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Endangered species can achieve population growth through utilization. is an endangered species, which can be used in gardens and street trees. To avoid population degradation caused by long-term nursery cultivation, we need to introduce high-quality wild sources of germplasm for hybridization. In the past, when the selection of strains was carried out, attention was often paid to the performance of different traits of each strain. The strains with advantages in many more traits were selected as the target. In this paper, we proposed that excellent strains should be selected based on the needs of managers. We constructed a complex index composed of insect resistance and growth amount, which was concerned by plantation managers, for the selection of excellent strains. Its availability was confirmed as well. We cultivated 16 wild-sourced strains in a homogeneous garden and carried out experiments for 3 years. We measured 28 functional traits. Through collinearity diagnostics, 15 functional traits in 4 dimensions (morphology, leaf economy, stoichiometry and reproduction) were selected for analysis and construction of complex index. The influence of environmental factors on traits was excluded by comparing the trait matrix calculated based on Euclidean distance with the geographical distance matrix. Excellent strains (No. 15 from Dazeshan) selected based on the key complex index may not be outstanding in each trait, but have a more balanced performance among the trade-offs of trait combinations. We also explored the visualization of this key complex index by correlating with leaf carbon content (its ecologically relevant trait), so as to realize rapid and early selection of strains by using LCC (an easily measurable trait). To construct key complex index, appropriate functional traits should be selected according to the needs of managers or different species. The measurable traits with clear ecological links with complex index should be selected as \"agents\" to realize visualization of complex index.

Acupuncture is a widely used asthma therapy, but the benefits remain uncertain. This study aimed to access the effectiveness of acupuncture for treatment of asthma in adults. Five English databases and four Chinese databases were searched from inception to November 2021. Randomised sham/placebo-controlled trials meeting inclusion criteria were included. Risk of bias was evaluated according to the Cochrane Review Handbook, and data analysis was performed in RevMan 5.4.1. Quality of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluations (GRADE) profiler. Sixteen randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were included in the meta-analysis. Results indicated that acupuncture was well-tolerated and could improve FEV1% compared with sham/placebo acupuncture [MD 6.11, 95% CI 0.54–11.68, I2 = 93%, number of participants (n) = 603]. Acupuncture also improved Cai’s Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (AQLQ) (MD 7.26, 95% CI 5.02–9.50, I2 = 0, n = 358), and reduced the asthma symptom score (SMD −2.73, 95% CI −3.59 to −1.87, I2 = 65%, n = 120). One study showed acupuncture increased the Asthma Control Test (ACT) score (MD 2.00, 95% CI 0.90–3.10, n = 111), and decreased exacerbation frequency (MD −1.00, 95% CI −1.55 to −1.45, n = 111). Other lung function and medication use parameters were not statistically significant. Acupuncture versus sham/placebo control appeared to improve quality of life, FEV1%, symptoms, and asthma control, and reduced exacerbation frequency per year. Further studies with appropriate controls, more participants, and high-quality evidence are needed. •This is the first systematic review focused on acupuncture for adults with asthma compared with sham/placebo acupuncture.•Acupuncture appeared to have improved asthma symptoms, asthma control and exacerbation.•Moderate-quality evidence showed that acupuncture could increase FEV1% and quality of life in adults asthma.

Graphene oxide (GO) is a promising candidate for humidity sensing, and the uniformity and thickness of GO films are important for the reproducibility and test signal strength of humidity sensors. In this paper, uniform and thickness-controllable GO films are first formed by the surface tension of different concentrations of GO solution and then transferred to surface acoustic wave (SAW) humidity sensors. This GO film formation and transfer process has very good repeatability and stability, as evidenced by the humidity response of the sensors. With the help of the uniform and highly oxidized GO film, the humidity sensors show a significantly high sensitivity (absolute sensitivity of 25.3 kHz/%RH and relative sensitivity of 111.7 p.p.m./%RH) in a wide test range from 10%RH to 90%RH with very little hysteresis (<1%RH). The sensors achieve good reversibility, excellent short-term repeatability and stability. Moreover, the humidity sensors also show a fast response and recovery time of <10 s.

Enhancing the nutritional quality of food crops is a way to improve human nutrition and health. Grain protein content （ GPC ） is an important nutritional quality trait for rice and many other crops. Therefore, it will be very significant to increase GPC and improve rice quality. This paper mainly reviewed the genetic studies GPC in rice, mapping and cloning of QTLs and genes associated with GPC. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism and gene function related to GPC in rice. Thus, here we put forward the genetic strategy by gene pyramiding or molecular marker assisted selection to improve GPC and nutritional quality in rice. This review could provide important information for genetic improvement of grain nutritional quality of rice.

Chalkiness characters affect not only the grain appearance,milling,eating and cooking qualities but also the grain nutritional quality in rice,thus it is one of the most important traits in rice. It is very important for us to investigate the relation of the chalkiness formation and the development of endosperm structure and starch granule of different rice varieties. Here,we have investigated the chalkiness characters such as chalkiness rate,chalkiness degree and chalkiness area in 15 japonica rice varieties from southern Henan. Furthermore,the endosperm structure and starch granules of rice grain were also observed with scanning electron microscope. The results showed that the 15 japonica varieties have a significantly linear relationship between the chalkiness rate and chalkiness degree. Among the varieties,the biggest difference is the chalkiness rate,the second is the chalkiness area,and the last is the chalkiness degree. Moreover,there is a certain correlation between the distribution of starch granules,the arrangement of endosperm cells and the occurrence of grain chalkiness in the different rice varieties. For the same variety,the starch granules of chalky and non-chalky grains have obvious difference,while the starch granules from the transparent part of chalky rice and non-chalky rice do not have significant difference. The results would provide useful references for the improvement of grain quality in rice.

