Frequency response analysis under faults in weak power systems

The renewable energy sources (RESs) projects are solutions with environmental benefits that are changing the traditional power system operation and concept. Transient stability analysis has opened new research trends to guarantee a secure operation high penetration. Problems such as frequency fluctuations, decoupling between generator angular speed, network frequency fluctuation and kinetic energy storing absence are the main non-conventional RESs penetration in power systems. This paper analyzes short-circuit influence on frequency response, focusing on weak distribution networks and isolated, to demonstrate relevance in frequency stability. A study case considered a generation outage and a load input to analyze frequency response. The paper compares frequency response during a generation outage with a short-circuit occurrence. In addition, modular value and angle generator terminal voltage affectation by electric arc and network ratio R⁄X, failure type influence in power delivered behavior, considering fault location, arc resistance and load. The arc resistance is defined as an added resistance that appears during failure and influences voltage modulus and angle value results showing that intermittent non-conventional RES participation can lead to frequency fluctuations. Results showed that arc resistance, type of failure, location and loadability determine the influence of frequency response factors in weak power systems.

Seasonal Yield Response Factor for Red Bombay Onion (Allium cepa L.) Variety in Arba Minch, Ethiopia

Background: For better water resources management in the areas of water shortage for crop production, deficit irrigation is very important. The understanding of the yield response factor to water deficit is crucial for efficient irrigation water management. Deficit irrigation for studying yield response factors is always practiced in the way of stressing the demand of the crops. The present study was done for the determination of the seasonal yield response factor of red Bombay onion variety under Arba Minch agro climate condition. Furthermore, it also examined the effect of furrow irrigation systems on the seasonal yield response factor. Methods: The experiment was conducted from August to November 2019. The experiment had six treatments, which were the combination of two furrow irrigation systems and three irrigation levels. Data were collected for soil moisture before and after each irrigation and bulb yield. The seasonal yield response factors were determined through simple linear regressions using SPSS software. Result: When considering the furrow irrigation system as a factor, the seasonal yield response factor for alternate furrow irrigation system was 1.18 while for paired row furrow irrigation system was 1.07. This red Bombay variety of onion clearly shows more sensitive to water stress for alternative furrow irrigation systems than paired row furrow irrigation systems. Therefore, in the area of water shortage paired row furrow irrigation system is better than alternate furrow irrigation system. The seasonal yield response factor as a wall for red Bombay onion variety in Arba Minch agro-ecological condition was 1.12. Therefore, the red Bombay onion variety in Arba Minch agroclimate condition was sensitive to water stress.

Transcriptomics Analysis and Candidate Genes Associated With Xinjiang Jujubes in Response to Alternaria Alternata Infection

BackgroundBlack spot disease, caused by Alternaria altrenata, is one of the most destructive diseases of jujube worldwide. To better understand the resistance mechanisms of jujube to A. altrenata infection to be able to improve disease control and resistance breeding. Two different cultivars, Zizyphus jujuba Mill. var. Jun jujube (susceptible) and Zizyphus jujuba Mill. var. Hui jujube (resistant), were tested. ResultsIn this study, we identified 2235 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in the disease-resistant cultivar and 4958 in the susceptible cultivar. To better understand these DEGs, the datasets were analyzed using Gene Ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genome (KEGG) database. Most of them were associated with plant phytohormone synthesis and signal transduction, flavonoid synthesis, and glutathione metabolism. The expression of 6 DEGs associated with disease resistance were detected by real time-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), consistent with the results of Illumina transcriptome sequencing. Moreover, the expression level of the six DEGs differently in Jun jujube and Hui jujube, verified they are defense response factors. ConclusionsThe present study identified several candidate resistance genes and signal transduction pathways that may contribute to black spot disease resistance in jujube, which will assist the investigation of resistance mechanisms in the response of jujube to A. altrenata infection.

