Search

Key message Map-based cloning, subcellular localization, virus-induced-gene-silencing and transcriptomic analysis reveal HvTUB8 as a candidate gene with pleiotropic effects on barley spike and leaf development via ethylene and chlorophyll metabolism. Abstract Barley lateral spikelet morphology and grain shape play key roles in grain physical quality and yield. Several genes and QTLs for these traits have been cloned or fine mapped previously. Here, we report the phenotypic and genotypic analysis of a barley mutant with round lateral spikelet (rls) from cv. Edamai 934. rls had round lateral spikelet, short but round grain, shortened awn, thick glume and dark green leaves. Histocytologic and ultrastructural analysis revealed that the difference of grain shape of rls was caused by change of cell arrangement in glume, and the dark leaf color resulted from enlarged chloroplast. HvTUBULIN8 (HvTUB8) was identified as the candidate gene for rls by combination of RNA-Seq, map-based-cloning, virus-induced-gene-silencing (VIGS) and protein subcellular location. A single G-A substitution at the third exon of HvTUB8 resulted in change of Cysteine 354 to tyrosine. Furthermore, the mutant isoform Hvtub8 could be detected in both nucleus and cytoplasm, whereas the wild-type protein was only in cytoplasm and granular organelles of wheat protoplasts. Being consistent with the rare phenotype, the “A” allele of HvTUB8 was only detected in rls, but not in a worldwide barley germplasm panel with 400 accessions. VIGS confirmed that HvTUB8 was essential to maintain spike integrity. RNA-Seq results suggested that HvTUB8 may control spike morphogenesis via ethylene homeostasis and signaling, and control leaf color through chlorophyll metabolism. Collectively, our results support HvTUB8 as a candidate gene for barley spike and leaf morphology and provide insight of a novel mechanism of it in barley development.

Maize is one of the most important food crops, and maize kernel is one of the important components of maize yield. Studies have shown that the rice grain-size affecting gene GS5 increases the thousand-kernel weight by positively regulating the rice grain width and grain grouting rate. In this study, based on the GS5 transgenic maize obtained through transgenic technology with specific expression in the endosperm, molecular assays were performed on the transformed plants. Southern blotting results showed that the GS5 gene was integrated into the maize genome in a low copy number, and RT-PCR analysis showed that the exogenous GS5 gene was normally and highly expressed in maize. The agronomic traits of two successive generations showed that certain lines were significantly improved in yield-related traits, and the most significant changes were observed in the OE-34 line, where the kernel width increased significantly by 8.99% and 10.96%, the 100-kernel weight increased by 14.10% and 10.82%, and the ear weight increased by 13.96% and 15.71%, respectively; however, no significant differences were observed in the plant height, ear height, kernel length, kernel row number, or kernel number. In addition, the overexpression of the GS5 gene increased the grain grouting rate and affected starch synthesis in the rice grains. The kernels’ starch content in OE-25, OE-34, and OE-57 increased by 10.30%, 7.39%, and 6.39%, respectively. Scanning electron microscopy was performed to observe changes in the starch granule size, and the starch granule diameter of the transgenic line(s) was significantly reduced. RT-PCR was performed to detect the expression levels of related genes in starch synthesis, and the expression of these genes was generally upregulated. It was speculated that the exogenous GS5 gene changed the size of the starch granules by regulating the expression of related genes in the starch synthesis pathway, thus increasing the starch content. The trans-GS5 gene was able to be stably expressed in the hybrids with the genetic backgrounds of the four materials, with significant increases in the kernel width, 100-kernel weight, and ear weight. In this study, the maize kernel size was significantly increased through the endosperm-specific expression of the rice GS5 gene, and good material for the functional analysis of the GS5 gene was created, which was of great importance in theory and application.

