Differential Gene Expression Patterns of Male Sterile Lines of Alfalfa Hybrids at Bud Differentiation Stage and Heterosis

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is important legume forage that is widely cultivated in China and other countries. Alfalfa breeding can’t meet the need of production now, highlighted in yield and resistance of current alfalfa cultivars (He et al., 2000; Wei et al., 2007). Increasing heterozygosity of hybrids and thus the heterosis is a way to breed alfalfa cultivars with high yield and resistance (Hong et al., 2009). The objective of this study was to investigate the correlations of various differential gene expression patterns with forage yield in order to better understand the role the alfalfa male sterile lines may play in the heterosis of their progeny

Cumulative Evidence for Relationships Between 8q24 Variants and Prostate Cancer

Multiple independent cancer susceptibility loci at chromosome 8q24 have been identified by GWAS (Genome-wide association studies). Forty six articles including 60,293 cases and 62,971 controls were collected to conduct a meta-analysis to evaluate the associations between 21 variants in 8q24 and prostate cancer risk. Of the 21 variants located in 8q2\5 were significantly associated with the risk of prostate cancer. In particular, both homozygous AA and heterozygous CA genotypes of rs16901979, as well as the AA and CA genotypes of rs1447295, were associated with the risk of prostate cancer. Our study showed that variants in the 8q24 region are associated with prostate cancer risk in this large-scale research synopsis and meta-analysis. Further studies are needed to explore the role of the 8q24 variants involved in the etiology of prostate cancer

Seed Germination Responses to Seasonal Temperature and Drought Stress Are Species‐Specific but Not Related to Seed Size in a Desert Steppe: Implications for Effect of Climate Change on Community Structure

Investigating how seed germination of multiple species in an ecosystem responds to environmental conditions is crucial for understanding the mechanisms for community structure and biodiversity maintenance. However, knowledge of seed germination response of species to environmental conditions is still scarce at the community level. We hypothesized that responses of seed germination to environmental conditions differ among species at the community level, and that germination response is not correlated with seed size. To test this hypothesis, we determined the response of seed germination of 20 common species in the Siziwang Desert Steppe, China, to seasonal temperature regimes (representing April, May, June, and July) and drought stress (0, −0.003, −0.027, −0.155, and −0.87 MPa). Seed germination percentage increased with increasing temperature regime, but Allium ramosum, Allium tenuissimum, Artemisia annua, Artemisia mongolica, Artemisia scoparia, Artemisia sieversiana, Bassia dasyphylla, Kochia prastrata, and Neopallasia pectinata germinated to \u3e60% in the lowest temperature regime (April). Germination decreased with increasing water stress, but Allium ramosum, Artemisia annua, Artemisia scoparia, Bassia dasyphylla, Heteropappus altaicus, Kochia prastrata, Neopallasia pectinata, and Potentilla tanacetifolia germinated to near 60% at −0.87 MPa. Among these eight species, germination of six was tolerant to both temperature and water stress. Mean germination percentage in the four temperature regimes and the five water potentials was not significantly correlated with seed mass or seed area, which were highly correlated. Our results suggest that the species‐specific germination responses to environmental conditions are important in structuring the desert steppe community and have implications for predicting community structure under climate change. Thus, the predicted warmer and dryer climate will favor germination of drought‐tolerant species, resulting in altered proportions of germinants of different species and subsequently change in community composition of the desert steppe

Optimization of the Adaptability of the Fuel Cell Vehicle Waste Heat Utilization Subsystem to Extreme Cold Environments

In extremely cold environments, the fuel cell vehicle (FCV) waste heat utilization subsystem can only exchange a small amount of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) waste heat into the warm air circuit for cab heating, which has poor adaptability to extremely cold environments. The first step in this study was to build a test bench for the waste heat utilization subsystem of fuel cell vehicles. Secondly, the PEMFC heating capacity and liquid–liquid exchanger heat transfer capacity were analyzed using experimental data to assess the ability of FCV waste heat utilization subsystems with different rated powers to adapt to extremely cold environments. Then, the optimization mathematical model of the liquid–liquid exchanger was established, and the heat transfer performance of the liquid–liquid exchanger was orthogonally optimized based on the Taguchi method. Finally, the optimized liquid–liquid exchanger was installed in the waste heat utilization subsystem for experimental tests. The results show that when the ambient temperature is −20 °C, −25 °C or −30 °C, in the optimized waste heat utilization subsystem, the inlet and outlet temperatures of the PEMFC are reduced, and the power consumption of the positive temperature coefficient (PTC) is reduced by 57.6% and 48% and 34.3%, respectively, improving the utilization rate of PEMFC waste heat, and thereby improving the adaptability of FCV in extremely cold environments

Adaptive Grouping Cloud Model Shuffled Frog Leaping Algorithm for Solving Continuous Optimization Problems

The shuffled frog leaping algorithm (SFLA) easily falls into local optimum when it solves multioptimum function optimization problem, which impacts the accuracy and convergence speed. Therefore this paper presents grouped SFLA for solving continuous optimization problems combined with the excellent characteristics of cloud model transformation between qualitative and quantitative research. The algorithm divides the definition domain into several groups and gives each group a set of frogs. Frogs of each region search in their memeplex, and in the search process the algorithm uses the “elite strategy” to update the location information of existing elite frogs through cloud model algorithm. This method narrows the searching space and it can effectively improve the situation of a local optimum; thus convergence speed and accuracy can be significantly improved. The results of computer simulation confirm this conclusion

Optimization of the Adaptability of the Fuel Cell Vehicle Waste Heat Utilization Subsystem to Extreme Cold Environments

In extremely cold environments, the fuel cell vehicle (FCV) waste heat utilization subsystem can only exchange a small amount of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) waste heat into the warm air circuit for cab heating, which has poor adaptability to extremely cold environments. The first step in this study was to build a test bench for the waste heat utilization subsystem of fuel cell vehicles. Secondly, the PEMFC heating capacity and liquid–liquid exchanger heat transfer capacity were analyzed using experimental data to assess the ability of FCV waste heat utilization subsystems with different rated powers to adapt to extremely cold environments. Then, the optimization mathematical model of the liquid–liquid exchanger was established, and the heat transfer performance of the liquid–liquid exchanger was orthogonally optimized based on the Taguchi method. Finally, the optimized liquid–liquid exchanger was installed in the waste heat utilization subsystem for experimental tests. The results show that when the ambient temperature is −20 °C, −25 °C or −30 °C, in the optimized waste heat utilization subsystem, the inlet and outlet temperatures of the PEMFC are reduced, and the power consumption of the positive temperature coefficient (PTC) is reduced by 57.6% and 48% and 34.3%, respectively, improving the utilization rate of PEMFC waste heat, and thereby improving the adaptability of FCV in extremely cold environments