A chromosome-scale genome sequence of sudangrass (Sorghum sudanense) highlights the genome evolution and regulation of dhurrin biosynthesis

Sudangrass [ Sorghum sudanense (Piper) Stapf] is a hybrid between grain sorghum and its wild relative S. bicolor ssp. verticilliflorum and is grown as a forage crop due to its high biomass production and low dhurrin content compared to sorghum. In this study, we sequenced the sudangrass genome and showed that the assembled genome was 715.95 Mb with 35,243 protein-coding genes. Phylogenetic analysis with whole genome proteomes demonstrated that the sudangrass genome was more similar to US commercial sorghums than to its wild relatives and cultivated sorghums from Africa. We confirmed that at seedling stage, sudangrass accessions contained significantly lower dhurrin as measured by hydrocyanic acid potential (HCN-p) than cultivated sorghum accessions. Genome-wide association study identified a QTL most tightly associated with HCN-p and the linked SNPs were located in the 3’ UTR of Sobic.001G012300 which encodes CYP79A1, the enzyme that catalyzes the first step of dhurrin biosynthesis. As in other grasses such as maize and rice, we also found that copia/gypsy long terminal repeat retrotransposons were more abundant in cultivated than in wild sorghums, implying that crop domestication in the grasses was accompanied by increased copia/gypsy LTR retrotransposon insertions in the genomes

Geometric morphometric analysis of Protoconites minor from the Cambrian (Terreneuvian) Yanjiahe Formation in Three Gorges, South China

The Ediacaran to Cambrian transition is a critical interval of time during which major evolutionary changes occurred. Recently, abundant Protoconites minor have been recovered from the silty shales of the lower Cambrian Yanjiahe Formation (Terreneuvian, Fortunian - Stage 2) in the Three Gorges area of South China. These fossils represent an important ecological diversification of macroscopic organisms at the onset of the Cambrian. Protoconites minor is a probable cnidarian-grade organism preserved by carbon compression. Herein, geometric morphometric analyses are applied to crack out specimens of P. minor to reveal any cryptic morphological details that may have implications for their morphological diversity, ontogenetic processes, and taxonomic identification. These statistical analyses reveal a strong relationship between size and shape, which indicates that the overall shape of P. minor was mainly controlled by allometric growth. The smaller specimens are generally wider at the anterior and more commonly have straight-sides. Larger individuals tend to be narrower at the anterior, with bending more common. Our analyses demonstrate that there are transitional forms between larger, strongly bent specimens and smaller, straight specimens, suggesting that the assemblage likely consists of a single species

Enhanced corrosion protection by Al surface immobilization of in-situ grown layered double hydroxide films co-intercalated with inhibitors and low surface energy species

Abstract(#br)In this work, a novel in-situ grown layered double hydroxide (LDH) film co-intercalated with inhibitors (vanadates) and low surface energy substance (laurates) was immobilized on Al substrates. A long-term monitoring of electrochemical impedance spectra (EIS) of the various samples in 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution demonstrated the synergetic protection of the intercalated two functional species. Meanwhile, the X-ray diffraction (XRD) result of the samples after immersion in NaCl solution for a long time presented the anion-exchange process between vanadates/laurates and chlorides. The synergetic effect of the two species loaded film significantly contributed to the enhanced long-term corrosion protection of aluminum

Active corrosion protection by a smart coating based on a MgAl-layered double hydroxide on a cerium-modified plasma electrolytic oxidation coating on Mg alloy AZ31

A composite coating was produced via (i) plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) with Ce salt sealing, on which layered double hydroxides (LDHs) were deposited via a hydrothermal treatment, and (ii) then modified by phytic acid (PA) via an ion-exchange reaction. The final coating (characterized using XRD, XPS, FT-IR, SEM, EDS and GDOES) consisted of LDHs/Mg(OH)/CeO/Ce(OH) with a non-uniform Ce distribution. The corrosion protection and self-healing ability were investigated using polarization curves, EIS, immersion tests and SVET. The composite coating modified with PA showed the most superior corrosion protection and self-healing ability, attributed to the synergistic effect between Ce species and phosphate

Long-term exposure to air pollution and lung function among children in China: Association and effect modification

BackgroundChildren are vulnerable to the respiratory effects of air pollution, and their lung function has been associated with long-term exposure to low air pollution level in developed countries. However, the impact of contemporary air pollution level in developing countries as a result of recent efforts to improve air quality on children's lung function is less understood.MethodsWe obtained a cross-sectional sample of 617 schoolchildren living in three differently polluted areas in Anhui province, China. 2-year average concentrations of air pollutants at the year of spirometry and the previous year (2017–2018) obtained from district-level air monitoring stations were used to characterize long-term exposure. Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), and forced expiratory flow between 25 and 75% of FVC (FEF25−75) were determined under strict quality control. Multivariable regression was employed to evaluate the associations between air pollution level and lung function parameters, overall and by demographic characteristics, lifestyle, and vitamin D that was determined by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry.ResultsMean concentration of fine particulate matter was 44.7 μg/m3, which is slightly above the interim target 1 standard of the World Health Organization. After adjusting for confounders, FVC, FEV1, and FEF25−75 showed inverse trends with increasing air pollution levels, with children in high exposure group exhibiting 87.9 [95% confidence interval (CI): 9.5, 166.4] mL decrement in FEV1 and 195.3 (95% CI: 30.5, 360.1) mL/s decrement in FEF25−75 compared with those in low exposure group. Additionally, the above negative associations were more pronounced among those who were younger, girls, not exposed to secondhand smoke, non-overweight, physically inactive, or vitamin D deficient.ConclusionsOur study suggests that long-term exposure to relatively high air pollution was associated with impaired lung function in children. More stringent pollution control measures and intervention strategies accounting for effect modification are needed for vulnerable populations in China and other developing countries