Barley lateral spikelet morphology and grain shape play a key role in grain physical quality and yield. Several genes and QTLs for these traits have been cloned or fine mapped previously. Here, we report the phenotypic and genotypic analysis of a barley mutant with Round Lateral Spikelet (rls) from c.v. Edamai 934. The mutant had round lateral spikelet, short but round grain, shortened awn, thick glume and dark green leaves. Histocytologic and ultrastructural analysis revealed that the difference of grain shape of rls was caused by change of cell arrangement in glume, and the dark leaf color resulted from enlarged chloroplast. HvTUBULIN8 (HvTUB8) was identified as the functional gene for rls by combination of RNA-seq, map-based cloning, virus-induced-gene-silencing (VIGS) and protein subcellular location. A single G-A substitution in exon of HvTUB8 resulted in change of Cysteine to Tyrosine. Furthermore, the mutant isoform of HvTUB8 could be detected in both nucleus and cytoplasm, whereas the wild was only in cytoplasm of wheat protoplasts. Being consistent with the rare phenotype, the “A” allele of HvTUB8 was only detected in rls, but not in a worldwide barley germplasm panel consisting about 400 accessions. VIGS confirmed that HvTUB8 was essential to maintain spike integrity. RNA-sequencing results suggest that HvTUB8 control spike morphogenesis via ethylene homeostasis and signaling, and control leaf color through chlorophyll metabolism. Collectively, our results demonstrated that HvTUB8 has pleiotropic effects on barley spike and leaf morphology and provided insight of a novel mechanism of HvTUB8 in spike and leaf development.

Aerogel fibers with ultrahigh porosity, large specific surface area, and ultralow density have shown increasing interest due to being considered as the next generation thermal insulation fibers. However, it is still a great challenge to fabricate arbitrary aerogel fibers via the traditional wet-spinning approach due to the obvious conflict between the static sol-gel transition of the aerogel bulks and the dynamic wet-spinning process of aerogel fibers. Herein, a sol-gel confined transition (SGCT) strategy was developed for fabricating various mesoporous aerogel fibers, in which the aerogel precursor solution was first driven by the surface tension into the capillary tubes, then the gel fibers were easily formed in the confined space after static sol-gel process, and finally the mesoporous aerogel fibers were obtained via the supercritical CO2 drying process. As a typical case, the polyimide (PI) aerogel fiber prepared via the SGCT approach has exhibited a large specific surface area (up to 364 m2/g), outstanding mechanical property (with elastic modulus of 123 MPa), superior hydrophobicity (with contact angle of 153°), and excellent flexibility (with curvature radius of 200 μm). Therefore, the aerogel woven fabric made from PI aerogel fibers has possessed an excellent thermal insulation performance in a wide temperature window, even under the harsh environment. Besides, arbitrary kinds of aerogel fibers, including organic aerogel fibers, inorganic aerogel fibers, and organic-inorganic hybrid aerogel fibers, have been fabricated successfully, suggesting the universality of the SGCT strategy, which not only provides a way for developing aerogel fibers with different components but also plays an irreplaceable role in promoting the upgrading of the fiber fields.

This study verified the feasibility of simultaneous partial nitrification, anammox, denitrification and fermentation process under intermittent aeration in a single reactor, and explored the impact of dissolved oxygen (DO) on the synergy between fermentation and nitrogen removal. An advanced nitrogen removal efficiency of 92.8 % and a low observed sludge yield of 0.0268-0.1474 kgMLSS/kgCOD were achieved. In-situ test showed that nitrate and ammonium decreased synchronously in the absence of organic matter, indicating the possibility of simultaneous partial denitrification, anammox and fermentation. Additionally, the abundance of functional genes for acetate production was 66,894 hits, while the key genes relevant to methanogenesis were only 348 hits, which suggested that fermentation might stop at the acid-producing stage and promote partial denitrification-anammox reaction, achieving simultaneous sludge reduction and advanced nitrogen removal performance. When DO increased from 0.1-0.3 to 0.4-0.6 mg/L, the nitrogen removal efficiency was increased (63.9 %→92.8 %) while sludge reduction was negatively affected.

Background Ligase IV (LIG4) dificiency is a very rare clinical syndrome with around 50 cases reported to date. This syndrome is caused by biallelic pathogenic variants in the LIG4 gene, which cause DNA damage repair disorders, mainly manifesting as severe immunodeficiency. Case presentation We report the case of a 15-month-old male child with pancytopenia, growth retardation, microcephaly, history of vaccine-related rubella, elevated immunoglobulin G, and decreased T- and B lymphocytes. Next-generation sequencing revealed LIG4 pathogenic genes and compound heterozygous mutations, namely the missense mutation c.833G > T (p.Arg278Leu) and deletion mutation c.1271_1275del (p.Lys424Argfs*20). Conclusion This case suggests that LIG4 dificiency can manifest not only as immunodeficiency but also with increased serum IgG levels and pancytopenia, which constitutes an additional clinical phenotype. Furthermore, this case suggests that LIG4 deficiency should be considered upon differential diagnosis of myelodysplastic syndrome in children.

