Freezing resistance evaluation of rose stems during frost dehardening using electrical impedance tomography.

BACKGROUND: Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) has rarely been applied in plant science, particularly to study plant resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses. In this study, we evaluated the freezing resistance of floribunda roses (Rosa Floribunda) during frost dehardening using the EIT technique to identify a new method for rapid and non-destructive measurement of plant freezing resistance. RESULTS: The current was the excitation source, the boundary voltage value was measured, and then the boundary voltage reconstructed value was formed. Using an imaging algorithm, the two-dimensional (2D) distribution of impedance or impedance variation was reconstructed. The EIT reconstructed values decreased obviously with the decline in freezing temperatures. The EIT reconstructed values of stems had the best fit to the logistic equation, and subsequently, the semi-lethal temperatures were calculated. The freezing resistance results evaluated using EIT reconstructed values were linearly correlated with the results of the traditional electrolyte leakage (EL) method (r = 0.93, P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, after freezing tests, the reconstructed values of EIT images could be used to quantitatively evaluate the freezing resistance of floribunda rose stems. The present study provides a reference for the further application of the EIT technique for non-destructive and rapid detection of plant freezing resistance.

[Research on patent quality of Chinese listed traditional Chinese medicine enterprises from R&D investment perspective].

In recent years,the number of patent applications for traditional Chinese medicine( TCM) inventions has increased rapidly,but the authorization rate has declined. Listed TCM enterprises are a group of active innovators in this field,so this paper analyzes their patent quality by combining patent application and authorization with R&D investment of enterprises in order to explore a practical way to improve the quality of TCM patents. The conclusions are as follows: the R&D investment of listed TCM enterprises is insufficient and the gap between enterprises is large; the number of patent applications is within a reasonable range,but some enterprises still have abnormal patent applications,and patent quality needs to be improved; in addition,the patent operation capacity of enterprises still needs to be improved. In this phenomenon,enterprises should improve R&D investment,strengthen the level of technological innovation,improve the ability of patent operation,and consciously eliminate the output of " abnormal patents"; the patent administrative department should optimize policy direction which is beneficial to the improvement of patent quality,grasp the normal and reasonable examination scale,and jointly improve the quality of TCM patents.

[Response to US review rules on patent subject matter of traditional Chinese medicine compositions].

The United States Patent and Trademark Office(USPTO) issued Interim Guidance on Patent Subject Matter Eligibility on December 16， 2014， bringing certain effects to the review rules on patent application of Chinese medicine compositions. Based on the Interim Guidance， cases analysis was used in this paper to analyze the patent subject matter issues of traditional Chinese medicine compositions in the United States. The researches have shown that the application documents should be properly written in the United States when the patent for Chinese medicine compositions is applied， which can improve the probability of authorization.