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Seed plants comprise angiosperms and gymnosperms. The latter includes gnetophytes, cycads, Ginkgo, and conifers. Conifers are distributed worldwide, with 630 species distributed across eight families and 70 genera. Their distinctiveness has triggered much debate on their origin, evolution, and phylogenetic placement among seed plants. To better understand the evolution of gymnosperms and their relation to other seed plants, we report here a high-quality genome sequence for a tree species, Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata), which has excellent timber quality and high aluminum adaptability and is a member of Cupressaceae with high levels of heterozygosity. We assembled an 11.24 Gb genome with a contig N50 value of 2.15 Mb and anchored the 10.89 Gb sequence to 11 chromosomes. Phylogenomic analyses showed that cycads sister to Ginkgo, which place to sister in all gymnosperm lineages, and Gnetales within conifers sister to Pinaceae. Whole-genome duplication (WGD) analysis showed that the ancestor of seed plants has differentiated into angiosperms and gymnosperms after having experienced a WGD event. The ancestor of extant gymnosperm has experienced a gymnosperm-specific WGD event and the extant angiosperms do not share a common WGD before their most recent common ancestor diverged into existing angiosperms lineages. Analysis of the MADS-box gene family ofC. lanceolatarevealed the developmental mechanism of the reproductive organs inC. lanceolata, which supported the (A)B(C) model of the development of gymnosperms reproductive organs. In addition, astringent seeds and shedding of whole branches (with withered leaves) might be a strategy ofC. lanceolatathat evolved during long-term adaptation to an aluminum-rich environment. The findings also reveal the molecular regulation mechanism of shade tolerance inC. lanceolataseedlings. Our results improve the resolution of ancestral genomic features within seed plants and the knowledge of genome evolution and diversification of gymnosperms.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major public health challenge that is also the third leading cause of death worldwide. It is also the leading cause of long-term disability in children and young a...

Ali CMB Polarization Telescope (AliCPT) is the first Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarimeter with a large focal plane camera to be deployed in the Northern Hemisphere, in the Tibetan Plateau. Here we present the design of a dichroic (90/150 GHz) focal plane camera capable of hosting up to 32,376 Transition-Edge Sensor (TES) bolometers operating from a base temperature of 280 mK. Detectors are fabricated as monolithic arrays of 1,704 feedhorn-coupled and polarization-sensitive TES bolometers that are packaged in independent modules and read out with a microwave multiplexing architecture. A custom RFSoC-based system manages the multiplexing readout. Prototype AliCPT pixels have been fabricated and characterized, demonstrating passband performance within 2.5% of design and cross-polarization systematic sensitivity $\leq$ 2%.

To make full use of urban household balcony space, an urban aquaponics system for balconies was constructed to investigate the purification effects of four different substrates (volcanic stone, ceramic pellets, ceramic rings, and nanorods) and six plants (mung bean sprouts, hollow cabbage, water celery, lettuce, leek, and water chestnut) on fish culture wastewater. Through the determination of contaminants such as nitrogen and phosphorus and through the use of 16SrDNA sequencing technology, the substrate material and plant combinations with the best purification effects were screened. The results show that volcanic stone and nanorods have strong purification capacities. Compared to the other substrate types, there were more unique bacterial species on the surface of volcanic stone, among which amoeba species were the most dominant (92.42%). Among the six tested plant species, mung bean sprouts had the highest contribution to nitrogen uptake (94.96%), and water chestnut had the highest contribution to phosphorus uptake at 12.07%. Finally, the combination of nanorods and water celery was the best at purifying the wastewater. This study provides a theoretical basis and new ideas for the construction of urban aquaponics systems on balconies, which will help to achieve green farming and the efficient utilization of water resources.

