Molecular phylogenetic analysis of key Jatropha species inferred from nrDNA ITS and chloroplast (trnL-F and rbcL) sequences

The genus Jatropha (Euphorbiaceae) contains species that are of significant economic and ornamental value. However, Jatropha breeding material is rather limited due to incomplete information regarding phylogenetic relationships among germplasm resources. Phylogenetic analyses were performed based on the internal transcribed spacer of nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA ITS), two chloroplast regions (trnL-F and rbcL), and the combined (ITS+trnL-F+rbcL) dataset among twenty-five specimens representing six key Jatropha species. Phylogenetic relationships of Jatropha were well resolved between subgenus Curcas and subgenus Jatropha, and demonstrated the intermediate position of section Polymorphae among sections of both subgenera. Jatropha curcas and J. integerrima demonstrated a close phylogenetic relationship. The molecular data agreed with the morphological classification that recognized J. multifida and J. podagrica in sec. Peltatae. The distinct intraspecific divergence that occurred in J. curcas could be attributed to restricted gene flow caused by geographical isolation and different ecological conditions. Phylograms produced with trnL-F and rbcL sequence data suggested slow rates of sequence divergence among Jatropha spp., while the ITS gene tree had good resolution suggesting high genetic variation of ITS among Jatropha species

Plasticity performance of Al0.5CoCrCuFeNi high-entropy alloys under nanoindentation

The statistical and dynamic behaviors of the displacement-load curves of a high-entropy alloy Al0.3CoCrCuFeNi were analyzed for the nanoindentation performed at two temperatures. Critical behavior of serrations at room temperature and chaotic flows at 200 degrees C were detected. These results are attributed to the interaction among a large number of slip hands. For the nanoindentation at room temperature recurrent partial events between slip hands introduce a hierarchy of length scales leading to a critical state. For the nanoindentation at 200 degrees C there is no spatial interference between two slip hands which is corresponding to the evolution of separated trajectory of chaotic behavior

Designing ultrafine lamellar eutectic structure in bimodal titanium alloys by semi-solid sintering

We report on a novel approach to design typical ultrafine lamellar eutectic structure in bimodal alloys fabricated by semi-solid sintering (SSS) of a eutectic mixture. In our work ultrafine lamellar eutectic structure was implemented by controlling the phase composition of eutectic reaction and consequently by regulating the structure of eutectic reaction-induced liquid phase through varying component number. Microstructure analysis indicate that although all SSSed alloys have the same three phase constitutions of bcc beta-Ti(Fe Co) and fcc Ti-2(Co Fe) the morphology and distribution of the eutectic structure transforms from limited length and minor quantity to partial fine alternating bcc beta-Ti and bcc Ti(Fe Co) lamellae and further to typical complete ultrafine alternating continuous lamellae in the SSSed ternary Ti-Fe-Co quaternary Ti-Fe-Co-Nb and quinary Ti-Fe-Co-Nb-Al alloys. Interestingly the SSSed Ti-Fe-Co-Nb-Al alloy presents a novel bimodal microstructure of coarse fcc Ti-2(Co Fe) surrounded by an ultrafine lamellar eutectic matrix containing ultrafine bcc beta-Ti and bcc Ti(Fe Co) lamellae. This bimodal microstructure exhibits ultra-high yield strength of 2050 MPa with plasticity in compression of 19.7% which exceed published values of equivalent materials. Our results provide a novel pathway for fabricating new-structure metallic alloys for high-performance structural applications. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.</p

The Origin of the Universe as Revealed Through the Polarization of the Cosmic Microwave Background

Modern cosmology has sharpened questions posed for millennia about the origin of our cosmic habitat. The age-old questions have been transformed into two pressing issues primed for attack in the coming decade: How did the Universe begin? and What physical laws govern the Universe at the highest energies? The clearest window onto these questions is the pattern of polarization in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), which is uniquely sensitive to primordial gravity waves. A detection of the special pattern produced by gravity waves would be not only an unprecedented discovery, but also a direct probe of physics at the earliest observable instants of our Universe. Experiments which map CMB polarization over the coming decade will lead us on our first steps towards answering these age-old questions.Comment: Science White Paper submitted to the US Astro2010 Decadal Survey. Full list of 212 author available at http://cmbpol.uchicago.ed

