The phenotypic expression of QTLs for partial resistance to barley leaf rust during plant development

Partial resistance is generally considered to be a durable form of resistance. In barley, Rphq2, Rphq3 and Rphq4 have been identified as consistent quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for partial resistance to the barley leaf rust pathogen Puccinia hordei. These QTLs have been incorporated separately into the susceptible L94 and the partially resistant Vada barley genetic backgrounds to obtain two sets of near isogenic lines (NILs). Previous studies have shown that these QTLs are not effective at conferring disease resistance in all stages of plant development. In the present study, the two sets of QTL–NILs and the two recurrent parents, L94 and Vada, were evaluated for resistance to P. hordei isolate 1.2.1 simultaneously under greenhouse conditions from the first leaf to the flag leaf stage. Effect of the QTLs on resistance was measured by development rate of the pathogen, expressed as latency period (LP). The data show that Rphq2 prolongs LP at the seedling stage (the first and second leaf stages) but has almost no effect on disease resistance in adult plants. Rphq4 showed no effect on LP until the third leaf stage, whereas Rphq3 is consistently effective at prolonging LP from the first leaf to the flag leaf. The changes in the effectiveness of Rphq2 and Rphq4 happen at the barley tillering stage (the third to fourth leaf stages). These results indicate that multiple disease evaluations of a single plant by repeated inoculations of the fourth leaf to the flag leaf should be conducted to precisely estimate the effect of Rphq4. The present study confirms and describes in detail the plant development-dependent effectiveness of partial resistance genes and, consequently, will enable a more precise evaluation of partial resistance regulation during barley developmen

Probing Triple-W Production and Anomalous WWWW Coupling at the CERN LHC and future 100TeV proton-proton collider

Triple gauge boson production at the LHC can be used to test the robustness of the Standard Model and provide useful information for VBF di-boson scattering measurement. Especially, any derivations from SM prediction will indicate possible new physics. In this paper we present a detailed Monte Carlo study on measuring WWW production in pure leptonic and semileptonic decays, and probing anomalous quartic gauge WWWW couplings at the CERN LHC and future hadron collider, with parton shower and detector simulation effects taken into account. Apart from cut-based method, multivariate boosted decision tree method has been exploited for possible improvement. For the leptonic decay channel, our results show that at the sqrt{s}=8(14)[100] TeV pp collider with integrated luminosity of 20(100)[3000] fb-1, one can reach a significance of 0.4(1.2)[10]sigma to observe the SM WWW production. For the semileptonic decay channel, one can have 0.5(2)[14]sigma to observe the SM WWW production. We also give constraints on relevant Dim-8 anomalous WWWW coupling parameters.Comment: Accepted version by JHE

Tetraethyl 2,2′-(2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-p-phenylenedimethylene)dipropanoate1

In the mol­ecule of the title compound, C22H26F4O8, a crystallographic inversion centre is located at the centroid of the benzene ring. C—H⋯F and C—H⋯O intra­molecular hydrogen bonds are observed as well as an inter­molecular C—H⋯O inter­action

Temperature-driven evolution of hierarchical nanodomain structure in tetragonal-like BiFeO3 films

Transmission electron microscopy study of tetragonal-like BiFeO3 films reveals a hitherto unreported hierarchical nanodomain structure. The 30-50 nm wide stripe domains with {110} domain walls consist of a substructure of lamellar nanodomains of 8-10 nm width in a herringbone-like arrangement. In situ heating and cooling reveals a reversible transition from the hierarchical nanodomain structure to a tweed-like domain structure which is accompanied by a first-order phase transition near 120 {\deg}C with a thermal hysteresis.Comment: accepted to Applied Physics Letters for publicatio

Nanoscale domains in strained epitaxial BiFeO3 thin Films on LaSrAlO4 Substrate

BiFeO3 thin films with various thicknesses were grown epitaxially on (001) LaSrAlO4 single crystal substrates using pulsed laser deposition. High resolution x-ray diffraction measurements revealed that a tetragonal-like phase with c-lattice constant ~4.65 {\AA} is stabilized by a large misfit strain. Besides, a rhombohedral-like phase with c-lattice constant ~3.99 {\AA} was also detected at film thickness of ~50 nm and above to relieve large misfit strains. In-plane piezoelectric force microscopy studies showed clear signals and self-assembled nanoscale stripe domain structure for the tetragonal-like regions. These findings suggest a complex picture of nanoscale domain patterns in BiFeO3 thin films subjected to large compressive strains.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Xinfeng capsule improves pulmonary function in ankylosing spondylitis patients via NF-κB-iNOS-NO signaling pathway