To make full use of urban household balcony space, an urban aquaponics system for balconies was constructed to investigate the purification effects of four different substrates (volcanic stone, ceramic pellets, ceramic rings, and nanorods) and six plants (mung bean sprouts, hollow cabbage, water celery, lettuce, leek, and water chestnut) on fish culture wastewater. The substrate material and plant combinations with the best purification effects were screened, and the results showed that volcanic stone had the strongest purification ability for ammonia nitrogen, chemical oxygen demand, phosphate, and total phosphorus, with removal rates of 88.8%, 63.1%, 95.1%, and 83.3%, respectively. Additionally, nanorods had a strong purification effect for ammonia nitrogen and total nitrogen. Compared to the other substrate types, there were more unique bacterial species on the surface of volcanic stone, among which amoeba species were the most dominant (92.42%). Among the six tested plant species, mung bean sprouts had the highest contribution to nitrogen uptake (94.96%), and water chestnut had the highest contribution to phosphorus uptake at 12.07%. Finally, the combination of nanorods and water celery was the best at purifying the wastewater. This study provides a theoretical basis and new ideas for the construction of urban aquaponics systems on balconies, which will help to achieve green farming and the efficient utilization of water resources.C.I.C. Classification Number: S969.38

Since pro-inflammatory macrophages take on a critical significance in the pathophysiology of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the therapeutics to affect macrophages may receive distinct anti-RA effects. However, the therapeutic outcomes are still significantly impeded, which is primarily due to the insufficient drug delivery at the arthritic site. In this study, the macrophage-targeting and pH stimuli-responsive nano-polyelectrolyte complexes were designed for the efficient targeted delivery of triptolide (TP/PNPs) on the arthritic site. The anionic and cationic amphiphilic copolymers, i.e., hyaluronic acid-g-vitamin E succinate (HA-VE) and the quaternized poly (β-amino ester) (QPBAE-C

The combination of microfluidic technology and terahertz technology can shorten the distance between samples and terahertz wave, reduce the absorption of terahertz wave, and more effectively study the dynamic characteristics of biological samples in aqueous solution. In this paper, the high sealing performance microfluidic chip was used to study the different mass fraction of soluble starch, and the terahertz spectral characteristics of soluble starch under the action of electric field were obtained, which provided technical support for the detection of starch using terahertz technology.

Overtaking lung cancer,breast cancer is now the most commonly diagnosed cancer seriously threatening peopleapos;s health and life. As the main effective component of Tripterygium wilfordii,triptolide( TP) has attracted increasing attention due to its multitarget and multi-pathway anti-tumor activity. Recent studies have revealed that breast cancer-sensitive TP enables the inactivation of breast cancer cells by inducing tumor cell apoptosis and autophagy,interfering in tumor cell metastasis,resisting drug resistance,arresting tumor cell cycle,and influencing tumor microenvironment. It has been recognized as a promising clinical antitumor agent by virtue of its widely accepted therapeutic efficacy. This paper reviewed the anti-breast cancer action and its molecular mechanisms of TP on the basis of the relevant literature in the past ten years,and proposed application strategies in view of the inadequacy of TP to provide a reference for further research on the application of TP in the treatment of breast cancer.

Based on the ancient method of nine-steaming and nine-sun-curing,the chemical composition changes and quality profiles in different processes of Polygoni Multiflori Radix were studied. Their contents of stilbene glycoside,anthraquinones and polysaccharides were determined by nine-steaming and nine-sun-curing with black bean juice and pharmacopoeia method. HPLC chemical fingerprints were established,and orthogonal partial least squares-discriminant analysis( OPLS-DA) was performed on different processed products using SIMCA 14. 1 software to evaluate the quality difference between samples. The results of content determination show that,with the increase of the number of processing and steaming times,the stilbene glycoside and the combined anthraquinone showed a decreasing trend,and the free anthraquinone,total anthraquinone and polysaccharide showed an upward trend in the different preparations of Polygoni Multiflori Radix and Pharmacopoeia. Six-steamed and six-sun-cured products can be used as the finishing point for the classic steaming. Fingerprint results showed that there were significant differences in chemical composition in Polygoni Multiflori Radix at different processing processes. It can be identified stilbene glycoside( peak 13),emodin( peak 21),and physcion( peak 24). By comparing the relative peak areas of the 26 chromatographic peaks in the sample after normalization( the reference is peak 7),it was found that the relative peak areas of 12 peaks in the processed products were higher than the raw products,13 peaks were reduced; according to statistical analysis of OPLS-DA,Polygoni Multiflori Radix at different processing degrees was further divided into three categories,sample S1 was class I,S2-S5 were class Ⅱ,and S6-S11 were class Ⅲ． And 8 peaks with the VIP value higher than 1. 0 were peak 13,21,4,3,11,14,5,and 24 in order. The eight chemical components were the main components to distinguish the difference between Polygoni Multiflori Radix in the process of nine-steaming and nine-sun-curing,suggesting that it was rational to use stilbene glycoside,emodin and emodin methyl ether as quality control indicators of Polygoni Multiflori Radix. The method established in this experiment conformed to the methodological verification requirements,established a method of multi-component content determination combined with fingerprint,and clarified that six-steaming and six-sun-curing was used as an improved classical processing technology,and more clearly defined the whole dynamic change of chemical composition in Polygoni Multiflori Radix by nine-steaming and ninesun-curing process. It provides a basis for the chemical quality evaluation model about different processed products of Polygoni Multiflori Radix.

