Integration of C3H15-mediated transcriptional and post-transcriptional regulation confers plant thermotolerance in Arabidopsis.

Heat stress is an environmental factor that significantly threatens crop production worldwide. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms governing plant responses to heat stress are not fully understood. Plant zinc finger CCCH proteins have roles in stress responses as well as growth and development through protein-RNA, protein-DNA, and protein-protein interactions. Here, we reveal an integrated multi-level regulation of plant thermotolerance that is mediated by the CCCH protein C3H15 in Arabidopsis. Heat stress rapidly suppressed C3H15 transcription, which attenuated C3H15-inhibited expression of its target gene HEAT SHOCK TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR A2 (HSFA2), a central regulator of heat stress response (HSR), thereby activating HEAT SHOCK COGNATE 70 (HSC70.3) expression. The RING-type E3 ligase MED25-BINDING RING-H2 PROTEIN 2 (MBR2) was identified as an interacting partner of C3H15. The mbr2 mutant was susceptible to heat stress compared to wild-type plants, whereas plants overexpressing MBR2 showed increased heat tolerance. MBR2-dependent ubiquitination mediated the degradation of phosphorylated C3H15 protein in the cytoplasm, which was enhanced by heat stress. Consistently, heat sensitivities of C3H15 overexpression lines increased in MBR2 loss-of-function and decreased in MBR2 overexpression backgrounds. Heat stress-induced accumulation of HSC70.3 promoted MBR2-mediated degradation of C3H15 protein, implying that an auto-regulatory loop involving C3H15, HSFA2, and HSC70.3 regulates HSR. Heat stress also led to the accumulation of C3H15 in stress granules (SGs), a kind of cytoplasmic RNA granule. This study advances our understanding of the mechanisms plants use to respond to heat stress, which will facilitate technologies to improve thermotolerance in crops.

Ubiquitinated DA1 negatively regulates vascular cambium activity through modulating the stability of WOX4 in Populus.

Activity of the vascular cambium gives rise to secondary xylem for wood formation in trees. The transcription factor WUSCHEL-related HOMEOBOX4 (WOX4) is a central regulator downstream of the hormone and peptide signaling pathways that maintain cambial activity. However, the genetic regulatory network underlying WOX4-mediated wood formation at the post-transcriptional level remains to be elucidated. In this study, we identified the ubiquitin receptor PagDA1 in hybrid poplar (Populus alba × Populus glandulosa clone 84K) as a negative regulator of wood formation, which restricts cambial activity during secondary growth. Overexpression of PagDA1 in poplar resulted in a relatively reduced xylem due to decreased cambial cell division. By contrast, mutation of PagDA1 by CRISPR/Cas9 resulted in an increased cambial cell activity and promoted xylem formation. Genetic analysis demonstrated that PagDA1 functions antagonistically in a common pathway as PagWOX4 to regulate cambial activity. We propose that PagDA1 physically associates with PagWOX4 and modulates the degradation of PagWOX4 by the 26S proteasome. Moreover, genetic analysis revealed that PagDA1 exerts its negative effect on cambial development by modulating the stability of PagWOX4 in a ubiquitin-dependent manner mediated by the E3 ubiquitin ligase PagDA2. In sum, we have identified a cambial regulatory protein complex, PagDA1-PagWOX4, as a potential target for wood biomass improvement.

ERF4 and MYB52 transcription factors play antagonistic roles in regulating homogalacturonan de-methylesterification in Arabidopsis seed coat mucilage.

Homogalacturonan (HG), a component of pectin, is synthesized in the Golgi apparatus in its fully methylesterified form. It is then secreted into the apoplast where it is typically de-methylesterified by pectin methylesterases (PME). Secretion and de-esterification are critical for normal pectin function, yet the underlying transcriptional regulation mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, we uncovered a mechanism that fine-tunes the degree of HG de-methylesterification (DM) in the mucilage that surrounds Arabidopsis thaliana seeds. We demonstrate that the APETALA2/ETHYLENE RESPONSE FACTOR (AP2/ERF) transcription factor (TF) ERF4 is a transcriptional repressor that positively regulates HG DM. ERF4 expression is confined to epidermal cells in the early stages of seed coat development. The adhesiveness of the erf4 mutant mucilage was decreased as a result of an increased DM caused by a decrease in PME activity. Molecular and genetic analyses revealed that ERF4 positively regulates HG DM by suppressing the expression of three PME INHIBITOR genes (PMEIs) and SUBTILISIN-LIKE SERINE PROTEASE 1.7 (SBT1.7). ERF4 shares common targets with the TF MYB52, which also regulates pectin DM. Nevertheless, the erf4-2 myb52 double mutant seeds have a wild-type mucilage phenotype. We provide evidence that ERF4 and MYB52 regulate downstream gene expression in an opposite manner by antagonizing each other's DNA-binding ability through a physical interaction. Together, our findings reveal that pectin DM in the seed coat is fine-tuned by an ERF4-MYB52 transcriptional complex.

