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 Small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) have played a significant role in the growth and advancement of the Chinese agriculture sector. However, these enterprises often face challenges in navigating local distribution networks, complying with regulations, and procuring local consumer products, which can hinder the marketing environment and impede economic growth. To address these issues and promote continuous business development, Chinese agriculture enterprises require effective modeling techniques that facilitate transformation to meet evolving requirements. This study proposes a game-theoretic approach, specifically the Mixed Strategy Game-Theoretic Approach (MSGTA), as a decision-making tool for enterprises facing pre-emptive changes. By analyzing oligopoly firm behavior, the MSGTA approach identifies enterprise outcomes, cooperation patterns, and price-fixing strategies, providing decision-making options and incentives within the enterprise structure. The MSGTA approach assists SMEs in the Chinese agriculture market by systematically analyzing product development stages and ensuring the effective adoption of pre-emptive changes. The efficiency of SMEs implementing the MSGTA approach is evaluated by examining statistical relationships between enterprise growth and requirements. By integrating effective modeling techniques, Chinese agriculture SMEs can adapt to changes proactively, enhance their ability to navigate local distribution networks, comply with regulations, and procure local consumer products more effectively, thereby improving the marketing environment and fostering economic growth.
 

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To investigate the effects of regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) on the growth, yield and quality of ‘Yali’ pears, field experiments for C (fully watered control), EW [early withholding of irrigation, water stress from pullulation to 25 days after flower bloom (DAFB)], MW (mid-growth withholding of irrigation, water stress from 25 DAFB to 80 DAFB), and LW (late withholding of irrigation, water stress from 120 DAFB to 150 DAFB) were conducted in Handan county, North China, during the 2007 and 2008 seasons. The results showed that leaf relative water content (LRWC) was dramatically reduced during water stress. Water stress reduced shoot growth by 9.6%-18.8%, and the need for summer pruning was marginally decreased. No significant difference was seen in mean fresh fruit weight or yield at harvest for the EW, LW and C treatments. Water consumption during RDI was significantly less than the C treatment. Withholding of irrigation at LW not only led to increases in fruit TSS (total soluble solids), soluble sugars and dry matter content but also resulted in an increase in water use efficiency (WUE). Withholding of irrigation at LW and EW can be used in pear production to save irrigation water without adverse effects on the quality of fruits. RDI is a beneficial agricultural practice for the production of pear fruits if it is adopted one month before harvest, and from pullulation to 25 DAFB.

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 This study focused on capturing the research landscape of past studies related to the effects of electronic books on young children’s reading development from 1999 to 2022 through a bibliometric analysis. All 99 included bibliographic data were extracted from the Scopus database. The findings show an increasing trend in publications and citations over the last twenty years. The publications were distributed over six continents, namely North America, South America, Europe, Oceania, Africa, and Asia. The United States was the most productive country with the highest number of publications, h-index, and g-index. The foci of the research are (i) the important role digital device plays in children’s book reading; (ii) strategies taken by families and teachers to support the emergent literacy skills based on e-book; (iii) cognition and language skills domains in e-book reading among preschoolers. The findings of this study help researchers to understand the current landscape of research on e-book reading among preschoolers and provide guidelines for researchers to understand the core issues.
 

