Molecular mechanisms of stress resistance in sorghum: Implications for crop improvement strategies

Abiotic stresses, such as drought, salt, extreme temperatures, and heavy metal pollution, are the main environmental factors that limit crop growth and yield. Sorghum, a C4 grass plant with high photosynthetic efficiency, can grow in adverse environmental conditions due to its excellent stress resistance characteristics. Therefore, unraveling the stress-resistance mechanism of sorghum could provide a theoretical basis for developing and cultivating various stress-resistant crops. This understanding could also help to create a conducive environment for using marginal soil in agriculture and ensuring food security. In this review, we discuss the adaptation mechanisms of sorghum under drought, salinity, temperature, and soil heavy metal stresses, the specific response to stress, the screening of sorghum-resistant germplasm, and the identification and functional analysis of the relevant genes and quantitative trait loci(QTL). In addition, we discuss the application potential of different stress-tolerant sorghum germplasms reported to date and emphasize the feasibility and potential use in developing and promoting highly stress-tolerant sorghum in marginal soil.

Bio-cementation for tidal erosion resistance improvement of foreshore slopes based on microbially induced magnesium and calcium precipitation

In most coastal and estuarine areas,tides easily cause surface erosion and even slope failure,resulting in severe land losses,deterioration of coastal infrastructure,and increased floods.The bio-cementation technique has been previously demonstrated to effectively improve the erosion resistance of slopes.Seawater contains magnesium ions(Mg^(2+))with a higher concentration than calcium ions(Ca^(2+));therefore,Mg^(2+)and Ca^(2+)were used together for bio-cementation in this study at various Mg^(2+)/Ca^(2+)ratios as the microbially induced magnesium and calcium precipitation(MIMCP)treatment.Slope angles,surface strengths,precipitation contents,major phases,and microscopic characteristics of precipitation were used to evaluate the treatment effects.Results showed that the MIMCP treatment markedly enhanced the erosion resistance of slopes.Decreased Mg^(2+)/Ca^(2+)ratios resulted in a smaller change in angles and fewer soil losses,especially the Mg^(2+)concentration below 0.2 M.The decreased Mg^(2+)/Ca^(2+)ratio achieved increased precipitation contents,which contributed to better erosion resistance and higher surface strengths.Additionally,the production of aragonite would benefit from elevated Mg^(2+)concentrations and a higher Ca^(2+)concentration led to more nesquehonite in magnesium precipitation crystals.The slopes with an initial angle of 53°had worse erosion resistance than the slopes with an initial angle of 35°,but the Mg^(2+)/Ca^(2+)ratios of 0.2:0.8,0.1:0.9,and 0:1.0 were effective for both slope stabilization and erosion mitigation to a great extent.The results are of great significance for the application of MIMCP to improve erosion resistance of foreshore slopes and the MIMCP technique has promising application potential in marine engineering.

Grassland-type ecosystem stability in China differs under the influence of drought and wet events

Ecological stability is a core issue in ecological research and holds significant implications forhumanity. The increased frequency and intensity of drought and wet climate events resulting from climatechange pose a major threat to global ecological stability. Variations in stability among different ecosystemshave been confirmed, but it remains unclear whether there are differences in stability within the sameterrestrial vegetation ecosystem under the influence of climate events in different directions and intensities.China's grassland ecosystem includes most grassland types and is a good choice for studying this issue.This study used the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index-12 (SPEI-12) to identify thedirections and intensities of different types of climate events, and based on Normalized DifferenceVegetation Index (NDVI), calculated the resistance and resilience of different grassland types for 30consecutive years from 1990 to 2019 (resistance and resilience are important indicators to measurestability). Based on a traditional regression model, standardized methods were integrated to analyze theimpacts of the intensity and duration of drought and wet events on vegetation stability. The resultsshowed that meadow steppe exhibited the highest stability, while alpine steppe and desert steppe had thelowest overall stability. The stability of typical steppe, alpine meadow, temperate meadow was at anintermediate level. Regarding the impact of the duration and intensity of climate events on vegetationecosystem stability for the same grassland type, the resilience of desert steppe during drought was mainlyaffected by the duration. In contrast, the impact of intensity was not significant. However, alpine steppewas mainly affected by intensity in wet environments, and duration had no significant impact. Ourconclusions can provide decision support for the future grassland ecosystem governance.

