Three novel alleles of OsGS1 developed by base-editing-mediated artificial evolution confer glufosinate tolerance in rice

Only few glufosinate-tolerant genes,such as phosphinothricin acetyltransferase(PAT)and bialaphos resistance(bar)identified from Streptomyces,are currently available for developing genetically modified rice in agricultural application.Following the rapid development of genome editing technology,generation of novel glufosinate-tolerant gene resources through artificial evolution of endogenous genes is more promising and highly desirable in rice molecular breeding program.In this study,the endogenous Glutamine synthetase1(OsGS1)was artificially evolved by base-editing-mediated gene evolution(BEMGE)in rice cells to create novel alleles conferring glufosinate tolerance in rice germplasms.Two novel glufosinate-tolerant OsGS1 alleles(OsGS1-AVPS and OsGS1-+AF)and one reported tolerant allele(OsGS1-SGTA)were successfully identified from approximately 4200 independent hygromycin-tolerant calli.Germination assays and spray tests revealed that these three OsGS1 alleles confer glufosinate tolerance in rice.Furthermore,OsGS1-AVPS and OsGS1-SGTA were quickly deployed into the elite rice cultivar Nangeng 46 through precise base editing.Overall,our results demonstrate the feasibility of developing glufosinate-tolerant rice by editing an endogenous rice gene in molecular breeding programs.

Uplink Grant-Free Pattern Division Multiple Access (GF-PDMA) for 5G Radio Access

Massive machine type communication(m MTC) is one of the key application scenarios for the fifth generation mobile communication(5 G). Grant-free(GF) transmission can reduce the high signaling overhead in m MTC. Non-orthogonal multiple access(NMA) can support more users for m MTC than orthogonal frequency division multiple access(OFDMA). Applying GF transmission in NMA system becomes an active topic recently. The in-depth study on applying GF transmission in pattern division multiple access(PDMA), a competitive candidate scheme of NMA, is investigated in this paper. The definition, latency and allocation of resource and transmission mechanism for GF-PDMA are discussed in detail. The link-level and system-level evaluations are provided to verify the analysis. The analysis and simulation results demonstrate that the proposed GF-PDMA has lower latency than grant based PDMA(GB-PDMA), possesses strong scalability to confront collision and provides almost 2.15 times gain over GF-OFDMA in terms of supporting the number of active users in the system.

铀氢化反应过程中氢扩散行为的第一性原理研究

铀氢化反应动力学及产物形式受氢在铀氧化物及氢化物中的固溶、扩散等过程控制.本文利用第一性原理计算方法,研究氢在UO2、α-UH3、β-UH3、PdHx等介质中的固溶、扩散行为,从微观角度解释氢化反应各个阶段氢化反应速率的主要特征,并对α/β相生成的条件作一番探讨.研究表明,UO2中较高的氢扩散势垒导致氢扩散到达氧化物-金属界面非常困难,这是氢化反应起始阶段存在孕育期的主要原因;与此相反,β-UH3的氢具有非常低的溶解能和扩散势垒,且实际状态下β-UH3的表面积非常大,对氢化反应具有显著的促进作用;PdHx具有和α-UH3相近且均略高于β-UH3的溶解能和扩散势垒,这使得氢在其中的扩散速率较低,是Pd膜覆盖下铀氢化主要产物为α-UH3的主要原因.

厦门大学能源化学专业的创建与实践

厦门大学于2015年创建了第一个能源化学本科专业。本文介绍了厦门大学建设的由11门组成的能源化学课程群以及能源化学本科课程体系与教学安排,总结了能源化学专业建设经验,特别是理工融合与协同创新的建设思路,为兄弟院校申办能源化学专业和开设相关课程提供借鉴和参考。

U-2.5% Nb合金表面的氢蚀特性

利用气固反应系统对U-2.5%Nb合金表面进行了氢化,采用体视显微镜原位观察U-2.5%Nb合金的氢蚀,利用X射线衍射(XRD)、激光扫描共聚焦显微镜(LSCM)和扫描电镜(SEM)表征该合金氢化前后的成分及形貌。结果表明:在70℃、氢压为一个大气压的气氛中,U-2.5%Nb合金的氢化反应速率很高,氢化后形成了UH3化合物;合金表面氢蚀点边缘并非圆滑,而是呈条状优先形核相向外凸出。U-2.5%Nb合金表面氢化腐蚀的机制是:贫铌α相的氢蚀速率大于富铌γ1-2相的而优先发生氢蚀,随后贫铌α相之间的γ1-2相也相继发生氢蚀而连成一片后迅速长大。

