No abstract

Diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) is an enzyme that plays a pivotal role in abiotic and biotic stress responses in plants by transforming the diacylglycerol into phosphatidic acid. However, there is no report on the characterization of soybean DGK genes in spite of the availability of the soybean genome sequence. In this study, we performed genome-wide analysis and expression profiling of the DGK gene family in the soybean genome. We identified 12 DGK genes (namely GmDGK1-12) which all contained conserved catalytic domains with protein lengths and molecular weights ranging from 436 to 727 amino acids (aa) and 48.62 to 80.93 kDa, respectively. Phylogenetic analyses grouped GmDGK genes into three clusters—cluster I, cluster II, and cluster III—which had three, four, and five genes, respectively. The qRT-PCR analysis revealed significant GmDGK gene expression levels in both leaves and roots coping with polyethylene glycol (PEG), salt, alkali, and salt/alkali treatments. This work provides the first characterization of the DGK gene family in soybean and suggests their importance in soybean response to abiotic stress. These results can serve as a guide for future studies on the understanding and functional characterization of this gene family.

Cold recycled mixes using asphalt emulsion (CRME) is an economical and environmentally-friendly technology for asphalt pavement maintenance and rehabilitation. In order to determine the optimum range of cement contents, the complex interaction between cement and asphalt emulsion and the effects of cement on performance of CRME were investigated with different contents of cement. The microstructure and chemical composition of the fracture surface of CRME with different contents of cement were analyzed in this paper as well. Results show that the high-temperature stability and moisture susceptibility of CRME increased with the contents of cement increasing. The low-temperature crack resistance ability gradually increased when the content of cement is increased from 0% to 1.5%. However, it gradually decreased when the content of cement is increased from 1.5% to 4%. Cold recycled mixes had better low-temperature cracking resistance when the contents of cement were in the range from 1% to 2%. The results of microstructure and energy spectrum analysis show that the composite structure is formed by hydration products and asphalt emulsion. The study will be significant to better know the effects of cement and promote the development of CRME.

No abstract

The climate regionalization of asphalt pavement plays an active role in ensuring the good performance and service life of asphalt pavement. In order to better adapt to the climate characteristics of a region, this study developed a multi-index method of climate regionalization of asphalt pavement. First, meteorological data from the research region were statistically analyzed and the major climate variables were identified. Then, a principal component analysis (PCA) was used to eliminate any correlation between the major climate variables. Three principal components were extracted by the PCA as cluster factors, namely, the temperature factor, precipitation factor, and radiation factor. The research region was divided into the following four asphalt pavement climate zones via the K-means clustering algorithm. Those zones are affected by the climate comprehensively: an inland zone with high temperatures, little rainfall, and radiation, a coastal zone with high temperatures, and a rainy mountainous zone. The results of the climate regionalization were compared with the results of on-site investigations. The pavement degradation in each climatic zone was related to the climate characteristics of the region. Probabilistic neural network (PNN) and support vector machine (SVM) climate regionalization predictive models were established with MATLAB. The clustering factors were used as the input data to identify the climate zones, and the identification accuracy rate was determined to be over 90%. The climate regionalization of pavement can provide reference and guidance for the selection of reasonable technical measures, parameters, and building materials in highway projects with similar climatic conditions.