Identification of SSR markers linked to the abscission of cotton boll traits and mining germplasm in Cotton

Background Cotton is an economically important crop.It is crucial to find an effective method to improve cotton yield,and one approach is to decrease the abscission of cotton bolls and buds.However,the lack of knowledge of the genetic and molecular mechanisms underlying cotton boll abscission traits has hindered genetic improvements.Results Pearson’s correlation analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between boll abscission rates 1(AR1)and boll abscission rates 2(AR2).A genome-wide association study was conducted on 145 loci that exhibited high polymorphism and were uniformly distributed across 26 chromosomes(pair).The study revealed 18,46,and 62 markers that were significantly associated with boll abscission,fiber quality,and yield traits(P<0.05),explaining 1.75%–7.13%,1.16%–9.58%,and 1.40%–5.44%of the phenotypic variation,respectively.Notably,the marker MON_SHIN-1584b was associated with the cotton boll abscission trait,whereas MON_CGR5732a was associated with cotton boll abscission and fiber quality traits.Thirteen of the marker loci identified in this study had been previously reported.Based on phenotypic effects,six typical cultivars with elite alleles related to cotton boll abscission,fiber quality,and yield traits were identified.These cultivars hold great promise for widespread utilization in breeding programs.Conclusions These results lay the foundation for understanding the molecular regulatory mechanism of cotton boll abscission and provide data for the future improvement of cotton breeding.

Combined imbibition system with black nanosheet and low-salinity water for improving oil recovery in tight sandstone reservoirs

Nanomaterials and low-salinity water(LSW)are two popular enhanced oil recovery(EOR)methods that have been widely studied in recent years.The former is used for in-depth conformance improvement and the latter for microscopic oil displacement(by altering the potential and contact angle).However,there are few literature on combining them to achieve synergistic effects,especially for tight sandstone res-ervoirs.Based on the reservoir conditions of the Jimusar Oilfield,this study investigated the oil recovery mechanism of the combined imbibition system,which was composed of black nanosheet(BN)and LSW.Its performances including decreasing interfacial tension,emulsification,and wettability alterations were evaluated.The imbibition differences between the single system of BN and LSW and the combined BN-LsW imbibition system were then compared.Results showed that the combined imbibition system had a better emulsification effect on the crude oil and could also alter the wettability of the core surface.Moreover,the combined system could increase both the imbibition rate and the ultimate oil recovery.The nuclear magnetic T2 spectrum also indicated that the addition of black nanosheets could divert more fluid into small pores and thus improve the microscopic sweep efficiency.

An automated dispensing system for improving medication timing in the emergency department

BACKGROUND:Numerous medical conditions require timely medication administration in the emergency department(ED).Automated dispensing systems(ADSs)store premixed common doses at the point-of-care to minimize time to administration,but the use of such automation to improved time to medication administration has not been studied.Since vancomycin is a commonly used empiric antimicrobial,we sought to quantify the effect of using an ADS on time to drug delivery in patients presenting to the ED.The study aimed to determine the efficacy of utilizing an ADS to improve time to administration of vancomycin and determine any negative effects on dosing appropriateness.METHODS:The institional review board approved the retrospective quality improvement study took place in a single,urban academic tertiary care ED with an annual census of 80 000.Study subjects were all patients receiving vancomycin for the management of sepsis between March 1 to September 30,2008 and the same time period in 2009.The primary outcome was the proportion of patients who received vancomycin within one hour of bed placement and the secondary outcome was dosing appropriateness.RESULTS:Sixty-three patients had weight and dosing information available(29 before and 34after intervention)and were included in the study.Before intervention,no patient received vancomycin in less than 60 minutes,while after intervention 14.7%of the patients received it in less than 60minutes(difference in proportions 14.7%,95%CI 0.39%-30.0%,P=0.04).A similar proportion of the patients received correct dosing before and after intervention(44.8%vs.41.2%,difference in proportions 3.7%,95%CI-20.0%-26.7%,P=0.770).CONCLUSION:The use of an ADS may improve the timing of medication administration in patients presenting to the ED without affecting dosing appropriateness.

