Based on simulations of the transports of a typically formed Chinese intercity passenger train hauled respectively by major types of the locomotives on a certain railway line in China, this research analyzes the changes of the traction energy cost intensity and passenger transport efficiency of the train with varying its passenger capacity utilization rate and target speed. It is found that if the passenger capacity utilization rate of such a train is higher than 60.00%, the effect of its passenger capacity utilization rate and target speed on its traction energy cost intensity and passenger transport efficiency is relatively very small. In contrast, if the passenger capacity utilization rate of the train is reduced from 40.00%, the efficiencies of its traction energy cost and passenger transport both decrease obviously and such decreases are evidently affected by its target speed. Therefore, strictly preventing the passenger capacity utilization rate of a conventional intercity passenger train from decreasing from 40.00% in particular and meanwhile striving to make its passenger capacity utilization rate higher than 60.00% as new evaluation benchmarking are able to effectively improve the railway passenger transport operation management in China.

Recently, with numerous environmental problems being caused by chemical fertilizer overuse, agricultural practices are shifting toward the development of environmentally friendly N fertilizers. In this study, pot and field experiments were simultaneously conducted to investigate the effect of poly(y-glutamic acid) (γ-PGA) on the yield, N use efficiency, and soil microenvironment of wheat. Our study demonstrates a statistically significant increase in winter wheat, number of tillers, seed number per spike, yield, soil microbial biomass N (SMBN), and soil enzymes after γ-PGA application. The highest grain yield of 7435.69 ± 55.91 kg ha-1 was obtained after γ-PGA application in the field experiment, which was 7.17% higher than the urea control. The N recovery efficiency increased by 11.81%-14.00% and 11.30%-11.38% after the application of γ-PGA in pot and field experiments, respectively. More mineral nitrogen in soil was immobilized by the microbes after γ-PGA application at the early growth stage of wheat. The immobilized nitrogen was gradually released at the late growth stage. The results demonstrate that γ-PGA can be used as a fertilizer synergist.

The balance of body fluids is critical to health and the development of diseases. Although quite a few review papers have shown that several mechanisms, including hormonal and behavioral regulation, play an important role in body fluid homeostasis in adults, there is limited information on the development of regulatory mechanisms for fetal body fluid balance. Hormonal, renal, and behavioral control of body fluids function to some extent in utero. Hormonal mechanisms including the renin-angiotensin system, aldosterone, and vasopressin are involved in modifying fetal renal excretion, reabsorption of sodium and water, and regulation of vascular volume. In utero behavioral changes, such as fetal swallowing, have been suggested to be early functional development in response to dipsogens. Since diseases, such as hypertension, can be traced to fetal origin, it is important to understand the development of fetal regulatory mechanisms for body fluid homeostasis in this early stage of life. This review focuses on fetal hormonal, behavioral, and renal development related to regulation of body fluids in utero.