LociScan,a tool for screening genetic marker combinations for plant variety discrimination

To reduce the cost and increase the efficiency of plant genetic marker fingerprinting for variety discrimination,it is desirable to identify the optimal marker combinations.We describe a marker combination screening model based on the genetic algorithm(GA)and implemented in a software tool,Loci Scan.Ratio-based variety discrimination power provided the largest optimization space among multiple fitness functions.Among GA parameters,an increase in population size and generation number enlarged optimization depth but also calculation workload.Exhaustive algorithm afforded the same optimization depth as GA but vastly increased calculation time.In comparison with two other software tools,Loci Scan accommodated missing data,reduced calculation time,and offered more fitness functions.In large datasets,the sample size of training data exerted the strongest influence on calculation time,whereas the marker size of training data showed no effect,and target marker number had limited effect on analysis speed.

Fate of mercury in flue gas desulfurization gypsum determined by Temperature Programmed Decomposition and Sequential Chemical Extraction

A considerable amount of Hg is retained in flue gas desulfurization（FGD） gypsum from Wet Flue Gas Desulfurization（WFGD） systems. For this reason, it is important to determine the species of Hg in FGD gypsum not only to understand the mechanism of Hg removal by WFGD systems but also to determine the final fate of Hg when FGD gypsum is disposed. In this study, Temperature Programmed Decomposition（TPD） and Sequential Chemical Extraction（SCE） were applied to FGD gypsum to identify the Hg species in it. The FGD gypsum samples were collected from seven coal-fired power plants in China, with Hg concentrations ranging from 0.19 to 3.27 μg/g. A series of pure Hg compounds were used as reference materials in TPD experiments and the results revealed that the decomposition temperatures of different Hg compounds increase in the order of Hg_2Cl_2〈 HgCl_2〈 black HgS 〈 Hg_2SO_4〈 red HgS 〈 HgO 〈 HgSO_4. The Hg compounds existing in FGD gypsums identified by TPD included HgCl_2, Hg_2Cl_2, Hg_2SO_4, black HgS and red HgS, of which mercury sulfides were the primary compounds. The results of SCE indicated that Hg was mainly distributed in the strongly complexed phase. The low Hg content in FGD gypsum increases the ambiguity of assigning extraction fractions to certain Hg species by SCE. The fact that the primary compounds in FGD gypsum are HgS phases leads the leaching of Hg in the natural environment to be quite low, but a considerable amount of Hg may be released during the industrial heating process.

Positron emission tomography detector performance with different crystal pitches

Aims:In this work,we evaluated the performance of three pitches positron emission tomography(PET)detectors for building a high-resolution small-animal PET imaging experimental platform.Methods:The evaluation of PET detectors includes twodimensional crystal identification,energy resolution,and crystal look-up table.The nuclear instrumentation module and PXI data acquisition(DAQ)system were both used to obtain flood images.The energy spectrum of the Na-22 source was measured.PET detectors of 2.0 and 1.6 mm pitches used in our present experiment were composed of lutetium yttrium oxyorthosilicate(LYSO)crystals directly coupled to position-sensitive photomultiplier tubes(PSPMTs).The 1.3-mm pitch detector comprises a LYSO crystal,a tapered light-guide,and a PSPMT.The crystal sizes of the detectors were a 10×10 array of 2.0×2.0×10 mm^(3) crystals,a 10×10 array of 1.6×1.6×10 mm^(3) crystals,and an 18×18 array of 1.3×1.3×10 mm^(3) crystals,respectively.Due to the lower sampling frequency of the DAQ system,a spline interpolation algorithm was introduced in the signal waveform to reconstruct the peak values.Results:The experimental results indicated that all three PET detector crystals could be clearly identified.A detailed analysis demonstrated that the key characteristic full width at half maximum(FWHM)values of the crystals profile could reach 0.46±0.03,0.32±0.03,and 0.21±0.02 mm,while the crystal average energy resolutions were 16.8%±1.76%,20.1%±2.24%,and 31.5%±3.76%,which correspond to pitches of 2.0-,1.6-,and 1.3-mm,respectively.Conclusions:The PET detector modules of LYSO crystal arrays could be potentially used in the small-animal PET imaging applications and are promising to achieve submillimeter PET images.

Design and simulation of a novel E-mode GaN MIS-HEMT based on a cascode connection for suppression of electric field under gate and improvement of reliability

We proposed a novel Al Ga N/Ga N enhancement-mode（E-mode） high electron mobility transistor（HEMT） with a dual-gate structure and carried out the detailed numerical simulation of device operation using Silvaco Atlas. The dual-gate device is based on a cascode connection of an E-mode and a D-mode gate. The simulation results show that electric field under the gate is decreased by more than 70% compared to that of the conventional E-mode MIS-HEMTs（from 2.83 MV/cm decreased to 0.83 MV/cm）. Thus, with the discussion of ionized trap density, the proposed dual-gate structure can highly improve electric field-related reliability, such as, threshold voltage stability. In addition, compared with HEMT with field plate structure, the proposed structure exhibits a simplified fabrication process and a more effective suppression of high electric field.