RESEARCH ON THE WATER-RESISTANCE OF MAGNESIUM OXYCHLORIDE CEMENT——I:THE STABILITY OF THE REACTION PRODUCTS OF MAGNESIUM OXYCHLORIDE CEMENT IN WATER

In this paper .the change of the crystalline phases in hardened magnesium oxychloride cement (MOC) paste in mater was analyzed by XRD. It was developed that the reaction products 5 phase or 3 phase of MOC are instable in water and can be changed into Mg(OH)2 by the action of water, which causes the content of 5 phase or 3 phase to be less and less,the content of Mg(OH)2 to be more and more and the strength to be the lower the lower,after hardended MOC paste was immersed in water. The change of 5 pliase and 3 phase into Mg(OH)2 is not a dissolve process, but a hydrolysis process. The hydrolysis products of 5 phase and 3 phase are Mg(OH)2 precipitation and soluble Cl-,AIg+ ions and H2O. The hydrolysis is sponta-neous thermodynamically and its chemical kinatic equation is C = C,,e-k Thus .it is suggested that only by enhancing the stability of 5 phase or 3 phase in water and preventing 5 phase or 3 phase from the hydrolyzing can the water resistance of MOC be improved well.

Decay resistance and dimensional stability improvement of wood by low melting point alloy heat treatment

Wood has no inherent natural resistance against agents of biodegradation. We evaluated the effects of metal bath heat treatment(MBHT) on decay resistance and dimensional stability of Chinese parasol(Firmiana simplex) and Chinese fir(Cunninghamia lanceolata) wood. A low melting point alloy was used as heating medium in the treatment of the wood samples at 150, 180, and 210 °C for2, 4, and 8 h. Heat-treated and control samples were exposed to brown rot fungus(Poria placenta) and white rot fungus(Coriolus versicolor) for decay resistance testing and anti-swelling efficiency(ASE). The improved decay resistance with increase temperatures with low mass losses of 7.3 and 7.3% for F. simplex, and 3.9 and 3.6% for C.lanceolata at 210 °C for 8 h against Coriolus versicolor and Poria placenta, respectively. ASE indicated that MBHT contributed to improved dimensional stability of both wood species after treatment. Scanning electron micrograph results indicate that metal bath-treated samples showed strong decay resistance. Therefore, our approach to thermally modify wood should be explored to overcome the energy utilization by using low melting point alloy for the heat treatment of wood.

Paclitaxel-induced stress granules increase LINE-1 mRNA stability to promote drug resistance in breast cancer cells

Abnormal expression of long interspersed element-1(LINE-1)has been implicated in drug resistance,while our previous study showed that chemotherapy drug paclitaxel(PTX)increased LINE-1 level with unknown mechanism.Bioinformatics analysis suggested the regulation of LINE-1 mRNA by drug-induced stress granules(SGs).This study aimed to explore whether and how SGs are involved in drug-induced LINE-1 increase and thereby promotes drug resistance of triple negative breast cancer(TNBC)cells.We demonstrated that SGs increased LINE-1 expression by recruiting and stabilizing LINE-1 mRNA under drug stress,thereby adapting TNBC cells to chemotherapy drugs.Moreover,LINE-1 inhibitor efavirenz(EFV)could inhibit drug-induced SG to destabilize LINE-1.Our study provides the first evidence of the regulation of LINE-1 by SGs that could be an important survival mechanism for cancer cells exposed to chemotherapy drugs.The findings provide a useful clue for developing new chemotherapeutic strategies against TNBCs.