Improving the Reading Skills of ALS Learners Through Project RICE(Reading Intervention and Comprehension Enhancement)

One of the major problems in the education sector is the reading skills of learners.Students enrolled in the Alternative Learning System(ALS)also experienced this scenario due to several circumstances.This study focused on the improvement of reading comprehension skills of ALS learners by means of project RICE(Reading Intervention and Comprehension Enhancement)as well as the issues and challenges.A quasi-experimental design was utilized in this study which was participated by 54 learners,composed of 27 learners under the experimental group and 27 under the control group.The result revealed that the learners in the experimental group changed from frustration level to instructional level after the implementation of project RICE while the learners in the control group changed from instructional level to inde-pendent level,thereby signifying a significant difference and the effectiveness of the project.Additionally,issues with time and resources were often encountered by the learners.

Approaches to Improving Selectivity During Photoelectrochemical Transformation of Small Molecules

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) small-molecule oxidation can selectively transform substrates into high-value-added fine chemicals and increase the rate of cathode hydrogen evolution. Nevertheless, achieving high-selectivity PEC oxidation of small molecules to produce specific products is a very challenging task. In general, selectivity can be improved by changing the surface catalyticsites of the photoanode and modulating the interfacial environments of the reactions. Herein, recent advances in approaches to improving selective PEC oxidation of small molecules are introduced. We first briefly discuss the basic concept and fundamentals of small-molecule PEC oxidation. The reported approaches to improving the performance of selective PEC oxidation of small molecules are highlighted from two aspects: (1) changing the surface properties of photoanodes by selecting suitable materials or modifying the photoanodes and (2) mediating the oxidation reactions using redox mediators. The PEC oxidation mechanism of these studies is emphasized. We also discuss the challenges in this research direction and offer a perspective on the further development of selective PEC-based small-molecule transformation.

Improving Performance of Computer Algebra Systems

Computer Algebra Systems have been extensively used in higher education. The reasons are many e.g., visualize mathematical problems, correlate real-world problems on a conceptual level, are flexible, simple to use, accessible from anywhere, etc. However, there is still room for improvement. Computer algebra system (CAS) optimization is the set of best practices and techniques to keep the CAS running optimally. Best practices are related to how to carry out a mathematical task or configure your system. In this paper, we are going to examine these techniques. The documentation sheets of CASs are the source of data that we used to compare them and examine their characteristics. The research results reveal that there are many tips that we can follow to accelerate performance.

Anti-aging performance improvement and enhanced combustion efficiency of boron via the coating of PDA

Boron is an ambitious fuel in energetic materials since its high heat release values,but its application is prohibited by low combustion efficiency and oxidization during storage.The polydopamine(PDA)was introduced into boron particles,investigating the impact of PDA content on the energetic behavior of boron.The results indicated that the PDA coating formed a fishing net structure on the surface of boron particles.The heat release results showed that the combustion calorific value of B@PDA was higher than that of the raw boron.Specifically,the actual combustion heat of boron powder in B@10%PDA increased by 38.08%.Meanwhile,the DSC peak temperature decreased by 100.65℃under similar oxidation rate compared to raw boron.Simultaneously,the B@PDA@AP and B@AP composites were prepared,and their combustion properties were evaluated.It was demonstrated that B@10%PDA@AP exhibited superior performance in terms of peak pressure and burning time,respectively.The peak pressure is 12.43 kPa more than B@AP and burning time is 2.22 times higher than B@AP.Therefore,the coating of PDA effectively inhibits the oxidization of boron during storage and enhances the energetic behavior of boron and corresponding composites.

Understanding the Resilience of Urban Rail Transit:Concepts,Reviews,and Trends

As the scale of urban rail transit(URT)networks expands,the study of URT resilience is essential for safe and efficient operations.This paper presents a comprehensive review of URT resilience and highlights potential trends and directions for future research.First,URT resilience is defined by three primary abilities:absorption,resistance,and recovery,and four properties:robustness,vulnerability,rapidity,and redundancy.Then,the metrics and assessment approaches for URT resilience were summarized.The metrics are divided into three categories:topology-based,characteristic-based,and performance-based,and the assessment methods are divided into four categories:topological,simulation,optimization,and datadriven.Comparisons of various metrics and assessment approaches revealed that the current research trend in URT resilience is increasingly favoring the integration of traditional methods,such as conventional complex network analysis and operations optimization theory,with new techniques like big data and intelligent computing technology,to accurately assess URT resilience.Finally,five potential trends and directions for future research were identified:analyzing resilience based on multisource data,optimizing train diagram in multiple scenarios,accurate response to passenger demand through new technologies,coupling and optimizing passenger and traffic flows,and optimal line design.

