Mechanisms of root-soil reinforcement in bioembankments of sloping farmland in the purple hilly area,China

Bio-embankment is an important soil and water conservation measure in the purple hilly area in China,which can effectively improve the ability of cultivated soil layers to resist rainfall erosion and runoff scour.In contrast,the ecological effect of bioembankment depends on the stability of the earth bank.Taking the natural grass bank as a control(CK),the root distribution,root tensile properties and shear resistance of root-soil composites for 3 typical soil and water conservation bio-embankments,namely,Morus alba Linn(Morns),Zanthoxylum bungeanum Maxim(Zanthoxylum)and Medicago sativa(Medicago)were analysed.The results included the following:(1)The root system of the bio-embankments generally decreased in extent with the soil depth;fine roots in the o-io cm depth were most prevalent and significantly higher than those at the other depths,and coarse roots were mainly distributed in the o-30cm layer.(2)The stress-strain curves of the roots of each bio-embankment were single-peak curves without clear strain softening phenomena.The smaller the root diameters were,the smoother the stress-strain curves,and the lower the capability of the earth bank to resist collapse.The larger the root diameters were,the lower the tensile strength.The average root tensile force was highest for Zanthoxylum(73.91 N),followed by Medicago(68.07N)and Morus(61.88 N),and the average root tensile strength showed the same trend,16.52 MPa for Zanthoxylum,16.08 MPa for Medicago and 13.02MPa for Morus.(3)The bio-embankment measures significantly improved the soil shear resistance,especially under vertical loads of 1oo kPa and 200kPa.The soil internal friction angle showed a significant log-positive correlation with root morphological parameters of root length density(RLD),root surface area density(RSAD) and rootweight density(RWD),while the soil cohesion force showed a positive linear correlation with these parameters.The results provide effective parameters supporting for the design of bio-embankments and promoting the use of soil reinforcement with suitable species selection in protective earth banks for stability in the purple hilly area.

Cloning and Expression Analysis of a Brassinosteroid Biosynthetic Enzyme Gene,GhDWF1,from Cotton (Gossypium hirsuturm L.)

Brassinosteroids （BRs） are an important class of plant steroidal hormones that are essential in a wide variety of physiological processes. To determine the effects of BRs on the development of cotton fibers, through screening cotton fiber EST database and contigging the candidate ESTs, a key gene （GhDWF1） involved in the upstream biosynthetic pathway of BRs was cloned from developing fibers of upland cotton （Gossypium hirsutum L.） cv. Xuzhou 142. The full length of the cloned cDNA is 1 849 bp, including a 37 bp 5＇-untranslated region, an ORF of 1 692 bp, and a 120 bp 3＇-untranslated region. The cDNA encodes a polypeptide of 563 amino acid residues with a predicted molecular mass of 65 kD. The deduced amino acid sequence has high homology with the BR biosynthetic enzyme, DWARF1/DIMINUTO, from rice, maize, pea, tomato, and Arabidopsis. Furthermore, the typical conserved structures, such as the transmembrane domain, the FAD- dependent oxidase domain, and the FAD-binding site, are present in the GhDWF1 protein. The Southern blot indicated that the GhDWF1 gene is a single copy in upland cotton genome. RT-PCR analysis revealed that the highest level of GhDWF1 expression was detected in 0 DPA （day post anthesis） ovule （with fibers） while the lowest level was observed in cotyledon. The GhDWF1 gene presents high expression levels in root, young stem, and fiber, especially, at the fiber developmental stage of secondary cell wall accumulation. Moreover, the expression level was higher in ovules （with fibers） of wildtype （Xuzhou 142） than in ovules of fuzzless-lintless mutant at the same developmental stages （0 and 4 DPA）. The results suggest that the GhDWF1 gene plays a crucial role in fiber development.

Investigation on symmetry and characteristic properties of the fragmenting source in heavy-ion reactions through reconstructed primary isotope yields

In this report,a kinematical focusing technique will be briefly described,and using this technique,the primary hot isotope yields from the multiplicities of evaporated light particles,associated with isotopically identified intermediate mass fragments,are reconstructed.Symmetry energy and characteristic properties of the fragmenting source at the time of the intermediate mass fragment formation are extracted from these reconstructed primary isotope yields using a self-consistent manner.The extracted density-dependent symmetry energy is further compared with those experimentally extracted from other heavy-ion reactions in literatures.A direct connection between the freeze-out concept and transport model simulations in a multifragmenting regime of heavy-ion collisions is also demonstrated quantitatively in the present work.

Molecular Identification and Expression Analysis of GhHYDRA1 Gene, a Homologue of HYDRA1 Gene From Upland Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Beside as precursors of BRs biosynthesis, more and more evidences supported that phytosterols play an important role in plant growth and development. To investigate the effects of phytosterols on the fiber development of upland cotton （Gossypium hirsutum L.） and the molecular base of sterol regulating cotton fiber growth, a homologue of HYDRA1 was cloned from upland cotton （cv. Xuzhou 142） by screening cotton fiber EST database and contigging the candidate ESTs. The GhHYDRA1 encoded a polypeptide of 218 amino acid residues and the deduced amino acid sequences had high homology with the members of HYDRA1 in Populus trichocarpa, Solanum tuberosum, and Arabidopsis thaliana. Moreover, GhHYDRA1 had comparable transmembrane regions to AtHYDRA1 in sequence, length, order, and spacing, except for a C-terminal polylysine cluster. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis revealed that the higher expression levels of GhHYDRA1 gene were detected in 6 to 12 DPA （days post anthesis） fibers, while the lower levels were observed in 0 DPA ovule （with fibers） and 16 to 18 DPA fibers. These results indicated that GhHYDRA1 is the homologue of HYDRA1 gene and plays a crucial role in fiber elongation. Furthermore, auxin and BL up-regulated the expression level of GhHYDRA1 while ABA and KT down-regulated the expression level of GhHYDRA1 in cotton ovule and fiber growth. The result suggested that phytosterols play a role in the interaction of plant hormones.