Effects of heat treatment process on thin film alloy resistance and its stability

Alloy thin film for advanced pressure sensors was manufactured by means of ion-beam sputtering SiO2 insulation film and NiCr thin film on the 17-4PH stainless steel elastic substrate. The thin film resistance was respectively heat-treated by four processes. The effects on stability of thin film alloy resistance were investigated, and paramaters of heat treatment that make thin film resistance stable were obtained. The experimental result indicates that the most stable thin film resistance can be obtained when it is heat-treated under protection of SiO2 and N2 at 673 K for 1 h, and then kept at 473 K for 24 h. Pressure sensor chips of high precision for harsh environments can be manufactured by this process.

Electrical resistance stability of high content carbon fiber reinforced cement composite

The influences of curing time, the content of free evaporable water in cement paste, environmental temperature, and alternative heating and cooling on the electrical resistance of high content carbon fiber reinforced cement (CFRC) paste are studied by experiments with specimens of Portland cement 42.5 with 10 mm PAN-based carbon fiber and methylcellulose. Experimental results indicate that the electrical resistance of CFRC increases relatively by 24% within a hydration time of 90 d and almost keeps constant after 14 d, changes hardly with the mass loss of free evaporable water in the concrete dried at 50 °C, increases relatively by 4% when ambient temperature decreases from 15 °C to ?20 °C, and decreases relatively by 13% with temperature increasing by 88 °C. It is suggested that the electric resistance of the CFRC is stable, which is testified by the stable power output obtained by electrifying the CFRC slab with a given voltage. This implies that such kind of high content carbon fiber reinforced cement composite is potentially a desirable electrothermal material for airfield runways and road surfaces deicing.

A Novel Ni‑Free Zr‑Based Bulk Metallic Glass with High Glass Forming Ability,Corrosion Resistance and Thermal Stability

Zr-based Bulk metallic glasses exhibit incredible corrosion resistance and glass forming ability,however,these properties need further enhancement to meet the practical use.In this study,Zr63Fe2.5Cu23Al11.5,a new type of Zr-based bulk metallic glass was fabricated.Potentiodynamic polarization techniques were used to measure the corrosion resistance of this alloy.Furthermore,crystallization behavior and kinetics of Zr63Fe2.5Cu23Al11.5 bulk metallic glass were investigated by using differential scanning calorimetry of non-isothermal model.Kissinger and Ozawa methods were used for calculating activation energies of crystallization and the mechanism of crystallization was analyzed by Johnson-Mehl-Avrami-Kolmogorow methods.The results suggest that this specified metallic glass system possesses a relatively high thermal stability and glass forming ability.Moreover,the crystallization procedure is mainly dominated by nucleation with an increasing rate.The study demonstrates that the slight composition adjustment of Zr-Fe-Cu-Al system bulk metallic glass can make a considerable contribution to higher glass forming and thermal stability as well as corrosion resistance.

Thermal stability and data retention of resistive random access memory with HfOx/ZnO double layers

As an industry accepted storage scheme, hafnium oxide（HfO_x） based resistive random access memory（RRAM）should further improve its thermal stability and data retention for practical applications. We therefore fabricated RRAMs with HfO_x/ZnO double-layer as the storage medium to study their thermal stability as well as data retention. The HfO_x/ZnO double-layer is capable of reversible bipolar switching under ultralow switching current（〈 3 μA） with a Schottky emission dominant conduction for the high resistance state and a Poole–Frenkel emission governed conduction for the low resistance state. Compared with a drastically increased switching current at 120℃ for the single HfO_x layer RRAM, the HfO_x/ZnO double-layer exhibits excellent thermal stability and maintains neglectful fluctuations in switching current at high temperatures（up to 180℃）, which might be attributed to the increased Schottky barrier height to suppress current at high temperatures. Additionally, the HfO_x/ZnO double-layer exhibits 10-year data retention @85℃ that is helpful for the practical applications in RRAMs.

