Helicobacter pylori causes gastric dysbacteriosis in chronic gastritis patients.

Gastric mucosal samples were procured and underwent the sequencing of 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA) via Illumina high-throughput sequencing technology to explore the impact of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection on the composition of gastric flora in chronic gastritis (CG) patients. In the results, the operational taxonomic unit (OTU) analysis revealed an overlap of 5706 OTUs shared between the two groups. The top 5 abundance ranking (TOP5) phyla comprised Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Epsilonbacteraeota, while the TOP5 genus was Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, Helicobacter, Bacteroides, Klebsiella, and Pseudomonas. In the metabolic pathways at the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG)_L3 level, conspicuous variations across seven functions were observed between the H. pylori-positive (HP_Pos) and H. pylori-negative (HP_Neg) groups. Subsequently, functional gene enrichment in KEGG pathways was further validated through animal experimentation. In contrast to the mice in the HP_Neg group, those infected with H. pylori manifested an infiltration of inflammatory cells, an augmentation in gastric acid secretion, and conspicuously elevated scores regarding gastric activity, along with heightened levels of malondialdehyde. In conclusion, CG patients infected with H. pylori displayed a disorder in gastric flora, furnishing a theoretical basis for the prophylaxis of H. pylori infection and its associated pathogenic ramifications.

A gap-free reference genome reveals structural variations associated with flowering time in rapeseed (Brassica napus).

Allopolyploid oilseed rape (Brassica napus) is an important oil crop and vegetable. However, the latest version of its reference genome, with collapsed duplications, gaps, and other issues, prevents comprehensive genomic analysis. Herein, we report a gap-free assembly of the rapeseed cv. Xiang5A genome using a combination of ONT (Oxford Nanopore Technologies) ultra-long reads, PacBio high-fidelity reads, and Hi-C datasets. It includes gap-free assemblies of all 19 chromosomes and telomere-to-telomere assemblies of eight chromosomes. Compared with previously published genomes of B. napus, our gap-free genome, with a contig N50 length of 50.70 Mb, has complete assemblies of 9 of 19 chromosomes without manual intervention, and greatly improves contiguity and completeness, thereby representing the highest quality genome assembly to date. Our results revealed that B. napus Xiang5A underwent nearly complete triplication and allotetraploidy relative to Arabidopsis thaliana. Using the gap-free assembly, we found that 917 flowering-related genes were affected by structural variation, including BnaA03.VERNALIZATION INSENSITIVE 3 and BnaC04.HIGH EXPRESSION OF OSMOTICALLY RESPONSIVE GENES 1. These genes may play crucial roles in regulating flowering time and facilitating the adaptation of Xiang5A in the Yangtze River Basin of China. This reference genome provides a valuable genetic resource for rapeseed functional genomic studies and breeding.

Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins: An Updated Review of Their Natural Sources, Synthesis, and Potentials.

Oligomeric Proanthocyanidins (OPCs), as a class of compounds widely found in plants, are particularly abundant in grapes and blueberries. It is a polymer comprising many different monomers, such as catechins and epicatechins. The monomers are usually linked to each other by two types of links, A-linkages (C-O-C) and B-linkages (C-C), to form the polymers. Numerous studies have shown that compared to high polymeric procyanidins, OPCs exhibit antioxidant properties due to the presence of multiple hydroxyl groups. This review describes the molecular structure and natural source of OPCs, their general synthesis pathway in plants, their antioxidant capacity, and potential applications, especially the anti-inflammatory, anti-aging, cardiovascular disease prevention, and antineoplastic functions. Currently, OPCs have attracted much attention, being non-toxic and natural antioxidants of plant origin that scavenge free radicals from the human body. This review would provide some references for further research on the biological functions of OPCs and their application in various fields.

Glucose 6 phosphatase dehydrogenase (G6PD): a novel diagnosis marker related to gastrointestinal cancers.

