Photosynthetic characteristics, yield and quality of sunflower response to deficit irrigation in a cold and arid environment.

In arid regions, deficit irrigation stands as an efficacious strategy for augmenting agricultural water conservation and fostering sustainable crop production. The Hexi Oasis, an irrigation zone situated in Northwest China, serves as a pivotal area to produce grain and cash crops. Nonetheless, due to the predominant conditions of low rainfall and high evaporation, the scarcity of irrigation water has emerged as a critical constraint affecting crop growth and yield in the area. In order to evaluate the effects of deficit irrigation on photosynthetic characteristics, yield, quality, and water use efficiency of sunflower, a two-year field experiment with under-mulched drip irrigation was conducted in the cold and arid environment of the Hexi Oasis region. Water deficits were implemented at sunflower seedling and maturity and consisted of three deficit levels: mild deficit (65-75% field capacity, FC), moderate deficit (55-65% FC), and severe deficit (45-55% FC). A total of six combined water deficit treatments were applied, using full irrigation (75-85% FC) throughout the entire crop-growing season as the control (CK). The results illustrated that water deficit engendered a decrease in leaf net photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, and stomatal conductance of sunflower compared to CK, with the decrease becoming significant with the water deficit increasing. A mild water deficit, both at the seedling and maturity phases, precipitated a significant enhancement (p< 0.05) in leaf water use efficiency. Under mild water deficit, stomatal limitation emerged as the predominant factor inducing a reduction in the photosynthetic capacity of sunflower leaves, while as the water deficit escalated, non-stomatal limitation progressively assumed dominance. Moreover, a mild/moderate water deficit at seedling and a mild water deficit at maturity (WD1 and WD3) significantly improved sunflower seed quality under consistent yield conditions and significantly increased irrigation water use efficiency, with an average increase of 15.3% and 18.5% over the two years, respectively. Evaluations utilizing principal component analysis and membership function methods revealed that WD1 attained the highest comprehensive score. Consequently, a mild water deficit at both seedling and maturity (WD1) is advocated as the optimal deficit irrigation strategy for sunflower production within the cold and arid environment of Northwest China.

Crop coefficient determination and evapotranspiration estimation of watermelon under water deficit in a cold and arid environment.

To investigate the evapotranspiration and crop coefficient of oasis watermelon under water deficit (WD), mild (60%-70% field capacity, FC)and moderate (50%-60% FC) WD levels were set up at the various growth stages of watermelon, including seedling stage (SS), vine stage (VS), flowering and fruiting stage (FS), expansion stage (ES), and maturity stage (MS), with adequate water supply (70%-80% FC) during the growing season as a control. A two-year (2020-2021) field trial was carried out in the Hexi oasis area of China to explore the effect of WD on watermelon evapotranspiration characteristics and crop coefficient under sub-membrane drip irrigation. The results indicated that the daily reference crop evapotranspiration showed a sawtooth fluctuation which was extremely significantly and positively correlated with temperature, sunshine hours, and wind speed. The water consumption during the entire growing season of watermelon varied from 281-323 mm (2020) and 290-334 mm (2021), among which the phasic evapotranspiration valued the maximum during ES, accounting for 37.85% (2020) and 38.94% (2021) in total, followed in the order of VS, SS, MS, and FS. The evapotranspiration intensity of watermelon increased rapidly from SS to VS, reaching the maximum with 5.82 mm·d-1 at ES, after which it gradually decreased. The crop coefficient at SS, VS, FS, ES, and MS varied from 0.400 to 0.477, from 0.550 to 0.771, from 0.824 to 1.168, from 0.910 to 1.247, and from 0.541 to 0.803, respectively. Any period of WD reduced the crop coefficient and evapotranspiration intensity of watermelon at that stage. And then the relationship between LAI and crop coefficient can be characterized better by an exponential regression, thereby establishing a model for estimating the evapotranspiration of watermelon with a Nash efficiency coefficient of 0.9 or more. Hence, the water demand characteristics of oasis watermelon differ significantly during different growth stages, and reasonable irrigation and water control management measures need to be conducted in conjunction with the water requirements features of each growth stage. Also, this work aims to provide a theoretical basis for the irrigation management of watermelon under sub-membrane drip irrigation in desert oases of cold and arid environments.

