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Global marine vertical deflection is essential for understanding Earth's internal mass and density distribution and improving the long-term inertial navigation accuracy of underwater vehicles. Spaceborne global navigation satellite system reflectometry (GNSS-R) interferometric altimetry, with its advantages of low-cost, rapid global coverage, and revisiting capability, shows promise as new data for compensating the radar altimeters. In this study, we present the first simulation of spaceborne GNSS-R interferometric altimetry data based on FY-3E GNSS-R trajectory and evaluate its potential for inverting global marine vertical deflection. Our results showed that, in the operational scenario (with a spatial resolution of 10 km and an altimetry accuracy of 14.68 cm), the total accuracy of marine vertical deflection for global 2.5′, 5′, and 20′ grids, obtained from ten years of simulation data, was 4.998″, 1.268″, and 0.1″, respectively. Furthermore, we observed that, when the average global revisit times reached approximately 90 times and 6 times, the total accuracy of marine vertical deflection for global 5′ and 20′ grids was below 1″. As the GNSS-R detection on the FY-3E satellite covers 90% of the global sea area in 20′ grids within 23 days, with an average revisit time of 7.3, spaceborne GNSS-R interferometric altimetry has the potential to invert the high-precision time-variable gravity field with a 20′ resolution, thus compensating for the lower resolution provided by satellite gravimetry.

Batracomorphus is the most diverse and widely distributed genus of Iassinae. Nevertheless, there has been no systematic analysis of the genome structure and phylogenetic relationships of the genus. To determine the characteristics of the mitogenomes of Batracomorphus species as well as the phylogenetic relationships between them, we sequenced and compared the mitogenomes of 11 representative Batracomorphus species. The results revealed that the mitogenomes of the 11 Batracomorphus species exhibited highly similar gene and nucleotide composition, and codon usage compared with other reported mitogenomes of Iassinae. Of these 11 species, we found that the mitogenomes of four species were rearranged in the region from trnI-trnQ-trnM to trnQ-trnI-trnM, whereas the remaining species presented a typical gene order. The topologies of six phylogenetic trees were in agreement. Eurymelinae consistently formed paraphyletic groups. Ledrinae and Evacanthinae formed sister taxa within the same clade. Similarly, Typhlocybinae and Mileewinae consistently clustered together. All phylogenetic trees supported the monophyly of Iassinae, indicating its evolutionary distinctiveness while also revealing its sister relationship with Coelidiinae. Notably, the nodes for all species of the genus Batracomorphus were well supported and these taxa clustered into a large branch that indicated monophyly. Within this large branch, four Batracomorphus species with a gene rearrangement (trnQ-trnI-trnM) exhibited distinctive clustering, which divided the large branch into three minor branches. These findings expand our understanding of the taxonomy, evolution, genetics, and systematics of the genus Batracomorphus and broader Iassinae groups.

Abstract The edible fungus industry is one of the pillar industries in the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau, China. The expansion of the planting scale has led to the release of various mushroom residues, such as mushroom feet, and other wastes, which are not treated adequately, resulting in environmental pollution. This study investigated the ability of black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens L.) larvae (BSFL) to degrade mushroom waste. Moreover, this study analyzed changes in the intestinal bacterial community and gene expression of BSFL after feeding on mushroom waste. Under identical feeding conditions, the remaining amount of mushroom waste in Pleurotus ostreatus treatment group was reduced by 18.66%, whereas that in Flammulina velutipes treatment group was increased by 31.08%. Regarding gut microbial diversity, compared with wheat bran-treated control group, Dysgonomonas, Providencia, Enterococcus, Pseudochrobactrum, Actinomyces, Morganella, Ochrobactrum, Raoultella, and Ignatzschineria were the most abundant bacteria in the midgut of BSFL in F. velutipes treatment group. Furthermore, Dysgonomonas, Campylobacter, Providencia, Ignatzschineria, Actinomyces, Enterococcus, Morganella, Raoultella, and Pseudochrobactrum were the most abundant bacteria in the midgut of BSFL in P. ostreatus treatment group. Compared with wheat bran-treated control group, 501 upregulated and 285 downregulated genes were identified in F. velutipes treatment group, whereas 211 upregulated and 43 downregulated genes were identified in P. ostreatus treatment group. Using Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes and Gene Ontology enrichment analyses, we identified 14 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism in F. velutipes treatment group, followed by 12 DEGs related to protein digestion and absorption. Moreover, in P. ostreatus treatment group, two DEGs were detected for fructose and mannose metabolism, and two were noted for fatty acid metabolism. These results indicate that feeding on edible mushroom waste can alter the intestinal microbial community structure of BSFL; moreover, the larval intestine can generate a corresponding feedback. These changes contribute to the degradation of edible mushroom waste by BSFL and provide a reference for treating edible mushroom waste using BSFL.

