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Introduction: Microorganisms exhibit intricate interconnections with tea plants; however, despite the well-established role of microorganisms in crop growth and development, research on microbes within the tea plant remains insufficient, particularly regarding endophytic microorganisms. Methods: In this study, we collected samples of leaves and rhizosphere soils from 'Zhuyeqi', 'Baojing Huangjincha#1', 'Baiye#1', and 'Jinxuan' varieties planted. Results: Our analyses revealed significant variations in tea polyphenol contents among tea varieties, particularly with the 'Zhuyeqi' variety exhibiting higher levels of tea polyphenols (>20% contents). Microbiome studies have revealed that endophytic microbial community in tea plants exhibited higher host specificity compared to rhizospheric microbial community. Analyses of across-ecological niches of the microbial community associated with tea plants revealed that soil bacteria serve as a significant reservoir for endophytic bacteria in tea plants, Bacillus may play a crucial role in shaping the bacterial community across-ecological niche within the tea plants with higher tea polyphenol levels. In the aforementioned analyses, the microbial community of 'Zhuyeqi' exhibited a higher degree of host specificity for leaf endophytic microorganisms, the topological structure of the co-occurrence network is also more intricate, harboring a greater number of potential core microorganisms within its nodes. A closer examination was conducted on the microbial community of 'Zhuyeqi', further analyses of its endophytic bacteria indicated that its endophytic microbial community harbored a greater abundance of biomarkers, particularly among bacteria, and the enriched Methylobacterium and Sphingomonas in 'Zhuyeqi' may play distinct roles in disease resistance and drought resilience in tea plants. Conclusion: In summary, this study has shed light on the intricate relationships of tea plant varieties with their associated microbial communities, unveiling the importance of microorganisms and tea varieties with higher tea polyphenols, and offering valuable insights to the study of microorganisms and tea plants.

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Capsaicinoids are produced uniquely in pepper fruits, and its level determines the commercial quality and health-promoting properties of pepper. So, it is particularly important to increase capsaicinoids content in pepper. Rhizosphere microbiota is critical to plant growth and performance, and affected by plant varieties. However, the impact of pepper varieties with different capsaicinoids yields on the rhizosphere microbiota is poorly understood. Using high-throughput sequencing of the 16S rRNA and internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, we investigated the rhizosphere microbial community among five pepper varieties containing different capsaicinoids. Our results demonstrated that pepper variety significantly influenced the diversity and structure of rhizosphere microbial community. Bacterial diversity in varieties with high capsaicinoids content was significantly higher than in varieties with low capsaicinoids content, while fungal diversity was opposite to bacterial diversity. The correlation analysis revealed that 19 dominant bacterial genera (e.g., Chujaibacter, Rhodanobacter, and Gemmatimonas) were significantly correlated with capsaicinoids content, and nine of them were also significantly associated with soil nutrients, whereas only one fungal genus (Podospora) was significantly correlated with capsaicinoids content. Additionally, almost all genera which significantly correlated to capsaicinoids content were biomarkers of the five pepper varieties and the correlation was well corresponding to the capsaicinoids content. Overall, our results confirmed that the variety of pepper significantly affected the rhizosphere microbial community in the fields, and bacteria and fungi responded differently to capsaicinoids, which may affect the biosynthesis of capsaicinoids and contribute to further improvement of capsaicinoids production in pepper fruits.

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Potherb mustard (Brassica juncea var. multiceps) is one of the most commonly consumed leafy vegetable mustards, either fresh or in pickled form. It is rich in glucosinolates, whose hydrolyzed products confer potherb mustard's distinctive flavor and chemopreventive properties. In this study, the composition and content of glucosinolates, as well as the hydrolysis pattern of sinigrin were investigated in potherb mustard leaves of different varieties. Variations in the glucosinolate profile and accumulation were observed among the potherb mustard varieties studied, with sinigrin being the predominant one in all varieties, accounting for 81.55% to 97.27%. Sinigrin tended to be hydrolyzed to isothiocyanate (ITC) rather than epithionitrile (EPN) in potherb mustard, while 3-butenyl nitrile (SIN-NIT) could be hardly detected. Transcriptome analysis revealed a higher expression level of numerous genes involved in aliphatic glucosinolate biosynthesis in X11 compared to X57, corresponding to the higher aliphatic glucosinolate accumulation in X11 (91.07 µmol/g) and lower level in X57 (25.38 µmol/g). ESM1 is known to repress nitrile formation and favor isothiocyanate production during glucosinolate hydrolysis. In this study, all four ESM1s showed a higher expression level in X11 compared to X57, which may determine the hydrolysis pattern of sinigrin in potherb mustard. Altogether, our findings shed light on the glucosinolate metabolic pattern in potherb mustard, which will also facilitate the engineering of metabolic pathways at key checkpoints to enhance bioactive compounds for tailored flavor or pharmaceutical needs.