BACKGROUND: Glucose 6 phosphatase dehydrogenase (G6PD) is a key regulator of the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP). However, the exact role of G6PD in gastrointestinal cancers remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to explore the correlation of G6PD with clinical features, pathological stages, diagnosis and prognosis of gastrointestinal cancers, as well as uncover possible mechanisms of G6PD on mutations, immunity and signaling pathways. METHODS: G6PD mRNA expression data were downloaded from TCGA and GEO databases. Protein expression was examined by the HPA database. The correlation of G6PD expression with clinical and pathological characteristics was explored. The pROC package in R language was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of G6PD expression in gastrointestinal cancers. We accessed the correlation of disease-free survival (DFS) with G6PD online by Kaplan-Meier plotter. Univariate Cox regression and stepwise multiple Cox regression analysis were performed to determine the association between G6PD and patient's overall survival. In addition, genomic alterations, mutation profiles, immune infiltration, drug sensitivity and enrichment analysis related with G6PD were visualized. RESULTS: After a pan-cancerous genomic analysis, we found that G6PD expression was the highest in African American esophageal carcinoma (ESCA) patients (P<0.05). G6PD was correlated with age, weight, disease stage, lymph node metastasis and pathological grade. Notably, G6PD showed an excellent predictive diagnosis ability for liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) (AUC=0.949, 95% CI=0.925-0.973, P<0.001). G6PD can improve the DFS of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) and pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PAAD) patients (P<0.05). Both Univariate Cox regression and stepwise multiple Cox regression analysis in R language determined that G6PD expression was closely related with LIHC (P<0.001). G6PD was found to have a high mutation rate in colon adenocarcinoma and ESCA and gene amplification in ESCA, Cholangiocarcinoma, PAAD and LIHC. Copy number of G6PD was missing in LIHC. G6PD was also related to mutation of TP53 (P<0.05). Particularly, it was positively correlated with CD276 in all gastrointestinal cancers and negatively with HERV-H LTR-associating 2 in ESCA and stomach adenocarcinoma. The abnormal expression of G6PD was related to the increase of CD4+ Th2 subsets and the decrease of CD4+ (non-regulatory) of T cells. G6PD was sensitive to FK866, Phenformin, AICAR etc., while resistant to RO-3306, CGP-082996, TGX221 etc. G6PD was found to closely interact with TALDO1, GAPDH and TP53. G6PD related biological processes included aging, nutritional response and daunorubicin metabolism, and related pathways included PPP, cytochrome P450 metabolism of exogenous substances and glutathione metabolism. CONCLUSION: G6PD is highly expressed in gastrointestinal cancers. It is a carcinogenic indicator related to prognosis and can be used as a potential diagnostic marker of gastrointestinal cancers, so as to provide new strategy for cancer treatment.

Carbon electrochemical membrane functionalized with flower cluster-like FeOOH catalyst for organic pollutants decontamination.

Decorating active catalysts on the reactive electrochemical membrane (REM) is an effective way to further improve its decontamination performance. In this work, a novel carbon electrochemical membrane (FCM-30) was prepared through coating FeOOH nano catalyst on a low-cost coal-based carbon membrane (CM) through facile and green electrochemical deposition. Structural characterizations demonstrated that the FeOOH catalyst was successfully coated on CM, and it grew into a flower cluster-like morphology with abundant active sites when the deposition time was 30 min. The nano FeOOH flower clusters can obviously boost the hydrophilicity and electrochemical performance of FCM-30, which enhance its permeability and bisphenol A (BPA) removal efficiency during the electrochemical treatment. Effects of applied voltages, flow rates, electrolyte concentrations and water matrixes on BPA removal efficiency were investigated systematically. Under the operation condition of 2.0 V applied voltage and 2.0 mL·min-1 flow rate, FCM-30 can achieve the high removal efficiency of 93.24% and 82.71% for BPA and chemical oxygen demand (COD) (71.01% and 54.89% for CM), respectively, with only a low energy consumption (EC) of 0.41 kWh·kgCOD-1, which can be ascribed to the enhancement on OH yield and direct oxidation ability by the FeOOH catalyst. Moreover, this treatment system also exhibits good reusability and can be adopted on different water background as well as different pollutants.

