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China has successfully launched four Haiyang-2 (HY-2) series altimetry satellites. HY-2A has attracted significant attention in gravity field recovery, but the performance of other HY-2 series satellites, including HY-2B/C/D, is seldom discussed. This study evaluated the performance of all the HY-2 series satellites in recovering marine gravity field. First, the crossover discrepancies in sea surface height of the four satellites, HY-2A, HY-2B, HY-2C, and HY-2D, were analyzed to assess their altimetry stability. It was found that HY-2B had the best altimetry quality, followed by HY-2D. Subsequently, different combinations of altimetry data were used to calculate vertical deflections and gravity anomalies in the South China Sea (112°E−119°E, 12°N-20°N). The results showed that combining data from HY-2B, HY-2C, and HY-2D improved the inversion accuracy of gravity anomalies by 0.3 mGal compared to using HY-2A data alone. HY-2C and HY-2D contributed to enhancing the accuracy of the east component of vertical deflections.

The jet generated through PTFE based inert material liner has the characteristics of low energy, low density, and large aspect ratio, which can effectively achieve the “penetration without explosion” of explosive reactive armor. PTFE/Cu composite material liner with various densities is prepared, to research the roles of preparation procedure and density in the destroy effect of jet on reactive armor. Through numerical simulation research, it was found that there was no reaction at all in the explosive layer penetrated by the jet generated by the sinter liner molded, while the explosive layer penetrated by the jet generated through the hot-pressing sintering and extrusion molding liner experienced local reactions on the jet impact channel, and the overall explosive layer did not undergo any reaction. Through experimental verification, it has been proven that all three types of jets have achieved “penetration without explosion” on explosive reactive armor.

Abstract In this paper, PTFE/Cu composite material for liner is taken as the research object, and the preparation process and jet forming characteristics of PTFE/Cu composite liner are studied. The liners were prepared by extrusion molding, molded sintering and hot-pressing sintering. Due to different preparation processes, different microstructures of the liner can occur, including defects such as pores and microcracks, resulting in different strength and density of the liner, leading to differences in the forming characteristics of the jet. Therefore, the forming process of the jet was simulated by the finite element numerical simulation software. It was found that there was obvious radial expansion effect in the head of the jet, but with the increase of density, the radial expansion effect was weakened, and the jet velocity decreased gradually. The strength and densification of the shaped charge liner prepared by different processes were different. The densification of the molded sintering liner was generally better than that of the other two kinds of shaped charge liners. As a result, the velocity of the jet formed by the molded sintering liner is always the highest, with a numerical simulation velocity of 6642 m/s and an experimental velocity of 6534.7 m/s. The second is the jet of the hot-pressing sintering liner and the lowest velocity is the jet of the extrusion molding cover, with a numerical simulation velocity of 6482 m/s, while the experimental velocity is only 6397.9 m/s. The jet velocity measured by the pulse X-ray experiment was compared with the velocity of the numerical simulation, and the error was within 2.96%, which verifies the accuracy of the numerical simulation.

Abstract In this study, China’s first altimeter satellite Haiyang-2A (HY-2A) data combined observations from CryoSat-2, SARAL/AltiKa, and Jason-1&2 are used to calculate the global (60°S–60°N) marine deflections of the vertical and gravity anomalies named Global Marine Gravity Anomaly Version 1(GMGA1), with grid resolution of 1′ × 1′. The deflections of the vertical from each satellite observations are first derived from the gradients of the geoid height through the least squares method. The deflections of the vertical are then merged by assigning different weights to each satellite product based on their accuracy. Finally, gravity anomalies are obtained by the remove-restore method. The results reveal that the fused deflections of the vertical have an accuracy of 0.4 arcsec in the north component and 0.8 arcsec in the east component. HY-2A’s contribution to the north component of the integrated deflections of the vertical is second only to Cryosat-2. Jason-1/2 accounts for a large proportion of the integrated east components. Compared to worldwide products such as DTU17, Sandwell & Smith V31.1, as well as values from EGM2008, EIGEN-6C4 and XGM2019e_2159, GMGA1 has an accuracy of around 3.3 mGal. By not using HY-2A data, the precision of GMGA1 is reduced by about 0.1 mGal. To further improve the accuracy, seafloor topography information is used to provide short wavelength gravity anomaly. It is verified in the South China Sea (112°E–119E°, 12°N–20°N) using the Parker formula. By combining shipborne depth generated data and GMGA1 through a filtering technique, a new version of gravity anomaly grid with an accuracy improvement of 0.4 mGal in the South China Sea is obtained. Graphical Abstract

