Precisely Control Relationship between Sulfur Vacancy and H Absorption for Boosting Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Ef fective and robust catalyst is the core of water splitting to produce hydrogen.Here, we report an anionic etching method to tailor the sulfur vacancy(VS) of NiS_(2) to further enhance the electrocatalytic performance for hydrogen evolution reaction(HER). With the VS concentration change from 2.4% to 8.5%, the H* adsorption strength on S sites changed and NiS_(2)-VS 5.9% shows the most optimized H* adsorption for HER with an ultralow onset potential(68 m V) and has long-term stability for 100 h in 1 M KOH media. In situ attenuated-total-reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(ATR-FTIRS) measurements are usually used to monitor the adsorption of intermediates. The S-H* peak of the Ni S_(2)-VS 5.9% appears at a very low voltage, which is favorable for the HER in alkaline media. Density functional theory calculations also demonstrate the Ni S_(2)-VS 5.9% has the optimal |ΔG^(H*)| of 0.17 e V. This work offers a simple and promising pathway to enhance catalytic activity via precise vacancies strategy.

A Neural-network-based Alternative Scheme to Include Nonhydrostatic Processes in an Atmospheric Dynamical Core

Here,a nonhydrostatic alternative scheme(NAS)is proposed for the grey zone where the nonhydrostatic impact on the atmosphere is evident but not large enough to justify the necessity to include an implicit nonhydrostatic solver in an atmospheric dynamical core.The NAS is designed to replace this solver,which can be incorporated into any hydrostatic models so that existing well-developed hydrostatic models can effectively serve for a longer time.Recent advances in machine learning(ML)provide a potential tool for capturing the main complicated nonlinear-nonhydrostatic relationship.In this study,an ML approach called a neural network(NN)was adopted to select leading input features and develop the NAS.The NNs were trained and evaluated with 12-day simulation results of dry baroclinic-wave tests by the Weather Research and Forecasting(WRF)model.The forward time difference of the nonhydrostatic tendency was used as the target variable,and the five selected features were the nonhydrostatic tendency at the last time step,and four hydrostatic variables at the current step including geopotential height,pressure in two different forms,and potential temperature,respectively.Finally,a practical NAS was developed with these features and trained layer by layer at a 20-km horizontal resolution,which can accurately reproduce the temporal variation and vertical distribution of the nonhydrostatic tendency.Corrected by the NN-based NAS,the improved hydrostatic solver at different horizontal resolutions can run stably for at least one month and effectively reduce most of the nonhydrostatic errors in terms of system bias,anomaly root-mean-square error,and the error of the wave spatial pattern,which proves the feasibility and superiority of this scheme.

Otolith microchemical evidence revealing multiple spawning site origination of the anadromous tapertail anchovy(Coilia nasus)in the Changjiang(Yangtze)River Estuary

The estuarine tapertail anchovy(Coilia nasus)is a high-value commercial fish.Estimating the spawning site or hatchery origin and habitat is essential for its conservation.This study aimed to determine the habitat use and life history characteristics of C.nasus from the Changjiang River Estuary.We investigated the environmental signatures of strontium(Sr)and calcium(Ca)in the otoliths of the collected specimens using electron probe microanalysis;additionally,we examined their gonadal maturity stage.Our results indicate that the 31 adult C.nasus specimens used in this study could be classified into two types based on their otolith Sr:Ca concentration ratios and their gonadal maturity stage.The long freshwater early life history type(Type LF)had wider central region in the otolith with low Sr:Ca concentration ratios ranging from 1.24±0.62 to 1.92±0.78 and a bluish pattern of low Sr content level.These fish are of riverine origin and had a relatively long early life history in freshwater and low gonadal maturation when captured.The short freshwater early life history type(Type SF)had a shorter central region in the otolith with low Sr:Ca concentration ratios ranging from 1.35±0.5 to 2.82±0.97 and a correspondingly bluish pattern.These fish also had a relatively short-term early life history in freshwater and high gonadal maturation when captured.The results of the otolith microchemical analysis indicated that Type LF and Type SF originated in spawning/hatching sites far from and close to the estuary,respectively.The mature gonads of Type SF fish indicated that they may breed in areas close to the estuary,whereas the immature gonads of Type LF fish indicated that they may breed in areas far from the estuary.This study is the first to reveal that the Changjiang River Estuary contains stocks of anadromous C.nasus originating in different spawning sites during the same season.The estuarine habitat plays a critical role in the connectivity between freshwater recruitment and the marine resources available to adult spawners of this commercially valued species.From a conservation perspective,this study provides important information for identifying anadromous C.nasus stocks originating in different spawning sites in the Changjiang River Basin.