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Radio Occultation (RO) and GNSS Reflectometry (GNSS-R) are the two major spaceborne GNSS remote sensing (GNSS-RS) techniques, providing observations of atmospheric profiles and the Earth’s surface. With the rapid development of GNSS-RS techniques and spaceborne missions, many experiments and studies were conducted to assimilate those observational data into numerical weather-prediction models for tropical cyclone (TC) forecasts. GNSS RO data, known for its high precision and all-weather observation capability, is particularly effective in forecasting mid-to-upper atmospheric levels. GNSS-R, on the other hand, plays a significant role in improving TC track and intensity predictions by observing ocean surface winds under high precipitation in the inner core of TCs. Different methods were developed to assimilate these remote sensing data. This review summarizes the results of assimilation studies using GNSS-RS data for TC forecasting. It concludes that assimilating GNSS RO data mainly enhances the prediction of precipitation and humidity, while assimilating GNSS-R data improves forecasts of the TC track and intensity. In the future, it is promising to combine GNSS RO and GNSS-R data for joint retrieval and assimilation, exploring better effects for TC forecasting.

Based on delay-Doppler maps (DDMs) in raw counts generated by spaceborne global navigation satellite system reflectometry (GNSS-R) receivers, retrieving ocean surface wind speeds is feasible, so several spaceborne GNSS-R missions have been carried out. However, it is currently troubled by global data latency of several hours or even more due to the bottleneck in the satellite downlink. Consequently, this article, for the first time, presents an algorithm for spaceborne GNSS-R receivers to conduct the DDM calibration in orbit and then to retrieve ocean surface wind speeds in real time, which contributes to not only lightening the burden on downloading a wealth of scientific data but also broadcasting real-time ocean surface wind speeds to users. Since there is a power correlation between direct and reflected signals from the same GNSS satellite with respect to the GNSS-R receiver, this algorithm calibrates direct signal power first, and then it estimates the real-time GNSS transmitter effective isotropic radiated power at the reflected signal according to the normalized antenna pattern of the corresponding GNSS satellite. Afterward, DDMs in raw counts are calibrated. Finally, ocean surface wind speeds are computed using pretrained geophysical model functions. Exploiting the scientific data from the GNOS-II onboard China's FY-3E satellite, this algorithm is validated carefully, and final retrieved ocean surface wind speeds against collocated European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts wind speeds have an overall root-mean-square error of 1.68 m/s and 1.50 m/s for GPS-R and BDS-R, respectively.

Abstract Endophytic fungi play an important role in the growth and development of traditional Chinese medicine plants. We isolated a strain of Acrocalymma vagum from the endophytic fungi of the traditional Chinese plants Paris. To accurately identify this endophytic fungal species of interest, we sequenced the mitochondrial genome of A. vagum, which is the first discovered mitochondrial genome in Massarineae. The A. vagum mitochondrial genome consists of a 35,079-bp closed circular DNA molecule containing 36 genes. Then, we compared the general sequence characteristics of A. vagum with those of Pleosporales, and the second structure of the 22 tRNAs was predicted. The phylogenetic relationship of A. vagum was constructed using two different data sets (protein-coding genes and amino acids). The phylogenetic tree shows that A. vagum is located at the root of Pleosporales. The analysis of introns shows that the number of introns increases with the increase in branch length. The results showed that monophyly was confirmed for all families in Pleosporales except for Pleosporaceae. A. vagum is an ancient species in the Pleosporales, and Pleosporaceae may require further revision. In Pleosporales, the number of introns is positively correlated with branch length, providing data for further study on the origin of introns.

The spatial–temporal sampling errors arising from the differences in geographical locations and measurement times between co-located Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio occultation (RO) and radiosonde (RS) data represent systematic errors in the three-cornered hat (3CH) method. In this study, we propose a novel spatial–temporal sampling correction method to mitigate the sampling errors associated with both RO–RS and RS–model pairs. We analyze the 3CH processing chain with this new correction method in comparison to traditional approaches, utilizing Fengyun-3E (FY-3E) GNSS Occultation Sounder II (GNOS II) RO data, atmospheric models, and RS datasets from the Hailar and Xisha stations. Overall, the results demonstrate that the improved 3CH method performs better in terms of spatial–temporal sampling errors and the variances of atmospheric parameters, including refractivity, temperature, and specific humidity. Subsequently, we assess the error variances of the FY-3E GNOS II RO, RS and model atmospheric parameters in China, in particular the northern China and southern China regions, based on large ensemble datasets using the improved 3CH data processing chain. The results indicate that the FY-3E GNOS II BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS) RO and Global Positioning System (GPS) RO show good consistency, with the average error variances of refractivity, temperature, and specific humidity being less than 1.12%2, 0.13%2, and 700%2, respectively. A comparison of the datasets from northern and southern China reveals that the error variances for refractivity are smaller in northern China, while temperature and specific humidity exhibit smaller error variances in southern China, which is attributable to the differing climatic conditions.