MsHDZ23, a Novel Miscanthus HD-ZIP Transcription Factor, Participates in Tolerance to Multiple Abiotic Stresses.

The homeodomain-leucine zipper (HD-ZIP) transcription factors, representing one of the largest plant-specific superfamilies, play important roles in the response to various abiotic stresses. However, the functional roles of HD-ZIPs in abiotic stress tolerance and the underlying mechanisms remain relatively limited in Miscanthus sinensis. In this study, we isolated an HD-ZIP TF gene, MsHDZ23, from Miscanthus and ectopically expressed it in Arabidopsis. Transcriptome and promoter analyses revealed that MsHDZ23 responded to salt, alkali, and drought treatments. The overexpression (OE) of MsHDZ23 in Arabidopsis conferred higher tolerance to salt and alkali stresses compared to wild-type (WT) plants. Moreover, MsHDZ23 was able to restore the hb7 mutant, the ortholog of MsHDZ23 in Arabidopsis, to the WT phenotype. Furthermore, MsHDZ23-OE lines exhibited significantly enhanced drought stress tolerance, as evidenced by higher survival rates and lower water loss rates compared to WT. The improved drought tolerance may be attributed to the significantly smaller stomatal aperture in MsHDZ23-OE lines compared to WT. Furthermore, the accumulation of the malondialdehyde (MDA) under abiotic stresses was significantly decreased, accompanied by dramatically enhanced activities in several antioxidant enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), and catalase (CAT) in the transgenic plants. Collectively, these results demonstrate that MsHDZ23 functions as a multifunctional transcription factor in enhancing plant resistance to abiotic stresses.

Physical layer encryption for coherent PDM system based on polarization perturbations using a digital optical polarization scrambler.

In this paper, a security enhanced physical layer encryption scheme is proposed for coherent optical polarization division multiplexing (PDM) systems. The concept of a digital optical polarization scrambler (DOPS) is introduced to apply high speed rotation of state of polarization (RSOP) to the transmitted signal, which enables encryption based on polarization perturbations and offers superior flexibility in polarization management. By utilizing different combinations of digital polarization device matrices and adjusting their key parameters, four encryption modes are designed. The proposed encryption scheme is successfully implemented in a PDM-QPSK system at the data rate of 32 Gbps. Experimental results demonstrate that authorized users can successfully decrypt the received signal, while the eavesdroppers cannot derive useful information with a bit error rate (BER) at approximately 0.5. To enhance system security, a 5-D chaotic system is introduced with superior properties of high sensitivity to initial values and improved uniform distribution, which guarantees the large entropy and further the system's security. This scheme can effectively prevent against brute attacks with the expanded key space of 1060.

Efficient Accumulation of Amylopectin and Its Molecular Mechanism in the Submerged Duckweed Mutant.