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Since 2010, deep learning has been further developed, and the concept of multi-modality has penetrated into all walks of life. However, it has not been fully researched and applied in college English teaching, so this study modeled and practiced the multimodal teaching method of college English under the deep learning mode and its application. The definitions of modality and medium are first introduced, and then the definition of multimodality in this study is clarified. Then the classification of multimodal transport is expounded. The random forest algorithm is chosen as the main algorithm of this research, and a dynamic multimodal model is established. After that, there was a collaboration with a university and sophomore students were selected for practice. After processing and analyzing the collected data, it was found that in the data sample of 268 students, the number of students who did not study independently accounted for 24%, which indicates that most college students lack interest in learning English. Preliminary tests were also conducted on students' English proficiency throughout the year, and the results showed that the students' English proficiency was at a pass level and the overall English proficiency was weak. Reassessment of students' English proficiency showed that the actual teaching effect of each English proficiency was greater than 85%, and the effectiveness of English teaching in the selected universities was significantly improved. The average score improved by 8 points, indicating that multimodal teaching is scientifically effective
After a semester of multimodal teaching, the English teaching effectiveness of the university selected in this article has significantly improved. The research results indicate that the development of deep computer learning has introduced multimodal concepts into the teaching field, which is very suitable for assisting language learning based on its own advantages.
After a semester of multimodal teaching, the English teaching effectiveness of the university selected in this article has significantly improved. The research results indicate that the development of deep computer learning has introduced multimodal concepts into the teaching field, which is very suitable for assisting language learning based on its own advantages.

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In this research, a novel formulation of sponge cake was studied. Instant Tea Powder (ITP) with high ester-catechins content was used to replace 0, 7.5, 12.5, and 17.5% of flour to make sponge cakes, hereafter referred to as the control, ITP1, ITP2, and ITP3, respectively. The microbiological analysis and lipid oxidation experiments were conducted and the odor, flavor, color, chewiness, and overall acceptability of different samples were assessed by sensory evaluation. There was significant difference between ITP2 and the control in hedonic sensory evaluation results, whereas, ITP3 was rated lowest in sensory evaluation results. The results also showed the sponge cakes with ITP had good antimicrobial and antioxidant activity compared with the control, and the shelf life of ITP-treated cakes could be extended as a consequence.

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Distribution and mobility of nine mineral elements (K, Ca, Na, Mg, Fe, Zn, Cu, Se, and Cr) in cultured Gentiana rigescens and its root zone soil were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy. G. rigescens materials were planted under tea and white papaya trees in Yun County and Yongde of Lincang area in Yunnan Province of China. The results showed that G. rigescens and its soil were high in K, Ca, Fe, and Mg. The concentrations of Na and Mg in the soil were significantly lower than that in the plants. However, the concentrations of Fe, Cu, Se, and Cr were significantly higher in soils than that in the plant parts. G. rigescens roots showed high accumulation ratios for Na, Mg, and K, but low accumulation ratios for Fe, Cu, Se, especially for Cr. Transfer coefficients indicated G. rigescens might be a good accumulator for Ca.

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Salix integra Thunb. is a shrub distributed in China along the Huai River riparian zone, and plays an important role in water and soil conservation. S. integra shrub land is easily submerged during July to October due to the flooding of Huai River. In order to characterize the physiological mechanisms of waterlogging tolerance of S. integra and to help rationally select waterlogging-tolerant species to alleviate the flood damage to agricultural production, we studied the effects of flooding on the growth, leaf gas exchange, and chlorophyll fluorescence of S. integra cuttings during a growth season (from August to October 2011). The biomass production and photosynthesis of S. integra cv. qingpi were promoted under moderate waterlogging stress, whereas its growth, chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, and stomatal conductance were all significantly lower than those of the control group. A significant increase in non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) and a reduction in PSII maximal quantum photochemistry efficiency (F_v/F_m) were observed inflooded seedlings of S. integra cv. hongpi. In the case of S. integra cv. qingpi, however, there were no significant differences in NPQ and F_v/F_mbetween the treatment and the controls. Our results demonstrated that S. integra cv. hongpi exhibited slight damage to its photosynthetic apparatus under flooding. In contrast, a moderate flooding stress promoted the leaf and root production of S. integra cv. qingpi, indicating that S. integra cv. qingpi can tolerate prolonged soil flooding better than S. integra cv. hongpi. Thus, S. integra cv. qingpi is more suitable for afforestation in the riparian zone.