Parthenolide targets NLRP3 to treat inflammasome-related diseases.

Natural products have attracted extensive attention from researchers in medical fields due to their abundant biological activities. Parthenolide (PTL) is a sesquiterpene lactone originally purified from herb Feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium), recent studies have showed its potential activities of anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory. Acting as the most studied inflammasome, NLRP3 inflammasome played an important role in human diseases including type-2 diabetes (T2D), Alzheimer's disease (AD) and cryopyrin-associated periodic syndromes (CAPS). In this article, we show that PTL specially inhibits the activation of NLRP3 inflammation by block the upstream signal and prevent the assembly of NLRP3 inflammasome complex. Furthermore, we showed the treatment of PTL significantly attenuates the symptoms of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced systemic inflammation and dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in mice models. Thus, our results demonstrate that PTL alleviates inflammation by targeting NLRP3 inflammasome, which indicate that PTL acting as a promising natural product for the treatment of NLRP3 inflammasome-related diseases.

Association between Pregestational Vaginal Dysbiosis and Incident Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy Risk: a Nested Case-Control Study.

A balanced vaginal microbiome dominated by Lactobacillus can help promote women's reproductive health, with Lactobacillus crispatus showing the most beneficial effect. However, the potential role of vaginal microbiomes in hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) development is not thoroughly explored. In this nested case-control study based on an assisted reproductive technology follow-up cohort, we prospectively assessed the association between pregestational vaginal microbiomes with HDP by collecting vaginal swabs from 75 HDP cases (HDP group) and 150 controls (NP group) and using 16S amplicon sequencing for bacterial identification. The vaginal microbial composition of the HDP group significantly differed from that of the NP group. The abundance of L. crispatus was significantly lower, and the abundances of Gardnerella vaginalis was significantly higher, in the HDP group than in the NP group. Of note, L. crispatus-dominated vaginal community state type was associated with a decreased risk for HDP (odds ratio = 0.436; 95% confidence interval, 0.229 to 0.831) compared with others. Additionally, network analysis revealed different bacterial interactions with 61 and 57 exclusive edges in the NP and HDP groups, respectively. Compared with the HDP group, the NP group showed a higher weighted degree and closeness centrality. Several taxa, including G. vaginalis, L. iners, and bacterial vaginosis-associated bacteria (Prevotella, Megasphaera, Finegoldia, and Porphyromonas), were identified as "drivers" for network rewiring. Notable alterations of predicted pathways involved in amino acid, cofactor, and vitamin metabolism; membrane transport; and bacterial toxins were observed in the HDP group. IMPORTANCE The etiology of HDP remains unclear to date. Effective methods for the individualized prediction and prevention are lacking. Pregestational vaginal dysbiosis precedes the diagnosis of HDP, providing a novel perspective on the etiology of HDP. Early pregnancy is the critical period of placental development, and abnormal placentation initiates HDP development. Thus, disease prevention should be considered before pregnancy. Vaginal microbiome characterization and probiotic interventions before pregnancy are preferred because of their safety and potential for early prevention. This study is the first to prospectively assess associations between pregestational vaginal microbiome and HDP. L. crispatus-dominated vaginal community state type is linked to a reduced risk for HDP. These findings suggest that vaginal microbiome characterization may help identify individuals at high risk for HDP and offer potential targets for the development of novel pregestational intervention methods.

Hydrothermal growth of KTiOPO4 crystal for electro-optical application.