Analysis of Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access for 5G

The major challenge faced by the fifth generation(5G) mobile network is higher spectral efficiency and massive connectivity,i.e.,the target spectrum efficiency is 3 times over 4G,and the target connection density is one million devices per square kilometer.These requirements are difficult to be satisfied with orthogonal multiple access(OMA) schemes.Non-orthogonal multiple access(NOMA) has thus been proposed as a promising candidate to address some of the challenges for 5G.In this paper,a comprehensive survey of different candidate NOMA schemes for 5G is presented,where the usage scenarios of5 G and the application requirements for NOMA are firstly discussed.A general framework of NOMA scheme is established and the features of typical NOMA schemes are analyzed and compared.We focus on the recent progress and challenge of NOMA in standardization of international telecommunication union(ITU),and 3rd generation partnership project(3GPP).In addition,prototype development and future research directions are also provided respectively.

Pattern Matrix Design of PDMA for 5G UL Applications

Pattern division multiple access(PDMA),which is a novel non-orthogonal multiple access(NOMA),has been proposed to address the challenges of massive connectivity and higher spectral efficiency for fifth generation(5G) mobile network.The performance of PDMA mainly depends on the design of PDMA pattern matrix.In this paper,pattern matrix design of PDMA for 5G uplink(UL) applications in massive machine type communication(mMTC) and enhanced mobile broadband(eMBB) deployment scenarios are studied.The design criteria and examples for application in UL mMTC and UL eMBB are investigated.The performance of the PDMA pattern matrix is analyzed with the discrete constellation constrained capacity(CC-Capacity),and verified by Monte Carlo simulation.The simulation results show that the preferred PDMA pattern matrix can achieve good performance with different overloading factors(OF).

Manufacturing Error Effects on Mechanical Properties and Dynamic Characteristics of Rotor Parts under High Acceleration

Stress, strain and vibration characteristics of rotor parts should be changed significantly under high acceleration, manufacturing error is one of the most important reason. However, current research on this prob- lem has not been carried out. A rotor with an acceleration of 150,000 g is considered as the objective, the effects of manufacturing errors on rotor mechanical properties and dynamic characteristics are executed by the selection of the key affecting factors. Through the force balance equation of the rotor infinitesimal unit establishment, a theoretical model of stress calculation based on slice method is pro- posed and established, a formula for the rotor stress at any point derives. A finite element model （FEM） of rotor with holes is established with manufacturing errors. The chan- ges of the stresses and strains of a rotor in parallelism and symmetry errors are analyzed, which verify the validity of the theoretical model. The pre-stressing modal analysis is performed based on the aforementioned static analysis. The key dynamic characteristics are analyzed. The results demonstrated that, as the parallelism and symmetry errors increase, the equivalent stresses and strains of the rotor slowly increase linearly, the highest growth rate does not exceed 4%, the maximum change rate of natural frequency is 0.1%. The rotor vibration mode is not significantlyaffected. The FEM construction method of the rotor with manufacturing errors can be utilized for the quantitative research on rotor characteristics, which will assist in the active control of rotor component reliability under high acceleration.

Method for Fault Feature Selection for a Baler Gearbox Based on an Improved Adaptive Genetic Algorithm

The performance and efficiency of a baler deteriorate as a result of gearbox failure.One way to overcome this challenge is to select appropriate fault feature parameters for fault diagnosis and monitoring gearboxes.This paper proposes a fault feature selection method using an improved adaptive genetic algorithm for a baler gearbox.This method directly obtains the minimum fault feature parameter set that is most sensitive to fault features through attribute reduction.The main benefit of the improved adaptive genetic algorithm is its excellent performance in terms of the efficiency of attribute reduction without requiring prior information.Therefore,this method should be capable of timely diagnosis and monitoring.Experimental validation was performed and promising findings highlighting the relationship between diagnosis results and faults were obtained.The results indicate that when using the improved genetic algorithm to reduce 12 fault characteristic parameters to three without a priori information,100%fault diagnosis accuracy can be achieved based on these fault characteristics and the time required for fault feature parameter selection using the improved genetic algorithm is reduced by half compared to traditional methods.The proposed method provides important insights into the instant fault diagnosis and fault monitoring of mechanical devices.

