Hordeum jubatum L. is a perennial herb with high ornamental value and strong stress tolerance. Nitrogen deposition and cold stress are key environmental factors that affect stability of ecosystems in cold regions of northeast China. These factors significantly affect plant growth and development. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are symbiotic soil fungi that can increase plant resistance and growth. However, research on impacts of nitrogen deposition and cold stress on roots of H. jubatum-AM symbionts remains limited. Root biomass (dry and fresh weight), architecture (length, surface area, volume, forks, number of fourth-order roots, and root fractal dimension), and ultrastructure of H. jubatum were assessed, both in the presence and absence of AMF, under conditions of nitrogen deposition and cold stress. Cold stress inhibited all indicators of root architecture and disrupted root ultrastructure, with greater inhibition shown in the N2 (NH4+/NO3- = 1:1) treatment under cold stress, indicating nitrogen deposition increased sensitivity of H. jubatum to cold stress. Inoculation with AMF significantly reduced damage caused by nitrogen deposition and cold stress on H. jubatum roots compared with the non-inoculation treatment. Our results demonstrate different effects of the interaction of nitrogen deposition and cold stress versus single stress (nitrogen deposition or cold stress) on plant root development and provide a scientific basis for the use of mycorrhizal technology to improve resistance and productivity of cold-tolerant plants in cold regions under stress conditions.

Sustainable structures are an important area of research, particularly for anticipated extended human presence on the Moon or Mars. Persistent human presence on the Moon will require building materials that are already present at the site to construct bases. The high cost associated with reinforcing metal (rebar) in mission payloads necessitates the exploration of alternative reinforcement methods for sustained lunar bases. Human hair is strong in tensile strength and will become available in any long-term mission. By using otherwise wasted hair instead of heavy metal, mission payloads and costs could be lowered. Concrete workability, compressive strength, and porosity were measured for a series of different cement compositions. These compositions consisted of combinations of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), lunar regolith, deionized (DI) water and human hair. Increased workability and porosity were found for increasing hair concentrations. Compressive strength slightly decreased with increased hair concentration.

Perennial ornamental grasses are often recommended for rain gardens, but few data support their use. We conducted two experiments to evaluate the ability of ornamental grass cultivars to grow while subjected to cyclical fl ooding, submergence, and drought typical of rain gardens. Our objectives were to determine the effects of cyclical fl ood and drought (Expt. 1) and submergence depth and duration (Expt. 2) on grass growth and survival. Seven cultivars were evaluated during greenhouse trials, including Pixie Fountain tufted hairgrass [Deschampsia cespitosa (L.) P. Beauv.], Northwind switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), Red October big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman), Purpurascens Chinese silvergrass (Miscanthus sinensis Andersson), Blue HeavenVR V R little bluestem [Schizachyrium scoparium (Michx.) Nash], Blonde Ambition blue grama grass [Bouteloua gracilis (Kunth) Lag. ex Griffiths], fi ths], and Karl Foerster feather reed grass [Calamagrostis xacutiflora fl ora (Schrad.) DC]. During Expt. 1, grasses underwent four cycles of fl ooding duration (2 days or 7 days) followed by drought (drying to volumetric soil water contents of 0.14 or 0.07 cm3cm23). 3 cm 2 3 ). During Expt. 2, grasses were cyclically submerged at 15 or 30 cm above the soil surface for 2, 4, or 7 days, followed by fl oodwater removal and drainage for 2 days before being resubmerged. Cyclical submergence continued until the 7-day submergence treatments completed four cycles. Both experiments were replicated in a full factorial randomized complete block design. Controls were included in both experiments. Plants were measured to determine plant height, shoot count, visual damage rating, shoot dry weight, and root dry weight. Floodwater chemistry and soil reducing conditions were measured during Expt. 2. Chinese silvergrass and switchgrass survived cyclical soil fl ooding/drought and submergence for 7 days at a depth of 30 cm while maintaining acceptable foliar damage. All grasses survived cyclical fl ood and drought when the soil volumetric water content was maintained at 14%, suggesting they can withstand periodic soil fl ooding as long as the water is not too deep. As water depth and duration increased from 4 days to 7 days, little bluestem, blue grama grass, and feather reed grass experienced significant fi cant foliar damage. Tufted hair grass and big bluestem experienced signifi- fi- cant foliar damage when submerged for 2 days. Our results showed that perennial ornamental grasses can tolerate cyclical fl ood and drought and periodic submergence, but that plant conditions and survival vary, which can inform strategic plant placement within rain gardens, bioretention basins, and other stormwater management systems.

