A Compact Aperture-Sharing Sub-6 GHz/Millimeter-Wave Dual-Band Antenna.

In this article, a microwave (MW)/millimeter wave (MMW) aperture-sharing antenna is proposed. The antenna is constructed using two orthogonal columns of grounded vias from a 3.5 GHz slot-loaded half-mode substrate-integrated waveguide (HMSIW) antenna. These vias are reused to create two sets of 1 × 4 MMW substrate-integrated dielectric resonator antenna (SIDRA) arrays. With this proposed partial structure reuse strategy, the MW antenna and MMW arrays can be integrated in a shared-aperture manner, improving space utilization and enabling dual-polarized beam steering capability in the MMW band, which is highly desirable for multiple-input multipleoutput (MIMO) applications. The integrated antenna prototype was manufactured and measured for verification. The 3.5 GHz antenna has a relative bandwidth of 3.4% (3.44-3.56 GHz) with a peak antenna gain of 5.34 dBi, and the 28 GHz antenna arrays cover the frequency range of 26.5-29.8 GHz (11.8%) and attain a measured peak antenna gain of 11.0 dBi. Specifically, the 28 GHz antenna arrays can realize dual-polarization and ±45° beam steering capability. The dual-band antenna has a very compact structure, and it is applicable for 5G mobile communication terminals.

Down-regulation of the cotton endo-1,4-ß-glucanase gene KOR1 disrupts endosperm cellularization, delays embryo development, and reduces early seedling vigour.

Towards the aim of examining the potential function of KORRIGAN (KOR), a highly conserved membrane-bound endoglucanase, in reproductive development, here transgenic evidence is provided that a cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) endoglucanase, GhKOR1, plays significant roles in endosperm and embryo development. RNA interference (RNAi)- and co-suppression-mediated down-regulation of GhKOR1 resulted in smaller filial tissue and reduced seed weight, which were characterized by disrupted endosperm cellularization and delayed embryo development, leading to a delayed germination and a weak growth of seedlings early in development. The transgenic seeds exhibited fewer and smaller endosperm cells with irregular and brittle cell walls, and their embryos developed only to the globular stage at 10 days post-anthesis (DPA) when the wild-type endosperm has become highly cellularized and the embryo has progressed to the heart stage. The transgenic seed also displayed a significant reduction of callose in the seed coat transfer cells and reduced cellulose content both in the seed coat and in mature fibres. These findings demonstrate that GhKOR1 is required for the developmental of both seed filial and maternal tissues and the establishment of seedling vigour.

[Establishment of target genomic DNA capturing system for next generation sequencing].

The motivation of this research is to establish a system of target genomic DNA capture and enrichment, which could be used in deep sequencing of target regions with next-generation sequencing. To design the 120 bp capture probes (baits) and prepare the SureSelect reagents, 2,414,977 bp human genomic sequence of 11,824 exons in 1250 genes were submitted to the Agilent eArray platform and manufactured by Agilent. Two human genomic DNA samples were used and conducted the successive experiments for sequencing library construction: shearing fragmentation by sonication, blunt-ending and phosphorylation, adaptor ligation, 150-200 bp fragments size selection, followed by hybridization with the baits, hybrid selection with magnetic beads, and PCR amplification. Prior to SOLiD sequencing reaction, the libraries were amplified with emulsion PCR and enriched with the P2 enrichment beads. The library samples were loaded to sequencing Chip for Work Flow Analysis (WFA) or sequencing running with default parameters. The results displayed that 46 509 baits were designed and synthesized for 11,147 gene regions, and SureSelect capture probe regent was prepared. Real-time PCR showed the target enrichment efficiency up to 2(9) times with the SureSelect system. WFA revealed that the libraries were suitable for SOLiD Sequencing. The sequencing data revealed that 70% of the unique mapped sequence tags matched the target regions, and the average coverage of the target regions were above 200-fold. All these demonstrated the feasibility of the established system of target genome sequence capture for next generation DNA sequencing.