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This paper investigates the fixed-time prescribed performance control problem for a class of axis-motion servo systems subject to the external disturbances and parameter uncertainties. To eliminate the requirement for velocity measurements in the control process, an auxiliary observer is first designed to reconstruct the velocity signal of the controlled plant. Subsequently, an error transformation procedure incorporating a prescribed performance index is integrated into the control system architecture. To overcome the limitations of periodic control design, a robust event-triggered controller is developed, ensuring that the dynamic error of the closed-loop system exhibits fixed-time convergence. Through rigorous theoretical analysis and proofs, it is demonstrated that the proposed event-triggered strategy guarantees Zeno-behavior-free operation. Finally, simulation results are presented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With climate change and anthropic influence on the coastal ecosystems, mangrove ecosystems are disappearing at an alarming rate. Accordingly, it becomes important to track, study, record and store the mangrove microbial community considering their ecological importance and potential for biotechnological applications. Here, we provide information on mangrove fungal community composition and diversity in mangrove ecosystems with different plant species and from various locations differing in relation to anthropic influences. We describe twelve newly assembled genomes, including four chromosomal-level genomes of fungal isolates from the mangrove ecosystems coupled with functional annotations. We envisage that these data will be of value for future studies including comparative genome analysis and large-scale temporal and/or spatial research to elucidate the potential mechanisms by which mangrove fungal communities assemble and evolve. We further anticipate that the genomes represent valuable resources for bioprospecting related to industrial or clinical uses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a failure analysis of the TMT90m + composite wind turbine blade performed by combining numerical simulation and full-scale destruction tests is presented. The complex failure characteristics of the skin were studied in detail and a driving relationship was obtained. From the results, it was found that the stress concentration leading to local buckling was due to the geometric and layup nonlinearities of the destruction region. This in turn contributed to the successive occurrence of matrix failure and fiber failure. Further, by using the method of finite element secondary development, the accuracy of four commonly used failure criteria for wind blade failure prediction is discussed. From the results, it was found that the Chang-Chang model has ideal prediction accuracy and is more suitable for engineering applications in blade structure design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rechargeable magnesium-metal batteries (RMBs) have gained much attention due to their abundant resources as well as high safety. However, the high charge density of Mg2+ is one of the main reasons for the slow kinetics performance of RMBs, and modulation of the charge density is an important strategy to improve the kinetics and electrochemical performance of RMBs. Herein, we report on the conductive polymer polyaniline (PANI) for RMBs, which is found to have excellent kinetics and high discharge voltage when storing MgCl+. In the storage of MgCl+, PANI exhibits a high average discharge voltage platform is 2.3 V vs. Mg2+/Mg, which is higher than that in storage of Mg2+. We demonstrated the reversible intercalation/de-intercalation of MgCl+ in PANI accompanying with the reversible transformation between the quinone ring (C–C,–N=) and the benzene ring (C=C,–NH–) during charging and discharging. Density functional theory calculation reveals that PANI exhibit higher voltages (2.25 V vs. 1.82 V) along with lower diffusion energy barriers (1.27 eV vs. 1.55 eV) for MgCl+ storage compared to Mg2+ storage. This work refines the storage mechanism of PANI in RMBs and provides new guidelines for the application of PANI in RMBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two isostructural rare earth metal–organic frameworks, namely [Re2(BBTC)(DMF)5Cl2]·2DMF·H2O [BBTC4– = 1,1'-butadiynebenzene-3,3',5,5'-tetracarboxylate, Re = Y (1) and Ho (2)], have been prepared via solvothermal reaction. Single crystal X − ray analyses reveal that complexes 1 and 2 both crystallize in the P21/m space group. Topological analyses suggest that these frameworks possess the same two–dimensional (2D) (4,4)-connected networks. Notably, the emission spectrum reveals the fluorescence of complex 1 is mainly from the ligands to ligands charge transfer transition. Further investigation indicates that complex 1 can act as a fluorescent sensor for highly sensitive and selective detection of Fe3+ and 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) in MeCN solution, the quenching constants (Ksv) are 1.45 × 105 M−1 for Fe3+ and 4.08 × 104 M−1 for TNP, with the detection limit (LOD) of 0.12 µM for Fe3+ and 0.52 µM for TNP. Furthermore, the possible sensing mechanisms of complex 1 as bifunctional sensors have been studied based on experiments. Two isostructural rare earth metal–organic frameworks based on 1, 1'−butadiynebenzene−3, 3', 5, 5'−tetracarboxylate ligand were synthesized and structurally characterized in detail, and complex 1 is promising bifunctional luminescent probe for highly sensitive and selective sensing Fe3+ ions and TNP through luminescence quenching effect, complex 1 also exhibits good recyclability for detecting Fe3+ ions and TNP. The quenching mechanisms were studied