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Some special manufacturing fields such as aerospace may encounter mixed production of multiple research and development projects and multiple batch production projects. Under these special production conditions resource conflicts are more severe, resulting in uncertain operating times that are difficult to predict. In addition, a single project may have tens of thousands of supporting products, making it difficult to effectively control the total construction process. To address these challenges this paper proposes new methods. A model, EMA-DCPM (dynamic critical path method) incorporating attention mechanisms in Enterprise Resource Planning and Mechanical Engineering Society) has been proposed. This model predicts product job time through machine learning methods and discovers the predictive advantage of the attention mechanism through data comparison. The CPM control algorithm was improved to enhance its robustness and an efficient modeling method, "5+X" was proposed. This new method is suitable for mixed line planning management in sophisticated manufacturing projects and has value for practical applications.

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Empirical evidence proves that agricultural research and development expenditure, and researchers attract high returns though the investments have long gestation periods. Nonetheless, Sub-Saharan Africa invests meagerly in agricultural research and development, and researchers. This study explores the impacts of agricultural research and development expenditures, and researchers on food security in the region and across the sub-regions. The study applies Bootstrapped linear squared dummy variable due to its capacity to handle heterogeneity and missing observations and two-step system generalized method of moments techniques to analyze the data on 24 sub-Saharan African countries over the period 2000-2016. Data on measures of food security, food production per capita, and food price index are obtained from Food and Agriculture Organization stat, data on population growth is sourced from World Development Indicators, and data on investments in agricultural innovations are extracted from International Food Policy Research Institute. Our findings show that investments in agricultural innovation substantially increase food security through food productivity growth. The full-time equivalent of agricultural researchers' hours is more impactful on food security than agricultural research and development spending. The findings also reveal that the investments are more effective in enhancing food security in Eastern, Southern, and Western African sub-regions while they instead exacerbate the problem of food insecurity in Central Africa. The policy implications are that adequate resources should be channeled into proper agricultural research and development to introduce new crop varieties or significantly improved crops, etc. Moreover, there should be coordination between large and small countries in investments in order for the countries to benefit from the economies of scale.

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Despite a range of methods used to promote modern agriculture with several outcomes, food quality and availability problems remain. This work aims to evaluate the effect of AM fungi inoculation on the growth, yield, nutritional, and antinutritional properties of 7 varieties of cassava. Growth characteristics, yields, rentability, nutritional, and antinutritional of tubers of each treatment were determined at harvest. All the cassava varieties used form a symbiosis with AM fungi at various frequencies, with the I090590 variety being the best (61.66 %). The best amount of chlorophyll, carotenoid, and height of plants were recorded at 9 months old. The 96/1414, TME/693 and MD varieties respectively show the best amount of chlorophyll, size, and carotenoids at 9 months old. Following AM fungi inoculation, an increase in the content of chlorophyll, size, and carotenoids was recorded for all the varieties with the best rate attributed respectively to 92/0326, MD, and 92/0326. Tuber yields vary significantly depending on the cassava varieties, with the best (56.16 t/ha) recorded for the I090590 variety. Following inoculation with AM fungi, a significant increase in yields was recorded, with the best ratio (2.7) obtained with the AE variety. The I090590 variety shows the best yield and by then the most profitable. Inoculation with AM fungi leads to a significant increase in the sugar, protein, fibre, and phosphorus content of all cassava varieties, with the best ratios obtained in 96/1414, 01/1797, and I090590 varieties respectively. Similarly, the inoculation of cassava varieties with AM fungi leads to a significant reduction in the content of cyanides, oxalates, and phytates. The best ratio of reduction for cyanide was 1.91 for the MD variety. AM fungi inoculation is an important way to ensure safe, exponential production and high economic profitability of foodstuffs.