Deterioration Reason and Improvement Measure of the Retarding Effect of Protein Retarder on Phosphorus Building Gypsum

The retarding effect of protein retarder on phosphorus building gypsum(PBG)and desulfurization building gypsum(DBG)was investigated,and the results show that protein retarder for DBG can effectively prolong the setting time and displays a better retarding effect,but for PBG shows a poor retarding effect.Furthermore,the deterioration reason of the retarding effect of protein retarder on PBG was investigated by measuring the pH value and the retarder concentration of the liquid phase from vacuum filtration of PBG slurry at different hydration time,and the measure to improve the retarding effect of protein retarding on PBG was suggested.The pH value of PBG slurry(<5.0)is lower than that of DBG slurry(7.8-8.5).After hydration for 5 min,the concentration of retarder in liquid phase of DBG slurry gradually decreases,but in liquid phase of PBG slurry continually increases,which results in the worse retarding effect of protein retarder on PBG.The liquid phase pH value of PBG slurry can be adjusted higher by sodium silicate,which is beneficial to improvement in the retarding effect of the retarder.By adding 1.0%of sodium silicate,the initial setting time of PBG was efficiently prolonged from 17 to 210 min,but little effect on the absolute dry flexural strength was observed.

Enhancing the crystallinity and stability of perovskite solar cells with 4-tert-butylpyridine induction for efficiency exceeding 24%

Perovskite solar cells(PSCs)have emerged as a promising photovoltaic technology because of their high light absorption coefficient,long carrier diffusion distance,and tunable bandgap.However,PSCs face challenges such as hysteresis effects and stability issues.In this study,we introduced a novel approach to improve film crystallization by leveraging 4-tert-butylpyridine(TBP)molecules,thereby enhancing the performance and stability of PSCs.Our findings demonstrate the effective removal of PbI_(2)from the perovskite surface through strong coordination with TBP molecules.Additionally,by carefully adjusting the concentration of the TBP solution,we achieved enhanced film crystallinity without disrupting the perovskite structure.The TBP-treated perovskite films exhibit a low defect density,improved crystallinity,and improved carrier lifetime.As a result,the PSCs manufactured with TBP treatment achieve power conversion efficiency(PCE)exceeding 24%.Moreover,we obtained the PCE of 21.39%for the 12.25 cm^(2)module.

A spatiotemporal evolution model of a short-circuit arc to a secondary arc based on the improved charge simulation method

The initial shape of the secondary arc considerably influences its subsequent shape.To establish the model for the arcing time of the secondary arc and modify the single-phase reclosing sequence,theoretical and experimental analysis of the evolution process of the short-circuit arc to the secondary arc is critical.In this study,an improved charge simulation method was used to develop the internal-space electric-field model of the short-circuit arc.The intensity of the electric field was used as an independent variable to describe the initial shape of the secondary arc.A secondary arc evolution model was developed based on this model.Moreover,the accuracy of the model was evaluated by comparison with physical experimental results.When the secondary arc current increased,the arcing time and dispersion increased.There is an overall trend of increasing arc length with increasing arcing time.Nevertheless,there is a reduction in arc length during arc ignition due to short circuits between the arc columns.Furthermore,the arcing time decreased in the range of 0°-90°as the angle between the wind direction and the x-axis increased.This work investigated the method by which short-circuit arcs evolve into secondary arcs.The results can be used to develop the secondary arc evolution model and to provide both a technical and theoretical basis for secondary arc suppression.