Investigating the Gunn-Peterson trough of high redshift quasars (QSOs) is a powerful way to reveal the cosmic reionization. As one of such attempts, we perform a series of analyses to examine the absorption lines observed with one of the highest redshift QSOs, PSO J006.1240+39.2219, which we previously discovered at z = 6.62. Using the Subaru telescope, we obtained medium-resolution spectrum with a total exposure time of 7.5 hours. We calculate the Ly$\alpha$ transmission in different redshift bins to determine the near zone radius and the optical depth at 5.6$$5.8). All three analyses based on this QSO show increasingly neutral hydrogen towards higher redshifts, adding precious measurements up to z$\sim$6.5., Comment: 11 pages, 10 figures, 5 tables, Accepted for Publication in ApJ

To effectively protect integrated circuits from electrostatic discharge (ESD) damage, this letter proposes a silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) device with low trigger voltage, low leakage current, low parasitic capacitance, and which requires no additional process step. The proposed device uses two metal gates to separate the anode and cathode of the SCR to reduce the leakage current. These two gates are well controlled to trigger the SCR device. The test devices have been implemented and verified in a 28-nm high- $k$ metal gate CMOS process. Experimental results show that the proposed SCR exhibits a low trigger voltage ( 1 kV in human-body-model tests). Based on its good performances during ESD stress and normal circuit operating conditions, the proposed SCR device is very suitable for ESD protection in advanced CMOS processes.

Nature of dark energy remains unknown. Especially, to constrain the time variability of the dark-energy, a new, standardisable candle that can reach more distant Universe has been awaited. Here we propose a new distance measure using fast radio bursts (FRBs), which are a new emerging population of $\sim$ ms time scale radio bursts that can reach high-$z$ in quantity. We show an empirical positive correlation between the time-integrated luminosity (L$_{\nu}$) and rest-frame intrinsic duration ($w_{\rm int,rest}$) of FRBs. The L$_{\nu}-w_{\rm int,rest}$ correlation is with a weak strength but statistically very significant, i.e., Pearson coefficient is $\sim$ 0.5 with p-value of $\sim$0.038, despite the smallness of the current sample. This correlation can be used to measure intrinsic luminosity of FRBs from the observed $w_{\rm int,rest}$. By comparing the luminosity with observed flux, we measure luminosity distances to FRBs, and thereby construct the Hubble diagram. This FRB cosmology with the L$_{\nu}-w_{\rm int,rest}$ relation has several advantages over SNe Ia, Gamma-Ray Burst (GRB), and well-known FRB dispersion measure (DM)-$z$ cosmology; (i) access to higher redshift Universe beyond the SNe Ia, (ii) high event rate that is $\sim$ 3 order of magnitude more frequent than GRBs, and (iii) it is free from the uncertainty from intergalactic electron density models, i.e., we can remove the largest uncertainty in the well-debated DM-$z$ cosmology of FRB. Our simulation suggests that the L$_{\nu}-w_{\rm int,rest}$ relation provides us with useful constraints on the time variability of the dark energy when the next generation radio telescopes start to find FRBs in quantity., Comment: Accepted in MNRAS. Summary of the paper can be found at https://youtu.be/1gBBujgiNuQ

