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In our previous study, three TaPSK genes highly expressed in the roots of wheat were screened. To explore the effects of adverse stresses on the wheat root phenotype and the expression of TaPSK3, TaPSK9 and TaPSK10, we measured the phenotypic parameters of the JM22 root system at the seedling stage after treatment with different concentrations of NaCl and PEG6000. Additionally, the relative expression levels of TaPSK3, TaPSK9, and TaPSK10 were analyzed via RT-qPCR within 72 h of treatment with 150 mM NaCl and 30% PEG6000. The results revealed that drought and salt stress significantly inhibited phenotypic parameters such as total root length, root surface area, root biomass distribution estimation and root tip number in wheat. Notably, salt stress causes wheat roots to germinate more root hairs. The expression of TaPSK3 did not change significantly during salt stress but was upregulated approximately five-fold at 12 h of drought stress. The gene expression levels of TaPSK9 and TaPSK10 were upregulated to varying degrees but gradually returned to normal at 72 h. These results show that when wheat encounters stresses, the expression of TaPSK genes is upregulated to promote root growth and ensure the normal growth and development of plants. This study provides data and theoretical support for further study of TaPSK gene function and cultivation of high-quality wheat plants with strong stress resistance.

This paper presents a fault diagnosis method for a vacuum contactor using the generalized Stockwell transform (GST) of vibration signals. The objective is to solve the problem of low diagnostic performance efficiency caused by the inadequate feature extraction capability and the redundant pixels in the graph background. The proposed method is based on the time-frequency graph optimization technique and ShuffleNetV2 network. Firstly, vibration signals in different states are collected and converted into GST time-frequency graphs. Secondly, multi-resolution GST time-frequency graphs are generated to cover signal characteristics in all frequency bands by adjusting the GST Gaussian window width factor λ. The OTSU algorithm is then combined to crop the energy concentration area, and the size of these time-frequency graphs is optimized by 68.86%. Finally, considering the advantages of the channel split and channel shuffle methods, the ShuffleNetV2 network is adopted to improve the feature learning ability and identify fault categories. In this paper, the CKJ5-400/1140 vacuum contactor is taken as the test object. The fault recognition accuracy reaches 99.74%, and the single iteration time of model training is reduced by 19.42%.

Powdery mildew of wheat is a destructive disease seriously threatening yield and quality worldwide. Comprehensive dissection of new resistance-related loci/genes is necessary to control this disease. LS5082 is a Chinese wheat breeding line with resistance to powdery mildew. Genetic analysis, using the populations of LS5082 and three susceptible parents (Shannong 29, Shimai 22 and Huixianhong), indicated that a single dominant gene, tentatively designated PmLS5082, conferred seedling resistance to different Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt) isolates. Bulked segregant RNA-Seq was carried out to map PmLS5082 and to profile differentially expressed genes associated with PmLS5082. PmLS5082 was mapped to a 0.7 cM genetic interval on chromosome arm 2BL, which was aligned to a 0.7 Mb physical interval of 710.3–711.0 Mb. PmLS5082 differs from the known powdery mildew (Pm) resistance genes on chromosome arm 2BL based on their origin, chromosome positions and/or resistance spectrum, suggesting PmLS5082 is most likely a new Pm gene/allele. Through clusters of orthologous groups and kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes analyses, differentially expressed genes (DEGs) associated with PmLS5082 were profiled. Six DEGs in the PmLS5082 interval were confirmed to be associated with PmLS5082 via qPCR analysis, using an additional set of wheat samples and time-course analysis post-inoculation with Bgt isolate E09. Ten closely linked markers, including two kompetitive allele-specific PCR markers, were confirmed to be suitable for marker-assisted selection of PmLS5082 in different genetic backgrounds, thus can be used to detect PmLS5082 and pyramid it with other genes in breeding programs.

