Subsoil tillage enhances wheat productivity,soil organic carbon and available nutrient status in dryland fields

Tillage practices during the fallow period benefit water storage and yield in dryland wheat crops.However,there is currently no clarity on the responses of soil organic carbon(SOC),total nitrogen(TN),and available nutrients to tillage practices within the growing season.This study evaluated the effects of three tillage practices(NT,no tillage;SS,subsoil tillage;DT,deep tillage)over five years on soil physicochemical properties.Soil samples at harvest stage from the fifth year were analyzed to determine the soil aggregate and aggregate-associated C and N fractions.The results indicated that SS and DT improved grain yield,straw biomass and straw carbon return of wheat compared with NT.In contrast to DT and NT,SS favored SOC and TN concentrations and stocks by increasing the soil organic carbon sequestration rate(SOCSR)and soil nitrogen sequestration rate(TNSR)in the 0-40 cm layer.Higher SOC levels under SS and NT were associated with greater aggregate-associated C fractions,while TN was positively associated with soluble organic nitrogen(SON).Compared with DT,the NT and SS treatments improved soil available nutrients in the 0-20 cm layer.These findings suggest that SS is an excellent practice for increasing soil carbon,nitrogen and nutrient availability in dryland wheat fields in North China.

Fuzzy-Inverse-Model-Based Networked Tracking Control Frameworks of Time-Varying Signals

Dear Editor,Tracking control in networked environment is a very challenging problem due to the contradiction of rapid response to the time-varying signal and the inevitable delay introduced by networks. This letter has proposed several fuzzy-inverse-model-based network tracking control frameworks which are helpful in handling the system with nonlinear dynamics and uncertainties.

Identification of the target genes of AhTWRKY24 and AhTWRKY106 transcription factors reveals their regulatory network in Arachis hypogaea cv.Tifrunner using DAP-seq

WRKY transcription factors(TFs)have been identified as important core regulators in the responses of plants to biotic and abiotic stresses.Cultivated peanut(Arachis hypogaea)is an important oil and protein crop.Previous studies have identified hundreds of WRKY TFs in peanut.However,their functions and regulatory networks remain unclear.Simultaneously,the AdWRKY40 TF is involved in drought tolerance in Arachis duranensis and has an orthologous relationship with the AhTWRKY24 TF,which has a homoeologous relationship with AhTWRKY106 TF in A.hypogaea cv.Tifrunner.To reveal how the homoeologous AhTWRKY24 and AhTWRKY106 TFs regulate the downstream genes,DNA affinity purification sequencing(DAP-seq)was performed to detect the binding sites of TFs at the genome-wide level.A total of 3486 downstream genes were identified that were collectively regulated by the AhTWRKY24 and AhTWRKY106 TFs.The results revealed that W-box elements were the binding sites for regulation of the downstream genes by AhTWRKY24 and AhTWRKY106 TFs.A gene ontology enrichment analysis indicated that these downstream genes were enriched in protein modification and reproduction in the biological process.In addition,RNA-seq data showed that the AhTWRKY24 and AhTWRKY106 TFs regulate differentially expressed genes involved in the response to drought stress.The AhTWRKY24 and AhTWRKY106 TFs can specifically regulate downstream genes,and they nearly equal the numbers of downstream genes from the two A.hypogaea cv.Tifrunner subgenomes.These results provide a theoretical basis to study the functions and regulatory networks of AhTWRKY24 and AhTWRKY106 TFs.

Fungal community structure analysis of peanut pod rot in soil in Hebei Province,China

In recent years,peanut yield and quality are more seriously affected by pod rot disease in China.However,managing this disease has proven challenging due to the wide host range of its pathogens.In this study,four soil samples were collected from fields with pod rot disease in Hebei Province,and 454 pyrosequencing was used to analyze the fungal communities structure within them.All 38490 ITS high-quality sequences were grouped into 1203 operational taxonomic units,the fungal community diversity of four soil samples was evaluated and compared using Shannon index and Simpson index.The results showed that members of Ascomycota were dominant,followed by Basidiomycota.According to the BLAST results at the species level,Guehomyces had the highest abundance,accounting for about 7.27%,followed by Alternaria,Fusarium,and Davidiella.The relative abundance of Fusarium oxysporum isolated from rotting peanuts in soil with peanut rot was higher than that in the control,indicating that Fusarium oxysporum might be one of the main pathogenic fungus of peanut rot in this area.This study delved into the broader fungal community associated with peanut pod rot,providing a theoretical foundation for preventing and treating this disease in agriculture.

