Mitotic-inhibiting herbicides, like prodiamine and dithiopyr, are used to control annual bluegrass (Poa annua L.) preemergence in managed turfgrass; however, resistance to mitotic-inhibiting herbicides has evolved due to repeated applications of herbicide from a single mechanism of action. Three suspected resistant populations (R1, R2, and R3) were collected in Alabama and Florida and screened for resistance to prodiamine. Part of the α-tubulin gene was sequenced for known target-site mutations. Target-site mutations were reported in all three R populations, with each containing an amino acid substitution at position 239 from threonine to isoleucine (Thr-239-Ile). Previous research has indicated that the Thr-239-Ile mutation confers resistance to dinitroaniline herbicides in other species. Dose–response screens using prodiamine and dithiopyr were conducted and I50 values were calculated for R1, R2, and R3 using regression models based on seedling emergence. For prodiamine, I50 values for R1, R2, and R3 were 35.3, 502.7, and 91.5 g ai ha−1, respectively, resulting in 2.9-, 41.9-, and 7.6-fold resistance, respectively, when compared with a susceptible (S) population. For dithiopyr, I50 values for R1, R2, and R3 were 154.0, 114.2, and 190.1 g ai ha−1, respectively, resulting in 3.6-, 2.7-, and 4.5-fold resistance, respectively, when compared with an S population. When comparing I90 values with the highest labeled use rates, R2 had a 2.9-fold level of resistance to prodiamine, and R1, R2, and R3 had a 2.4-, 2.0-, and 3.2-fold levels of resistance to dithiopyr, respectively. This is the first report of a variable response in P. annua to prodiamine despite each R population possessing the same mutation.

Straightplasma channels are widely used to guide relativistic intense laser pulses over several Rayleigh lengths for laser wakefield acceleration. Recently, a curved plasma channel with gradually varied curvature was suggested to guide a fresh intense laser pulse and merge it into a straight channel for staged wakefield acceleration [Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 154801 (2018)]. In this work, we report the generation of such a curved plasma channel from a discharged capillary. Both longitudinal and transverse density distributions of the plasma inside the channel were diagnosed by analyzing the discharging spectroscopy. Effects of the gas-filling mode, back pressure and discharging voltage on the plasma density distribution inside the specially designed capillary are studied. Experiments show that a longitudinally uniform and transversely parabolic plasma channel with a maximum channel depth of 47.5 μm and length of 3 cm can be produced, which is temporally stable enough for laser guiding. Using such a plasma channel, a laser pulse with duration of 30 fs has been successfully guided along the channel with the propagation direction bent by 10.4°.

The FAST Ultra-Deep Survey (FUDS) is a blind survey that aims for the direct detection of H i in galaxies at redshifts $z<0.42$ . The survey uses the multibeam receiver on the Five-hundred-metre Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST) to map six regions, each of size $0.72\ \textrm{deg}^2$ at high sensitivity ( ${\sim}50\,\mu \textrm{Jy}$ ) and high-frequency resolution (23 kHz). The survey will enable studies of the evolution of galaxies and their H i content with an eventual sample size of ${\sim}1\,000$ . We present the science goals, observing strategy, the effects of radio frequency interference at the FAST site, our mitigation strategies and the methods for calibration, data reduction and imaging as applied to initial data. The observations and reductions for the first field, FUDS0, are completed, with around 128 H i galaxies detected in a preliminary analysis. Example spectra are given in this paper, including a comparison with data from the overlapping GAL2577 field of Arecibo Ultra-Deep Survey.

This article deals with a Sogdian medical text in the German Turfan collection obtained from Toyoq. The recto of the document appears to contain two prescriptions for treating irregular fever and a disease involving the urinary bladder. The names of both diseases, and several ingredients used, suggest the text is closely linked to Indian medicine, especially Āyurveda. In contrast, the verso is a translation of a passage discussing dropsy in a seventh-century Chinese medical work, the first so far identified Sogdian text translated from a Chinese classical text. Despite its short content, this Sogdian medical text offers intriguing insight into the multi-cultural background of Sogdian medicine in Turfan.

