Physiological Responses of Synechocystis sp PCC 6803 under Clinorotation

Photosystem efficiency and the characteristic on oxidative stress were examined to elucidate the metabolic responses of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 to short-term clinorotation. Results compiled when using clinostat to simulate microgravity for 60 h, showed that clinorotation clearly prohibited the photochemical quantum yield, but promoted the synthesis of chlorophyll and total protein. This may be a compensatory mechanism for the algal cell to maintain its normal metabolism. An increased malondialdehyde (MDA) content of algal cell upon clinorotation, together with an enhanced catalase (CAT) activity was observed during the whole period of clinorotation. One conclusion is that short-term clinorotation acts as a kind of stress, and that these physiological responses may be a special way for an algal cell to adapt itself to a different environment other than earth gravity.Photosystem efficiency and the characteristic on oxidative stress were examined to elucidate the metabolic responses of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 to short-term clinorotation. Results compiled when using clinostat to simulate microgravity for 60 h, showed that clinorotation clearly prohibited the photochemical quantum yield, but promoted the synthesis of chlorophyll and total protein. This may be a compensatory mechanism for the algal cell to maintain its normal metabolism. An increased malondialdehyde (MDA) content of algal cell upon clinorotation, together with an enhanced catalase (CAT) activity was observed during the whole period of clinorotation. One conclusion is that short-term clinorotation acts as a kind of stress, and that these physiological responses may be a special way for an algal cell to adapt itself to a different environment other than earth gravity

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

Magnon Accumulation in Chirally Coupled Magnets

We report strong chiral coupling between magnons and photons in microwave waveguides that contain chains of small magnets on special lines. Large magnon accumulations at one edge of the chain emerge when exciting the magnets by a phased antenna array. This mechanism holds the promise of new functionalities in nonlinear and quantum magnonics.QN/Bauer GroupQN/Blaauboer GroupQN/Blanter Grou

Unidirectional Pumping of Phonons by Magnetization Dynamics

We propose a method to control surface phonon transport by weak magnetic fields based on the pumping of surface acoustic waves (SAWs) by magnetostriction. We predict that the magnetization dynamics of a nanowire on top of a dielectric films injects SAWs with opposite angular momenta into opposite directions. Two parallel nanowires form a phononic cavity that at magnetic resonances pump a unidirectional SAW current into half of the substrate. QN/Blaauboer GroupQN/Bauer Grou

Chiral coupling of magnons in waveguides

We theoretically investigate the collective excitations of multiple (sub)millimeter-sized ferromagnets mediated by waveguide photons. By the position of the magnets in the waveguide, the magnon-photon coupling can be tuned to be chiral, i.e., magnons only couple with photons propagating in one direction, leading to an asymmetric transfer of angular momentum and energy between the magnets. A large enhancement of the magnon number population can be achieved at an edge of a long chain of magnets. The chain also supports standing waves with low radiation efficiency that are inert to the chirality.QN/Bauer GroupQN/Blaauboer GroupQN/Blanter Grou

Effect of porosity variation strategy on the performance of functionally graded Ti-6Al-4V scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

Functionally graded scaffold (FGS) is designed to mimic the morphology, mechanical and biological properties of natural bone closely. Porosity variation strategy between different regions in FGS plays a crucial role in influencing its mechanical and biological performance. A combination of modeling tool and scripting language can effectively enhance the ability to optimize FGS design. This study was aimed at determining the effect of porosity variation strategy on the mechanical performance and permeability of the as-built and as-heat-treated FGSs. Ti-6Al-4V FGSs with sizes of 10 × 10 × 15 mm and diamond lattice structures were designed and fabricated by means of selective laser melting. A wide range of porosities in the FGSs (38–75%) were achieved by applying six different porosity variation strategies. The elastic modulus (3.7–5.7 GPa) and yield strength (27.1–84.7 MPa) of the as-built FGSs were found to vary between the corresponding mechanical properties of cancellous bone and cortical bone. Heat treatment reduced the strengths by 13–56%. Porosity variation strategy strongly affected the deformation behavior and failure mechanisms of the FGSs. The sigmoid function-controlled FGSs showed gradual failure behavior and sample Sigk0.5b8 showed superior overall performance. The results demonstrated that porosity variation strategy is a feasible means for tailor design of FGS.Accepted Author ManuscriptBiomaterials & Tissue Biomechanic

The microscopic origin of magnon-photon level attraction by traveling waves: Theory and experiment

