Increasing root-lower characteristics improves drought tolerance in cotton cultivars at the seedling stage

Drought is an important abiotic stress factor in cotton production.The root system architecture(RSA)of cotton shows high plasticity which can alleviate drought-related stress under drought stress(DS)conditions;however,this alleviation is cultivar dependent.Therefore,this study estimated the genetic variability of RSA in cotton under DS.Using the paper-based growth system,we assessed the RSA variability in 80 cotton cultivars at the seedling stage,with 0 and10%polyethylene glycol 6000(PEG6000)as the control(CK)and DS treatment,respectively.An analysis of 23 aboveground and root traits in the 80 cotton cultivars revealed different responses to DS.On the 10th day after DS treatment,the degree of variation in the RSA traits under DS(5–55%)was greater than that of CK(5–49%).The 80 cultivars were divided into drought-tolerant cultivars(group 1),intermediate drought-tolerant cultivars(group 2),and drought-sensitive cultivars(group 3)based on their comprehensive evaluation values of drought resistance.Under DS,the root lengthlower,root area-lower,root volume-lower,and root length density-lower were significantly reduced by 63,71,76,and 4%in the drought-sensitive cultivars compared to CK.Notably,the drought-tolerant cultivars maintained their root lengthlower,root area-lower,root volume-lower,and root length density–lower attributes.Compared to CK,the root diameter(0–2 mm)-lower increased by 21%in group 1 but decreased by 3 and 64%in groups 2 and 3,respectively,under DS.Additionally,the drought-tolerant cultivars displayed a plastic response under DS that was characterized by an increase in the root-lower characteristics.Drought resistance was positively correlated with the root area-lower and root length density-lower.Overall,the RSA of the different cotton cultivars varied greatly under DS.Therefore,important root traits,such as the root-lower traits,provide great insights for exploring whether drought-tolerant cotton cultivars can effectively withstand adverse environments.

Using MCycleGAN to Realize High-Resolution Reconstruction of Solar Speckle Image

High-resolution reconstruction of solar speckle image is one of the important research contents in astronomical image processing. High-resolution image reconstruction based on deep learning can obtain the end-to-end mapping function from low-resolution image to high-resolution image through neural network model learning, which can recover the high-frequency information of the image. However, when used to reconstruct the sun speckle image with single feature, more noise and fuzzy local details, there are some shortcomings such as too smooth edge and easy loss of high-frequency information. In this paper, the structure features of input image and reconstructed image are added to CycleGAN network to get MCycleGAN. High frequency information is obtained from structural features by generator network, and the feature difference is calculated to enhance the ability of network to reconstruct high-frequency information. The edge of the reconstructed image is clearer. Compared with the speckle mask method level 1+ used by Yunnan Observatory, the results show that the proposed algorithm has the advantages of small error, fast reconstruction speed and high image clarity.

Characteristic dysbiosis in gout and the impact of a uric acid-lowering treatment,febuxostat on the gut microbiota

Gut dysbiosis is suggested to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of gout.The aim of our study was to identify the characteristic dysbiosis of the gut microbiota in gout patients and the impact of a commonly used uric acid-lowering treatment,febuxostat on gut microbiota in gout.16S ribosomal RNA sequencing and metagenomic shotgun sequencing was performed on fecal DNA isolated from 38 untreated gout patients,38 gout patients treated with febuxostat,and 26 healthy controls.A restriction of gut microbiota biodiversity was detected in the untreated gout patients,and the alteration was partly restored by febuxostat.Biochemical metabolic indexes involved in liver and kidney metabolism were significantly associated with the gut microbiota composition in gout patients.Functional analysis revealed that the gut microbiome of gout patients had an enriched function on carbohydrate metabolism but a lower potential for purine metabolism,which was comparatively enhanced in the febuxostat treated gout patients.A classification microbial model obtained a high mean area under the curve up to 0.973.Therefore,gut dysbiosis characterizings gout could potentially serve as a noninvasive diagnostic tool for gout and may be a promising target of future preventive interventions.

Sandwich Structure Design of a Cooling Fin for Battery Modules Against Impact Loads

Lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)are widely employed in electric vehicles owing to their high power density,long cycle life,and environmental friendliness.However,LIBs are hazardous in the event of a crash,leading to thermal runaway.In this study,the basic structure of a battery module is analyzed to improve the crashworthiness of LIBs.A simplified finite element model of the battery module structure,which is a battery unit composed of two pouch cells and a cooling fin,is set up and verified by conducting module-level simulations.The simulation results reveal that the cooling fin in the battery module has the potential to absorb energy.Six sandwich configurations are introduced to modify the cooling fin.With a unidirection-ally stiffened double hull USDH structure serving as an example,a parametric analysis is conducted,demonstrating that the sandwich height does not influence the areal density;a small height of 3 mm can make the material work sufficiently while avoiding early buckling of the structure.Further,the crashworthiness of different sandwich configurations with the same areal density and height is compared,leading to three deformation modes.USDH and circular core structures are found to be able to effectively reduce the peak force and improve the energy absorption ability.