BnaC01.BIN2, a GSK3-like kinase, modulates plant height and yield potential in Brassica napus.

KEY MESSAGE: Using map-based cloning and transgenic transformation, we revealed that glycogen kinase synthase 3-like kinase, BnaC01.BIN2, modulates plant height and yield in rapeseed. The modification of plant height is one of the most important goals in rapeseed breeding. Although several genes that regulate rapeseed plant height have been identified, the genetics mechanisms underlying rapeseed plant height regulation remain poorly understood, and desirable genetic resources for rapeseed ideotype breeding are scarce. Here, we map-based cloned and functionally verified that the rapeseed semi-dominant gene, BnDF4, greatly affects rapeseed plant height. Specifically, BnDF4 encodes brassinosteroid (BR)-insensitive 2, a glycogen synthase kinase 3 primarily expressed in the lower internodes to modulate rapeseed plant height by blocking basal internode-cell elongation. Transcriptome data showed that several cell expansion-related genes involving auxin and BRs pathways were significantly downregulated in the semi-dwarf mutant. Heterozygosity in the BnDF4 allele results in small stature with no marked differences in other agronomic traits. Using BnDF4 in the heterozygous condition, the hybrid displayed strong yield heterosis through optimum intermediate plant height. Our results provide a desirable genetic resource for breeding semi-dwarf rapeseed phenotypes and support an effective strategy for breeding rapeseed hybrid varieties with strong yield heterosis.

Dialytic Synthesis of Two-Dimensional Cu-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks for Gas Separation: Designable MOF-Polymer Interface.

We demonstrate a dialytic strategy for the synthesis of congeneric two-dimensional metal-organic framework (2D MOF) nanosheets with a dialysis membrane using 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid (BDC), 1,4-naphthalenedicarboxylic acid (NDC), and 9,10-anthracenedicarboxylic acid (ADC) as organic linkers and copper(II) as a metal precursor, respectively. Polyimide (PI) membranes containing these empty 2D MOF nanosheets exhibit distinct molecular sieve effects. Molecular dynamic simulation results reveal that the structures of MOF-polymer interfaces are designable by modifying the MOF interlayer distance and aperture size, which has significant influences on gas permeability and selectivity. As a result, Cu-NDC/PI with the moderate composite interface structure shows superior performance toward H2/CH4 and CO2/CH4 separations with a selectivity of 199 and 63 over Cu-BDC (121 and 53) and Cu-ADC (135 and 54), respectively.

High performance polypyrrole coated carbon-based electrocatalytic membrane for organic contaminants removal from aqueous solution.

Electrocatalytic filtration process adopting the electrocatalytic membrane as both filtration membrane and active electrode showed great prospect on the organic pollutant removal from water. In this work, a high-performance metal-free polypyrrole (PPy) coated carbon-based electrocatalytic membrane (PPy@CCM) was developed through the facile and controllable electro-polymerization deposition method. Structural properties and electrochemical performance of the prepared PPy@CCM were characterized systematically. The influences of preparation parameters and operational parameters on water treatment performance of PPy@CCM were also investigated. Results indicates that the spherical PPy particles uniformly distributed on the surface of PPy@CCM. Coating with PPy particles can significantly improve the hydrophilicity and electrochemical activity of CCM, therefore PPy@CCM has lower hydraulic resistance and higher water treatment performance than CCM. The phenol and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rates obtained by PPy@CCM are up to 99.51% and 89.90%, respectively, under the optimal condition of 2.0 V cell potential, 2.50 g·L-1 Na2SO4, 1.5 ml·min-1 flow rate and 50 mg·L-1 phenol, and only 0.5 kWh·kgCOD-1 energy consumption is consumed. In addition, PPy@CCM also exhibits good treatment performance in different water matrixes. Moreover, PPy@CCM has good stability for several cycle operation and considerable applicability for different types of organic pollutants removal. The oxidation mechanism study reveals that PPy@CCM has both direct and indirect oxidation activity during the electrocatalytic filtration treatment, and the coating of PPy can improve the direct oxidation ability and ·OH yield of CCM.