The subtilisin-like protease (SBT) family is widely known for its role in stress resistance to a number of stressors in different plant species, but is rarely studied in wheat. Subtilisin-like serine proteases (SBTs) are serine proteolytic enzymes that hydrolyze proteins into small peptides, which bind to receptors as signal molecules or ligands and participate in signal transduction. In this study, we identified 255 putative SBT genes from the wheat reference genome and then divided these into seven clades. Subsequently, we performed syntenic relation analysis, exon-intron organization, motif composition, and cis-element analysis. Further, expression analysis based on RNA-seq and tissue-specific expression patterns revealed that TaSBT gene family expression has multiple intrinsic functions during various abiotic and biotic stresses. Analysis of RNA-seq expression assays and further validation through qRT PCR suggested that some of the TaSBT genes have significant changes in expression levels during Pst interaction. TaSBT7, TaSBT26, TaSBT102, and TaSBT193 genes showed increasing expression levels during compatible and non-compatible interactions, while the expression levels of TaSBT111 and TaSBT213 showed a decreasing trend, indicating that these members of the wheat SBT gene family may have a role in wheat’s defense against pathogens. In conclusion, these results expand our understanding of the SBT gene family, and provide a valuable reference for future research on the stress resistance function and comprehensive data of wheat SBT members.

Abstract Temperature and humidity are the main factors that cause the decomposition of Nomex paper widely used as turn‐to‐turn insulation material of mining dry‐type transformers. In this study, for understanding the effect of ambient humidity and thermal aging on the properties of Nomex paper, specimens with the initial moisture content of 7% were aged in the oven for 168, 504, 672 h at 180°C, respectively. After thermal aging, corona discharge experiments of unaged and aged specimens with different aging degrees were carried out at different relative humidity (RH) levels from 10 to 70%. The characteristic parameters of corona discharge, such as the average discharge amplitude and the number of discharges, were measured. Then, the surface conductivity and the surface potential decay rate were measured. The morphology and attenuated total internal reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were also analysed for explaining the difference of properties between unaged and aged specimens. The experiment results indicate that the average discharge amplitude decreases with the increase of RH or the deepening of the aging degree of specimens, but the number of discharges shows the reversal tendency. The changes in the physical structure and chemical composition, which is induced by the hydrolysis reaction of Nomex paper, accelerate the surface potential decay and increase the surface conductivity.

The Measurement-While-Drilling (MWD) system, composed of a tri-axial magnetometer and a tri-axial accelerometer, is widely used in the Horizontal Directional Drilling machine in coal mines. This system can provide attitude information of each measuring point in the borehole, which will eventually allow the trajectory of the borehole to be drawn. The attitude information, however, showed a low-level accuracy, due to the sensor’s imperfection and mounting errors. The accuracy worsened when low-cost sensors were employed, as they had higher random noise. Therefore, an exploration of ways to eliminate the sensor imperfection and mounting tolerance as well as to suppress the noise is needed. In this paper, a feasible calibration approach was designed to address these issues. This new approach combined three foundational calibration algorithms, including the ellipsoidal fitting method, the planar fitting method, and the inner product invariance method. The traditional ellipsoidal fitting method and planar fitting method were optimized by using the recursive least square criterion and omitting the steps of sample data acquisition, respectively. In addition, the noise suppression method was involved in our approach to improve the calibration accuracy. The numerical simulation results showed that the number of sampling points decreased significantly, but the accuracy of the azimuthal angle and the pitch angle fully met the engineering requirements. The experimental results showed that the pitch angle error was reduced by less than 0.5°, and the azimuth error was also reduced by less than 2.5°. It should be noted that this new approach could be implemented without the help of other expensive auxiliary equipment.