Japanagallia is a genus of Cicadomorpha in the family of leafhoppers that are plant piercing-sucking insects, and it is difficult to distinguish by morphological characteristics. So far, only one complete mitochondrial genome data has been reported for the genus Japanagallia. Therefore, in order to better understand this group, we assembled and annotated the complete mitochondrial genomes of five Japanagallia species, and analyzed their codon usage patterns. Nucleotide composition analysis showed that AT content was higher than GC content, and the protein-coding sequences preferred to end with A/T at the third codon position. Relative synonymous codon usage analysis revealed most over-represented codon ends with A or T. Parity plot analysis revealed the codon usage bias of mitochondrial genes was influenced by both natural selection and mutation pressure. In the neutrality plot, the slopes of regression lines were < 0.5, suggesting that natural selection was playing a major role while mutation pressure was of minor importance. The effective number of codons showed that the codon usage bias between genes and genomes was low. Correspondence analysis revealed that the codon usage pattern differed among 13 protein-coding genes. Phylogenetic analyses based on three datasets using two methods (maximum likelihood and Bayesian inference), restored the Megophthalminae monophyly with high support values (bootstrap support values (BS) = 100, Bayesian posterior probability (PP) = 1). In the obtained topology, the seven Japanagallia species were clustered into a monophyletic group and formed a sister group with Durgade. In conclusion, our study can provide a reference for the future research on organism evolution, identification and phylogeny relationships of Japanagallia species.

The Global Navigation Satellite System Occultation Sounder II (GNOS-II) payload onboard the Chinese Fengyun-3E (FY-3E) satellite is the world’s first operational spaceborne mission that can utilize reflected signals from multiple navigation systems for Earth remote sensing. The satellite was launched into an 836-km early-morning polar orbit on 5 July 2021. Different GNSS signals show different characteristics in the observations and thus require different calibration methods. With an average data latency of less than 3 h, many near real-time applications are possible. This article first introduces the FY-3E/GNOS-II mission and instrument design, then describes the extensive calibration methods for the multi-GNSS measurements, and finally presents application results in the remote sensing of ocean surface winds, land soil moisture and sea ice extent. Especially, the ocean surface wind product has been used in operational applications such as assimilation in the numerical weather prediction model and monitoring of tropical cyclones. Currently, GNOS-II has been carried by FY-3E, FY-3F (launched in August 2023) and FY-3G (launched in April 2023). It will be also carried by future follow-on FY series and a more complete multi-GNSS reflectometry constellation will be established.

The global navigation satellite system radio occultation (GNSS-RO) is an important means of space-based meteorological observation. It is necessary to test the Global Navigation Satellite System Occultation signal receiver on the ground before the deployment of space-based occultation detection systems. The current approach of testing the GNSS signal receiver on the ground is mainly the mountaintop-based testing approach, which has problems such as high cost and large simulation error. In order to overcome the limitations of the mountaintop-based test approach, this paper proposes an accurate, repeatable, and controllable GNSS atmospheric occultation simulation system and builds a load performance evaluation approach based on the ground-based GNSS atmospheric occultation simulation system on the basis of it. The GNSS atmospheric occultation simulation system consists of the visualization and interaction module, the GNSS-RO simulation signal generation module, the GNSS-RO simulator module, the GNSS-RO signal receiver module, and the GNSS-RO inversion and evaluation module, combined with the preset atmospheric model to generate GNSS-RO simulation signals with a high degree of simulation, and comparing the atmospheric parameters of the inversion performance of the GNSS-RO signal receiver with the parameters of the preset atmospheric model to obtain the error data. The overall performance of the GNSS-RO signal receiver can be evaluated based on the error information. The novel approach to evaluate the GNSS-RO signal receiver performance proposed in this paper is validated by using the FY-3E (FengYun-3E) receiver qualification parts that have been verified in orbit, and the results confirm that the approach can meet the requirements of the GNSS-RO receiver performance test. This study shows that the novel approach to evaluate the GNSS-RO signal receiver performance in terms of the ground-based atmospheric occultation simulation system can efficiently and accurately be used to carry out the receiver test and provides an effective solution for the ground-based test of GNSS-RO signal receivers.

