Insights into the formation and growth of high entropy PdPtSnPbNi nanowires to obtain catalysts with high alcohol electrocatalytic oxidation activity.

High-entropy alloys have raised great interest in recent years because of their potential applications for multi-electron reactions owing to their diverse active sites and multielement tunability. However, the difficulty of synthesis is an obstacle to their development due to phase separation often exists. In addition, it's a challenge to precisely control morphology in harsh conditions, thus leading to nanoparticles in many cases. We report a facile method to obtain PdPtPbSnNi HEA NWs by solvothermal synthesis method that no existing phase separation. PdPb nucleation plays a role in the formation of the high-entropy structure that serves as a PdPb nucleus for Sn, Ni, and Pt reduction subsequently, thus forming a single phase and an orderly-arranged nanowire structure. Significantly, the optimized PdPtPbSnNi NWs exhibit excellent catalytic activity and stability for both EOR and MOR which is 4.36 A mgPd+Pt-1 and 4.34 A mgPd+Pt-1, respectively. This study highlights a novel strategy for morphology tuning, providing a prospect for designing superior high-entropy nano-catalysts for multi-step reactions.

Genome-wide identification of GRF transcription factors and their expression profile in stem meristem of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.).

To understand the genome-wide information of the GRF family genes in broomcorn millet and their expression profile in the vegetative meristems, bioinformatic methods and transcriptome sequencing were used to analyze the characteristics, physical and chemical properties, phylogenetic relationship, chromosome distribution, gene structure, cis-acting elements and expression profile in stem meristem for the GRF family members. The results showed that the GRF gene family of millet contains 21 members, and the PmGRF gene is unevenly distributed on 12 chromosomes. The lengths of PmGRF proteins vary from 224 to 618 amino acids, and the isoelectric points are between 4.93-9.69. Each member of the family has 1-4 introns and 2-5 exons. The protein PmGRF13 is localized in both the nucleus and chloroplast, and the rest PmGRF proteins are located in the nucleus. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the 21 GRF genes were divided into 4 subfamilies (A,B,C and D) in broomcorn millet. The analysis of cis-acting elements showed that there were many cis-acting elements involved in light response, hormone response, drought induction, low temperature response and other environmental stress responses in the 2000 bp sequence upstream of the GRF genes. Transcriptome sequencing and qRT-PCR analyses showed that the expression levels of PmGRF3 and PmGRF12 in the dwarf variety Zhang778 were significantly higher than those of the tall variety Longmi12 in the internode and node meristems at the jointing stage, while the expression patterns of PmGRF4, PmGRF16 and PmGRF21 were reverse. In addition, the expression levels of PmGRF2 and PmGRF5 in the internode of Zhang778 were significantly higher than Longmi12. The other GRF genes were not or insignificantly expressed. These results indicated that seven genes, PmGRF2, PmGRF3, PmGRF4, PmGRF5, PmGRF12, PmGRF16 and PmGRF21, were related to the formation of plant height in broomcorn millet.

Constructing Chainmail-Structured CoP/C Nanospheres as Highly Active Anodic Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

Constructing highly active and noble metal-free electrocatalysts is significant for the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, uniform carbon-coated CoP nanospheres (CoP/C) are developed by a direct impregnation coupling phosphorization approach. Importantly, CoP/C only takes a small overpotential of 230 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm-2 and displays a Tafel slope of 56.87 mV dec-1. Furthermore, the intrinsic activity of CoP/C is 21.44 times better than that of commercial RuO2 under an overpotential of 260 mV. In situ Raman spectroscopy studies revealed that a large number of generated Co-O and Co-OH species could facilitate the *OH adsorption, effectively accelerating the reaction kinetics. Meanwhile, the carbon shell with a large number of mesoporous pores acts as the chainmail of CoP, which could improve the active surface area of the catalyst and prevent the Co sites from oxidative dissolution. This work provides a facile and effective reference for the development of highly active and stable OER catalysts.

Boosting Convolutional Neural Networks With Middle Spectrum Grouped Convolution.

