Lithium–sulfur（Li–S） batteries have received more and more attention because of higher specific capacity and energy density of sulfur than current lithium–ion batteries. However, the low electrical conductivity o...Lithium–sulfur（Li–S） batteries have received more and more attention because of higher specific capacity and energy density of sulfur than current lithium–ion batteries. However, the low electrical conductivity of sulfur and its discharge product, and also the high dissolution of polysulfides restrict the Li–S battery practical applications. To improve their performances, in this work, we fabricate a novel free-standing, curled and partially reduced graphene oxide（CPrGO for short） network and combine it with sulfur to form a CPrGO–S composite as a cathode for Li–S battery. With sulfur content of 60 wt%, the free-standing CPrGO–S composite network delievers an initial capacity of 988.9 m Ah·g^（-1）. After 200 cycles,it shows a stable capacity of 841.4 m Ah·g^（-1） at 0.2 C, retaining about 85% of the initial value. The high electrochemical performance demonstrates that the CPrGO–S network has great potential applications in energy storage system. Such improved properties can be ascribed to the unique free-standing and continous CPrGO–S network which has high specific surface area and good electrical conductivity. In addition, oxygen-containing groups on the partially reduced graphene oxide are beneficial to preventing the polysulfides from dissolving into electrolyte and can mitigate the ＂shuttle effect＂.展开更多
When a curling rock slides on an ice sheet with an initial rotation,a lateral movement occurs,which is known as the curling phenomenon.The force of friction between the curling rock and the ice sheet changes continual...When a curling rock slides on an ice sheet with an initial rotation,a lateral movement occurs,which is known as the curling phenomenon.The force of friction between the curling rock and the ice sheet changes continually with changes in the environment;thus,the sport of curling requires great skill and experience.The throwing of the curling rock is a great challenge in robot design and control,and existing curling robots usually adopt a combination scheme of a wheel chassis and gripper that differs significantly from human throwing movements.A hexapod curling robot that imitates human kicking,sliding,pushing,and curling rock rotating was designed and manufactured by our group,and completed a perfect show during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Games.Smooth switching between the walking and throwing tasks is realized by the robot’s morphology transformation based on leg configuration switching.The robot’s controlling parameters,which include the kicking velocity v_(k),pushing velocity v_(p),orientation angle θc,and rotation velocityω,are determined by aiming and sliding models according to the estimated equivalent friction coefficientμ_(equ)and ratio e of the front and back frictions.The stable errors between the target and actual stopping points converge to 0.2 and 1.105 m in the simulations and experiments,respectively,and the error shown in the experiments is close to that of a well-trained wheelchair curling athlete.This robot holds promise for helping ice-makers rectify ice sheet friction or assisting in athlete training.展开更多
The Agulhas system is the strongest western boundary current system in the Southern Hemisphere and plays an important role in modulating the Indian-to-Atlantic Ocean water exchange by the Agulhas leakage.It is difficu...The Agulhas system is the strongest western boundary current system in the Southern Hemisphere and plays an important role in modulating the Indian-to-Atlantic Ocean water exchange by the Agulhas leakage.It is difficult to measure in situ transport of the Agulhas leakage as well as the Agulhas retroflection position due to their intermittent nature.In this study,an innovative kinematic algorithm was designed and applied to the gridded altimeter observational data,to ascertain the longitudinal position of Agulhas retroflection,the stability of Agulhas jet stream,as well as its strength.The results show that the east-west shift of retroflection is related neither to the strength of Agulhas current nor to its stability.Further analysis uncovers the connection between the westward extension of Agulhas jet stream and an anomalous cyclonic circulation at its northern side,which is likely attributed to the local wind stress curl anomaly.To confirm the effect of local wind forcing on the east-west shift of retroflection,numerical sensitivity experiments were conducted.The results show that the local wind stress can induce a similar longitudinal shift of the retroflection as altimetry observations.Further statistical and case study indicates that whether an Agulhas ring can continuously migrate westward to the Atlantic Ocean or re-merge into the main flow depends on the retroflection position.Therefore,the westward retroflection may contribute to a stronger Agulhas leakage than the eastward retroflection.展开更多