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Brassinosteroids (BRs) are an essential group of plant hormones regulating numerous aspects of plant growth, development, and stress responses. BRI1, along with its co-receptor BAK1, are involved in brassinosteroid sensing and early events in the BR signal transduction cascade. Mutational analysis of a particular gene is a powerful strategy for investigating its biochemical role. Molecular genetic studies, predominantly in Arabidopsis thaliana, but progressively in numerous other plants, have identified many mutants of the BRI1 gene and its orthologs to gain insight into its structure and function. So far, the plant kingdom has identified up to 40 bri1 alleles in Arabidopsis and up to 30 bri1 orthologs in different plants. These alleles exhibit phenotypes that are identical in terms of development and growth. Here, we have summarized bri1 alleles in Arabidopsis and its orthologs present in various plants including monocots and dicots. We have discussed the possible mechanism responsible for the specific allele. Finally, we have briefly debated the importance of these alleles in the research field and the agronomically valuable traits they offer to improve plant varieties.

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AIMS: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can perform significant functions within sustainable agricultural ecosystems, including vineyards. Increased AMF diversity can be beneficial in promoting plant growth and increasing resilience to environmental changes. To effectively utilize AMF communities and their benefits in vineyard ecosystems, a better understanding of how management systems influence AMF community composition is needed. Moreover, it is unknown whether AMF communities in organically managed vineyards are distinct from those in conventionally managed vineyards. METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study, vineyards were surveyed across the Marlborough region, New Zealand to identify the AMF communities colonizing the roots of different rootstocks grafted with Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir in both conventional and organic systems. The AMF communities were identified based on spores isolated from trap cultures established with the collected grapevine roots, and by next-generation sequencing technologies (Illumina MiSeq). The identified AMF species/genera belonged to Glomeraceae, Entrophosporaceae, and Diversisporaceae. The results revealed a significant difference in AMF community composition between rootstocks and in their interaction with management systems. CONCLUSIONS: These outcomes indicated that vineyard management systems influence AMF recruitment by rootstocks and some rootstocks may therefore be more suited to organic systems due to the AMF communities they support. This could provide an increased benefit to organic systems by supporting higher biodiversity.

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Flavonoids play an important role in forming wine grapes and wine quality characteristics. The flavonoids of three winter red wine grapes, Yeniang No. 2 (YN2), Marselan (Mar), and Guipu No. 6 (GP6), were analyzed by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UPLC-QQQ-MS). Furthermore, the flavonoids in GP6 grapevines using two types of training systems, namely, trellis (T) and espaliers (E), were also compared in this study. Overall, 196 flavonoid metabolites, including 96 flavones, 38 flavonols, 19 flavanones, 18 polyphenols, 15 anthocyanins, 7 isoflavones, and 3 proanthocyanidins, were identified. The flavonoid profiles were remarkably different among these three grape varieties, while they did not change much in the GP6 managed on trellis and espaliers. Grape varieties with different genetic backgrounds have their own unique flavonoid profiles. Compared with Mar-T, isoflavones and flavonols presented higher contents in GP6-T and YN2-T, which mainly contain glycitein, genistin, calycosin, kaempferide, isotrifoliin, and ayanin. The anthocyanin content was significantly higher in YN2-T than in the other two varieties. YN2 and GP6-T present a more stable color, with significantly more acetylated diglucosides and methylated anthocyanins in YN2-T and GP6-T than in Mar-T. Notably, GP6 had more varied flavonoids and the better characteristics to its flavonoid profile out of these three varieties, due to it containing a higher number of anthocyanins, flavone, and flavonols and the greatest number of different flavonoid metabolites (DFMs), with higher contents than YN2 and Mar. Compared with the trellis training system, the espaliers training system increased the content of flavonoids detected in GP6 grape berries; however, the composition of flavonoids strictly depends on the grape variety.