Large-scale use of fossil fuels has brought about increasingly serious problems of environmental pollution, development and utilization of renewable energy is one of the effective solutions. Duckweed has the advantages of fast growth, high starch content and no occupation of arable land, so it is a promising starchy energy plant. A new submerged duckweed mutant (sub-1) with abundant starch accumulation was obtained, whose content of amylopectin accounts for 84.04% of the starch granules. Compared with the wild type (Lemna aequinoctialis), the branching degree of starch in sub-1 mutant was significantly increased by 19.6%. Chain length DP 6-12, DP 25-36 and DP > 36 of amylopectin significantly decreased, while chain length DP 13-24 significantly increased. Average chain length of wild-type and sub-1 mutant starches were greater than DP 22. Moreover, the crystal structure and physical properties of starch have changed markedly in sub-1 mutant. For example, the starch crystallinity of sub-1 mutant was only 8.94%, while that of wild-type was 22.3%. Compared with wild type, water solubility of starch was significantly reduced by 29.42%, whereas swelling power significantly increased by 97.07% in sub-1 mutant. In order to further analyze the molecular mechanism of efficient accumulation of amylopectin in sub-1 mutant, metabolome and transcriptome were performed. The results showed that glucose accumulated in sub-1 mutant, then degradation of starch to glucose mainly depends on α-amylase. At night, the down-regulated ß-amylase gene resulted in the inhibition of starch degradation. The starch and sucrose metabolism pathways were significantly enriched. Up-regulated expression of SUS, AGPase2, AGPase3, PYG, GPI and GYS provide sufficient substrate for starch synthesis in sub-1 mutant. From the 0H to 16H light treatment, granule-bound starch synthase (GBSS1) gene was inhibited, on the contrary, the starch branching enzyme (SBE) gene was induced. Differential expression of GBSS1 and SBE may be an important reason for the decrease ratio of amylose/amylopectin in sub-1 mutant. Taken together, our results indicated that the sub-1 mutant can accumulate the amylopectin efficiently, potentially through altering the differential expression of AGPase, GBSS1, SBE, and BAM. This study also provides theoretical guidance for creating crop germplasm with high amylopectin by means of synthetic biology in the future.

Fine-tuning brassinosteroid biosynthesis via 3'UTR-dependent decay of CPD mRNA modulates wood formation in Populus.

Brassinosteroids (BRs) are plant hormones that regulate wood formation in trees. Currently, little is known about the post-transcriptional regulation of BR synthesis. Here, we show that during wood formation, fine-tuning BR synthesis requires 3'UTR-dependent decay of Populus CONSTITUTIVE PHOTOMORPHOGENIC DWARF 1 (PdCPD1). Overexpression of PdCPD1 or its 3' UTR fragment resulted in a significant increase of BR levels and inhibited secondary growth. In contrast, transgenic poplars repressing PdCPD1 3' UTR expression displayed moderate levels of BR and promoted wood formation. We show that the Populus GLYCINE-RICH RNA-BINDING PROTEIN 1 (PdGRP1) directly binds to a GU-rich element in 3' UTR of PdCPD1, leading to its mRNA decay. We thus provide a post-transcriptional mechanism underlying BRs synthesis during wood formation, which may be useful for genetic manipulation of wood biomass in trees.

MYB42 inhibits hypocotyl cell elongation by coordinating brassinosteroid homeostasis and signalling in Arabidopsis thaliana.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The precise control of brassinosteroid (BR) homeostasis and signalling is a prerequisite for hypocotyl cell elongation in plants. Arabidopsis MYB42 and its paralogue MYB85 were previously identified to be positive regulators of secondary cell wall formation during mature stages. Here, we aim to reveal the role of MYB42 and MYB85 in hypocotyl elongation during the seedling stage and clarify how MYB42 coordinates BR homeostasis and signalling to regulate this process. METHODS: Histochemical analysis of proMYB42-GUS transgenic plants was used for determination of the MYB42 expression pattern. The MYB42, 85 overexpression, double mutant and some crossing lines were generated for phenotypic observation and transcriptome analysis. Transcription activation assays, quantitative PCR (qPCR), chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-qPCR and electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs) were conducted to determine the relationship of MYB42 and BRASSINAZOLE-RESISTANT 1 (BZR1), a master switch activating BR signalling. KEY RESULTS: MYB42 and MYB85 redundantly and negatively regulate hypocotyl cell elongation. They function in hypocotyl elongation by mediating BR signalling. MYB42 transcription was suppressed by BR treatment or in bzr1-1D (a gain-of-function mutant of BZR1), and mutation of both MYB42 and MYB85 enhanced the dwarf phenotype of the BR receptor mutant bri1-5. BZR1 directly repressed MYB42 expression in response to BR. Consistently, hypocotyl length of bzr1-1D was increased by simultaneous mutation of MYB42 and MYB85, but was reduced by overexpression of MYB42. Expression of a number of BR-regulated BZR1 (non-)targets associated with hypocotyl elongation was suppressed by MYB42, 85. Furthermore, MYB42 enlarged its action in BR signalling through feedback repression of BR accumulation and activation of DOGT1/UGT73C5, a BR-inactivating enzyme. CONCLUSIONS: MYB42 inhibits hypocotyl elongation by coordinating BR homeostasis and signalling during primary growth. The present study shows an MYB42, 85-mediated multilevel system that contributes to fine regulation of BR-induced hypocotyl elongation.