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Exploitation of the full potential of any hybrid requires the possessing of genetically high-purity seeds. Commercial soybean hybrids have been developed using a cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) system. In order to avoid reduction in yield caused by using low-purity seeds, development of a simple, rapid, and accurate method for hybrid purity assessment is of great essence and significance. Therefore, the parental lines of HybSoy 1 to 5 were screened using 160 Simple Sequence Repeat (SSR) makers, of which 8 markers exhibited polymorphism. A PCR-based assay with these markers detected both alleles of the parental lines in pure hybrids, proving their heterozygosity, whereas impurities were identified by the presence of only one parental allele. The confirmation of hybrid purity indicated that a single polymorphic marker was sufficient for detection of contaminations of these hybrids from their parents. It was also found that if a hybrid seed lot was contaminated by another hybrid or its parental lines, two or more appropriate markers could be used to easily detect such contamination. This method could accurately and effectively identify the hybrid purity in a predetermined sample of soybean hybrids constituted by deliberately mixing seeds of parental lines. This is the first report that demonstrates the utility of SSR markers for assessment of genetic purity of soybean hybrids.

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Taxus chinensis var. mairei is a rare and endangered medicinal plant species distributed in China. In order to promote fast propagation and preserve the natural resources, conditions for in vitro germination and seedling development of embryos of T. chinensis var. mairei from Anhui or Zhejiang were investigated. Results showed that in vitro germination rate of excised embryos cultured under 14 hours photoperiod was higher than that in darkness. But, nearly all embryos germinated under 14 hours photoperiod failed to develop into seedlings. Comparatively, 23.3 and 36.3% of embryos from Anhui and Zhejiang, respectively, which germinated in darkness, developed into full seedlings. Addition of plant growth regulators [gibberellic acid(GA₃), indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), 6-benzylaminopurine (BA)] and organic additives (casein hydrolysate and yeast extract) in mediums promoted germination and seedling development. (Woody plant medium) WPM  medium supplemented with 0.5 mg L^-1 GA₃, 0.5 mg L^-1 IAA, 0.5 mg L^-1 BA and 1 g L^-1 activated charcoal was optimal for the culture of embryos from Anhui, while WPM medium supplemented with 0.5 mg L^-1 GA₃, 500 mg L^-1 casein hydrolysate and 1 g L^-1 activated charcoal was optimum for embryos from Zhejiang. Moreover, the germination and seedling survival rate of embryos of T. chinensis var. mairei decreased with increasing maturity of the seeds. In conclusion, darkness during germination is necessary for subsequent seedling development and immature seeds are optimal for embryo culture of this species.

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Four Chinese pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) cultivars were analyzed for their individual flavonols and flavones (in fruit peel extracts) using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), with changes in flavonols and flavones as occurring during fruit development. The results revealed the presence of kaempferol, quercetin, myricetin, luteolin, and apigenin in all the four cultivars. In addition, the concentrations of flavonols were found out as always higher than those of the flavones in different cultivars and throughout the different fruit developmental phases. Kaempferol was the most prominent flavonol in Hongbaoshi, Lvbaoshi and Shuijingtian, while myricetin the major and dominant flavonol in Moshiliu. The pattern of kaempferol was similar to quercetin in each individual cultivar, but quite differing among the four cultivars. The level of luteolin was higher than that of apigenin in all the cultivars. During test course, similar change patterns for luteolin and apigenin were revealed in each individual cultivar. This is the first report regarding the flavonols and flavones concentration changes in pomegranate peel extracts. The results indicated that the changes in flavonols and flavones were significantly affected by cultivar and its developmental stages. Moshiliu proved to be an excellent pomegranate cultivar with rich flavonol contents. It can be further studied for its potential uses being more fully exploited.