Leaf,spike,stem,and root morphologies are key factors that determine crop growth,development,and productivity.Multiple genes that control these morphological traits have been identified in Arabidopsis,rice,maize,and o...Leaf,spike,stem,and root morphologies are key factors that determine crop growth,development,and productivity.Multiple genes that control these morphological traits have been identified in Arabidopsis,rice,maize,and other plant species.However,little is known about the genomic regions and genes associated with morphological traits in wheat.Here,we identified the ethyl methanesulfonate-derived mutant wheat line M133 that displays multiple morphological changes that include upward-curled leaves,paired spikelets,dwarfism,and delayed heading.Using bulked segregant RNA sequencing(BSR-seq)and a high-resolution genetic map,we identified TraesCS1D02G155200(HBD2)as a potential candidate gene.HB-D2 encodes a class III homeodomain-leucine zipper(HD-ZIP III)transcription factor,and the mutation was located in the miRNA165/166 complementary site,resulting in a resistant allele designated rHb-D2.The relative expression of rHb2 in the mutant plants was significantly higher(P<0.01)than in plants homozygous for the WT allele.Independent resistant mutations that disrupt the miRNA165/166 complementary sites in the A-(rHb-A2)and B-genome(rHb-B2)homoeologs showed similar phenotypic alterations,but the relative intensity of the effects was different.Transgenic plants expressing rHb-D2 gene driven by the maize UBIQUITIN(UBI)promoter showed similar phenotypes to the rHb-D2 mutant.These results confirmed that HB-D2 is the causal gene responsible for the mutant phenotypes.Finally,a survey of 1397 wheat accessions showed that the complementary sites for miRNA165/166 in all three HB2 homoeologs are highly conserved.Our results suggest that HB2 plays an important role in regulating growth and development in wheat.展开更多
Tomato yellow leaf curl virus(TYLCV)is the dominating pathogen of tomato yellow leaf curl disease that caused severe loss to tomato production in China.In this study,we found that a TYLCV-resistant tomato line drastic...Tomato yellow leaf curl virus(TYLCV)is the dominating pathogen of tomato yellow leaf curl disease that caused severe loss to tomato production in China.In this study,we found that a TYLCV-resistant tomato line drastically reduced the accumulation of viral complementary-sense strand mRNAs but just moderately inhibited that of viral DNA and virion-sense strand mRNAs.However,two other resistant lines did not have such virus inhibition pattern.Analysis of differential expressed genes showed that the potential host defense-relevant processes varied in different resistant tomatoes,as compared to the susceptible line,suggesting a diversity of tomato TYLCV-resistance mechanisms.展开更多
When one function is defined as a differential operation on another function, it’s often desirable to invert the definition, to effectively “undo” the differentiation. A Green’s function approach is often used to ...When one function is defined as a differential operation on another function, it’s often desirable to invert the definition, to effectively “undo” the differentiation. A Green’s function approach is often used to accomplish this, but variations on this theme exist, and we examine a few such variations. The mathematical analysis of is sought in the form if such an inverse operator exists, but physics is defined by both mathematical formula and ontological formalism, as I show for an example based on the Dirac equation. Finally, I contrast these “standard” approaches with a novel exact inverse operator for field equations.展开更多
Cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV) belongs to the subgroup III of geminiviruses with single strand DNA genome. Study demonstrated that the bidirectional promoter of CLCuV had activity in Agrobacterium tumefaciens (Smith e...Cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV) belongs to the subgroup III of geminiviruses with single strand DNA genome. Study demonstrated that the bidirectional promoter of CLCuV had activity in Agrobacterium tumefaciens (Smith et Townsend) Conn. This is the first report for the activity of the bidirectional promoter of geminivirus in A. tumefaciens. Results showed that the activity of the complementary sense promoter was stronger than that of virion sense promoter, and was detected 2-fold higher than that of CaMV 35S promoter in A. tumefaciens. Moreover, the promoter 5' deletion analysis indicated that the mean GUS activity driven by a 287 nucleotides complementary sense promoter fragment (from-287 to the translation initiation site) is 4 times higher than that driven by the whole complementary sense promoter in A. tumefaciens. This result suggested that there might exist negative regulatory elements in this deleted fragment. The function of other cis-elements included in CLCuV complementary sense promoter was also discussed in this paper.展开更多
In the present paper, chiral mesoporous silica nano-cocoon(A-CMSN) functionalized with amino group was synthesized, and its loading and release of indomethacin(IMC), a poorly soluble drug, was studied. Due to the use ...In the present paper, chiral mesoporous silica nano-cocoon(A-CMSN) functionalized with amino group was synthesized, and its loading and release of indomethacin(IMC), a poorly soluble drug, was studied. Due to the use of chiral anionic surfactants as a template, ACMSN possessed 2D hexagonal nano-cocoon morphology with curled channels on its surface, which was quite different from another 2D hexagonal mesoporous silica nanoparticles(MCM-41) with straightway channels. After being loaded into the two silica carriers by hydrogen bond, crystalline IMC converted to amorphous form, leading to the improved drug dissolution. And IMC loading capacity of A-CMSN was higher than MCM-41 because curled loading process originating from curvature chiral channels can hold more drug molecules. Compared with IMC, IMC loaded A-CMSN presented obviously fast release throughout the in vitro release experiment, while IMC loaded MCM-41 released faster than IMC at the initial 5 h then showed controlled slow release afterwards, which was closely related to the mesoporous silica nanoparticles and different channel mesostructures of these two carriers. A-CMSN possessed nano-cocoon morphology with curled 2D hexagonal channel and its channel length was shorter than MCM-41, therefore IMC molecules can easily get rid of the constraint of A-CMSN then to be surrounded by dissolution medium.展开更多