Flavonoid content and radical scavenging activity in fruits of Chinese dwarf cherry(Cerasus humilis) genotypes

The Chinese dwarf cherry（Cerasus humilis（Bge.） Sok.） is a small shrub with edible fruits. It is native to northern and western China. This species was included as a medicinal plant in the ‘‘Chinese Pharmacopeia’’ and has emerged as an economically important crop for fresh fruit consumption, processing into juice and wine and nutraceutical products as well. To gain a better understanding of flavonoid biosynthesis and help develop value added products and better cultivars with greater health benefits, we analyzed total flavonoid content（TFC）, composition, and radical scavenging activities in fruit extracts of 16 Chinese dwarf cherry genotypes. Fruit peel TFC ranged from 33.5 to72.8 mg/g REáFW（RE： rutin equivalent, FW： fresh weight）while fruit flesh TFC ranged from 4.3 to 16.9 mg/g REáFW.An HPLC analysis revealed that fruit extracts contained 14 flavonoids with considerable variation in their profiles across genotypes. The most abundant flavonoids in most genotypes were proanthocyanidin B1（PA-B1）, proanthocyanidin B2（PA-B2）, phloretin 20-O-glucoside（PG）, and phloretin 20,40-O-diglucoside（PDG）. Principal component analysis showed that PG, PA-B1, and PA-B2 had large,positive factor loading values in the first principal component for each genotype. Increased scavenging activity of2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl（DPPH） radicals was apparent in genotypes ‘Nongda 4’, ‘Nongda 3’, ‘Nongda 6’,‘Wenfenli’, and ’10-32’, suggesting promising applications in the production of nutraceutical products. In summary, our results will aid in breeding, fruit processing, and developing medicinal uses of the Chinese dwarf cherry.

Bacteriophages as antimicrobial agents against major pathogens in swine： a review

In recent years, the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria has become a global concern which has prompted research into the development of alternative disease control strategies for the swine industry. Bacteriophages （viruses that infect bacteria） offer the prospect of a sustainable alternative approach against bacterial pathogens with the flexibility of being applied therapeutically or for biological control purposes. This paper reviews the use of phages as an antimicrobial strategy for controlling critical pathogens including Salmonella and Eschefich[a coli with an emphasis on the application of phages for improving performance and nutrient digestibility in swine operations as well as in controlling zoonotic human diseases by reducing the bacterial load spread from pork products to humans through the meat,

Synthesis and Characterization of Mesoporous Titania Particles and Thin Films

Well-organized mesoporous titania particles and thin films were successfully synthesized by using tetrabutyl titanate as the inorganic precursor and triblock copolymer （Pluronic P123） as the template via evaporationinduced self-assembly process. The resulting materials were characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy （HRTEM）, X-ray diffraction （XRD）. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy （FT-IR）,Brunauer-Emmett-Teller （BET） and atomic force microscopy （AFM）. Macro shape of mesoporous titania would greatly influence the mesostructure of materials, and the probable reasons were also discussed.

The Theory of Membership Degree of Γ-Conclusion in Several n-Valued Logic Systems

Based on the analysis of the properties of Γ-conclusion by means of deduction theorems, completeness theorems and the theory of truth degree of formulas, the present papers introduces the concept of the membership degree of formulas A is a consequence of Γ (or Γ-conclusion) in Lukasiewicz n-valued propositional logic systems, Godel n-valued propositional logic system and the R0 n-valued propositional logic systems. The condition and related calculations of formulas A being Γ-conclusion were discussed by extent method. At the same time, some properties of membership degree of formulas A is a Γ-conclusion were given. We provide its algorithm of the membership degree of formulas A is a Γ-conclusion by the constructions of theory root.

Curvature Compensated CMOS Bandgap Reference with Novel Process Variation Calibration Technique

A lowtemperature coefficient（ TC） bandgap reference（ BGR） with novel process variation calibration technique is proposed in this paper. This proposed calibration technique compensating both TC and output value of BGR achieves fine adjustment step towards the reference voltage,while keeping optimal TC by utilizing large resistance to help layout match. The high-order curvature compensation realized by poly and p-diffusion resistors is introduced into the design to guarantee the temperature characteristic. Implemented in 180 nm technology,the proposed BGR has been simulated to have a power supply rejection ratio（ PSRR） of 91 dB@100 Hz. The calibration technique covers output voltage scope of 0. 49 V-0. 56 Vwith TC of 9. 45 × 10^（-6）/℃-9. 56 × 10^（-6）/℃ over the temperature range of-40 ℃-120 ℃. The designed BGR provides a reference voltage of 500 mV,with measured TC of 10. 1 × 10^（-6）/℃.