Populus species feature remarkable phytoremediation of cadmium (Cd) contamination. The influence of nitrogen (N) availability on Cd accumulation and tolerance in stems was investigated in a clone of Populus × euramericana. Secondary xylem development in stems was dramatically suppressed by the combined conditions of N deficiency and Cd exposure, but such suppression was partially alleviated by N application. Under adequate N condition, the Cd bioconcentration factor (BCF) in stems at moderate and high Cd exposures reached 3.07 and 0.91, respectively, whereas the Cd content in stems at high Cd exposure reached 164 μg Cd plant−1. However, Cd bioconcentration and accumulation in stems were sharply decreased due to N deficiency. The levels of phytohormones (abscisic acid, jasmonic acid, and salicylic acid) and antioxidants (free proline and peroxidase) in stems decreased in low N treatment because of poor tissue N concentration, thereby attenuating antioxidant defense and Cd tolerance. The decreased Cd tolerance and inhibited xylem development under low N condition led to the dramatic decrement of Cd accumulation in stems. Adequate N application increased the phytohormone and antioxidant levels in stems, thereby promoting antioxidant defense, as indicated by the low malondialdehyde (MDA) level. Moreover, both the improved antioxidant defense and appropriate N nutrient status contributed to xylem development. Consequently, the capacity for Cd bioconcentration and accumulation in Populus stems was promoted by N application, thereby facilitating the phytoextraction of Cd from Cd-contaminated soils.

The spoof localized surface plasmon (LSP) has been widely investigated but mostly with fixed multipole resonances. This Letter proposes a method to generate multipole resonances by adding a slit on the metallic ring of a complementary LSP. This slit theoretically introduces two new boundary conditions and new modes. To validate this approach, complementary LSPs with and without slits at three different angular positions are theoretically analyzed and numerically simulated. To validate and demonstrate the potential application of the proposed LSP structure, a bandpass filter (BPF) in a single-layer substrate is designed and measured by exciting the LSP with a slit on the metallic ring. The measured results show that by simply adding a slit, the BPF achieves a fractional bandwidth of 42.7% (2.5 GHz), for both | S 11 | < − 10 d B and | S 21 | within 1 dB variation. In the passband, a flat group delay between 0.57 ns and 0.75 ns is obtained. Moreover, the proposed structure features a low profile and a compact radius of 0.136 wavelength. By dynamically controlling slit/slits with varactors or diodes, the proposed structure is theoretically promising to be reconfigurable at microwave and even terahertz frequencies.

This paper presents a phase-locked loop using an LC oscillator and digital frequency divider in low-cost 0.18-μm CMOS process. The PLL fully covers the 5G millimeter-wave band, i.e., it can be locked from 24.5 to 27.25GHz. Switched capacitors array is used in voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) to reduce the gain of VCO. A patterned ground shield inserted between the center taped symmetric inductor and silicon substrate is also included in VCO design. The frequency dividers are composed of a divider by 2 prescaler, a divider by 8 and an asynchronous 16 counter. The power consumption of whole PLL including buffers is about 43.6mW from 1.8/1.2V supplies. The chip size is 0.95 × 0.8mm2including all test pads.

Objective Cardiac diseases lead to heart failure (HF), but the progression can take several years. Using blood samples to monitor changes in the heart before clinical symptoms begin may help to improve patient management. Methods Microarray data GSE42955 and GSE9128 were used as study datasets and GSE16499, GSE57338, and GSE59867 were used as validation groups. The “limma” package from R Language was used to identify differentially expressed genes. Functional enrichment analyses of gene ontology terms and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways were performed using Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery. We also investigated the correlation between the heart and blood using the mRNA expression level. Results Three hub genes, CD14, CD163, and CCR1, were identified. Functional enrichment analyses showed their involvement in the immune response and in the inflammatory response, which are the critical biochemical processes in ischemic HF. The mRNA expression level further demonstrated that a special model may exist to help to predict the mRNA level in the heart based on that in blood. Conclusions Our study identified three biomarkers that can connect the heart and blood in ischemic heart diseases, which may be a new approach to help better manage ischemic cardiac disease patients.