基金supported by the National Basic Research Program of China(Grant No.2012CB932302)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant Nos.11634014,51172271,and 51372269)the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(Grant No.XDA09040202)
文摘Lithium–sulfur（Li–S） batteries have received more and more attention because of higher specific capacity and energy density of sulfur than current lithium–ion batteries. However, the low electrical conductivity of sulfur and its discharge product, and also the high dissolution of polysulfides restrict the Li–S battery practical applications. To improve their performances, in this work, we fabricate a novel free-standing, curled and partially reduced graphene oxide（CPrGO for short） network and combine it with sulfur to form a CPrGO–S composite as a cathode for Li–S battery. With sulfur content of 60 wt%, the free-standing CPrGO–S composite network delievers an initial capacity of 988.9 m Ah·g^（-1）. After 200 cycles,it shows a stable capacity of 841.4 m Ah·g^（-1） at 0.2 C, retaining about 85% of the initial value. The high electrochemical performance demonstrates that the CPrGO–S network has great potential applications in energy storage system. Such improved properties can be ascribed to the unique free-standing and continous CPrGO–S network which has high specific surface area and good electrical conductivity. In addition, oxygen-containing groups on the partially reduced graphene oxide are beneficial to preventing the polysulfides from dissolving into electrolyte and can mitigate the ＂shuttle effect＂.
基金funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(92248303).
文摘When a curling rock slides on an ice sheet with an initial rotation,a lateral movement occurs,which is known as the curling phenomenon.The force of friction between the curling rock and the ice sheet changes continually with changes in the environment;thus,the sport of curling requires great skill and experience.The throwing of the curling rock is a great challenge in robot design and control,and existing curling robots usually adopt a combination scheme of a wheel chassis and gripper that differs significantly from human throwing movements.A hexapod curling robot that imitates human kicking,sliding,pushing,and curling rock rotating was designed and manufactured by our group,and completed a perfect show during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Games.Smooth switching between the walking and throwing tasks is realized by the robot’s morphology transformation based on leg configuration switching.The robot’s controlling parameters,which include the kicking velocity v_(k),pushing velocity v_(p),orientation angle θc,and rotation velocityω,are determined by aiming and sliding models according to the estimated equivalent friction coefficientμ_(equ)and ratio e of the front and back frictions.The stable errors between the target and actual stopping points converge to 0.2 and 1.105 m in the simulations and experiments,respectively,and the error shown in the experiments is close to that of a well-trained wheelchair curling athlete.This robot holds promise for helping ice-makers rectify ice sheet friction or assisting in athlete training.
基金The National Key R&D Program of China under contract No.2019YFA0606702the National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 42176222,91858202,41630963,and 41776003+1 种基金the National Science Foundation under contract No.NSF-IIS-2123264the fund suported by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under contract No.NASA-80NSSC20M0220.
文摘The Agulhas system is the strongest western boundary current system in the Southern Hemisphere and plays an important role in modulating the Indian-to-Atlantic Ocean water exchange by the Agulhas leakage.It is difficult to measure in situ transport of the Agulhas leakage as well as the Agulhas retroflection position due to their intermittent nature.In this study,an innovative kinematic algorithm was designed and applied to the gridded altimeter observational data,to ascertain the longitudinal position of Agulhas retroflection,the stability of Agulhas jet stream,as well as its strength.The results show that the east-west shift of retroflection is related neither to the strength of Agulhas current nor to its stability.Further analysis uncovers the connection between the westward extension of Agulhas jet stream and an anomalous cyclonic circulation at its northern side,which is likely attributed to the local wind stress curl anomaly.To confirm the effect of local wind forcing on the east-west shift of retroflection,numerical sensitivity experiments were conducted.The results show that the local wind stress can induce a similar longitudinal shift of the retroflection as altimetry observations.Further statistical and case study indicates that whether an Agulhas ring can continuously migrate westward to the Atlantic Ocean or re-merge into the main flow depends on the retroflection position.Therefore,the westward retroflection may contribute to a stronger Agulhas leakage than the eastward retroflection.