The FY3C/GNOS launched in 2013 can only detect the scintillation of GPS navigation signals, while the FY3D satellite launched in 2017 supports the scintillation observation of BeiDou navigation satellite system (BDS) signals, thus enabling simultaneous detection of GPS and BDS ionospheric scintillation. This work presents a preliminary accuracy evaluation of BDS ionospheric scintillation observed by the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) occultation sounder (GNOS) onboard the FY3D satellite, to support long-term ionospheric scientific applications based on the BDS system. First, the F-layer worst-case (maximum) amplitude scintillation index ($S4_{\text{max}}^F$) of FY3D-BDS, FY3D-GPS, and COSMIC-GPS are, respectively, quality-controlled, and the spatial-temporal matching of $S4_{\text{max}}^F$ between FY3D-BDS and FY3D-GPS/COSMIC-GPS is performed. Then, based on the statistical deviation (std) of the $S4_{\text{max}}^F$ data pairs, the data accuracy of FY3D-BDS $S4_{\text{max}}^F$ relative to FY3D-GPS and COSMIC-GPS is obtained. The results show that the std of the $S4_{\text{max}}^F$ differences in data pairs between FY3D-BDS and FY3D-GPS/COSMIC-GPS is smaller than 0.1, which proves the high precision of BDS ionospheric scintillation detection of FY3D/GNOS. Meanwhile, the std of the $S4_{\text{max}}^F$ differences between FY3D-BDS and FY3D-GPS/COSMIC-GPS at nighttime is higher than that at daytime, and the std in the mid-latitude region is lower than that in the low-latitude and high-latitude regions.

The FengYun-3E Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) occultation sounder II (FY-3E GNOS II) was launched on 5 July 2021. For the first time, based on the new GNOS II sensor, this mission realizes radio occultation (RO) and reflectometry observations using the navigation signals from the third-generation BeiDou System (BDS-3), and it is hence important to assess and analyze the BDS-3 remote sensing performances relative to other systems. Here, we assessed FY-3E GNOS II RO atmospheric retrievals by inter-comparing with corresponding data from the NCEP FNL global atmospheric analysis and FY-3D GNOS mission. The GNOS RO data quality and consistency of the different FY-3 meteorological satellites, i.e., FY-3D and FY-3E, as well as different GNSS systems (GPS, BDS-2, BDS-3) were analyzed. We find that the FY-3E GNOS II RO data exhibit better quality than FY-3D GNOS, particularly in the number, penetration height toward surface, and global coverage by BDS RO profiles, due to the integration of BDS-2 and BDS-3. Additionally, comparing with co-located NCEP FNL analysis profiles, the mean difference (and standard deviation) of the FY-3E GNOS II RO atmospheric refractivity profile retrievals is found to be smaller than 0.2% (and 1%), in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, from 5 to 30 km, and remains consistent at this accuracy and precision level with the FY-3D GNOS RO data. These features provide clear evidence for a high utility of the new GNOS II RO data for weather and climate research and applications.

This article proposes a single-frequency occultation method whose core is the reconstruction of a second frequency measurement. We process the actual received Galileo E1 single-frequency occultation observation data of FengYun3E to meet the urgent need for single-frequency Galileo occultation inversion of FengYun3 E/F/G/H satellites. Galileo single-frequency occultation events are globally distributed evenly and have stable quantities. The refractive index products and dry temperature products inverted from the single-frequency occultation data are reliable at altitudes of 5–30 km. The Galileo E1 single-frequency occultation process can effectively improve the output of FengYun3E/GNOS occultation products. These results validate the feasibility and correctness of using FengYun3/GNOS for the actual Galileo single-frequency occultation process. The atmospheric occultation products of Galileo single-frequency occultation increase the quantity of global occultation products and serve as a beneficial supplement to global numerical weather prediction data sources.