Effects of Plasma Density Profile on Resistive Wall Mode Stability

Linear and nonlinear evolutions of the resistive wall mode(RWM) were numerically carried out with different plasma density profiles.Both stabilizing and destabilizing effects were observed.The plasma density shear had a stabilizing effect on the RWM,and the stabilizing effect was better as the plasma density shear rate increased.In the uniform density plasma,the effects of flowshear on the RWMstability were stronger than those for non-uniform density plasma.For lower flowshear,the effects of the plasma density shear rate on the RWMwere more obvious.In the nonlinear phase,the repulsive force associated with the piling up magnetic flux near the resistive wall prevented further growth of perturbed magnetic energy,and the RWMwas saturated.The saturation levels were almost independent of the density profiles.

Chemical and Thermal Resistance of Basalt Fiber in Inclement Environments

To study the applicability of the basalt fiber through various experimental works in thermal and chemical environments, glass fiber and carbon fiber were compared and discussed. The tensile strength testing was used to investigate the corrosive resistance of basalt fiber, meanwhile, surface study by scanning electron microscopy and microanalysis with complementary X-ray diffraction analysis （SEM/EDS） was also used to ascertain the durability of basalt fiber. The basalt fiber showed better strength retention than the glass fiber at relatively high temperature. Its tensile strength increased when exposed at 300 ~C for several hours, and still maintain about 70% of the initial strength at 400 ~C, whereas that of the glass fiber decreased dramatically. The better stability of the basalt fiber was observed in hydrothermal and chemical environment. The tensile strength of the basalt fiber increased by 20% after the immersion in boiling water and remained well in acid solution, when it comes to glass fiber, the tensile strength decreased to some extent. Although the alkali resistance of basalt fiber was poor at the initial stage, it shows better resistance than the glass fiber after long time treatment.

Phase thermal stability and mechanical properties analyses of(Cr,Fe,V)–(Ta,W)multiple-based elemental system using a compositional gradient film

High-entropy alloys(HEAs)generally possess complex component combinations and abnormal properties.The traditional methods of investigating these alloys are becoming increasingly inefficient because of the unpredictable phase transformation and the combination of many constituents.The development of compositionally complex materials such as HEAs requires high-throughput experimental methods,which involves preparing many samples in a short time.Here we apply the high-throughput method to investigate the phase evolution and mechanical properties of novel HEA film with the compositional gradient of(Cr,Fe,V)-(Ta,W).First,we deposited the compositional gradient film by co-sputtering.Second,the mechanical properties and thermal stability of the(Cr0.33Fe0.33V0.33)x(Ta0.5W0.5)100−x(x=13-82)multiplebased-elemental(MBE)alloys were investigated.After the deposited wafer was annealed at 600℃for 0.5 h,the initial amorphous phase was transformed into a body-centered cubic(bcc)structure phase when x=33.Oxides were observed on the film surface when x was 72 and 82.Finally,the highest hardness of as-deposited films was found when x=18,and the maximum hardness of annealed films was found when x=33.

Formation and thermal stability of connected hard skeleton structure in ATX525 cast alloys

The formation and the thermal stability of a connected hard skeleton structure(CHSS) in the matrix of Mg-5Al-2Sn-5Ca(ATX525) alloy were investigated by using X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimeter, creep tester and isothermal treatment method. The results indicated that the CHSS composed of Mg2(Al,Ca) and Al2 Ca intermetallics was formed into a typical eutectic structure and no obvious change occurred when the samples were isothermally treated at 250 °C for 96 h and 350 °C for 72 h, respectively. It became a chained structure when isothermally treated at 450 °C for 48 h. The dissolution and reconstruction processes, however, were observed for the CHSS when the processing temperature was up to 550 °C. The creep life at the stress-temperature condition of 50MPa/200°C for the alloy treated at 450 °C for 48 h was as high as 510 h, and the strain at creep time of 100 h was as low as 0.03%, which indicated that the present alloy has not only a good thermal stability, but also a better heat resistance.