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Virtual water adds a new dimension to crop trades and provides a new way of thinking about water scarcity. A systematic analysis of virtual water flows requires integration of all critical drivers of virtual water flows under a single consistent framework. The aim of this study was to assess virtual water flows related to trades of grain crops (wheat, corn, rice, and coarse cereals) and their influencing factors in Hetao irrigation district, China during 1981-2010. Results indicated that: (1) volume of virtual water export decreased from 2.08×10⁹ m³ in 1981 to 1.27×10⁹ m³ in 2010. Volume of virtual water import fluctuated around 621.48×10⁶ m³ during study period; (2) Cultivated area per capita and total population were the major influencing factors for virtual water export in Hetao irrigation district. Volume of virtual water import was mainly influenced by consumption and retail price index of grain crops. Combination of large volume of virtual water export and severely constrained water resources confronted Hetao irrigation district with great challenges in its sustainable development. Decreasing virtual water export is a mean to alleviate regional water shortage pressure, and may be achieved by measures that constrain continued population expansion.

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 The fruit set rate and yield of pear are commonly low due to insufficient pollination, as the species is unattractive to honeybees. To improve honeybee foraging behavior for the pollination of Dangshan pear (Pyrus bretschneideri cv. dangshansuli), nine methods were used to attract bees. A control treatment of colonies was fed with normal sugar syrup, while six other treatments were fed using sugar syrup mixed with Pear syrup, Gallic acid, Arginine (Arg), Lysine (Lys), Methionine (Met), or 8-Br-cGMP; plates containing Juvenile Hormone analog ZR-512, Brood Pheromone (BP), and Queen Mandibular Gland Pheromone (QMP) were placed inside the hives of another three treatments. Pollination efficacy was compared using the pollen load weight and quantity of foraging bees. The peak time of pear pollen gathering was 10:00–11:00 regardless of treatment. The pear pollen load weight per day was increased by all nine treatments. Pear pollen load weight per day was 49.11 g in the control. The QMP treatment yielded the heaviest pear pollen load weight per day (77.56 g), followed by the 8-Br-cGMP (64.45 g) and BP treatments (64.20 g). The percentages of pear pollen weight and quantity in the total pollen per day were both highest in the BP treatment (80.23%, 87.27%), followed by those in the QMP (79.32%, 86.74%) and Lys treatments (76.25%, 85.81%). In conclusion, BP was the most effective treatment for improving honeybee pollination behavior in the pear orchard, while other treatments, including Arg, Lys, 8-Br-cGMP, ZR-512, and QMP, could also be useful.

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Water content plays an important role in the process of plant photosynthesis and biomass accumulation. Many methods have been developed to retrieve canopy leaf water content from remote sensing data. However, the validity of these methods has not been verified, which limits their applications. This study estimates the Leaf Water Content (LWC) of winter wheat with three most widely used indexes: Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI), Simple Ratio (SR), and Shortwave Infrared Perpendicular Water Stress Index (SPSI), as well as MODIS short wave and near infrared data, and then compares remote sensing estimates of vegetation water content with field-measured values measured in concurrent dates. The results indicate that the three indexes are significantly correlated with the LWC of winter wheat at the 0.01 significance level. They all have good accuracy with higher than 90%. The indexes derived from MODIS bands 6 and 2 were better than those from bands 7 and 2 for measuring wheat leaf water content, and the correlations of the former two (NDWI and SR) were stronger than that of SPSI.

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Paris polyphylla Smith var. yunnanensis (Liliaceae) is an important traditional medicinal plant of the Yunnan Province in China. However, the genomic information regarding this plant is limited. To further understand its molecular background, we conducted Illumina HiSeq 2000 second-generation sequencing of this plant species. Approximately 30,198,679 reads with an average length of 202 bases were obtained from its root cells. These reads were assembled into 56,095 unique sequences and approximately 49.7% of the unique sequences were annotated by Basic Local Alignment Search Tool (BLAST) similarity searches against public sequence databases. Most of these unigenes were mapped to carbohydrate metabolism, energy metabolism, and secondary metabolite biosynthetic pathways. Additionally, 3,853 EST-SSRs were identified as potential molecular markers in our unigenes. Of these, 9 nuclear SSR markers were employed to assess genetic diversity and structure of 11 geographically disjunct populations. The present study revealed a moderate genetic diversity (He= 0.527) and low genetic differentiation (Fst= 0.103), which may be ascribed to an earlier period of more pronounced gene flow when the species had a more continuous distribution. The 11 studied populations were divided into two clusters based on the UPGMA dendrogram, which were not congruent with their geographical distributions. Overall, the root transcriptome sequences generated in this study reveal novel gene expression profiles and offer important clues for further study of the molecular mechanism of Paris’ root secondary metabolite synthesis and population genetics. The EST-SSR markers identified will also facilitate marker-assisted selection in Paris breeding.