Abstract The first two complete mitogenomes of the leafhopper genus Cladolidia (C. biungulata and C. robusta) were sequenced and annotated to further explore the phylogeny of Cladolidia. Both the newly sequenced mitogenomes have a typical circular structure, with lengths of 15,247 and 15,376 bp and A + T contents of 78.2% and 78%, respectively. We identified a highly conserved genome organization in the two Cladolidia spp. through comparative analysis that included the following assessments: genome content, gene order, nucleotide composition, codon usage, amino acid composition, and tRNA secondary structure. Moreover, we detected the base heterogeneity of Cicadellidae mitogenomic data and constructed phylogenetic trees using the nucleotide alignments of 12 subfamilies of 58 leafhopper species. We noted a weak heterogeneity in the base composition among the Cicadellidae mitogenomes. Phylogenetic analyses showed that the monophyly of each subfamily was generally well supported in the family Cicadellidae; the main topology was as follows: (Deltocephalinae + (Treehoppers + ((Megophthalminae + (Macropsinae + (Hylicinae + (Coelidiinae +Iassinae)) + (Idiocerinae + (Cicadellinae + (Typhlocybinae + (Mileewinae + (Evacanthinae +Ledrinae)))))))))). Within Coelidiinae, phylogenetic analyses revealed that C. biungulata and C. robusta belong to Coelidiinae and the monophyly of Cladolidia is well supported. In addition, on the basis of complete mitogenome phylogenetic analysis and the comparison of morphological characteristics, we further confirm the genus Olidiana as a paraphyletic group, suggesting that the genus may need taxonomic revisions.

Abstract Fine Doppler frequency estimation has an important role in accelerating the convergence of the tracking loop in a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver to achieve short time to first fix. BDS‐3 started broadcasting a civil B1C signal to provide open services for global users, which is beneficial for GNSS‐based applications. Therefore, a fine Doppler frequency acquisition algorithm based on an adaptive filter is proposed, whose purpose is to acquire the BDS‐3 B1C signal Doppler frequency accurately after the completion of coarse acquisition. The proposed algorithm is based on a first‐order complex‐coefficients adaptive filter. The adaptive filter depends on the proposed adaptation algorithm to track the input BDS‐3 B1C signal. An accurate Doppler frequency estimate is extracted. Simulation results show the proposed algorithm has high acquisition sensitivity, high acquisition accuracy, short acquisition time, and few hardware resources consumption, and also works well under many different coarse acquisition strategies. Overall, the proposed algorithm is better than the generic second‐order frequency locked loop. Consequently, the proposed algorithm has high practical value.

Abstract The BDS‐3 recently started broadcasting a new civil B1C signal to provide open services for global users, which brings benefits to GNSS‐based applications. The BDS‐3 B1C signal modulates a long secondary code on the primary code in the pilot component, and it is useful to acquire the secondary code so as to extend coherent integration time when acquiring weak BDS‐3 B1C signals. However, the long secondary code of the BDS‐3 B1C signal puts FFT‐based and multi‐hypothesis‐based secondary code acquisition methods in trouble from the high computational burden. Therefore, the authors propose a novel secondary code acquisition algorithm called the partial correlation method (PCM) for the BDS‐3 B1C signal. The PCM acquires the secondary code in three steps to reduce the complexity and acquisition time, and it supports up to 110ms coherent integration and can be applied for the case of C/N0≥25dB‐Hz, which satisfies most cases. Further, a matched‐filter‐based architecture of the PCM is presented. Additionally, the characteristic length vector to determine the secondary code chip position quickly is proposed, which is better than the existing characteristic length method. Finally, experimental results based on real BDS‐3 B1C signals data show that the proposed PCM is effective.

Abstract There is a strong demand for the multi‐constellations compatible Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) acquisition scheme, since it is able to acquire signals from different constellations to increase availability of satellites. However, the presence of multiple modulation modes and diverse Pseudo‐Random‐Noise (PRN) code lengths makes the design challenging. Moreover, existing schemes consume a lot of hardware resources. Hence, we present an innovative Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA)‐based low‐complexity and multi‐constellation compatible GNSS acquisition scheme to provide a solution for the above‐mentioned challenges. This scheme is based on the proposed Improved Serial‐Parallel Matched Filter structure that not only requires less hardware resources than conventional structures but also performs all operations in a pipeline to simplify the implementation in FPGA. Additionally, the maximum likelihood criterion is used to obtain decision statistics, which ensures the compatibility between BPSK and sBOC(1,1) signals. Furthermore, a three‐step method to acquire signals with a long PRN code is proposed. This also guarantees the compatibility among signals with different PRN code lengths. Finally, a new aided acquisition method to accelerate the acquisition process of signals with a long PRN code is proposed. Experimental results show this scheme is capable of acquiring multi‐constellations civil GNSS signals, and therefore it has high practical value.

