Discovering Candidate Chromosomal Regions Linked to Kernel Size-Related Traits via QTL Mapping and Bulked Sample Analysis in Maize

Kernel size-related traits,including kernel length,kernel width,and kernel thickness,are critical components in determining yield and kernel quality in maize(Zea mays L.).Dissecting the phenotypic characteristics of these traits,and discovering the candidate chromosomal regions for these traits,are of potential importance for maize yield and quality improvement.In this study,a total of 139 F2:3 family lines derived from EHel and B73,a distinct line with extremely low ear height(EHel),was used for phenotyping and QTL mapping of three kernel sizerelated traits,including 10-kernel length(KL),10-kernel width(KWid),and 10-kernel thickness(KT).The results showed that only one QTL for KWid,i.e.,qKWid9 on Chr9,with a phenotypic variation explained(PVE)of 13.4%was detected between SNPs of AX-86298371 and AX-86298372,while no QTLs were detected for KL and KT across all 10 chromosomes.Four bulked groups of family lines,i.e.,Groups I to IV,were constructed with F2:3 family lines according to the phenotypic comparisons of KWid between EHel and B73.Among these four groups,Group I possessed a significantly lower KWid than EHel(P=0.0455),Group II was similar to EHel(P=0.34),while both Group III and Group IV were statistically higher than EHel(P<0.05).Besides,except Group IV exhibited a similar KWid to B73(P=0.11),KWid of Groups I to III were statistically lower than B73(P<0.00).By comparing the bulked genotypes of the four groups to EHel and B73,a stable chromosomal region on Chr9 between SNPs of AX-86298372 to AX-86263154,entirely covered by qKWid9,was identified to link KWid with the positive allele of increasing phenotypic effect to KWid from B73,similar to that of qKWid9.A large amount of enzyme activity and macromolecule binding-related genes were annotated within this chromosomal region,suggesting qKWid9 as a potential QTL for KWid in maize.

Effective Components of Dried Ginger in Warming Lung to Reduce Watery Phlegm and In vivo Tissue Distribution Based on the“Syndrome-Efficacy-Biological Sample Analysis”Method

Objective: This study aimed to investigate effective components of dried ginger(DG) in warming lung to reduce watery phlegm and in vivo tissue distribution on the syndrome of cold fluid retained in lung of rats with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) by means of the "syndrome?efficacy?biological sample analysis" method and then to explore its meridian tropism. Methods: Wistar rats were given nasal drops of 200-μL lipopolysaccharide and smoke 30 min two times a day, then put the appropriate dose of ice water, and freeze for an hour to build model rats. On the 16 th day, the drug group was orally administered of DG(500 mg/mL) until the 30 th day. Blood samples and biological tissues were collected from the orbital venous plexus into heparinized hemostasis tubes at 5, 10, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, 120, 180, 240, and 360 min after the last administration. Using ultraviolet-high-performance liquid chromatography(Waters, USA) method, the effective components were tested, and DAS 3.0 software(Mathematical Pharmacology Professional Committee of China, Shanghai, China) was used to analyze the results. Results: The compounds of DG entering into blood were 6-gingerol, 6-shogaol, and 8-gingerol. Tissue distribution analysis indicates that three active ingredients are widely present in the lung, spleen, kidney, liver, heart, large intestine, stomach, small intestine, and other organs of rats with COPD. Conclusions: 6?gingerol, 6?shogaol, and 8?gingerol belong to effective components of DG in curing the syndrome of cold fluid retained in lung of rats with COPD and mainly distributed in organs including the spleen, stomach, lung, kidney, liver, and heart.

Standardization of proton-induced x-ray emission technique for analysis of thick samples

This paper describes the standardization of the proton-induced x-ray emission（PIXE） technique for finding the elemental composition of thick samples. For the standardization, three different samples of standard reference materials（SRMs） were analyzed using this technique and the data were compared with the already known data of these certified SRMs. These samples were selected in order to cover the maximum range of elements in the periodic table. Each sample was irradiated for three different values of collected beam charges at three different times. A proton beam of 2.57 Me V obtained using 5UDH-II Pelletron accelerator was used for excitation of x-rays from the sample. The acquired experimental data were analyzed using the GUPIXWIN software. The results show that the SRM data and the data obtained using the PIXE technique are in good agreement.

Reliability-Based Optimization:Small Sample Optimization Strategy

The aim of the paper is to present a newly developed approach for reliability-based design optimization. It is based on double loop framework where the outer loop of algorithm covers the optimization part of process of reliability-based optimization and reliability constrains are calculated in inner loop. Innovation of suggested approach is in application of newly developed optimization strategy based on multilevel simulation using an advanced Latin Hypercube Sampling technique. This method is called Aimed multilevel sampling and it is designated for optimization of problems where only limited number of simulations is possible to perform due to enormous com- putational demands.

