Orchids (Cymbidium spp.) exhibit significant variations in floral morphology, pollinator relations, and ecological habitats. Due to their exceptional economic and ornamental value, Cymbidium spp. ...have been commercially cultivated for centuries. SSR markers are extensively used genetic tools for biology identification and population genetics analysis. In this study, nine polymorphic EST-SSR loci were isolated from Cymbidium goeringii using RNA-Seq technology. All nine SSR loci showed transferability in seven other congeneric species, including 51 cultivars. The novel SSR markers detected inter-species gene flow among the Cymbidium species and intra-species sub-division of C. goeringii and C. ensifolium, as revealed by neighborhood-joining and Structure clustering analyses. In this study, we developed nine microsatellites using RNA-Seq technology. These SSR markers aided in detecting potential gene flow among Cymbidium species and identified the intra-species sub-division of C. goeringii and C. ensifolium.
Abstract
Ophiocordyceps sinensis (syn. Cordyceps sinensis), a traditional Chinese medicine called DongChongXiaCao (DCXC) in Chinese, is well known and has been used in Asia countries since the ...fifteenth century, and it contains some valuable medicinal component defined by modern pharmacological science. DCXC only appears at high altitudes on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Consequently, it is difficult to find and harvest. Because of its rarity and medicinal value, DCXC has always been one of the most expensive medicines known. As the price of DCXC has risen in recent years, thousands of migrants have entered into the various grasslands to search for them in season, which makes ecological environments of the grassland more fragile. In order to relieve the environmental pressures and protect this valuable resource, the artificial cultivation of DCXC involving two aspects of the genus Hepialus and the fungi of the host larvae should be employed and applied at the first available time point. In this article, the reproduction of moth larvae of the genus Hepialus is first described, which includes their ecological characteristics and the methods of artificial feeding. Second, the generation and isolation method of the fungi from DCXC are subsequently summarized, and then the mechanism of fungal spores to attack the moth larvae are restated. Finally, the basic model of artificial cultivation of DCXC is introduced; meanwhile, the potential application of modern biotechnology to the artificial cultivation is analyzed in prospect. This review article will not only expand people's knowledge regarding the artificial cultivation of DCXC, but also hopefully provide an informative reference for the development of this valuable resource and the environmental protection of alpine meadows.
Abstract
The Chinese CubeSat Mission, Gamma Ray Integrated Detectors (GRID), recently detected its first gamma-ray burst, GRB 210121A, which was jointly observed by the Gravitational wave high-energy ...Electromagnetic Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM). This burst is confirmed by several other missions, including Fermi and Insight-HXMT. We combined multimission observational data and performed a comprehensive analysis of the burst’s temporal and spectral properties. Our results show that the burst is relatively special in its high peak energy, thermal-like low-energy indices, and large fluence. By putting it to the
E
p
–
E
γ
,iso
relation diagram with assumed distance, we found that this burst can be constrained at the redshift range of 0.3, 3.0. The thermal spectral component is also confirmed by the direct fit of the physical models to the observed spectra. Interestingly, the physical photosphere model also constrained a redshift of
z
∼ 0.3 for this burst, which helps us to identify a host galaxy candidate at such a distance within the location error box. Assuming that the host galaxy is real, we found that the burst can be best explained by the photosphere emission of a typical fireball with an initial radius of
r
0
∼ 3.2 × 10
7
cm.