As important power cables for the mining mobile equipment, such as mining shearers, ethylene propylene rubber (EPR) cables often suffer from the combining effect of various stresses on site. In order to evaluate the aging state of EPR insulation, the paper carried out the multi-stress accelerated aging test on the insulation of coal mining flexible EPR cables. The infrared spectrum, elongation at break and polarization and depolarization current of cable insulation samples were measured. The insulation state of EPR cable was evaluated by using the aging factor obtained from isothermal relaxation current. Based on the failure standard of 50% elongation at break, the life formula of EPR insulation was deduced. The experimental and analytical results show that the tiny air gap was torn to the larger air gap under the mechanical stress, which leads to the increase of oxygen infiltration and promotes the thermo-oxygen reaction. The fracture energy of EPR decreases, and mechanical aging is accelerated. Aging factor and elongation at break can indicates the deterioration degree of EPR insulation. Based on the least square method and Arrhenius equation, the service life of the insulation of coal mining flexible EPR cables is deduced.

In the traditional shearer-positioning method, an odometer is used to assist the forward velocity correction of the inertial navigation system, but it cannot restrain the system’s error divergence. For this reason, this paper proposes a shearer positioning method based on non-holonomic constraints. In this method, an inertial measurement unit and odometer are installed in the middle of the shearer body and on the traction gear, respectively, the shearer attitude, speed, and position information are calculated through the inertial measurement-unit mechanization, and the shearer’s instantaneous velocity is calculated through the output of the odometer. The mechanization and error transfer process of the inertial navigation system are used to establish a Kalman filtering-state equation. The Kalman filtering observation equation is established through the difference between the projected velocity of the inertial navigation system at the joint and the output velocity of the odometer as the observation vector, and the non-holonomic constraint is introduced. Finally, the error feedback is derived from the results processed by the Kalman filtering algorithm, and the output of the inertial navigation system is corrected to obtain the optimal estimation of the shearer’s attitude, speed and position. The experiment shows that compared with the traditional inertial navigation and odometer combined positioning method, the degree of divergence in the positioning results over time is significantly reduced after adding the non-holonomic constraint. The positioning method has good tracking ability for the trajectory of the shearer. The error of the positioning results in the forward direction is reduced by 66%, the lateral direction is reduced by 62%, and the vertical direction is reduced by 67%.

ObjectiveIntracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is a subtype of stroke with high mortality and morbidity rates. Our aim was to comprehensively analyze transcriptome and proteome in an experimental ICH model.MethodsAll mice were divided into ICH model (n = 3) and sham groups (n = 3). ICH was induced by collagenase VII. The ipsilateral hemisphere was used for whole transcriptome and proteomics resequencing. After preprocessing, differentially expressed lncRNAs (DElncRNAs), mRNAs (DEmRNAs), miRNAs (DEmiRNAs), and DEproteins between ICH and sham groups were identified. Functional enrichment analysis was performed using the clusterProfiler package, followed by protein–protein interaction (PPI) analysis. After that, the Pearson correlation coefficient between DEmRNAs and DElncRNAs or between DEmRNAs and DEproteins was calculated. DElncRNAs with similar functions were analyzed by the GOSemSim package. After prediction of DEmiRNA–DEmRNA and DElncRNA–DEmiRNA relationships, a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) network was constructed. Several DEmRNAs and DElncRNAs were validated in ipsilateral hemisphere tissues of the ICH model and control groups using RT-qPCR and western blot.ResultsBetween the ICH and sham groups, 31 DElncRNAs, 367 DEmRNAs, 35 DEmiRNAs, and 96 DEproteins were identified. DEmRNAs were mainly enriched in inflammation, such as cytokine–cytokine receptor interaction, IL-17, and TNF signaling pathways. A PPI network of DEmRNAs was constructed and hub genes were identified, such as IL6 (degree = 59), TNF (degree = 44), and CXCR2 (degree = 39). 24 DElncRNAs with similar functions were identified, including 15 up- and 9 down-regulated lncRNAs. After integration of DEmiRNA–DEmRNA and DElncRNA–DEmiRNA relationships, we constructed a ceRNA network, composed of 71 DEmRNAs, 17 DEmiRNAs, and 12 DElncRNAs. RT-qPCR and western blot results confirmed that C3, Fga, and Slc4a1 proteins were more lowly expressed and Penk was more highly expressed in ICH than control groups, which could become potential markers for ICH.ConclusionOur findings identified ICH-related DE-RNAs and proteins and potential molecular mechanisms of ICH by transcriptome resequencing and quantitative proteomic analyses.