The growth and development of apricot flower organs are severely impacted by spring frosts. To better understand this process, apricot flowers were exposed to temperatures ranging from 0 °C to −8 °C, including a control at 18 °C, in artificial incubators to mimic diverse low-temperature environments. We aimed to examine their physiological reactions to cold stress, with an emphasis on changes in phenotype, membrane stability, osmotic substance levels, and antioxidant enzyme performance. Results reveal that cold stress induces significant browning and cellular damage, with a sharp increase in browning rate and membrane permeability below −5 °C. Soluble sugars and proteins initially rise as osmoprotectants, but their content decreases at lower temperatures. Proline content consistently increases, suggesting a protective role. Antioxidant enzyme activities, including catalase (CAT), peroxidase (POD), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX), exhibit a complex pattern, with initial increases followed by declines at more severe cold conditions. Correlation and principal component analyses highlight the interplay between these responses, indicating a multifaceted adaptation strategy. The findings contribute to the understanding of apricot cold tolerance and inform breeding efforts for improved crop resilience.

The species Prunus mume consists of uniquely aromatic woody perennials with large amounts of free aromatic substances in the flower cells. Uridine diphosphate glycosyltransferase (UGT) modifies these free aromatic substances into water-soluble glycoside-bound volatiles (GBVs) which play an important role in regulating the use of volatiles by plants for information exchange, defense, and stress tolerance. To investigate the changes in the glycosidic state of aromatic substances during the flowering period of P. mume and discern the location and expression of glycoside synthesis genes, we extracted and enzymatically hydrolyzed GBVs of P. mume and then utilized gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) to characterize and analyze the types and contents of GBV glycosides. Further, we identified and classified the members of the UGT gene family of P. mume using the bioinformatic method and analyzed the correlation between the expression of the UGT family genes in P. mume and the changes in glycosidic content. The results showed that the benzenoids were the main aromatic substance that was glycosylated during flowering in P. mume and that glycosidic benzaldehyde was the most prevalent compound in different flower parts and at different flowering stages. The titer of glycoside benzaldehyde gradually increased during the bud stage and reached the highest level at the big bud stage (999.6 μg·g−1). Significantly, titers of glycoside benzaldehyde significantly decreased and stabilized after flowering while the level of free benzaldehyde, in contrast, significantly increased and then reached a plateau after the flowering process was completed. A total of 155 UGT family genes were identified in the P. mume genome, which were divided into 13 subfamilies (A–E, G–N); according to the classification of Arabidopsis thaliana UGT gene subfamilies, the L subfamily contains 17 genes. The transcriptome analysis showed that PmUGTL9 and PmUGTL13 were highly expressed in the bud stage and were strongly correlated with the content of the glycosidic form of benzaldehyde at all stages of flowering. This study provides a theoretical basis to elucidate the function of UGT family genes in P. mume during flower development, to explore the mechanism of the storage and transportation of aromatic compounds in flower tissues, and to exploit industrial applications of aromatic products from P. mume.