Freshly-used crude drugs have unique functions and advantages in TCM practice of treating diseases. Jinlong Capsule is a patent traditional Chinese medicine product effective for treatment of ...hepatocarcinoma, and fresh Jinqian Baihua She (JBS, the body of juvenile Bungarus multicinctus) is one of its important ingredients. The emergence of counterfeit fresh JBS, often identified as dried JBS with almost identical appearance, poses a difficult problem in the quality control of the product. Herein we report a molecular quantification-based method for differentiation of fresh and dried JBS by determining the copy number of a specific DNA marker in the samples. Using species-specific primers and TaqMan probes, we established a real-time quantitative PCR system for amplification of a fragment in the 658-bp cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) region from JBS specimens. The amplicon copy number in the muscle tissues ranged from 1.14 × 107 to 4.83 × 107 copies/mg in fresh JBS samples, as compared with 1.13 × 105−8.91 × 106 copies/mg in dried JBS samples. Based upon Fisher discriminant analysis, we used 1.27 × 107 copies/mg as the cut-off value for differentiating fresh and dried JBS, which was validated in the single-blinded validation test of fresh and dried JBS samples. This qPCR system may provide an efficient means for accurate identification of fresh JBS to improve the quality control of the medicinal product.
•Hypothesizing DNA copy number difference may distinguish fresh and dry crude drugs.•Hypothesis verified via molecularly quantifying fresh and dried Jinqian Baihua She.•Molecular quantification proposed for quality control of fresh crude drug.
Gamma-ray burst (GRB) 150910A was detected by Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT), and then rapidly observed by Swift/XRT, Swift/Ultraviolet-Optical Telescope, and ground-based telescopes. We report ...Lick Observatory spectroscopic and photometric observations of GRB 150910A, and we investigate the physical origins of both the optical and X-ray afterglows, incorporating data obtained with BAT and XRT. The light curves show that the jet-emission episode lasts ∼360 s with a sharp pulse from BAT to XRT (Episode I). In Episode II, the optical emission has a smooth onset bump followed by a normal decay ( R,2 −1.36), as predicted in the standard external shock model, while the X-ray emission exhibits a plateau ( X,1 −0.36) followed by a steep decay ( X,2 −2.12). The light curves show obvious chromatic behavior with an excess in the X-ray flux. Our results suggest that GRB 150910A is an unusual GRB driven by a newly born magnetar with its extremely energetic magnetic dipole (MD) wind in Episode II, which overwhelmingly dominates the observed early X-ray plateau. The radiative efficiency of the jet prompt emission is γ 11%. The MD wind emission was detected in both the BAT and XRT bands, making it the brightest among the current sample of MD winds seen by XRT. We infer the initial spin period (P0) and the surface polar cap magnetic field strength (Bp) of the magnetar as 1.02 × 1015 G ≤ Bp ≤ 1.80 × 1015 G and 1 ms ≤ P0v ≤ 1.77 ms, and the radiative efficiency of the wind is w ≥ 32%.
Abstract
The unusual multiwavelength lightcurves of GRB 101225A are revisited by assuming that they are from an off-axis GRB powered by a newborn magnetar. We show that GRB 101225A’s optical ...afterglow lightcurve is fitted with the forward shock model by parameterizing its jet structure as a Gaussian function with a half-opening angle of the jet core as 1.°67. The derived initial Lorentz factor (Γ
0
) is 120, and the viewing angle to the jet axis is
θ
v
= 3.°7. Tentative QPO signatures of
P
= 488 s and
P
= 250 ∼ 300 s are found with a confidence level of 90% by analyzing its X-ray flares observed in the time interval of 4900, 7500 s. Its global gamma-ray/X-ray lightcurve and the QPO signatures are represented with the magnetar dipole radiation (DR) model by considering the magnetar precession motion, assuming that the magnetar spindown is dominated by GW emission. The bulk Lorentz factor of the DR ejecta is limited to 8, being much lower than Γ
0
. Comparing GRB 101225A with the extremely off-axis GRB 170817A, we suspect that the nature of the two-component jet in GRB 170817A is a combination of a co-axial GRB jet and a DR ejecta. GRB 101225A would be among the brightest ones of the CDF-S XT2-like X-ray transient population driven by newborn magnetars. A discussion of the detectability of its gravitational wave emission is also presented.
Objective
Serrated polyps (SP) are regarded as precursor lesions of colorectal cancer (CRC). We conducted this single‐center study aiming to investigate the relationship between SP and synchronous ...and metachronous advanced neoplasia in the Chinese population.