Recent applications of Cp2TiCl in natural product synthesis

This review highlights the recent applications of titanocene(III) complexes in the field of natural product synthesis from the seminal precedents to the development of modern catalytic methods. The power of the titanocene(III)-based approaches is demonstrated by the straightforward syntheses of many natural products from readily available starting materials.We thank the Regional Government of Andalucía (project P09-FQM-4571), MICINN (project CTQ-2011.22455), and CEI-Biotic for financial support. SPM thanks the Regional Government of Andalucía for her FPI fellowship. DM and AGC thank the Regional Government of Andalucía and the MICINN ( Juan de la Cierva) for their postdoctoral contracts

Fracturing of hard rocks by microwave treatment and potential applications in mechanised tunnelling

Extremely hard and abrasive rocks have posed great challenges to mechanical excavators such as tunnel boring machines and roadheaders by increasing the cutter wear and decreasing the penetration rates. Microwave treatment prior to mechanical rock breakage has been recognised as a promising technology. This PhD project measures/derives the dielectric properties of commonly encountered rocks and minerals and investigates the effect of microwave treatment on the physical and mechanical properties of three igneous rocks (gabbro, monzonite and granite) using a 2 kW single-mode microwave system. Experimental results indicate that microwave can effectively and efficiently weaken hard igneous rocks by generating macro/micro cracks in the heterogeneous rock matrix. The thesis also discusses the technical considerations of using microwave on tunnel boring machines in the field

Multilinear Riesz Potential on Morrey-Herz Spaces with Non-Doubling Measures

<p/> <p>The authors consider the multilinear Riesz potential operator defined by <inline-formula> <graphic file="1029-242X-2010-731016-i1.gif"/></inline-formula>, where <inline-formula> <graphic file="1029-242X-2010-731016-i2.gif"/></inline-formula> denotes the <inline-formula> <graphic file="1029-242X-2010-731016-i3.gif"/></inline-formula>-tuple <inline-formula> <graphic file="1029-242X-2010-731016-i4.gif"/></inline-formula>, <inline-formula> <graphic file="1029-242X-2010-731016-i5.gif"/></inline-formula> the nonnegative integers with <inline-formula> <graphic file="1029-242X-2010-731016-i6.gif"/></inline-formula>, <inline-formula> <graphic file="1029-242X-2010-731016-i7.gif"/></inline-formula>, <inline-formula> <graphic file="1029-242X-2010-731016-i8.gif"/></inline-formula> and <inline-formula> <graphic file="1029-242X-2010-731016-i9.gif"/></inline-formula> is a nonnegative <inline-formula> <graphic file="1029-242X-2010-731016-i10.gif"/></inline-formula>-dimensional Borel measure. In this paper, the boundedness for the operator <inline-formula> <graphic file="1029-242X-2010-731016-i11.gif"/></inline-formula> on the product of homogeneous Morrey-Herz spaces in nonhomogeneous setting is found.</p

Multilinear Riesz Potential on Morrey-Herz Spaces with Non-Doubling Measures

The authors consider the multilinear Riesz potential operator defined by &#x2110;&#x003b1;,m(f&#x020d7;)(x)=&#x0222b;(&#x211D;d)m(f1(y1)f2(y2)&#x022ef;fm(ym)/|(x-y1,&#x02026;,x-ym)|mn-&#x003b1;)d&#x003bc;(y1)&#x022ef;d&#x003bc;(ym), where f&#x020d7; denotes the m-tuple (f1,f2,&#x02026;,fm), m,n the nonnegative integers with n&#x02265;2, m&#x02265;1, 0&#x0003c;&#x003b1;&#x0003c;mn, and &#x003bc; is a nonnegative n-dimensional Borel measure. In this paper, the boundedness for the operator &#x2110;&#x003b1;,m on the product of homogeneous Morrey-Herz spaces in nonhomogeneous setting is found

Temperature-dependent abrasivity of Bukit Timah granite and implications for drill bit wear in thermo-mechanical drilling

Thermo-mechanical drilling combines the advantages of flame thermal treatment and rotary head drilling to achieve a high penetration rate in granitic rocks and a low wear rate of drill bits. This drilling strategy has been recognized as a potential technique to develop deep geothermal energy, but further improvement is still needed to optimize the drilling efficiency, such as the reduction in drill bit wear in thermally treated rocks. We use the Cerchar abrasivity test to investigate the abrasivity characteristics of Bukit Timah granite after the thermal treatment at different high temperatures. The Cerchar abrasivity index (CAI) decreases from 3.5 at 25 °C to 3.0 at 400 °C, remains constant between 400 and 600 °C and subsequently increases to 4.1 at 800 °C. Based on the meso-scale and micro-scale observations using polarizing microscope, 3D scanner and scanning electron microscope, the reduction in CAI value at lower temperatures is due to the abrasive wear of stylus tip, while the mechanical interaction between the stylus cone and abrasive minerals causes the increase in CAI value at higher temperatures. The Cerchar abrasivity test results indicate that overheating rocks may result in the exposure of drill bits to more abrasive minerals and enhance drill bit wear.Nanyang Technological UniversityWei Wu gratefully acknowledges the support of Start-Up Grant from Nanyang Technological University, Singapor