Large scale genetic landscape and population structure of Ethiopian sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) germplasm revealed through molecular marker analysis

Sesame(Sesamum indicum L.) plays a crucial role in Ethiopian agriculture,serving both subsistence and commercial purposes.However,our understanding of the extensive genetic diversity and population structure of Ethiopian sesame remains limited.To address this knowledge gap,we genotyped 368 Ethiopian sesame germplasms,categorizing into four distinct breeding groups:Accessions,landraces,improved varieties,and wild types,using a comprehensive set of 28 polymorphic markers,including 23 simple sequence repeat(SSR) and five Insertion-Deletion(InDel) markers.These markers ensured robust genomic representation,with at least two markers per linkage group.Our results unveiled substantial genetic diversity,identifying a total of 535 alleles across all accessions.On average,each locus displayed 8.83 alleles,with observed and expected heterozygosity values of 0.30 and 0.36,respectively.Gene Diversity and Polymorphic Information Content(PIC) were recorded at 0.37 and 0.35.The percentage of polymorphic loci varied significantly among breeding groups,ranging from8.00% to 82.40%,indicating high diversity in accessions(82.4%),moderate diversity in improved varieties(31.20%) and landraces(29.60%),and limited diversity in wild types(8.00).Analysis of Molecular Variance(AMOVA) results emphasized significant genetic differentiation among populations,with substantial diversity(P<0.001) within each population.Approximately 8% of the entire genetic diversity could be attributed to distinctions among populations,while the larger proportion of genetic diversity(92%) resided within each individual sesame population,showcasing heightened diversity within each group.Our study’s findings received support from both Bayesian clustering and Neighbor-joining(NJ) analysis,reaffirming the credibility of our genetic structure insights.Notably,Population structure analysis at its highest Δk value(k=2) revealed the existence of two primary genetic clusters,further subdivided into four sub-populations at k=4.Similarly,NJ analysis identified two prominent clusters,each displaying additional sub-clustering.In conclusion,our research provides a comprehensive understanding of genetic groups,subpopulations,and overall diversity within Ethiopian sesame populations.These findings underscore the significant genetic diversity and population structure within Ethiopian sesame germplasm collections.This genetic richness holds promise for breeding and conservation efforts,highlighting the importance of preserving genetic diversity to ensure adaptation to changing environments and meet the needs of farmers and consumers.

Proteomic Study of Differentially Expressed Proteins in Seeds between Parents and Offspring of Castor Bean(Ricinus communis L.)

Castor bean(Ricinus communis L.),is one of the top 10 oilseed crops in the world and,therefore,of high economic value.Hybridization is one of the most effective ways to breed new varieties with high yield,high oil content,and better stress resistance.Therefore,prediction of desired traits in castor hybrid offspring is particularly important.In this study,proteomic analysis was performed to identify differentially expressed proteins(DEPs)in seeds between castor hybrid offspring and their female(Lm female line aLmAB2)and male parents(CSR·181).Among the DEPs upregulated in the seeds of hybrid offspring,the majority were related to seed yield and stress tolerance,while some were related to oil synthesis and fatty acid synthesis and metabolism in seeds.In other words,the hybrid offspring showed heterosis for seed yield,stress tolerance,oil synthesis,and fatty acid synthesis and metabolism when compared with their parents.Further,real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction assays were performed on 12 genes encoding DEPs involved in oil synthesis,pollen abortion,yield,and stress tolerance of seeds.The results showed that the expression levels of the 12 genes were consistent with those of the DEPs.

AIE荧光聚合物RAFT可控合成与表征及光物理性质研究

聚集诱导发光(AIE)分子是与传统的聚集态荧光淬灭染料分子具有截然相反的光物理性质的新型有机发光材料,可广泛应用于化学/生物传感、生物探针与成像、诊疗一体化和光电子器件等诸多领域中。本论文通过可逆加成-断裂链转移(RAFT)聚合方法,可控合成了侧链型四苯乙烯TPE聚丙烯酸酯AIE聚合物。通过实验条件的优化与探索,尤其采用半衰期较短、活性更高的偶氮二异庚腈(ABVN)取代常规的偶氮二异丁腈(AIBN)引发剂,将原来超过12 h的过夜反应前沿科研实验,改造为较短的3–5 h聚合反应时间内即可达到中等收率和较好的聚合物产品质量,使其成为一个适合本科教学环境的新创实验。本实验融合了无水无氧操作技术、柱层析分离纯化、RAFT可控聚合和GPC分子表征技术、FTIR、NMR、UV-Vis、荧光光谱等多种现代实验技术和表征方法,考查了所合成四苯乙烯TPE侧基的AIE聚合物的光物理性质,测定其溶液中的相对荧光量子产率达17%。