Alcohol and Health Outcomes: An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses Base on Prospective Cohort Studies.

An umbrella review of meta-analyses was performed to summarize the evidence of associations between alcohol consumption and health outcomes and to assess its credibility. Meta-analyses of prospective cohort studies reporting the associations of alcohol consumption with health outcomes were identified. We recalculated the random-effects summary effect size and 95% confidence interval, heterogeneity, and small-study effect for each meta-analysis and graded the evidence. Fifty-nine publications reporting 224 meta-analyses of prospective cohort studies with 140 unique health outcomes were included, in which there were 49 beneficial associations and 25 harmful associations with nominally statistically significant summary results. But quality of evidence was rated high only for seven beneficial associations (renal cell carcinoma risk, dementia risk, colorectal cancer mortality, and all-cause mortality in patients with hypertension for low alcohol consumption; renal cell carcinoma risk, cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk in patients with hypertension and all-cause mortality in patients with hypertension for moderate consumption) and four harmful associations (cutaneous basal cell carcinoma risk for low alcohol consumption; cutaneous basal cell carcinoma risk and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma risk for moderate alcohol consumption; hemorrhagic stroke risk for high alcohol consumption). In this umbrella review, only 11 health outcomes (5 in low alcohol consumption, 5 in moderate alcohol consumption and 1 in high alcohol consumption) with statistically significant showed high quality of epidemiologic evidence. More robust and larger prospective studies are needed to verify our results.

Fine mapping of qDB.A03, a QTL for rapeseed branching, and identification of the candidate gene.

Increasing the yield of rapeseed is required to meet the rapidly expanding demand for both edible vegetable oil and biofuel. Branching, an important determinant of yield potential in rapeseed, is controlled by a series of quantitative trait loci (QTLs). To explore the genetic mechanism regulating the natural variation of branching, a BC1F1 population derived from a cross between dense branching 2 (dense branching line) and L72 (normal branching line) was used to map QTL conferring branching in rapeseed. A major QTL, qDB.A03, for branching-related traits was identified by the BeadChip Array assisted bulked segregation analysis method, which was subsequently validated by the classical QTL mapping approach, and fine mapped to the 256 kb region. This interval contains 56 annotated or predicted genes, 8 of which are candidates for controlling the branching trait. Comparative and expression analysis revealed four promising candidate genes for qDB.A03. Fine mapping and identification of the candidate genes for qDB.A03 represents the first step toward unraveling the genetical and molecular mechanisms controlling branching in rapeseed.

Preparation and application of high-performance and acid-tolerant TiO2/carbon electrocatalytic membrane for organic wastewater treatment.

Acidic organic wastewater with toxic and carcinogenic properties has long been a tough problem for industrial treatment. To break down the barrier of poor acidic stability as well as the high cost of materials and reactors, a novel strategy of utilizing a high-performance and acid-tolerant TiO2/carbon electrocatalytic membrane (TiO2/CEM) for acidic organic wastewater treatment was proposed. Study results showed that high concentrations of organic pollutants were separated and degraded by the synergistic effects of membrane separation and electrocatalytic oxidation simultaneously on the TiO2/CEM. The great treatment performance with membrane removal efficiency of >97.4% was obtained by treating acidic rhodamine B (RhB) dye wastewater under optimized applied voltage. Treatment experiments under various pH and electrochemical tests demonstrated the outstanding acid-tolerant property and long service life of TiO2/CEM. Furthermore, the feasibility of TiO2/CEM for industrial application and various acidic organic wastewater treatment was proved by treating typical organic pollutants (phenol, tetracycline and oil) under high acidic circumstances.

Analysis of Influencing Factors on the Gas Separation Performance of Carbon Molecular Sieve Membrane Using Machine Learning Technique.