This paper proposes a compact model for chipless radio frequency identification (RFID) tag. This compact scalable model consists of capacitors, inductors, and resistors of which their values are directly described by the physical dimension of the chipless tag. Moreover, based on this compact model, radar cross section of chipless RFID tag is predicted, by analyzing polarizability based on surface current distribution in different modes. To validate the proposed model, a 5-bit chipless RFID tag based on high-impedance surface (HIS) is presented, with good agreement among modeled, simulated, and measured results. A wide range of physical parameters have also been validated to show the scalability. This compact scalable model of chipless RFID tag not only simplifies the tag design, but also provides an insight understanding of the HIS structure.

This paper experimentally investigated the effects of varying contents of Na2O in a modified sodium silicate, sodium silicate moduli (Ms), and contents of granulated blast furnace slag (GBFS) on the compressive strength and drying shrinkage of fly ash (FA)-based geopolymer grouting materials at different ages. X-ray diffraction (XRD), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), and scanning electron microscopy–energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDS) were used to study the influences of different amounts of GBFS on the microstructure and product compositions of FA-based geopolymer grouting materials. The results show that the content of Na2O in modified sodium silicate, Ms, and the content of GBFS play a significant role in compressive strength and drying shrinkage of FA-based geopolymer grouting materials. In addition, the influence of Ms as well as the content of GBFS on the compressive strength and drying shrinkage of FA-based geopolymer grouting materials was deeply affected by curing age. The micro-performance tests and analysis clearly showed that incorporating 30 wt% GBFS can decrease the proportion of pores with large pore sizes, improve pore size distribution, and enhance the solubility of FA and further promote the formation of C-A-S-H gel within FA-based geopolymer grouting materials.

Fast eruption desorption ionization (FEDI) technique was developed for simple, rapid, and sensitive analysis of various compounds. The FEDI allows three analytical modes each with the unique characteristic. The results demonstrated that non-assisted eruption was suitable for stable and volatile compounds, energetic material (EM)-assisted for nonvolatile molecules especially metal compounds, and solvent-assisted eruption for fragile molecules. High-quality mass spectra with intact ions of analytes were obtained in positive and negative ion modes. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.

Idiopathic central precocious puberty (ICPP) is a relatively common condition in preadolescent girls, and its pathogenesis remains to be uncovered. A variety of studies have highlighted the association of gut microbiota (GM) with endocrine diseases, such as obesity, which is commonly associated with ICPP. However, the relationship between GM and ICPP remains unexplored. Feces samples were collected from 25 girls with ICPP (ICPP group) and 23 healthy girls (Control group). We applied 16S rDNA sequencing to compare the GM between two groups. The ICPP group had higher GM diversity and was enriched for several GM species, including Ruminococcus gnavus, Ruminococcus callidus, Ruminococcus bromii, Roseburia inulinivorans, Coprococcus eutactus, Clostridium leptum, and Clostridium lactatifermentans, which are known to be associated with obesity and are related to the production of short-chain fatty acids. Additionally, 36 candidate GM biomarkers for patients with ICPP screening were identified with high accuracy (AUC = 0.95, 95% CI 0.88 to 1). We observed that the GM of the ICPP group was enriched for the microbial functions of cell motility, signal transduction, and environmental adaptation. Positive correlations were also detected between Fusobacterium and follicle-stimulating hormone, and Gemmiger and luteinizing hormone. This study documents relationships between GM and ICPP, and the implication of these findings remains to be determined.

Objective To investigate the relationship between peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) mRNA, serum adiponectin (ADP) and lipids in paediatric patients with Kawasaki disease (KD). Methods This prospective study enrolled paediatric patients with KD and grouped them according to the presence or absence of coronary artery lesions (CAL). A group of healthy age-matched children were recruited as the control group. The levels of PPARγ mRNA, serum ADP and lipids were compared between the groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was undertaken to determine if the PPARγ mRNA level could be used as a predictive biomarker of CAL prognosis. Results The study enrolled 42 patients with KD (18 with CAL [CAL group] and 24 without CAL [NCAL group]) and 20 age-matched controls. PPARγ mRNA levels in patients with KD were significantly higher than those in the controls; but significantly lower in the CAL group than the NCAL group. ROC curve analysis demonstrated that the PPARγ mRNA level provided good predictive accuracy for the prognosis of CAL. There was no association between PPARγ, ADP and lipid levels. Conclusion There was dyslipidaemia in children with KD, but there was no correlation with PPARγ and ADP. PPARγ may be a predictor of CAL in patients with KD with good predictive accuracy.

