ABSTRACT Salinity is a growing problem worldwide and techniques are needed to mitigate this problem. Field experiments were conducted to explore the effects of optimum N management (NM) on growth, antioxidant ability and yield performance of rice (Oryza sativa L.) in medium saline soil in the coastal area of Yancheng City, Jiangsu Province, China, during 2016 and 2017. A salt tolerant rice genotype Nangeng 9108 and N fertilizer including urea (300 kg N ha-1) were used, six levels of NM were arranged (base:tillering:panicle initiation fertilizers = 0:8:2 (T1), 0:6:4 (T2), 0:4:6 (T3), 5.6:2.4:2.0 (T4), 4.2:1.8:4.0 (T5), and 2.8:1.2:6.0 (T6), respectively). NM significantly affected plant growth, antioxidant traits, yield and yield components of rice in saline soil. On average, grain yield, panicles and spikelets per panicles were prominently higher under treatments of applied basal fertilizer (TABF; T4, T5 and T6) than treatments of non-applied basal fertilizer (TNBF; T1, T2 and T3). The TABF produced a yield advantaged of 39.7% and 54.4% over TNBF in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Bigger panicles were formed under TABF, mean spikelets per panicle was 15.7% higher than TNBF in 2016 and 20.0% in 2017. The T5 produced the highest dry weight, grain yield, panicles, spikelets per panicle, activities of catalase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase, soluble protein, soluble sugar and sucrose at each growth period. However, the highest grain filling percentage showed under T4 had 82% and 81% advantages in each year. These results suggest that applied basal fertilizer can enhance salt tolerance and grain yield of rice, and appropriate N management can alleviate salt stress and increase grain yield.

ABSTRACT Water-saving cultivation in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is an important technique for achieving high yield and high water use eficiency (WUE) in the North China Plain (NCP) where water resources are in shortage. In order to determine the effects of supplemental irrigation based on soil water content on crop evapotranspiration (ET), DM, grain yield and WUE in wheat, treatments were designed to vary the relative soil water content at jointing and anthesis stages: I70 (70%, 70%) and I75 (75%, 75%) with rain-fed (I0) and traditional irrigation (Ick) as contrasts. The results indicated that the irrigation amount of I70 and I75 were significantly lower than that of Ick by 45.1 to 132.4 mm, but soil water depletion increased by 23.5 to 35.4 mm. Although the total ET throughout the growing season (ETt) of I75 was less than that of Ick, the ratio to ETt from anthesis to maturity increased significantly. The DM partitioning ratio was decreased in vegetable organs, but increased in grain for I75 compared with Ick. The grain yield for I75 was significantly higher than that of I0 and I70, whereas nonsignificant difference was observed between I75 and Ick, and the WUE and irrigation water use efficiency of I75 were higher than those of Ick by 11.0% and 87.4% in 2008-2009 and 3.5% and 34.0% in 2009-2010. Thus, I75 can be developed as an optimal water-saving irrigation regimes in the NCP

ABSTRACT Water resource scarcity has been increasingly becoming a threat to wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production in North China Plain. Thus, a water-saving irrigation strategy should be urgently developed. We conducted a 2-yr field experiment to examine the effects of supplemental irrigation (SI) on the photosynthetic characteristics and water use efficiency (WUE) of wheat. This study employed two SI strategies: A quota SI using 60 mm water at jointing and anthesis stages (W1) and soil moisture testing SI (W2), which brings the target relative soil water content of 0-40 cm soil layer to 70% field capacity at jointing and anthesis stages. A non-irrigated treatment (W0) was used as control. Results showed that W2 significantly improved the water uptake in 80-160 cm soil layer compared with W1. Moreover, flag leaf photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance, and transpiration 14-28 d after anthesis were highest in W2 successively followed by W1 and W0, and the difference was significant. Dry matter (DM) at maturity, DM accumulation post-anthesis and its contribution ratio to grain were significantly higher in W2 than in the other treatments. 13CO2 labeling results indicated that W2 promoted δ13C-photosynthate accumulation in grain. In 2012-2013 growing season, the grain yield increased by 56.05% and 5.74% and WUE increased by 26.17% and 6.34% in W2 compared with those in W0 and W1, respectively. In 2013-2014 growing season, the grain yield increased by 41.82% and 5.90% and WUE increased by 28.24% and 13.03% in W2 compared with those in W0 and W1, respectively. Therefore, W2 is a high-yield and water-saving treatment.

