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Geographical variation in the interacting traits of plant–pollinator mutualism can lead to local adaptive differentiation. We tested Darwin’s hypothesis of reciprocal selection as a key driving force for the evolution of floral traits of an alpine ginger (Roscoea purpurea) and proboscis length of a tabanid fly (Philoliche longirostris). We documented the pattern of trait variation in R. purpurea and P. longirostris across five populations. At each site, we quantified pollinator-mediated selection on floral display area, inflorescence height and corolla length of R. purpurea by comparing selection gradients for flowers exposed to natural pollination and to supplemental hand pollination. Reciprocal selection between plant and fly was examined at two sites via the relationship between proboscis length and nectar consumption (fly benefit) and corolla length and pollen deposition (plant benefit). Local corolla tube length was correlated with local fly proboscis length among the five sites. We found strong linear selection imposed by pollinators on corolla tube length at all sites, but there was no consistent relationship of fitness to inflorescence height or floral display area. Selection between corolla length and proboscis length was reciprocal at the two experimental sites examined. The geographical pattern of trait variation and the evidence of selection is consistent with a mosaic of local, species-specific reciprocal selection acting as the major driving force for the evolution of corolla length of R. purpurea and proboscis length of P. longirostris.

A two-marker combination of plastid rbcL and matK has previously been recommended as the core plant barcode, to be supplemented with additional markers such as plastid trnH–psbA and nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer (ITS). To assess the effectiveness and universality of these barcode markers in seed plants, we sampled 6,286 individuals representing 1,757 species in 141 genera of 75 families (42 orders) by using four different methods of data analysis. These analyses indicate that (i) the three plastid markers showed high levels of universality (87.1–92.7%), whereas ITS performed relatively well (79%) in angiosperms but not so well in gymnosperms; (ii) in taxonomic groups for which direct sequencing of the marker is possible, ITS showed the highest discriminatory power of the four markers, and a combination of ITS and any plastid DNA marker was able to discriminate 69.9–79.1% of species, compared with only 49.7% with rbcL + matK; and (iii) where multiple individuals of a single species were tested, ascriptions based on ITS and plastid DNA barcodes were incongruent in some samples for 45.2% of the sampled genera (for genera with more than one species sampled). This finding highlights the importance of both sampling multiple individuals and using markers with different modes of inheritance. In cases where it is difficult to amplify and directly sequence ITS in its entirety, just using ITS2 is a useful backup because it is easier to amplify and sequence this subset of the marker. We therefore propose that ITS/ITS2 should be incorporated into the core barcode for seed plants.

Although China and India are the two largest tea-producing countries, the domestication origin and breeding history of the tea plant in these two countries remain unclear. Our previous study suggested that the tea plant includes three distinct lineages (China type tea, Chinese Assam type tea and Indian Assam type tea), which were independently domesticated in China and India, respectively. To determine the origin and historical timeline of tea domestication in these two countries we used a combination of 23 nSSRs (402 samples) and three cpDNA regions (101 samples) to genotype domesticated tea plants and its wild relative. Based on a combination of demographic modeling, NewHybrids and Neighbour joining tree analyses, three independent domestication centers were found. In addition, two origins of Chinese Assam type tea were detected: Southern and Western Yunnan of China. Results from demographic modeling suggested that China type tea and Assam type tea first diverged 22,000 year ago during the last glacial maximum and subsequently split into the Chinese Assam type tea and Indian Assam type tea lineages 2770 year ago, corresponding well with the early record of tea usage in Yunnan, China. Furthermore, we found that the three tea types underwent different breeding histories where hybridization appears to have been the most important approach for tea cultivar breeding and improvements: a high proportion of the hybrid lineages were found to be F and BCs. Collectively, our results underscore the necessity for the conservation of Chinese Assam type tea germplasm and landraces as a valuable resource for future tea breeding.