Value of improved nursing measures and enhanced nursing management to reduce the occurrence of adverse events in pediatric infusion

BACKGROUND Intravenous infusion is a common method of drug administration in clinical practice.Errors in any aspect of the infusion process,from the verification of medical orders,preparation of the drug solution,to infusion by nursing staff,may cause adverse infusion events.AIM To analyzed the value of improving nursing measures and enhancing nursing management to reduce the occurrence of adverse events in pediatric infusion.METHODS The clinical data of 130 children who received an infusion in the pediatric department of our hospital from May 2020 to May 2021 were analyzed and divided into two groups according to the differences in nursing measures and nursing management:65 patients in the control group received conventional nursing and nursing management interventions,while 65 patients in the observation group received improved nursing measure interventions and enhanced nursing management.The occurrence of adverse events,compliance of children,satisfaction of children’s families,and complaints regarding the transfusion treatment were recorded in both groups.RESULTS The incidence of fluid extravasation and infusion set dislodgement in the observation group were 3.08%and 1.54%,respectively,which were significantly lower than 12.31%and 13.85%in the control group(P<0.05),while repeated punctures and medication addition errors in the observation group were 3.08%and 0.00%,respectively,which were lower than 9.23%and 3.08%in the control group,but there was no significant difference(P>0.05).The compliance rate of children in the observation group was 98.46%(64/65),which was significantly higher than 87.69%(57/65)in the control group,and the satisfaction rate of children’s families was 96.92%(63/65),which was significantly higher than 86.15%(56/65)in the control group(P<0.05).The observation group did not receive any complaints from the child’s family,whereas the control group received four complaints,two of which were due to the crying of the child caused by repeated punctures,one due to the poor attitude of the nurse,and one due to medication addition errors,with a cumulative complaint rate of 6.15%.The cumulative complaint rate of the observation group was significantly lower than that of the control group(P<0.05).CONCLUSION Improving nursing measures and enhancing nursing management can reduce the incidence of fluid extravasation and infusion set dislodgement in pediatric patients,improve children’s compliance and satisfaction of their families,and reduce family complaints.

Data-driven diagnosis of high temperature PEM fuel cells based on the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy: Robustness improvement and evaluation

Utilizing machine learning techniques for data-driven diagnosis of high temperature PEM fuel cells is beneficial and meaningful to the system durability. Nevertheless, ensuring the robustness of diagnosis remains a critical and challenging task in real application. To enhance the robustness of diagnosis and achieve a more thorough evaluation of diagnostic performance, a robust diagnostic procedure based on electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and a new method for evaluation of the diagnosis robustness was proposed and investigated in this work. To improve the diagnosis robustness: (1) the degradation mechanism of different faults in the high temperature PEM fuel cell was first analyzed via the distribution of relaxation time of EIS to determine the equivalent circuit model (ECM) with better interpretability, simplicity and accuracy;(2) the feature extraction was implemented on the identified parameters of the ECM and extra attention was paid to distinguishing between the long-term normal degradation and other faults;(3) a Siamese Network was adopted to get features with higher robustness in a new embedding. The diagnosis was conducted using 6 classic classification algorithms—support vector machine (SVM), K-nearest neighbor (KNN), logistic regression (LR), decision tree (DT), random forest (RF), and Naive Bayes employing a dataset comprising a total of 1935 collected EIS. To evaluate the robustness of trained models: (1) different levels of errors were added to the features for performance evaluation;(2) a robustness coefficient (Roubust_C) was defined for a quantified and explicit evaluation of the diagnosis robustness. The diagnostic models employing the proposed feature extraction method can not only achieve the higher performance of around 100% but also higher robustness for diagnosis models. Despite the initial performance being similar, the KNN demonstrated a superior robustness after feature selection and re-embedding by triplet-loss method, which suggests the necessity of robustness evaluation for the machine learning models and the effectiveness of the defined robustness coefficient. This work hopes to give new insights to the robust diagnosis of high temperature PEM fuel cells and more comprehensive performance evaluation of the data-driven method for diagnostic application.

