The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Zanthoxylum ailanthoides Sieb. et. Zucc (Rutaceae): an important medicinal plant.

Zanthoxylum ailanthoides is a deciduous tree, with important medicinal and economic values. The complete chloroplast genome sequence of Z. ailanthoides was assembled and the phylogenetic relationship to other species was inferred in this study. The chloroplast genome is 157,209 bp in length, including two inverted repeats of 26,408 bp, a large single-copy of 86,099 bp and a small single copy of 18,294 bp. Moreover, the chloroplast genome contains 129 genes, including 84 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. The overall GC content of the chloroplast genome is 38.4%. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that Z. ailanthoides was grouped with a clade containing the species of Z. multijugum, Z. calcicola, Z. oxyphyllum, Z. stenophyllum, and the genus was closely related to Phellodendron. This study contributes to a better understanding of the phylogenetic relationships among Zanthoxylum species.

Photonic Implementation of Quantum Information Masking.

Masking of quantum information spreads it over nonlocal correlations and hides it from the subsystems. It is known that no operation can simultaneously mask all pure states [Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 230501 (2018)PRLTAO0031-900710.1103/PhysRevLett.120.230501], so in what sense is quantum information masking useful? Here, we extend the definition of quantum information masking to general mixed states, and show that the resource of maskable quantum states is far more abundant than the no-go theorem seemingly suggests. Geometrically, the simultaneously maskable states lays on hyperdisks in the state hypersphere, and strictly contains the broadcastable states. We devise a photonic quantum information masking machine using time-correlated photons to experimentally investigate the properties of qubit masking, and demonstrate the transfer of quantum information into bipartite correlations and its faithful retrieval. The versatile masking machine has decent extensibility, and may be applicable to quantum secret sharing and fault-tolerant quantum communication. Our results provide some insights on the comprehension and potential application of quantum information masking.

[Acid mining drainage impacts on the separation between iron and manganese in sediments of the Aha Lake, Guizhou Province].

Since the Aha Lake, located in Guizhou Province, China, was enlarged in 1982, a great amount of iron and manganese were input into it owing to the uninterrupted pollution from acidic mining drainage of coal mines (AMD). The results show that dissolved Fe2+ and Mn2+, mainly from AMD, were markedly separated each other as water flowed from inlet to downstream. The Aha lake water, with the average pH equal to 7.28, was not acidified just because the lake is developed in the karst area and people continuously put lime in it in recent years. Fe2 + and Mn2 + deposit in the different locations in lake because of the difference of oxidizing rate between Fe2+ and Mn2+ during water flowing from inlet to downstream, and also forming the horizontal separation along the lake water flowing direction. Manganese tends to be obviously enriched in the upper of sediment in lake's deep locations, presenting the remarkable separation with iron in the vertical section. After normalized by Ti content in sediment, it is obvious that the remarkable separation between iron and manganese corresponds with the enlargement of lake in 1982. As shown in the concentration profile of pore water in sediment, iron was remobilized weakly while manganese reduction mainly happens in the upper of sediment, indicating its strong remobilization. Based on the studies, a mechanism for environment and fractionation of Fe2+ /Mn2 + during water flowing in the lake was also demonstrated.