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Influence of water on the dielectric properties of jujube, yellow-locust, and vitex honey was investigated by dielectric spectroscopy in broadband from 40 Hz-40 GHz. At lower frequencies, two relaxations which were from interface polarization and dipole orientation polarization of macromolecules in honey were observed. Other relaxations contributed by free and bound water were observed at microwave frequencies. The analysis of the observed relaxations revealed that the honey/water interface and bound water molecules that interact with the macromolecules in honey are responsible for the changed dielectric properties of honey solutions. Besides, the linear correlations between the permittivity (around 2.45 GHz) and water content of honey solutions were developed, which indicates that water content in honey solutions can be measured by dielectric spectroscopy. In addition, we also compared the dielectric properties of different pure honey types and found that the pure yellow-locust honey, which contains the maximum water content, has the highest permittivity. This suggests that different honey types with different water content can be roughly identified by dielectric spectroscopy. This study shows that the water content influences the dielectric properties of honey and dielectric spectroscopy is feasible for detecting honey adulteration with water.
 

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Wild pepper (Capsicum frutescens L.) could be a source of variation to improve cultivated pepper due to its unique traits with adapting challenges caused by adversity. Interspecific hybridization has been used as an effective way of pepper introgression breeding, which transfers genes of interest from wild relatives to cultivated crops. Here, eight fertile hybrids F₁ were produced from pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) and the wild relative (C. frutescens), as female and male, respectively, by interspecific hybridization. Interspecific hybrids were identified using conventional morphological descriptors and SSR molecular markers. The results showed that significant differences in agronomic traits existed among cultivated pepper, wild relatives, and interspecific hybrid F₁. Interspecific hybrid F₁ presented intermediate values, although they were closer to the wild species in most of the agronomic traits. Analysis of SSR markers clearly showed that interspecific hybrid F₁ had bands from the paternal and maternal accessions, which indicated that F₁ hybrid was heterozygous. Our results provide hybrid for breeder to transfer genes of interest from wild relative, C. frutescens, to cultivated pepper, which is an important step for introgression breeding.
 

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Waterlogging and drought are severe constrains that limit maize seedling growth in tropical and subtropical regions. It is significant to determine the differences in morphological and physiological responses of maize to drought and excess soil water, with a view toward better breeding and field management. In the present experiment, different levels of soil water availability were initiated at the one-leaf (V1) stage of two maize cultivars (Denghai9 and Yidan629): Control (CK), Severe Drought (SD), Light Drought (LD), Severe Waterlogging (SW), and Light Waterlogging (LW). The results indicated that waterlogging had more discernible impact on the seedling growth of both cultivars than drought stress. The Relative Growth Rate (RGR) of shoots and roots, along with root length, volume, and surface area were all markedly decreased in both cultivars under waterlogging stress. The malondialdehyde content increased significantly in roots and leaves under waterlogging treatment. In both cultivars, SuperOxide Dismutase (SOD) was mostly activated in roots and leaves at the three-leaf (V3) stage by waterlogging stress, while the Catalase (CAT) activity apparently increased under drought stress. The activity of Peroxidase (POD) distinctly enhanced in both cultivars under drought and waterlogging stress. Ascorbate Peroxidase (APX) showed constant activity with prolongation of waterlogging stress, and Glutathione Reductase (GR) activity notably increased in roots under waterlogging conditions at the six-leaf (V6) stage. We concluded that SOD, POD, APX, and GR were the most important antioxidant enzymes under waterlogging conditions, whereas CAT and POD appeared to play key roles under drought stress.