Evaluation of SRAP markers efficiency in genetic diversity of Aspergillus flavus from peanut-cropped soils in China

In order to evaluation the efficiency of SRAP markers on genetic diversity of Aspergillus flavus,we screened out 17sets of primer pairs which could produce clear and reproducible SRAP bands from 150 SRAP primer pairs.The size of SRAP fragments ranged from 120 to 2100 bp.Primer pair Me10/Em9 produced the maximum number of polymorphic bands(12 bands),while Me8/Em13 produced the fewest number of polymorphic bands(only 1).Through analysis genetic diversity ability of different sets of primer pairs,the set of 12 primer pairs was selected for SRAP genetic marker of A.flavus.Cluster analysis was performed based on the genetic similarity coefficients,which ranged from 0.53 to 0.89.A dendrogram assembled using the unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages grouped A.flavus samples into 5 main clusters.The results suggested that SRAP marker is a useful molecular technology for the diversity of A.flavus from peanut soils in China.

Green Control Measures of Weeds in Wheat Fields in Hetao Irrigation Area along the Yellow River

This study was conducted to solve the problem of green weed control in wheat fields in Hetao irrigation area among the Yellow River.Based on the observation of the competition between wheat and weeds in areas where weeds occurred seriously in wheat fields in Hetao irrigation area among the Yellow River,we measured the effects of green weed control measures and wheat yield using different wheat varieties,planting densities,different organic fertilizers,different ploughing times,and different mulching methods.The results showed that the emergence of weeds in wheat fields dominated by Chenopodiaceae weeds,grain amaranth and barnyard grass was more than 10 d later than wheat.Weeds were mainly distributed between rows(holes),and the number of plants accounted for 66.6%(drill seeding)and 97.6%(hole seeding),respectively.And the growth of weeds in rows(holes)was weaker,and the fresh weight of individual plants was 39.3%-41.9%lower than that between rows(holes).The ecological weed inhibitory effect was significant in the early stage of wheat growth;and among the green weed control measures,except that different varieties and planting densities caused no significant difference in weed control effect,other measures had obvious weed control effects.Comprehensive comparison showed that the control effects of plant number in black film full-covered hole seeding,conventional film-covered hole seeding,increasing ploughing times,and applying organic fertilizer free of weed seed pollution were 82.3%,71.7%,22.0%,and 8.6%,respectively;the fresh weight control effects of black film full-covered hole seeding,conventional film-covered hole seeding,increasing ploughing times,and applying organic fertilizer free of weed seed pollution were 98.0%,97.1%,23.9%,and 9.6%,respectively;and the fresh weight control effects of black film full-covered hole seeding,conventional film-covered hole seeding and increasing ploughing times increased wheat yield by 69.4%,56.4%and 21.1%,respectively.The technologies in this study can realize the purposes of mechanized green weed control in organic wheat production and low-cost,high-yield,large-scale production.

Research on the Modem Material Purchasing and Management Mode under the Background of Informatization

In this paper, we conduct research on the modem material purchasing and the management mode under the background of informatization. Material is to maintain the normal operation of all kinds of resources integrated, the procurement is a significant means to ensure the enterprise supply as material purchasing is the purpose of the enterprise to obtain the value in the process of material in the production and business operation. Material purchasing constitutes the main part of enterprise cost, the success of the procurement is purchasing goods and materials to maximize value-added and it is directly related to the cost management of enterprises and the material purchasing, in order to further improve the enterprise＇ s buyer need to constantly enhance their own professional level that actively explore a variety of procurement mode, different procurement methods to complete the procurement, to seek for more high-quality supplies for the enterprise, at the same time, improve the production and operation of the further enterprises benefits.