BackgroundImmune checkpoints target regulatory pathways in T cells that enhance antitumor immune responses and elicit durable clinical responses. As a novel immune checkpoint, CD96 is an attractive key target for cancer immunotherapy. However, there has been no integrative investigation of CD96 in glioma. Our study explored the relationship between CD96 expression and clinical prognosis in glioma.MethodsRNA and clinical data for a total of 1,001 samples were included in this study, including 325 samples from the Chinese Glioma Genome Atlas (CGGA) database and 676 samples from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. The R programming language was employed to perform statistical analysis and draw figures.ResultsCD96 had a consistently positive relationship with glioblastoma and was highly enriched in IDH-wildtype and mesenchymal subtype glioma. Gene ontology enrichment and gene set variation analysis analyses suggested that CD96 was mostly involved in immune functions and was especially related to T cell-mediated immune response in glioma. Subsequent immune infiltration analysis showed that CD96 was positively correlated with infiltrating levels of CD4 + T and CD8 + T cells, macrophages, neutrophils, and DCs in glioblastoma multiforme and low-grade glioma. Additionally, CD96 was tightly associated with other immune checkpoints, including PD-1, CTLA-4, TIGIT, and TIM-3. Univariate and multivariate Cox analysis demonstrated that CD96 acts as an independent indicator of poor prognosis in glioma.ConclusionCD96 expression was increased in malignant phenotype and negatively associated with overall survival in glioma. CD96 also showed a positive correlation with other immune checkpoints, immune response, and inflammatory activity. Our findings indicate that CD96 is a promising clinical target for further immunotherapeutic use in glioma patients.

Wheat powdery mildew, caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt), is one of the most destructive fungal diseases threatening global wheat production. Host resistance is well known to be the most efficient method to control this disease. However, the molecular mechanism of wheat powdery mildew resistance (Pm) is still unclear. To analyze the molecular mechanism of Pm, we used the resistant wheat cultivar Jimai 23 to investigate its potential resistance components and profiled its expression in response to powdery mildew infection using bulked segregant RNA-Seq (BSR-Seq). We showed that the Pm of Jimai 23 was provided by a single dominant gene, tentatively designated PmJM23, and assigned it to the documented Pm2 region of chromosome 5DS. 3,816 consistently different SNPs were called between resistant and susceptible parents and the bulked pools derived from the combinations between the resistant parent Jimai23 and the susceptible parent Tainong18. 58 of the SNPs were assigned to the candidate region of PmJM23. Subsequently, 3,803 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between parents and bulks were analyzed by GO, COG and KEGG pathway enrichment. The temporal expression patterns of associated genes following Bgt inoculation were further determined by RT-qPCR. Expression of six disease-related genes was investigated during Bgt infection and might serve as valuable genetic resources for the improvement of durable resistance to Bgt.