Physical layer encryption scheme based on cellular automata and DNA encoding by hyper-chaos in a CO-OFDM system.

This study proposes an encryption scheme combining cellular automata (CA) and DNA encoding to improve security of a coherent optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CO-OFDM) system, wherein key sequences are generated with good randomness and unpredictability by a 4-dimensional hyper-chaotic system. A base scrambling pseudo random binary sequence (PRBS) generated by the CA is introduced, which results in better scrambling effect and randomness in the conventional complex DNA encoding. The randomness, complexity and security of the system is enhanced due to 6 variable keys (key space of ∼10138). An experiment conducted in a 40 GHz 16QAM CO-OFDM system over an 80 km standard single mode fiber (SSMF) shows that the authorized user can successfully decrypt the received signal, while the eavesdroppers cannot derive useful information with bit error rate (BER) at approximately 0.5. An allowable optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR) penalty of 0.5 dB will be introduced to achieve same BER before and after encryption due to the error propagation of cellular automata.

Dual regulation of xylem formation by an auxin-mediated PaC3H17-PaMYB199 module in Populus.

Wood (secondary xylem) formation in tree species is dependent on auxin-mediated vascular cambium activity in stems. However, the complex regulatory networks underlying xylem formation remain elusive. Xylem development in Populus was characterized based on microscopic observations of stem sections in transgenic plants. Transcriptomic, quantitative real-time PCR, chromatin immunoprecipitation PCR, and electrophoretic mobility shift assay analyses were conducted to identify target genes involved in xylem development. Yeast two-hybrid, pull-down, bimolecular fluorescence complementation, and co-immunoprecipitation assays were used to validate protein-protein interactions. PaC3H17 and its target PaMYB199 were found to be predominantly expressed in the vascular cambium and developing secondary xylem in Populus stems and play opposite roles in controlling cambial cell proliferation and secondary cell wall thickening through an overlapping pathway. Further, PaC3H17 interacts with PaMYB199 to form a complex, attenuating PaMYB199-driven suppression of its xylem targets. Exogenous auxin application enhances the dual control of the PaC3H17-PaMYB199 module during cambium division, thereby promoting secondary cell wall deposition. Dual regulation of xylem formation by an auxin-mediated PaC3H17-PaMYB199 module represents a novel regulatory mechanism in Populus, increasing our understanding of the regulatory networks involved in wood formation.

Symmetric spin splitting of elliptically polarized vortex beams reflected at air-gold interface via pseudo-Brewster angle.

A simple expression of the transverse spatial spin splitting of light-carrying intrinsic orbital angular momentum (IOAM) is theoretically derived for reflections at strong absorbing media surfaces. By introducing an asymmetric spin splitting (ASS) factor, the transverse spatial symmetric spin splitting (SSS) and ASS of an arbitrary polarized vortex beam can be distinguished. Here, the transverse spatial SSS of an elliptically polarized vortex beam with a phase difference of 90° is predicted when the incident angle is close to the pseudo-Brewster angle. Remarkably, the larger transverse spatial SSS reaches 1100 nm for the incident circularly polarized LG beam with l=3. It is noteworthy that the transverse spatial SSS can be flexibly manipulated by changing the polarized angle, meaning it is theoretically possible to realize fully polarization-controllable transverse spatial SSS for elliptically polarized incident vortex beams. These results could potentially be applied to precision polarization metrology and edge-enhanced imaging.

Efficient genetic transformation and CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing in Lemna aequinoctialis.

The fast growth, ease of metabolic labelling and potential for feedstock and biofuels production make duckweeds not only an attractive model system for understanding plant biology, but also a potential future crop. However, current duckweed research is constrained by the lack of efficient genetic manipulation tools. Here, we report a case study on genome editing in a duckweed species, Lemna aequinoctialis, using a fast and efficient transformation and CRISPR/Cas9 tool. By optimizing currently available transformation protocols, we reduced the duration time of Agrobacterium-mediated transformation to 5-6 weeks with a success rate of over 94%. Based on the optimized transformation protocol, we generated 15 (14.3% success rate) biallelic LaPDS mutants that showed albino phenotype using a CRISPR/Cas9 system. Investigations on CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutation spectrum among mutated L. aequinoctialis showed that most of mutations were short insertions and deletions. This study presents the first example of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing in duckweeds, which will open new research avenues in using duckweeds for both basic and applied research.