Significant genetic variations in N and P nutritional traits exist under combined conditions of soil P deficiency and N deposition and interactively contribute to growth benefits. Forest ecosystems encounter combined conditions of soil phosphorus (P) deficiency and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition. As such, determining genetic variations and interactions of N and P nutritional traits is important for silviculture. Low N (LN) and high N (HN) were combined with three P treatments in a pot experiment with five full-sib families of Masson pine (Pinus massoniana). The three P treatments are: low P in soil profile (low-P condition, LP), enriched P in topsoil and poor P in subsoil (medium–low-P condition, MLP), and high P in soil profile (high-P condition, HP). P acquisition was more significant for growth benefits than P utilization under LP. Growth response to N was higher under MLP and HP than that under LP because of more balanced plant N:P ratios in the two former conditions. Under HN, there were significant correlation between nitrogen acquisition efficiency (NAE) and phosphorus use efficiency (PUE) and they interactively contributed to growth promotion under N deposition. Significant genetic variations, as well as large heritability of growth and N and P nutritional traits, were detected under all N–P conditions. This finding indicated the feasibility of breeding families with improved nutrient efficiency under N–P conditions.

Additional file 1. Search strategy, The search strategy in PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrane Library.

Additional file 2. Details of risk and bias assessment, This file included the supporting evidences of how we assessed the risk of bias.

Additional file 3. Sensitive analysis, We have conducted sensitive analyses of different study designed, R value and questionnaires, this file presented the results.

Pine wilt disease, which is caused by the pine wood nematode (PWN),Bursaphelenchus xylophilus, has caused huge damage to pine forests around the world. In this study, we analysed the PWN transcriptome to investigate the expression of genes related to the associated bacterial speciesPseudomonas fluorescensand found that the geneadh-1 encoding alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) was upregulated. The open reading frame ofadh-1, which encoded a protein of 352 amino acid residues, was cloned fromB. xylophilus. Recombinant ADH with a relative molecular weight of 39 kDa, was present mainly in inclusion bodies and was overexpressed inEscherichia coliBL21 (DE3) and purified after refolding. The biochemical assay revealed that recombinant ADH could catalyse the dehydrogen reaction of eight tested alcohols including ethanol in the presence of NAD+. Quantitative real-time RT-PCR analysis indicated that ethanol upregulatedadh-1 expression in PWN. Results of RNA interference and inhibition of ADH treatment indicated that downregulating expression ofadh-1 or inhibition of ADH could reduce ethanol tolerance and the vitality and reproduction ability ofB. xylophilus, suggesting thatadh-1 is involved in pathogenicity of PWN.

A method for rapid identification and quantification of phthalate plasticizers in beverages was developed. A number of 15 phthalate plasticizers which covered all the phthalates concerned in the US Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA), European Union legislations and Chinese national standards (GB) were analyzed. By a combined solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) and direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS) approach, phthalates at sub-ng mL( -1) levels can be qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed in a short time. The use of ultrahigh-resolving power and the accurate mass measurement capacity naturally provided by Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FT-ICR-MS) minimizes the matrix interferences and thus enables the evaluation of phthalates in a complex matrix without extensive sample handlings or preparations. The limits of quantification (LOQs) were estimated to be at 0.3-5.0 ng mL( -1), lower than the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) regulated by the European Union legislations (2007/19/EC) in foods, beverages, food packaging and toys (0.3-30 ng mL( -1)). This rapid and easy-to-use SPME-DART-FT-ICR-MS method provided a relatively high-throughput and powerful analytical approach for quick testing and screening phthalates in beverages and water samples to ensure food safety.