The deflection of the vertical is one of the essential products of altimetry. However, unlike gravity and vertical gravity gradients, it is seldom used in bathymetry inversion. In this study, an algorithm for bathymetry inversion using the deflection of the vertical is proposed. First, we separately derive the formulas for the bathymetry inversion from the north and east components of the vertical deflection and introduce the data processing. Then a local area in the South China Sea is selected as an example to test the method. The bathymetry inversion based on gravity anomaly is also conducted for comparison. Assuming the ship-borne depths are the true values, the error standard deviations (STDs) of the bathymetry derived by north and east components of the vertical deflection are 156.64 m and 165.57 m, respectively. It indicates that the north component has a better performance in bathymetry inversion than the east component. The inversion results from the combination of both components show a higher accuracy of bathymetry than that from a single component. The difference between the error STD of the combination results and that of the gravity anomaly is less than 0.2 m. The experiment's results also show that the precision of the derived bathymetry can be improved if the parameters of linear regression are adjusted according to water depths. In summary, among the gravity field products used in this study, the gravity anomaly yielded the best performance in the bathymetry inversion. However, since additional data and computation time are required to derive gravity anomalies from altimetric observations, the vertical defections can still be used as supplements, especially in areas where accurate vertical deflections exist.

Abstract Background Jujube is a typical fruit tree species from China. ‘Muzao’, a cracking-susceptible cultivar, and ‘Linhuang No. 1’, a cracking-resistant cultivar, were selected in a previous study as contrasting research materials. Whole-genome resequencing and transcriptomic analysis of ‘Linhuang No. 1’ and ‘Muzao’ allowed the identification of differentially expressed genes with different gene structures between the two cultivars and could be helpful in explaining the differences and similarities between the two cultivars. Results Resequencing identified 664,129 polymorphic variable sites between ‘Linhuang No. 1’ and ‘Muzao’. To determine the genetic relationship among ‘Linhuang No. 1’, ‘Muzao’ and the jujube genome reference cultivar ‘Dongzao’, the characteristic polymorphic variable sites were analysed by principal component analysis. The genetic relationship between ‘Linhuang No. 1’ and ‘Muzao’ was closer than that of either variety and ‘Dongzao’. Nineteen differentially expressed genes were identified by combining transcriptomic analysis with resequencing analysis. LOC107427052 (encoding a nitrite reductase) was identified by Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment analysis for further study. The identified insertion was not in the domain region of the LOC107427052 gene coding sequence (CDS) region and was verified by the finding that the insertion did not affect translation of the protein. The LOC107427052 gene expression levels, nitrite reductase activities and nitrite contents of ‘Muzao’ were significantly higher than the corresponding values of ‘Linhuang No. 1’ at the young fruit stage. There was no significant difference in the quantity of the product of nitrite reductase, namely, ammonia, between the two cultivars. Conclusions The present study was the first to explore the differences between different jujube cultivars (‘Linhuang No. 1’ and ‘Muzao’) by combining genome resequencing and transcriptomics. LOC107427052 (encoding a nitrite reductase) was characterized by KEGG enrichment analysis. The insertion in the CDS region of the LOC107427052 gene provides a new direction for the study of nitrogen metabolism in jujube. Our study has laid a foundation for the comparative analysis of nitrite metabolism between the jujube cultivars ‘Linhuang No. 1’ and ‘Muzao’.

The effects of load and reciprocating frequency on reciprocating sliding of ZrO 2 /steel, Si 3 N 4 /steel, and SiC/steel under high water-based emulsion lubrication were studied by the ball-block sliding tester, including a series of tribological behavior and wear mechanisms. Through the analysis of the above characteristics, determine the influence of load and frequency on the friction and wear properties of the ceramic/steel friction pair. The results show that with the increase of load, the friction coefficient of the three ceramic friction pairs decreases, and the wear rate increases continuously. With the increase of frequency, the friction coefficients of ZrO 2 /steel and Si 3 N 4 /steel steadily decrease, the friction coefficient of SiC/steel increases slightly, and the wear rates of the three friction pairs decrease continuously. The comprehensive comparison shows that the ZrO 2 /steel friction pair shows the best tribological performance under different working conditions, which is more suitable for the friction pair material of high water-based hydraulic components, and the Si 3 N 4 /steel friction pair shows better wear resistance when the load is above 50 N.