Eutrema salsugineum (= Thellungiella salsuginea Brassicaceae), a species growing in highly saline habitats, is a good model for use in salt-stress research. However, its evolutionary migrations and genetic variations within and between disjunct regions from central Asia to northern China and North America remain largely unknown. We examined genetic variations and phylogeographic patterns of this species by sequencing ITS, 9 chloroplast (cp) DNA fragments (4379 bp) and 10 unlinked nuclear loci (6510 bp) of 24 populations across its distributional range. All markers suggested the high genetic poverty of this species and the limited number of genetic variations recovered was congruently partitioned between central Asia, northern China and North America. Further modelling of nuclear population-genetic data based on approximate bayesian computation (ABC) analyses indicated that the long-distance dispersals after the recent origin of E. salsugineum may have occurred from central Asia to the other two regions respectively within 20000 years. The fast demographic expansions should have occurred in northern China in a more recent past. Our study highlights the importance of using ABC analyses and nuclear population genetic data to trace evolutionary migrations of the disjunct distributions of the plants in the recent past.

ObjectiveNon-invasive methods for hemoglobin (Hb) monitoring can provide additional and relatively precise information between invasive measurements of Hb to help doctors' decision-making. We aimed to develop a new method for Hb monitoring based on mask R-CNN and MobileNetV3 with eye images as input.MethodsSurgical patients from our center were enrolled. After image acquisition and pre-processing, the eye images, the manually selected palpebral conjunctiva, and features extracted, respectively, from the two kinds of images were used as inputs. A combination of feature engineering and regression, solely MobileNetV3, and a combination of mask R-CNN and MobileNetV3 were applied for model development. The model's performance was evaluated using metrics such as R2, explained variance score (EVS), and mean absolute error (MAE).ResultsA total of 1,065 original images were analyzed. The model's performance based on the combination of mask R-CNN and MobileNetV3 using the eye images achieved an R2, EVS, and MAE of 0.503 (95% CI, 0.499–0.507), 0.518 (95% CI, 0.515–0.522) and 1.6 g/dL (95% CI, 1.6–1.6 g/dL), which was similar to that based on MobileNetV3 using the manually selected palpebral conjunctiva images (R2: 0.509, EVS:0.516, MAE:1.6 g/dL).ConclusionWe developed a new and automatic method for Hb monitoring to help medical staffs' decision-making with high efficiency, especially in cases of disaster rescue, casualty transport, and so on.

Spray cooling has demonstrated advantages in the thermal control of avionic devices. In this study, a spray cooling system is established using liquid nitrogen (LN2) as a working fluid to investigate the effect of heat transfer characteristics on a large heating surface. The temperature response measurement and experimental analysis of the heating surface of a large-area shell structure under the boundary conditions of different heat flux and temperature regions were carried out. The temperature response curves for the outer surface of the shell structure from the initial temperature to the set temperature were obtained under different heat flows and temperature zones. The results show that the thermal response time of the surface spray phase cooling is less than 2 s, the stability time for the cooling temperature of the covering layer is longer than 60 s, and the cooling state can be maintained for 30 min under different working conditions. This study can provide a technical reference for the application of spray systems in the field of aircraft cooling.

The effect of adding MgO nanoparticles (0%, 0.01%, 0.05%, and 0.10%) on the inclusion and acicular ferrite (AF) formation in 1.8%Ni low carbon Al-killed (LCAK) steel was explored. The inclusion analysis reveals that MgO nanoparticles react with dissolved Al or Al 2 O 3 inclusions and finally change to fine MgAl 2 O 4 wrapped by MnS in the case of adding 0.05% MgO nanoparticles. In contrast, MgO nanoparticles are agglomerated and form Mg-bearing inclusion clusters in the case of 0.10% or reduced to high Al 2 O 3 inclusions by dissolved Al in the case of 0.10%. The microstructure observations show that the AF formation was promoted in the case with addition of 0.05% MgO nanoparticles. The process of inclusion-inducing AF nucleation is essentially characterized via the high-temperature confocal scanning laser microscopy experiment. δ min ( δ denotes disregistry) of Al 2 O 3 /α-Fe, MgAl 2 O 4 /α-Fe, and MnS/α-Fe is evaluated to be 11.5%, 6.5%, and 7.4%, respectively. The high AF fraction in the case of 0.05% MgO addition can be attributed to the low disregistry of MnS–MgAl 2 O 4 /ferrite and Mn-depleted zone adjacent to the MnS layer. Based on the results, 0.05% was recommended as the proper addition amount of MgO nanoparticles in 1.8%Ni LCAK steel.

