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As a result of the advantages of the steel fiber reinforced concrete pavement structure, which includes high strength, high stiffness, and high stability, a large number of steel fiber concrete pavements will be used for highway construction in China. As a result, numerous cracks develop, which significantly reduces the life of the road; therefore, the study of the jointing problem is vital. As concrete research on the influence of the load transfer capacity and service life of prefabricated steel fiber reinforced concrete joints on the structural design and use function of the whole and pavement panels, the paper proposes two joint forms, tongue-and-groove and overlap. Using experiments and software, the stress and reflection of prefabricated road panels of the two joint forms are analyzed for different axial loads. The analysis reveals that the maximum tensile stress, shear stress, and deflection of the precast panels of both joint forms increase linearly as the axle load of the vehicle increases, while the service life decreases relatively. The load transfer capacity is independent of the axle load magnitude, and the load transfer capacity difference between the two types of joints is minimal and excellent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an in-depth study of the assembly production variance problem through the largest supplier of General Motors China. We focus on the production variance problem in an unreliable assembly (MOBA) system with a finite inter-station buffer, focusing on two of the central issues, namely the output variance as well as the delivery schedule variance. We model every subsystem's departure procedure in the MOBA system using the Markov Arrival Process (MAP) approach. Through the approximate use of MAP, we successfully shorten the time needed to calculate the output variance as well as delivery schedule variance of a large-scale MOBA system, which improves the efficiency of the system while ensuring that it meets the customer's needs. The relationship between production variance and system parameters is also studied, which is of substantial significance for optimizing the productivity of MOBA systems and improving customer satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the conditions of the manufacture of low-cost technology in China with the examples of 'pirated' VCD players, 'no-name' DVD players, and Shenzhen's development as a techno-urban city. It emphasizes the significance of the cultural logic of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and argues that the various transformations and deflections that are derived from ubiquitous OEM experiences have gone beyond the original model of an authorized OEM, experiences that are to some extent embodied in the transgression of brand name and patent hegemonies, which are mainly controlled by high technology companies. OEMs have been associated with China's current imperative and uninhibited development of low-cost technology capitalism. 'Made in China' signifies the production of any product, legal or illegal, for transnational high technology giants or domestic technology manufacturers. Learning to 'become an OEM' in China has partly resulted in excessive technological mimesis that may be part of an unauthorized, underground economy that is based on low-cost technology. Based on the Shenzhen experience, part of this study will show industrial production-oriented OEM cultures in which illegal operations and counterfeit trade are incorporated, even in city projects that are shared by municipal governments and Chinese technological companies, and undergo spatial restructuring in the development of the economy, consumerism, and urbanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prunus tenella is a rare and precious relict plant in China. It is an important genetic resource for almond improvement and an indispensable material in ecological protection and landscaping. However, the research into molecular breeding and genetic evolution has been severely restricted due to the lack of genome information. In this investigation, we created a chromosome-level genomic pattern of P. tenella, 231 Mb in length with a contig N50 of 18.1 Mb by Hi-C techniques and high-accuracy PacBio HiFi sequencing. The present assembly predicted 32,088 protein-coding genes, and an examination of the genome assembly indicated that 94.7% among all assembled transcripts were alignable to the genome assembly; most (97.24%) were functionally annotated. By phylogenomic genome comparison, we found that P. tenella is an ancient group that diverged approximately 13.4 million years ago (mya) from 13 additional closely related species and about 6.5 Mya from the cultivated almond. Collinearity analysis revealed that P. tenella is highly syntenic and has high sequence conservation with almond and peach. However, this species also exhibits many presence/absence variants. Moreover, a large inversion at the 7588 kb position of chromosome 5 was observed, which may have a significant association with phenotypic traits. Lastly, population genetic structure analysis in eight different populations indicated a high genetic differentiation among the natural distribution of P. tenella. This