Cytological Evaluation and Karyotype Analysis in Plant Germplasms of Elytrigia Desv.

Elytrigia Desv. is widely distributed throughout the world and is represented with species of various levels of ploidy including diploids, tetraploids, hexaploids, octaploids, and decaploids. The distribution pattern of these ploidy levels, however, is not well-defined. In this study, the levels of ploidy for 64 accessions of Elytrigia from 25 countries were determined with microscopic procedures. The results showed that accessions of E. intermedia and E. repens were grouped into three distinct levels of ploidy including diploids, tetraploids and hexaploids. For E. elongata, E. pontica, and E. caespitosa, it was found that two ploidy levels presented, and only one ploidy level was in those of E. hybrid, E. pycnantha, E. pungens, E. juncea, and E. alatavica. Karyotype analysis indicated that the karyotype formula of diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid of E. intermedia was 2n = 2x = 14 = 6m ＋ 6sm ＋ 2st, 2n = 4x = 28 = 2M ＋ 10m ＋ 16sm and 2n = 6x = 42 = 4M ＋ 18m ＋ 20sin, respectively. Furthermore, the karyotype formula of three germplasms in tetraploid of E. intermedia was 2n=4x=28 =2M＋ 10m＋ 16sm, 2n=4x=28=4M＋22m （sat）＋2sm and 2n=4x=28 =4M＋ 12m＋ 12sm （sat）, which were not completely uniform. Therefore, it could be suggested that the studies about chromosome constitution would be helpful for the detail understanding of the diversity of germplasm resource in Elytrigia and promoting the utilization in the crop molecular breeding.

Effect of different levels of nitrogen deficiency on switchgrass seedling growth

Switchgrass(Panicum virgatum L.) is a warm-season rhizomatous perennial grass that can tolerate diverse abiotic stresses while yielding relatively high biomass, and is considered a leading biofuel feedstock for marginal lands. Nitrogen(N) is crucial for the growth and development of switchgrass, and its tolerance to low N supply and high N use efficiency are very important for its production under poor conditions. The large-scale planting of switchgrass on marginal lands could be an effective approach to solving the problem of feedstock supply for biomass energy. This study used a hydroponic experiment to evaluate the effect of N deficiency on switchgrass seedlings. Three N treatments(0, 0.15, and 1.50 mmol L-1Hoagland's solution)and six cultivars were used, three of each ecotype(upland and lowland). The results showed that biomass, leaf area, root surface area, net photosynthesis, and total chlorophyll content significantly decreased under low N treatments compared with those in full strength Hoagland's nutrient solution. However, once established, all plants survived extreme N stress(0 mmol L-1) and, to some extent, were productive. Cultivar Kanlow performed best of the six cultivars under stress. Significant interactions between stress treatment and cultivars showed that breeding for cultivars with high yield and superior performance under N deficiency is warranted. The lowland outperformed the upland ecotypes under stress, suggesting that lowland cultivars may survive and be productive under a wider range of stress conditions.However, given the better adaptability of lowland ecotypes to hydroponic cultivation, further study is needed.

水印鲁棒性：纠错编码有效吗？

Robustness is one of the most important requirements of digital watermarking for many applications. Spread-spectrum based methods are not effective enough to ensure their robustness. By modeling digital watermarking as digital communications, several researchers proposed using error correcting coding (ECC) to improve robustness. However, an important fact that has long been neglected is that due to the imperceptibility requirement, the redundancy introduced by ECC will lead to a decrease of the magnitude of watermark signal. Therefore, a problem arises naturally:Could the usage of ECC effectively improve the robustness of watermarking? This paper addresses this problem from the perspectives of both theoretical analysis and experimental investigation. Our investigation shows that ECG cannot effectively improve the robustness of watermarking against a great majority of various attacks except for cropping and jitter attacks. Hence, ECC should not be considered as a universal measure that can be employed to enhance robustness of watermarking.

Phase Relationship at Subsolidus Temperature of MgO-MgAl2O4-ZrO2 Subsystem

Three groups of cylinder specimens(φ10 mm×10 mm)with 20%,30%and 40%(by mass,the same hereinafter)of ZrO2,were prepared using analytically pure MgO,Al2O3 and ZrO2 powders as the starting materials.The specimens were fired at 1600℃for 5 h,1700℃for 0 h and 1800℃for 7 h,respectively.The microstructure of the MgO-MgAl2O4-ZrO2 subsystem was studied by FESEM.The results show that(1)in the temperature range of 1600-1700℃,solid phase reactions happen in the MgO-MgAl2O4-ZrO2 subsystem,leaving three phases:periclase,spinel and ZrO2(solid dissolving with Mg2+)co-existing;spinellization affects the densification;(2)the specimen with 40%ZrO2 fired at 1800℃has heterogeneous melting microstructure;some areas form typical ternary eutectic MgO-MgAl2O4-ZrO2 with composition of MgO 35.2%-37.2%,Al2O324.2%-26.6%,and ZrO237.2%-39.8%.