This article proposes a novel module called middle spectrum grouped convolution (MSGC) for efficient deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) with the mechanism of grouped convolution. It explores the broad "middle spectrum" area between channel pruning and conventional grouped convolution. Compared with channel pruning, MSGC can retain most of the information from the input feature maps due to the group mechanism; compared with grouped convolution, MSGC benefits from the learnability, the core of channel pruning, for constructing its group topology, leading to better channel division. The middle spectrum area is unfolded along four dimensions: groupwise, layerwise, samplewise, and attentionwise, making it possible to reveal more powerful and interpretable structures. As a result, the proposed module acts as a booster that can reduce the computational cost of the host backbones for general image recognition with even improved predictive accuracy. For example, in the experiments on the ImageNet dataset for image classification, MSGC can reduce the multiply-accumulates (MACs) of ResNet-18 and ResNet-50 by half but still increase the Top-1 accuracy by more than 1% . With a 35% reduction of MACs, MSGC can also increase the Top-1 accuracy of the MobileNetV2 backbone. Results on the MS COCO dataset for object detection show similar observations. Our code and trained models are available at https://github.com/hellozhuo/msgc.

Comparative transcriptome analysis and genetic dissection of vegetative branching traits in foxtail millet (Setaria italica).

KEY MESSAGE: Two major genetic loci, qTN5.1 and qAB9.1, were identified and finely mapped to the 255 Kb region with one potential candidate gene for tiller number and the 521 Kb region with eight candidate genes for axillary branch number, respectively. Vegetative branching including tillering and axillary branching are vital traits affecting both the plant architecture and the biomass in cereal crops. However, the mechanism underlying the formation of vegetative branching in foxtail millet is largely unknown. Here, a foxtail millet cultivar and its bushy wild relative Setaria viridis accession were used to construct segregating populations to identify candidate genes regulating tiller number and axillary branch number. Transcriptome analysis using vegetative branching bud samples of parental accessions was performed, and key differentially expressed genes and pathways regulating vegetative branching were pointed out. Bulk segregant analysis on their F2:3 segregating population was carried out, and a major QTL for tiller number (qTN5.1) and two major QTLs for axillary branch number (qAB2.1 and qAB9.1) were detected. Fine-mapping strategy was further performed on F2:4 segregate population, and Seita.5G356600 encoding ß-glucosidase 11 was identified as the promising candidate gene for qTN5.1, and eight genes, especially Seita.9G125300 and Seita.9G125400 annotated as B-S glucosidase 44, were finally identified as candidate genes for regulating axillary branching. Findings in this study will help to elucidate the genetic basis of the vegetative branching formation of foxtail millet and lay a foundation for breeding foxtail millet varieties with ideal vegetative branching numbers.

Tracking With Saliency Region Transformer.

Transformers show a great impact on visual tracking thanks to their powerful representation learning capabilities. As the capacity of the model grows, the speed of the tracker tends to decrease gradually. Our work focuses on dealing with massively redundant information in tracking sequences with the Saliency Region Tracker (SRTrack). SRTrack is a heuristic two-stage tracker consisting of a lightweight tracking stage and a saliency stage. The former can handle simple tracking sequences while the latter is designed to perform delicate tracking on challenging frames with more discriminative features. However, the two-stage design leads to feature extrapolation, creating inconsistencies between training and inference features. In order to mitigate this problem, we develop an attention scaling factor that guarantees model robustness while yielding a slight performance gain. Our SRTrack achieves a state-of-the-art 0.699 AUC running at 61 FPS on LaSOT. Several experiments on large benchmarks demonstrate the high efficiency and accuracy of SRTrack.