Prospects and limitations of soil amendment and irrigation techniques for the water-saving public urban greenery and ephemeral weed management in the sandy soils of the United Arab Emirates

Public urban greenery greatly contributes to the residential and tourist value of cities in the Gulf Region,but due to the hyper-arid climatic conditions,the cost of irrigation and plant maintenance is very high.Existing strategies to reduce the monetary and ecological costs involve the cultivation of native xerophytic plantations,and/or the use of soil improvers to increase water-and nutrient-holding capacity of the sandy soils.Various soil improvers based on mineral,organic,or synthetic materials have entered the United Arab Emirates(UAE)market in recent years,but there is considerable uncertainty about how they should best be used in combination with ornamental plant stands involving xerophytic native plants.The present study investigated the effect of soil amendment and deep pipe irrigation on perennial ornamental plant stands involving native plants(Tephrosia appolinea(Gel.)Link in combination with Aerva javanica(Burm.f.)Juss.ex Schult.)and native-exotic plants(T.appolinea in combination with Ruelia simplex C.Wright)either or not topsoil and subsoil amendment with bentonite and hydrophobic sand under the irrigation water supply of less than 50%of reference evapotranspiration(ET0).After one year of cultivation,T.appolinea and A.javanica(native vs.native)produced high biomass and exhibited high water use efficiency(WUE)as compared with T.appolinea and R.simplex(native vs.exotic)combination given that no significant differences were found under the soil amendment treatments.All stands thrived under irrigation water supply far below what is usually supplied to exotic ornamental stands in public parks of the Al Ain City,the UAE.However,subsoil amendment in combination with deep pipe irrigation reduced the occurrence of weeds and increased the overall plant rooting depth.Our results suggest that subsoil amendment and irrigation up to 60-80 cm depth can potentially control ephemeral weed infestation,which is a great challenge in various plant production systems of the Gulf Region.The results of the present study suggest that the impact of soil amendment on the WUE of exotic plants is marginal and might not be economically justified.Replacing exotic with native ornamental plant species seems to have a far greater water-saving potential than the amendment of the soil,while weeds can be suppressed in the absence of topsoil moisture.

System error iterative identification for underwater positioning based on spectral clustering

The observation error model of the underwater acous-tic positioning system is an important factor to influence the positioning accuracy of the underwater target.For the position inconsistency error caused by considering the underwater tar-get as a mass point,as well as the observation system error,the traditional error model best estimation trajectory(EMBET)with little observed data and too many parameters can lead to the ill-condition of the parameter model.In this paper,a multi-station fusion system error model based on the optimal polynomial con-straint is constructed,and the corresponding observation sys-tem error identification based on improved spectral clustering is designed.Firstly,the reduced parameter unified modeling for the underwater target position parameters and the system error is achieved through the polynomial optimization.Then a multi-sta-tion non-oriented graph network is established,which can address the problem of the inaccurate identification for the sys-tem errors.Moreover,the similarity matrix of the spectral cluster-ing is improved,and the iterative identification for the system errors based on the improved spectral clustering is proposed.Finally,the comprehensive measured data of long baseline lake test and sea test show that the proposed method can accu-rately identify the system errors,and moreover can improve the positioning accuracy for the underwater target positioning.

Discussion on the Status Quo of Non-Destructive Testing Technology in Highway Engineering and Strategies of Improving the Quality of Testing

Highway test and detection technology play a very important role in controlling the quality of road and bridge engineering and improving the maintenance of roads and bridges.The study of highway bridge test detection technology is both theoretically and practically useful.Road and bridge test and detection is a complicated task.With the development of science and technology,highway and bridge engineering test and detection technology has also made great progress.The continuous improvement of test and detection technology has brought good social benefits to road and bridge construction.This article discusses the problems in test and detection technology of highway bridges and how to improve the quality of test and detection.

Image encryption algorithm based on multiple chaotic systems and improved Joseph block scrambling

With the rapid development of digital information technology,images are increasingly used in various fields.To ensure the security of image data,prevent unauthorized tampering and leakage,maintain personal privacy,and protect intellectual property rights,this study proposes an innovative color image encryption algorithm.Initially,the Mersenne Twister algorithm is utilized to generate high-quality pseudo-random numbers,establishing a robust basis for subsequent operations.Subsequently,two distinct chaotic systems,the autonomous non-Hamiltonian chaotic system and the tentlogistic-cosine chaotic mapping,are employed to produce chaotic random sequences.These chaotic sequences are used to control the encoding and decoding process of the DNA,effectively scrambling the image pixels.Furthermore,the complexity of the encryption process is enhanced through improved Joseph block scrambling.Thorough experimental verification,research,and analysis,the average value of the information entropy test data reaches as high as 7.999.Additionally,the average value of the number of pixels change rate(NPCR)test data is 99.6101%,which closely approaches the ideal value of 99.6094%.This algorithm not only guarantees image quality but also substantially raises the difficulty of decryption.