Comprehensive transcriptomic analysis of developing seed in Cerasus humilis for lipid related gene discovery

Cerasus humilis is a woody shrub with increasing economic importance. Due to its high oil content in seed with desired fatty acid(FA) composition, C. humilis has been considered as a potential woody oilseed crop in China. However, FAs accumulation and related molecular mechanisms of FA biosynthesis in C. humilis seed have not been elucidated well. In this study, oil contents and FA compositions of developing C. humilis seed were analyzed. The total oil content in mature seed reached 48.7% while unsaturated FA concentration reached a high level of 96.2%. Three c DNA libraries of C. humilis developing seed were constructed at the beginning and 2 fast oil-accumulation stages, followed by Illumina sequencing with the platform of HiSeq^TM 2000. Differentially expressed unigenes(DEGs) were identified during the respective seed development stages to investigate transcription dynamics. Among DEGs, 82 unigenes were identified as being closely involved in de novo FA and triacylglycerol(TAG) biosynthesis. Surprisingly, among DEGs involved in TAG biosynthesis, expression of unigenes encoding GPATs(glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase) were relatively low and unigenes encoding LPAATs(lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase) were highly expressed, suggesting that LPAAT contributed more in storage lipids metabolism in C. humilis seed. Genes encoding DGAT2(diacylgycerol acyltransferase2) were the most highly expressed while expression of DGAT1 was very low, suggesting DGAT2 was the dominant DGAT which catalyzed TAG biosynthesis. To verify these results,10 unigenes were selected and their expression patterns were analyzed by quantitative RTPCR. These data provided comprehensive information for understanding the molecular mechanism of FA and TAG biosynthesis in C. humilis seed.

Numerical investigation and modeling of sweep effects on inlet flow field of axial compressor cascades

Swept blades are widely utilized in transonic compressors/fans and provide high load,high through-flow,high efficiency,and adequate stall margin.However,there is limited quantitative research on the mechanism of the effect of swept blades on the flow field,resulting in a lack of direct quantitative guidance for the design and analysis of swept blades in fans/compressors.To better understand this mechanism,this study employs a reduced-dimensional force equilibrium method to analyze more than 1500 swept cascades data.Results verify that circumferential fluctuation terms are responsible for inducing radial migration in the inlet airflow field of the swept blade,resulting in variations in the incidence angle and consequently leading to changes in the characteristics of the swept blade.Thus,a combination of simple functions and machine learning is utilized to model the circumferential fluctuation terms and quantify the sweep mechanism.The prediction accuracy of the model is high,with coefficient of determination greater than 0.95 on the test set.When the model is applied in a meridional flow analysis program,the calculation accuracy of the program for the incidence angle is improved by 0.4°and 0.6°at the design and off-design conditions respectively,compensating for the program’s original deficiencies.Meanwhile,the model can also provide quantitative guidance for the design of swept blades,thereby reducing the number of design iterations and improving design efficiency.

A three-dimensional inverse method based on moving no-slip boundary for profiled end wall design

How to utilize existing flow control mechanisms to make profiled end wall design more flexible,efficient,and physical is a meaningful challenge.This study presents a three-dimensional inverse method for profiled end wall design to achieve the application of flow control mechanisms.The predetermined pressure distribution on the end wall is reached by modifying the end wall geometry during flow field calculation.A motion velocity model is derived from the normal momentum equation of the moving no-slip boundary to modify the end wall geometry.A Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes(RANS)solver based on the Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure Linked Equations(SIMPLE)algorithm is adopted to simulate the flow field.Based on the mechanism understanding obtained through numerical optimization results,this study adopts the inverse method to redesign an optimized end wall in a compressor cascade.The results indicate that the redesigned end wall exhibits better loss reduction,reducing the overall total pressure loss by 5.5%,whereas the optimized end wall reduces it by 3%.The inverse method allows the imposition of desired influences on the end wall flow without constructing a database,making it highly flexible,efficient,and physical.

Design of a 35 kV high-temperature superconducting synchronous machine with optimized field winding

This paper proposes the application of high-voltage stator-cable windings in superconducting machines,based on the characteristics of strong magnetic fields and large air gaps.Cross-linked polyethylene cable winding can be employed to achieve a rated voltage of 35 kV in direct-current(DC)-field superconducting machines,thereby enabling a direct connection between the superconducting machine and the power grid,eliminating the need for transformers.We first,through finite element analysis,demonstrate that the proposed high-voltage high-temperature superconducting machine not only meets the requirement of a 35 kV-rated voltage,but also exhibits minimal flux leakage,torque fluctuation,and harmonic distortion.We then compare three candidate types to discuss the tradeoff between the multi-group superconducting field winding arrangement and machine performances.We propose inverted trapezoidal superconducting field winding as a promising candidate,because it has minimal superconductivity material usage,the largest safety margin for the superconducting coils(SCs),low thrust ripple,and low total harmonic distortion with the desired 35 kV-rated voltage.Finally,through large-scale design parameter sweeping,we show how we selected the optimal parameters for field winding and validated them by the finite element method.