MYB52 Negatively Regulates Pectin Demethylesterification in Seed Coat Mucilage.

Pectin, which is a major component of the plant primary cell walls, is synthesized and methyl-esterified in the Golgi apparatus and then demethylesterified by pectin methylesterases (PMEs) located in the cell wall. The degree of methylesterification affects the functional properties of pectin, and thereby influences plant growth, development and defense. However, little is known about the mechanisms that regulate pectin demethylesterification. Here, we show that in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) seed coat mucilage, the absence of the MYB52 transcription factor is correlated with an increase in PME activity and a decrease in the degree of pectin methylesterification. Decreased methylesterification in the myb52 mutant is also correlated with an increase in the calcium content of the seed mucilage. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis and molecular genetic studies suggest that MYB52 transcriptionally activates PECTIN METHYLESTERASE INHIBITOR6 (PMEI6), PMEI14, and SUBTILISIN-LIKE SER PROTEASE1.7 (SBT1.7) by binding to their promoters. PMEI6 and SBT1.7 have previously been shown to be involved in seed coat mucilage demethylesterification. Our characterization of two PMEI14 mutants suggests that PMEI14 has a role in seed coat mucilage demethylesterification, although its activity may be confined to the seed coat in contrast to PMEI6, which functions in the whole seed. Our demonstration that MYB52 negatively regulates pectin demethylesterification in seed coat mucilage, and the identification of components of the molecular network involved, provides new insight into the regulatory mechanism controlling pectin demethylesterification and increases our understanding of the transcriptional regulation network involved in seed coat mucilage formation.

Micro-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer based on ring-core fiber.

A micro-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI), with a thousands-µm-long ring-core fiber (RCF), is demonstrated, and its performance investigation is also implemented. In this paper, the proposed MZI is manufactured by ends-splicing the short RCF segment with single-mode fiber (SMF-28), respectively. The scheme of the MZI is a typically core-mismatch structure, which has the advantages of miniaturization and simplification. Due to the core mismatch between RCF and SMF, the light from the SMF can be well separated into ring core (RC) and silica center (SC) of the RCF at the first splicing point. After transmitting through the RC and SC, the two separated light beams encounter each other and interfere at the second splicing point. Different from conventional micro-fiber MZIs using SMFs or few-mode fibers, the RCF has a higher numerical aperture, which can generate a larger optical path-length difference with a short length fiber, accumulates a higher extinction ratio and suppresses the crosstalk between the core and cladding modes. Therefore, our proposed MZI is more stable and the best extinction ratios can reach up to 18.2 dB. Meanwhile, owing to the core structure of RCF (where SC is surrounded by high-index ring core), the power propagating through low-index area of RCF is mostly confined into SC (termed the silica-center modes). These characteristics would lead to the lower sensitivity to external disturbances.

Joint equalization scheme of ultra-fast RSOP and large PMD compensation in presence of residual chromatic dispersion.

Polarization demultiplexing is generally carried out by a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) based algorithm in polarization division multiplexing (PDM) coherent systems. However, in some extreme environments, the MIMO algorithm becomes inapplicable due to the ultra-fast rotation of the state of polarization (RSOP) and large polarization mode dispersion (PMD). In addition, the residual chromatic dispersion (RCD) is always present because of the mismatch of the compensated chromatic dispersion and real value induced in the optical fiber channel. According to the literature, the Kalman filter-based polarization demultiplexing algorithms possess very weak RCD tolerance. Faced with this dilemma, in this paper, a new Kalman filter structure is proposed, which can jointly compensate ultra-fast RSOP, large PMD and RCD. This Kalman filter structure enables the equalization of the RSOP in the time domain and compensation for RCD and PMD in the frequency domain. We verified the performance of the proposed Kalman scheme in the 28 Gbaud PDM-QPSK/16 QAM coherent system, with a comparison to constant modulus algorithm/multiple modulus algorithm (CMA/MMA). The simulation results confirm that, compared with CMA/MMA, the proposed Kalman scheme can provide a significant performance enhancement to cope with ultra-fast RSOP (up to 3 Mrad/s) and large PMD (more than 200 ps) with a large tolerance to RCD (over the range of ± 820 ps/nm in PDM-QPSK and ± 500 ps/nm in PDM-16 QAM).

Joint blind equalization of CD and RSOP using a time-frequency domain Kalman filter structure in Stokes vector direct detection system.