An Improved Torque Sensorless Speed Control Method for Electric Assisted Bicycle With Consideration of Coordinate Conversion

In this paper,we propose an improved torque sensorless speed control method for electric assisted bicycle,this method considers the coordinate conversion.A low-pass filter is designed in disturbance observer to estimate and compensate the variable disturbance during cycling.A DC motor provides assisted power driving,the assistance method is based on the realtime wheel angular velocity and coordinate system transformation.The effect of observer is proved,and the proposed method guarantees stability under disturbances.It is also compared to the existing methods and their performances are illustrated through simulations.The proposed method improves the performance both in rapidity and stability.

"Initial Potential" Effect on the Dissociative Adsorption of Methanol on A Roughened Platinum Electrode in Acidic Solution

In situ Raman spectroscopic and voltammetric studies indicate that dissociative adsorption of methanol on the rough platinum electrode occurs in the hydrogen ad/desorption potential range, and the dissociative extent depends on the initial potential of the electrode before contacting methanol, in addition to the contacting time. As the dissociative product, carbon monoxide competes the site of strongly bound hydrogen preferentially, and shifts the ad/desorption potentials of weakly bound hydrogen towards more positive ones gradually with the increase of CO coverage. Whereas, formaldehyde dissociates more easily by far and completely suppresses H-adsorption. The confocal Raman spectroscopy developed on transition metals shows some intriguing advantages in investigating electrocatalytic oxidation of small organic molecules.

Electromagnetic wave absorbing ceramics composites made of polymer-derived SiC with BN@CNTs pyrolyzed higher than 1200℃

Polymer-derived ceramics(PDCs)pyrolyzed at high temperatures are promising electromagnetic wave(EMW)absorption materials for aerodynamically heated parts of aircraft under harsh environments.Nev-ertheless,high-temperature pyrolysis results in a significant increase of electrical and dielectric proper-ties of the ceramics,causing extensive reflection of EMW.To address this challenge,boron nitride-coated carbon nanotubes(BN@CNTs)were fabricated and introduced into polymer-derived SiC(PDC-SiC)by py-rolyzing its precursor higher than 1200℃to form SiC-BN@CNT ceramic composites.The fabricated com-posites with 3 wt.%BN@CNTs pyrolyzed at 1200℃have an effective absorption bandwidth(EAB)of 4.2 GHz(8.2-12.4 GHz)at a thickness of 3.4 mm and the minimum reflection loss(RL min)of-57.20 dB.The ultra-broad EAB of 12.62 GHz(5.38-18 GHz)is obtained by simulation through periodic structure design-ing.The RL of the metamaterials was also measured using an arch testing method at a frequency range of 2-18 GHz and an EAB of 11.52 GHz(6.48-18 GHz)is obtained.The excellent absorption is attributed to the BN layer that limits the electrical conduction of the ceramic composites while retaining the high loss of CNTs.The introduction of BN@CNTs causes the refinement of SiC grains,which provides plenty of interfaces and enhances the interface polarization loss.This work successfully solves the problem that PDCs pyrolyzed at elevated temperatures cannot be used as EMW absorption materials by applying BN coating on CNTs served as absorbers for PDC-SiC.The results of this work greatly broaden the application scope of the PDC systems for EMW absorption.

Optical responses of metallic plasmonic arrays under the localized excitation

The metallic plasmonic array that can support both propagating surface plasmon polaritons(PSPPs)and localized surface plasmon resonance(LSPR)possesses rich optical properties and remarkable optical performance,making it a powerful platform for applications in photonics,chemistry,and materials.For practical applications,the excitation spot is usually smaller than the area of metal arrays.It is thus imperative to address“how many array units are enough?”towards a rational design of plasmonic nanostructures.Herein,we employed focused ion beam(FIB)to precisely fabricate a series of plasmonic array structures with increased unit number.By utilizing photoluminescence(PL)and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy(SERS),we found that the array units outside the excitation spot still have a significant impact on the optical response within the spot.Combined with the numerical simulation,we found that the boundary of the finite array leads to the loss of PSPP outside the excitation point,which subsequently affects the coupling of PSPP and LSPR in the excitation spot,leading to variations in PL and SERS intensity.Based on the findings,we further tuned the LSPR mode of the metal arrays by electrodeposition to obtain strong near-field enhancement without any influence on the PSPP mode.This work advances the understanding of near-field and far-field optical behavior in finite-size array structures and provides guidance for designing highly-efficient photonic devices.