Knowledge of the allelic variation and epistatic interaction of vernalization genes is crucial to understanding seasonal growth habit and adaptability of genetic resources in cultivated (Hordeum vulgare) and wild (Hodeum spontaneum) barley. In this research, 1398 Chinese barley accessions were characterized with molecular markers for vernalization genes HvVRN1 and HvVRN2. Different combinations of haplotypes at these two vernalization genes were present at different frequencies in wild barley, landraces and modern cultivars. All of the HvVRN1 haplotypes except HvVRN1-7 (V 1-7 ) and HvVRN1-Hs (V 1-Hs ) were identified in the Chinese barley collection chosen for this study. Haplotype V 1-8 occurred at the highest frequency in spring V 1 alleles, and V 1-1 , V 1-4 and V 1-8 had broad geographic distributions in China. Haplotypes V 1-2 and V 1-3 are restricted to modern cultivars as they were introduced from exotic germplasm. A total of 18 HvVRN1/HvVRN2 multilocus haplotypes were identified. Most of the HvVRN1/HvVRN2 haplotypes were present in materials from the Yellow-Huai River Valley and Middle-Lower Yangtze Valley ecological zones, birthplace of Chinese farming. The predominant combinations in landraces were V 1-8 /V 2 and v 1 /V 2 , but v 1 /v 2 made up the highest proportion of modern cultivars. Haplotypes V 1-5 /v 2 , V 1-10 /V 2 and V 1-9 /V 2 showed a correlation with region. Our results confirmed the presence or absence of conserved regulatory elements and the length of the first intron of HvVRN1 plays a determinant role in the vernalization requirement of barley. This study provides useful information for breeding and utilization of Chinese barley germplasm.

Transcriptional regulation plays a key role in plant response to abiotic stresses. Study in barley indicated that a stress-responsive gene (Srg6), as potential transcriptional regulator, was induced by various abiotic stresses. However, functional roles of Srg proteins in stress tolerance are unknown. In this study, we isolated a wheat homolog of barley Srg6 gene, and designated TaSrg6. Expression analysis indicated that expression of TaSrg6 gene is induced by various stress treatments, including PEG, salt, low temperature and ABA. The fusion protein GFP-TaSrg6 was concentrated in the nucleus when transiently expressed in onion epidermal cells. Overexpression of TaSrg6 gene in Arabidopsis conferred water stress tolerance in terms of survival rate, CMS value and relative water loss. We concluded that TaSrg6 protein played an important role in the enhancement of water stress tolerance in plants.

Plant Myb transcription factor (TF) is crucial in regulating secondary metabolism, cellular morphogenesis and responses to hormone and stress signals. In this study, 23 Myb gene fragments and 6 nearly complete ORF encoding putative wheat Myb TFs ( TaMyb1 to TaMyb6 ) were isolated. Genomic sequences of three putative TaMyb genes were obtained and it was found that introns were present in TaMyb4 but not in TaMyb1 and TaMyb6 . Sequence analysis indicated that these putative wheat Myb TFs all represent typical R2R3Myb. Expression analysis of the six TaMyb genes indicated that they were expressed in root, sheath and leaf, but at different abundance. All members, except TaMyb5 , were expressed in developing seed of 2 days after pollination (DAP) with different level. During 2–8 DAP, expression of TaMyb1 and TaMyb2 decreased, TaMyb6 increased, while no change was found for TaMyb3 and TaMyb4 , respectively. Expression of TaMyb3 decreased dramatically after GA 3 treatment for 8 h. After treated with 30% PEG solution for 8 h, expression of TaMyb2 , TaMyb4 and TaMyb5 increased and TaMyb1 declined. It was also noted that TaMyb genes were differentially expressed between wheat hybrids F 1 and its parents in roots, stems and leaves. In vivo subcellular targeting experiment in onion epidermal cells indicated that TaMyb1 was localized in the nucleus.

The Dof (DNA binding with one finger) proteins are plant specific transcription factors. Dof proteins are apparently encoded by a multiple gene family in higher plants. However, only one Dof gene, WPBF, was reported in wheat. In this study, a member of Dof gene family, TaDof1, was cloned from wheat. TaDof1 encode 291 amino acids, with a predicted molecular mass of 30.348 kDa. At its N-terminal end, a 52 amino acid stretch typical of Dof domain and two serine-rich stretches were observed. Sequence alignment indicated that, in Dof domain, TaDof1 share more than 75% identity with other Dof proteins of different species. TaDof1 was expressed highly in leaves and sheaths, but lowly in roots, and constitutively expressed in developing seeds of 2-12 DAP. It was interesting to note that TaDof1 was differentially expressed between hybrids F1 and parents in root, sheath and leaf. The implication of the differential expression patterns of TaDof1 was discussed in related to the up-regulation of C4 pathway related gene in hybrid rice and heterosis.