Near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy reveals wide variation in major components of sesame seeds from Africa and Asia

Sesame is an important oilseed crop in Africa and Asia, owing to its high nutritional quality seed and market value. Variation in sesame seed components including oil, oleic acid,linoleic acid, and protein was investigated by near-infrared reflectance spectrometry in 139 samples collected from different countries. Oil and protein contents were between 40.8%and 60.3%(mean 53.0%) and 15.5% to 25.5%(mean 20.4%), respectively. Linoleic acid,ranging from 31.8% to 52.4%(mean 46%) was more abundant than oleic acid(31.8%–50.6%,mean 38.1%). Light-seeded samples displayed higher nutritional quality, as they were richer in oil, protein, and linoleic acid than dark seeds. Samples from Africa had higher oil and linoleic acid contents, while Asian samples had higher oleic content. The analysis revealed West African sesame cultivars containing especially high levels of seed components, which may command high market values. Two clusters of sesame samples grouped by seed composition were obtained, including one cluster with high oil and oleic acid content and the other with high protein and linoleic acid content. This study revealed that sesame samples from Africa and Asia harbor high variation for major seed components and also provided background information for breeding high-nutrition varieties according to the demands of sesame seed markets.

Applications and research trends of digital human models in the manufacturing industry

Virtual reality(VR)has been widely used in various manufacturing industries,and VR-based virtual manufacturing has received significant attention in the current intelligent manufacturing era.Digital human models(DHMs)are essential for virtual manufacturing applications.Additionally,researching new applications of DHMs has developed into an important academic research field.This paper aims to identify the applications and research trends of DHMs in the manufacturing industry and to provide a reference for the continued development of virtual manufacturing and DHMs.We selected a total of 49 related articles from a large number of articles published between 2014 and 2019.The applications of DHMs in the manufacturing industry are analyzed from different perspectives and various relevant technical limitations are discussed.The results indicate that the applications of DHMs differ significantly between different types of fields.The automotive industry is the main application field for DHMs,and assembly/maintenance simulations and evaluations are the main application types.Additionally,there are still some limitations in the establishment of virtual environments,motion control,and DHM evaluation that should be addressed.Finally,research trends in the application of DHMs are illustrated and discussed,including the planning and assessment of human-robot collaboration systems,the combination of DHMs and augmented reality,and improved motion planning for DHMs.In summary,the application of DHMs can improve the realism and effectiveness of virtual manufacturing,and DHMs will be more widely and deeply studied and applied in various manufacturing industries in the near future.

Biochemical and physio-morphological indices for sesame drought resistance germplasm selection

In order to efficiently screen drought resistant varieties from a large scale of sesame germplasm, key traits were identified in this study. Six varieties with different drought resistance levels were submitted to a repeated drought stress experiment followed by rehydration phases at seedling stage. Results revealed that ‘ZZM5396', ‘ZZM1446' and‘ZZM0635' showed highest drought resistance features by phenotypic, physiological and biochemical detection. Peroxidase(POD) and catalase(CAT) activities, photosynthetic rate(Photo), root and stem dry matters are indices for drought resistance screening in sesame.Our results from seedling stage were consistent with that from germination stage, despite the fact that ‘ZZM1446' appeared to be superior under drought at seedling stage. The identified genotypes may be useful for breeding towards drought resistance and relevant molecular analysis in sesame.

Decentralized state observer scheme for uncertain time-delay T-S fuzzy interconnected systems

This paper focuses on a class of T-S fuzzy interconnected systems with time delays and time-varying parameter uncertainties. Observer-based output feedback decentralized controller is designed such that the closed-loop interconnected system is asymptotically stable in the Lyapunov sense in probability for all admissible uncertainties and time delays. Sufficient conditions for robustly asymptotically stability of the systems are given in terms of a set of linear matrix inequalities （LMIs）.