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the most common form of cancer, resulting in cancer-related deaths worldwide. Exosomes, a subclass of extracellular vesicles, are produced and secreted from various types of cells, including cancer cells. Cancer-derived exosomes can deliver nucleic acids, proteins, and lipids to provide a favorable microenvironment that supports tumor growth through enhancing cell proliferation and metastasis. Our results showed that miR-224-5p was upregulated in NSCLC patient tissues and cell lines, with a tumor-promoting phenotype. Meanwhile, exosome-derived miR-224-5p induced cell proliferation and metastasis in NSCLC and human lung cells. Moreover, we characterized the androgen receptor (AR) as a direct target of miR-224-5p. Tumor xenograft assay experiments revealed that overexpression of miR-224-5p drove NSCLC tumor growth via the suppression of AR and the mediation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Collectively, our results suggest that miR-224-5p-enriched exosomes promote tumorigenesis by directly targeting AR in NSCLC, which may provide novel potential therapeutic and preventive targets for NSCLC.

GNSS single-frequency occultation processing technology has the advantage of simple instrumentation, but it is not clear about the accuracy of the Beidou-based single-frequency occultation processing. This paper verifies the single-frequency occultation processing algorithm of the BeiDou navigation system (BDS) and analyzes its accuracy based on occultation observation data from the FY3E satellite. The research aimed to verify the single-frequency ionospheric relative total electron content (relTEC), analyze the accuracy of the reconstructed second frequency B3∗’s excess phase Doppler, and analyze the accuracy of the refractive index products. Results: (1) As for relTEC and excess phase Doppler, the correlation coefficient between single-frequency occultation processing and dual-frequency occultation processing is greater than 0.95. (2) The relative average deviations of the excess phase Doppler of B3∗ are mostly less than 0.2%, and the relative standard deviations are mostly around 0.5%. (3) The bias index and root mean square index of single/dual-frequency inversion have good consistency compared with ERA5 data. All the results show that the single- and dual-frequency inversion refractive index products have comparable accuracies, and the accuracy of the standard deviation of single-frequency inversion refractive index products over 25 km being slightly lower than that of dual-frequency inversion refractive index products.

The reflected GNSS signals at the L-band is significantly advantageous in soil moisture monitoring as they are sensitive to the dielectric properties determined by the volumetric water content of topsoil, and they can penetrate vegetation, except in very dense forests. The Global Navigation satellite system Occultation Sounder (GNOS-II) with a reflectometry technique onboard the Fengyun-3E (FY-3E) satellite, launched on 5 July 2021, is the first mission that can receive reflected Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals from GPS, BeiDou and Galileo systems. This paper presents the soil moisture retrieval results from the FY-3E GNOS-II mission using 16 months of data. In this study, the reflectivity observations from different GNSS systems were firstly intercalibrated with some differences analyzed. Observations were also corrected by considering vegetation attenuation for 16 different land cover classifications. Finally, an empirical model was constructed for volumetric soil moisture (VSM) estimation, where the reflectivity of GNOS-II was linearly related to the SMAP reference soil moisture for each 36 km ease grid. The overall root-mean-square error of the retrieved soil moisture is 0.049 compared with the SMAP product, and 0.054 compared with the in situ data. The results of the three GNSS systems show similar levels of accuracy. This paper, for the first time, demonstrates the feasibility of global soil moisture retrieval using multiple GNSS signals.

The vigorous development of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) has led to a boom in GNSS radio occultation (GNSS RO) and GNSS reflectometry (GNSS-R) techniques. Consequently, we have proposed an innovative signal processing scheme for spaceborne integrated GNSS remote sensors (SIGRS), combining a GNSS RO and a GNSS-R module. In the SIGRS, the GNSS-R module shares one precise orbit determination (POD) module with the GNSS RO module, and the GNSS-R module first achieves compatibility with GPS, BDS, and Galileo. Moreover, the programmable non-uniform delay resolution was introduced and first used by the SIGRS to generate the output DDM, which achieves a high delay resolution in the DDM central region around the specular point to improve the accuracy of basic observables but requires fewer delay bins than the conventional DDM with uniform delay resolution. The SIGRS has been successfully used to design the GNOS II onboard the Chinese FY-3E satellite, and the results of in-orbit operation validate the performance of the SIGRS, which means the SIGRS is an economically and technically efficient design and has become the first successful signal processing scheme for spaceborne integrated GNSS remote sensors around the world.