Gas separation performance of the carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membrane is influenced by multiple factors including the microstructural characteristics of carbon and gas properties. In this work, the support vector regression (SVR) method as a machine learning technique was applied to the correlation between the gas separation performance, the multiple membrane structure, and gas characteristic factors of the self-manufactured CMS membrane. A simple quantitative index based on the Robeson's upper bound line, which indicated the gas permeability and selectivity simultaneously, was proposed to measure the gas separation performance of CMS membrane. Based on the calculation results, the inferred key factors affecting the gas permeability of CMS membrane were the fractional free volume (FFV) of the precursor, the average interlayer spacing of graphite-like carbon sheet, and the final carbonization temperature. Moreover, the most influential factors for the gas separation performance were supposed to be the two structural factors of precursor influencing the porosity of CMS membrane, the carbon residue and the FFV, and the ratio of the gas kinetic diameters. The results would be helpful to the structural optimization and the separation performance improvement of CMS membrane.

Efficient marker-assisted breeding for clubroot resistance in elite Pol-CMS rapeseed varieties by updating the PbBa8.1 locus.

Clubroot disease poses a severe threat to rapeseed (Brassica napus) production worldwide and has recently been spreading across China at an unprecedented pace. Breeding and cultivation of resistant varieties constitute a promising and environment-friendly approach to mitigating this threat. In this study, the clubroot resistance locus PbBa8.1 was successfully transferred into SC4, a shared paternal line of three elite varieties in five generations by marker-assisted backcross breeding. Kompetitive allele specific PCR (KASP) markers of clubroot resistance gene PbBa8.1 and its linked high erucic acid gene (FAE1) were designed and applied for foreground selection, and 1,000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were selected and used for the background selection. This breeding strategy produced recombinants with the highest recovery ratio of the recurrent parent genome (> 95%) at BC2F2 while breaking the linkage with FAE1 during the selection. An updated version of the paternal line (SC4R) was generated at BC2F3, showing significantly improved clubroot resistance at the seedling stage via artificial inoculation, and was comparable to that of the donor parent. Field trials of the three elite varieties and their updated versions in five environments indicated similar agronomic appearance and final yield. The introduced breeding strategy precisely pyramids the PbBa8.1 and FAE1 loci with the assistance of technical markers in a shorter period and could be applied to other desirable traits for directional improvement in the future. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11032-022-01305-9.

Enhanced gas separation and mechanical properties of fluorene-based thermal rearrangement copolymers.

A series of thermal rearrangement (TR) copolymer membranes were prepared by the copolymerization of 9,9-bis(3-amino-4-hydroxyphenoxyphenyl) fluorene (BAHPPF), 9,9-bis(3-amino-4-hydroxyphenyl)fluorene (BAHPF) and 2,2'-bis(3,4'-dicarboxyphenyl)hexafluoropropane dianhydride (6FDA), followed by thermal imidization and further thermal rearrangement. The effects of molar ratio of diamines on the structure and properties of copolymer membranes were studied. The copolymer precursors CP-4:6 and CP-5:5 exhibited excellent mechanical properties. The mechanical properties of precursor membranes rapidly decreased with the increase of thermal treatment temperatures, but the tensile strength of TRCP-4:6 still reached 21.2 MPa. In general, the gas permeabilities of TR copolymers increased with the increase of BAHPF content. Comparatively, TRCP-3:7 and TRCP-4:6 showed higher gas permeabilities, coupled with high O2/N2 and CO2/CH4 selectivities. Especially, the H2, CO2, O2, N2 and CH4 permeabilities of TRCP-4:6 reached 244.4, 269.0, 46.8, 5.20 and 4.60 Barrers respectively, and the selectivities for CO2/CH4 and O2/N2 were 58.48 and 9.00, which exceeded the 2008 upper bound. Therefore, these TR copolymer membranes are expected to be one of the candidate materials for gas separation applications.

Phthalide-containing poly(ether-imide)s based thermal rearrangement membranes for gas separation application.