Genome-Wide cis-Regulatory Element Based Discovery of Auxin-Responsive Genes in Higher Plant

Auxin has a profound impact on plant physiology and participates in almost all aspects of plant development processes. Auxin exerts profound pleiotropic effects on plant growth and differentiation by regulating the auxin response genes’ expressions. The classical auxin reaction is usually mediated by auxin response factors (ARFs), which bind to the auxin response element (AuxRE) in the promoter region of the target gene. Experiments have generated only a limited number of plant genes with well-characterized functions. It is still unknown how many genes respond to exogenous auxin treatment. An economical and effective method was proposed for the genome-wide discovery of genes responsive to auxin in a model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana (A. thaliana). Our method relies on cis-regulatory-element-based targeted gene finding across different promoters in a genome. We first exploit and analyze auxin-specific cis-regulatory elements for the transcription of the target genes, and then identify putative auxin responsive genes whose promoters contain the elements in the collection of over 25,800 promoters in the A. thaliana genome. Evaluating our result by comparing with a published database and the literature, we found that this method has an accuracy rate of 65.2% (309/474) for predicting candidate genes responsive to auxin. Chromosome distribution and annotation of the putative auxin-responsive genes predicted here were also mined. The results can markedly decrease the number of identified but merely potential auxin target genes and also provide useful clues for improving the annotation of gene that lack functional information.

Using Machine Learning to Compare the Information Needs and Interactions of Facebook: Taking Six Retail Brands as an Example

This study explores the interactive characteristics of the public, referencing existing data mining methods. This research attempts to develop a community data mining and integration technology to investigate the trends of global retail chain brands. Using social media mining and ensemble learning, it examines key image cues to highlight the various reasons motivating participation by fans. Further, it expands the discussion on image and marketing cues to explore how various social brands induce public participation and the evaluation of information efficiency. This study integrates random decision forests, extreme gradient boost, and adaboost for statistical verification. From 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2019, the studied brands published a total of 25,538 posts. The study combines community information and participation in its research framework. The samples are divided into three categories: retail food brand, retail home improvement brand, and retail warehouse club brand. This research draws on brand image and information cue theory to design the theoretical framework, and then uses behavior response factors for the theoretical integration. This study contributes a model that classifies brand community posts and mines related data to analyze public needs and preferences. More specifically, it proposes a framework with supervised and ensemble learning to classify information users′ behavioral characteristics.

The FBA Motif-Containing Protein NpFBA1 Causes Leaf Curling and Reduces Resistance to Black Shank Disease in Tobacco

Plant leaf morphology has a great impact on plant drought resistance, ornamental research and leaf yield. In this study, we identified a new gene in Nicotiana plumbaginifolia, NpFBA1, that causes leaf curl. The results show that the NpFBA1 protein contains only one unique F-box associated (FBA) domain and does not have an F-box conserved domain. Phylogenetic analysis placed this gene and other Nicotiana FBA genes on a separate branch, and the NpFBA1 protein localized to the nucleus and cytoplasm. The expression of NpFBA1 was induced by black shank pathogen (Phytophthora parasitica var. nicotianae) infection and treatment with salicylic acid (SA) and methyl jasmonate (MeJA). NpFBA1-overexpressing transgenic lines showed leaf curling and aging during the rosette phase. During the bolting period, the leaves were curly and rounded, and the plants were dwarfed. In addition, NpFBA1-overexpressing lines were more susceptible to disease than wild-type (WT) plants. Further studies revealed that overexpression of NpFBA1 significantly downregulated the expression of auxin response factors such as NtARF3 and the lignin synthesis genes NtPAL, NtC4H, NtCAD2, and NtCCR1 in the leaves. In conclusion, NpFBA1 may play a key role in regulating leaf development and the response to pathogen infection.

The Effect of 1-MCP on the Expression of Carotenoid, Chlorophyll Degradation, and Ethylene Response Factors in ‘Qihong’ Kiwifruit

