Innovating in less developed regions: What drives patenting in the lagging regions of Europe and North America

Not all economically disadvantaged—“less developed” or “lagging”—regions are the same. They are, however, often bundled together for the purposes of innovation policy design and implementation. This paper attempts to determine whether such bundling is warranted by conducting a regional level investigation for Canada, the United States, on the one hand, and Europe, on the other, to (a) identify the structural and socioeconomic factors that drive patenting in the less developed regions of North America and Europe, respectively; and (b) explore how these factors differ between the two contexts. The empirical analysis, estimated using a mixed‐model approach, reveals that, while there are similarities between the drivers of innovation in North America's and Europe's lagging regions, a number of important differences between the two continents prevail. The analysis also indicates that the territorial processes of innovation in North America's and Europe's less developed regions are more similar to those of their more developed counterparts than to one another.     

Backshoring and nearshoring: An overview

Increasingly, economies that have traditionally benefited from offshoring are losing some of their strategical advantages, with a consequent increase in backshoring by developed economies. This paper describes the phenomenon and tries to shed light on the current challenges, trends, and debates in the area, and on the main determinants of backshoring. A new phenomenon known as nearshoring is also analysed—this consists of relocating some previously offshored manufacturing activities so that they are now close to previous core locations, but not so close as to suffer from disagglomeration effects. This combines the advantages of offshoring and backshoring.     

Spatial–temporal evolution of the port–hinterland relationship: A case study of the Midstream Yangtze River,China

Most scientific attention on port studies centers on deep sea ports, especially container ports. In this paper, in contrast, attention is focused on the spatial–temporal development of inland waterway ports on the Midstream Yangtze River from 2001 to 2013. The aim of this study is to assess two relevant and complementary questions of the hinterland evolution: its geographical extent and the coordination relationship with the inland port. To conduct the study, it was necessary to first identify the boundaries of the ports' hinterlands within the given timeframe. Then, the coupling coordination degree model was introduced to explore the underlying relationship between the port service and hinterland economy. Furthermore, to better depict the intricate economic characteristics of the hinterland, the development stage theory was applied in the models. The results highlight the emergence of a discontinuous hinterland at Wuhan Port and its reinforcement of primacy with respect to fierce hinterland rivalry. It also demonstrates that an interplay between major ports and their corresponding hinterlands evolves from the transitional stage, characterized by lagging port service, to the multi‐stage, wherein the supply of ports partly outstrips hinterland demand.     

The role of ear environment in postharvest susceptibility of maize to toxigenic Aspergillus flavus

A kernel screening assay (KSA) was used to assess the genetic and environmental effects on the vulnerability of maize to aflatoxin accumulation. Kernels of 26 inbred lines that had been grown in seven environments, and 190 lines of the Intermated B73xMo17 (IBM) population grown in one location in the United States, were inoculated with a toxigenic strain of A. flavus and incubated in the dark at 30°C for 6 days. Percent kernel colonization (PKC), sporulation and aflatoxin were influenced by the maize genotypes (G), the location (“ear environment” or E) and the GxE interactions. Overall, low broad‐sense heritabilities were observed for PKC, sporulation and aflatoxin. PKC was significantly correlated with sporulation in all environments. Aflatoxin was positively correlated with colonization for two and with sporulation for all ear environments. Higher grain sulphur or magnesium in IBM was associated with less colonization or aflatoxin. Postharvest susceptibility of maize to aflatoxin is thus influenced by factors that are modulated by the ear environment. In a KSA, sporulation could be a proxy test for aflatoxin accumulation.     

Development of colchicine‐induced tetraploid St. Augustinegrass (Stenotaphrum secundatum) lines

St. Augustinegrass is well suited for lawns and commercial landscapes. While many genotypes are cross‐fertile, all cultivars are propagated vegetatively in sod production. To ensure varietal purity, development of sterile triploid hybrids by crossing tetraploid and diploid genotypes has been successfully used in other warm‐season turfgrasses. Applying this model in St. Augustinegrass would be beneficial to sod producers and turf managers who require purity for certification and uniformity for performance, respectively. This study was conducted to develop colchicine‐induced tetraploid lines of St. Augustinegrass. Seeds of cultivar ‘Raleigh’ were treated with four colchicine concentrations at four exposure times. A non‐treated control was included among the treatments. Seedlings that germinated were screened for genome size changes using flow cytometry. Line DSA 13005 and two progeny lines derived through selfing, DSA 16001 and DSA 16016, were corroborated as tetraploids (2n = 4x = 36) through chromosome counts. These lines will be used in future breeding efforts to attempt development of sterile triploid cultivars of St. Augustinegrass.     