The diamine monomer 3,3-bis[4-(3-hydroxy-4-amino-phenoxy)phenyl]phthalide (BHAPPP) was firstly synthesized by the nucleophilic substitution of 5-fluoro-2-nitrophenol and phenolphthalein, followed by a reduction reaction. A series of phthalide-containing poly(ether imide)s (PEI) were then prepared through the polycondensation of BHAPPP with six kinds of dianhydrides, including 4,4'-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)diphthalic anhydride (6FDA), 3,3',4,4'-benzophenone tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA), 3,3',4,4'-biphenyl tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BPDA), 4,4'-oxydiphthalic dianhydride (ODPA), 1,2,3,4-cyclobutane tetracarboxylic dianhydride (CBDA) and pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA), as well as thermal imidization. After further thermal treatment, the corresponding thermal rearrangement (TR) membranes were obtained. Due to the existence of the phthalide lactone ring, the PEIs probably underwent TR and crosslinking simultaneously. With the increase of thermal treatment temperature, the mechanical properties of the TR membranes dramatically decreased, but the gas separation properties obviously increased. When the PEIs were treated at 450 °C for 1 h, the CO2, H2, O2, N2 and CH4 permeability of TR(BHAPPP-6FDA) reached 258.5, 190.5, 38.35, 4.25 and 2.15 Barrers, respectively. Meanwhile, the CO2/CH4 selectivity of 120.2 sharply exceeded the 2008 Robeson limit, and O2/N2 selectivity was 9.02, close to the 2015 upper limit. Therefore, the TR membranes derived from phthalide-containing PEIs exhibit superior gas separation performance, andare expected to be applied in the field of gas separation.

Discussion on Water Condensation in Membrane Pores during CO2 Absorption at High Temperature.

Water condensation is a possible cause of membrane wetting in the operation of membrane contactors, especially under high-temperature conditions. In this study, water condensation in pores of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) hollow fiber membranes was investigated during high-pressure CO2 absorption around 70 °C. It was found that the liquid accumulation rate in the treated gas knock-out drum was constant during continuous operation for 24 h when all experimental conditions were fixed, indicating a stable degree of membrane wetting. However, as the operating parameters were changed, the equilibrium vapor pressure of water within membrane pores could change, which may result in a condensation-conducive environment. Water condensation in membrane pores was detected and proven indirectly through the increase in liquid accumulation rate in the treated gas knock-out drum. The Hagen-Poiseuille equation was used to correlate the liquid accumulation rate with the degree of membrane wetting. The degree of membrane wetting increased significantly from 1.8 × 10-15 m3 to 3.9 × 10-15 m3 when the feed gas flow rate was reduced from 1.45 kg/h to 0.40 kg/h in this study due to water condensation in membrane pores. The results of this study provide insights into potential operational limitations of membrane contactor for CO2 absorption under high-temperature conditions.

LncRNA LL22NC03-N14H11.1 promoted hepatocellular carcinoma progression through activating MAPK pathway to induce mitochondrial fission.

Involvement of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in hepatocarcinogenesis has been largely documented. Mitochondrial dynamics is identified to impact survival and metastasis in tumors including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. This study planned to explore the regulation of lncRNA LL22NC03-N14H11.1 on HCC progression and mitochondrial fission. Dysregulated lncRNAs in HCC are identified through circlncRNAnet and GEPIA bioinformatics tools. Biological function of LL22NC03-N14H11.1 in HCC was detected by CCK-8 assay, flow cytometry analysis, transwell invasion, and wound healing assays. Molecular interactions were determined by RNA immunoprecipitation, RNA pull-down, and co-immunoprecipitation assays. Results showed that LL22NC03-N14H11.1 was upregulated in HCC tissues and cells. Functionally, LL22NC03-N14H11.1 contributed to cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in HCC. Moreover, LL22NC03-N14H11.1 facilitated mitochondrial fission in HCC cells. Mechanistically, LL22NC03-N14H11.1 recruited Myb proto-oncogene (c-Myb) to repress the transcription of leucine zipper-like transcription regulator 1 (LZTR1), so as to inhibit LZTR1-mediated ubiquitination of H-RAS (G12V), leading to the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling and induction of p-DRP1 (Serine 616). In conclusion, this study firstly revealed that lncRNA LL22NC03-N14H11.1 promoted HCC progression through activating H-RAS/MAPK pathway to induce mitochondrial fission, indicating LL22NC03-N14H11.1 as a novel potential biomarker for HCC treatment.