We propose a joint blind equalization method for chromatic dispersion (CD) and ultra-fast rotation of state-of-polarization (RSOP) in a Stokes vector direct detection (SV-DD) system based on a new time-frequency domain Kalman filter structure. In an SV-DD system, the impairments induced by CD and RSOP possess a nonlinear form. Therefore, CD and RSOP cannot be treated sequentially, which causes difficulty in jointly equalizing these two impairments using an ordinary algorithm. The Kalman filter was proven to be effective in equalizing polarization effects in a coherent receiver. However, this approach has inherent limitations given that the Kalman filter was originally presented as a method implemented in the time domain whereas CD is eventually induced in the frequency domain. In this report, the proposed time-frequency domain Kalman filter can facilitate CD compensation in the frequency domain and RSOP equalization in the time domain by exploiting a sliding window structure. Both the CD compensation and the RSOP equalization are conducted in Stokes space when the proposed method is utilized, which is specially designed for an SV-DD system. The presented approach was checked using a 28 Gbaud 16-QAM SV-DD system simulation platform. The simulation results confirm that the method is very effective and has strong tolerance to CD (more than 2550 ps/nm, equivalent to a 150 km G. 652 fiber) combined with ultra-fast RSOP (up to 2 Mrad/s) for application in extreme polarization environments, like the transient lightning in a rainy day.

Two-parameter-SOP and three-parameter-RSOP fiber channels: problem and solution for polarization demultiplexing using Stokes space.

In this paper, we highlight that it is inadequate to describe the rotation of the state of polarization (RSOP) in a fiber channel with the 2-parameter description model, which was mostly used in the literature. This inadequate model may result in problems in polarization demultiplexing (PolDemux) because the RSOP in a fiber channel is actually a 3-parameter issue that will influence the state of polarization (SOP) of the optical signal propagating in the fiber and is different from the 2-parameter SOP itself. Considering three examples of the 2-parameter RSOP models typically used in the literature, we provide an in-depth analysis of the reasons why the 2-parameter RSOP model cannot represent the RSOP in the fiber channel and the problems that arise for PolDemux in the coherent optical receiver. We present a 3-parameter solution for the RSOP in the fiber channel. Based on this solution, we propose a DSP tracking and equalization scheme for the fast time-varying RSOP using the extended Kalman filter (EKF). The proposed scheme is proved to be universal and can solve all the PolDemux problems based on the 2- or 3-parameter RSOP model and exhibits good performance in the time-varying RSOP scenarios.

Design tool for circular photonic crystal fibers supporting orbital angular momentum modes.

We propose a design tool for the family of circular photonic crystal fiber (C-PCF) supporting orbital angular momentum modes. The calibrated normalized parameters for the C-PCF family are presented. The information about the cutoff condition of modes, the number of modes supported in fibers, and the effective index difference between adjacent modes can be obtained by using the design tool. Also, the mode properties, such as confinement loss, effective mode area (Aeff), and spin-orbital coupling are analyzed using the design tool. At the end of paper, we also give some fiber design examples by using the design tool.

Hybrid Adaptive Cubature Kalman Filter with Unknown Variance of Measurement Noise.

This paper is concerned with the filtering problem caused by the inaccuracy variance of measurement noise in real nonlinear systems. A novel weighted fusion estimation method of multiple different variance estimators is presented to estimate the variance of the measurement noise. On this basis, a hybrid adaptive cubature Kalman filtering structure is proposed. Furthermore, the information filter of the hybrid adaptive cubature Kalman filter is also studied, and the stability and filtering accuracy of the filter are theoretically discussed. The final simulation examples verify the validity and effectiveness of the hybrid adaptive cubature Kalman filtering methods proposed in this paper.

Erbium-doped amplification in circular photonic crystal fiber supporting orbital angular momentum modes.

We propose a new orbital angular momentum (OAM) erbium-doped fiber amplifier based on a circular photonic crystal fiber, which can support a total of 18 modes (14 OAM modes) over C-band. A correction factor is proposed to modify the overlap factor, with the aim of evaluating the performance of the amplifier more accurately. We found that the confined doping profile can help optimize the differential model gain (DMG). Numerical simulations suggest that the proposed OAM fiber amplifier can provide a gain larger than 20 dB for all 14 OAM modes, with the small DMG less than 0.2 dB and the noise figure lower than 3.5 dB across the C-band.