Impact of mechanical stimulation on the life cycle of horticultural plant

Mechanical stimulation technology is critical in agricultural crop production because it is constantly regarded as a developing green technology to regulate plants to meet people's need for green and healthy agricultural products. Various environmental mechanical stimulation impacts seed germination, seedling growth, flowering date, fruit quantity, and fruit quality throughout the life cycle of a horticultural plant. This study first outlines the basic characteristics of six types of common mechanical stimulation in nature:precipitation, wind, gravity,touch, sound, and vibration. The effects of various mechanical stimulation types on the seed, seedling, flowering, and fruit of horticultural plants throughout their whole life cycle are then presented, as reviewed in the recent 100 years of existing literature. Finally, potential future study directions are discussed. The main challenge in mechanical stimulation technology is to uncover its potential capabilities for regulating and controlling plant development and fruit quality in green agriculture instead of agricultural chemicals.

Biochemical and Physiological Responses of Arabidopsis thaliana Leaves to Moderate Mechanical Stimulation

Mechanical stimulation of plants can be caused by various abiotic and biotic environmental factors.Apart from the negative consequences,it can also cause positive changes,such as acclimatization of plants to stress conditions.Therefore,it is necessary to study the physiological and biochemical mechanisms underlying the response of plants to mechanical stimulation.Our aim was to evaluate the response of model plant Arabidopsis thaliana to a moderate force of 5 N(newton)for 20 s,which could be compared with the pressure caused by animal movement and weather conditions such as heavy rain.Mechanically stimulated leaves were sampled 1 h after exposure and after a recovery period of 20 h.To study a possible systemic response,unstimulated leaves of treated plants were collected 20 h after exposure alongside the stimulated leaves from the same plants.The effect of stimulation was assessed by measuring oxidative stress parameters,antioxidant enzymes activity,total phenolics,and photosynthetic performance.Stimulated leaves showed increased lipid peroxidation 1 h after treatment and increased superoxide dismutase activity and phenolic oxidation rate after a 20-h recovery period.Considering photosynthetic performance after the 20-h recovery period,the effective quantum yield of the photosystem II was lower in the stimulated leaves,whereas photochemical quenching was lower in the unstimulated leaves of the treated plants.Nonphotochemical quenching was lower in the stimulated leaves 1 h after treatment.Our study suggested that plants sensed moderate force,but it did not induce pronounced change in metabolism or photosynthetic performance.Principal component analysis distinguished three groups–leaves of untreated plants,leaves analysed 1 h after stimulation,while stimulated and unstimulated leaves of treated plants analysed 20 h after treatment formed together the third group.Observed grouping of stimulated and unstimulated leaves of treated plants could indicate signal transduction from the stimulated to distant leaves,that is,a systemic response to a local application of mechanical stimuli.

Mechanical stimulation of the scalp improves the extra-and intracranial blood circulation in humans and mice

Background:Scalp combing,as an ancient method of health care,has been used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine.Although this method is considered to be beneficial for the blood circulation of the head,the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.Methods:Both human participants and mice were used in this study.In participants,the scalp was stimulated by combing continuously for 5 min,and the temperature was measured using infrared thermal imaging before and after stimulation.In mice,the temperature was determined before and at 5,15,and 30 min after a 5-min scalp mechanical stimulation(SMS).Additionally,the vasculature of the mice was labeled with retro-orbital fluorescein isothiocyanate-dextran injection,and the capillaries were observed directly under a confocal microscope.Using in vivo CLARITY imaging and the spectrofluorometric detection of Evans Blue dye extravasation,the bloodebrain barrier permeability was assessed.Results:SMS increased the temperature of the left ear significantly in human(P=.0247)while can slightly increase the temperature of the right ear and the face without significant difference(P>.05).Moreover,SMS can significantly slow the decrease in the temperature of the external auditory canal at 5 min(P=.0153)and in body temperature at 15 min(P=.0295)after SMS whereas no significant difference in body temperature at 30 min(P>.05)compared with control mice.Furthermore,capillaries of the ear with a diameter of less than 8 mm were significantly dilated(P=.0006)following SMS and the number of dextran dots was higher at 15 min(P>.05)and 30 min(F=10.98,P=.037)after SMS intervention compared with control mice.Conclusion:Our study provides strong evidence to support the notion that scalp combing can improve extra-and intracranial blood circulation under healthy conditions.