Adenine base editor incorporating the N-methylpurine DNA glycosylase MPGv3 enables efficient A-to-K base editing in rice

Dear Editor,Crop genetic diversity and elite agronomic traits are mainly caused by genetic variants,approximately half of which are single-nucleotide polymorphisms.Precise nucleotide substitution through CRISPR–Cas-mediated base editors has been widely used to correct defective alleles and create novel alleles by artificial evolution for rapid crop genetic improvement.Since 2017,cytosine base editors(CBEs)and adenine base editors(ABEs)have been successively developed in many plant species and have been continuously optimized to generate highly efficient C-to-T and A-to-G transitions,as well as by-product C-to-A/G conversion with low efficiency(Ren et al.,2018;Yan et al.,2021).

JUNO sensitivity on proton decay p→νK^(+)searches

The Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory(JUNO)is a large liquid scintillator detector designed to explore many topics in fundamental physics.In this study,the potential of searching for proton decay in the p→νK^(+)mode with JUNO is investigated.The kaon and its decay particles feature a clear three-fold coincidence signature that results in a high efficiency for identification.Moreover,the excellent energy resolution of JUNO permits suppression of the sizable background caused by other delayed signals.Based on these advantages,the detection efficiency for the proton decay via p→νK^(+)is 36.9%±4.9%with a background level of 0.2±0.05(syst)±0.2(stat)events after 10 years of data collection.The estimated sensitivity based on 200 kton-years of exposure is 9.6×1033 years,which is competitive with the current best limits on the proton lifetime in this channel and complements the use of different detection technologies.

A CRISPR/Cas9 toolkit for efficient targeted base editing to induce genetic variations in rice

Gene-targeting technologies using sequence specific nucleases have been widely adopted to induce genetic modifications in both plant molecular biology research and crop improvement,of which generating targeted point mutation for gain-of-function phenotype is of great value.

Base-Editing-Mediated Artificial Evolution of OsALS1 In Planta to Develop Novel Herbicide-Tolerant Rice Germplasms

Recently developed CRISPR-mediated base editors,which enable the generation of num erous nucleotide changes in target genomic regions,have been widely adopted for gene correction and generation of crop germ plasms containing im portant gain-of-function genetic variations.How ever,to engineer target genes with unknown functional SNPs remains challenging.To address this issue,we present here abase-e diting-mediated gene evolution(BEMGE)m ethod,employing both Cas9n-based cytosine and adenine base editors as well as a single-guide RNA(sgRNA)library tiling the full-length coding region,for developing novel rice germ plasm swith mutations in any endogenous gene.To this end,OsALS1 was artificially evolved in rice cells using BEMGE through both Agrobacterium-mediated and particle-bom bardment-mediated transform ation.Four different types of amino acid substitutions in the evolved OsALS1,derived from two sites that have never been targeted by natural or human selection during rice dom estication,were identified,conferring varying levels of tolerance to the herbicide bispyribac-sodium.Furtherm ore,the P171F substitution identified in a strong OsALS1 allele was quickly introduced into the commercial rice cultivar Nangeng 46 through precise base editing w ith the corresponding base editor and sgRNA.Collectively,these data indicate great potential of BEMGE in creating important genetic variants of target genes for crop improvement.