The dissipative light-matter coupling can cause the attraction of two energy levels, i.e., level attraction, when competing with the coherent coupling that induces usual Rabi-level splitting. The level attraction shows attractive potential for topological information processing. However, the underlying microscopic quantum mechanism of dissipative coupling still remains unclear although the behavior has been understood to root in the non-Hermitian physics, which brings difficulties in quantifying and manipulating the competition between coherence and dissipation and thereby the flexible control of level attraction. Here, by coupling a magnon mode to a cavity supporting both standing and traveling waves, we identify the traveling-wave state to be responsible for magnon-photon dissipative coupling. By characterizing the radiative broadening of a magnon linewidth, we quantify the coherent and dissipative coupling strengths and their competition. The effective magnon-photon coupling strength, as a net result of competition, is analytically presented using quantum theory to show good agreement with measurements. In this manner, we extend the control dimension of level attraction by tuning field torque on magnetization or global cavity geometry. Our findings provide insights on engineered coupled harmonic oscillator systems.QN/Bauer GroupQN/Blaauboer GroupQN/Blanter Grou

A novel lattice model to predict chloride diffusion coefficient of unsaturated cementitious materials based on multi-typed pore structure characteristics

This paper develops a novel lattice diffusive model to quantitatively study the chloride diffusion coefficient in unsaturated cementitious materials, in which the pore voxels are redistributed to make a better representation of a real microstructure of hardened cement paste. Considering the hierarchical microstructure and different drying-wetting cycles, water distributions in multiscale pore structures are modelled and the structure characteristics of water-filled pores, including water connectivity, water tortuosity and effective porosity, are computationally extracted based on that. A lattice diffusion network is established to predict relative chloride diffusion coefficient by combining the effect of both water saturation degree and pore structure characteristics. The predicted results are validated against experimental data, and a concise analytical equation is proposed to predict the relative chloride diffusion coefficient. The equation indicated that the relative chloride diffusion coefficient is proportional to water connectivity but inversely proportional to the square of water tortuosity. Besides, the lattice model's quantitative results reveal that the water connectivity and water tortuosity are highly related to pre-water loading processes, and influenced by the gel pore fraction, which in turn will affect the relative chloride diffusion coefficient. Compared with existing equations and non-redistributed models, the present model could improve the prediction accuracy significantly.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Materials and Environmen

Differences in DNA Fingerprints of Bacterioplankton Community as Affected by Biomass Collection Approaches

To find out different sampling approaches how to affect DNA fingerprinting, environmental genomic DNA was prepared with three sampling approaches. The DNA profiles of 5 bacterial subgroups (alpha-,beta-,gamma-Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Cyanobacteria) and total bacteria were investigated by using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) fingerprinting. The DGGE patterns showed alpha-Proteobacteria had more free-living OTUs, while gamma-Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes had more particle-attached OTUs. Cyanobacteria and beta-Proteobacteria had approximately equal OTU number in the two fractions. Principle component analysis based on DNA banding patterns showed there were obvious differences among free-living, particle-attached fraction and whole bacterial community composition of 3 bacterial subgroups (alpha-, gamma-Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes) and total bacteria, while the patterns of beta-Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria were similar, suggesting the dynamics of bacterial subgroups can be better understand by combining different collection approaches.To find out different sampling approaches how to affect DNA fingerprinting, environmental genomic DNA was prepared with three sampling approaches. The DNA profiles of 5 bacterial subgroups (alpha-,beta-,gamma-Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Cyanobacteria) and total bacteria were investigated by using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) fingerprinting. The DGGE patterns showed alpha-Proteobacteria had more free-living OTUs, while gamma-Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes had more particle-attached OTUs. Cyanobacteria and beta-Proteobacteria had approximately equal OTU number in the two fractions. Principle component analysis based on DNA banding patterns showed there were obvious differences among free-living, particle-attached fraction and whole bacterial community composition of 3 bacterial subgroups (alpha-, gamma-Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes) and total bacteria, while the patterns of beta-Proteobacteria and Cyanobacteria were similar, suggesting the dynamics of bacterial subgroups can be better understand by combining different collection approaches

Cloning and expression analysis of Rsk in Brassica napus induced by Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

Based on the significant differences in the resistance to Sclerotinia sclerotiorum between two Brassica napus cultivars, ZhongR888 and Zhongyou821, near isogenic lines (NILs) were established. The resistance differences between Zhongyou821 and BC(5) progeny (the fifth generation from a cross between Zhongyou821 and ZhongR888 with Zhongyou821 as successive backcross parent) was displayed by cDNA-AFLP and differential transcripts-derived fragments (TDFs). The full-length cDNA of 1,707 bp with 1,323 bp open reading frame (ORF, open box), named Rsk was identified by RT-RACE from the resistance related fragment 40-2 in Zhongyou821. It encoded a protein of 440 amino acid residues, which contained a putative extracellular domain, a transmembrane domain, and an intracellular domain. Analysis of the deduced amino acid sequence of Rsk revealed that it had high homology to Arabidopsis thaliana kinase involved in protein binding, and had a conserved region of LRR-RI, indicating it might be a member of leucine-rich repeats, ribonuclease inhibitor-like subfamily. DNA sequences of 1,685 bp and 1,703 bp without an intron were also identified from Zhongyou821 and BC(5,) respectively. Expression analysis showed that Rsk might play a role in disease resistance pathways