Kademlia is one of the most popular routing algorithm based on DHT in P2P network research. It specifies the structure of the network and the exchange of information through node lookups. With the unique identifying pattern of nodes which kademlia adopts and XOR metric for distance, it contacts only O(log(n)) nodes during the search out of the total of n nodes in the system. The neighboring nodes in the network based on Kademlia are not always physical neighbours so that the delay between nodes is affected. In this paper, we put forward to a new model of Kademlia based on physical information. It re-construct the Kademlia model reasonably with the idea of making the nodes which are closed in physical network approach in the network in the logic topology. As a result, it will lower routing delay. We describes the structure and its query routing algorithm. Our query routing strategies are proved effective in our case studies mentioned in this paper.

A series of tests was performed on a Chinese alloy steel. The influence of several variables on the relation of J-COD and the plastic rotational factor rp is experimentally studied. These variables are yield strength σy and work-harding exponent n of each material, and the crack depth/specimen width ratio a w . Results show that the relationship of J-COD and the plastic rotational factor rp should be a function of the yield strength σy, strain-hardening exponent n and a w ratio.

The P2P data integration system aims to combine the advantages of P2P technologies and data integration to overcome centralized data integration systems' shortcomings. Kademlia, as a widely used and efficient network protocol for P2P files sharing system, has a very clear logical structure, and with its unique identifying pattern of nodes and XOR metric for distance, it can provide O(logn) lookup to locate the node closest to a given key. In this paper, we put forward a method of applying Kademlia to the P2P data integration system, and propose a new P2P data integration model, Dual-Kad, combing the Kademlia network over the Peer layer with that over the Super-Peer layer. Dual-Kad can process queries based on semantic logic which is a limitation of the original Kademlia, and shorten the query routing path, cache the query results, and as a result, speed the whole query routing. We describe the detailed structures of Dual-Kad and its query routing algorithms. Our query routing strategies are proved effective in our case studies mentioned in this paper.

With the flourish of the Web, online review is become a more and more useful and important information resource for people. As a result, automatic review mining has become a hot research topic recently. Traditional review mining based on feature extracts product feature and opinion word independently, and seldom considers their association information. In this paper, we only focus on Chinese product review. We propose a method based on Chinese dependency grammar to extract feature-opinion word pairs. Specifically, we use Chinese dependency grammar to set several rules, then we make use of these rules to extract candidate feature-opinion word pairs. Finally, we filter out mismatched feature-opinion words pairs by feature ranking and Named Entity Recognition (NER) system. Experiment shows that our method in Precision is rather high.

With the Web grows rapidly, more and more data become available in the Deep Web.But users have to key in a set of keywords in order to access the pages from some web sites. Traditional search engines only index and retrieve Surface Web pages through static URL links, because Deep Web pages are hidden behind the forms. However, the amount of information contained in the Deep web is not only far more than the Surface Web, the information of Deep Web is more valuable than the Surface Web. As Deep Web Pages change rapidly, how to maintain the Deep Web pages which were crawled fresh and to crawl the new Deep Web pages is a challenge. A framework for incremental Deep Web crawler based on URL classification is proposed. According to the list page and leaf page, the URL that is related with the page can be divided into two parts: list URL and leaf URL. The framework not only crawls the latest Deep Web pages according to the change frequency of list page, but also crawl the leaf pages which often change.

The labeling problem of dynamic XML documents has been a hot search topic. In this paper, we propose a new labeling scheme LSVP. Each node is assigned a unique vector label which supports the representation of the ancestor-descendant relationships and sibling relationships between nodes. One floating-point corresponds to a vector based on Polar coordinate system (while two in Cartesian coordinates). Meanwhile, the problem of floating-point is resolved in our scheme. Hence, LSVP can completely avoid re-labeling and its memory cost is low.

Along with the development of grid computing and cloud computing, finite computing resources supplied by stand-alone server usually become the bottleneck in the process of system implementation of online trading platform. Moreover, It is difficult to reuse algorithm module and the system also becomes more complicated to achieve. Traditional online trading framework can not preferably solve the problem listed above. Thus, we propose a framework of online trading platform based on cloud computing. It is feasible to establish a high-complexity online trading platform using infinite virtual computing capability provided by cloud computing. Simultaneously, this framework can realize the sharing of data sets after the integration of heterogeneous and distributed data based on layered thoughtway, and supply theoretical foundation and framework support for setting up a unified, open, distributed, and parallel online trading platform.