Chinese medicine Gushukang capsule for treating primary osteoporosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of Gushukang (GSK) capsules in the treatment of primary osteoporosis. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials related to the treatment of primary osteoporosis were collected through online retrieval of the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang database, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (Sino-Med), VIP, US National Library of Medicine (PubMed), Web of Science and Cochrane library. The literature was searched from January 1, 2000, to March 17, 2022. The risk bias and quality of the trials included in the meta-analysis were evaluated with the Cochrane Collaboration's risk assessment tool. The effect size was expressed as risk ratios (RRs) or mean differences (MDs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). RESULTS: A total of 24 randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) were incorporated into this systematic review. The 2363 patients were all primary osteoporosis patients, of whom 1197 were in the observation group and 1166 were in the control group. GSK capsule group was superior to conventional medication group in improving beta type I collagen carboxy-terminal peptide (ß-CTX) (MD - 0.28, 95% CI [- 0.31, - 0.25]), while in improving prepeptide of type I procollagen (PINP), conventional medications group was superior to GSK capsule group (MD - 1.37, 95% CI [- 1.92, - 0.82]), and there were no significant differences between the two groups in overall efficacy (OE) (OR 1.62, 95% CI [0.89, 2.98]), increase of bone mineral density (BMD) (lumbar spine: MD - 0.02, 95% CI [- 0.08, 0.04]; femoral neck: MD - 0.01, 95% CI [- 0.07, 0.05]; hip: MD 0.01, 95% CI [- 0.02, 0.02]), enhancement of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (MD - 1.37, 95% CI [- 13.29, 10.55]), serum calcium (S-Ca) (MD 0.02, 95% CI [- 0.13, 0.17]), bone glutamyl protein (BGP) (MD 3.75, 95% CI [- 12.26, 19.76]), safety (OR 0.37, 95% CI [0.07, 2.02]) and pain relief (MD 0.32, 95% CI [- 0.59, 1.22]). GSK capsule combined with conventional medications group was superior to conventional medications group in improvement of OE (OR 3.19, 95% CI [2.20, 4.63]), BMD (lumbar spine (MD 0.06, 95% CI [0.02, 0.10]), femoral neck (MD 0.08, 95% CI [0.03, 0.13]), hip (MD 0.14, 95% CI [0.08, 0.21]) and other parts (MD 0.04, 95% CI [0.03, 0.05]), ALP (MD - 5.56, 95% CI [- 10.08, - 1.04]), ß-CTX (MD - 0.15, 95% CI [- 0.18, - 0.12]) and pain relief (MD - 1.25, 95% CI [- 1.83, - 0.68]), but there was no difference in S-Ca (MD 0.02, 95% CI [- 0.13, 0.17]), BGP (MD 1.30, 95% CI [- 0.29, 2.89]), PINP (MD 1.30, 95% CI [- 0.29, 2.89]), serum phosphorus (S-P) (MD 0.01, 95% CI [- 0.09, 0.12]) and safety (OR 0.71, 95% CI [0.38, 1.35]). CONCLUSION: GSK capsules can effectively treat primary osteoporosis, and when combined with conventional medications, the drug significantly increased bone mineral density, relieved pain and improved bone metabolism-related indicators in primary osteoporosis patients with better efficacy. However, due to the inclusion of Chinese literature and possible publication bias, the reliability of conclusions still requires more high-quality RCTs to enhance.

Neural oscillations during acupuncture imagery partially parallel that of real needling.

Introduction: Tasks involving mental practice, relying on the cognitive rehearsal of physical motors or other activities, have been reported to have similar patterns of brain activity to overt execution. In this study, we introduced a novel imagination task called, acupuncture imagery and aimed to investigate the neural oscillations during acupuncture imagery. Methods: Healthy volunteers were guided to watch a video of real needling in the left and right KI3 (Taixi point). The subjects were then asked to perform tasks to keep their thoughts in three 1-min states alternately: resting state, needling imagery left KI3, and needling imagery right KI3. Another group experienced real needling in the right KI3. A 31-channel-electroencephalography was synchronously recorded for each subject. Microstate analyses were performed to depict the brain dynamics during these tasks. Results: Compared to the resting state, both acupuncture needling imagination and real needling in KI3 could introduce significant changes in neural dynamic oscillations. Moreover, the parameters involving microstate A of needling imagery in the right KI3 showed similar changes as real needling in the right KI3. Discussion: These results confirm that needling imagination and real needling have similar brain activation patterns. Needling imagery may change brain network activity and play a role in neural regulation. Further studies are needed to explore the effects of acupuncture imagery and the potential application of acupuncture imagery in disease recovery.