Similar morphological characteristics and limited molecular data of Olidiana resulted in their unknown phylogenetic statuses and equivocal relationships. To further understand the genus Olidiana, we sequenced and annotated five Olidiana complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes). Our results show that Olidiana mitogenomes range from 15,205 bp to 15,993 bp in length and include 37 typical genes (13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNAs, and 2 rRNAs) and a control region. Their nucleotide composition, codon usage, features of control region, and tRNA secondary structures are similar to other members of Cicadellidae. We constructed the phylogenetic tree of Cicadellidae using the maximum likelihood (ML) and Bayesian inference (BI) methods based on all valid mitogenome sequences. The most topological structure of the obtained phylogenetic tree is consistent. Our results support the monophyletic relationships among 10 subfamilies within Cicadellidae and confirm Iassinae and Coelidiinae to be sister groups with high approval ratings. Interestingly, Olidiana was inferred as a paraphyletic group with strong support via both ML and BI analyses. These complete mitogenomes of five Olidiana species could be useful in further studies for species diagnosis, evolution, and phylogeny research within Cicadellidae.

Atmospheric drag provides an indirect approach for evaluating atmospheric mass density, which can be derived from the Precise Orbit Determination (POD) of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites. A method was developed to estimate nongravitational acceleration, which includes the drag acceleration of the thermospheric density model and empirical force acceleration in the velocity direction from the centimeter-level reduced-dynamic POD. The main research achievements include the study of atmospheric responses to geomagnetic storms, especially after the launch of the spherical Qiu Qiu (QQ)-Satellite (QQ-Satellite) with the global navigation system satellite (GNSS) receiver onboard tracking the Global Positioning System (GPS) and Beidou System (BDS) data. Using this derivation method, the high-accuracy POD atmospheric density was determined from these data, resulting in better agreement among the QQ-Satellite-derived densities and the NRLMSISE-00 model densities. In addition, the POD-derived density exhibited a more sensitive response to magnetic storms. Improved accuracy of short-term orbit predictions using derived density was one of the aims of this study. Preliminary experiments using densities derived from the QQ-Satellite showed promising and encouraging results in reducing orbit propagation errors within 24 h, especially during periods of geomagnetic activity.

Diabetic foot ulcers are seriously endangering the physical and mental health of patients. Due to the long duration of inflammation, the treatment of nonhealing wounds in diabetes is one of the most prominent healthcare problems in the world. The nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signaling pathway, a classical pathway that triggers inflammatory response, is regulated by many regulators, such as glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK-3β). Noncoding RNAs, a large class of molecules that regulate gene expression at the posttranscriptional or posttranslational level, play an important role in various stages of wound healing, especially in the stage of inflammation. Herein, we summarized the roles of noncoding RNAs in the NF-κB/GSK-3β signaling, which might provide new ideas for the treatment of diabetic wound healing.

FengYun-3E (FY3E), launched on 5 July 2021, is one of China’s polar-orbiting meteorological satellite series. The GNOS II onboard FY3E is an operational GNSS remote sensor that for the first time combines GNSS radio occultation (GNSS RO) and GNSS reflectometry (GNSS-R). It has eight reflection channels that can track eight specular points at the same time, receiving reflected signals from multiple GNSS systems, including GPS, BeiDou and Galileo. The basic GNSS-R output generated by GNOS II is a 122 × 20 non-uniform delay-Doppler map whose high resolution portion captures more information near the specular point. This paper introduces the GNSS-R aspect of the FengYun-3E GNOS II, including the instrument, power calibration and wind speed retrieval algorithm. Preliminary validation results for its first four months of data are also presented. After preliminary quality control, the overall wind speed error is less than 2 m/s at wind speeds below 20 m/s for data from both GPS satellites and BeiDou satellites when compared to the ECMWF reanalysis winds.

In radio occultation (RO) data processing and data assimilation, the forward model (FM) is used to calculate bending angle (BA) from refractivity (N). The accuracy and precision of forward modeled BA are affected by refractivity profiles and FM methods, including Abel integral algorithms (direct, exp, exp_T, linear) and methods of interpolating refractivity during integral (log-cubic spline and log-linear). Experiment 1 compares these forward model methods by comparing the difference and relative difference (RD) of the experimental value (forward modeled ECMWF analysis) and the true value (BA of FY3D RO data). Results suggested that the exp with log-cubic spline (log-cubic) interpolation is the most accurate FM because it has better integral accuracy (less than 2%) to inputs, especially when the input is lower than an order of magnitude of 1 × 10−2 (that is, above 60 km). By contrast, the direct induced a 10% error, and the improvement of exp T to exp is limited. Experiment 2 simulated the exact errors of an FM (exp) based on inputs on different vertical resolutions. The inputs are refractivity profiles on model levels of three widely used analyses, including ECMWF 4Dvar analysis, final operational global analysis data (FNL), and ERA5. Results demonstrated that based on exp and log-cubic interpolation, BA on model level of ECMWF 4Dvar has the highest accuracy, whose RD is 0.5% between 0–35 km, 4% between 35–58 km, and 1.8% between 58–80 km. By contrast, the other two analyses have low accuracy. This paper paves the way to better understanding the FM, and simulation errors on model levels of three analyses can be a helpful FM error reference.