Cas9-NG Greatly Expands the Targeting Scope of the Genome-Editing Toolkit by Recognizing NG and Other Atypical PAMs in Rice

CRISPR technologies enabling precise genome manipulation are valuable for gene function studies and molecular crop breeding. However, the requirement of a protospacer adjacent motif (PAM)y such as NGG and TTN, for Cas protein recognition restricts the selection of targetable genomic loci in practical applications of CRISPR technologies. Recently Cas9-NG, which recognizes a minimal NG PAM, was reported to expand the targeting space of genome editing in human cells, but it remains unclear whether this Cas9 variant can be used in plants. In this study, we evaluated the nuclease activity of Cas9-NG toward various NGN PAMs by targeting endogenous genes in transgenic rice. We found that Cas9-NG edits all NGG, NGA, NGT, and NGC sites with impaired activity, while the gene-edited plants were dominated by monoallelic mutations. Cas9-NG-engineered base editors were then developed and used to generate O s B Z R I gainof- function plants that can not be created by other available Cas9-engineered base editors. Moreover, we showed that a Cas9-NG-based transcriptional activator efficiently upregulated the expression of endogenous target genes in rice. In addition, we discovered that Cas9-NG recognizes NAC, NTG, NTT, and NCG apart from NG PAM. Together, these findings demonstrate that Cas9-NG can greatly expand the targeting scope of genome-editing tools, showing great potential for targeted genome editing, base editing, and genome regulation in plants.

Highly Efficient A. T to G. C Base Editing by Cas9n- 3uided tRNA Adenosine Deaminase in Rice

Dear Editor The newly developed CRISPR/Cas9-mediated base editing technology with cytosine deaminase is capable of precisely and efficiently introducing point mutations at the target genomic locus, which does not require double-stranded DNA breaks or any donor templates and thus exhibit a great potential for gene correction and genetic diversification in yeasts, plants, and mammalian and human cells （Komor et al., 2016; Nishida et al., 2016; Lu and Zhu, 2017; Ren et al., 2017）.

Clinical epidemiological survey of gallbladder carcinoma in northwestern China, 2009-2013: 2379 cases in 17 centers

Objective: To analyze the clinical epidemiological characteristics of patients with gallbladder carcinoma recruited from 17 hospitals in five northwestern provinces of China (Shaanxi Province, Gansu Province, Qinghai Province, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region) from 2009 to 2013, and to summarize the clinical diagnosis and treatment data of gallbladder carcinoma. Methods: Clinical information of 2379 patients with gallbladder carcinoma from 17 hospitals in five northwestern provinces of China was retrospectively collected and analyzed using the 'Questionnaire for Gallbladder Carcinoma Patients in Northwestern Area of China.' All information was verified with EpiData software and analyzed with SPSS 13.0 software. Results: (1) Gallbladder carcinoma accounted for 2.7% (2379/86,609) of all biliary tract diseases during the study period, which was significantly higher than that from 1986 to 1998 (P < 0.001). (2) Gallbladder carcinoma was more prone to occur in elderly women. The male:female incidence ratio was 1.0:2.1, the average age of onset of disease was 63.7 ± 11.3 years, and the incidence was higher in farmers than in other occupational groups. (3) A total of 57.2% (1360/2379) of patients with gallbladder carcinoma also had gallstones. (4) Abdominal pain (1796/2379, 75.5%) and jaundice (727/2379, 30.6%) were the most common clinical manifestations, 81.2% (1527/1881) were positive in those receiving B ultrasound examinations and 90.7% (1567/1727) were positive in those undergoing computed tomography, and 64.5% (1124/1742) of patients with gallbladder carcinoma were positive for carbohydrate antigen (CA) 19-9. (5) The pathological type of gallbladder carcinoma was mainly moderately and poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma with a high degree of malignancy. At admission, 55.1% (1091/1981) of patients had stage Ⅳ cancer among patients with TNM staging information; 55.9% (1331/2379) had lymphatic metastasis, 29.7% (706/2379) had bile duct metastasis, and 53.1% (1263/2379) had liver metastasis. (6) A total of 283 patients (283/2379, 11.9%) had incidentally detected gallbladder carcinoma. (7) The rate of radical surgical resection was 30.4% (723/2379). Conclusion: The proportion of gallbladder carcinoma in biliary tract diseases in the northwestern area of China was significantly higher from 2009 to 2013 than from 1986 to 1998. Gallbladder carcinoma was common in older women and mainly diagnosed at an advanced stage. Compared with other surveys in different regions, the rate of metastasis in this survey was high, leading to a low resection rate. Populations at high risk should undergo B-ultrasound examinations at regular follow-up intervals to increase the rate of early diagnosis of gallbladder carcinoma.