Effects of bionic mechanical stimulation on the properties of engineered cartilage tissue

Tissue-engineered cartilage(TEC)remains a potential alternative for the repair of articular cartilage defects.However,there has been a significant different between the properties of TEC and those of natural cartilage.Studies have shown that mechanical stimulation such as compressive load can help regulate matrix remodelling in TEC,thus affecting its biomechanical properties.However,the influences of shear induced from the tissue fluid phase have not been well studied and may play an important role in tissue regeneration especially when integrated with the compressive load.Therefore,the aim of this study was to quantitatively investigate the effects of combined loading mechanisms on TEC in vitro.A bespoke biosimulator was built to incorporate the coupled motion of compression,friction and shear.The specimens,encapsulating freshly isolated rabbit chondrocytes in a hydrogel,were cultured within the biosimulator under various mechanical stimulations for 4 weeks,and the tissue activity,matrix contents and the mechanical properties were examined.Study groups were categorized according to different mechanical stimulation combinations,including strain(5-20%at 5%intervals)and frequency(0.25 Hz,0.5 Hz,1 Hz),and the effects on tissue behaviour were investigated.During the dynamic culture process,a combined load was applied to simulate the combined effects of compression,friction and shear on articular cartilage during human movement.The results indicated that a larger strain and higher frequency were more favourable for the specimen in terms of the cell proliferation and extracellular matrix synthesis.Moreover,the combined mechanical stimulation was more beneficial to matrix remodelling than the single loading motion.However,the contribution of the combined mechanical stimulation to the engineered cartilaginous tissue matrix was not sufficient to impede biodegradation of the tissue with culture time.

The Janus-faced role of Piezo1 in cardiovascular health under mechanical stimulation

In recent years,cardiovascular health problems are becoming more and more serious.At the same time,mechanical stimulation closely relates to cardiovascular health.In this context,Piezo1,which is very sensitive to mechanical stimulation,has attracted our attention.Here,we review the critical significance of Piezo1 in mechanical stimulation of endothelial cells,NO production,lipid metabolism,DNA damage protection,the development of new blood vessels and maturation,narrowing of blood vessels,blood pressure regulation,vascular permeability,insulin sensitivity,and maintenance of red blood cell function.Besides,Piezo1 may participate in the occurrence and development of atherosclerosis,diabetes,hypertension,and other cardiovascular diseases.It is worth noting that Piezo1 has dual effects on maintaining cardiovascular health.On the one hand,the function of Piezo1 is necessary to maintain cardiovascular health;on the other hand,under some extreme mechanical stimulation,the overexpression of Piezo1 may bring adverse factors such as inflammation.Therefore,this review discusses the Janus-faced role of Piezo1 in maintaining cardiovascular health and puts forward new ideas to provide references for gene therapy or nanoagents targeting Piezo1.

Mechanical environment for in vitro cartilage tissue engineering assisted by in silico models

Mechanobiological study of chondrogenic cells and multipotent stem cells for articular cartilage tissue engineering(CTE)has been widely explored.The mechanical stimulation in terms of wall shear stress,hydrostatic pressure and mechanical strain has been applied in CTE in vitro.It has been found that the mechanical stimulation at a certain range can accelerate the chondrogenesis and articular cartilage tissue regeneration.This review explicitly focuses on the study of the influence of the mechanical environment on proliferation and extracellular matrix production of chondrocytes in vitro for CTE.The multidisciplinary approaches used in previous studies and the need for in silico methods to be used in parallel with in vitro methods are also discussed.The information from this review is expected to direct facial CTE research,in which mechanobiology has not been widely explored yet.

