Background Individual protective behaviors play an important role in the control of the spread of infectious diseases. This study aimed to investigate the adoption of protective behaviors by Chinese citizens amid the COVID-19 outbreak and its associated factors. Methods An online cross-sectional survey was conducted from 22 January to 14 February 2020 through Wenjuanxing platform, measuring their knowledge, risk perception, negative emotion, response to official communication, and protective behaviors in relation to COVID-19. A total of 3008 people completed the questionnaire, of which 2845 were valid questionnaires. Results On average, 71% of respondents embraced protective behaviors. Those who made no error in the knowledge test (AOR = 1.77, p < 0.001) perceived the high severity of the epidemic (AOR = 1.90, p < 0.001), had high negative emotion (AOR = 1.36, p = 0.005), reported good health (AOR = 1.94, p < 0.001), paid high attention to the governmental media (AOR = 4.16, p < 0.001) and trusted the governmental media (AOR = 1.97, p < 0.001) were more likely to embrace protective behaviors after adjustments for variations in potential confounding factors. Women and older people were also more likely to embrace protective behaviors. No regional or educational differences were found in the adoption of protective behaviors. Conclusion The majority of Chinese citizens embraced protective behaviors. Higher levels of protective behaviors are associated with higher knowledge, perceived severity, negative emotion, and attention to and trust in the official governmental media. Official governmental communication is the largest single predictor of protective behaviors.

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The development of superficial scald in 'Dangshansuli' pears (Pyrus bretschneideri Rehd) was investigated in relation to 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one (MHO). Over the course of a 180-day cold storage at 2±0.5 °C and a 9-day post storage at 20 °C, the effect of endogenous MHO was investigated in chemically untreated pears, and pears treated with diphenylamine (DPA) and 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) after harvest. In the untreated pears, MHO began to accumulate in peel tissue after 60 d of cold storage and continued to do so until the end of cold storage, by which time superficial scald had developed. In DPAand 1-MCP-treated pears, on the other hand, there was very little MHO accumulation during cold storage and, at the end of this period, no scald had developed. Results from the cold storage period, therefore, indicate a positive relation between scald incidence and endogenous MHO concentration. Results from 9-day post-storage reveal also a strong positive correlation between scald and endogenous MHO concentration, with a correlation coefficient of 0.97936 (P<0.05). The effect of exogenous MHO was investigated before and after cold storage in DPAand 1-MCP-treated pears, as well as untreated pears. The application of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 mL L-1 MHO both before and after cold storage caused scald develop in a

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is an important legume crop for forage, agriculture, and environment in the world. Ascorbic acid (AsA) plays positive roles in plants. However, its effects on germination and salt-tolerance of alfalfa are unknown. The effects of AsA applications on seed germination and seedling salt-tolerance of alfalfa were investigated. The results revealed that 0.1 and 1 mmol L-1 of exogenous AsA increased germination, amylase, and protease, as well as seedling length, fresh weight (FW), dry weight (DW), and endogenous AsA both in the shoots and roots, except that 1 mmol L-1 AsA reduced the activities of α-amylase, β-amylase and protease on day 3. However, 10 and 100 mmol L-1 AsA inhibited these parameters and even caused serious rot. It indicates that 0.1 mmol L-1 AsA has the optimal effects, whereas 100 mmol L-1 AsA has the worst impacts. Another part of the results showed that 0.1 mmol L-1 AsA not only enhanced stem elongation, FW and DW, but also increased chlorophyll and carotenoids both under non-stress and 150 mmol L-1 NaCl stress. Furthermore, 0.1 mmol L-1 AsA mitigated the damages of membrane permeability, malondialdehyde, and excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) and ions both in the shoots and roots under 150 mmol L-1 NaCl stress. Hence, 0.1 mmol L-1 AsA improves growth and induces salt-tolerance by inhibiting excessive ROS, down-regulating the ion toxicity and up-regulating the antioxidant system. The principal component analysis included two main components both in the shoots and roots, and it explained the results well. In summary, the optimum concentration of 0.1 mmol L-1 AsA can be implemented to improve the seed germination and seedling growth of alfalfa under salt stress.

Soil salinity and alkalinity are important factors affecting growth, development, and productivity of alfalfa (Medicago sativa), while nanomaterial could affect the growth and alleviate the stress. However, the molecular regulation...