DESIGN OF NOVEL HIGH PRESSURE-RESISTANT HYDROTHERMAL FLUID SAMPLE VALVE

Sampling study is an effective exploration method, but the most extreme environments of hydrothermal vents pose considerable engineering challenges for sampling hydrothermal fluids. Moreover, traditional sampler systems with sample valves have difficulty in maintaining samples in situ pressure. However, decompression changes have effect on microorganisms sensitive to such stresses. To address the technical difficulty of collecting samples from hydrothermal vents, a new bidirectional high pressure-resistant sample valve with balanced poppet was designed. The sample valve utilizes a soft high performance plastic ＂PEEK＂ as poppet. The poppet with inapposite dimension is prone to occur to plastic deformation or rupture for high working pressure in experiments. To address this issue, based on the fmite element model, simulated results on stress distribution of the poppet with different structure parameters and preload spring force were obtained. The static axial deformations on top of the poppet were experimented. The simulated results agree with the experimental results. The new sample valve seals well and it can withstand high working pressure.

Novel Gas-tight Multi-sampler for Discrete Deep-sea Water

The issues of how to quickly collect seawater samples and of how to make sure that those samples truly reflect the in-situ information on gas composition and concentration have therefore become a hot but difficult topic in the field of ocean technology.Most conventional seawater samplers only focus on collecting seawater itself,but take little consideration on gas preservation.A set of new oceanographic tools are presented for ocean resource exploration such as hydrothermal sulfide and gas hydrate,and for investigations on the processes and mechanisms of marine physical,chemical and biological evolutions.A gas-tight deep-sea water sampling system（GTWSS） is designed for the collection of deep-sea geochemical samples.This set of tools mainly consists of a conductivity temperature depth profiler（CTD）,release devices and gas-tight deep-sea water samplers（GTWS）.The GTWS is able to hold the gases in deep-sea water samples tightly,providing in-situ information on gas contents in the seawater samples and can be deployed on a routine wire-deployed CTD sampler for multi-layer discrete sampling of gas-tight seawater.Sea trials are performed successfully in 2008 and 2009,on a research vessel named HaiYang Si Hao in South China Sea,with the deepest trial depth 3 930 m.GTWSS is capable of quickly sampling 12 discrete gas-tight seawater samples（8.3 L per sample） during its single deployment.The head space method is employed to separate the gases from the seawater samples immediately after recovery of the seawater samples on the vessel.Field geochemical analysis is carried out by gaseous hydrocarbon sensors and an infrared gas analyzer.Results show that the concentrations of CH4 and CO2 in the seawater sampled by GTWSS are higher than those sampled by general non-gas-tight water samplers,thus confirming the gas tightness of GTWSS.Seawater samples can be collected quickly by using GTWSS,and GTWSS can keep the samples＇ integrity quite well.

Spatial variation of plant species richness in a sand dune field of northeastern Inner Mongolia, China

Species richness is an important indicator of species diversity. Different sampling intensities will very likely produce different species richness values. Substantial efforts have already been made to explicitly quantify the spatial variability of soil properties in different ecosystems. However, concerns still remain on how to characterize the effect of different sampling intensities on plant species richness within a given region. This study characterized the spatial variability of plant species richness and the species distribution pattern in a 25-hm2 sand dune plot in northeastern Inner Mongolia, China by using an intense sampling method（n=10,000）. We also evaluated the overall effect of information loss associated with the spatial variability and distribution patterns of species richness under various scenarios of sampling intensities（n=10,000 to 289）. Our results showed that semi-variograms of species richness were best described by the spherical and exponential models. As indicated by the nugget/sill ratio, species richness was different in terms of the strength of the spatial relationship. The different spatial metrics of species richness with increasing sampling intensities can represent different responses of the spatial patterns when compared with the reference set（n=10,000）. This study indicated that an appropriate sampling intensity should be taken into account in field samplings for evaluating species biodiversity properly. A sampling intensity of n＆gt;2,500 for species richness yielded satisfactory results to resemble the spatial pattern of the above-quantified reference set（n=10,000） in this sand dune region of China.

Static Frame Model Validation with Small Samples Solution Using Improved Kernel Density Estimation and Confidence Level Method

An improved method using kernel density estimation （KDE） and confidence level is presented for model validation with small samples. Decision making is a challenging problem because of input uncertainty and only small samples can be used due to the high costs of experimental measurements. However, model validation provides more confidence for decision makers when improving prediction accuracy at the same time. The confidence level method is introduced and the optimum sample variance is determined using a new method in kernel density estimation to increase the credibility of model validation. As a numerical example, the static frame model validation challenge problem presented by Sandia National Laboratories has been chosen. The optimum bandwidth is selected in kernel density estimation in order to build the probability model based on the calibration data. The model assessment is achieved using validation and accreditation experimental data respectively based on the probability model. Finally, the target structure prediction is performed using validated model, which are consistent with the results obtained by other researchers. The results demonstrate that the method using the improved confidence level and kernel density estimation is an effective approach to solve the model validation problem with small samples.

