Decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE209) is a persistent aromatic compound widely associated with environmental pollutants. Given its persistence and possible bioaccumulation, exploring a feasible technique to eradicate BDE209 efficiently is critical for today’s environmentally sustainable societies. Herein, an advanced nanocomposite is elaborately constructed, in which a large number of titanium dioxide ( TiO2) nanoparticles are anchored uniformly on two-dimensional graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets ( TiO2/GO) via a modified Hummer’s method and subsequent solvothermal treatment to achieve efficient photocatalytic degradation BDE209. The obtained TiO2/ GO photocatalyst has excellent photocatalytic due to the intense coupling between conductive GO nanosheets and TiO2 nanoparticles. Under the optimal photocatalytic degradation test conditions, the degradation efficiency of BDE209 is more than 90%. In addition, this study also provides an efficient route for designing highly active catalytic materials.

Increasingly, companies’ attempts to become more sustainable are framed in terms of transitioning towards sustainable business models (SBMs), whereby central logic of how the company offers value to customers is challenged (Yang & Evans, 2019). This transition requires companies to rethink the way value and resource consumption are coupled in their operations (Pieroni et al., 2019), as well as consider different ways of connecting with customer needs (Laukkanen & Tura, 2020).

Pentachlorophenol (PCP), as one of the common pesticide and preservatives, is easily accumulated in living organisms. Considering the high toxicity of PCP, the development of an effective and sensitive inspection method to determine the residual trace amounts of PCP continues to be a significant challenge. Herein, a convenient and sensitive electrochemical sensor is constructed by modifying glassy carbon electrode with cerium dioxide ( CeO2) nanoparticles anchored graphene ( CeO2-GR) to detect trace PCP. Benefiting from the two-dimensional lamellar structural advantages, the extraordinary electron-transfer properties, as well as the intensive coupling effect between CeO2 nanoparticles and graphene, the afforded CeO2- GR electrode nanomaterial possesses excellent electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of PCP. Under the optimum synthetic conditions, the PCP oxidation peak currents of developed CeO2– GR sample exhibit a wide linear range of 5–150 μM. Moreover, the corresponding detection limit of PCP on the CeO2– GR electrode is as low as 0.5 μM. Apart from providing a promising electrochemical sensor, this work, most importantly, promotes an efficient route for the construction of highly active sensing electrode materials.

Recently, giant embryonic rice and functional rice food are preferred by more consumers, which are attributed to the fact that the embryo has high concentrations of essential amino acids, fatty acids, and vitamins relative to other parts of rice grains. In this report, the heredity and stability of giant embryo mutations in successive generations were analyzed regarding a giant embryonic line, 'P47', induced by T-DNA insertion and a F2 population from a cross between 'P47' and 'Junam'. The mutant lines with increases of 1.5, 1.7 and 1.8 times on embryo length, width and 100-embryo weight to those of the control showed stable inheritance across three generations. The continuous frequency distributions of embryo size in the F2 population showed that the embryo size is a quantitative trait of polygene controlled. In addition, wide range of transgressive segregations of six traits affecting embryo size confirmed exchange of genetic materials and recombination between genes controlling embryo size. Five giant embryo mutant lines selected from the F2 population will be used for artificial selection and improvement of giant embryonic varieties.

A new standard rose cultivar 'White Christmas' was bred from the cross between red standard cultivar 'Red Queen' and pink standard cultivar 'Vivaldi' at the National Horticulture Research Institute. The cross was made in 2001 and `White Christmas' was finally selected in 2006 after investigating characteristics for three years from 2003 to 2006. 'White Christmas', a white standard cultivar grows vigorously and has good flower shape. The major characteristics of this cultivar are 123.8 stems/m2/year in yield, 82.3 cm in length of cut flower, 11.0 cm in flower diameter, 60.1 in petal number, and 12.2 days in vase life. This cultivar can be propagated by both cutting and grafting. The consumer's preference of this cultivar is relatively higher than that of control cultivar, 'Tineke'.

A new standard rose cultivar 'Magic Pink' was bred from the cross between light yellow standard cultivar 'Medeo' and pink standard cultivar 'Veronica' at the National Horticulture Research Institute. The cross was made in 2001 and 'Magic Pink' was finally selected in 2006 after investigating characteristics for three years from 2003 to 2006. 'Magic Pink', a pink standard cultivar grows vigorously and has fashionable flower color. The major characteristics of this cultivar are 184.8 stems/m2/year in yield, 63.0cm in length of cut flower, 7.2 cm in flower diameter, 28.5 in petal number, and 10.4 days in vase life. This cultivar can be propagated by both cutting and grafting. The consumer's preference of this cultivar is relatively higher than that of control cultivar, 'Noblesse'.

A new standard rose cultivar ‘Pink Stone’ was bred from the cross between red standard cultivar ‘Red Queen’ and pink standard cultivar ‘Vivaldi’ at the National Horticulture Research Institute. The cross was made in 2001 and ‘Pink Stone’ was finally selected in 2006 after investigating characteristics for three years from 2003 to 2006. ‘Pink Stone’, a deep pink standard cultivar grows vigorously and has powder mildew resistant. The major characteristics of this cultivar are 115.1 stems/m2/year in yield, 77.7 cm in length of cut flower, 10.5 cm in flower diameter, 67.0 in petal number, and 12.0 days in vase life. This cultivar can be propagated by both cutting and grafting. The consumer’s preference of this cultivar is relatively higher than that of control cultivar, ‘Noblesse’.