基金supported by the Provincial Natural Science Foundation of Shandong(ZR2021MC056 and ZR2021ZD30)the Open Project Funding of the State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Adaptation and Improvementfunded by Competitive Grant 202268013-36439(WheatCAP)from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture。
文摘Leaf,spike,stem,and root morphologies are key factors that determine crop growth,development,and productivity.Multiple genes that control these morphological traits have been identified in Arabidopsis,rice,maize,and other plant species.However,little is known about the genomic regions and genes associated with morphological traits in wheat.Here,we identified the ethyl methanesulfonate-derived mutant wheat line M133 that displays multiple morphological changes that include upward-curled leaves,paired spikelets,dwarfism,and delayed heading.Using bulked segregant RNA sequencing(BSR-seq)and a high-resolution genetic map,we identified TraesCS1D02G155200(HBD2)as a potential candidate gene.HB-D2 encodes a class III homeodomain-leucine zipper(HD-ZIP III)transcription factor,and the mutation was located in the miRNA165/166 complementary site,resulting in a resistant allele designated rHb-D2.The relative expression of rHb2 in the mutant plants was significantly higher(P<0.01)than in plants homozygous for the WT allele.Independent resistant mutations that disrupt the miRNA165/166 complementary sites in the A-(rHb-A2)and B-genome(rHb-B2)homoeologs showed similar phenotypic alterations,but the relative intensity of the effects was different.Transgenic plants expressing rHb-D2 gene driven by the maize UBIQUITIN(UBI)promoter showed similar phenotypes to the rHb-D2 mutant.These results confirmed that HB-D2 is the causal gene responsible for the mutant phenotypes.Finally,a survey of 1397 wheat accessions showed that the complementary sites for miRNA165/166 in all three HB2 homoeologs are highly conserved.Our results suggest that HB2 plays an important role in regulating growth and development in wheat.
基金Supported by Guangzhou Science and Technology Plan(201804010327,202002020040,202102080340)Agricultural Science-Technology Innovation and Promotion Project(2023KJ133)。
文摘Tomato yellow leaf curl virus(TYLCV)is the dominating pathogen of tomato yellow leaf curl disease that caused severe loss to tomato production in China.In this study,we found that a TYLCV-resistant tomato line drastically reduced the accumulation of viral complementary-sense strand mRNAs but just moderately inhibited that of viral DNA and virion-sense strand mRNAs.However,two other resistant lines did not have such virus inhibition pattern.Analysis of differential expressed genes showed that the potential host defense-relevant processes varied in different resistant tomatoes,as compared to the susceptible line,suggesting a diversity of tomato TYLCV-resistance mechanisms.
文摘When one function is defined as a differential operation on another function, it’s often desirable to invert the definition, to effectively “undo” the differentiation. A Green’s function approach is often used to accomplish this, but variations on this theme exist, and we examine a few such variations. The mathematical analysis of is sought in the form if such an inverse operator exists, but physics is defined by both mathematical formula and ontological formalism, as I show for an example based on the Dirac equation. Finally, I contrast these “standard” approaches with a novel exact inverse operator for field equations.
文摘Cotton leaf curl virus (CLCuV) belongs to the subgroup III of geminiviruses with single strand DNA genome. Study demonstrated that the bidirectional promoter of CLCuV had activity in Agrobacterium tumefaciens (Smith et Townsend) Conn. This is the first report for the activity of the bidirectional promoter of geminivirus in A. tumefaciens. Results showed that the activity of the complementary sense promoter was stronger than that of virion sense promoter, and was detected 2-fold higher than that of CaMV 35S promoter in A. tumefaciens. Moreover, the promoter 5' deletion analysis indicated that the mean GUS activity driven by a 287 nucleotides complementary sense promoter fragment (from-287 to the translation initiation site) is 4 times higher than that driven by the whole complementary sense promoter in A. tumefaciens. This result suggested that there might exist negative regulatory elements in this deleted fragment. The function of other cis-elements included in CLCuV complementary sense promoter was also discussed in this paper.
基金supported by Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China 2017M611268
文摘In the present paper, chiral mesoporous silica nano-cocoon(A-CMSN) functionalized with amino group was synthesized, and its loading and release of indomethacin(IMC), a poorly soluble drug, was studied. Due to the use of chiral anionic surfactants as a template, ACMSN possessed 2D hexagonal nano-cocoon morphology with curled channels on its surface, which was quite different from another 2D hexagonal mesoporous silica nanoparticles(MCM-41) with straightway channels. After being loaded into the two silica carriers by hydrogen bond, crystalline IMC converted to amorphous form, leading to the improved drug dissolution. And IMC loading capacity of A-CMSN was higher than MCM-41 because curled loading process originating from curvature chiral channels can hold more drug molecules. Compared with IMC, IMC loaded A-CMSN presented obviously fast release throughout the in vitro release experiment, while IMC loaded MCM-41 released faster than IMC at the initial 5 h then showed controlled slow release afterwards, which was closely related to the mesoporous silica nanoparticles and different channel mesostructures of these two carriers. A-CMSN possessed nano-cocoon morphology with curled 2D hexagonal channel and its channel length was shorter than MCM-41, therefore IMC molecules can easily get rid of the constraint of A-CMSN then to be surrounded by dissolution medium.