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A perennial leguminous forage, Medicago ruthenica has outstanding tolerance to abiotic stresses. The genome of Medicago ruthenica is large and has a complex genetic background, making it challenging to accurately determine genetic information. However, the chloroplast genome is widely used for researching issues related to evolution, genetic diversity, and other studies. To better understand its chloroplast characteristics and adaptive evolution, chloroplast genomes of 61 Medicago ruthenica were assembled (including 16 cultivated Medicago ruthenica germplasm and 45 wild Medicago ruthenica germplasm). These were used to construct the pan-chloroplast genome of Medicago ruthenica, and the chloroplast genomes of cultivated and wild Medicago ruthenica were compared and analyzed. Phylogenetic and haplotype analyses revealed two main clades of 61 Medicago ruthenica germplasm chloroplast genomes, distributed in eastern and western regions. Meanwhile, based on chloroplast variation information, 61 Medicago ruthenica germplasm can be divided into three genetic groups. Unlike the phylogenetic tree constructed from the chloroplast genome, a new intermediate group has been identified, mainly consisting of samples from the eastern region of Inner Mongolia, Shanxi Province, and Hebei Province. Transcriptomic analysis showed that 29 genes were upregulated and three genes were downregulated. The analysis of these genes mainly focuses on enhancing plant resilience and adapting adversity by stabilizing the photosystem structure and promoting protein synthesis. Additionally, in the analysis of adaptive evolution, the accD, clpP and ycf1 genes showed higher average Ka/Ks ratios and exhibited significant nucleotide diversity, indicating that these genes are strongly positively selected. The editing efficiency of the ycf1 and clpP genes significantly increases under abiotic stress, which may positively contribute to plant adaptation to the environment. In conclusion, the construction and comparative analysis of the complete chloroplast genomes of 61 Medicago ruthenica germplasm from different regions not only revealed new insights into the genetic variation and phylogenetic relationships of Medicago ruthenica germplasm, but also highlighted the importance of chloroplast transcriptome analysis in elucidating the model of chloroplast responses to abiotic stress. These provide valuable information for further research on the adaptive evolution of Medicago ruthenica.

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Light-flavor Baijiu (LFB) fermentation is a representative spontaneous mixed-culture solid-state fermentation process in which sorghum is used as the raw material. Raw materials and microorganisms are crucial to the flavor formation and quality of LFB. However, the microbial and physicochemical dynamics of different sorghum varieties during LFB fermentation, as well as their impact on flavor compounds are still largely unknown. Herein, PacBio single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing and headspace solid-phase microextraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) were applied to investigate microbial community succession and volatile flavor formation in glutinous/non-glutinous sorghum-based fermented grains during LFB fermentation. Fermented grains made of glutinous sorghum Liangnuo No. 1 (GLN) had higher bacterial α-diversity and lower fungal α-diversity than those with fermented grains prepared with non-glutinous red sorghum (NRS) (p < 0.05). The dominant microbial species were Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Acetobacter pasteurinus, and Lactobacillus helveticus, the latter two of which were the predominant bacteria observed at the end of fermentation in GLN and NRS, respectively. Moisture content and reducing sugar had a more significant impact on the microorganisms in GLN, while amino acid nitrogen, total free amino acids, and residual starch were the main driving factors driving the microbial community in NRS. The correlation network and discriminant analysis indicated that a relatively high content of 4-vinylguaiacol showed a significant positive association with significant differential microbial species in GLN. These results provided valuable insights for improving the quality of LFB.