Community Structure of Endophytic Fungi in Ginseng and Its Correlation Analysis with Active Components

[Objectives]The paper was to explore the correlation between active components of ginseng and community structure of endophytic fungi in ginseng under different cultivation methods.[Methods]Using ginsengs under two main planting patterns in Huanren County,Liaoning Province as the samples,the community structure of endophytic fungi was studied by molecular means,and the chemical components were identified and the content of chemical markers was measured via LC-MS.Moreover,the correlation between medicinal components of ginseng and diversity of endophytic fungal flora was analyzed.[Results]The diversity and active components of endophytic fungi of ginseng were different.The diversity analysis showed that the medicinal components of ginseng were positively correlated with some fungal groups in ginseng.[Conclusions]Artificial intervention in the planting process would affect the endophytic fungi in medicinal materials,and further affect the chemical components of ginseng medicinal materials.

The posterior selection method for hyperparameters in regularized least squares method

The selection of hyperparameters in regularized least squares plays an important role in large-scale system identification. The traditional methods for selecting hyperparameters are based on experience or marginal likelihood maximization method, which are inaccurate or computationally expensive. In this paper, two posterior methods are proposed to select hyperparameters based on different prior knowledge (constraints), which can obtain the optimal hyperparameters using the optimization theory. Moreover, we also give the theoretical optimal constraints, and verify its effectiveness. Numerical simulation shows that the hyperparameters and parameter vector estimate obtained by the proposed methods are the optimal ones.

Stereoselective synthesis of the 3,6-branched Fuziα-glucans up to 15-mer via a one-pot and convergent glycosylation strategy

A family of the 3,6-branched Fuziα-glucans including the pentasaccharide repeating unit as well as its di-and trimers were efficiently achieved via a one-pot and convergent glycosylation strategy.All the protectedα-glucans up to 15-mer were assembled with high yields and excellentα-stereoselectivity,which was secured by the synergisticα-directing effects of the Tol SCl/Ag OTf promotion system and the stericβ-facial shielding of bulky saccharide residues linked at the 6-O-position of glucosyl donors.Moreover,the 3,6-branched architecture of glycosyl donor was revealed to be more favorable for theα-selective glucosidation of primary hydroxyl group,especially in the case of large oligosaccharide acceptor.The structurally well-defined syntheticα-glucans would be useful for various biological studies.

Silicate ions as soluble form of bioactive ceramics alleviate aortic aneurysm and dissection

Aortic aneurysm and dissection(AAD)are leading causes of death in the elderly.Recent studies have demonstrated that silicate ions can manipulate multiple cells,especially vascular-related cells.We demonstrated in this study that silicate ions as soluble form of bioactive ceramics effectively alleviated aortic aneurysm and dissection in both Ang II andβ-BAPN induced AAD models.Different from the single targeting therapeutic drug approaches,the bioactive ceramic derived approach attributes to the effect of bioactive silicate ions on the inhibition of the AAD progression through regulating the local vascular microenvironment of aorta systematically in a multi-functional way.The in vitro experiments revealed that silicate ions did not only alleviate senescence and inflammation of the mouse aortic endothelial cells,enhance M2 polarization of mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages,and reduce apoptosis of mouse aortic smooth muscle cells,but also regulate their interactions.The in vivo studies further confirm that silicate ions could effectively alleviate senescence,inflammation,and cell apoptosis of aortas,accomplished with reduced aortic dilation,collagen deposition,and elastin laminae degradation.This bioactive ceramic derived therapy provides a potential new treatment strategy in attenuating AAD progression.

Investigation of Upconversion Luminescence Attenuation in Aqueous Solutions Under 980 nm and 808 nm Irradiation

Lanthanide ions-doped upconversion nanoparticles(UCNPs)have shown great potential in various biomedical applications.However,the upconversion luminescence(UCL)intensity of UCNPs in water environment tends to be quenched.This quenching is typically attributed to non-radiative relaxation of the excited state.In this study,we designed a core-shellshell-shell NaYb_(0.88)Er_(0.12)F_(4)@NaY_(0.9)b_(0.1)F_(4)@NaY_(0.6)Nd_(0.3)Yb_(0.1)F_(4)@NaYF_(4)UCNPs that could be excited by both 980 nm and 808 nm laser,due to the doping of Nd^(3+)and Yb^(3+)ions.Our research not only utilized bulk spectral measurement but also employed single-particle level microscopic imaging to comprehensively investigate the impact of water molecules on UCL under 980 nm and 808 nm irradiation.Interestingly,our findings indicate that the absorption of water molecules has a significant effect on the UCL decay of UCNPs in aqueous solutions when excited by a 980 nm laser.This work offers a new perspective on the luminescence behavior of UCNPs in aquatic environments and provides valuable insights for their application and development in biomedicine.

Association Analysis for Quality Traits in a Diverse Panel of Chinese Sesame(Sesamum indicum L.)Germplasm

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of a sesame （Sesamum indicum L.） panel for association analysis, and investigate the genetic basis of oil content （OC）, protein content, oleic acid concentration, and linoleic acid concentration using association mapping. A panel of 216 sesame accessions was phenotyped in a multi-environment trial and fingerprinted with 608 polymorphic loci produced by 79 primers, including simple sequence repeats （SSRs）, sequence-related amplified polymorphisms （SRAPs）, and amplified fragment length polymorphisms （AFLPs）. Population structure analysis revealed two subgroups in the population. The Q model performed better for its ability to re-identify associations for the four traits at highly significant P-values compared to the other three mixed models. And a total of 35 and 25 associations for the four traits in 2010 and 2011 were identified, respectively, with the Q model after Bonferroni correction. Among those associations, only one for OC was re-identified in two environments, and several markers associated simultaneously with multiple traits were discovered. These results suggest the power and stability of the Q model for association analysis of nutritional traits in this sesame panel for its slight population stratification and familial relationship, which could aid in dissecting complex traits, and could help to develop strategies for improving nutritional quality.

Analysis method and experimental study of ice accumulation detection signal based on Lamb waves

A quantitative identification method for in-flight icing has the capability to significantly enhance the safety of aircraft operations.Ultrasonic guided waves have the unique advantage of detecting icing in a relatively large area,but quantitative identification of ice layers is a challenge.In this paper,a quantitative identification method of ice accumulation based on ultrasonic guided waves is proposed.Firstly,a simulation model for the wave dynamics of piezoelectric coupling in three dimensions is established to analyze the propagation characteristics of Lamb waves in a structure consisting of an aluminum plate and an ice layer.The wavelet transform method is utilized to extract the Time of Flight(ToF)or Time of Delay(ToD)of S_(0)/B_(1) mode waves,which serves as a characteristic parameter to precisely determine and assess the level of ice accumulation.Then,an experimental system is developed to evaluate the feasibility of Lamb waves-based icing real-time detection in the presence of spray conditions.Finally,a combination of the Hampel median filter and the moving average filter is developed to analyze ToF/ToD signals.Numerical simulation results reveal a positive correlation between geometric dimensions(length,width,thickness)of the ice layer and ToF/ToD of B1 mode waves,indicating their potential as indicators for quantifying ice accumulation.Experimental results of real-time icing detection indicate that ToF/ToD will reach greater peak values with the growth of the arbitrary-shaped ice layer until saturation to effectively predict the simulation results.This study lays a foundation for the practical application of quantitative icing detection via ultrasonic guided waves.

3D-printed GelMA/CaSiO_(3)composite hydrogel scaffold for vascularized adipose tissue restoration

The increased number of mastectomies,combined with rising patient expectations for cosmetic and psychosocial outcomes,has necessitated the use of adipose tissue restoration techniques.However,the therapeutic effect of current clinical strategies is not satisfying due to the high demand of personalized customization and the timely vascularization in the process of adipose regeneration.Here,a composite hydrogel scaffold was prepared by three-dimensional(3D)printing technology,applying gelatin methacrylate anhydride(GelMA)as printing ink and calcium silicate(CS)bioceramic as an active ingredient for breast adipose tissue regeneration.The in vitro experiments showed that the composite hydrogel scaffolds could not only be customized with controllable architectures,but also significantly stimulated both 3T3-L1 preadipocytes and human umbilical vein endothelial cells in multiple cell behaviors,including cell adhesion,proliferation,migration and differentiation.Moreover,the composite scaffold promoted vascularized adipose tissue restoration under the skin of nude mice in vivo.These findings suggest that 3D-printed GelMA/CS composite scaffolds might be a good candidate for adipose tissue engineering.