Powdery mildew infection of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), caused by Blumeria graminis f. sp. tritici (Bgt), is a destructive disease that threatens yield and quality worldwide. The most effective and preferred means for the control of the disease is to identify broad-spectrum resistance genes for breeding, especially the genes derived from elite cultivars that exhibit desirable agronomic traits. Jimai 23 is a Chinese wheat cultivar with superior agronomic performance, high-quality characteristics, and effective resistance to powdery mildew at all growth stages. Genetic analysis indicated that powdery mildew resistance in Jimai 23 was mediated by a single dominant gene, tentatively designated PmJM23. Using bulked segregant RNA-Seq (BSR-Seq), a series of markers was developed and used to map PmJM23. PmJM23 was then located at the Pm2 locus on the short arm of chromosome 5D (5DS). Resistance spectrum analysis demonstrated that PmJM23 provided a broad resistance spectrum different from that of the documented Pm2 alleles, indicating that PmJM23 is most likely a new allele of Pm2. In view of these combined agronomic, quality, and resistance findings, PmJM23 is expected to be a valuable resistance gene in wheat breeding. To efficiently use PmJM23 in breeding, the closely linked markers of PmJM23 were evaluated and confirmed to be applicable for marker-assisted selection (MAS). Using these markers, a series of resistant breeding lines with high resistance and desirable agronomic performance was selected from the crosses involving PmJM23, resulting in improved powdery mildew resistance of these lines.

Using plant growth regulators to alter cytokinin homeostasis with the aim of enhancing endogenous cytokinin levels has been proposed as a strategy to increase yields in wheat and barley. The plant growth regulators INCYDE and CPPU inhibit the cytokinin degrading enzyme cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase (CKX), while TD-K inhibits the process of senescence. We report that the application of these plant growth regulators in wheat and barley field trials failed to enhance yields, or change the components of yields. Analyses of the endogenous cytokinin content showed a high concentration of trans-zeatin (tZ) in both wheat and barley grains at four days after anthesis, and statistically significant, but probably biologically insignificant, increases in cisZ-O-glucoside, along with small decreases in cZ riboside (cZR), dihydro Z (DHZ), and DHZR and DHZOG cytokinins, following INCYDE application to barley at anthesis. We discuss possible reasons for the lack of efficacy of the three plant growth regulators under field conditions and comment on future approaches to manipulating yield in the light of the strong homeostatic mechanisms controlling endogenous cytokinin levels.

During operation of high voltage (HV) motors, different types of discharges, e.g. surface discharge, corona discharge and bar-to-bar discharge can occur at the same time, increasing the difficulty of partial discharge (PD) sources determination and PDs pattern identification. In this study, the end-winding of a 10 kV motor coil was artificially aged and the related PD was measured. The initiation and variation of different PDs under multi-factor stresses were studied. The localised fingerprints coexisting with multiple PDs were identified and analysed. The results confirm that the end-winding discharge process was significantly influenced by the experiment relative humidity (RH) and temperature. The bar-to-bar discharge was easily recognised at a lower voltage since the identification of bar-to-bar discharge pattern would be affected by the corona discharge pattern at a higher voltage. It is shown that it is more difficult for the corona discharge to be detected when RH exceeded 80%, while the surface discharge dominated at the higher RH. In addition, the PDs were more easily identified with the rise of the temperature. This study can provide a reference in PD identification test and be useful for the PD online monitoring of HV motors.

Virulent strains of Rhodococcus fascians cause a range of disease symptoms, many of which can be mimicked by application of cytokinin. Both virulent and avirulent strains produce a complex of cytokinins, most of which can be derived from tRNA degradation. To test the three current hypotheses regarding the involvement of cytokinins as virulence determinants, we used PCR to detect specific genes, previously associated with a linear virulence plasmid, including two methyl transferase genes (mt1 and mt2) and fas4 (dimethyl transferase), of multiple strains of R. fascians. We inoculated Pisum sativum (pea) seeds with virulent and avirulent strains of R. fascians, monitored the plants over time and compared these to mock-inoculated controls. We used RT-qPCR to monitor the expression of mt1, mt2, and fas4 in inoculated tissues and LC-MS/MS to obtain a comprehensive picture of the cytokinin complement of inoculated cotyledons, roots and shoots over time. The presence and expression of mt1 and mt2 was associated with those strains of R. fascians classed as virulent, and not those classed as avirulent. Expression of mt1, mt2, and fas4 peaked at 9 days post-inoculation (dpi) in cotyledons and at 15 dpi in shoots and roots developed from seeds inoculated with virulent strain 602. Pea plants inoculated with virulent and avirulent strains of R. fascians both contained cytokinins likely to have been derived from tRNA turnover including the 2-methylthio cytokinins and cis-zeatin-derivatives. Along with the isopentenyladenine-type cytokinins, the levels of these compounds did not correlate with virulence. Only the novel 1- and 2-methylated isopentenyladenine cytokinins were uniquely associated with infection by the virulent strains and are, therefore, the likely causative factors of the disease symptoms.

Wireless power transfer (WPT) is becoming popular increasingly in stationary electric vehicle (EV) charging. Various coil structures were proposed to improve the coupling characteristics, and polarized couplers have been proven to have better performance. Considering the varying spatial scales of transmitting and receiving, coils will alter the mutual inductance, further affecting the output power and transmission efficiency; therefore, it is crucial to calculate the mutual inductance of polarized couplers with variable offset for WPT system design. However, given the complex structure and the various excitation conditions of polarized couplers, the solving process based on the finite element model is time-consuming and resource intensive, therefore it is necessary to develop analytical models of mutual inductance for polarized couplers under misalignment. In this paper, the analytical models of the two commonly used polarized couplers with a Double-D polarized coil (DDP) or a Bipolar polarized coil (BP) on both sides under misalignment along any direction under different excitation conditions are proposed based on dual Fourier transformation. The mutual inductance characteristics of the two polarized couplers under misalignment can be investigated based on the proposed analytical models and finite element models, respectively. The results show that the mutual inductance of BP-BP coupler with in-phase current excitation mode is greater and more stable, and the method based on the analytical model is timesaving. Finally, the prototype of the WPT system with the two polarized couplers has been built, and experiments have also been carried out to verify the accuracy of the analytical models.

Modifying the cytokinin content in plants is a means of improving plant productivity. Here, we report the development and biological activity of compound TD-K (1-(furan-2-ylmethyl)-3-(1,2,3-thiadiazol-5-yl)urea)which is related to thidiazuron. TD-K—which exhibited extremely high antisenescence activity in the wheat leaf bioassay—and INCYDE (2-chloro-6-(3-methoxyphenyl)aminopurine)—a plant growth regulator reported to inhibit cytokinin oxidase/dehydrogenase (CKX), an enzyme involved in the degradation of the plant hormone cytokinin—were selected for investigation of their effects on the model plant Rapid Cycling Brassica rapa (RCBr). We monitored the expression of BrCKX and isopentenyl transferase (BrIPT), which codes for the key cytokinin biosynthesis enzyme, in developing leaves following INCYDE and TD-K application. Growth room experiments revealed that INCYDE increased RCBr seed yield per plant, but only when applied multiple times and when grown in 5 mM KNO3. Expression in control leaves showed transient, high levels of expression of BrCKX and BrIPT at true leaf appearance. Following INCYDE application, there was a rapid and strong upregulation of BrCKX3, and a transient downregulation of BrIPT1 and BrIPT3. Interestingly, the upregulation of BrCKX3 persisted in a milder form throughout the course of the experiment (16 days). TD-K also upregulated BrCKX3. However, in contrast to INCYDE, this effect disappeared after two days. These results suggest that both compounds (CKX inhibitor and cytokinin TD-K) influenced cytokinin homeostasis in RCBr leaves, but with different mechanisms.