"New" electro-optical (EO) crystals are hard to find, "old" EO crystals are scarce and each has its own problems, and the demand for high-performance EO crystals by higher power, higher repetition rate, and narrower pulse width laser is realistic and urgent. The EO performance of KTP was recognized as soon as it was discovered, but after more than 40 years of development, the reports, and products of EO devices based on KTP are less than those of other EO crystals, even though KTP is now almost the cheapest nonlinear optical crystal material. In this paper, based on our understanding of the crystal structure of predecessors and ourselves, especially the understanding and practice of quasi-one-dimensional ionic conduction mechanism, we think that crystal growth is the most important reason that affects the controllability of crystal performance. Through a series of science and technology, we realize the growth of large-size crystals with high-optical uniformity, then reduce the absorption of KTP to a very low level, and grow crystals with resistance to electric damage and laser damage. On this basis, reducing the conductivity and improving the uniformity of optical, electrical, piezoelectric, and ferroelectric properties are emphasized. The extinction ratio, piezoelectric ringing effect, and thermal influence of the EO switch based on KTP crystal are tested, and some publicly available progress of using KTP EO devices in high-repetition rate laser is listed. Finally, we are looking forward to the development of KTP EO crystal for the laser system to EO generator for integrated optics.

A new coumarin isolated from the roots of Heracleum dissectum Ledeb.

A new coumarin named (9 R, 10 R)-9, 10-dihydro-10-hydroxy-9-methoxy-bergapten (1) and 13 known compounds (2-14) were isolated from the roots of Heracleum dissectum Ledeb., in which compounds (2-13) were obtained from H. dissectum for the first time. Their structures were illuminated by HR-ESI MS, 1 D and 2 D NMR, optical rotation and comparison with literatures. All compounds were evaluated against hepatocellular carcinoma HepG2 cell lines and the results showed that candinol C (8) had moderate cytotoxic activity against HepG2 cells with IC50 value at 57.6 ± 1.1 µM.

Effects of water and nitrogen coupling on the photosynthetic characteristics, yield, and quality of Isatis indigotica.

Isatis indigotica is a commercial medicinal crop that is widely cultivated with high water and nutrient application, in the arid areas of northwest China. Rational irrigation and nitrogen application are key factors for successful crop management. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of water and nitrogen coupling on the photosynthetic characteristics, yield, and quality of Isatis indigotica produced in northwestern China. Field trials were conducted for 2 consecutive years at an irrigation test station. Data on photosynthetic parameters, yield, and quality were collected from individual Isatis indigotica for each treatment during 2018-2019. The application of nitrogen significantly increased photosynthetic rates and yield under the same irrigation conditions. However, the yields were reduced in the excess water treatments (W3N1 and W3N2) and in the excess nitrogen treatments (W1N3, W2N3, and W3N3) in contrast to the optimum W2N2 treatment. Moreover, the quality indicators of the W2N2 treatment decreased compared with CK, which was due to water stress and more photoassimilates being available to the roots, but the effective quality index value could be effectively improved by greatly increasing the yield.

New Constituents from the Low Polar Fraction of the Fruits of Crataegus dahurica and Their Anti-Inflammatory Activity in RAW264.7 Cells.

The fruit of Crataegus dahurica Koehne was used to treat the disease of infantile indigestion and dyspepsia as an ethnic medicine and food. As a continuous work on finding the active constituents from the edible herbs, four new biphenyl derivatives (1-4), together with two known compounds (5 and 6), were obtained from the petroleum ether fraction of the fruits of C. dahurica. Their structures were determined by the extensive 1D and 2D NMR spectra and HR-MS spectrometry. Furthermore, the anti-inflammatory activities of all the isolated compounds were investigated, in which compound 4 showed moderately inhibitory effects on NO production in RAW264.7 cells without inducing cytotoxicity.

Three New Polyacetylene Glycosides from the Roots of Heracleum dissectum and Their Triglyceride Accumulating Activities in 3T3-L1 Cells.