Methods
The data for this retrospective study were collected from the Endoscopy Center and Department of Gastroenterology of Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University between May 2012 and May 2019. Altogether 2205 patients were pathologically confirmed with colorectal SP.
Results
The detection rate of SP among all polyps has gradually increased since 2014 and reached 8.74% by 2019. Among all the SP cases, 1540 (69.84%) were confirmed as having hyperplasic polyps (HP), 486 (22.04%) were having sessile serrated lesions (SSL), and 171 (7.76%) had traditional serrated adenomas (TSA). Compared with HP (2.14%), SSL and TSA were larger and more likely to be accompanied by synchronous and metachronous advanced neoplasia (6.79% and 6.08%). We next found that large SP (diameter ≥10 mm) (odds ratio OR 2.52, 95% confidence interval CI 1.40‐4.55, P = 0.002) and SSL with high‐grade intraepithelial neoplasia (OR 13.85, 95% CI 3.28‐58.56, P < 0.001) were associated with an increased risk of synchronous advanced neoplasia. However, we failed to find a relationship between SP and metachronous advanced neoplasia because few patients had developed metachronous advanced neoplasia.
Conclusion
Large SP and SSL with high‐grade intraepithelial neoplasia are associated with synchronous advanced neoplasia and require timely surveillance.
The detection rate of serrated polyps among all colorectal polyps are increasing, and serrated polyps with features of high intraepithelial neoplasia and large lesion (diameter ≥ 10mm) require attention. ∗Advanced neoplasia: colorectal cancer and high‐risk adenoma.
We present our optical photometric and spectroscopical observations of GRB 140629A. A redshift of z = 2.275 0.043 is measured through the metal absorption lines in our spectroscopic data. Using our ...photometric data and multiple observational data from other telescopes, we show that its optical light curve is well interpreted with the standard forward shock models in the thin shell case. Its optical-X-ray afterglow spectrum is jointly fitted with a single power-law function, yielding a photon index of −1.90 0.05. The optical extinction and neutral hydrogen absorption of the gamma-ray burst (GRB) host galaxy are negligible. The fit to the light curve with the standard models shows that the ambient density is 60 9 cm−3 and the GRB radiating efficiency is as low as ∼0.24%, likely indicating a baryonic-dominated ejecta of this GRB. This burst agrees well with the relation, but confidently violates those empirical relations involving geometric corrections (or jet break time). This gives rise to an issue of the possible selection effect on these relations since the jet opening angle of this GRB is extremely narrow (0.04 rad).
ABSTRACT
Assuming that the shallow-decaying phase in the early X-ray light curves of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) is attributed to the dipole radiations (DRs) of a newborn magnetar, we present a ...comparative analysis for the magnetars born in death of massive stars and merger of compact binaries with long and short GRB (lGRB and sGRB) data observed with the Swift mission. We show that the typical braking index (n) of the magnetars is ∼3 in the sGRB sample, and it is ∼4 for the magnetars in the lGRB sample. Selecting a sub-sample of the magnetars whose spin-down is dominated by DRs (n ≲ 3) and adopting a universal radiation efficiency of 0.3, we find that the typical magnetic field strength (Bp) is 1016 G versus 1015 G and the typical initial period (P0) is ∼20 ms versus 2 ms for the magnetars in the sGRBs versus lGRBs. They follow the same relation between P0 and the isotropic GRB energy as $P_0\propto E_{\rm jet}^{-0.4}$. We also extend our comparison analysis to superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) and stable pulsars. Our results show that a magnetar born in merger of compact stars tends to have a stronger Bp and a longer P0 by about one order of magnitude than that born in collapse of massive stars. Its spin-down is dominated by the magnetic DRs as old pulsars, being due to its strong magnetic field strength, whereas the early spin-down of magnetars born in massive star collapse is governed by both the DRs and gravitational wave (GW) emission. A magnetar with a faster rotation speed should power a more energetic jet, being independent of its formation approach.
PDF