The development of yellow color is an important aspect of fruit quality in yellow fleshed kiwifruit during fruit ripening, and it has a large influence on consumer preference. The yellow color is determined by carotenoid accumulation and chlorophyll degradation and is likely affected by ethylene production. This study investigates the expression of carotenoid, chlorophyll degradation, and ethylene response factors in ‘Qihong’ fruit, which had reached the near ripening stage (firmness ≈ 20 N) and were either left untreated (controls) or treated with 0.5 μL L−1 of 1-MCP for 12 h. Both the accumulation of β-carotene (not lutein) and degradation of chlorophyll a and b increased in response to the 1-MCP treatment, resulting in more yellow colored flesh in the 1-MCP treated fruit with higher carotenoid and lower chlorophyll contents. 1-MCP up-regulated AcLCY-β, AcSGR1, and AcPAO2, but reduced the expression of AcCCD1. These four genes were correlated with the concentrations of β-carotene and the chlorophylls. The expression of three ethylene response factors, including Acc29730, Acc25620, and Acc23763 were delayed and down-regulated in 1-MCP treated fruit, showing the highest correlation with the expression of AcLCY-β, AcSGR1, AcPAO2, and AcCCD1. Dual-Luciferase assays showed that 1-MCP treatment not only eliminated the inhibition of Acc23763 on the promoters of both AcPAO2 and AcLCY-β, but also reduced the activation of Acc29730 and Acc25620 on the AcCCD1 promoter. Our findings indicate that Acc29730, Acc25620, and Acc23763 may play an important role in the response to 1-MCP treatment during the fruit eating ripe stage, which likely altered the promoter activities of carotenoid and chlorophyll-related genes (AcPAO2, AcLCY-β and AcCCD1) to regulate their transcripts, resulting in more yellow color in the fruit flesh of ‘Qihong’.

Arabidopsis Spliceosome Factor SmD3 Modulates Immunity to Pseudomonas syringae Infection

SmD3 is a core component of the small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (snRNP) that is essential for pre-mRNA splicing. The role of Arabidopsis SmD3 in plant immunity was assessed by testing sensitivity of smd3a and smd3b mutants to Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato (Pst) DC3000 infection and its pathogenesis effectors flagellin (flg22), EF-Tu (elf18) and coronatine (COR). Both smd3 mutants exhibited enhanced susceptibility to Pst accompanied by marked changes in the expression of key pathogenesis markers. mRNA levels of major biotic stress response factors were also altered upon treatment with Pseudomonas effectors. Our genome-wide transcriptome analysis of the smd3b-1 mutant infected with Pst, verified by northern and RT-qPCR, showed that lack of SmD3-b protein deregulates defense against Pst infection at the transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels including defects in splicing and an altered pattern of alternative splicing. Importantly, we show that SmD3-b dysfunction impairs mainly stomatal immunity as a result of defects in stomatal development. We propose that it is the malfunction of the stomata that is the primary cause of an altered mutant response to the pathogen. Other changes in the smd3b-1 mutant involved enhanced elf18- and flg22-induced callose deposition, reduction of flg22-triggered production of early ROS and boost of secondary ROS caused by Pst infection. Together, our data indicate that SmD3 contributes to the plant immune response possibly via regulation of mRNA splicing of key pathogenesis factors.

The Transcription Factor HcERF4 Confers Salt and Drought Tolerance in Kenaf (Hibiscus Cannabinus L.)

Ethylene response factors (ERF) are members of the APETALA2/ERF transcription factor family, and they play an important role in plant growth, development, and response to various environmental stresses. In the present study, an ERF transcription factor HcERF4 was isolated and characterized from kenaf. The protein encoded by the HcERF4 has 233 amino acid residues with a theoretical isoelectric point of 8.89 and a predicted molecular weight of 25.53 kDa. HcERF4 had an over than 86.97% identity to HsERF4(XP_039019980.1), and shared a closest phylogenetic relationship with Hibiscus syriacus. Subcellular localization analysis shows that HcERF4 is located in the nucleus. Transactivation assays in yeast demonstrated that HcERF4 functions as a transcriptional activator. The expression of HcERF4 was enriched in leaf and root, and can be induced by salt or drought treatments in kenaf. The VIGS-silenced HcERF4 plant showed significantly reduced plant height, stem diameter, fresh weight, and relative water content (RWC) compared with wild type plants under salt or drought stress condition; In addition, the contents of MDA, O2−, H2O2, and free proline is significantly increased, and the activities of SOD and CAT are significantly reduced. The DAB/NBT staining results showed that the H2O2 and O2− contents in HcERF4-silenced plants were consistent with the determination. Based on these results, it is proposed that HcERF4 plays an important role in regulating salt and drought stress in kenaf.