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We demonstrate a fiber-guided atom interferometer in a far-off-resonant trap (FORT) of 100 μK. The differential light shift (DLS) introduced by the FORT leads to the inhomogeneous dephasing of the tightly trapped atoms inside a hollow-core fiber. The DLS-induced dephasing is greatly suppressed in π / 2 - π - π / 2 Doppler-insensitive interferometry. The spin coherence time is extended to 13.4 ms by optimizing the coupling of the trapping laser beam into a quasi-single-mode hollow-core anti-resonant fiber. The Doppler-sensitive interferometry shows a much shorter coherence time, indicating that the main limits to our fiber-guided atom interferometer are the wide axial velocity distribution and the irregular modes of the Raman laser beams inside the fiber. This work paves the way for portable and miniaturized quantum devices, which have advantages for inertial sensing at arbitrary orientations and in dynamic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brassica napus L. (canola, oil seed rape) is one of the world's most important oil seed crops. In the last four decades, the discovery of cytoplasmic male-sterility (CMS) systems and the restoration of fertility (Rf) genes in B. napus has improved the crop traits by heterosis. The homologs of Rf genes, known as the restoration of fertility-like (RFL) genes, have also gained importance because of their similarities with Rf genes. Such as a high non-synonymous/synonymous codon replacement ratio (dN/dS), autonomous gene duplications, and a possible engrossment in fertility restoration. B. napus contains 53 RFL genes on chromosomes A9 and C8. Our research aims to study the function of BnaRFL11 in fertility restoration using the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technique. A total of 88/108 (81.48%) T0 lines, and for T1, 110/145 (75%) lines carried T-DNA insertions. Stable mutations were detected in the T0 and T1 generations, with an average allelic mutation transmission rate of 81%. We used CRISPR-P software to detect off-target 50 plants sequenced from the T0 generation that showed no off-target mutation, signifying that if the designed sgRNA is specific for the target, the off-target effects are negligible. We also concluded that the mutagenic competence of the designed sgRNAs mediated by U6-26 and U6-29 ranged widely from 31% to 96%. The phenotypic analysis of bnarfl11 revealed defects in the floral structure, leaf size, branch number, and seed production. We discovered a significant difference between the sterile line and fertile line flower development after using a stereomicroscope and scanning electron microscope. The pollen visibility test showed that the pollen grain had utterly degenerated. The cytological observations of homozygous mutant plants showed an anther abortion stage similar to nap-CMS, with a Orf222, Orf139, Ap3, and nad5c gene upregulation. The bnarfl11 shows vegetative defects, including fewer branches and a reduced leaf size, suggesting that PPR-encoding genes are essential for the plants' vegetative and reproductive growth. Our results demonstrated that BnaRFL11 has a possible role in fertility restoration. The current study's findings suggest that CRISPR/Cas9 mutations may divulge the functions of genes in polyploid species and provide agronomically desirable traits through a targeted mutation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on the well-known toxicity of cyclophosphamide (CYP) on the immune system, this research investigated the modulating effects of the long-term dietary Chlorella vulgaris (CV) supplementation on the immunosuppression induced by CYP in mice, in order to provide a novel dietary design to mitigate the side effects of CYP therapy. Control, CYP-treated, CYP + CV (6%), CYP + CV (12%) and CYP + CV (24%) were used for 6 weeks, CV supplement in diet recovered the significantly reduced immunological function in CYP treated mice. As CV may have a modulating function through the inducible expression of cytokines, we assayed the expressions of interleukin-2 (IL-2), interleukin-12 (IL-12), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-γ) and interferon-(IFN-γ). Our results suggested that CYP significantly reduced the lymphocytes proliferation and phagocytic activities of macrophages, and stimulated the production of IL-2, IL-12, TNF-α and IFN- and that this impairment has been successfully adjusted by CV supplementation. Treatment with the algae also enhanced the natural killer (NK) cells cytotoxicity, and ameliorate histological changes of the