Nature of crack-tip plastic zone in metallic glasses

The fracture of metallic glasses(MGs) can be induced by shear banding in a ductile mode or by cavitation in a brittle way. Plastic zone in front of a crack tip, which is greatly involved with localized shear band, cavitation and the resultant fracture morphology, is a key clue to unveil the secrets of the intrinsic ductility and fracture. However, the characteristics of plastic zone, i.e., stress and strain distributions, size and shape, have not been clearly unraveled for MGs so far. In this paper, an analytical solution of the plastic zone for mode I crack under plane strain condition is derived through J-integral based on a slip line field analysis and shape approximation, by taking pressure-sensitivity, dilatancy, and structural evolution into account. Two length scales of the plastic zone, i.e. the maximum radius R-max and the radius along the crack line direction R-x, are revealed to control shear flow instability and cavitation, and therefore failure modes. According to shear transformation zone (STZ) based free volume evolution dynamics, the critical values of the mode I stress intensity factor and the plastic zone size at crack initiation are obtained. The effects of Poisson&#39;s ratio, pressure sensitivity, and dilatancy on the stress/strain distributions, and the size of plastic zone are elucidated. It is found that larger Poisson&#39;s ratio and smaller dilatancy lead to higher fracture toughness and &#39;slender&#39; critical plastic zone, facilitating a good ductility. The internal correlations of the fracture pattern (i.e. dimple structure) with the plastic zone are established, where the size of the fracture pattern is quantitatively characterized by the critical length of plastic zone. To be further, a shape change of the critical plastic zone from &#39;slender&#39; (apt to shear plastic flow) to &#39;chubby&#39; (inclined to cavitation) is revealed with increasing dilatancy or decreasing Poisson&#39;s ratio, which might shed light on the underlying mechanism of ductile-to-brittle transition in MGs. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Three-dimensional detonation cellular structures in rectangular ducts using an improved CESE scheme

The three-dimensional premixed H-2-O-2 detonation propagation in rectangular ducts is simulated using an in-house parallel detonation code based on the second-order space-time conservation element and solution element (CE/SE) scheme. The simulation reproduces three typical cellular structures by setting appropriate cross-sectional size and initial perturbation in square tubes. As the cross-sectional size decreases, critical cellular structures transforming the rectangular or diagonal mode into the spinning mode are obtained and discussed in the perspective of phase variation as well as decreasing of triple point lines. Furthermore, multiple cellular structures are observed through examples with typical aspect ratios. Utilizing the visualization of detailed three-dimensional structures, their formation mechanism is further analyzed

Plasma-assisted ignition for a kerosene fueled scramjet at Mach 1.8

By using a plasma jet (PJ) torch with 1.5 kW input power as an igniter, successful ignition for liquid-kerosene fueled combustion experiment was conducted in a direct-connected supersonic test facility. The incoming flow has total temperature of 950 K and local Mach number of 1.8, corresponding to Mach 4 flight condition. In this study, several optical techniques, including high speed photography, high speed schlieren photography, and planar laser scattering (PLS) technique, were combined to study the ignition process, flame propagation, and mixing features of liquid kerosene fuel with air around the cavity. The effect of fuel injection position, injection pressure, and feedstock gas on ignition performance has been analyzed. The results indicate that local mixing is a critical factor for ignition. It is also shown that the PJ torch with N-2 + H-2 feedstock is superior to the PJ torch with N-2 feedstock for the ignition of liquid-kerosene fuel. These results are valuable for the future optimization of kerosene-fueled scramjet engine when using a PJ torch as an igniter

Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes

Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale(1-3). Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4-5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter(4); identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation(5,6); analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution(7); describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity(8,9); and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes(8,10-18).Peer reviewe

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]

Column-Parallel Single Slope ADC with Digital Correlated Multiple Sampling for Low Noise CMOS Image Sensors

This paper presents a low noise CMOS image sensor (CIS) using 10/12 bit configurable column-parallel single slope ADCs (SS-ADCs) and digital correlated multiple sampling (CMS). The sensor used is a conventional 4T active pixel with a pinned-photodiode as photon detector. The test sensor was fabricated in a 0.18 colonm CMOS image sensor process from TSMC. The ADC nonlinearity measurement result shows totally 0.58% nonlinearity. Using the proposed column-parallel SS-ADC with digital CMS technique, 65% random noise reduction is obtained. The significant noise reduction enhances the sensor's SNR with 9 dB.MicroelectronicsElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc