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Long-term mining activities without proper protections can cause geo-environmental problems. These problems have negative effects on the environment and agriculture, and also pose risks to the safety of local residents. This paper aims to propose an assessment system with authority and practicality for evaluating the influence of mining on the geo-environment in China. The proposed assessment system is based on the national technical specification and considers the natural conditions of the mining area. The study area for this research is the Huodong Mining Area (HMA) in Shanxi Province, China. To evaluate the impact of mining activities on the geo-environment, an assessment system with 5 criteria and 17 factors was established. The weights of the criteria and factors were calculated using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. The membership degrees of impact factors to the evaluation grades were determined using the Fuzzy Comprehensive Evaluation (FCE) method. The evaluation results of each divided element were then combined to obtain the final evaluation results for the entire study area. The final results demonstrate that the geo-environment in the HMA has been significantly affected by mining activities.

Abstract “Cuohu Bazi” (CHBZ) is an ancient sorghum variety collected from the fields of China, known for its agronomic traits like dwarf stature, early maturation. In this study, we present the first telomere-to-telomere (T2T) and gap-free genome assembly of CHBZ using PacBio HiFi reads, Oxford Nanopore Technologies, and Hi-C data. The assembled genome comprises 724.85 Mb, effectively resolving all 3,913 gaps that were present in the previous sorghum BTx623 reference genome. Notably, the T2T assembly captures 10 centromeres and all 20 telomeres, providing strong support for their integrity. This assembly is of high quality in terms of contiguity (contig N50: 71.1 Mb), completeness (BUSCO score: 99.01%, k-mer completeness: 98.88%), and correctness (QV: 61.60). Repetitive sequences accounted for 70.41% of the genome and a total of 32,855 protein-coding genes have been annotated. Furthermore, 161 CHBZ-specific presence/absence variants genes have been identified when comparing to BTx623 genome. This study provides valuable insights for future research on sorghum genetics, genomics, and evolutionary history.

Land subsidence is a worldwide geological hazard. Differential land subsidence has posed the major threat to urban infrastructure, linear rail transit and underground space development and utilization, and also restricted the sustainable development of the economy and society. This paper systematically elaborates on the research progresses on land deformation acquisition, evolution mechanism and simulation of land subsidence, and focuses on the land deformation acquisition technology based on InSAR monitoring and multi-source deformation data fusion, as well as the correlation analysis, statistical analysis, machine learning and other methods to analyze the relationship between the evolution of land subsidence and various influencing factors based on geotechnical experiment and long time series observation data. On this basis, the advantages and disadvantages of land subsidence simulation models such as groundwater flow field-land deformation model, mathematical statistical model and machine learning model are explored. It is found that multi-source deformation data fusion can improve the spatiotemporal resolution of land deformation. The differences in geological structure, lithology, groundwater exploitation, and dynamic and static loads are factors contributing to the differential evolution of land subsidence. The difficulty in balancing the computational efficiency and interpretability of mathematical models for land subsidence is the main problem in simulation. According to the literature review, the current researches mainly focus on land subsidence caused by groundwater over-exploitation. This paper further proposes the future research directions for land subsidence, under the background of climate change, new hydrological condition and dataset, and based on the fusion of data through remote sensing and field observations, integrating the latest progress of InSAR, GeoAI, cloud platform and other technologies to reveal the evolution mechanism of land subsidence considering the climate change and anthropic activities and provide technical support for regional land subsidence prevention and urban safety.

Abstract Broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.), known for its traits of drought resistance, adaptability to poor soil, short growth period, and high photosynthetic efficiency as a C4 plant, represents one of the earliest domesticated crops globally. This study reports the telomere-to-telomere (T2T) gap-free reference genome for broomcorn millet (AJ8) using PacBio high-fidelity (HiFi) long reads, Oxford Nanopore long-read technologies and high-throughput chromosome conformation capture (Hi-C) sequencing data. The size of AJ8 genome was approximately 834.7 Mb, anchored onto 18 pseudo-chromosomes. Notably, 18 centromeres and 36 telomeres were obtained. The assembled genome showed high quality in terms of completeness (BUSCO score: 99.6%, QV: 61.7, LAI value: 20.4). In addition, 63,678 protein-coding genes and 433.8 Mb (~52.0%) repetitive sequences were identified. The complete reference genome for broomcorn millet provides a valuable resource for genetic studies and breeding of this important cereal crop.

Land subsidence has become a serious issue in Cangzhou for a long time. In order to make reasonable use of groundwater resources, it is necessary to establish a warning groundwater level under the premise of controlling the development of land subsidence. How to quantitatively determine the critical gorundwater level (CWL) for comprehensive control of land subsidence? In allusion to this scientific problem, this paper takes the soil samples of three typical settlement areas in Cangzhou as the research object, and analyzes the formation consolidation characteristics. By correlating the stratum thickness, we improve the method of calculating the CWL with the previous consolidation pressure. Based on the monitoring data of land subsidence and groundwater level in Cangzhou for many years, the comprehensive quantitative evaluation of the CWL in Cangzhou are carried out. The results show that the soil within a depth ranging from 0 to 150 m in Cangzhou is normally consolidated or under-consolidated, and the soil below the depth of 150 m is generally over-consolidated. The inelastic water release deformation is an important factor affecting the change of land subsidence rate in this area. Using the improved method, the CWL in Cangzhou, Suning and Dongguang is 66.8 m, 67.5 m and 67.8 m, respectively. Based on the data of the cumulative land subsidence and groundwater level change in the urban of Cangzhou, we obtain the exponential function relationship between the cumulative land subsidence and groundwater level. The subsidence rate is taken as the index, and the critical groundwater level in the urban of Cangzhou ranges from 65 to 70 m. On the basis of verifying the consistency of the calculation results of the two methods, we determined 65 m as the critical groundwater level for the prevention and control measures of land subsidence in Cangzhou. The results provide a reliable basis for the local government to formulate a reasonable groundwater exploitation plan.

This research uses numerical simulations to analyze the vortices and velocities inside gas-liquid separators of various shapes in order to investigate their separation. The gas-liquid flow inside the separator is simulated using the Eulerian and RNG k-ε models, which also provide iso-vorticity surfaces based on the Ω approach. The findings indicate that more powerful turbulence effects are caused by larger vortex surfaces, such as mixed structure (CS) separators, more vortex volume, and a substantially higher density of vortex nuclei. The liquid film extraction structure (LFES) separator has a larger tangential velocity at high cross sections, which is favorable for reducing film build-up. Because of its high positive radial velocity, the filter structure (FS) separator helps to lessen droplet carryover. At high cross sections, the tangential velocity of the LFES separator is higher, which is advantageous for lowering droplet carryover. The pressure and phase volume fraction distributions are consistent with the results of the vorticity and velocity analyses. When comparing the liquid separation efficiencies of separators with various designs, the FS separator outperforms the LFES separator, with the CS separator having the best efficiency. The study’s conclusions offer guidance for the separator’s structural modifications and industrial uses.

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica) is an important C4 model crop; however, due to its high-density planting and high stature, lodging at the filling stage resulted in a serious reduction in yield and quality. Therefore, it is imperative to identify and deploy the genes controlling foxtail millet plant height. In this study, we used a semi-dwarf line 263A and an elite high-stalk breeding variety, Chuang 29 to construct an F2 population to identify dwarf genes. We performed transcriptome analysis (RNA-seq) using internode tissues sampled at three jointing stages of 263A and Chuang 29, as well as bulk segregant analysis (BSA) on their F2 population. A total of 8918 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were obtained from RNA-seq analysis, and GO analysis showed that DEGs were enriched in functions such as “gibberellin metabolic process” and “oxidoreductase activity”, which have previously been shown to be associated with plant height. A total 593 mutated genes were screened by BSA-seq method. One hundred and seventy-six out of the 593 mutated genes showed differential expression levels between the two parental lines, and seven genes not only showed differential expression in two or three internode tissues but also showed high genomic variation in coding regions, which indicated they play a crucial role in plant height determination. Among them, we found a gibberellin biosynthesis related GA20 oxidase gene (Seita.5G404900), which had a single-base deletion at the third exon, leading to the frameshift mutation at 263A. Cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence assay and association analysis proved the single-base deletion in Seita.5G404900 co-segregated with dwarf phenotype in two independent F2 populations planted in entirely different environments. Taken together, the candidate genes identified in this study will help to elucidate the genetic basis of foxtail millet plant height, and the molecular marker will be useful for marker-assisted dwarf breeding.

Objective: β-lactams are the most widely used antibiotics in sepsis. We aimed to explore the factors that drive physicians to choose prolonged infusion (PI) of β-lactams in septic patients. Methods: This prospective observational national cohort study was conducted in 40 ICUs at the teaching hospitals of 31 provinces in China between August 20, 2021 and September 20, 2021. Results: Of the 441 enrolled patients, 265 (60.09%) received PI therapy. Multivariate analysis showed that multidrug-resistant bacterial infection and septic shock were independent factors associated with PI. However, our data showed that the survival benefit of PI use was evident in subgroups with less severe sepsis, including those with lower Charlson comorbidity index values (

Hydraulic fracturing is the main means for developing low-permeability shale reservoirs. Whether to produce artificial fractures with sufficient conductivity is an important criterion for hydraulic fracturing evaluation. The presence of clay and organic matter in the shale gives the shale creep, which makes the shale reservoir deform with time and reduces the conductivity of the fracture. In the past, the influence of shale creep was ignored in the study of artificial fracture conductivity, or the viscoelastic model was used to predict the conductivity, which represents an inaccuracy compared to the actual situation. Based on the classical Perzyna viscoplastic model, the elasto-viscoplastic constitutive model was obtained by introducing isotropic hardening, and the model parameters were obtained by fitting the triaxial compression creep experimental data under different differential stresses. Then, the constitutive model was programmed in a software platform using the return mapping algorithm, and the model was verified through the numerical simulation of the triaxial creep experiment. Then, the creep calculation results of the viscoplastic constitutive model and the power law model were compared. Finally, the viscoplastic constitutive model was applied to the simulation of the long-term conductivity of the fracture to study the influence of creep on the fracture width, and sensitivity analysis of the influencing factors of the fracture width was carried out. The results show that the numerical calculation results of the viscoplastic model were in agreement with the experimental data. The decrease in fracture width caused by pore pressure dissipation and reservoir creep after 72 h accounts for 32.07% of the total fracture width decrease.

Foxtail millet is a vital nutritional cereal. The de-husked grain is usually yellow and mainly contains carotenoids, which directly reflects the millet quality. In this study, the impact of ultraviolet-B(UV-B) on millet color and carotenoid content was determined using two foxtail millet varieties, HuaJinZao (HJZ) and Qinhuang 2 (QH). The b* value at different stages of grain development and the content of carotenoids (primarily lutein and zeaxanthin) in foxtail millet grains decreased when the plants were exposed to low UV-B intensity. A total of 3113 and 96 differentially expressed genes were identified in HJZ and QH, respectively, and were found to be associated with the metabolism of tryptophan, starch, and sucrose as well as the biosynthesis of amino acids, which was relatively consistent with the functional annotation of differential metabolites. Furthermore, we evaluated the changes in the expression of seven and eight genes associated with carotenoid and starch metabolism, respectively, in the kernels of foxtail millet exposed to UV-B and found that appropriate UV-B intensity could promote the expression levels of genes involved in carotenoid synthesis and repress the expression of genes involved in carotenoid degradation. This study lays a theoretical foundation for cultivating new foxtail millet varieties with high carotenoid content.

High oxygen concentration oxy-fuel circulating fluidized bed (CFB) combustion technology is a high efficiency and low cost oxy-fuel combustion technology, which also has high potential of optimization and efficiency improvement. In this research, energy efficiency is analysed to acquire the effects of flue gas recirculation mode, preheating temperature and oxygen purity on the net efficiency and energy consumption of the 50% oxy-fuel combustion system, so as to obtain the further optimization strategy. The following results are obtained by simulation. The optimal extraction position of recycled flue gas (RFG) is gas preheater outlet, and the net power generation efficiency increases by 0.23% to 25.08%. As the preheating temperature increases from 230 to 400 °C, the net efficiency increases by 1.19% to 26.04%. The net efficiency increases first then decreases as the oxygen purity at ASU outlet increase from 89% to 97.4%, and the optimal value is the 94%. Finally, the optimal system is obtained when RFG is extracted from gas preheater outlet, the preheating temperature is 400 °C and the oxygen purity at ASU outlet is 94%. The net efficiency of the optimization system reaches 27.4%, increasing by 2.55%.

At present, the preventive effect of ischemic stroke is not ideal, and the preventive drugs are limited. Danshen, the dried root of Salvia miltiorrhiza Bge, is a common medicinal herb in Traditional Chinese Medicine, which has been used for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases for many years. Phenolic Acids extracted from danshen, which showed multiple biological activities, have been developed as an injection for the treatment of ischemic stroke. However, its preventive effect on ischemic stroke has not been fully reported. The current study aimed to identify the potential active phenolic acids for the prevention of ischemic stroke and explore its mechanism using network pharmacology and experimental analyses. The targets of phenolic acids and ischemic stroke were obtained from public databases. Network pharmacology predicted that 35 kinds of phenolic acids had 201 core targets with ischemic stroke. The core prevention targets of ischemic stroke include IL-6, AKT1, VEGFA, etc. The signaling pathways involved in core targets include AGE-RAGE signaling pathway, HIF-1 signaling pathway, and cAMP signaling pathways, etc. Then, the antiplatelet effect of phenolic acids was screened by in vitro antiplatelet experiment. Our results showed that phenolic acids have a good inhibitory effect on ADP-induced platelet aggregation and salvianolic acid A had a good antiplatelet effect. We further demonstrated that SAA preventive administration reduced neurobehavioral scores, decreased infarct size, and protected tight junction proteins in autologous thrombus stroke model. These studies not only shed light on the potential mechanisms of phenolic acids active components on ischemic stroke, but also provided theoretical and experimental information for the development of new medicines from Danshen for the prevention of ischemic stroke. In addition, our results suggest that SAA has the potential to be a candidate for ischemic stroke prevention drug.

Wood plastic composite (WPC) is a green material with an excellent performance, environmental protection and recyclability, and potential in the field of green construction materials. A rheological study of WPC provides a key theoretical basis for mold design, equipment upgrade, production efficiency and quality improvement. In this study, an innovative approach was proposed to analyze the characters of a wood-flour/high-density polyethylene composite with an ultra-high wood-flour content (70 wt%–90 wt%, UWPC) in a shear flow field, including (1) a redesigned shear rheometer that can seal heat and (2) an analysis of the interactions between components in the UWPC by decomposing and calculating the stress during the rheological process. The stress that was generated by the UWPC melt during shearing originated mainly from wood particles and weak interfacial friction, whereas the stress that was generated by the polymer matrix could be ignored. Therefore, the polymer matrix served only to connect the wood particles and transfer stresses. Maleic-anhydride-grafted polyethylene (MAPE) enhanced the UWPC melt system interface, made the system structure more uniform and increased its fluidity. The enhancement effect of MAPE on the weak interface of UWPC melt was calculated quantitatively by calculating and analyzing the weak interfacial friction stress. The MAPE strengthening rate for the weak interface was 72.3%, 81.1% and 91.9% at 130 °C, 150 °C and 170 °C, respectively. These findings can be applied to improve WPC processing and equipment manufacture.

Water flooding development of Chang 6 ultra-low-permeability reservoirs in Ansai lasted for more than 30 years; the front of the water drive has swept the reservoir high permeability zone. As a result, a large amount of residual oil stayed in the reservoir longitudinal low-permeability area. To recover the remaining oil in the low-permeability layers, the fixed-plane perforation fracturing technology is proposed, i.e., using fixed-plane perforation to form a sector stress concentration surface perpendicular to the axis of the wellbore, which makes hydraulic fracture expand radially along the wellbore and control the longitudinal direction of the fracture. Based on the study of residual oil distribution and variation of rock mechanics parameters under long-term injection and production conditions, we simulated and analyzed the effect of fracture initiation under different perforation phases. The optimum perforation phase angle was selected according to the size of the fracture fusion area. According to the fracture simulation under the condition of weak stress difference, the parameters of fracturing operation were optimized with controlling fracture height. A 2-fold increase in ultra-low-permeability reservoir production was achieved by fixed-plane perforation fracturing compared with traditional fracturing technology according to the production data of 78 wells. In this paper, we propose a fixed-plane injection fracturing technique to address the problem of tapping the remaining oil in the longitudinal low-permeability section of the reservoir, which can provide support for tapping the remaining oil in the low-permeability section of the extra-low-permeability reservoir.

Fermented minor grain (MG) foods often have unique nutritional value and functional characteristics, which are important for developing dietary culture worldwide. As a kind of special raw material in fermented food, minor grains have special functional components, such as trace elements, dietary fiber, and polyphenols. Fermented MG foods have excellent nutrients, phytochemicals, and bioactive compounds and are consumed as a rich source of probiotic microbes. Thus, the purpose of this review is to introduce the latest progress in research related to the fermentation products of MGs. Specific discussion is focused on the classification of fermented MG foods and their nutritional and health implications, including studies of microbial diversity, functional components, and probiotic potential. Furthermore, this review discusses how mixed fermentation of grain mixtures is a better method for developing new functional foods to increase the nutritional value of meals based on cereals and legumes in terms of dietary protein and micronutrients.

Groundwater overexploitation and loading of buildings have been the main factors triggering land subsidence along the west coast of Bohai Bay, China, since the 2000s. Uneven subsidence has been causing damage to buildings and civil facilities, loss of elevation, increasing the risk of flood and seawater intrusion, and threatening the safety of people’s lives and property. This paper analyzed the spatial and temporal features of land subsidence along the coastal area from 2003 to 2010 and from 2015 to 2020, respectively. The relations between the initiating factors and land subsidence were explored. Then, the simulation model of land subsidence was constructed through a deep learning method. During the process, multiple data were collected, including land satellite (Landsat), environmental satellite advanced synthetic aperture radar (ENVISAT ASAR) and Sentinel-1 images, leveling data, lithological data, and groundwater level data. The area occupied by buildings and vertical displacement were extracted by using supervised classification, small baseline subset (SBAS), and persistent scatterer interferometry (PSI) technologies. The gated recurrent unit (GRU) neural network was adopted to simulate the evolution of land subsidence. Results showed that the maximum annual vertical displacement rate decreased from −94 mm/yr during 2003–2010 to −87 mm/yr during 2015–2020. The correlation efficiency between the groundwater level of the third confined aquifer group and land subsidence was larger than the area occupied by buildings and the compressible layer thickness with subsidence. The constructed GRU neural network model can simulate subsidence from September 2019 to December 2019, with the overall RMSE and MAE being 3.16 mm and 2.19 mm, respectively. This work can facilitate an understanding of the evolution and prevention of land subsidence along the west coast of Bohai Bay, which will provide information for policy decisions and flood-fighting plans of the worldwide coastal cities.

In this article, we introduce a framework for two-qutrit Werner states tomography with Gaussian noise. The measurement scheme is based on the symmetric, informationally complete positive operator-valued measure. To make the framework realistic, we impose the Gaussian noise on the measured states numbers. Through numerical simulation, we successfully reconstructed the two-qutrit Werner states in various experimental scenarios and analyzed the optimal scenario from four aspects: fidelity, purity, entanglement, and coherence.

Salvianolic acid A (SalA) is an effective compound extracted from traditional Chinese medicine Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge. The Forkhead box O3a (FOXO3a) signaling pathway plays crucial roles in the modulation of ischemia-induced cell apoptosis. However, no information about the regulatory effect of SalA on FoxO3a is available. To explore the anti-cerebral ischemia effect and clarify the therapeutic mechanism of SalA, SH-SY5Y cells and Sprague–Dawley rats were applied, which were exposed to oxygen glucose deprivation/reoxygenation (OGD/R) and middle cerebral artery occlusion/reperfusion (MCAO/R) injuries, respectively. The involved pathway was identified using the specific inhibitor LY294002. Results showed that SalA concentration-dependently inhibited OGD/R injury triggered cell viability loss. SalA reduced cerebral infarction, lowered brain edema, improved neurological function, and inhibited neuron apoptosis in MCAO/R rats, which were attenuated by the treatment of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase (PI3K) specific inhibitor LY294002. SalA time- and concentration-dependently upregulated the phosphorylation levels of protein kinase B (AKT) and its downstream protein FOXO3a. Moreover, the nuclear translocation of FOXO3a was inhibited by SalA both in vivo and in vitro, which was also reversed by LY294002. The above results indicated that SalA fought against ischemia/reperfusion damage at least partially via the AKT/FOXO3a/BIM pathway. KEY WORDS: Salvianolic acid A, Ischemia reperfusion, FOXO3a, BIM, Neuroprotection

With the popularization of integrated circuits, MEMS, and portable electronic devices, chemical batteries have many disadvantages as the main energy supply method, such as large size, high quality, and limited energy supply life, requiring regular replacement, resulting in waste of materials, environmental pollution, and other issues. From the above reasons, energy harvesting technology plays an important role in improving the efficiency and life of electronic equipment. In order to explore the influence of the bimorph piezoelectric vibrator’s structural parameters on the power generation capacity, this paper establishes a cantilever beam rectangular bimorph piezoelectric vibrator power generation model, derives the mathematical expression of the bimorph piezoelectric vibrator power generation, and determines the parameter factors that affect the power generation effect. Using MATLAB simulation analysis to obtain the influence relationship curve of system output voltage and structural parameters, the experiment tests the influence law of output voltage and thickness ratio, width-to-length ratio, and Young’s modulus ratio; the test results are consistent with the theoretical analysis, verifying the theory and the correctness of the analysis. The results show that when the thickness ratio is 0.58 and the width-to-length ratio is 1, the power generation effect of the piezoelectric vibrator is the best to reach 14.5V; the power generation capacity of the transducer is inversely proportional to Young’s modulus ratio. This research provides a new idea for the popularization of integrated circuits, MEMS, and portable electronic devices.

Lignin nanoparticles (LNP) were obtained by an acidolysis process from corn pristine lignin. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and radical scavenging activity (RSA) of the free radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) confirmed a significant enhancement in reactivity of LNP in comparison with pristine lignin. Polyurethane (PU) nanocomposites were prepared by pre-polymerization of polyethylene glycol and diisocyanates in the presence of different contents (1, 3, 5 and 7 wt%) of LNP. The effects of LNP, serving as both biobased polyol and crosslinker, on the mechanical, hydrophobicity and dielectric behavior of the resulted PU nanocomposites were investigated. Tensile test results showed an overall enhancement for mechanical performance, and the elongation at break exceeded 1000% for all studied PU nanocomposites. Meanwhile, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) revealed that the crosslinking densities gradually increased with LNP addition. Furthermore, LNP based PU nanocomposites showed inherent resistance towards ultraviolet radiation and frequency dependent behavior for electrical conductivity. On the other hand, LNP based PU nanocomposites revealed good thermal reprocessability due to the transcarbamoylation reaction in the presence of DBTDL catalyst.

The preparation of bio-composites based on engineering plastic is always restricted by the low thermal stability of lignocellulose. In this study, the thermal stability of lignocellulose was improved by boric acid modification. Then, the borated lignocellulose was characterized to analyze the mechanism of involved in the improvement of thermal stability. Furthermore, the untreated and borated lignocellulose was combined with polyamide 6 to produce bio-composites. The effects of lignocellulose content and boric acid modification on the color, thermal stability and mechanical properties of the resulting composites were compared and analyzed. Boric acid protected lignocellulose from thermal degradation, increasing the lightness of the resulting composites. However, boric acid appeared to have a negative effect on the mechanical strength of the resulting composites. In summary, this study demonstrated that bio-composites based on engineering plastic could be prepared by improving the thermal stability of lignocellulose using a boric acid treatment.

A set of 132 accessions of common millet, Panicum miliaceum L., from 12 provinces of China were assessed for endosperm starch type (waxy or non-waxy) using I2-KI staining, amylose and amylopectin contents using the dual-wavelength colorimetric method, and genotype of Waxy genes conditioning amylose content by gene sequencing. Endosperm starch content varied from 57.69% to 74.70%, while the amylose and amylopectin contents of the starch ranged from 0 to 23.29% and from 41.99% to 70.24%, respectively. Sequencing two Wx genes, including Wx-L (intron 5-exon 7 and intron 8–9) and Wx-S (exon 9–intron 10) revealed several polymorphisms (S0, S−15, LC, LF, LY). Marker M5-R11 linking to the Wx-S gene may be used to discriminate waxy common millet accessions from non-waxy ones. Among the 132 accessions, 68 with the S−15 allele had waxy endosperm starch with the amylose content range 0–2.58% and 64 accessions with the S0 allele had non-waxy endosperm starch with amylose content range 3.94%–23.29%. Five genotypes including S−15/LF (45% of the accessions), S0/LF (25%), S0/LY (12%), S0/LC (11%), and S−15/LY (7%) were identified. Six new SNPs were detected at the Wx-L locus. These results will facilitate common millet breeding, especially of cultivars free of amylose. Keywords: Common millet, Waxy gene, SNP, Starch

This paper describes the design of a piezoelectric-driven hydraulically amplified Braille-flexible bump device that enables the flexible formation of Braille characters. A piezoelectric vibrator is used to excite fluid resonance in a cavity, and displacement is realized by compressing the fluid, allowing Braille character dots to be formed. First, the structural design and working principle of the device, as well as the method used to drive the fluid, are explained. Expressions for the output displacement and amplification ratio of the flexible film and piezoelectric vibrator are then obtained through kinetic analysis of the system unit. Subsequently, the structural parameters that affect the output displacement and the liquid amplification are described. Finally, experimental tests of the system are explained. The results indicate that the output displacement of the contact formed by the flexible film reaches 0.214 mm, satisfying the requirements of the touch sensitivity standard for the blind, when the fluid cavity diameter measures 31 mm and the resonance frequency is 375.4 Hz. The corresponding water discharge is 8.8 mL. This study proves that constructing a Braille bump device in this way is both feasible and effective.

A novel wood particle/polypropylene/elastomer composites with good impact resistance and stiffness was prepared by adding elastomer-olefin block copolymer (OBC) and grafting maleic anhydride (MAH) on polypropylene/OBC blends. The grafted MAH greatly improved the interfacial interaction among polypropylene, OBC, and wood particle, resulting in an enhanced impact resistance, stiffness and dimensional stability of the resulting composites. The modified matrix and their composites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, mechanical tests, and dynamic mechanical analysis. The results confirmed that with 60 wt% wood particles loading, the synergistic interactions between OBC blending and MAH grafting improved the impact strength of the MAH-grafted blends/wood particle composites by 49%, with stiffness comparable that of the MAH-grafted polypropylene/wood particle composites. The composites modified with MAH also revealed an enhanced interfacial adhesion among polypropylene, OBC, and wood particles, as evidenced by dimensional stability tests, dynamic mechanical analysis, and morphology observation. Keywords: Polymer-matrix composites, Graft modification, Interface, Fracture toughness, Plastic deformation

Broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is one of the oldest domesticated crops and has been grown in arid and semiarid areas in China since 10,000 cal. BP. However, limited information is available about how bacterial communities within the rhizosphere of different broomcorn millet cultivars respond to drought stress. Here, we characterized the changes in the rhizobacterial assemblages of two broomcorn millet cultivars, namely, P. miliaceum cv. HeQu Red (HQR) and P. miliaceum YanLi 10 (YL10), from the jointing stage to the grain filling stage after they were exposed to a short-term drought stress treatment at the seedling stage. Drought significantly inhibited the growth of both cultivars, but the effect on YL10 was higher than that on HQR, indicating that the drought tolerance of HQR was greater than that of YL10. Proteobacteria (33.8%), Actinobacteria (21.0%), Acidobacteria (10.7%), Bacteroidetes (8.2%), Chloroflexi (6.3%), Gemmatimonadetes (5.9%), Firmicutes (3.5%), Verrucomicrobia (2.9%), and Planctomycetes (2.7%) were the core bacterial components of broomcorn millet rhizosphere as suggested by 16S rDNA sequencing results. The diversity and composition of bacterial rhizosphere communities substantially varied at different developmental stages of broomcorn millet. As the plants matured, the richness and evenness of the rhizobacterial community significantly decreased. Principal coordinate analysis showed that the structure of the bacterial rhizosphere community changed notably only at the flowering stage between the two cultivars, suggesting a stage-dependent effect. Although drought stress had no significant effect on the diversity and structure of the bacterial rhizosphere community between the two cultivars, differential responses to drought was found in Actinobacteria and Acinetobacter, Lysobacter, Streptomyces, and Cellvibrio. The relative abundance of Actinobacteria and Lysobacter, Streptomyces, and Cellvibrio in the YL10 rhizosphere was stimulated by the drought treatment compared with that in the HQR rhizosphere, whereas the opposite effect was found in Acinetobacter. Our results suggested that the effects of cultivars on bacterial rhizosphere communities were highly dependent on plant developmental stage, reflecting the genetic variations in the two broomcorn millet cultivars.

Panicum miliaceum is the most important and ancient domesticated crops in the world. The complete chloroplast genome of P. miliaceum was sequenced using the Illumina Hiseq platform (Illumina Inc., San Diego, CA). The chloroplast genome of P. miliaceum was 139,929 bp in length, with 38.60% GC content. It contains a pair of inverted repeats (IRs) (22,723 bp) which were separated by a large single copy (LSC) (81,918 bp) and a small single copy region (SSC) (12,565 bp). A total of 132 genes were annotated, which included 84 protein coding genes, 40 tRNA genes and eight rRNA genes. The neighbour-joining (NJ) phylogenetic analysis with the reported chloroplast genomes showed that P. miliaceum chloroplasts are most closely related to those of the Gramineae family.

The objective of this study was to determine rheological behaviors of maple veneer plastic composite (MVPC) prepared by full cell preparation technology through the use of a rotational rheometer. The results showed that at 25 to 105 °C, the storage modulus G' and loss modulus G'' of the MVPC were apparently higher than that of the control. In the range 105 to 210 °C, the storage modulus G' of the MVPC was basically the same as that of the control, and the loss modulus G'' was slightly higher than that of the control. At 105 °C, the Tanδ curve of the MVPC had an obvious peak, which indicated that the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the MVPC was about 105 °C. The rheological behavior of the MVPC with different impregnation weight gain rates showed that the MVPC with a 55% impregnation weight gain rate had higher G', G'', and Tanδ.

Enzymatic hydrolysis (EH) lignin was modified with formaldehyde. TG-DSC and PY-GC-MS analysis methods were adopted to characterize the differences between EH lignin and the modified lignin. The modified lignin was then mixed with wood sawdust and made into a lignin-based composite under the following conditions: pressure of 2 to 5 MPa, temperature of 175 to 190 oC, and the modified lignin dosage of 20% to 70%. The effects of pressure, temperature, and the modified lignin dosage on the properties of the composites were also evaluated. The pressure of 2 MPa was not enough to make a strong composite, and the composite with low dosage of modified lignin could not resist water, which signifies pressure and the ratio of modified lignin to sawdust are vital factors. Temperatures of 175 oC and 190 oC did not make much difference to change the mechanical properties of the composites. The composites which were made under 3 MPa, 180 oC, and the ratio of 1:1 modified lignin to wood sawdust was of fair quality. The samples made with the modified lignin dosage of 70% under 2MPa at 180 oC for 10min showed a low thickness swelling and low rates of water absorption from humid air and liquid water. Their free formaldehyde contents were also low and met Grade 2 in the national standard of China.