spleen in CYP-treated mice. Therefore, as we found in this study, a diet supplemented with whole CV has beneficial effects on CVP-induced immunosuppression, through its immunomodulatory potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most flowering plants have evolved a self-incompatibility (SI) system to maintain genetic diversity by preventing self-pollination. The Brassica species possesses sporophytic self-incompatibility (SSI), which is controlled by the pollen- and stigma-determinant factors SP11/SCR and SRK. However, the mysterious molecular mechanism of SI remains largely unknown. Here, a new class II S haplotype, named BrS-325, was identified in a pak choi line '325', which was responsible for the completely self-compatible phenotype. To obtain the entire S locus sequences, a complete pak choi genome was gained through Nanopore sequencing and de novo assembly, which provided a good reference genome for breeding and molecular research in B. rapa. S locus comparative analysis showed that the closest relatives to BrS-325 was BrS-60, and high sequence polymorphism existed in the S locus. Meanwhile, two duplicated SRKs (BrSRK-325a and BrSRK-325b) were distributed in the BrS-325 locus with opposite transcription directions. BrSRK-325b and BrSCR-325 were expressed normally at the transcriptional level. The multiple sequence alignment of SCRs and SRKs in class II S haplotypes showed that a number of amino acid variations were present in the contact regions (CR II and CR III) of BrSCR-325 and the hypervariable regions (HV I and HV II) of BrSRK-325s, which may influence the binding and interaction between the ligand and the receptor. Thus, these results suggested that amino acid variations in contact sites may lead to the SI destruction of a new class II S haplotype BrS-325 in B. rapa. The complete SC phenotype of '325' showed the potential for practical breeding application value in B. rapa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature-sensitive male sterility is a heritable agronomic trait affected by genotype-environment interactions. In rapeseed (Brassica napus), Polima (pol) temperature-sensitive cytoplasmic male sterility (TCMS) is commonly used for two-line breeding, as the fertility of pol TCMS lines can be partially restored at certain temperatures. However, little is known about the underlying molecular mechanism that controls fertility restoration. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the fertility conversion mechanism of the pol TCMS line at two different ambient temperatures (16 °C and 25 °C). Our results showed that the anthers developed and produced vigorous pollen at 16 °C but not at 25 °C. In addition, we identified a novel co-transcript of orf224-atp6 in the mitochondria that might lead to fertility conversion of the pol TCMS line. RNA-seq analysis showed that 1637 genes were significantly differentially expressed in the fertile flowers of 596-L when compared to the sterile flower of 1318 and 596-H. Detailed analysis revealed that differentially expressed genes were involved in temperature response, ROS accumulation, anther development, and mitochondrial function. Single-molecule long-read isoform sequencing combined with RNA sequencing revealed numerous genes produce alternative splicing transcripts at high temperatures. Here, we also found that alternative oxidase, type II NAD(P)H dehydrogenases, and transcription factor Hsfs might play a crucial role in male fertility under the low-temperature condition. RNA sequencing and bulked segregant analysis coupled with whole-genome sequencing identified the candidate genes involved in the post-transcriptional modification of orf224. Overall, our study described a putative mechanism of fertility restoration in a pol TCMS line controlled by ambient temperature that might help utilise TCMS in the two-line breeding of Brassica crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-incompatibility (SI) is a pollen-stigma recognition system controlled by a single and highly polymorphic genetic locus known as the S-locus. The S-locus exists in all Brassica napus (B. napus, AACC), but natural B. napus accessions are self-compatible. About 100 and 50 S haplotypes exist in Brassica rapa (AA) and Brassica oleracea (CC), respectively. However, S haplotypes have not been detected in B. napus populations. In this study, we detected the S haplotype distribution in B. napus and ascertained the function of a common S haplotype BnS-6 through genetic transformation. BnS-1/BnS-6 and BnS-7/BnS-6 were the main S haplotypes in 523 B. napus cultivars and inbred lines. The expression of SRK in different S haplotypes was normal (the expression of SCR in the A subgenome affected the SI phenotype) while the expression of BnSCR-6 in the C subgenome had no correlation with the SI phenotype in B. napus. The BnSCR-6 protein in BnSCR-6 overexpressed lines was functional, but the self-compatibility of overexpressed lines did not change. The low expression of BnSCR-6 could be a reason for the inactivation of BnS-6 in the SI response of B. napus. This study lays a foundation for research on the self-compatibility mechanism and the SI-related breeding in B. napus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A FePt(B, Ag, C) granular film was formed from post-annealed B4C(1.0 nm)/FePt(Ag, C) layers at a substrate temperature of 470 °C for 2 min. The 6 nm thick FePt(B, Ag, C) film demonstrates high perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (Ku = 2.83 × 107 erg/cm3 at 100 K) and out-of-plane coercivity (Hc = 38.0 kOe at 100 K). The Ku and out-of-plane Hc are respectively increased from 38% and 46% between 350 K and 50 K. The sample with a thickness of 8 nm also shows a similar trend for magnetic properties; however, the tiny magnetization kink which may come from rare Fe-B or disordered FePt grains was observed in the easy axis loop. The intrinsic (ΔHint = 12.6 kOe) and extrinsic switching field distribution (ΔHext = 1.62 kOe) were characterized by major and minor loops to correlate the microstructural grains. The coupled FePt grains grown on a single MgTiON grain were observed in a high-resolution transmission electron microstructure (HRTEM) image. This small intergranular exchange coupling was defined by estimating the magnetic cluster size (46.6 nm) from ΔHext and the average grains size (28.2 nm) from TEM images. The temperature dependence of coercivity was fitted to further understand the magnetization reversal process. The lower microstructural parameter was evidenced in the imperfect grain morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review article intends to communicate the new understanding and viewpoints on two fundamental electrokinetics topics that have only become available recently. The first is on the holistic approach to the Poisson–Boltzmann equation that can account for the effects arising from the interaction between the mobile ions in the Debye layer and the surface charge. The second is on the physical picture of the inner electro-hydrodynamic flow field of an electrophoretic particle and its drag coefficient. For the first issue, the traditional Poisson–Boltzmann equation focuses only on the mobile ions in the Debye layer; effects such as charge regulation and the isoelectronic point arising from the interaction between the mobile ions in the Debye layer and the surface charge are left to supplemental measures. However, a holistic treatment is entirely possible in which the whole electrical double layer—the Debye layer and the surface charge—is treated consistently from the beginning. While the derived form of the Poisson–Boltzmann equation remains unchanged, the zeta potential boundary condition becomes a calculated quantity that can reflect the various effects due to the interaction between the surface charges and the mobile ions in the liquid. The second issue, regarding the drag coefficient of a spherical electrophoretic particle, has existed ever since the breakthrough by Smoluchowski a century ago that linked the zeta potential of the particle to its mobility. Due to the highly nonlinear mathematics involved in the electro-hydrodynamics inside the Debye layer, there has been a lack of an exact solution for the electrophoretic flow field. Recent numerical simulation results show that the flow field comprises an inner region and an outer region, separated by a rather sharp interface. As the inner flow field is carried along by the particle, the measured drag is that at the inner/outer interface rather than at the solid/liquid interface. This identification and its associated physical picture of the inner flow field resolves a long-standing puzzle regarding the electrophoretic drag coefficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microstructural and magnetic properties of perpendicular anisotropic CoCrPt films deposited on Ru or RuCoCrX (X = Ti, Re) intermediate layers were studied. The c-axis of CoCrPt grains were promoted by (0002) textured RuCoCr, and RuCoCrX (X = Ti, Re) intermediate layers due to smaller lattice misfit as compared to Ru. The narrower rocking width (Δθ50 = 3.76°) in RuCoCrRe intermediate layer and CoCrPt shows higher out of plane coercivity (Hc = 6.2 kOe), magnetic anisotropy constant (Ku = 6.2 × 106 erg/cm3) and nucleation field (HN = −2.8kOe) as compared to the Ru intermediate layer (Hc = 5.4 kOe, Ku = 5.9 × 106 erg/cm3, HN = −1.6 kOe). The partial intergranular exchange decoupling of CoCrPt grains was observed. The grain boundaries oxides were formed by the residual oxygen in targets and sputtering processes. The minor Cr2O3, CoO, TiO2, ReO3 oxides were investigated by surface analysis. Due to the minor oxides and Cr segregation at grains boundaries, the CoCrPt films present high coercivity. Samples CoCrPt/RuCoCr and CoCrPt/RuCoCrTi present a minimum at 45° but the values are much higher than the ideal Stoner-Wohlfarth theoretical value 0.5 which could be due to fewer natural oxides for magnetic grains separation. In sample CoCrPt/RuCoCrRe, there is an increase of intergranular interaction as indicated by the large asymmetry and the shift of the minimum at lower angles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brassicaceae species employ both self-compatibility and self-incompatibility systems to regulate post-pollination events. Arabidopsis halleri is strictly self-incompatible, while the closely related Arabidopsis thaliana has transitioned to self-compatibility with the loss of functional S-locus genes during evolution. The downstream signaling protein, ARC1, is also required for the self-incompatibility response in some Arabidopsis and Brassica species, and its gene is deleted in the A. thaliana genome. In this study, we attempted to reconstitute the SCR-SRK-ARC1 signaling pathway to restore self-incompatibility in A. thaliana using genes from A. halleri and B. napus, respectively. Several of the transgenic A. thaliana lines expressing the A. halleriSCR13-SRK13-ARC1 transgenes displayed self-incompatibility, while all the transgenic A. thaliana lines expressing the B. napusSCR1-SRK1-ARC1 transgenes failed to show any self-pollen rejection. Furthermore, our results showed that the intensity of the self-incompatibility response in transgenic A. thaliana plants was not associated with the expression levels of the transgenes. Thus, this suggests that there are differences between the Arabidopsis and Brassica self-incompatibility signaling pathways, which perhaps points to the existence of other factors downstream of B. napusSRK that are absent in Arabidopsis species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-incompatibility (SI) is a widespread mechanism in angiosperms that prevents inbreeding by rejecting self-pollen. However, the regulation of the SI response in Brassica napus is not well understood. Here, we report that the M-locus protein kinase (MLPK) BnaMLPKs, the functional homolog of BrMLPKs in Brassica rapa, controls SI in B. napus. We identified four paralogue MLPK genes in B. napus, including BnaA3.MLPK, BnaC3.MLPK, BnaA4.MLPK, and BnaC4.MLPK. Two transcripts of BnaA3.MLPK, BnaA3.MLPKf1 and BnaA3.MLPKf2, were generated by alternative splicing. Tissue expression pattern analysis demonstrated that BnaA3.MLPK, especially BnaA3.MLPKf2, is highly expressed in reproductive organs, particularly in stigmas. We subsequently created RNA-silencing lines and CRISPR/Cas9-induced quadruple mutants of BnaMLPKs in B. napus SI line S-70. Phenotypic analysis revealed that SI response is partially suppressed in RNA-silencing lines and is completely blocked in quadruple mutants. These results indicate the importance of BnaMLPKs in regulating the SI response of B. napus. We found that the expression of SI positive regulators S-locus receptor kinase (SRK) and Arm-Repeat Containing 1 (ARC1) are suppressed in bnmlpk mutant, whereas the self-compatibility (SC) element Glyoxalase I (GLO1) maintained a high expression level. Overall, our findings reveal a new regulatory mechanism of MLPK in the SI of B. napus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The FePt film above 10 nm critical lattice relaxation thickness was prepared and the ultrathin MgTiTaON layer was interleaved in between FePt film and the multilayer stack is FePt(6 nm)/[MgTiTaON(1 nm)/FePt(4 nm)]2. Next, the FePt films were co-sputtered with (Ag, C) segregants during deposition and the layer stacks is FePt(6 nm)(Ag, C)(x vol %)/[MgTiTaON (1 nm)/FePt(4 nm)(Ag, C) (x vol %)]2 (x = 0, 10, 20, 30, 40). After high temperature deposition at 470 °C, the granular FePt(Ag, C, MgTiTaON) film illustrated perpendicular magnetization and the out-of-plane coercivity (Hc) was increased with (Ag, C) segregants and the highest Hc is 18.3 kOe when x = 40. From cross-section images, the FePt layer are more continuous with 0 and 10 vol % (Ag, C) segregants and changed to an island structure when the (Ag, C) segregants increase to 20–40 vol %. The FePt grains were grown in separated islands in 20, 30 vol % (Ag, C) and changed to dense columnar-like morphology in 40 vol %. The second nucleated grains which contribute the in-plane magnetization are found in FePt (Ag, C) (40 vol %) film. The FePt islands are reached by inserting the ultrathin MgTiTaON layer and the island heights of FePt(Ag, C) (30, 40 vol %) are around 31–38 nm and the aspect ratios are 0.6–0.8. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The microstructure and magnetic properties of FePt(BN, Ag, C) granular films grown on the MgTiON intermediate layer with and without the MoC inserting layer were studied. Without the MoC inserting layer, the 6 nm thick FePt film is continuous, which favors the domain wall motion magnetization reversal process and shows a lower out-of-plane coercivity (Hc) value of 6.7 kOe. The FePt(BN, Ag, C) granular film was grown in ball- and square-like grains with an almost vertical contact angle, and the out-of-plane coercivity (Hc) was increased to 15.5 kOe. When the MoC with a thickness of 3 nm was capped on the MgTiON intermediate layer, the FePt grains with and without (BN, Ag, C) segregants were both formed in large trapezoidal islands with a low contact angle morphology. The out-of-plane Hc value changed from 14.9 to 13.2 kOe and the reduced coercivity was due to larger grain sizes and a lower ordering degree of the FePt(BN, Ag, C) film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-incompatibility (SI) in plants genetically prevents self-fertilization to promote outcrossing and genetic diversity. Its hybrids in Brassica have been widely cultivated due to the propagation of SI lines by spraying a salt solution. We demonstrated that suppression of Brassica napus SI from edible salt solution treatment was ascribed to sodium chloride and independent of S haplotypes, but it did not obviously change the expression of SI-related genes. Using the isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) technique, we identified 885 differentially accumulated proteins (DAPs) in Brassica napus stigmas of un-pollinated (UP), pollinated with compatible pollen (PC), pollinated with incompatible pollen (PI), and pollinated with incompatible pollen after edible salt solution treatment (NA). Of the 307 DAPs in NA/UP, 134 were unique and 94 were shared only with PC/UP. In PC and NA, some salt stress protein species, such as glyoxalase I, were induced, and these protein species were likely to participate in the self-compatibility (SC) pathway. Most of the identified protein species were related to metabolic pathways, biosynthesis of secondary metabolites, ribosome, and so on. A systematic analysis implied that salt treatment-overcoming SI in B.napus was likely conferred by at least five different physiological mechanisms: (i) the use of Ca2+ as signal molecule; (ii) loosening of the cell wall to allow pollen tube penetration; (iii) synthesis of compatibility factor protein species for pollen tube growth; (iv) depolymerization of microtubule networks to facilitate pollen tube movement; and (v) inhibition of protein degradation pathways to restrain the SI response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characterization of flow in subsurface porous media is associated with high uncertainty. To better quantify the uncertainty of groundwater systems, it is necessary to consider the model uncertainty. Multi-model uncertainty analysis can be performed in the Bayesian model averaging (BMA) framework. However, the BMA analysis via Monte Carlo method is time consuming because it requires many forward model evaluations. A computationally efficient BMA analysis framework is proposed by using the probabilistic collocation method to construct a response surface model, where the log hydraulic conductivity field and hydraulic head are expanded into polynomials through Karhunen–Loeve and polynomial chaos methods. A synthetic test is designed to validate the proposed response surface analysis method. The results show that the posterior model weight and the key statistics in BMA framework can be accurately estimated. The relative errors of mean and total variance in the BMA analysis results are just approximately 0.013% and 1.18%, but the proposed method can be 16 times more computationally efficient than the traditional BMA method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]