Multiscale Combined Action and Disturbance Characteristics of Pre-summer Extreme Precipitation Events over South China

The dominant frequency modes of pre-summer extreme precipitation events(EPEs)over South China(SC)between1998 and 2018 were investigated.The 67 identified EPEs were all characterized by the 3-8-d(synoptic)frequency band.However,multiscale combined modes of the synoptic and three low-frequency bands[10-20-d(quasi-biweekly,QBW);15-40-d(quasi-monthly,QM);and 20-60-d(intraseasonal)]accounted for the majority(63%)of the EPEs,and the precipitation intensity on the peak wet day was larger than that of the single synoptic mode.It was found that EPEs form within strong southwesterly anomalous flows characterized by either lower-level cyclonic circulation over SC or a deep trough over eastern China.Bandpass-filtered disturbances revealed the direct precipitating systems and their life cycles.Synoptic-scale disturbances are dominated by mid-high latitude troughs,and the cyclonic anomalies originate from downstream of the Tibetan Plateau(TP).Given the warm and moist climate state,synoptic-scale northeasterly flows can even induce EPEs.At the QBW and QM scales,the disturbances originate from the tropical Pacific,downstream of the TP,or mid-high latitudes(QBW only).Each is characterized by cyclonic-anticyclonic wave trains and intense southwesterly flows between them within a region of large horizontal pressure gradient.The intraseasonal disturbances are confined to tropical regions and influence SC by marginal southwesterly flows.It is concluded that low-frequency disturbances provide favorable background conditions for EPEs over SC and synoptic-scale disturbances ultimately induce EPEs on the peak wet days.Both should be simultaneously considered for EPE predictions over SC.

Determination of Main Design Indicators of Patrol Road in Nature Reserves

In principle,nature reserves are managed and controlled according to the core area and the general control area.At present,there is no relevant design specification for the design system of patrol road in various protected areas.This paper analyzed the factors to be considered in determining the grade,horizontal and vertical design indicators,and cross section indicators of the patrol road in the protected area,and came up with the corresponding design indicators and parameters,so as to provide a certain reference for the subsequent patrol road design.

疏水性增透聚酯薄膜的制备及应用

以聚苯乙烯为大分子引发剂,丙烯酸聚硅氧烷酯为单体,通过原子转移自由基聚合制备苯乙烯-丙烯酸聚二甲基硅氧烷酯共聚物。将所得聚合物旋涂于聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯(PET)薄膜表面,研究共聚物中不同硅氧烷含量对聚酯薄膜性能的影响。通过核磁共振和红外光谱表征了丙烯酸聚硅氧烷酯单体及与苯乙烯共聚产物的结构,结果表明实验成功制备出了苯乙烯共聚物;凝胶渗透色谱结果表明聚合物的相对分子质量与设计相对分子质量相接近,并且相对分子质量分布系数均小于1.4,说明反应具有一定可控性;紫外-可见光分光光度计结果表明聚合物的折射率随着嵌段聚合物中硅氧烷含量的降低而增加;通过场发射扫描电镜(FE-SEM)对改性前后的聚酯薄膜进行观察,结果显示聚酯薄膜表面形成了蜂窝状多孔结构,从而有效改善了薄膜的透光性。总体研究结果表明,随着共聚物中硅氧烷含量的增加,聚酯薄膜的水接触角和透光率均呈先增后减的趋势。当共聚物中硅氧烷含量为19.6%时,PS-PDMS嵌段共聚物折射率为1.38,涂覆在PET表面后薄膜透光率达到92.6%,水接触角为120°。