The obesity epidemic represents a critical public health issue worldwide, as it is a vital risk factor for many diseases, including type 2 diabetes (T2D) and cardiovascular disease. Obesity is a complex disease involving excessive fat accumulation. Proper adipose tissue accumulation and function are highly transcriptional and regulated by many genes. Recent studies have discovered that post-transcriptional regulation, mainly mediated by RNA-binding proteins (RBPs), also plays a crucial role. In the lifetime of RNA, it is bound by various RBPs that determine every step of RNA metabolism, from RNA processing to alternative splicing, nucleus export, rate of translation, and finally decay. In humans, it is predicted that RBPs account for more than 10% of proteins based on the presence of RNA-binding domains. However, only very few RBPs have been studied in adipose tissue. The primary aim of this paper is to provide an overview of RBPs in adipogenesis and adipose function. Specifically, the following best-characterized RBPs will be discussed, including HuR, PSPC1, Sam68, RBM4, Ybx1, Ybx2, IGF2BP2, and KSRP. Characterization of these proteins will increase our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms of RBPs in adipogenesis and provide clues for the etiology and pathology of adipose-tissue-related diseases.

The plants of Prunus mostly bloom in early spring, and the flowers of various species possess their individual floral scent characteristics; Prunus mume, especially, can volatilize a large amount of benzenoid compounds into the air during the flowering phase. In order to elucidate the molecular basis of the differences in the volatile capacity of aromatic substances among Prunus flowers, the endogenous and the headspace volatile components and the expression of ABCG genes were studied among P. mume, P. armeniaca, and P. persica. We detected the floral components in the three species by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), and we found that benzaldehyde was the key component. Meanwhile, the volatilization efficiency of benzaldehyde in P. mume and P. armeniaca were much higher than that in P. persica. Furthermore, 130, 135, and 133 ABC family members from P. mume, P. armeniaca, and P. persica were identified, respectively. WGCNA analysis demonstrated that candidate ABCG genes were positively correlated with benzaldehyde volatilization efficiency. Moreover, quantitative Real-time PCR indicated that ABCG17 was more likely to be involved in the transmembrane transport of benzaldehyde. This study aimed to provide a theoretical basis for elucidating the transmembrane transport of benzaldehyde and to further the valuable information for fragrant flower breeding in Prunus.

Prunus mume, a traditional Chinese flower, is the only species of Prunus known to produce a strong floral fragrance, of which eugenol is one of the principal components. To explore the molecular mechanism of eugenol biosynthesis in P. mume, patterns of dynamic, spatial and temporal variation in eugenol were analysed using GC-MS. Coniferyl alcohol acetyltransferase (CFAT), a member of the BAHD acyltransferase family, catalyses the substrate of coniferyl alcohol to coniferyl acetate, which is an important substrate for synthesizing eugenol. In a genome-wide analysis, we found 90 PmBAHD genes that were phylogenetically clustered into five major groups with motif compositions relatively conserved in each cluster. The phylogenetic tree showed that the PmBAHD67-70 proteins were close to the functional CFATs identified in other species, indicating that these four proteins might function as CFATs. In this work, 2 PmCFAT genes, named PmCFAT1 and PmCFAT2, were cloned from P. mume 'Sanlunyudie', which has a strong fragrance. Multiple sequences indicated that PmCFAT1 contained two conserved domains, HxxxD and DFGWG, whereas DFGWG in PmCFAT2 was changed to DFGFG. The expression levels of PmCFAT1 and PmCFAT2 were examined in different flower organs and during the flowering stages of P. mume 'Sanlunyudie'. The results showed that PmCFAT1 was highly expressed in petals and stamens, and this expression increased from the budding stage to the full bloom stage and decreased in the withering stage, consistent with the patterns of eugenol synthesis and emission. However, the peak of gene expression appeared earlier than those of eugenol synthesis and emission. In addition, the expression level of PmCFAT2 was higher in pistils and sepals than in other organs and decreased from the budding stage to the blooming stage and then increased in the withering stage, which was not consistent with eugenol synthesis. Subcellular localization analysis indicated that PmCFAT1 and PmCFAT2 were located in the cytoplasm and nucleus, while enzyme activity assays showed that PmCFAT1 is involved in eugenol biosynthesis in vitro. Overall, the results suggested that PmCFAT1, but not PmCFAT2, contributed to eugenol synthesis in P. mume.