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Potato is a crucial food and cash crop with high yield potential in many parts of the Bajhang district. However, achieving optimal yields can be hindered by inconsistent NPK fertilizer application rates and suboptimal potato variety selection, including instances where no fertilizers are used at all by the farmers. To address these challenges and determine the most effective NPK fertilizer rates and potato varieties, a field experiment was conducted in Surma rural municipality of Bajhang district. The experiment utilized a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications, to evaluate the effects of four NPK fertilizer rates (0:0:0, 50:50:50, 100:100:60, and 150:150:90 kg NPK/ha) and three potato varieties (Khumal Seto, Cardinal, and Bajhang Local), on growth, yield, and economic profitability. Statistical analysis, including analysis of variance and Duncan's multiple range test (DMRT), indicated that the highest values for plant height, canopy diameter, number of leaves, number of main stems, tuber weight, fresh weight of leaves and stems, average tuber diameter and number of marketable tubers per hill were consistently observed higher in either the Khumal Seto or Bajhang Local potato varieties. Similarly, these results were particularly prominent with the application of 150:150:90 kg NPK/ha. Economic analysis demonstrated that the Khumal Seto variety showed superior performance in terms of gross benefit, net benefit, and benefit-to-cost ratio (NPR 1,805,714.29, NPR 1,306,168.83, and 3.61, respectively) when compared to other varieties. Similarly, the application of 150:150:90 kg NPK/ha resulted in higher economic returns (NPR 1,645,714.29, NPR 1,129,908.83, and 3.19). In conclusion, using higher levels of mineral fertilizers (150:150:90 kg NPK/ha) with high yielding and well adapted potato varieties such as Khumal Seto and Bajhang Local significantly enhances growth, yield, and profitability in potato cultivation, as demonstrated by the findings of this study.

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Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) is a pseudocereal originally grown in the Andean region of South America. This study focused on investigating the changes in phenolic profile and antioxidant capacity in white and red quinoa varieties after short-term fermentation with Lactiplantibacillus plantarum 299v®. During fermentation, pH and lactic acid formation were monitored every three hours until pH was below 4.6. The quinoa phenolic profile was quantified via LC-UV-MS. Total polyphenol content (TPC) and total antioxidant capacity (DPPH and FRAP) were determined via spectrophotometric methods. The findings showed that fermentation resulted in a significant increase (p < 0.001) in TPC from 4.68 to 7.78 mgGAE·100 g-1 for the white quinoa and from 5.04 to 8.06 mgGAE·100 g-1 for the red quinoa variety. Gallic acid was the most abundant phenolic acid detected in unfermented quinoa samples (averaging 229.5 µg·g-1). Fermented white quinoa showed an 18-fold increase in epicatechin, while catechin was found only in fermented red quinoa (59.19 µg·g-1). Fermentation showed a significantly positive impact on the iron-reducing antioxidant capacity (FRAP) of quinoa (p < 0.05). Red quinoa had a higher FRAP antioxidant capacity than the white variety; a similar trend was observed with the DPPH assay. There was a significant correlation (r > 0.9, p < 0.05) between TPC and antioxidant capacity. In conclusion, short-time lactic fermentation effectively increased phenolic content and antioxidant capacity in both quinoa varieties. Overall, red quinoa showed higher polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity compared to the white variety.

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Previous studies have indicated that there may be differences among the varieties of lemon flavonoids, but the details have not yet been made clear, which limits the comprehensive use of different cultivated lemon varieties. In this study, ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight-mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis) were used to investigate the types and contents of flavonoids in the flesh of the main cultivated variety (Eureka) and five common lemon varieties, as well as their in vitro antioxidant activity. A total of 21 compounds were identified, five of which were common compounds. Among them, Verna, Lisbon, and Bearss each have characteristic components that can serve as potential criteria for variety identification. Each of the six varieties of lemon has strong antioxidant activity. The antioxidant activity of different lemon varieties is related to flavonoids. Therefore, Eureka and the other five varieties of lemon are good natural antioxidants, and the cultivation and industrial production of lemons should consider the needs and selection of suitable varieties.

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Agricultural extension is recognized as an important pathway for generating changes in individual farmers' practices and therefore broader patterns of production. In the United States, historical research has implicated extension work in transformations that privileged White farmers and wealthier operations over other producers and that fostered the industrialization and consolidation of farms. This article examines the work of one early 20th-century extension agent and the demonstrations he used to teach farmers how to choose and keep corn seeds and to identify the best performing corn varieties for a particular location. This history can inform contemporary efforts to develop more socially and ecologically aware approaches to agricultural research, extension, and production by emphasizing the need for measures of success that align with community-level objectives and for larger institutional structures that support and sustain such goals. Summary: The article examines the histories of agricultural extension and crop development in the early 20th-century United States. It discusses the role of farm demonstrations, including the participation of farmer-breeders, in the development of spread of higher yielding corn varieties in the Midwestern states in the 1910s and 1920s. It highlights the emphasis placed on finding locally or regionally appropriate varieties in some early corn extension activities and dwells on the irony that these locally specific endeavors played a role in the development of universalized solutions.The article examines and contextualizes an unusual archival document as an entry point into these histories: The Cornbelt's Last Open Pollinated Corn, a two-volume work prepared by Martin Luther Mosher (1882-1982). Mosher was the first county agricultural extension agent in the state of Iowa and worked in extension until his retirement in 1950.The article makes three main observations: (1) The Cornbelt's Last Open Pollinated Corn is best read as an agricultural demonstration; (2) The Cornbelt's Last Open Pollinated Corn is Mosher's attempt to grapple with the material legacies of his extension work in relation to the different agricultural life he idealized; and (3) Mosher's work exemplifies the complex relationships and expectations seen among breeders, seed companies, extension agents, and farmers in the early 20th-century United States.The article concludes that Mosher's work with open-pollinated corn varieties offers insight into the importance of agricultural extension as a means of crop development and highlights the contingent nature of agricultural industrialization.