Mechanisms of remaining oil formation by water flooding and enhanced oil recovery by reversing water injection in fractured-vuggy reservoirs

To get a deeper understanding on the formation mechanisms and distribution laws of remaining oil during water flooding, and enhanced oil recovery(EOR) mechanisms by reversing water injection after water flooding, 3D visualization models of fractured-vuggy reservoir were constructed based on the elements and configuration of fractures and vugs, and typical fracture-vug structures by using advanced CT scanning and 3D printing technologies. Then, water flooding and reversing water injection experiments were conducted. The formation mechanisms of remaining oil during water flooding include inadequate injection-production well control, gravity difference between oil and water, interference between different flow channels, isolation by low connectivity channel, weak hydrodynamic force at the far end. Under the above effects, 7 kinds of remaining oil may come about, imperfect well-control oil, blind side oil, attic oil at the reservoir top, by-pass residual oil under gravity, by-pass residual oil in secondary channel, isolated oil in low connectivity channel, and remaining oil at far and weakly connected end. Some remaining oil can be recovered by reversing water injection after water flooding, but its EOR is related to the remaining oil type, fracture-cavity structure and reversing injection-production structure. Five of the above seven kinds of remaining oil can be produced by six EOR mechanisms of reversing water injection: gravity displacement, opening new flow channel, rising the outflow point, hydrodynamic force enhancement, vertically equilibrium displacement, and synergistic effect of hydrodynamic force and gravity.

Maritime Target Saliency Detection for UAV Based on the Stimulation Competition Selection Mechanism of Raptor Vision

A maritime target saliency detection method inspired by the stimulation competition and selection mechanism of raptor vision is presented for the airborne vision system of unmanned aerial vehicle(UAV)in an unknown maritime environment.The stimulation competition and selection mechanism in the visual pathway of raptor vision based on the phenomenon of raptor capturing prey in complex scenes are studied.Then,the mathematical model of the stimulation competition and selection mechanism of raptor vision is established and employed for the salient object detection.Popular image datasets and practical scene datasets are applied to verify the effectiveness of the presented method.Results show that the detection performance of the proposed method is better than that of other comparison methods.The proposed algorithm provides an idea for maritime target salient detection and cross-domain joint mission for UAV or other unmanned equipment.

Review on Tactile Sensory Feedback of Prosthetic Hands for the Upper-Limb Amputees by Sensory Afferent Stimulation

Loss of sensory function for upper-limb amputees inevitably devastates their life qualities, and lack of reliable sensory feedback is the biggest defect to sophisticated prosthetic hands, greatly hindering their usefulness and perceptual embodiment. Thus, it is extremely necessary to accomplish an intelligent prosthetic hand with effective tactile sensory feedback for an upper-limb amputee. This paper presents an overview of three kinds of existing sensory feedback approaches, including cutaneous mechanical stimulation(CMS), transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation(TENS) and direct peripheral nerve electrical stimulation(DPNES). The emphasis concentrates on major scientific achievements, advantages and disadvantages. The TENS on the skin areas with evoked finger sensation(EFS) at upper-limb amputees' residual limbs might be one of the most promising approaches to realize natural sensory feedback.

Mechano-responsive hydrogel for direct stem cell manufacturing to therapy

Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cell(MSC)is one of the most actively studied cell types due to its regenerative potential and immunomodulatory properties.Conventional cell expansion methods using 2D tissue culture plates and 2.5D microcarriers in bioreactors can generate large cell numbers,but they compromise stem cell potency and lack mechanical preconditioning to prepare MSC for physiological loading expected in vivo.To overcome these challenges,in this work,we describe a 3D dynamic hydrogel using magneto-stimulation for direct MSC manufacturing to therapy.With our technology,we found that dynamic mechanical stimulation(DMS)enhanced matrix-integrinβ1 interactions which induced MSCs spreading and proliferation.In addition,DMS could modulate MSC biofunctions including directing MSC differentiation into specific lineages and boosting paracrine activities(e.g.,growth factor secretion)through YAP nuclear localization and FAK-ERK pathway.With our magnetic hydrogel,complex procedures from MSC manufacturing to final clinical use,can be integrated into one single platform,and we believe this‘all-in-one’technology could offer a paradigm shift to existing standards in MSC therapy.