Effects of rapid stretching on explosive power of the lower extremity in long jump athletes / Efeitos do alongamento rápido no poder explosivo da extremidade inferior dos atletas em salto em distância / Efectos de los estiramientos rápidos en la potencia explosiva de las extremidades inferiores de los atletas en salto de longitud

ABSTRACT Introduction: The long jump is characterized by a high degree of combination of speed and strength. It belongs to the group of fast power items dominated by physical conditioning. To achieve good results in long jump, it is necessary to have good physical conditioning. Objective: In order to explore the effect of compound fast stretch training on the explosive power of lower limbs of athletes in long jump. Methods: Athletes from a certain city were selected as the research objects of the experiment, with a total of 100 people, and were divided into groups by random drawing, there were 50 people in the control group and 50 people in the experimental group, who received rapid stretching compound training. Results: After collecting the independent samples, statistical analysis was performed with T-test, the results showed confidence of P=0.09, higher than 0.05, indicating that there is no significant difference in the special performance of long jump between the two groups of students, the mean score of students in the experimental group was 0.13 meters higher than the control group. Conclusions: Rapid training composed of relaxation and contraction can effectively improve the special quality in long jump students. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment outcomes.

RESUMO Introdução: O salto em distância é caracterizado por um alto grau de combinação de velocidade e força. Pertence ao grupo de itens de energia rápida dominados pelo condicionamento físico. Para alcançar bons resultados no salto à distância, é necessário ter bom condicionamento físico. Objetivo: A fim de explorar o efeito do treinamento composto de alongamento rápido sobre o poder explosivo dos membros inferiores dos atletas em salto à distância. Métodos: Atletas de uma determinada cidade foram selecionados como objetos de pesquisa do experimento, com um total de 100 pessoas, e foram divididos em grupos por sorteio aleatório, havia 50 pessoas no grupo controle e 50 pessoas no grupo experimental, que receberam treinamento composto de alongamento rápido. Resultados: Após a coleta das amostras independentes, efetuou-se análise estatística com Teste-T, os resultados mostraram confiança de P=0,09, superior a 0,05, indicando que não há diferença significativa no desempenho especial do salto em distância entre os dois grupos de alunos, a pontuação média dos alunos no grupo experimental foi 0,13 metros maiores que a do grupo controle. Conclusões: O rápido treinamento composto de relaxamento e contração pode melhorar efetivamente a qualidade especial nos alunos de salto em distância. Nível de evidência II; Estudos terapêuticos - investigação dos resultados do tratamento.

RESUMEN Introducción: El salto de longitud se caracteriza por un alto grado de combinación de velocidad y fuerza. Pertenece al grupo de ítems de potencia rápida dominados por el acondicionamiento físico. Para conseguir buenos resultados en salto de longitud, es necesario tener una buena condición física. Objetivo: Explorar el efecto del entrenamiento de estiramiento rápido compuesto sobre la potencia explosiva de los miembros inferiores de los atletas en salto de longitud. Métodos: Se seleccionaron atletas de una determinada ciudad como objetos de investigación del experimento, con un total de 100 personas, y se dividieron en grupos por sorteo, había 50 personas en el grupo de control y 50 personas en el grupo experimental, que recibieron un entrenamiento de estiramiento rápido compuesto. Resultados: Después de recoger las muestras independientes, se realizó el análisis estadístico con la prueba T, los resultados mostraron una confianza de P=0,09, superior a 0,05, lo que indica que no hay diferencias significativas en el rendimiento especial de salto de longitud entre los dos grupos de alumnos, la puntuación media de los alumnos del grupo experimental fue 0,13 metros superior a la del grupo de control. Conclusiones: El entrenamiento rápido compuesto de relajación y contracción puede mejorar eficazmente la calidad especial en los alumnos de salto de longitud. Nivel de evidencia II; Estudios terapéuticos - investigación de los resultados del tratamiento.

Identification and fine-mapping of a major QTL (PH1.1) conferring plant height in broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum).

The plant height of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) is a significant agronomic trait that is closely related to its plant architecture, lodging resistance, and final yield. However, the genes underlying the regulation of plant height in broomcorn millet are rarely reported. Here, an F2 population derived from a cross between a normal variety, "Longmi12," and a dwarf mutant, "Zhang778," was constructed. Genetic analysis for the F2 and F2:3 populations revealed that the plant height was controlled by more than one locus. A major quantitative trait locus (QTL), PH1.1, was preliminarily identified in chromosome 1 using bulked segregant analysis sequencing (BSA-seq). PH1.1 was fine-mapped to a 109-kb genomic region with 15 genes using a high-density map. Among them, longmi011482 and longmi011489, containing nonsynonymous variations in their coding regions, and longmi011496, covering multiple insertion/deletion sequences in the promoter regions, may be possible candidate genes for PH1.1. Three diagnostic markers closely linked to PH1.1 were developed to validate the PH1.1 region in broomcorn millet germplasm. These findings laid the foundation for further understanding of the molecular mechanism of plant height regulation in broomcorn millet and are also beneficial to the breeding program for developing new varieties with optimal height.