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The sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) is subject to the progressive disappearance of its traditional chestnut groves. In the northern part of Italy, where distribution of the sweet chestnut is fragmented, many local varieties continue to be identified mostly by oral tradition. We characterised by SSRs eleven historically recognised varieties of sweet chestnut in the area surrounding Lake Como, with the goal of giving a genetic basis to the traditional classification. We performed classical analysis about differentiation and used Bayesian approaches to detect population structure and to reconstruct demography. The results revealed that historical and genetic classifications are loosely linked when chestnut fruits are just "castagne", that is, normal fruits, but increasingly overlap where "marroni" (the most prized fruits) are concerned. Bayesian classification allowed us to identify a homogeneous gene cluster not recognised in the traditional assessment of the varieties and to reconstruct possible routes used for the propagation of sweet chestnut. We also reconstructed ancestral relationships between the different gene pools involved and dated ancestral lineages whose results fit with palynological data. We suggest that conservation strategies based on a genetic evaluation of the resource should also rely on traditional cultural heritage, which could reveal new sources of germplasm.

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BACKGROUND: Drug shortage is a worldwide problem that seriously threatens public health. China released the most comprehensive list of key drug shortage monitoring varieties ever in 2022. We aim to analyze the attributes and characteristics of the medicines within the list to provide a reference for improving China's supply security of shortage drugs. METHODS: We used public data to extract information on drug types, dosage forms, indications, classification of clinical uses, whether they were included in medical catalogs such as the National Essential Drugs, and the number of drug and active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturers. A descriptive statistical analysis was used. RESULTS: Of the 980 drugs on the list, 99.59% were chemicals and 92.65% were injectables. Drugs for blood and hematopoietic organs, the cardiovascular system, and the digestive tract and metabolism ranked among the top three shortages. Verification of the medical catalogs showed that 90.41% of the drugs belonged to the national essential drugs, 95.10% were medicare drugs, 2.55% were volume-based procurement drugs, and 14.70% were for rare diseases, and 42.04% were for children. In terms of drug supply capacity, 21.33% of drug approvals are less than 10, and there were even 26 drugs for exclusive production, close to 90% of manufacturers need to purchase APIs from outside. Among the 256 APIs included in the list, 152 APIs had less than 10 manufacturers, and there were even 5 APIs produced by only one enterprise nationwide. CONCLUSIONS: The situation of drug shortages in China was severe and complex, with serious shortages of medicines adapted to basic medical and healthcare needs and clinically necessary medicines, and a need to improve the production capacity of drugs and the ability to supply APIs. We recommend strengthening drug monitoring and stockpiling and accelerating the approval of shortage drugs to improve drug supply security.