Longissimus dorsi muscle (LD) proteomics provides a novel opportunity to reveal the molecular mechanism behind intramuscular fat deposition. Unfortunately, the vast amounts of lipids and nucleic acids in this tissue hampered LD proteomics analysis. Trichloroacetic acid (TCA)/acetone precipitation is a widely used method to remove contaminants from protein samples. However, the high speed centrifugation employed in this method produces hard precipitates, which restrict contaminant elimination and protein re-dissolution. To address the problem, the centrifugation precipitates were first grinded with a glass tissue grinder and then washed with 90% acetone (TCA/acetone-G-W) in the present study. According to our result, the treatment for solid precipitate facilitated non-protein contaminant removal and protein re-dissolution, ultimately improving two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) analysis. Additionally, we also evaluated the effect of sample drying on 2-DE profile as well as protein yield. It was found that 30 min air-drying did not result in significant protein loss, but reduced horizontal streaking and smearing on 2-DE gel compared to 10 min. In summary, we developed an optimized TCA/acetone precipitation method for protein extraction of LD, in which the modifications improved the effectiveness of TCA/acetone method.

Geodetic applications of altimetry have largely been inversions of gravity anomaly. Literatures wherein Earth's gravity gradient tensor has been studied mostly presented only the vertical gravity gradient. However, there are six unique signals that constitute the gravity gradient tensor. Gravity gradients are signals suitable for detecting short-wavelength topographic and tectonic features. They are derived from double differentiation of the geoid (or disturbing potential); and hence, are susceptible to noise amplification which was exacerbated by low across-track resolution of altimetry data in the past. However, current generation of altimetry observations have improved spatial resolutions, with some better than 5 km. Therefore, this study takes advantage of current high-resolution altimetry datasets to present CUGB2023GRAD, a global (latitudinal limits of ±80°) 1 arc-minute model of Earth's gravity gradient tensor over the oceans using deflection of the vertical as inputs in the wavenumber domain. The results are first assessed via Laplace's equation; whereby the resultant residual gradient is virtually zero everywhere except at high latitudes - icy environments known for contaminating altimetry observations. Due to the absence of similar models from other institutions, the results are further assessed by comparing the vertical tensor component, zzT, with equivalent models from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) and Technical University of Denmark (DTU). The DTU equivalents were derived by multiplying their gravity anomalies by 2 k ? in the wavenumber domain. Analysis showed that the inverted zzT averagely deviates from the DTU and SIO equivalents by 0.09 and 0.18 E with corresponding standard deviations of 3.55 and 6.96 E, respectively. Bathymetric coherence analysis of zzT 20 over a section of the western Pacific showed comparable results with the reference models. This study proves that current generation of altimetry geodetic missions can effectively resolve Earth's gravity gradient tensor. The CUGB2023GRAD model data can be freely accessed at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7710254 (Annan et al., 2023). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PPARD is involved in multiple biological processes, especially for those associated with energy metabolism. PPARD regulates lipid metabolism through up-regulate expression of genes associating with adipogenesis. This makes PPARD a significant candidate gene for production traits of livestock animals. Association studies between PPARD polymorphisms and production traits have been reported in pigs but are limited for other animals, including cattle. Here, we investigated the expression profile and polymorphism of bovine PPARD as well as their association with growth traits in Chinese cattle. Our results showed that the highest expression of PPARD was detected in kidney, following by adipose, which is consistent with its involvement in energy metabolism. Three SNPs of PPARD were detected and used to undergo selection pressure according the result of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium analysis (P < 0.05). Moreover, all of these SNPs showed moderate diversity (0.25

The article discusses a study on the difference in the characteristic floral scents between Prunus mume Siebold & Zucc and related Prunus species by analyzing their headspace volatiles and endogenous extraction through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.Topics covered include observation that emission of stored volatile compounds from floral tissues can be controlled and indication that benzyl acetate can be biosynthesized in flowers of non-aromatic species if there is enough benzyl alcohol.