as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthetic auxotrophy in which cell viability depends on the presence of an unnatural amino acid (unAA) provides a powerful strategy to restrict unwanted propagation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in open environments and potentially prevent industrial espionage. Here, we describe a generic approach for robust biocontainment of budding yeast dependent on unAA. By understanding escape mechanisms, we specifically optimize our strategies by introducing designed "immunity" to the generation of amber-suppressor tRNAs and developing the transcriptional- and translational-based biocontainment switch. We further develop a fitness-oriented screening method to easily obtain multiplex safeguard strains that exhibit robust growth and undetectable escape frequency (<~10−9) on solid media for 14 days. Finally, we show that employing our multiplex safeguard system could restrict the proliferation of strains of interest in a real fermentation scenario, highlighting the great potential of our yeast biocontainment strategy to protect the industrial proprietary strains. Synthetic auxotrophy in which cell viability depends on the presence of an unnatural amino acid provides a powerful strategy to restrict unwanted propagation of genetically modified organisms in open environments and potentially prevent industrial espionage. Here the authors establish a general framework for the creation and optimization of synthetic auxotrophs in yeast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Culture-independent metagenomic studies have revolutionized our understanding of the gut microbiota. However, the lack of full genomes from cultured species is still a limitation for in-depth studies of the gut microbiota. Here we present a substantially expanded version of our Cultivated Genome Reference (CGR), termed CGR2, providing 3324 high-quality draft genomes from isolates selected from a large-scale cultivation of bacterial isolates from fecal samples of healthy Chinese individuals. The CGR2 classifies 527 species (179 previously unidentified species) from 8 phyla, and uncovers a genomic and functional diversity of Collinsella aerofaciens. The CGR2 genomes match 126 metagenome-assembled genomes without cultured representatives in the Unified Human Gastrointestinal Genome (UHGG) collection and harbor 3767 unidentified secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters, providing a source of natural compounds with pharmaceutical potentials. We uncover accurate phage–bacterium linkages providing information on the evolutionary characteristics of interaction between bacteriophages and bacteria at the strain level. Here, the authors present an expanded version of the Cultivated Genome Reference (CGR), termed CGR2, a catalog that includes 3324 high-quality draft genomes based on gut bacterial isolates from Chinese individuals, and classifies 527 species from 8 phyla, including 179 previously unidentified species, and provides information of secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters and gut phage-bacteria interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the performance of the self-standing electrode has been enhanced for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs), it is necessary to explore and analyse the deep modification mechanism (especially interface effects). Herein, density functional theory (DFT) calculations are applied to investigate the high-performance cathode based on the VO2/carbon cloth composites with heterostructures interface (H-VO2@CC). The adsorption energy comparisons and electron structure analyses verify that H-VO2@CC has extra activated sites at the interface, enhanced electrical conductivity, and structural stability for achieving high-performance AZIBs due to the presence of built-in electric field at the interfaces. Accordingly, the designed self-standing H-VO2@CC cathode delivers higher rate capacity, longer-life cyclability, and faster electronic/ion transmission kinetics benefiting from the synergistic effects. The risks of active material shedding and dissolution during the dis/charge process of two cathodes were evaluated via ex-situ ultraviolet—visible (UV-vis) spectrum and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) technique. Finally, this investigation also explores the charge storage mechanism of H-VO2@CC through various ex-situ and in-situ characterization techniques. This finding can shed light on the significant potential of heterostructures interface engineering in practical applications and provide a valuable direction for the development of cathode materials for AZIBs and other metal-ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DEtection TRansformer (DETR) started a trend that uses a group of learnable queries for unified visual perception. This work begins by applying this appealing paradigm to LiDAR-based point cloud segmentation and obtains a simple yet effective baseline. Although the naive adaptation obtains fair results, the instance segmentation performance is noticeably inferior to previous works. By diving into the details, we observe that instances in the sparse point clouds are relatively small to the whole scene and often have similar geometry but lack distinctive appearance for segmentation, which are rare in the image domain. Considering instances in 3D are more featured by their positional information, we emphasize their roles during the modeling and design a robust Mixed-parameterized Positional Embedding (MPE) to guide the segmentation process. It is embedded into backbone features and later guides the mask prediction and query update processes iteratively, leading to Position-Aware Segmentation (PA-Seg) and Masked Focal Attention (MFA). All these designs impel the queries to attend to specific regions and identify various instances. The method, named Position-guided Point cloud Panoptic segmentation transFormer (P3Former), outperforms previous state-of-the-art methods by 2.7% and 1.2% PQ on SemanticKITTI and nuScenes datasets, respectively. The source code and models are available at https://github.com/OpenRobotLab/P3Former. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An inerter-based piecewise (IPW) vibration isolator is proposed in this paper to further improve the isolation performance of the piecewise vibration isolator without using an inerter. The IPW vibration isolator integrates the bilinear property of the piecewise vibration isolator and the mass magnification property of the inerter. Based on the arrangement of the inerter and damper, the IPW vibration isolator would have different forms. Herein, the parallel-connected (PC) and series-connected (SC) forms in the secondary structure of the IPW vibration isolator are designed, where the inerter and damper are in PC and SC forms, respectively. The two forms are defined as PC-IPW and SC-IPW vibration isolators. The dynamic response of the IPW vibration isolator under base excitation is acquired using the averaging method. The isolation performance of the IPW vibration isolator is evaluated by using three performance criteria: displacement amplitude peak, absolute displacement transmissibility peak, and isolation frequency band. The results demonstrate that the PC-IPW vibration isolator has a smaller displacement amplitude peak, smaller absolute displacement transmissibility peak and wider isolation frequency band than the piecewise and linear vibration isolators. The three performance criteria of the SC-IPW vibration isolator fall between the values of the piecewise and linear vibration isolators. In addition, the PC-IPW vibration isolator obtains the best isolation performance among the four vibration isolators. Therefore, the design of the IPW vibration isolator shows the benefits of introducing an inerter and offers an effective option for designing a piecewise vibration isolator with excellent isolation performance in practical engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the reproducibility, accuracy and utility of massively parallel DNA sequencing platforms remains an ongoing challenge. Here the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities (ABRF) Next-Generation Sequencing Study benchmarks the performance of a set of sequencing instruments (HiSeq/NovaSeq/paired-end 2 × 250-bp chemistry, Ion S5/Proton, PacBio circular consensus sequencing (CCS), Oxford Nanopore Technologies PromethION/MinION, BGISEQ-500/MGISEQ-2000 and GS111) on human and bacterial reference DNA samples. Among short-read instruments, HiSeq 4000 and X10 provided the most consistent, highest genome coverage, while BGI/MGISEQ provided the lowest sequencing error rates. The long-read instrument PacBio CCS had the highest reference-based mapping rate and lowest non-mapping rate. The two long-read platforms PacBio CCS and PromethION/MinION showed the best sequence mapping in repeat-rich areas and across homopolymers. NovaSeq 6000 using 2 × 250-bp read chemistry was the most robust instrument for capturing known insertion/deletion events. This study serves as a benchmark for current genomics technologies, as well as a resource to inform experimental design and next-generation sequencing variant calling. Next-generation sequencing platforms are benchmarked using human, bacterial and metagenomics reference materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The limited endurance mileage of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) affects mode choice of commuters inevitably. To help facilitate BEV charging and improve accessibility of transit stations, the park-charge-ride (PCR) services have been implemented in some cities. This study develops a deterministic continuum equilibrium model for a monocentric city to analyze the modal choice behavior of commuters in a transportation system with BEVs and PCR services. Theoretical analysis is conducted for the model and some equilibrium properties are presented. The positive influence for setting PCR facilities is confirmed from theoretical point of view. It is also found that in the transportation systems with PCR services, a location exists that commuters living closer to CBD should choose railway as their only transportation mode. By deploying the discrete approximation approach, numerical examples are given to demonstrate the model. The impact of factors including initial state of charge of the battery electric vehicles, in carriage crowding cost of the railway transit are studied via numerical analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The sequences of several important mitochondrion-encoded genes involved in respiration in higher plants are interrupted by introns. Many nuclear-encoded factors are involved in splicing these introns, but the mechanisms underlying this splicing remain unknown. Results: We isolated and characterized a rice mutant named floury shrunken endosperm 5 (fse5). In addition to having floury shrunken endosperm, the fse5 seeds either failed to germinate or produced seedlings which grew slowly and died ultimately. Fse5 encodes a putative plant organelle RNA recognition (PORR) protein targeted to mitochondria. Mutation of Fse5 hindered the splicing of the first intron of nad4, which encodes an essential subunit of mitochondrial NADH dehydrogenase complex I. The assembly and NADH dehydrogenase activity of complex I were subsequently disrupted by this mutation, and the structure of the mitochondria was abnormal in the fse5 mutant. The FSE5 protein was shown to interact with mitochondrial intron splicing factor 68 (MISF68), which is also a splicing factor