工业级棉短绒清理回收工艺的改进

为降低棉短绒中的杂质含量，提高棉短绒的质量及收率，对棉短绒清理回收的生产工艺进行了改进，创新连续化多级除杂装备和短绒精细化分离工艺。棉籽清理除杂工艺中，增加了圆筛、棒条机，并且调整了风力清籽机组配置；短绒分离工艺中，增加了五联筛和新型棒条机。改进后的工艺能够提升对毛棉籽的除杂效果，彻底清理剥绒得到的棉短绒中的碎棉仁、棉壳及棉秆等杂质。此外，该工艺还能回收棉短绒下脚料，满足大型生产线的生产要求。     

EPS364, a Novel Deep-Sea Bacterial Exopolysaccharide,Inhibits Liver Cancer Cell Growth and Adhesion

The prognosis of liver cancer was inferior among tumors. New medicine treatments are urgently needed. In this study, a novel exopolysaccharide EPS364 was purified from Vibrio alginolyticus 364, which was isolated from a deep-sea cold seep of the South China Sea. Further research showed that EPS364 consisted of mannose, glucosamine, gluconic acid, galactosamine and arabinose with a molar ratio of 5:9:3.4:0.5:0.8. The relative molecular weight of EPS364 was 14.8 kDa. Our results further revealed that EPS364 was a β-linked and phosphorylated polysaccharide. Notably, EPS364 exhibited a significant antitumor activity, with inducing apoptosis, dissipation of the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in Huh7.5 liver cancer cells. Proteomic and quantitative real-time PCR analyses indicated that EPS364 inhibited cancer cell growth and adhesion via targeting the FGF19-FGFR4 signaling pathway. These findings suggest that EPS364 is a promising antitumor agent for pharmacotherapy.     

紫花槭秋季叶色表达转录组初步分析

为了丰富紫花槭转录组数据,进一步开展紫花槭秋季叶片呈色机制研究.本研究以紫花槭秋季转色期三个阶段(前期,中期,后期)叶片为材料,采用高通量测序技术进行转录组初步分析.转录组数据共获得50501条Unigene,有35316条Unigene在数据库中得到注释,其中NR数据库中注释到的Unigene数量最多,共35024条,占69.4％.在注释到的物种中,紫花槭比对的Unigene与甜橙(Citrus sinensis)相似度最高,共有4290条,占12.25％.紫花槭转录组中的Unigene根据GO功能可分为生物学过程、细胞组分和分子功能3大类,共有25375条,其中生物学过程的基因最多,主要聚集于代谢过程和细胞过程等.基于Unigene库的基因结构分析,其中SSR分析共获得12711个SSR标记,占Unigene总数的36％.SSR位点共包含150种重复基元,单碱基重复所占比例最高(7184个,61.86％),四碱基重复、五碱基重复和六碱基重复所占比例较低.Unigene库中共有328239个SNP位点,发生频率为1/190 bp,SNP位点分为转换和颠换两种类型的碱基替换方式,其中碱基转换位点213787个(65.13％),碱基颠换位点114452个(34.87％),碱基转换类型发生频率高于颠换类型.6种单碱基变异中,2种转换类型A/G、C/T的发生频率分别为33.03％和32.10％;4种颠换类型中A/T发生频率最高,为11.52％;C/G发生频率最低,为5.79％.紫花槭转录组秋季叶色表达的转录组分析,可为紫花槭叶色基因调控、定向分子育种和培育彩叶新品种提供研究提供基础的数据信息.     

狗头枣GSTU基因的克隆及其序列分析

为探索红枣GSTU类基因在红枣抗逆中的分子作用机制,本研究以狗头枣枣树叶片的DNA为模板,根据枣GSTU基因的序列(HM345954.1)设计引物,采用PCR方法获得GSTU基因序列,并利用生物信息学手段对其所对应蛋白的结构域、功能域、理化特性、跨膜区、二级结构及亚细胞定位等进行分析。结果表明:克隆到的DNA序列全长838 bp,具有2个外显子和1个内含子,内含子在292~460 bp碱基处,该序列与GenBank中枣的GSTU核苷酸序列和氨基酸序列的同源性分别为99.85%和100%,表明成功的克隆了狗头枣的GSTU基因。该序列编码222个氨基酸,分子量为25.268 kD,理论等电点(pI)为6.10;亲水性的平均数为-0.242,表明该蛋白是亲水性蛋白。二级结构主要以α-螺旋为主,其次是无规则卷曲,不存在信号肽,表明该蛋白可能为非分泌性蛋白,该蛋白可能位于内质网(膜)和质膜上。本研究获得的狗头枣GSTU基因在基因结构上含有1个内含子,在核酸序列及氨基酸序列上与GenBank中枣的GSTU基因同源性高,并对其理化性质、结构等进行了预测与分析,为进一步研究红枣抗逆分子机制提供理论基础,同时为红枣品种的选育提供理论支持。