[Effects of Mulching and Slow-release Fertilizer Application Reduction on Soil Microbial Community Structure in Rapeseed Field Under Two Different Rainfall Conditions].

In order to investigate the effects of furrow and ridge rainwater harvesting, straw mulching, and reduced and slow-release fertilizer on soil microbial community structure of rapeseed, a two-year field study was conducted in rainy (2016-2017) and drought (2017-2018) seasons, which included three cultivation patterns:1 conventional flat planting, 2 straw mulching, and 3 ridge-furrow rainfall harvesting system and four fertilization patterns:1 conventional fertilization (100% of the amount), 2 reduced slow-release fertilizer Ⅰ (80% of the amount), 3 reduced slow-release fertilizer Ⅱ (60% of the amount), and 4 no fertilizer. The results indicated that it was rainy in 2016-2017, with seasonal drought during the nutritional growth stage in 2017-2018. The two technologies (straw mulching+80% slow-release fertilizer, J80 and ridge-furrow rainfall harvesting system+80% slow-release fertilizer, M80) were beneficial to boost the soil microbial activity. J80 and M80 increased the microbial biomass carbon by 9.94% and 10.32% and microbial biomass nitrogen by 2.38% and 1.19%, respectively, compared with that of the local cultivation pattern under two different climate conditions. The total amount of microbial phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) decreased by 30.75% in the rainy year compared with that in the drought year, and mulching technology could effectively increase the total amount of soil PLFA. The PLFA contents of soil bacteria and fungi in the rainy year were 33.67% and 53.21%, respectively, lower than those in the drought year. However, the PLFA content of actinomycetes increased by 13.04%. Microbial communities were sensitive to abnormal precipitation. The bacteria/fungi ratio increased in rainy weather. The drought climate heighted the ratio of straight chain saturated fatty acid/straight chain monounsaturated fatty acid and straight chain monounsaturated fatty acid/cyclopropane acid. In conclusion, adopting the optimal cultivation technologies can stabilize the soil microenvironment under abnormal precipitation, relieve water and nutrient stress, and provide an effective means for rapeseed sustainable development.

Genome-wide identification of quantitative trait loci for morpho-agronomic and yield-related traits in foxtail millet (Setaria italica) across multi-environments.

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is an ideal model of genetic system for functional genomics of the Panicoideae crop. Identification of QTL responsible for morpho-agronomic and yield-related traits facilitates dissection of genetic control and breeding in cereal crops. Here, based on a Yugu1 × Longgu7 RIL population and genome-wide resequencing data, an updated linkage map harboring 2297 bin and 74 SSR markers was constructed, spanning 1315.1 cM with an average distance of 0.56 cM between adjacent markers. A total of 221 QTL for 17 morpho-agronomic and yield-related traits explaining 5.5 ~ 36% of phenotypic variation were identified across multi-environments. Of these, 109 QTL were detected in two to nine environments, including the most stable qLMS6.1 harboring a promising candidate gene Seita.6G250500, of which 70 were repeatedly identified in different trials in the same geographic location, suggesting that foxtail millet has more identical genetic modules under the similar ecological environment. One hundred-thirty QTL with overlapping intervals formed 22 QTL clusters. Furthermore, six superior recombinant inbred lines, RIL35, RIL48, RIL77, RIL80, RIL115 and RIL125 with transgressive inheritance and enrichment of favorable alleles in plant height, tiller, panicle morphology and yield related-traits were screened by hierarchical cluster. These identified QTL, QTL clusters and superior lines lay ground for further gene-trait association studies and breeding practice in foxtail millet.

Na2GaS2Cl: a new sodium-rich chalcohalide with two-dimensional [GaS2]∞ layers and wide interlayer space.