for nad4 intron 1 identified previously via yeast two-hybrid (Y2H) assays. Conclusion: Fse5 which encodes a PORR domain-containing protein, is essential for the splicing of nad4 intron 1, and loss of Fse5 function affects seed development and seedling growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verticillium wilt caused by the soil-borne fungus Verticillium dahliae is a devastating disease of cotton, leading to serious loss of lint yield in China. It is important to characterize the prevailing populations of V. dahliae for understanding disease development. In this study, the representative 74 V. dahliae isolates from 28 different cotton regions in three major cotton-production areas in China were identified for their pathotypes, races, vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) and genetic diversity by specific PCR, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and inter simple sequence repeat (ISSR) analysis. Of 74 isolates, 60 isolates (81%) were defoliating (D) pathotype strains, especially in Yellow River/Yantze River Valley region. Seventy isolates belonged to race 2, whereas no race 1 specific fragment was amplified. These isolates were grouped into five VCGs: VCG1A (48), VCG2A/VCG4B (3), VCG2B824 (6), VCG6 (5). The D pathotype and VCG1A isolates have become the dominant strains, moderately and highly virulent isolates were widely distributed in three major cotton-growing areas in China. High level of polymorphic markers was obtained by AFLP and ISSR analyses. Through comparison of the obtained dendrograms by unweighted paired group method with arithmetic averages cluster analysis (UPGMA), the V. dahliae isolates were divided into two major groups and five subgroups. The obvious correlations with the geographic origin of the isolates between AFLP and ISSR were revealed, with significant diversity among V. dahliae isolates. In addition, AFLP dendrogram showed relationships with pathotypes. The results offered a better understanding of the epidemiology of Verticillium wilt in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: FLO15encodes a plastidic glyoxalase I protein, OsGLYI7, which affects compound starch granule formation and starch synthesis in rice endosperm.Abstract: Starch synthesis in rice (Oryza sativa) endosperm is a sophisticated process, and its underlying molecular machinery still remains to be elucidated. Here, we identified and characterized two allelic rice floury endosperm 15 (flo15) mutants, both with a white-core endosperm. The flo15 grains were characterized by defects in compound starch granule development, along with decreased starch content. Map-based cloning of the flo15 mutants identified mutations in OsGLYI7, which encodes a glyoxalase I (GLYI) involved in methylglyoxal (MG) detoxification. The mutations of FLO15/OsGLYI7 resulted in increased MG content in flo15 developing endosperms. FLO15/OsGLYI7 localizes to the plastids, and the in vitro GLYI activity derived from flo15 was significantly decreased relative to the wild type. Moreover, the expression of starch synthesis-related genes was obviously altered in the flo15 mutants. These findings suggest that FLO15 plays an important role in compound starch granule formation and starch synthesis in rice endosperm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public concern for food safety and environmental issues and the increase in fungicide-resistant pathogen have enhanced the interest in developing alternative methods to fungicides to control postharvest fruit decay. In this study, a bacterial strain isolated from stale potato vermicelli was identified as Bacillus pumilus HN-10 based on morphological characteristics and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Furthermore, two novel cationic antifungal peptides named P-1 and P-2 were purified from B. pumilus HN-10 using macroporous adsorbent resin AB-8, Sephadex G-100 chromatography, and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. The primary structure of P-1 and P-2, which were proved to be novel antifungal peptides by BLAST search in NCBI database, was PLSSPATLNSR and GGSGGGSSGGSIGGR with a molecular weight of 1142.28 and 1149.14 Da, respectively, as indicated by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Both P-1 and P-2 exhibited strong antifungal activity against Trichothecium roseum with minimum inhibitory concentrations starting from 1 μg/mL. The two novel antifungal peptides were stable below 80 °C for 2 h, but lost their activity in 15 min at 121 °C. In addition, they were resistant to the proteolytic action of pepsin, trypsin, and papain, and stable within a wide range of pH (2.0-12.0). These results showed that P-1 and P-2 are novel cationic antifungal peptides with specific activity against T. roseum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: OsPPR6, a pentatricopeptide repeat protein involved in editing and splicing chloroplast RNA, is required for chloroplast biogenesis in rice. Abstract: The chloroplast has its own genetic material and genetic system, but it is also regulated by nuclear-encoded genes. However, little is known about nuclear-plastid regulatory mechanisms underlying early chloroplast biogenesis in rice. In this study, we isolated and characterized a mutant, osppr6, that showed early chloroplast developmental defects leading to albino leaves and seedling death. We found that the osppr6 mutant failed to form thylakoid membranes. Using map-based cloning and complementation tests, we determined that OsPPR6 encoded a new Pentatricopeptide Repeat (PPR) protein localized in plastids. In the osppr6 mutants, mRNA levels of plastidic genes transcribed by the plastid-encoded RNA polymerase decreased, while those of genes transcribed by the nuclear-encoded RNA polymerase increased. Western blot analyses