Due to its absorption properties in atmosphere, the mid-infrared (mid-IR) region has gained interest for its potential to provide high data capacity in free-space optical (FSO) communications. Here, we experimentally demonstrate wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) and mode-division-multiplexing (MDM) in a ~0.5 m mid-IR FSO link. We multiplex three ~3.4 μm wavelengths (3.396 μm, 3.397 μm, and 3.398 μm) on a single polarization, with each wavelength carrying two orbital-angular-momentum (OAM) beams. As each beam carries 50-Gbit/s quadrature-phase-shift-keying data, a total capacity of 300 Gbit/s is achieved. The WDM channels are generated and detected in the near-IR (C-band). They are converted to mid-IR and converted back to C-band through the difference frequency generation nonlinear processes. We estimate that the system penalties at a bit error rate near the forward error correction threshold include the following: (i) the wavelength conversions induce ~2 dB optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR) penalty, (ii) WDM induces ~1 dB OSNR penalty, and (iii) MDM induces ~0.5 dB OSNR penalty. These results show the potential of using multiplexing to achieve a ~30X increase in data capacity for a mid-IR FSO link. A 300-Gbit/s free-space optical communication system is demonstrated in the mid-IR wavelength region by using both wavelength- and mode-division multiplexing.

Dabieshan tick virus (DBTV) is a newly identified arbovirus, first detected in Haemaphysalis longicornis collected from Hubei Province in 2015. It has been confirmed that DBTV is widely distributed in Shandong Province, China. However, its entomological and epidemiological features remain to be further explored, particularly the feasibility of transovarial transmission. Our research tries to explain the possibility of transovarial transmission of DBTV from engorged female ticks to their offspring. All engorged female adult ticks were sampled from domestic sheep and allowed to lay eggs and hatch in appropriate laboratory conditions. All engorged ticks, larvae and unhatched eggs were classified into pools for nucleic acid extraction and DBTV RNA detection. According to the results of qRT-PCR, the positive rate of DBTV was 6.25% (8/128) in engorged female ticks, 3.57% (1/28) in eggs and 5% (3/60) in larvae pools, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that DBTV isolates from larvae were similar to those from maternal ticks with more than 99.5% homology, and DBTV was relatively conservative in evolution. Our findings are the first to provide molecular evidence of potential transovarial transmission of DBTV among H . longicornis . Nonetheless, the transovarial transmission of DBTV in frequency and proportion occurring in nature deserves further investigation.

Background Building biological networks with a certain function is a challenge in systems biology. For the functionality of small (less than ten nodes) biological networks, most methods are implemented by exhausting all possible network topological spaces. This exhaustive approach is difficult to scale to large-scale biological networks. And regulatory relationships are complex and often nonlinear or non-monotonic, which makes inference using linear models challenging. Results In this paper, we propose a multi-layer perceptron-based differential equation method, which operates by training a fully connected neural network (NN) to simulate the transcription rate of genes in traditional differential equations. We verify whether the regulatory network constructed by the NN method can continue to achieve the expected biological function by verifying the degree of overlap between the regulatory network discovered by NN and the regulatory network constructed by the Hill function. And we validate our approach by adapting to noise signals, regulator knockout, and constructing large-scale gene regulatory networks using link-knockout techniques. We apply a real dataset (the mesoderm inducer Xenopus Brachyury expression) to construct the core topology of the gene regulatory network and find that Xbra is only strongly expressed at moderate levels of activin signaling. Conclusion We have demonstrated from the results that this method has the ability to identify the underlying network topology and functional mechanisms, and can also be applied to larger and more complex gene network topologies.

In ferroelectric memory, the repeated application of external electric fields can cause ferroelectric fatigue, limiting its stability and service life, especially as the storage unit size decreases. To address this issue, we conducted first-principles research on a SnPz/In2Se3 structure and examined its structure under different polarization directions. Our analysis revealed significant differences in the adsorption position of Sn atoms depending on the polarization direction, suggesting that SnPz/In2Se3 could be a highly stable ferroelectric storage material. Moreover, the polarization-induced changes in the electronic structure near the Fermi level, which allowed for the use of tunneling current and obtaining stored information without causing the ferroelectric fatigue effect during information readout. These findings highlight the potential of SnPz/In2Se3 to significantly extend the lifespan of ferroelectric materials, reduce energy consumption, and minimize the environmental impact of discarded electronic devices.

In ferroelectric memory, the repeated application of external electric fields can cause ferroelectric fatigue, limiting its stability and service life, especially as the storage unit size decreases. To address this issue, we conducted first-principles research on a SnPz/In[sub.2]Se[sub.3] structure and examined its structure under different polarization directions. Our analysis revealed significant differences in the adsorption position of Sn atoms depending on the polarization direction, suggesting that SnPz/In[sub.2]Se[sub.3] could be a highly stable ferroelectric storage material. Moreover, the polarization-induced changes in the electronic structure near the Fermi level, which allowed for the use of tunneling current and obtaining stored information without causing the ferroelectric fatigue effect during information readout. These findings highlight the potential of SnPz/In[sub.2]Se[sub.3] to significantly extend the lifespan of ferroelectric materials, reduce energy consumption, and minimize the environmental impact of discarded electronic devices.