Arachis species:High-quality forage crops—nutritional properties and breeding strategies to expand their utilization and feeding value

Plants of the genus Arachis originated from South America and are cultivated worldwide.The genus Arachis contains 83 species and nine intrageneric taxonomic sections.The cultivated peanut(Arachis hypogaea L.)belongs to the Arachis section,the forage peanut(Arachis pintoi Krapov.&W.C.Greg.)belongs to the Caulorrhizae section,and the perennial peanut(Arachis glabrata Benth.)belongs to the Rhizomatosae section.These three peanut species have been developed for use as fodder crops.This review summarizes the forage value of Arachis species.Forage and perennial peanuts can be intercropped with forage species to feed livestock.The cultivated peanut vines and peanut by-products,such as peanut skins and peanut meal,are also high-quality fodder used to feed sheep,cattle,and poultry.A major limiting factor in terms of adopting forage and perennial peanuts as forage crops is their limited resistance to frosts,resulting from their low winter hardiness.Therefore,the feeding value of cultivated peanuts is higher compared to forage and perennial peanuts.This review suggests that Arachis is a suitable forage crop,focusing on their nutritional properties and breeding to increase their performance under cultivation and feeding value.

A Distributed Reactive Power Sharing Approach in Microgrids with Improved Droop Control

Conventional droop control causes frequency and voltage deviations(from rated value)in a inverter-intensive microgrid(MG),and the reactive power sharing cannot be obtained when the communication structure of the MG or load suddenly changes.Compared with a centralized control and droop control scheme,a distributed hierarchical control structure of the MG can overcome the limitation of communication and realize reactive power sharing.In this paper,an improved droop control is adopted,which is based on the hierarchical control structure.The hierarchical control structure consists of zerolevel control,primary control and a proposed secondary control.First,the secondary controller is modeled,and the MG system composed of distributed generators(DGs)is considered as a multi-agent system.The secondary controller can make up for the shortcomings of the droop controller and adjust the frequency and voltage to their rated values.Secondly,the reference voltage and frequency of the zero-level control are calculated,and combined with the primary control.The zero-level control and primary control can make the voltage and frequency of the MG run stably and provide reference voltage for the inverter.Finally,the stability of the system is proved by the theory of multi-agent consistency.A simulation system is established in the Matlab/Simulink environment,and the results show the effectiveness of the proposed controller.

A Finite-time Distributed Cooperative Control Approach for Microgrids

Reactive power sharing cannot be achieved using many existing microgrid(MG)control methods,but the convergence speed of these methods is slow.To solve these problems,a finite-time distributed control approach is proposed in this paper,which is based on the hierarchical control structure.The hierarchical control structure consists of a dual loop control,a droop control used as a primary control and a secondary control.First,the secondary controller is modeled,and the MG system composed of distributed generators(DGs)is considered as a multi-agent system.The secondary controller consists of a frequency regulator,voltage regulator and power regulator.Secondly,the adaptive virtual impedance module is established,using the output of the reactive power regulator as its input.Thirdly,a dual loop controller is combined with a primary controller and secondary controller to generate a pulse width modulation(PWM)signal to control the power and voltage of the MG.In order to reduce the fluctuation of the MG,a damping module is introduced when the structure of the system changes.Finally,the stability of the proposed control strategy is proved by the related theorems.A simulation system is established in the Matlab environment,and the simulation results show that the proposed method is effective.

Patients with Prolonged Positivity of SARS-CoV-2 RNA Benefit from Convalescent Plasma Therapy:A Retrospective Study

Convalescent plasma therapy has been implemented in a few cases of severe coronavirus disease 2019.No report about convalescent plasma therapy in treating patients with prolonged positivity of SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been published.In this study,we conducted a retrospective observational study in 27 patients with prolonged positivity of SARS-CoV-2 RNA,the clinical benefit of convalescent plasma therapy were analyzed.q RT-PCR test of SARS-CoV-2 RNA turned negative(B 7 days)in a part of patients(early negative group,n=15)after therapy,others(late negative group,n=12)turned negative in more than 7 days.Pulmonary imaging improvement was confirmed in 7 patients in early negative group and 8 in late negative group after CP therapy.Viral load decreased in early negative group compared with late negative group at day 3,5,7 after implementing convalescent plasma therapy.Patients in early negative group had a shorter median length of hospital stay.In conclusion,convalescent plasma therapy might help eliminate virus and shorten length of hospital stay in patients with prolonged positivity of SARS-CoV-2 RNA.