AbstractObjectiveTo study changes in the nuclear factor-κB p65 (NF-κB p65)-inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS)-nitric oxide (NO) signaling pathway and the effects of Xinfeng capsules (XFC) in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS)MethodsOne hundred twenty patients with AS were randomly divided into an XFC group and a Salazopyrin group. Sixty health subjects were included as a normal control group. In the two treatment groups, pulmonary functional parameters, forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV), peak expiratory flow (PEF), forced expiratory flow at 25% of forced vital capacity (FEF25), forced expiratory flow at 50% of forced vital capacity (FEF50), and forced expiratory flow at 75% of forced vital capacity (FEF75) were determined. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assays were used for detection of the serum oxidative stress indexes, NF-κB p65, iNOS, NO, reactive oxygen species (ROS), reactive nitrogen species (RNS), malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), total antioxidative capacity (TAOC) and interleukin-4 (IL-4), IL-10, IL-1β, and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) contents. Westergren's method was used for determination of erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP) was detected with a 7060 full-automatic biochemical analyzer (Hitachi, Japan).ResultsThe clinical therapeutic effect in the XFC group was significantly superior to that in the Salazopyrin group (P<0.01). Compared with the normal control group, FEV1, MVV, PEF, FEF50, FEF75, SOD, CAT, TAOC, IL-4, IL-10 were significantly lower, and NF-κB p65, iNOS, NO, ROS, RNS, MDA, IL-1β, TNF-α, ESR, and Hs-CRP significantly higher in patients with AS (P<0.01 or P<0.05). Compared with before treatment, FEV1, MVV, PEF, FEF50, FEF75, SOD, CAT, TAOC, IL-4, and IL-10 were significantly increased, and NF-κB p65, iNOS, NO, ROS, RNS, MDA, IL-1β, TNF-α, ESR, CRP, visual analog scales (VAS), Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease active index, Bath ankylosing spondylitis functional index, and Bath ankylosing spondylitis global index significantly decreased in the two treatment groups after treatment (P< 0.01 or P<0.05), with significant differences between the XFC and Salazopyrin groups (P<0.01 or P<0.05). Spearman correlation analysis indicated that FEV1, MVV, PEF, FEF50, and FEF75 were positively correlated with SOD, CAT, TAOC, IL-4, and IL-10, and were negatively correlated with NF-κB p65, iNOS, NO, ROS, RNS, MDA, IL-1β, TNF-α, ESR, and CRP.ConclusionPatients with AS have local pathologic changes in the spinal cord and other joints. They also have decreased pulmonary function, which is negatively correlated with the NF-κB-iNOS-NO signaling pathway, oxidative indexes, and inflammatory factors. XFC improves rigidity and pain in spinal joints and other symptoms, laboratory indexes, and pulmonary function. The mechanism is possibly related to inhibition of the NF-κB-iNOS-NO signaling pathway

Reconstructing Cryogenian to Ediacaran successions and paleogeography of the South China Block

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41772106 and 41472086) and by the Australian Research Council (Grant FL160100168).Neoproterozoic paleogeography of the South China is dominated by the formation of Rodinia, its break-up, and the subsequent amalgamation of Gondwana. Two negative excursions of the chemical index of alteration (CIA) and the chemical index of weathering (CIW) recorded in the Cryogenian to Ediacaran sedimentary rocks of the Cathaysia Block, South China, indicate two cooling events. In combination with available age constraints, this data suggests correlation with the global Marinoan (ca. 650-635 Ma) and Gaskiers (ca. 579 Ma) glaciations. U-Pb ages of detrital zircons from the Cryogenian to lower Ediacaran strata define two distinctive age peaks at 1056 Ma and 998 Ma, whereas the upper Ediacaran strata show only one age peak at 957 Ma. These data demonstrate Neoproterozoic sedimentary rocks in the Cathaysia Block were derived from a source external to the craton. The predominant late Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic (1140-870 Ma) detrital zircons were most likely derived from a source dominated by North India and East Antarctica with limited input from Western Australia. Furthermore, εHf(t) values of detrital zircons are similar to the coeval detrital zircons from Rayner-Eastern Ghats. The detrital record of the late Cryogenian and Ediacaran strata in the Cathaysia Block suggests that the South China Block was connected to the northern margin of India during the dispersal of Rodinia and the assembly of East Gondwana. Detrital zircons from Cryogenian strata overlying the Jiangnan Orogen are largely in the range 900-700 Ma with scattered Archean and Paleoproterozoic grains. These ages are consistent with derivation from local sources within South China. The timing of accumulation of these units, after collisional assembly of South China, likely accounts for their more restricted provenance with collision generated relief providing both a local source and restricting input from further south within India and/or the rest of Gondwana.PostprintPeer reviewe

Implications of 770 Ma Rhyolitic Tuffs, eastern South China Craton in constraining the tectonic setting of the Nanhua Basin

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41772106 and 41472086) and by the Australian Research Council (Grant FL160100168).Mid-Neoproterozoic magmatic rocks from the southeastern part of the Nanhua Basin constrain the tectonic setting of the basin. Data from rhyolitic tuffs of the Louqian Formation that overlie the Cathaysia Block in southeastern South China indicate accumulation of the unit at ca. 770 Ma, and provide an upper age limit on collisional assembly of the Yangtze and Cathaysia blocks. The zircons within the tuffs display largely positive εHf(t) (−3.66 to +13.94) and juvenile TDM (Hf) values (1.74–0.90 Ga), which indicate involvement of Neoproterozoic to late Paleoproterozoic crustal materials in their generation. Geochemically, the tuffs are peraluminous and characterized by both A-type and arc affinities with high SiO2, Ga, accentuated negative Eu anomalies, strong depletion in high field strength elements and high zircon saturation temperatures (TZr), which are comparable to contemporaneous (800–750 Ma) felsic rocks from the northwestern of the Nanhua Basin. These characteristics suggest the Nanhua Basin lay inboard of a convergent plate margin arc. This arc is represented by 860–730 Ma magmatism along the western and northern margin of the South China Craton (Panxi-Hannan Belt), with the Nanhua Basin occupying an upper plate, back arc setting.PostprintPeer reviewe