A Study on Inhibitors for the Prevention of Hydrate Formation in Gas Transmission Pipeline

Gas Hydrate is usually formed during the transportation and treatment of oil and gas, resulting in the plugging of gas pipeline and equipment. Three thermodynamic calculation formulas are analyzed to deal with this problem. The lowering of the freezing point of the inhibitors △T is used to calculate the formation temperature of natural gas hydrates. This is considered to be a good approach because it is not limited by what kind and what concentration of inhibitors one uses. Besides, the rate of lowering of the freezing point could be easily measured. The result of testing methanol and mono-ethylene glycol in a reactor shows that adding 10% inhibitors to the reactor can prevent the hydrates formation. Kinetic inhibitors are favored in the present research. They are divided into two types, polymer and surface-active agents. Their characteristics, mechanisms, and application prospect are separately discussed. Polymer inhibitors exhibit better efficiency. The result of field application of VC-713 inhibiter is also given in this article. In practice, the combination of thermodynamic inhibitors and kinetic inhibitors gives better result.

Migration patterns and habitat use of the tapertail anchovy Coilia mystus in the Oujiang River Estuary and the Zhujiang River Estuary, China

Habitat use of the tapertail anchovy(Coilia mystus Linnaeus, 1758) from the Oujiang River Estuary and the Zhujiang(Pearl) River Estuary was studied by examining the environmental signatures of Sr and Ca in otoliths using electron probe microanalysis. Individuals from the Oujiang River had higher and varied Sr:Ca ratios(expressed as(Sr:Ca)×1 000, 3.83–13.0 average) in the otolith core regions, suggesting that they were born in brackish or sea waters, and that a freshwater habitat might not be necessary for egg hatching and larval growth.While, individuals from the Zhujiang River had lower Sr:Ca ratios(0.39–2.51 average) in the core regions,suggesting a freshwater origin. After hatching, anchovies from the Zhujiang River migrate downstream to the river estuary close to brackish water. Our results demonstrated varied habitat use for spawning during stages of early life history between the two populations, and suggested that such variations are promoting diversity of life history strategies of this species.

Impaired SWEET-mediated sugar transportation impacts starch metabolism in developing rice seeds

Sugar transportation and sugar-to-starch metabolism are considered important processes in seed development and embryo viability.A few plant SWEET proteins acting as sugar transporters have been reported to function in inflorescence and/or seed development.Here,we identified seven members of the 21 Os SWEET genes in rice that play essential roles in sugar transportation and sugar-to-starch conversion in seed development.Nineteen Os SWEET genes exhibiting different expression patterns during inflorescence and seed development were knocked out individually by CRISPR/Cas9.One third of the mutants showed decreased fertile pollen viability and shriveled mature caryopses,resulting in weakened seed traits.Grain fill-related genes but not representative grain shape-regulating genes showed attenuated expression in the mutants.Seed of each of these mutants accumulated more sucrose,glucose or fructose but less starch.Among all Os SWEET genes,Os SWEET4 and Os SWEET11 had major effects on caryopsis development.The sugar-to-starch metabolic pathway was significantly altered in ossweet11 mutants based on differential expression analysis in RNA sequencing assays,confirming that Os SWEET11 functions as a sugar transporter with a key role in seed development.These results help to decipher the multiple functions of Os SWEET genes and to show how they might be used in genetic improvement of rice.

CAS FGOALS-g3 Model Datasets for the CMIP6 Scenario Model Intercomparison Project(ScenarioMIP)

This paper describes the datasets from the Scenario Model Intercomparison Project(ScenarioMIP)simulation experiments run with the Chinese Academy of Sciences Flexible Global Ocean–Atmosphere–Land System Model,GridPoint version 3(CAS FGOALS-g3).FGOALS-g3 is driven by eight shared socioeconomic pathways(SSPs)with different sets of future emission,concentration,and land-use scenarios.All Tier 1 and 2 experiments were carried out and were initialized using historical runs.A branch run method was used for the ensemble simulations.Model outputs were three-hourly,six-hourly,daily,and/or monthly mean values for the primary variables of the four component models.An evaluation and analysis of the simulations is also presented.The present results are expected to aid research into future climate change and socio-economic development.

Path-tracking Control of a Tractor-aircraft System

An aircraft tractor plays a significant role as a kind of important marine transport and support equipment. It＇s necessary to study its controlling and manoeuvring stability to improve operation efficiency. A virtual prototyping model of the tractor-aircraft system based on Lagrange＇s equation of the first kind with Lagrange mutipliers was established in this paper, According to the towing characteristics, a path-tracking controller using fuzzy logic theory was designed. Direction control herein was carried out through a compensatory tracking approach. Interactive co-simulation was performed to validate the path-tracking behavior in closed-loop, Simulation results indicated that the tractor followed the reference courses precisely on a flat ground.

Lipidomic and transcriptomic analysis reveals reallocation of carbon flux from cuticular wax into plastid membrane lipids in a glossy“Newhall”navel orange mutant

Both cuticle and membrane lipids play essential roles in quality maintenance and disease resistance in fresh fruits.Many reports have indicated the modification of alternative branch pathways in epicuticular wax mutants;however,the specific alterations concerning lipids have not been clarified thus far.Here,we conducted a comprehensive,timeresolved lipidomic,and transcriptomic analysis on the“Newhall”navel orange(WT)and its glossy mutant(MT)“Gannan No.1”.The results revealed severely suppressed wax formation accompanied by significantly elevated production of 36-carbon plastid lipids with increasing fruit maturation in MT.Transcriptomics analysis further identified a series of key functional enzymes and transcription factors putatively involved in the biosynthesis pathways of wax and membrane lipids.Moreover,the high accumulation of jasmonic acid(JA)in MT was possibly due to the need to maintain plastid lipid homeostasis,as the expression levels of two significantly upregulated lipases(CsDAD1 and CsDALL2)were positively correlated with plastid lipids and characterized to hydrolyze plastid lipids to increase the JA content.Our results will provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the natural variation of plant lipids to lay a foundation for the quality improvement of citrus fruit.

Identifying genomic regions controlling ratoon stunting disease resistance in sugarcane(Saccharum spp.) clonal F_(1) population

The ratoon stunting disease (RSD) of sugarcane,caused by the bacterium Leifsonia xyli subsp.xyli,is one of the major concerns to sugarcane production and breeding programs worldwide.Due to no obvious external symptoms,RSD cannot be easily detected by the growers,hence has reduced the world’s sugarcane production significantly.This study aimed to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with RSD resistance and to assist in the development of linked molecular markers for marker-assisted breeding to minimize the reduction in sugarcane yield by the RSD infection.A set of 146 individuals derived from a self-crossing of CP80-1827 were evaluated for RSD resistance in a mechanically duplicated inoculated field trial from 2014 to 2017 using tissue blot immunoassay.Leveraging the genetic data and the four years phenotyping data of CP80-1827 selfing population,linkage map construction and QTL analysis were conducted based on clonal F_1 and F_2 mapping population types with GACD V.1.2 and Ici Mapping V.3.3,respectively.A total of 23 QTL associated with RSD resistance were identified,which explained 6%to13%of the phenotypic variation with the two types of software.A total of 82 disease resistance genes were identified by searching these 23 QTL regions on their corresponding regions on the Sorghum bicolor genome (44 genes),sugarcane R570 genome (20 genes),and S.spontaneum genome (18 genes),respectively.Compared with Ici Mapping V.3.3,GACD V.1.2 identified more major (6 vs.3) and stable QTL (2vs.0),and more disease resistance genes (51 vs.31),indicating GACD V.1.2 (clonal F_1 mapping type) is most likely to be more efficient than Ici Mapping (F_2 mapping type) for QTL analysis of a sefling population or clonal F_1 population in clonal species.The identified QTL controlling RSD resistance along with the associated SNP markers will assist sugarcane molecular breeding programs in combating this disease.

Roles of Synoptic to Quasi-Monthly Disturbances in Generating Two Pre-Summer Heavy Rainfall Episodes over South China

In this study,power spectral analysis and bandpass filtering of daily meteorological fields are performed to explore the roles of synoptic to quasi-monthly disturbances in influencing the generation of pre-summer heavy rainfall over South China.Two heavy rainfall episodes are selected during the months of April-June 2008-15,which represent the collaboration between the synoptic and quasi-biweekly disturbances and the synoptic and quasi-monthly disturbances,respectively.Results show that the first heavy rainfall episode takes place in a southwesterly anomalous flow associated with an anticyclonic anomaly over the South China Sea(SCS)at the quasi-biweekly scale with 15.1%variance contributions,and at the synoptic scale in a convergence zone between southwesterly and northeasterly anomalous flows associated with a southeastward-moving anticyclonic anomaly on the leeside of the Yungui Plateau and an eastwardpropagating anticyclonic anomaly from higher latitudes with 35.2%variance contribution.In contrast,the second heavy rainfall episode takes place in southwest-to-westerly anomalies converging with northwest-to-westerly anomalies at the quasi-monthly scale with 23.2%variance contributions to the total rainfall variance,which are associated with an anticyclonic anomaly over the SCS and an eastward-propagating cyclonic anomaly over North China,respectively.At the synoptic scale,it occurs in south-to-southwesterly anomalies converging with a cyclonic anomaly on the downstream of the Yungui Plateau with 49.3%variance contributions.In both cases,the lower-tropospheric mean south-to-southwesterly flows provide ample moisture supply and potentially unstable conditions;it is the above synoptic,quasi-biweekly or quasimonthly disturbances that determine the general period and distribution of persistent heavy rainfall over South China.

Application of the Embedded-atom Method to Liquid Binary Cu-Ni Alloys

A simple analytic embedded-atom model of monoatoms that includes more than nearest neighbours has been extended to study properties of binary liquid Cu-Ni alloys, here the two-body potential between different species of atoms is taken as a function of the two-body potential for the pure metals with a unique form which yields alloy models with the same invariance to electron density transformations as monoatomic models. Faber-Ziman structure factors have been computed by molecular dynamics simulation on the base of this model. The results are in good agreement with experimental data given by Waseda, thus supporting the overall validity of the approach, especially for cross potential of Cu-Ni pair. Further, a detailed description of structure of binary liquid Cu-Ni alloys with different compositions have been performed using pair analysis and bond orientational order method etc., and then the chemical short range order has also been examined to reveal the structural characterization.

Clock-turning gait synthesis for humanoid robots

Turning gait is a basic motion for humanoid robots. This paper presents a method for humanoid tuming, i.e. clock-turning. The objective of clock-turning is to change robot direction at a stationary spot. The clock-turning planning consists of four steps： ankle trajectory generation, hip trajectory generation, knee trajectory generation, and inverse kinematics calculation. Our proposed method is based on a typical humanoid structure with 12 DOFs （degrees of freedom）. The final output of clock-turning planning is 12 reference trajectories, which are used to control a humanoid robot with 12 DOFs. ZMP （zero moment point） is used as stability criterion for the planning. Simulation experiments are conducted to verify the effectiveness of our proposed clock-turuing method.

Effect of an electric field on the electrocaloric response of ferroelectrics

The electrocaloric effect of the model ferroelectric BaTiO3was investigated using phenomenological theory. The results indicate that the applied electric field strength is a key factor for the induced electrocaloric response and there are two distinguishing electrocaloric responses. When a moderate electric field is applied, the electrocaloric temperature variation is small but the electrocaloric strength is high. In contrast, the electrocaloric temperature variation is large but electrocaloric strength is low when a very high electric field is applied. These results are consistent with the experimental observations on BaTiO3based bulk and thin film ferroelectric materials.