validated these expression results. We further investigated plastidic RNA editing and splicing in the osppr6 mutants and found that the ndhB transcript was mis-edited and the ycf3 transcript was mis-spliced. Therefore, we demonstrate that OsPPR6, a PPR protein, regulates early chloroplast biogenesis and participates in editing of ndhB and splicing of ycf3 transcripts in rice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verticillium wilt disease caused by soil-borne fungus Verticillium dahliae ( V. dahliae), is a serious threats to cotton growth worldwide. Endogenous phytohormones, such as salicylic acid (SA), jasmonic acid (JA), ethylene (ET), and brassinosteroid (BR) have been reported to play important roles in defense response in plants. Based on highthroughput RNA sequencing analysis of resistant Gossypium hirsutum ( G. hirsutum) variety Zhongzhimian KV-3, comparing the transcriptome with V. dahliae infection and non-infection, eight differentially expressed candidate genes functions indicated in SA ( GhPUB17, GhTGA7 and GhPR1), JA ( GhJAZ10 and GhbHLH18), ET ( GhEBF1), cytokinine ( GhE13L13) and BR ( GhBZR1) signal pathways were investigated via virus-induced gene silencing (VIGS) using cotton leaf crumple virus (CLCrV) vector. The expression of eight genes was further validated through quantitative realtime PCR. The result showed that the expression level of GhPUB17, GhJAZ10, GhbHLH18, GhEBF1 and GhE13L13 increased faster in resistant variety Zhongzhimian KV-3 than in susceptible variety 86-1 upon V. dahliae infection. Silencing up-regulated genes GhPUB17, GhJAZ10, GhbHLH18 and GhEBF1 significantly enhanced resistant variety susceptibility to V. dahliae and silencing down-regulated genes GhTGA7 and GhBZR1 significantly increased susceptible variety resistance to V. dahliae. Taken together, these genes are important components in response to V. dahliae infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Key message: Hybrid sterility locus S37 between Oryza glaberrima and Oryza sativa results in both pollen and embryo sac sterility. Abstract: Interspecific crossing between African cultivated rice Oryza glaberrima and Oryza sativa cultivars is hindered by hybrid sterility. To dissect the mechanism of interspecific hybrid sterility, we developed a near-isogenic line (NIL)- S37 using Dianjingyou1 (DJY1) as the recipient parent and an African cultivated rice variety as the donor parent. Empty pollen and embryo sac sterility were observed in F hybrids between DJY1 and NIL- S37. Cytological analyses showed that pollen abortion in the F hybrids occurred at the late binucleate stage due to a failure of starch accumulation in pollen grains. In addition, partial abortion of the embryo sac in the F hybrid was observed during function megaspore developing into mature embryo sac. Molecular analysis revealed that the semi-sterility was largely caused by the abortion of male and female gametophytes carrying the S37 allele from DJY1. A population of 25,600 plants derived from the hybrid DJY1/NIL- S37 was developed to fine map S37. Based on the physical location of molecular markers, S37 locus was finally delimited to a region of 205 kb on the short arm of chromosome 1 in terms of reference sequences of cv. Nipponbare. Interestingly, an about 97-kb DNA segment was deleted in the NIL- S37 based on BAC clone information of O. glaberrima. Fifty-four open reading frames (ORF) were predicted in this 205-kb region of DJY1, whereas only 31 ORFs were in that of NIL- S37. These results are valuable for cloning of S37 gene and further breaking reproductive isolation between Oryza glaberrima and Oryza sativa cultivars, as well as marker-assisted transferring of the corresponding neutral allele in rice breeding programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many analyses of the human gut microbiome depend on a catalog of reference genes. Existing catalogs for the human gut microbiome are based on samples from single cohorts or on reference genomes or protein sequences, which limits coverage of global microbiome diversity. Here we combined 249 newly sequenced samples of the Metagenomics of the Human Intestinal Tract (MetaHit) project with 1,018 previously sequenced samples to create a cohort from three continents that is at least threefold larger than cohorts used for previous gene catalogs. From this we established the integrated gene catalog (IGC) comprising 9,879,896 genes. The catalog includes close-to-complete sets of genes for most gut microbes, which are also of considerably higher quality than in previous catalogs. Analyses of a group of samples from Chinese and Danish individuals using the catalog revealed country-specific gut microbial signatures. This expanded catalog should facilitate quantitative characterization of metagenomic, metatranscriptomic and metaproteomic data from the gut microbiome to understand its variation across populations in human health and disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A paraffin phase-change measurement method for the heat generation of spirally wound cylindrical Li/SOCl and Li/SO batteries at different ambient temperatures and discharge currents is proposed. The electrical and thermal insulations of the measurement system have been greatly improved, and the accuracy of the measurement system is 4.6 % based on calibration experiments. Compared with accelerated rate calorimetry, isothermal microcalorimetry, and radiation calorimetry methods, the phase-change measurement method is simpler, but with a high accuracy. The experimental results reveal that the heat generation of the batteries during discharge is weakly dependent on the ambient temperature in the range of 38-50 °C, but strongly affected by the discharge current. As the discharge current increases, the heat generated by