By introducing halogens to the A/Ga/Q (A = Na, K; Q = S, Se) system, one new chalcohalide namely Na2GaS2Cl was successfully obtained. It crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Cmcm (63). Na2GaS2Cl has a layered structure consisting of two dimensional [GaS2]∞ layers which are stacked in "face to face" and "back to back" arrays and separated by Na+ and Cl- ions. Interestingly, supertetrahedral building units [Ga4S10] (T2) which are rarely found in metal chalcogenides and metal chalcohalides are formed in this structure. Moreover, the distances of two adjacent layers are around four times larger than the ionic radius of the Na+ ion, which is very likely to provide a perfect environment for the storage and migration of Na+ ions. In particular, the volume concentration of the Na+ cations in this compound is as high as 1.54 × 1022 cm-3. The UV-vis-NIR spectroscopy measurement reveals that the optical band gap of this title compound is 3.06 eV. The electronic structural calculations on Na2GaS2Cl show that the band gap is mainly determined by the [GaS4] groups and Na-Cl ionic bonding.

QTL mapping of yield component traits on bin map generated from resequencing a RIL population of foxtail millet (Setaria italica).

BACKGROUND: Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) has been developed into a model genetical system for deciphering architectural evolution, C4 photosynthesis, nutritional properties, abiotic tolerance and bioenergy in cereal grasses because of its advantageous characters with the small genome size, self-fertilization, short growing cycle, small growth stature, efficient genetic transformation and abundant diverse germplasm resources. Therefore, excavating QTLs of yield component traits, which are closely related to aspects mentioned above, will further facilitate genetic research in foxtail millet and close cereal species. RESULTS: Here, 164 Recombinant inbreed lines from a cross between Longgu7 and Yugu1 were created and 1,047,978 SNPs were identified between both parents via resequencing. A total of 3413 bin markers developed from SNPs were used to construct a binary map, containing 3963 recombinant breakpoints and totaling 1222.26 cM with an average distance of 0.36 cM between adjacent markers. Forty-seven QTLs were identified for four traits of straw weight, panicle weight, grain weight per plant and 1000-grain weight. These QTLs explained 5.5-14.7% of phenotypic variance. Thirty-nine favorable QTL alleles were found to inherit from Yugu1. Three stable QTLs were detected in multi-environments, and nine QTL clusters were identified on Chromosome 3, 6, 7 and 9. CONCLUSIONS: A high-density genetic map with 3413 bin markers was constructed and three stable QTLs and 9 QTL clusters for yield component traits were identified. The results laid a powerful foundation for fine mapping, identifying candidate genes, elaborating molecular mechanisms and application in foxtail millet breeding programs by marker-assisted selection.

Genetic Diversity and Classification of the Cytoplasm of Chinese Elite Foxtail Millet [Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.] Parental Lines Revealed by Chloroplast Deoxyribonucleic Acid Variation.

Due to the maternal inheritance of cytoplasm, using foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.] male sterile lines with a single cytoplasmic source as the female parent will inevitably lead to a narrow source of cytoplasm in hybrids, which may make them vulnerable to infection by cytoplasm-specific pathogens, ultimately leading to destructive yield losses. To assess cytoplasmic genetic diversity in plants, molecular markers derived from chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) have been used. However, such markers have not yet been applied to foxtail millet. In this study, we designed and screened nine pairs of polymorphic foxtail millet-specific primers based on its completely sequenced cpDNA. Using these primers, we analyzed the genetic diversity and cytoplasmic types of 130 elite foxtail millet parental lines collected in China. Our results revealed that the cytoplasmic genetic diversity of these accessions was low and needs to be increased. The parental lines were divided into four cytoplasmic types according to population structure analysis and a female parent-derivative evolutionary graph, indicating that the cytoplasmic types of elite foxtail millet lines were rather limited. A principal component analysis (PCA) plot was linked with the geographic and ecological distribution of accessions for each cytoplasmic type, as well as their basal maternal parents. Collectively, our results suggest that enriching cytoplasmic sources through the use of accessions from diverse ecological regions and other countries as the female parent may improve foxtail millet breeding programs, and prevent infection by cytoplasm-specific pathogens.

A high density SLAF-seq SNP genetic map and QTL for seed size, oil and protein content in upland cotton.