Development of a Novel Noise Reduction Algorithm for Smart Checkout RFID System in Retail Stores

This paper presents a smart checkout system designed to mitigate the issues of noise and errors present in the existing barcode and RFID-based systems used at retail stores’checkout counters.This is achieved by integrating a novel AI algorithm,called Improved Laser Simulator Logic(ILSL)into the RFID system.The enhanced RFID system was able to improve the accuracy of item identification,reduce noise interference,and streamline the overall checkout process.The potential of the systemfor noise detection and elimination was initially investigated through a simulation study usingMATLAB and ILSL algorithm.Subsequently,it was deployed in a small-scale environment to validate its real-world performance.Results show that RFID with the proposed new algorithm ILSL and AI basket is capable of accurately detecting the related itemswhile eliminating noise originating fromunrelated objects,achieving an accuracy rate of 88%.

Selection criteria of MPOB-Angola germplasm collection for yield improvement of the oil palm

Oil palm germplasm collected from Angola,Africa in 1991 were subjected to genetic variability potential studies.The collection was planted in the form of open-pollinated families as trials at the Malaysian Palm Oil Board(MPOB)Kluang Research Station,Johor,Malaysia,in 1994.Dura palms from 52 families and tenera palms from 44 families of MPOB-Angola were evaluated for their bunch yield and bunch quality components.The objectives of this study were to determine the genetic variability among the families and performance of MPOB-Angola germplasm for yield improvement.The analysis of variance(ANOVA)revealed highly significant differences between the dura and tenera families for most of the traits,suggesting the presence of high genetic variability,which is essential for breeding programmes.Among the duras,family AGO 02.02 displayed the best yield performance,with a high fresh fruit bunch,oil yield and total economic product at 240.40,29.46 and 37.93 kg palm^(-1)year^(-1),respectively.As for the teneras,family AGO 03.04 recorded the highest FFB yield and oil yield at 249.25 and 45.22 kg palm^(-1)year^(-1),respectively.Besides that,several families with big fruit sizes or producing a mean fruit weight of 14-17 g were also identified.Both dura and tenera from AGO 01.01 recorded the highest oil to bunch(O/B)of 17.76%and 28.65%,respectively.These findings will facilitate the selection of palms from the MPOB-Angola germplasm for future breeding programmes.

Production and achievements of Sesamum indicum industry in the world:Past and current state

Sesame production is important in agriculture,food industry,and the crop diversity due to its rich nutritional profile and health benefits.Despite its significant value,sesame is still an orphan crop that has received little scientific attention,resulting in low yield compared to other major oilseed crops.This review offers a comprehensive overview of the present state of production,knowledge,and research advancements concerning Sesamum indicum on a global scale.The FAOSTAT database was extensively used to examine the global trends from 1961 to 2021.In the past 60 years,global sesame production has substantially increased,with Asia and Africa being the primary producers.The integration of omics technologies and biotechnological interventions has revolutionized our understanding of the genetic basis of sesame,enhanced productivity,invigorated stress resilience,and improved seed quality.High-throughput sequencing methods such as RNA-seq,RAD-seq,SLAF-seq,and GBS technology are used in various studies,linkage mapping,and identification of trait-associated markers.Fine linkage maps,and multi-omics studies such as genomics,proteomics,transcriptomics,and metabolomics have been employed in sesame research for gene and QTL mapping.Proteins and metabolic pathways related to oil content,yield,and stress tolerance were reported.Genes and QTLs related to yield and its components,drought,salt,and osmotic stress tolerance were discovered.Candidate genes associated with capsule shattering and seed shattering were recently revealed.For more achievement in sesame,it is important to enhance sesame production efficiency through mechanization,advanced agricultural practices,and knowledge dissemination to farmers.MAS and multi-omics integration should be particularly reinforced.The advancements in sesame production present a significant and promising opportunity for farmers,governments,and stakeholders in the agricultural sector.