The influence of essential (Cu, Ni and Zn) and non-essential heavy metals (Hg, Cr, Pb and Cd) on seed germination and early seedling growth in industrial oil crop Crambe abyssinica was evaluated under laboratory conditions. Our results indicated that among the 7 heavy metals tested only Cu and Hg significantly (P < 0.01) decreased Crambe seed germination in a dose-dependent manner at higher concentrations while certain Cr concentrations significantly increased the seed germination (P < 0.05). All the 7 heavy metals decreased significantly relative root length, shoot length and fresh seedling weight in a dose-dependent manner (P < 0.01). The heavy metals except Ni decreased relative root length first, then shoot length or fresh seedling weight, and finally seed germination. Ni seemed to influence the relative fresh seedling weight first, then shoot length, root length and finally seed germination at lower concentrations, but the decrease in relative root length became faster when the Ni concentrations were increased. Our results indicated that Crambe is tolerant or moderately tolerant to the heavy metals tested except Ni and can be improved for phytoremediation of soils contaminated by heavy metals.

Heavy metals present in soil and water naturally or as contaminants from human activities can cause bioaccumulation affecting the entire ecosystem and pose harmful health consequences in all life forms. Some famous non-food hyperaccumulators such as Thlaspi caerulescens, Sedum alfredii, Pteris vittata, Arabidopsis halleri and Athyrium yokoscense are of very little economic value, making it difficult for them to be used for phytoremediation. In this paper, the influence of heavy metals Cu, Ni, Zn, Hg, Cr, Pb and Cd on seed germination and early seedling growth in oil crop Eruca sativa was evaluated under laboratory conditions. Our results indicated that among the 7 heavy metals tested, only Ni at higher concentrations (1 mM and above) significantly decreased the Eruca seed germination in a dose-dependent manner. All heavy metals except Zn and Ni decreased the root length first, then the shoot length or the fresh seedling weight, and seed germination was always the last to be influenced. With Ni, the root length, shoot length and fresh seedling weight were stimulated when Ni concentrations were under 1 mM; with Zn, the root length, shoot length and fresh seedling weight were increased by all concentrations tested (0.20 -5.0 mM). Our results indicated that Eruca is tolerant or moderately tolerant to Cu, Hg, Cr, and Cd and highly tolerant to Pb, Ni and Zn, and can be developed as an industrial oil crop for phytoremediation of soils contaminated by heavy metals.

The most significant challenge in the 21st century is to prepare professionals to communicate technical information well through writing and speaking in the professional context. Research and studies on TC started to emerge in various aspects, but there is still scarcity in studies on curriculum design of TC. This paper explored the needs of curriculum design for TC at vocational colleges. The study was conducted in two steps: online questionnaires (n = 580) for students and semi-structured interviews (n=8) for English instructors at vocational colleges in the Central Part of China. The results showed that the manufacturing students had been taught less related TC skills in English subject, especially oral TC skills; however, the skills they most want to improve are team communication skills and oral TC skills. The findings also indicated that the current existing English courses in TVET institutions are irrelevant to TC skills on the one hand, but both the students and English instructors highly valued the importance of the TC module on the other hand. The findings from the current study serve as a basis for the curriculum design for TVET students. Further, this study may also contribute to the under-researched issue of English language learning in TVET institutions.

Purpose: Technical communication (TC) is an emerging topic which has received attention in both the field of language studies and among the technical profession in the last few decades. In this article, a scientometric review of academic publications to explore the intellectual landscape and evolutionary characteristics of TC research worldwide between 2001 and 2020 is conducted. Methods: Visualization software was employed to analyze co-citation and co-word networks from 2,183 articles published in Web of Science and Scopus databases from 2001 to 2020. Results: The findings indicate that TC research has increased in recent years and has been done in the English language departments and technology departments in recent years. Then, five clusters form the intellectual structure of TC research: translation training, methodologies in TC, composition studies, rhetorical action, and the industry's needs. Finally, the findings indicated there were paradigm shifts in the field of TC. Further, the evolution analysis has shown that the current trends of TC research is now focused on TC pedagogy, a global TC, human-computer interaction, and language learning and training. Conclusion: This review provides reliable information for academics and practitioners to identify the knowledge base, the evolutionary process, and the emerging trends in the TC field from visualized maps. This review can serve as a prelude for future TC research and can provide a guide for the TC skills required among professionals in the future.