BACKGROUND: Cotton is a leading natural fiber crop. Beyond its fiber, cottonseed is a valuable source of plant protein and oil. Due to the much higher value of cotton fiber, there is less consideration of cottonseed quality despite its potential value. Though some QTL controlling cottonseed quality have been identified, few of them that warrant further study are known. Identifying stable QTL controlling seed size, oil and protein content is necessary for improvement of cottonseed quality. RESULTS: In this study, a recombinant inbred line (RIL) population was developed from a cross between upland cotton cultivars/lines Yumian 1 and M11. Specific locus amplified fragment sequencing (SLAF-seq) technology was used to construct a genetic map that covered 3353.15 cM with an average distance between consecutive markers of 0.48 cM. The seed index, together with kernel size, oil and protein content were further used to identify QTL. In total, 58 QTL associated with six traits were detected, including 13 stable QTL detected in all three environments and 11 in two environments. CONCLUSION: A high resolution genetic map including 7033 SNP loci was constructed through specific locus amplified fragment sequencing technology. A total of 13 stable QTL associated with six cottonseed quality traits were detected. These stable QTL have the potential for fine mapping, identifying candidate genes, elaborating molecular mechanisms of cottonseed development, and application in cotton breeding programs.

A high density genetic map and QTL for agronomic and yield traits in Foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv].

BACKGROUND: Foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.], a crop of historical importance in China, has been adopted as a model crop for studying C-4 photosynthesis, stress biology and biofuel traits. Construction of a high density genetic map and identification of stable quantitative trait loci (QTL) lay the foundation for marker-assisted selection for agronomic traits and yield improvement. RESULT: A total of 10598 SSR markers were developed according to the reference genome sequence of foxtail millet cultivar 'Yugu1'. A total of 1013 SSR markers showing polymorphism between Yugu1 and Longgu7 were used to genotype 167 individuals from a Yugu1 × Longgu7 F2 population, and a high density genetic map was constructed. The genetic map contained 1035 loci and spanned 1318.8 cM with an average distance of 1.27 cM between adjacent markers. Based on agronomic and yield traits identified in 2 years, 29 QTL were identified for 11 traits with combined analysis and single environment analysis. These QTL explained from 7.0 to 14.3 % of phenotypic variation. Favorable QTL alleles for peduncle length originated from Longgu7 whereas favorable alleles for the other traits originated from Yugu1 except for qLMS6.1. CONCLUSIONS: New SSR markers, a high density genetic map and QTL identified for agronomic and yield traits lay the ground work for functional gene mapping, map-based cloning and marker-assisted selection in foxtail millet.

[Associations of signal transducer and activators of transcription 3 polymorphism with the susceptibility to hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association of signal transducer and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3) -1096G/C polymorphism in promoter region with the susceptibility to HBsAg positive hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). METHODS: A total of 632 patients with HCC and 723 HBV-infected subjects without HCC treated at Changhai Hospital of Shanghai from 2009 to 2012 were included in this case-control study. The polymorphism of STAT3 -1096 G/C was genotyped by Fluorescent probe-Real time quantitative PCR. Univariate analysis was used to calculate the odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: The frequency of genetic allele STAT3 -1096G/C (GC+CC) of control group and case group were 61.83% (447/723) and 60.60% (383/632), while difference of HCC risk was not found among different genotypes (OR = 0.95, 95%CI: 0.76-1.18). When stratified by sex, the frequency of genetic allele STAT3 -1096C (GC+CC) of control group and case group were 62.18% (314/505) and 61.75% (331/536) in men, 61.01% (133/218) and 54.17% (52/96) in women, respectively, while difference of HCC risk was not found among different genotypes (OR = 0.98, 95%CI: 0.77-1.26; OR = 0.76, 95%CI: 0.47-1.26, respectively). When stratified by HBV genotypes, the frequency of genetic allele STAT3 -1096C (GC+CC) of control group and case group were 61.45% (110/179) and 53.13% (34/64) in HBV genotype B, 62.87% (276/439) and 60.27% (226/375) in HBV genotype C, respectively, while difference of HCC risk was not found among different genotypes (OR = 0.71, 95%CI: 0.40-1.26; OR = 0.90, 95%CI: 0.68-1.19, respectively). CONCLUSION: STAT3 -1096G/C polymorphism was not associated with the susceptibility to HCC for the HBV-infected subjects without HCC.