Gravimetric analysis for PM_(2.5) mass concentration based on year-round monitoring at an urban site in Beijing

Daily PM_（2.5）（particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of below 2.5 μm） mass concentrations were measured by gravimetric analysis in Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences（CRAES）, in the northern part of the Beijing urban area, from December 2013 to April 2015. Two pairs of Teflon（T1/T2） and Quartz（Q1/Q2） samples were obtained, for a total number of 1352 valid filters. Results showed elevated pollution in Beijing,with an annual mean PM_（2.5）mass concentration of 102 μg/m^3. According to the calculated PM_（2.5）mass concentration, 50% of our sampling days were acceptable（PM_（2.5）〈 75 μg/m^3）, 30% had slight/medium pollution（75–150 μg/m^3）, and 7% had severe pollution（〉 250 μg/m^3）. Sampling interruption occurred frequently for the Teflon filter group（75%） in severe pollution periods,resulting in important data being missing. Further analysis showed that high PM_（2.5）combined with high relative humidity（RH） gave rise to the interruptions. The seasonal variation of PM_（2.5）was presented, with higher monthly average mass concentrations in winter（peak value in February, 422 μg/m^3）, and lower in summer（7 μg/m^3 in June）. From May to August, the typical summer period, least severe pollution events were observed, with high precipitation levels accelerating the process of wet deposition to remove PM_（2.5）. The case of February presented the most serious pollution, with monthly averaged PM_（2.5）of 181 μg/m^3 and 32% of days with severe pollution. The abundance of PM_（2.5）in winter could be related to increased coal consumption for heating needs.

Power distribution analysis for multiple modulation formats in an all-optical sampling wavelength division multiplexing system

An optimal power distribution analysis for an all-optical sampling orthagonal frequency division multiplexing(OFDM) scheme with multiple modulation formats including diferential phase shift keyed(DPSK), diferential quadrature phase shift keyed(DQPSK), and non-return-to-zero(NRZ) is proposed. The noise tolerances of different modulation formats are analyzed, and the optimal input power ratio between phase and intensity modulation formats for the best overall receiving performance is investigated under unchanged total input power. Moreover, this scheme can seamlessly coexist with the traditional WDM channel.

A nanocomposite consisting of silica-coated magnetite and phenyl-functionalized graphene oxide for extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon from aqueous matrices

In this study,graphene oxide was covalently immobilized on silica-coated magnetite and then modified with 2-phenylethylamine to give a nanocomposite of type Fe3O4@SiO2@GO-PEA that can be applied to the magnetic solid-phase extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons（PAHs） from water samples.The resulting microspheres（Fe3O4@SiO2@GO-PEA） were characterized by Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy（FT-IR）,scanning electron microscopy（SEM）,CHNS elemental analysis,and vibrating sample magnetometry（VSM） techniques.The adsorbent possesses the magnetic properties of Fe3O4 nanoparticles that allow them easily to be separated by an external magnetic field.They also have the high specific surface area of graphene oxide which improves adsorption capacity.Desorption conditions,extraction time,amount of adsorbent,salt concentration,and pH were investigated and optimized.Following desorption,the PAHs were quantified by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection（GC-FID）.The limits of detection（at an S/N ratio of 3） were achieved from 0.005 to0.1 μg/L with regression coefficients（R2） higher than 0.9954.The relative standard deviations（RSDs） were below 5.8%（intraday） and 6.2%（inter-day）,respectively.The method was successfully applied to the analysis of PAHs in environmental water samples where it showed recoveries in the range between 71.7%and 106.7%（with RSDs of 1.6%to 8.4%,for n = 3）.The results indicated that the Fe3O4@SiO2@GO-PEA microspheres had a great promise to extraction of PAHs from different water samples.

Combustion efficiency test method in scramjet engine

A scramjet engine combustion efficiency measure system was designed.The combustion efficiency was measured by chromatography method,and the results of chromatography method were compared with those of temperature method.The results indicate that the combustion efficiency measured by chromatography method was 80.7%,lower than the combustion efficiency of 84.5%measured by temperature method;the combustion efficiency could be measured more precisely by chromatogram method than by temperature method.The combustion efficiency measure system based on chromatogram method can work well,and thus can be used to measure the combustion efficiency of scramjet engine.