ABSTRACT Purpose: In a previous study the vaccine was effective against bladder cancer in a mouse model. However, a small portion of tumors regrew because the vaccine could not eliminate bladder cancer stem cells (CSCs). In this study, we showed a modified method for the isolation of bladder CSCs using a combination of differential adhesion method and serum-free culture medium (SFM) method. Materials and Methods: Trypsin-resistant cells and trypsin-sensitive cells were isolated from MB49, EJ and 5637 cells by a combination of differential adhesion method and SFM method. The CSCs characterizations of trypsin-resistant cells were verified by the flow cytometry, the western blotting, the quantitative polymerase chain reaction, the resistance to chemotherapy assay, the transwell assay, and the tumor xenograft formation assay. Results: Trypsin-resistant cells were isolated and identified in CSCs characters, with high expression of CSCs markers, higher resistance to chemotherapy, greater migration in vitro, and stronger tumorigenicity in vivo. Conclusion: Trypsin-resistant cells displayed specific CSCs properties. Our study showed trypsin-resistant cells were isolated successfully with a modified method using a combination of differential adhesion method and SFM method.

Shortage of water resources is a major limiting factor for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production in the North China Plain. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the effects of supplemental irrigation (SI) on water use characteristics and grain yield of the wheat cultivars ’Jimai 22’and ’Zhouyuan 9369’. Two supplemental irrigation treatment regimens were designed based on target relative soil moisture contents in 0-140 cm soil layers at jointing rising to 75% of field capacity (FC) for each cultivar, and at anthesis rising to 65% and 75% (W1), and 70% and 80% (W2) in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, respectively. Rain-fed (W0) treatment was used as control. Under W1, grain yield of ’Jimai 22’ was 5.22% higher than that of W2, and water use efficiency (WUE) of ’Zhouyuan 9369’ was 4.0% higher than that under W2. No significant differences in WUE of ’Jimai 22’ and grain yield of ’Zhouyuan 9369’ were observed for the two treatment regimens in 2009-2010. Grain yield and WUE in W1 were higher than those of W2 for both cultivars in 2010-2011. W1 enhanced soil water consumption compared to W2, especially in the 100-200 cm soil layers, for both cultivars in 2009-2011. Meanwhile, ’Jimai 22’ showed higher soil water consumption and ET from anthesis to mature stage, which resulted in increase in grain yield and WUE of ’Jimai 22’ by 8.15-21.7% and 7.75-11.73% in 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, respectively, compared with ’Zhouyuan 9369’. Thus, our results showed that SI increased the yield and WUE of ’Jimai 22’ and W1 was the better treatment regimen.

In order to study the hot working behaviour of as-cast AZ80 magnesium alloy, a series of isothermal upsetting tests with height reduction of 60% were performed at the temperature range of 523-673 K and the strain rate range of 0.01-10 s-1 on a servo-hydraulic Gleeble-1500 machine simulator. Based on the regression analysis for Arrhenius type equation of flow stress, the activation energy of deformation was determined to be Q = 168.6606 KJ·mol-1, and material constants , n and α in the equation also were calculated respectively to predict the peak stress during hot deformation. A 7th order polynomial was used to represent the influence of strain on these parameters (i.e Q, ln, n and α). The Arrhenius equation was further developed by taking account of the effect of strain on the flow stress to describe the flow behavior during the whole experimental temperature and strain rate range. Then comparison between the predicted results and test results shows that the correlation coefficient and average absolute relative error is 0.99 and 6.63%, respectively. The flow stress predicted by developed equation can give an accurate and precise description of the flow behaviour for AZ80 magnesium alloy.