A linear correlation has been proposed between the CO luminosity ($\rm{L}^{\prime}_{\rm{CO}}$) and full-width at half maximum (FWHM) for high-redshift (z > 1) submillimeter galaxies. However, the controversy concerning the $\rm{L}^{\prime}_{\rm{CO}}$-FWHM correlation seems to have been caused by the use of heterogeneous samples (e.g., different transition lines) and/or data with large measurement uncertainties. In order to avoid the uncertainty caused by using different rotational transitions, in this work we make an extensive effort to select only CO($J = 1-0$) data from the literature. We separate these wide-ranging redshift data into two samples : the low-redshift (z < 1) and high-redshift (z > 1) samples. The samples are corrected for lensing magnification factors if gravitational-lensing effects appeared in the observations. The correlation analysis shows that there exists significant $\rm{L}^{\prime}_{\rm{CO}}$-FWHM correlations for both the low-redshift and high-redshift samples. A comparison of the low- and high-redshift $\rm{L}^{\prime}_{\rm{CO}}$-FWHM correlations does not show strong evolution with redshift. Assuming that there is no evolution, we can use this relation to determine the model independent distances of high-redshift galaxies. We then constrain cosmological models with the calibrated high-redshift CO data and the sample of Type Ia supernovae in the Union 2.1 compilation. In the constraint for wCDM with our samples, the derived values are w_{0} = -1.02 {\pm} 0.17, ��_{m0} = 0.30{\pm}0.02, and H_{0} = 70.00 {\pm}0.60 km\,s^{-1}\,Mpc^{-1}., 11 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS. Please see the summary talk of this paper : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEDoCUw6g1c

We report a promising candidate for a distant supercluster at z $\sim 1.1$ in the Dark Energy Survey Science Verification data. We examine smoothed semi-3D galaxy density maps in various photo-z slices. Among several overdense regions, in this work we report the most significant one as having a $3\sigma$ overdensity at a redshift of $\sim1.1$, over a $\sim160$ Mpc scale, much larger than the regular cluster scale (several Mpc). The shape of the supercluster is not circular in the sky projection. Therefore, we regard the point of maximum overdensity as the center for quantitative measurements. Two different estimates suggest the mass of the supercluster to be $1.37\substack{+1.31 \\ -0.79} \times 10^{17} M_{\odot}$, more than one order more massive than regular galaxy clusters. Except for protosuperclusters found with emission-line galaxies, this could be the most distant supercluster to date defined by regular galaxies. A spectroscopic confirmation would make this a very interesting object for cosmology. We discuss the possible implications of such a massive structure for $\Lambda$CDM cosmology.

Based on the safety and durability in the complex environment, the experiments on unconfined compression strength about the cemented soil after eroding in sodium sulfate solution have been carried out and the influential laws of different concentration of sodium sulfate solution and eroding time on the cemented soil unconfined compression strength have been obtained. The test results show that the different concentration of sodium sulfate solution and eroding time may have influences on erosion effect of unconfined compression strength of cemented soil at different levels. If the ionic concentration of sodium sulfate solution is small, the solution has little erosion effect on the unconfined compression strength of cemented soil. But the unconfined compression strength will decrease with the increase of eroding time, and the erosion effect of unconfined compression strength will increase with the increase of eroding time. The study result is significant and valuable to the safety and the durability of cemented soil engineering.

On-chip electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection design with low-leakage consideration for the silicon chips of IoT applications is presented. The proposed ESD protection design uses the fast turn-on silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) device to implement the power-rail ESD clamp circuit. Experimental results verified in TSMC 28nm CMOS process have shown that the proposed design has advantages of low leakage current (2∼3nA), low trigger voltage (∼2V), high ESD robustness (>8kV), and free to latchup issue.