Numerical Simulation on the Flow Field of a Four-channel Coal Burner

In this paper, the numerical simulation on the flow field of a four-channel coal burner was investigated with Fluent software. The three-dimension model was created with UG software. The structure was meshed by using Gambit software. The realizable K-ε turbulence model and simple method were adopted. The variation of the inner flow field of the burner was studied and analyzed. The results simulated to the burner by the realizable K-ε turbulence model show that the contours of theflowfield accord with the actual condition and the realizable K-ε model is proved to be feasible and the results of simulation are creditable. That will have important significance to the improvement of the structure and parameter optimization of the four-channel coal burner in the future.

Determination of Proteins by Measuring Total Internal-reflected Resonance Light Scattering Signals on Water/Tetrachloromethane Interface with Evans Blue and Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide

A sensitive and selective assay of proteins is proposed based on measuring the total internal-reflected resonance light scattering(TIR-RLS) signals produced on the water/tetrachloromethane(H_2O/CCl_4) interface. In an aqueous medium with pH value in the range of 3.29—3.78, electrostatic attraction occurs between the negatively charged Evans Blue(EB) and positively charged proteins, forming hydrophobic ion associates and resulting in EB-protein adsorption on H_2O/CCl_4 interface. The presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide prompts this adsorption, resulting in strongly enhanced TIR-RLS signals. The intensity of the enhanced TIR-RLS at 360—370 nm was found to be proportional to the concentration of proteins. For bovine serum albumin and human serum albumin, the linear range of detection is 0.07—1.2 μg/mL and the limits of detection are 6.68 and 6.30 ng/mL(3σ), respectively, while for lysozyme, the linear range of detection is 0.06—1.0 μg/mL and the limit of detection is 6.0 ng/mL(3σ). The content of the total albumin in a human urine sample could be directly determined by using the standard addition method with a percent recovery of 97.6%—104.1%, and the RSD ranging from 1.9% to 4.2%.

Jiuzhaigou Ecotourism Areal System:Temporal Evolution of Entropic Change

The temporal evolution of entropy of Jiuzhaigou ecotourism areal system has been quantitatively analyzed by using equation of system entropy V = k In M - k In C. The computed entropy for Jiuzhaigou ecotourism areal system for 20 years indicates a negative value during 1986-1996, which implies that the system had remained a healthy state during this period. The system entropy value, however, showed a constant increase since 1996 until it turned to be positive in 2000 when the system became chaotic. After 2000 the entropy value declined until 2003 when it escalated once again. By analyzing the causes and process of entropy change of the system, it is argued that fluctuation of entropy value is due to the overloading of tourist service capacity by tourism activities. It is desired to curb the flow of tourist volume and reinforce conservation efforts as well as, so that an ideal balance between conservation and development could be maintained.

THE COMBINATION PREDICTION OF TRANSMEMBRANE REGIONS BASED ON DEMPSTER-SHAFER THEORY OF EVIDENCE

Transmembrane proteins are some special and important proteins in cells. Because of their importance and specificity, the prediction of the transmembrane regions has very important theoretical and practical significance. At present, the prediction methods are mainly based on the physicochemical property and statistic analysis of amino acids. However, these methods are suitable for some environments but inapplicable for other environments. In this paper, the multi-sources information fusion theory has been introduced to predict the transmembrane regions. The proposed method is test on a data set of transmembrane proteins. The results show that the proposed method has the ability of predicting the transmembrane regions as a good performance and powerful tool.

A perliminary sturdy on S.asotus linnaeus and S.soldatovi meridionali

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Genome-wide analysis of Panonychus citrimicro RNAs witha focus on potential insecticidal activity of 4 micro RNAs toeggs and nymphs

Panonychus citriMcGregor(Acari:Tetranychidae),a destructive citrus pest,causes considerable annual economic losses due to its short lifespan and rapid resistancedevelopment.MicroRNA(miRNA)-induced RNA interference is a promising approachfor pest control because of endogenous regulation of pest growth and development.Tosearch for miRNAs with potential insecticidal activity inP.citri,genome-wide analysis ofmiRNAs at different developmental stages was conducted,resulting in the identificationof 136 miRNAs,including 73 known and 63 novel miRNAs.A total of 17 isomiRNAsand 12 duplicated miRNAs were characterized.MiR-1 and miR-252-5p were identified asreference miRNAs forP.citriandTetranychus urticae.Based on differential expressionanalysis,treatments with miR-let-7a and miR-315 mimics and the miR-let-7a antagomirsignificantly reduced the egg hatch rate and resulted in abnormal egg development.Over-expression or downregulation of miR-34-5p and miR-305-5p through feeding significantlydecreased the adult eclosion rate and caused molting defects.The 4 miRNAs,miR-let-7a,miR-315,miR-34-5p,and miR-305-5p,had important regulatory functions and insectici-dal properties in egg hatching and adult eclosion.In general,these data advance our un-derstanding of miRNAs in mite biology,which can assist future studies on insect-specificmiRNA-based green pest control technology.