Genetic characterization of a new radish introgression line carrying the restorer gene for Ogura CMS in Brassica napus.

Creating a homologous restorer line for Ogura cytoplasmic male sterility (Ogu-CMS) in Brassica napus is meaningful for the wider application of Ogu-CMS system in rapeseed production. Previously, an independent development of a new Ogu-CMS restorer line (CLR650) was reported locally from crossing between Raphanobrassica (AACCRR, 2n = 56) and B. napus and a new version of Ogu CMS lines CLR6430 derived from CLR650 was characterized in this study. The results showed that the fertility restoration gene in CLR6430 presented a distorted segregation in different segregating populations. However, the majority of somatic cells from roots had a regular chromosome number (2n = 38) and no radish signal covered a whole chromosome was detected using GISH. Thirty-two specific markers derived from the introgressed radish fragments were developed based on the re-sequencing results. Unique radish insertions and differences between CLR6430 and R2000 were also identified through both radish-derived markers and PCR product sequences. Further investigations on the genetic behaviors, interactions between the fertility restoration and other traits and specific molecular markers to the introgression in CLR6430 were also conducted in this study. These results should provide the evidence of nucleotide differences between CLR6430 and R2000, and the specific markers will be helpful for breeding new Ogura restore lines in future.

Intermediate-Controlled Interfacial Engineering for Stable and Highly Efficient Carbon-Based PSCs.

A major bottleneck hindering the performance and commercial application of cost-effective carbon-based perovskite solar cells (C-PSCs) is the contact issue at the interface of the perovskite layer and the carbon counter electrode. Herein, a new approach of intermediate-controlled interfacial engineering (IIE) utilizing an ultra-low-cost acetylene black material is developed for the first time that can improve the interfacial contact of C-PSCs. We achieved both high efficiency (16.41%) without hole-transport materials and good stability as a result of the optimal heterogeneous interfacial contact. Devices without any encapsulation consistently exhibit excellent environmental stability, retaining 93% of their original efficiency by storing in an ambient atmosphere (30 °C, 30% RH) for 2000 h and achieving 81% of their original efficiency by storing in a terrible air environment (85 °C, 65% RH) for 312 h. In addition, to acquire a deep understanding of carrier transport, a comparison of heterogeneous interfaces fabricated using different methods has been undertaken. In C-PSCs fabricated by the IIE method, the lower radioactive recombination and faster carrier transfer result in a shorter carrier lifetime. We present a promising future for the industrialization of C-PSCs by reducing the costs and improving the performance.

An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle-Based Gas Sampling System for Analyzing CO2 and Atmospheric Particulate Matter in Laboratory.

We developed and tested an unmanned aerial vehicle-based gas sampling system (UGSS) for collecting gases and atmospheric particulate matter (PM). The system applies an alternative way of collecting both vertical and horizontal transects of trace gases in order to analyze them in the laboratory. To identify the best position of the UGSS intake port, aerodynamic flow simulations and experimental verifications of propeller airflow were conducted with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in hover mode. The UGSS will automatically replace the original gas in the system with gas from a target location to avoid the original gas being stored in the air bags. Experimental results show that the UGSS needs 5 s to replace the system's own original gas using its pump. CO2 and PM2.5/10 above the corn field are used as the test species to validate the accuracy of the CO2 gas and PM concentrations collected by UGSS. Deming regression analyses showed good agreement between the measurements from the UGSS and the ground sampling station (y = 1.027x - 11.239, Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.98 for CO2; y = 0.992x + 0.704, Pearson's correlation coefficient of 0.99 for PM).The UGSS provides a measuring method that actively collects gases and PM for manual analyses in the laboratory.