Mast flowering is synchronised highly variable flowering by a population of perennial plants over a wide geographical area. High seeding years are seen as a threat to native and endangered species due to high predator density caused by the abundance of seed. An understanding of the molecular pathways that influence masting behaviour in plants could provide better prediction of a forthcoming masting season and enable conservation strategies to be deployed. The goal of this study was to identify candidate flowering genes that might be involved in regulating mast flowering. To achieve this, high-throughput large-scale RNA-sequencing was performed on two masting plant species, Celmisia lyallii (Asteraceae), and Chionochloa pallens (Poaceae) to develop a reference transcriptome for functional and molecular analysis. An average total of 33 million 150 base-paired reads, for both species, were assembled using the Trinity pipeline, resulting in 151,803 and 348,649 transcripts respectively for C. lyallii and C. pallens. For both species, about 56% of the unigenes were annotated with gene descriptions to known proteins followed by Gene Ontology analysis, categorising them on the basis of putative biological processes, molecular function, and cellular localization. A total of 543 transcripts from C. lyallii and 470 transcripts from C. pallens were also mapped to unique flowering-time proteins identified in Arabidopsis thaliana, suggesting the conservation of the flowering network in these wild alpine plants growing in natural field conditions. Expression analysis of several selected homologous flowering-pathway genes showed seasonal and photoperiodic variations. These genes can further be analysed to understand why seasonal cues, such as the increasing photoperiod in spring, that triggers the annual flowering of most plants, are insufficient to always trigger flowering in masting plants and to uncover the molecular basis of how additional cues (such as temperature during the previous growing seasons) then determines flowering in mast years.

Cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) has been widely used as cable insulation material because of its excellent dielectric properties, thermal stability and solvent resistance. To understand the influence of thermal aging on AC leakage current in XLPE insulation, all XLPE specimens were aged in oven in temperature range from 120 °C to 150 °C, and a series of tests were conducted on these XLPE specimens in different aging stages to measure the characteristic parameters, such as complex permittivity, leakage current and complex dielectric modulus. In the experiments, the effects of thermal aging, temperature and frequency on the AC leakage current in XLPE insulation were studied by analyzing complex dielectric constant and dielectric relaxation modulus spectrum, the change of relaxation peak and activation energy. It has been found that the active part of leakage current increases sharply with the increase of aging degree, and the test temperature and frequency have an influence on AC leakage current but the influence of test temperature is mainly reflected in the low frequency region. In addition, it has been shown by the experiments that the reactive part of leakage current exhibits a strong frequency dependent characteristic in the testing frequency range from 10-2 Hz to 105 Hz, but the influence of test temperature and thermal aging on it is relatively small.

Gene editing is becoming the plant breeding tool of choice, but prior to targeting a gene for editing, a knowledge of the gene family members (GFMs) controlling yield is required in the specific crop plant. Critical to yield are components from senescing leaves. We targeted genes controlling senescence in Pisum sativum and the release and transport of carbohydrates and amino acids from the source leaves to the pods and seeds. The expression of GFMs for cytokinin biosynthesis (IPT) and destruction (CKX), sucrose transporters (SUT), Sugar Will Eventually be Exported Transporters (SWEET), amino acid permeases (AAP), and cell wall invertases, was determined using RT-qPCR. GFMs were differentially expressed in leaves of different ages. The expression of many gene family members was lower in the expanding sink leaves compared with the senescing leaves, with the exception of two PsAAP GFMs and PsCKX5, which were highly expressed. Expression of specific PsSWEETs, SUTs, and AAPs increased in the mature and/or senescing leaves. Expression of PsIPTs was least in the mature source leaves, but as strong in the senescing leaves as in the young source leaves. PsCKX7 was expressed in source and senescing leaves. We discuss the potential impact of the targeted reduction of specific PsCKX GFMs on source-sink relationships.

In large-scale networks, the structure of the underlying network changes frequently, and thus the power iteration method for Personalized PageRank computation cannot deal with this kind of dynamic network efficiently. In this paper, we design a Monte Carlo-based incremental method for Personalized PageRank computation. In a dynamic network, first, we do a random walk starting from each node and save the performed walks into a fingerprint database; second, we update the fingerprint database in a fixed time interval with our proposed update algorithm; finally, when a query is issued by a user, we estimate the Personalized PageRank vector by our proposed approximation algorithm. Experiments on real-world networks show that our method can handle multichanges of the underlying network at a time and is more efficient than related work, so it can be used in real incremental Personalized PageRank-based applications.