organohydrogel-based electronic skin(e-skin)with fast self-healing,strong adhesion,extraor-dinary anti-freezing and moisturizing properties for sign language recognition under complex environ-ments.The e-skin was obtained by using an acrylic network as the main body,aluminum(III)and bay-berry tannin as the crosslinking agent,water/ethylene glycol as the solvent system,and a polyvinyl al-cohol network to optimize the network performance.Using this e-skin,a smart glove was further built,which could carry out the large-scale data collection of common gestures and sign languages.With the help of the deep learning method,specific recognition and translation for various gestures and sign lan-guages could be achieved.The accuracy was 93.5%,showing the ultra-high classification accuracy of a sign language interpreter.In short,by integrating multiple characteristics and combining deep learning technology with hydrogel materials,the e-skin achieved an important breakthrough in human-computer interaction and artificial intelligence,and provided a feasible strategy for solving the dilemma of mutual exclusion between flexible electronic devices and human bodies.