Continually phytochemical study of the roots of Heracleum dissectum had led to the isolation of three previously undescribed polyacetylene glycosides (1-3), together with seven known compounds, including one polyacetylene (8) and six coumarins (4-7 and 9-10) using diverse chromatographic methods. The structures of these three new compounds were characterized and identified as deca-4,6-diyn-1-yl ß-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→6)-ß-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-ß-d-glucopyranoside (1), (8Z)-dec-8-ene-4,6-diyn-1-yl ß-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→6)-ß-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-ß-d-glucopyranoside (2), and (8E)-dec-8-ene-4,6-diyn-1-yl ß-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→6)-ß-d-glucopyranosyl-(1→2)-ß-d-glucopyranoside (3) based on their physicochemical properties and extensive analyses of various spectroscopic data. Their triglycerides accumulating activities were assayed and the results showed that the three new polyacetylene glycosides (1-3) exhibited triglyceride accumulating activities in 3T3-L1 adipocytes.

Antidiabetic and hepatoprotective activity of the roots of Calanthe fimbriata Franch.

BACKGROUND: Calanthe fimbriata is a Tujia ethnic medicine with various medicinal value and it is traditionally used for the treatment of gastric ulcer, chronic hepatitis, pharyngitis, and so on. OBJECTIVE: The current study was conducted to evaluate the antidiabetic activity of C. fimbriata methanol extract (CfME) in oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) mice and in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice. METHODS: Experimental diabetes was induced by intraperitoneal injection of STZ (60 mg/kg) for three consecutive days in mice. OGTT in mice and α-glucosidase inhibition assay were also adopted to investigate the activity and elucidate the mechanism of action. Gliclazide and metformin were used as standard drugs in OGTT mice and in STZ-induced diabetic mice experiments, respectively. Blood glucose, total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and hepatic glycogen were measured in plasma or in livers. RESULTS: CfME exerted potently antihyperglycemic activity in OGTT mice and in STZ-induced diabetic mice and decreased ALT, AST and TG levels, improved hepatomegaly, and increased hepatic glycogen content, however, CfME failed to modify the normal blood glucose in normoglycemic mice and exhibited weakly inhibitory activity on intestinal α-glucosidase. CONCLUSION: The present study demonstrated that CfME exerted potently antidiabetic activity by restoring the liver function to increase the synthesis of hepatic glycogen and by improving insulin resistance of peripheral tissues to enhance the uptake and utilization of glucose.

Chemical constituents, antioxidant and gastrointestinal transit accelerating activities of dried fruit of Crataegus dahurica.

Crataegus dahurica Koehne is an edible wild fruit mainly distributed in Northeast China. The purpose of this study was to elucidate the chemical constituents and investigate the bioactivities of dried fruit of C. dahurica methanol extract (CdME). Through various chromatographic methods, thirty-five compounds were isolated from CdME for the first time and their structures were identified on the basis of physicochemical properties and spectroscopic data. The main structural types of these compounds were triterpenoids and polyphenolics. Pharmacological experiments results showed that CdME had potently antioxidant capacity and ethyl acetate fraction was the active part with the greatest antioxidant activities. Moreover, CdME especially n-butanol fraction significantly accelerated the gastrointestinal transit in mice (acceleration rate: 78.5 ±â€¯1.5% vs. 69.9 ±â€¯3.2% at a dose of 250 mg/kg, compared to the control group, P < .01). On the basis of these results, C. dahurica may be considered as a good resource of antioxidants and digestion-improving agents.

Direct observation of the microstructure and defects in KBe2BO3F2 crystals by TEM.

We apply for the first time transmission electron microscopy to the direct observation of the deep-UV nonlinear optical crystal KBe2BO3F2 (KBBF) grown using different methods. Two kinds of electron diffraction patterns were observed in the hydrothermally synthesized KBBF along the [120] direction, which resulted from the coexistence of two structures with space groups R32 and R3[combining macron]c. As a comparison, the flux grown KBBF crystals show uniform R32 structures. Furthermore we observed a twin boundary in flux KBBF which corresponds to the (21[combining macron]3)R32 crystallographic plane. Two structure models are proposed here for the twin boundary. These observations on the microstructure and defects were not disclosed in previous powder XRD and optical microscopy experiments and shed new light on the understanding of the structure and defects of KBBF crystals.