Hong Kong Baptist University

About: Hong Kong Baptist University is a education organization based out in Hong Kong, China. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & China. The organization has 7811 authors who have published 18919 publications receiving 555274 citations. The organization is also known as: Hong Kong Baptist College & HKBU.

Effects of water stress on photosystem II photochemistry and its thermostability in wheat plants

Abstract: Modulated chlorophyll fluorescence, rapid fluorescence induction kinetics and the polyphasic fluorescence transients (OJIP) were used to evaluate PSII photochemistry in wheat plants exposed to water stress and/or heat stress (25-45°C). Water stress showed no effects on the maximal quantum yield of PSII photochemistry (F v /F m ), the rapid fluorescence induction kinetics, and the polyphasic fluorescence transients in dark-adapted leaves, indicating that water stress had no effects on the primary photochemistry of PSII. However, in light-adapted leaves, water stress reduced the efficiency of excitation energycapture by open PSII reaction centres (F' v /F' m ) and the quantum yield of PSII electron transport (Φ PSII ), increased the non-photochemical quenching (q N ) and showed no effects on the photochemical quenching (q P ). This suggests that water stress modified the PSII photochemistry in the light-adapted leaves and such modifications may be a mechanism to down-regulate the photosynthetic electron transport to match a decreased CO 2 assimilation. In addition, water stress also modified the responses of PSII to heat stress. When temperature was above 35 °C, thermostability of PSII was strongly enhanced in water-stressed leaves, which was reflected in a less decrease in F v /F m , q P , F' v /F' m , and Φ PSII in water-stressed leaves than in well-watered leaves. There were no significant variations in the above fluorescence parameters between moderately and severely water-stressed plants, indicating that the moderate water stress treatment caused the same effects on thermostability of PSII as the severe treatment. It was found that increased thermostability of PSII may be associated with an improvement of resistance of the O 2 -evolving complex and the reaction centres in water-stressed plants to high temperature.

Bioactive Luminescent Transition‐Metal Complexes for Biomedical Applications

Abstract: The serendipitous discovery of the anticancer drug cisplatin cemented medicinal inorganic chemistry as an independent discipline in the 1960s. Luminescent metal complexes have subsequently been widely applied for sensing, bio-imaging, and in organic light-emitting diode applications. Transition-metal complexes possess a variety of advantages that make them suitable as therapeutics and as luminescent probes for biomolecules. It is thus highly desirable to develop new luminescent metal complexes that either interact with DNA through different binding modes or target alternative cellular machinery such as proteins as well as to provide a more effective means of monitoring disease progression. In this Review, we highlight recent examples of biologically active luminescent metal complexes that can target and probe a specific biomolecule, and offer insights into the future potential of these compounds for the investigation and treatment of human diseases.

On non-ergodic convergence rate of Douglas---Rachford alternating direction method of multipliers

Abstract: This note proposes a novel approach to derive a worst-case $$O(1/k)$$O(1/k) convergence rate measured by the iteration complexity in a non-ergodic sense for the Douglas---Rachford alternating direction method of multipliers proposed by Glowinski and Marrocco.