the Li/SOCl and Li/SO batteries increases as a quadratic polynomial function. The Li/SO battery generates more heat than the Li/SOCl battery at the same discharge current, which is demonstrated by the qualitative analysis of the internal resistance. Furthermore, the phase-change measurement method for heat generation has a strong universality, and can be applicable for heat generation measurement of various battery types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lipoxygenases (LOXs) are enzymes involved in lipid peroxidation. Here we reported the identification, molecular and functional characterization of the gene encoding rice ( Oryza sativa L.) seed LOX3 (sLOX3). Via a map-based cloning strategy we identified Os03g0700400 as the candidate gene encoding sLOX3. Further functional complementary test and biochemical characterization of the recombinant Os03g0700400 protein verified the identification. The sLOX3 gene was highly expressed in roots, moderately in embryos and very weakly in leaves, leaf sheaths and stems. Transient expression experiment (in rice protoplasts) and subsequent laser confocal microscopic analysis demonstrated that the sLOX3 protein was localized into the cytosol. We next showed that overexpression of sLOX3 in a japonica sLOX3-normal rice cultivar, Wuyunjing 7 accelerated the decrease of seed germination ability when the seeds were routinely stored, which demonstrated that sLOX3 had a negative effect on seed longevity (storability). Meanwhile, an increased occurrence of embryo decay was observed in the same transgenic seeds, suggesting that sLOX3 might negatively affect seed longevity by facilitating colonization of particular seed pathogens. Our result forwarded the understanding of the effects of 9-LOX on rice seed longevity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC) is an uncommon histological type of breast cancer. IMPC has a special growth pattern and a more aggressive behavior than invasive ductal carcinomas of no special types (IDC-NSTs). microRNAs are a large class of non-coding RNAs involved in the regulation of various biological processes. Here, we analyzed the small RNA transcriptomes of five formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) pure IMPC samples and five FFPE IDC-NSTs samples by means of next-generation sequencing, generating a total of >170,000,000 clean reads. In an unsupervised cluster analysis, differently expressed miRNAs generated a tree with clear distinction between IMPC and IDC-NSTs classes. Paired fresh-frozen and FFPE specimens showed very similar miRNA expression profiles. By means of RT-qPCR, we further investigated miRNA expression in more IMPC ( n = 22) and IDC-NSTs ( n = 24) FFPE samples and found let-7b, miR-30c, miR-148a, miR-181a, miR-181a*, and miR-181b were significantly differently expressed between the two groups. We also elucidated several features of miRNA in these breast cancer tissues including 5′ variability, miRNA editing, and 3′ untemplated addition. Our findings will lead to further understanding of the invasive potency of IMPC and gain an insight into the diversity and complexity of small RNA molecules in breast cancer tissues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment and characterization of gut microbiota has become a major research area in human disease, including type 2 diabetes, the most prevalent endocrine disease worldwide. To carry out analysis on gut microbial content in patients with type 2 diabetes, we developed a protocol for a metagenome-wide association study (MGWAS) and undertook a two-stage MGWAS based on deep shotgun sequencing of the gut microbial DNA from 345 Chinese individuals. We identified and validated approximately 60,000 type-2-diabetes-associated markers and established the concept of a metagenomic linkage group, enabling taxonomic species-level analyses. MGWAS analysis showed that patients with type 2 diabetes were characterized by a moderate degree of gut microbial dysbiosis, a decrease in the abundance of some universal butyrate-producing bacteria and an increase in various opportunistic pathogens, as well as an enrichment of other microbial functions conferring sulphate reduction and oxidative stress resistance. An analysis of 23 additional individuals demonstrated that these gut microbial markers might be useful for classifying type 2 diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chondrosarcoma (CS) of larynx is uncommon and predominantly affects the cricoid cartilage. A 70% to 75% of these tumors arise on the endolaryngeal surface of the posterior lamina of the cricoid cartilage. The clinical presentation include hoarseness, stridor, dyspnea, or a neck mass etc. The diagnosis is suggested when calcification is identified in a laryngeal tumor. Computed tomography (CT) is the best noninvasive technique for imaging the lesion. Surgical extirpation is the standard therapy with no role for radiation therapy or chemotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthesis of long DNA fragments is often associated with mutations and requires multiple DNA manipulation steps. A novel DNA synthesis method, referred to as patch oligodeoxynucleotide synthesis (POS) to assembly long DNA fragments is presented here. This method involves connection of two types of oligodeoxynucleotides: long constructional oligonucleotides (COs) and short patch oligonucleotides (POs). Long COs were connected by a ligase with the aid of POs, which were complementary to both adjacent COs to help remove secondary structures during assembly. The partial double-stranded DNA template that was formed was then amplified by PCR. Accordingly, we synthesized SV40 polyadenylation signal sequences (187 bp), a codon-optimized yellow fluorescent protein gene (678 bp), and Rattus norvegicus catenin β1 (2,352 bp). This presented method can be broadly applied to synthesize DNA fragments of varying lengths with great convenience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