high-quality genome assembly provides critical clues and comprehensive information for the systematic evolution, genetic characteristics, and functional gene research of P. tenella. Moreover, it provides a valuable genomic resource for in-depth study in protection, developing, and utilizing P. tenella germplasm resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The tiger frog (Hoplobatrachus rugulosus) is listed as a national Class II protected species in China. In the context of global warming, the sex ratio of amphibians will be affected, and the development of the population will be limited. Therefore, considering the potential for a decrease in the number of amphibians, studying sex evolution and molecular regulation of gonadal development in H. rugulosus, phenomenon that are currently unclear, is of great significance. Results: Here, H. rugulosus was used to explore the mechanisms regulating gonadal development in amphibians. Illumina HiSeq 3000 was used to sequence the gonadal transcriptome of male and female H. rugulosus at two growth stages to identify genes related to gonadal development and analyze expression differences in the gonads. This analysis indicated that cyp17α, hsd3β, hsd11β1, cyp19α, and hsd17β12 perform vital functions in sex development in amphibians. Specifically, the expression of cyp3α, cyp17α, hsd3β, hsd11β1, sox2, sox9, sox30, soat, cyp19α, hsd17β12, and hspα1s was correlated with gonadal development and differentiation in H. rugulosus, as determined using the quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. Conclusion: Significant differences were found in the gonadal gene expression levels in H. rugulosus of both sexes, and we identified a steroid hormone synthesis pathway in this species and analyzed related gene expression, but the changes during sex differentiation were still unclear. To our knowledge, this report presents the first analysis of the H. rugulosus gonadal transcriptome and lays the foundation for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The invasion of plant by viruses cause major damage to plants and reduces crop yield and integrity. Devastating plant virus infection has been experienced at different times all over the world, which are attributed to different events of mutation, re-assortment and recombination occurring in the viruses. Strategies for proper virus management has been mostly limited to eradicating the vectors that spreads the plant viruses. However, development of prompt and effective diagnostic methods are required to monitor emerging and re-emerging diseases that may be symptomatic or asymptomatic in the plant as well as the genetic variation and evolution in the plant viruses. A survey of plant viruses infecting field-grown Tobacco crop was conducted in Anhui Province of China by the deep sequencing of sRNAs. Methods: Survey of plant viruses infecting Tobacco was carried based on 104 samples collected across the province. Nine different sRNA libraries was prepared and custom-made bioinformatics pipeline coupled with molecular techniques was developed to sequence, assemble and analyze the siRNAs for plant virus discovery. We also carried out phylogenetic and recombination analysis of the identified viruses. Results: Twenty two isolates from eight different virus species including Cucumber mosaic virus, Potato virus Y, Tobacco mosaic virus, Tobacco vein banding Mosaic virus, Pepper mottle virus, Brassica yellow virus, Chilli venial mottle virus, Broad bean wilt virus 2 were identified in tobacco across the survey area. The near-complete genome sequence of the 22 new isolates were determined and analyzed. The isolates were grouped together with known strains in the phylogenetic tree. Molecular variation in the isolates indicated the conserved coding regions have majorly a nucleotide sequence identity of 80-94 % with previously identified isolates. Various events of recombination were discovered among some of the isolates indicating that two or more viruses or different isolates of one virus infect the same host cell. Conclusion: This study describes the discovery of a consortium of plant viruses infecting Tobacco that are broadly distributed in Anhui province of China. It also demonstrates the effectiveness of NGS in identifying plant viruses without a prior knowledge of the virus and the genetic diversity that enhanced mixed infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Actinidia macrosperma (A. macrosperma) is a medicinal plant in China, which has been well known for its activities against leprosy and cancers. In this study, we assembled and characterized the complete chloroplast (cp) genome sequence of A. macrosperma in an effort to provide genomic resources for promoting its conservation. The cp genome is 156,231 bp in length, containing a pair of 23,720 bp inverted repeat (IR) regions, which is separated by a large single copy region (LSC) of 88,214 bp and a small single copy region (SSC) of 20,577 bp. A total of 132 genes were annotated in this cp genome, including 85 protein-coding genes, 39 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis highly supported that A. macrosperma was evolutionarily close to another Actinidia species Actinidia deliciosa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]