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Taro and macabo are plants with high food, medicinal and economic value, but are under-utilized in Benin. The aim of this study was to identify local varieties of taro and macabo grown in Benin, with their vernacular names, farmers' recognition criteria and distribution. Data were collected between May 2021 and May 2023, through interviews using semi-structured questionnaires. The sample surveyed consisted of 349 taro/macabo producers, distributed in 40 villages belonging to 9 departments. The variables collected concerned producers' socio-demographic characteristics, local appellations, farmers' recognition criteria and the distribution of local varieties of the two species, and were processed by calculating relative citation frequencies and establishing a generalized linear model in R software. In addition, QGIS software was used to represent the distribution of the varieties surveyed. A total of 42 local appellations have been registered to designate all local varieties. Ten local varieties, including six of C. esculenta (V1 to V6) and four of X. sagittifolium (V7 to V10), were identified on the basis of seven (07) farmers' criteria, the main ones being tuber color (41.88 %) and leaf blade color (23.30 %). Local varieties V1, V3, V4 and V5 were the most widespread for C. esculenta, while varieties V7 and V9 were the most widely distributed from the south to the north of the country for X. sagittifolium. The socio-demographic parameters such as age category, occupation and ethnic groups tested had a significant influence (p < 0.05) on the number of local varieties held by growers. Agro-morphological characterization will provide data for the selection of elite varieties.

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The celebrated BKK Theorem expresses the number of roots of a system of generic Laurent polynomials in terms of the mixed volume of the corresponding system of Newton polytopes. In Pukhlikov and Khovanskii (Algebra i Analiz 4(4):188-216, 1992), Pukhlikov and the second author noticed that the cohomology ring of smooth projective toric varieties over C can be computed via the BKK Theorem. This complemented the known descriptions of the cohomology ring of toric varieties, like the one in terms of Stanley-Reisner algebras. In Sankaran and Uma (Comment Math Helv 78(3):540-554, 2003), Sankaran and Uma generalized the "Stanley-Reisner description" to the case of toric bundles, i.e., equivariant compactifications of (not necessarily algebraic) torus principal bundles. We provide a description of the cohomology ring of toric bundles which is based on a generalization of the BKK Theorem, and thus extends the approach by Pukhlikov and the second author. Indeed, for every cohomology class of the base of the toric bundle, we obtain a BKK-type theorem. Furthermore, our proof relies on a description of graded-commutative algebras which satisfy Poincaré duality. From this computation of the cohomology ring of toric bundles, we obtain a description of the ring of conditions of horospherical homogeneous spaces as well as a version of Brion-Kazarnovskii theorem for them. We conclude the manuscript with a number of examples. In particular, we apply our results to toric bundles over a full flag variety G/B. The description that we get generalizes the corresponding description of the cohomology ring of toric varieties as well as the one of full flag varieties G/B previously obtained by Kaveh (J Lie Theory 21(2):263-283, 2011).

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Cadmium (Cd), which accumulates in tobacco leaves, enters the human body through inhalation of smoke, causing harmful effects on health. Therefore, identifying the pivotal factors that govern the absorption and resistance of Cd in tobacco is crucial for mitigating the harmful impact of Cd. In the present study, four different Cd-sensitive varieties, namely, ZhongChuan208 (ZC) with resistance, ZhongYan100 (ZY), K326 with moderate resistance, and YunYan87 (YY) with sensitivity, were cultivated in hydroponic with different Cd concentrations (20 µM, 40 µM, 60 µM and 80 µM). The results indicated that plant growth was significantly decreased by Cd. Irrespective of the Cd concentration, ZC exhibited the highest biomass, while YY had the lowest biomass; ZY and K326 showed intermediate levels. Enzymatic (APX, CAT, POD) and nonenzymatic antioxidant (Pro, GSH) systems showed notable variations among varieties. The multifactor analysis suggested that the ZC and ZY varieties, with higher levels of Pro and GSH content, contribute to a decrease in the levels of MDA and ROS. Among all the Cd concentrations, ZC exhibited the lowest Cd accumulation, while YY showed the highest. Additionally, there were significant differences observed in Cd distribution and translocation factors among the four different varieties. In terms of Cd distribution, cell wall Cd accounted for the highest proportion of total Cd, and organelles had the lowest proportion. Among the varieties, ZC showed lower Cd levels in the cell wall, soluble fraction, and organelles. Conversely, YY exhibited the highest Cd accumulation in all tissues; K326 and ZY had intermediate levels. Translocation factors (TF) varied among the varieties under Cd stress, with ZC and ZY showing lower TF compared to YY and K326. This phenomenon mainly attributed to regulation of the NtNramp3 and NtNramp5 genes, which are responsible for the absorption and transport of Cd. This study provides a theoretical foundation for the selection and breeding of tobacco varieties that are resistant to or accumulate less Cd.

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