Considering the characteristic of heterogeneous wireless sensor networks, the clustering algorithm based on data content for heterogeneous sensor network is proposed. In cluster construction stage, according to the various sensor node types in CADC algorithm, the same types of nodes is divided into the same cluster and different types of nodes can not be divided into the same cluster. In the cluster heads selection scheme, nodes with the most residual energy will be elected cluster heads first. Cluster heads with the same type further integrat into the secondary cluster. Because this algorithm makes the data aggregation to be the most optimal and reduces the transmission distance of cluster heads, it can prolong the lifetime of the whole networks.

Grids provide a uniform interface to a collection of heterogeneous, geographically distributed resources. In recent years, the research on the Grid Monitoring System gets increasingly essential and significant. In this paper we put forward a novel Mobile Agent-based Grid Monitoring Architecture (MA-GMA), which is based on the GMA from GGF and introduces the mobile agents and cache mechanism of MDS. Based on the Open Grid Service Architecture (OGSA) standard, we merge the intelligence and mobility characteristic of mobile agent into the current OGSA to constructing a dynamic and extensible monitoring system. In the end, we do some experiments under different environments. As the results shown, this MA-GMA is proved to be effective and improve the monitoring performance greatly.

Grid based computational infrastructure is a promising next generation computing platform for solving large-scale resources- intensive problems. With the developing Grid technologies and applications, the research on the Grid monitoring system gets increasingly essential and significant. As far as the present research are concerned, there exist two mainly technologies in grid performance monitoring: MDS (monitoring and directory service) and GMA(Grid Monitoring Architecture). In this paper the author puts forward a novel Mobile Agent-based Grid Monitoring Architecture (MA-GMA), which introduces the mobile agents and cache mechanism of MDS. Based on the Open Grid Service Architecture (OGSA) standard, we merge the characteristics of intelligence and mobility of mobile agent into the current OGSA to construct a dynamic and extensible monitoring system. In the end, we do some experiments under different environments. From the results of experiments shown, this MA-GMA is proved to be effective and improves the monitoring performance greatly.

Wheat prolamin-box binding factor (WPBF), a DOF transcription factor previously was isolated from wheat endosperm and suggested to function as an activator of prolamin gene expression during seed development. In this study, we showed that WPBF is expressed in all wheat tissues analyzed, and a protein, TaQM, was identified from a wheat root cDNA library, to interact with the Dof domain of WPBF. The specific interaction between WPBF and TaQM was confirmed by pull-down assay and bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) experiment. The expression patterns of TaQM gene are similar with that of WPBF. The GST-WPBF expressed in bacteria binds the Prolamin box (PB) 5′-TGTAAAG-3′, derived from the promoter region of a native alpha-gliadin gene encoding a storage protein. Transient expression experiments in co-transfected BY-2 protoplast cells demonstrated that WPBF trans-activated transcription from native alpha-gliadin promoter through binding to the intact PB. When WPBF and TaQM are co-transfected together the transcription activity of alpha-gliadin gene was six-fold higher than when WPBF was transfected alone. Furthermore, the promoter activities of WPBF gene were observed in the seeds and the vascular system of transgenic Arabidopsis, which was identical to the expression profiles of WPBF in wheat. Hence, we proposed that WPBF functions not only during wheat seed development but also during other growth and development processes.

The Dof (DNA binding with one finger) proteins are plant specific transcription factors. Dof proteins are apparently encoded by a multiple gene family in higher plants. However, only one Dof gene, WPBF, was reported in wheat. In this study, a member of Dof gene family, TaDof1, was cloned from wheat. TaDof1 encode 291 amino acids, with a predicted molecular mass of 30.348 kDa. At its N-terminal end, a 52 amino acid stretch typical of Dof domain and two serine-rich stretches were observed. Sequence alignment indicated that, in Dof domain, TaDof1 share more than 75% identity with other Dof proteins of different species. TaDof1 was expressed highly in leaves and sheaths, but lowly in roots, and constitutively expressed in developing seeds of 2-12 DAP. It was interesting to note that TaDof1 was differentially expressed between hybrids F1 and parents in root, sheath and leaf. The implication of the differential expression patterns of TaDof1 was discussed in related to the up-regulation of C4 pathway related gene in hybrid rice and heterosis.