Many studies have explored the social consequences of ethnic essentialism in recent decades. In addition, a few studies have focused on the impact of perceived cultural context on ethnic essentialism. However, it is not clear why perceived cultural context can lead to changes in ethnic essentialism. In the present study, we hypothesized that the cultural anxiety of ethnic minorities may trigger a strong endorsement of and support for a multicultural ideology, thereby affecting beliefs about ethnic groups. To address the issue, 226 Tibetan and 102 Hui college students from Mainland China completed our questionnaires. The results across the two samples showed that (1) cultural anxiety was positively associated with both the endorsement of a multicultural ideology and ethnic essentialism, (2) cultural anxiety and the endorsement of a multicultural ideology positively predicted ethnic essentialism after controlling for demographic variables, and (3) cultural anxiety had both a direct effect on ethnic essentialism and an indirect effect on ethnic essentialism through the endorsement of a multicultural ideology. Our findings suggest that when ethnic minorities experience cultural anxiety, they might endorse a multicultural ideology and adopt essentialism to affirm their ethnic identities.

Background and Objectives: National dietary surveys are needed and difficult to conduct in China. The current study aims to develop and validate an internet-based diet questionnaire for Chinese (IDQC) to assess intakes in Northern China. Methods and Study Design: We recruited 292 city residents by email and telephone in Harbin to obtain the IDQC and 3-day diet diaries. The food group and nutrient intakes from the IDQC were validated against those from the 3-day diet diaries. Paired sample t-tests were used to compare the methodological differences, and repeatability was estimated using Pearson's correlations. Cross-classification was used to calculate the percentage agreement in quartiles for all food groups and nutrients. Results: Positive correlations were found between the IDQC and 3-day diet diaries for all food groups after energy adjustment (from 0.28 for seeds and nuts to 0.63 for dairy products). Positive correlations were observed for all nutrients between the IDQC and 3-day diet diaries, with correlations ranging from 0.37 for folic acid to 0.98 for iodine. The overall agreements for food groups and nutrients were above 69.2%, indicating satisfactory consistency between the IDQC and 3-day diet diaries. Conclusions: The IDQC can be used to estimate the food and nutrient intakes in a Northern China population for both clinical nutrition epidemiological and public health nutritional purposes.

Novel porcine circovirus type 3 (PCV3), first identified in the United States, has been detected in many other countries. Porcine circovirus is associated with postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome, reproductive failure, congenital tremors, and other clinical symptoms. In this study, we established a double polymerase chain reaction assay for detecting both porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) and PCV3. This is the first study to detect and characterize the PCV3 genome in the Tianjin region of North China. We collected a total of 169 tissue samples from seven farms between 2016 and 2018. The PCV3-positive rate of all tissue samples was 37.3% (63/169) and the rate of PCV2 and PCV3 coinfection was 14.8% (25/169). PCV2 and PCV3 coinfections with more serious clinical symptoms were found in only three farms. We sequenced three PCV3 strains selected from tissue samples that were positively identified. The complete genome sequences of the three strains shared 97.6–99.4% nucleotide identities with the PCV3 strains in GenBank. Our results showed the extent of PCV3’s spread in Tianjin, and the need to further study PCV3’s pathobiology, epidemiology, isolation, and coinfection.