An analysis of the dynamic resistance and the instantaneous energy of the CO_2 arc welding process

A self-developed welding dynamic arc wavelet analyzer was adopted to analyze and assess the welding process of two CO2 arc welding machines. The experimental results indicate that the instantaneous energy can reflect the influence of the welding current and voltage on dynamic arc characteristic synthetically. Through calculating and analyzing the instantaneous energy, the energy during arc ignition and short circuit in CO2 welding process can be confirmed rationally, thus the foundation for the accurate design and control of the welding current and voltage can be provided. By reducing the ripple disturbance of the dynamic resistance, avoiding peak current and voltage waveform , and enhancing the transition frequency of short circuit suitably, the stability of the welding arc and the weld appearance can be improved.

Effects of Heat Treatment on Dimension Stability of Larch Pallet Decks

The useful life of wooden pallets is lower because of the defects in lumbers. The quality of lumber can be significantly enhanced by heat treatment. In this paper,the larch pallet decks samples were heat-treated under the conditions of different time and temperatures. The quantity of water uptake has reduced 16. 8% under the condition of 250 ℃ for 150 min. The resistance of water absorption efficiency increases 165. 34% under the condition of 175 ℃ for 90 min. The anti-shrink efficiency increases 72. 08% under the condition of 250 ℃ for 90min. The results showed that the dimension stability of larch panels can be improved by heat treatment. The condition of 250 ℃ for 180 min is the best heat treating condition to improve the dimension stability.

Paddy Soil Stability and Mechanical Properties as Affected by Long-Term Application of Chemical Fertilizer and Animal Manure in Subtropical China

湿稳定性，穿入抵抗(PR ) ，和在为 22 年的一个授精实验下面的水稻土的张力的力量(TS ) 决心阐明在水稻土稳定的土壤有机物的功能。处理没包括授精(CK ) ，正常化学授精(NPK ) ，两倍 NPK 申请率(2NPK ) ，和 NPK 与有机肥料(NPK+OM ) 混合了。与 CK 相比，增加的授精玷污器官的碳(SOC ) 和土壤孔隙度。土壤总数破碎度(SAFD ) 的结果证明快走水路弄湿是关键破碎机制。在处理之中， NPK+OM 处理有水马厩总数和最大的正常吝啬的重量直径(NMWD ) 的最大的尺寸(P ≤ 0.05 ) ，但是在栽培地平线(Ap ) 和犁平底锅的最低 PR 和 TS。CK 和 2NPK 处理与 PR 】 被测量 2.0 MPa 和脆弱索引 【 0.20 分别地，在 Ap 地平线，建议土壤对根生长和耕种机械地不利。在犁平底锅，授精处理比在 CK 有更大的 TS 和 PR。测试土壤总数的 TS 和 PR 否定地被相关到 SOC 内容和土壤孔隙度。当有机肥料的申请能改进土壤稳定性和机械性能时，这研究建议化学授精能引起机械性能的恶化。

Resistance Analysis of a Semi-SWATH Design Concept in Shallow Water

Resistance analysis is an important analytical method used to evaluate the hydrodynamic performance of High Speed Craft (HSC). Analysis of multihull resistance in shallow water is essential to the performance evaluation of any type of HSC. Ships operating in shallow water experience increases in resistance because of changes in pressure distribution and wave pattern. In this paper, the shallow water performance of an HSC design concept, the semi-Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (semi-SWATH) form, is studied. The hull is installed with fin stabilizers to reduce dynamic motion effects, and the resistance components of the hull, hull trim condition, and maximum wave amplitude around the hull are determined via calm water resistance tests in shallow water. These criteria are important in analyzing semi-SWATH resistance in shallow water and its relation to flow around hull. The fore fin angle is fixed to zero degrees, while the aft fin angle is varied to 0o, 5o, 10o, and 15o. For each configuration, investigations are conducted with depth Froude numbers (FrH) ranging from 0.65 to 1.2, and the resistance tests are performed in shallow water at the towing tank of UTM. Analysis results indicate that the resistance, wave pattern, and trim of the semi-SWATH hull form are affected by the fin angle. The resistance is amplified whereas the trim and sinkage are reduced as the fin angle increases. Increases in fin angle contribute to seakeeping and stability but affect the hull resistance of HSCs.