克隆杜洛克种公猪及其扩繁后代的生产性能评价

为评估克隆种公猪在生猪产业上的应用价值,进行杜洛克种公猪的克隆及扩繁试验研究。采集2头常规选育的杜洛克种公猪耳组织,建立细胞系、生产重构胚,移植到受体母猪,分娩克隆公猪并调教采精,采集精液并参配纯种杜洛克母猪,统计其生产性能,以同期普通杜洛克公猪及其后代为对照。结果显示:(1)建立了种猪耳组织细胞建系、重构胚生产、胚胎移植等技术体系;(2)移植7头代孕母猪,共产仔39头克隆杜洛克公猪,断奶存活21头,60日龄存活17头,达100 kg体重日龄测定15头,调教采精成功10头,种猪利用率为25.6%(10/39);(3)获得的克隆公猪与同期杜洛克公猪在初生重、断奶重、校正100 kg体重日龄、校正背膘厚等指标上无显著性差异;(4)获得的59头杜洛克克隆公猪后代与同期普通杜洛克公猪后代在初生重、断奶重、校正100 kg体重日龄、校正背膘等指标上无显著性差异,仅在右乳头数指标上,克隆公猪后代(6.34±0.48)显著低于普通公猪后代(6.60±0.66)。结论:建立了种猪克隆快速扩繁技术平台,但常规选育的克隆公猪及其后代生产性能与普通公猪及其后代无显著差异,需要进一步提高选择准确性,同时提高克隆效率及其存活率,才能满足克隆技术应用于终端公猪生产的产业要求。

Memristor-based multi-synaptic spiking neuron circuit for spiking neural network

Spiking neural networks(SNNs) are widely used in many fields because they work closer to biological neurons.However,due to its computational complexity,many SNNs implementations are limited to computer programs.First,this paper proposes a multi-synaptic circuit(MSC) based on memristor,which realizes the multi-synapse connection between neurons and the multi-delay transmission of pulse signals.The synapse circuit participates in the calculation of the network while transmitting the pulse signal,and completes the complex calculations on the software with hardware.Secondly,a new spiking neuron circuit based on the leaky integrate-and-fire(LIF) model is designed in this paper.The amplitude and width of the pulse emitted by the spiking neuron circuit can be adjusted as required.The combination of spiking neuron circuit and MSC forms the multi-synaptic spiking neuron(MSSN).The MSSN was simulated in PSPICE and the expected result was obtained,which verified the feasibility of the circuit.Finally,a small SNN was designed based on the mathematical model of MSSN.After the SNN is trained and optimized,it obtains a good accuracy in the classification of the IRIS-dataset,which verifies the practicability of the design in the network.

Fast in vivo bioluminescence tomography using a novel pure optical imaging technique

Bioluminescence tomography(BLT)is a novel opt ical molecular imaging technique that advanced the conventional planar bioluminescence imaging(BLI)into a quantifiable three-dimensional(3D)approach in preclinical living animal studies in oncology.In order to solve the inverse problem and reconstruct tumor lesions inside animal body accurately,the prior structural information is com-monly obtained from X ray computed tomography(CT).This strategy requires a complicated hybrid imaging system,extensive post imaging analysis and involvement of ionizing radiation.Moreover,the overall robustness highly depends on the fusion accuracy between the optical and structural information.Here,we present a pure optical bioluminescence tomographic(POBT)system and a novel BLT workfow based on multi-view projection acquisition and 3D surface reconstruction.This met hod can reconstruct the 3D surface of an imaging subject based on a sparse set of planar white-light and bioluminescent images,so that the prior structural information can be offered for 3D tumor lesion reconstruction without the involvement of CT.The performance of this novel technique was evaluated through the comparison with a conventional dual-modality tomo-graphic(DMT)system and a commercialized optical imaging system(IVIS Spectrum)using three breast cancer xenografts.The results revealed that the new technique offered comparable in vivo tomographic accuracy with the DMT system(P>0.05)in much shorter data analysis time.It also offered significantly better accuracy comparing with the IVIS system(P<0.04)without sacrificing too much time.