The global navigation satellite system (GNSS) radio occultation (RO) technique is an atmospheric sounding technique that originated in the 1990s. The data provided by this approach are playing a consistently significant role in atmospheric research and related applications. This paper mainly summarizes the applications of RO to numerical weather prediction (NWP) generally and specifically for tropical cyclone (TC) forecast and outlines the prospects of the RO technique. With advantages such as high precision and accuracy, high vertical resolution, full-time and all-weather, and global coverage, RO data have made a remarkable contribution to NWP and TC forecasts. While accounting for only 7% of the total observations in European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts’ (ECMWF’s) assimilation system, RO has the fourth-largest impact on NWP. The greater the amount of RO data, the better the forecast of NWP. In cases of TC forecasts, assimilating RO data from heights below 6 km and from the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) region contributes to the forecasting accuracy of the track and intensity of TCs in different stages. A statistical analysis showed that assimilating RO data can help restore the critical characteristics of TCs, such as the location and intensity of the eye, eyewall, and rain bands. Moreover, a non-local excess phase assimilation operator can be employed to optimize the assimilation results. With denser RO profiles expected in the future, the accuracy of TC forecast can be further improved. Finally, future trends in RO are discussed, including advanced features, such as polarimetric RO, and RO strategies to increase the number of soundings, such as the use of a cube satellite constellation.

With the accumulation of the ionospheric radio occultation (IRO) data observed by Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) occultation sounder (GNOS) onboard FengYun-3C (FY3C) satellite, it is possible to use GNOS IRO data for ionospheric climatology research. Therefore, this work aims to validate the feasibility of FY3C/GNOS IRO products in climatology research by comparison with that of Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC), laying the foundation for its application in climatology study. Since previous verification works of FY3C/GNOS were done by comparison with ionosondes, this work matched NmF2/hmF2 of FY3C/GNOS and COSMIC into data pairs to verify the profile-level accuracy of FY3C/GNOS IRO data. The statistical results show that the overall correlation coefficients of both NmF2 and hmF2 are above 0.9, the overall bias and std of NmF2 differences between FY3C/GNOS and COSMIC are −2.19% and 17.48%, respectively, and the bias and std of hmF2 differences are −3.29 and 18.01 km, respectively, indicating a high profile-level precision consistency between FY3C/GNOS and COSMIC. In ionospheric climatology comparison, we divided NmF2/hmF2 of FY3C/GNOS into four seasons, then presented the season median NmF2/hmF2 in 5° × 10° grids and compared them with that of COSMIC. The results show that the ionospheric climatological characteristics of FY3C/GNOS and COSMIC are highly matched, both showing the typical climatological features such as equatorial ionosphere anomaly (EIA), winter anomaly, semiannual anomaly, Weddell Sea anomaly (WSA) and so on, though minor discrepancies do exist like the differences in magnitude of longitude peak structures and WSA, which verifies the reliability of FY3C/GNOS IRO products in ionospheric climatology research.

The state-of-art global navigation satellite system (GNSS) occultation sounder (GNOS) onboard the FengYun 3 series C satellite (FY-3C) has been in operation for more than five years. The accumulation of FY-3C GNOS atmospheric data makes it ready to be used in atmosphere and climate research fields. This work first introduces FY-3C GNOS into tropopause research and gives the error evaluation results of long-term FY-3C atmosphere profiles. We compare FY-3C results with Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) and radiosonde results and also present the FY-3C global seasonal tropopause patterns. The mean temperature deviation between FY-3C GNOS temperature profiles and COSMIC temperature profiles from January 2014 to December 2017 is globally less than 0.2 K, and the bias of tropopause height (TPH) and tropopause temperature (TPT) annual cycle derived from both collocated pairs are about 80–100 m and 1–2 K, respectively. Also, the correlation coefficients between FY-3C GNOS tropopause parameters and each radiosonde counterpart are generally larger than 0.9 and the corresponding regression coefficients are close to 1. Multiple climate phenomena shown in seasonal patterns coincide with results of other relevant studies. Our results demonstrate the long-term stability of FY-3C GNOS atmosphere profiles and utility of FY-3C GNOS data in the climate research field.