RNA editing is a post-transcriptional event that recodes hereditary information. Here we describe a comprehensive profile of the RNA editome of a male Han Chinese individual based on analysis of ?767 million sequencing reads from poly(A)+, poly(A)? and small RNA samples. We developed a computational pipeline that carefully controls for false positives while calling RNA editing events from genome and whole-transcriptome data of the same individual. We identified 22,688 RNA editing events in noncoding genes and introns, untranslated regions and coding sequences of protein-coding genes. Most changes (?93%) converted A to I(G), consistent with known editing mechanisms based on adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR). We also found evidence of other types of nucleotide changes; however, these were validated at lower rates. We found 44 editing sites in microRNAs (miRNAs), suggesting a potential link between RNA editing and miRNA-mediated regulation. Our approach facilitates large-scale studies to profile and compare editomes across a wide range of samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protein content (PC) and protein index (PI) play important roles in determining nutritional quality in rice ( Oryza sativa L.). We used 71 lines derived from 'Asominori/IR24' to analyze the developmental behavior of PC and PI through unconditional and conditional QTL mapping methods. In all, 10 unconditional QTLs and 6 conditional QTLs for PC, and 11 unconditional QTLs and 9 conditional QTLs for PI, were identified at four stages of grain filling. More were identified in the first three stages than at the final stage. Temporal patterns of gene expression for PC and PI differed over time, with several QTLs being expressed across two or three stages but many being expressed at only one stage. Some of these QTLs were closely linked with maturity QTLs reported previously. Many QTLs for PC and PI were co-localized, supporting the significant correlation found between PC and PI. Our results suggest that dynamic QTL mapping might be a valid means for revealing more genetic information about protein accumulations during seed development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The incomplete fertility of japonica × indica rice hybrids has inhibited breeders' access to the substantial heterotic potential of these hybrids. As hybrid sterility is caused by an allelic interaction at a small number of loci, it is possible to overcome it by simple introgression at the major sterility loci. Here we report the use of marker-assisted backcrossing to transfer into the elite japonica cv. Zhendao88 a photoperiod-sensitive male sterility gene from cv. Lunhui422S ( indica) and the yellow leaf gene from line Yellow249 ( indica). The microsatellite markers RM276, RM455, RM141 and RM185 were used to tag the fertility genes S5, S8, S7 and S9, respectively. Line 509S is a true-breeding photoperiod-sensitive male sterile plant, which morphologically closely resembles the japonica type. Genotypic analysis showed that the genome of line 509S comprises about 92% japonica DNA. Nevertheless, hybrids between line 509S and japonica varieties suffer from a level of hybrid sterility, although the line is highly cross-compatible with indica types, with the resulting hybrids expressing a significant degree of heterosis. Together, these results suggest that segment substitution on fertility loci based on known information and marker-assisted selection are an effective approach for utilizing the heterosis of rice inter-subspecies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chalkiness of rice grain is an important quality component of rice, as it has a profound influence on eating and milling qualities. We has determined the inheritance of percentage of grain with chalkiness (PGWC) using a set of chromosome segment substitution lines, made from a cross between cv. PA64s and cv. 9311. Two loci controlling PGWC, designated as qPGWC-6 and qPGWC-7, were located on, respectively, chromosomes 6 and 7. Comparisons were made between C-51 (a CSSL harbouring qPGWC-7 and having a chalky endosperm) and the recurrent parent 9311 (translucent endosperm) to characterize the physical and chemical differences between translucent and chalky endosperm. Unlike the translucent endosperm, the chalky endosperm contains loosely packed starch granules, and there were significant difference between C-51 and 9311 for amylopectin structure and degree of crystallinity, but not for either amylose content or starch viscosity. Segregation analysis of the F2 population from the cross between C-51 and 9311 showed PGWC is a semi-dominant trait, controlled by single nuclear gene. A large F2 population was constructed from the cross C51 × 9311, and used for the fine mapping of qPGWC-7, which was located to a 44-kb DNA fragment, containing thirteen predicted genes. This result provides a springboard for the map-based cloning of qPGWC-7 and allowed for marker-assisted selection for endosperm texture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the well-documented association between gallstones and the metabolic syndrome, the mechanistic links between these two disorders remain unknown. Here we show that mice solely with hepatic insulin resistance, created by liver-specific disruption of the insulin receptor (LIRKO mice) are markedly predisposed toward cholesterol gallstone formation due to at least two distinct mechanisms. Disinhibition of the forkhead transcription factor FoxO1, increases expression of the biliary cholesterol transporters Abcg5 and Abcg8, resulting in an increase in biliary cholesterol