Although natural fibers (NFs), among which animal fibers (AFs) are found, have been used for millennia as reinforcement scheme of some construction materials (CMs), it is not until recent decades when scientific studies have been carried out to quantitively evaluate the impact of adding NFs into CMs, but with a special focus on vegetal fibers (VFs) over AFs. Nevertheless, there have been several studies addressing the use of AFs in different CMs and, therefore, the need of a systematic review study is evident. To contribute to this research gap, this paper presents a comprehensive review study addressing available scientific information of different types of AFs (e.g., sheep wool fibers (SWFs), chicken feathers fibers (CFFs), human hair fibers (HHFs), pig hair fibers (PHFs), silk fibers (SFs), and dog hair fibers (DHFs)) and also their use in four specific different CMs matrices (i.e., cementitious, gypsum, soil and polymer matrices). This comprehensive search was conducted in Web of Science and Science Direct, two of the largest and more prestigious scientific databases, using specific keywords and Boolean operators and the selection of the papers was based on the provision of enough quantitative information of the mixtures (e.g., specific characteristic and dosages of AFs and matrix used) as well as experimental findings. As a result of this study, organized, summarized and sufficient information is provided to support the positive use of AF as reinforcement scheme to improve some physical/thermal/mechanical/ damage/durability properties of CMs by taking advantage of the abundance of these resources worldwide. Moreover, the use of AFs might also provide environmental benefits and cost reductions, which are global objectives within the construction sector. Finally, this review study found that there are still several research gaps in the use of particular AFs (e.g., DHFs) as well as combinations between the AFs and the CMs addressed in this study (e.g., effects of PHFs in polymer matrices) and these gaps are recommended as future studies.

Microscale alterations in soil physical characteristics resulting from long-term soil health practices can contribute to changes in soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. In this study, we investigated soil N2O emissions in relation to pore characteristics influencing soil gas diffusivity under long-term tillage and cover cropping practices. Intact soil cores from tillage (conventional tillage, Conv. T versus no tillage, NT) and cover crop (hairy vetch, HV versus no cover crop, NC) treatments were used for N2O measurements and computed tomography (CT) scanning. Using X-ray CT technique with a resolution of 59 mu m, pore structure parameters including macroporosity, number of macropores, anisotropy, fractal dimension, tortuosity, and connectivity were determined. The results showed that Conv. T and HV emitted significantly higher N2O than NT and NC, respectively. A similar trend was observed for macroporosity, Conv. T soils had 27.4 % higher CT-derived macroporosity than the NT soils and HV increased macroporosity by 31.1 % over the NC treatment. The number of macropores and fractal dimension were significantly higher whereas degree of anisotropy was significantly lower under HV compared to NC. In the upper 3 cm of soil, HV had a connected porosity, whereas the pores were disconnected and isolated in NC. These CTderived properties; however, were not impacted by tillage treatments. N2O emissions were positively and significantly correlated to relative soil gas diffusivity, CT -derived macroporosity, number of macropores, and fractal dimension. Our results demonstrated that soil macroporosity and relative gas diffusivity could lead to improved understanding and predictability of N 2 O emissions under high soil moisture conditions.

As a tetracycline antibiotic, the enrichment of doxycycline in soil seriously endangers agricultural cultivation and food security. Salvianolic acid B (SAB), as a natural product, has high antioxidant activity. We applied SAB and doxycycline (DOX) externally to Salvia miltiorrhiza seedlings, and measured the activities of total superoxide dismutase, peroxidase and catalase, as well as the accumulation of malondialdehyde, active oxygen and glutathione. It was found that SAB can participate in the DOX stress release of S. miltiorrhiza through the antioxidant system. We also analyzed the evolutionary relationship of multidrug and toxic compound extrusion (MATE) family proteins related to antibiotic transport in 50 representative evolutionary genomes, and revealed the potential binding ability of MATE and DOX through macromolecular docking. Finally, based on transcriptome and RT-qPCR analysis, we identified a novel gene SmMATE1, and found that it has a co-expression pattern with SmRAS and SmCYP98A14. Transgenic in tobacco, yeast and hairy root of S. miltiorrhiza revealed the important role of this new gene and SAB in synergistically releasing DOX stress damage, which provided a reference for natural product to alleviate the stress of antibiotics on plants, and also provided a theoretical basis for the development of new soil antibiotic sustained-release agents.