Microstructure Study on Oxidation of Zirconium Diboride

The oxidation behaviors of fused zirconium diboride and chemosynthetic zirconium diboride as well as morphology and composition of their oxidation products were researched by FESEM-EDS and XRD.The two kinds of zirconium diboride were heated at 700℃,900℃,1100℃and 1300℃for 3 h in air,respectively.The results show that Zr02 and B203(Ⅰ)are generated from the chemosynthetic zirconium diboride oxidized at 700℃for 3 h or the fused zirconium diboride oxidized at 800℃for 24 h;B203(Ⅰ)dissolves into water and then H3B03 crystallizes.

Two-dimensional materials： Emerging toolkit for construction of ultrathin high-efficiency microwave shield and absorber

Two-dimensional （2D） materials generally have unusual confined electro-strong interaction in a plane and can physical and chemical properties owing to the exhibit obvious anisotropy and a significant quantum-confinement effect, thus showing great promise in many fields. Some 2D materials, such as graphene and MXenes, have recently exhibited extraordinary electromagnetic-wave shielding and absorbing performance, which is attributed to their special electrical behavior, large specific surface area, and low mass density. Compared with traditional microwave attenuating materials, 2D materials have several obvious inherent advantages. First, similar to other nanomaterials, 2D materials have a very large specific surface area and can provide numerous interfaces for the enhanced interfacial polarization as well as the reflection and scattering of electromagnetic waves. Second, 2D materials have a particular 2D morphology with ultrasmall thickness, which is not only beneficial for the penetration and dissipation of electromagnetic waves through the 2D nanosheets, giving rise to multiple reflections and the dissipation of electromagnetic energy, but is also conducive to the design and fabrication of various well-defined structures, such as layer-by-layer assemblies, core-shell particles, and porous foam, for broadband attenuation of electromagnetic waves. Third, owing to their good processability, 2D materials can be integrated into various multifunctional composites for multimode attenuation of electromagnetic energy. In addition to behaving as microwave reflectors and absorbers, 2D materials can act as impedance regulators and provide structural support for good impedance matching and setup of the optimal structure. Numerous studies indicate that 2D materials are among the most promising microwave attenuation materials. In view of the rapid development and enormous advancement of 2D materials in shielding and absorbing electromagnetic wave, there is a strong need to summarize the recent research results in this field for presenting a comprehensive view and providing helpful suggestions for future development.

Perylene Bisimides as efficient electron transport layers in planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells

Two perylene bisimides based non-fullerene small molecules, H-DIPBI and B-DIPBI, are applied into inverted planar heterojunction perovskite solar cells. The power conversion efficiency up to 11.6% has been achieved for device with B-DIPBI,indicating that non-fullerene acceptor can function as the electron transport layer to replace PCBM in perovskite solar cells.

A twisted monomeric perylenediimide electron acceptor for efficient organic solar cells

Perylenediimide(PDI)-based materials exhibit great potential as non-fullerene acceptors in bulk-heterojunction(BHJ) organic solar cells(OSCs). Recent investigations have revealed that PDI molecules with a twisted structure could disrupt aggregation of perylene unit. Here, we present a PDI monomer via bay-substitutions with four fused naphthalene units by three-step reactions, named TN-PDI. The introduction of four fused naphthalene rings into the bay positions of PDI unit leads to a strong steric hindrance with a twist angle of 33° between the two PDI subplanes. Blended with a wide-band gap polymer donor(PDBT-T1), the TN-PDI based non-fullerene solar cells show power conversion efficiency(PCE) of 3.0%. Our results indicate that the bay-substitutions with fused aromatic substitutions could be an efficient approach to develop monomeric PDI acceptors.

Enhanced open-circuit voltage in methoxyl substituted benzodithiophene-based polymer solar cells

The open-circuit voltage(V_(oc))is one of the important parameters that influence the power conversion efficiency(PCE)of polymer solar cells.Its value is mainly determined by the energy level offset between the highest occupied molecular orbital(HOMO)of the donor and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO)of the acceptor.Therefore,decreasing the HOMO value of the polymer could lead to a high V_(oc)and thus increasing the cell efficiency.Here we report a facile way to lower the polymer HOMO energy level by using methoxyl substituted-benzodithiophene(BDT)unit.The polymer with the methoxyl functionl group(POBDT(S)-T1)exhibited a HOMO value of-5.65 eV,which is deeper than that(-5.52 eV)of polymer without methoxyl unit(PBDT(S)-T1).As a result,POBDT(S)-T1-based solar cells show a high V_(oc)of 0.98 V and PCE of 9.2%.In contrast,PBDT(S)-T1-based devices show a relatively lower V_(oc)of 0.89 V and a moderate PCE of 7.4%.The results suggest that the involvement of methoxyl group into conjugated copolymers can efficiencly lower their HOMO energy levels.