secretion. Hepatic insulin resistance also decreases expression of the bile acid synthetic enzymes, particularly Cyp7b1, and produces partial resistance to the farnesoid X receptor, leading to a lithogenic bile salt profile. As a result, after twelve weeks on a lithogenic diet, all of the LIRKO mice develop gallstones. Thus, hepatic insulin resistance provides a crucial link between the metabolic syndrome and increased cholesterol gallstone susceptibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[BrFPy]2[Ni(dto)2] ( 1) and [BrPy]2[Ni(dto)2] ( 2) complexes have been prepared by reaction of Na2[Ni(S2C2O2)2] and the corresponding 1-(Rbenzyl)pyridinium bromide salt (R1 = 4′-bromo-2′-fluoro, R2 = 4′-bromo). The crystallographic data for 1: monoclinic P21/ c, a = 14.2192(1) Å, b = 14.2533(4) Å, c = 15.6535(3) Å, β = 96.463(1)°, V = 3152.34(11) Å3, Z = 4. Two cations, [Br1F1Py]+ and [Br2F2Py]+, both adopt a conformation where both the aromatic rings are twisted to the corresponding N(1)–C(10)–C(11) or N(2)–C(22)–C(23) reference plane. Data for 2: triclinic $$P\bar 1$$ , a = 9.4042(3) Å, b = 9.6814(4) Å, c = 10.3357(4) Å, α = 80.155(1)°, β = 65.245(1)°, γ = 64.259(1)°, V = 769.68(5) Å3, Z = 1. The [Ni(dto)2]2− anion exhibits a quasi-planar structure in both complexes. An extensive hydrogen bond network of C–H ⋅ ⋅ ⋅ O is clearly observed in 1 and 2, and two complexes show similar crystal packing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ion-pair complexes consisting of the [Fe(mnt)2]− anion and [RBzPy]+ cations [R = NO2 (1) or Cl (2)] have been prepared and characterized by elemental analysis and i.r. spectroscopy. The single crystal structure of (1) shows that the [Fe(mnt)2]− anions are dimeric, and that the coordination geometry of each Fe atom is square pyramidal. The most significant structural feature of (1) is that anions and cations form completely separate columns and π– π interactions occur within the cation columns. Thermal variations of χm T for the complexes indicated antiferromagnetic coupling within the dimer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New racemic complexes of titanium with Schiff bases derived from condensation of salicylaldehyde with dl-alanine (H2Sal-dl-Ala) and dl-valine (H2Sal-dl-Val) have been prepared. The crystal structure of [(Sal-dl-Val)2Ti·CH2Cl2 bis( N-salicylidenevalinato)titanate(IV) CH2Cl2] has been solved by single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods; the crystal is a racemate consisting of a pair of enantiomers (Sal-d-Val)2Ti and (Sal-l-Val)2Ti. The Schiff-base ligand acts as a double negatively-charged tridentate ONO chelate, coordinated to the titanium atom. The geometry around titanium is a distorted octahedron. The i.r. and u.v.–vis. spectra of the complexes have been evaluated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Assay for Transposase-Accessible Chromatin using sequencing (ATAC-seq) is a fundamental epigenomics approach and has been widely used in profiling the chromatin accessibility dynamics in multiple species. A comprehensive reference of ATAC-seq datasets for mammalian tissues is important for the understanding of regulatory specificity and developmental abnormality caused by genetic or environmental alterations. Here, we report an adult mouse ATAC-seq atlas by producing a total of 66 ATAC-seq profiles from 20 primary tissues of both male and female mice. The ATAC-seq read enrichment, fragment size distribution, and reproducibility between replicates demonstrated the high quality of the full dataset. We identified a total of 296,574 accessible elements, of which 26,916 showed tissue-specific accessibility. Further, we identified key transcription factors specific to distinct tissues and found that the enrichment of each motif reflects the developmental similarities across tissues. In summary, our study provides an important resource on the mouse epigenome and will be of great importance to various scientific disciplines such as development, cell reprogramming, and genetic disease. Design Type(s) epigenetic modification identification objective • organism part comparison design Measurement Type(s) assay for transposase-accessible chromatin using sequencing Technology Type(s) next generation DNA sequencing Factor Type(s) technical replicate • biological replicate • animal body part Sample Characteristic(s) Mus musculus • adrenal gland • brain • cerebellum • visceral abdominal adipose tissue • brown adipose tissue • adipose tissue • heart • kidney • liver • lung • ovary • pancreas • skeletal muscle tissue • spleen • thymus • uterus • bladder organ • large intestine • small intestine • stomach Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data (ISA-Tab format) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA is a promising data storage medium due to its remarkable durability and space-efficient storage. Early bit-to-base transcoding schemes have primarily pursued information density, at the expense of introducing biocompatibility challenges or decoding failure. Here we propose a robust transcoding algorithm named the yin-yang codec, using two rules to encode two binary bits into one nucleotide, to generate DNA sequences that are highly compatible with synthesis and sequencing technologies. We encoded two representative file formats and stored them in vitro as 200 nt oligo pools and in vivo as a ~54 kbps DNA fragment in yeast cells. Sequencing results show that the yin-yang codec exhibits high robustness and reliability for a wide variety of data types, with an average recovery rate of 99.9% above 10 4 molecule copies and an achieved recovery rate of 87.53% at ≤10 2 copies. Additionally, the in vivo storage demonstration achieved an experimentally measured physical density close to the theoretical maximum., (© 2022. The Author(s).)