In inertial confinement fusion experiments that involve short-laser pulses such as fast ignition (FI), diagnosis of neutrons is usually very challenging because high-intensity γ rays generated by short-laser pulses would mask the much weaker neutron signal. In this paper, fast-response scintillators with low afterglow and gated microchannel plate photomultiplier tubes are combined to build neutron time-of-flight (nTOF) spectrometers for such experiments. Direct-drive implosion experiments of deuterium-gas-filled capsules were performed at the Shenguang-II Upgrade (SG-II-UP) laser facility to study the compressed fuel areal density (〈ρR〉) and evaluate the performance of such nTOF diagnostics. Two newly developed quenched liquid scintillator detectors and a gated ultrafast plastic scintillator detector were used to measure the secondary DT neutrons and primary DD neutrons, respectively. The secondary neutron signals were clearly discriminated from the γ rays from (n, γ) reactions, and the compressed fuel areal density obtained with the yield-ratio method agrees well with the simulations. Additionally, a small scintillator decay tail and a clear DD neutron signal were observed in an integrated FI experiment as a result of the low afterglow of the oxygen-quenched liquid scintillator.

Two stone tablets in the Wangye Museum, Shenzhen, contain a bilingual Sogdian and Chinese epitaph for a Sogdian merchant and his wife, who lived in the northern Chinese city of Ye 鄴 in the late sixth century ce. The two texts are published here for the first time and accompanied by a detailed commentary on philological and historical points of interest.

Mature porcine oocytes containing first polar bodies (Pb I) were obtained by in vitro culture of follicle oocytes from ovaries obtained from a local abattoir, and zygotes with second polar bodies (Pb II) were grown after in vitro fertilization of the mature oocytes. Extrusion, biological activity and morphology of Pb I and Pb II were statistically analysed. Polar bodies were isolated and collected from oocytes by enzyme digestion or micromanipulation. Their vigour under different preservation conditions was analysed and evaluated using a Trypan blue staining method. The results showed that 66.7% of the oocytes extruded Pb I after 40 h of in vitro mature culture of oocytes, and 49.7% of the zygotes extruded Pb II 20 h after in vitro fertilization. The efficiency of isolation of Pb II by micromanipulation significantly exceeded that by enzyme digestion, the Pb I and Pb II isolated by micromanipulation presenting with good vigour and normal morphology (95.3% versus 58.9%). The survival rates of Pb I and Pb II were 63.3% and 93.1% for 4 h at 39°C, 85.0% and 72.9% for 40 h at 4°C, and over 95.0% and 84.6% for less than 7 days at −20°C. In comparison with the above preservation conditions for Pb I and Pb II, the results for cryopreservation were best, with rates of survival as high as 89.1% for Pb I and 87.9% for Pb II for preservation periods of over a month, and rates of normal morphology of 97.8% and 95.7%, respectively. The Pb I and Pb II could be isolated and preserved effectively, for use in further research on the recombination of oocytes and zygotes.

The developmental functions of oocytes of three strains of mice (Kunming, ICR and C57BL/6-Tg(CAG-EGFP)C14-Y01-FM131Osb) recombined with the nuclei of first polar bodies (Pbs I) were explored. Cumulus oocyte complexes (COCs) from the mice were collected after superovulation, then Pbs I were obtained from the COCs by 2% pronase treatment. The survival of Pbs I under different temperatures was identified by morphology and trypan blue staining. Later, the polar body I (Pb 1) nucleus and a little cytoplasm was injected into each oocyte, the nuclei of which had been enucleated by micromanipulation. Oocytes recombined with Pbs I were fertilized, then cultured in vitro in order to observe their further development. The results showed that the vigour of Pbs I was maintained for 12–14 h after superovulation, and was still maintained after 48 h at 4 °C. A total of 13 out of 117 recombined oocytes from Kunming and ICR mice, as well as 3 out of 38 recombined oocytes from C57BL/6-Tg(CAG-EGFP)C14-Y01-FM131Osb mice, developed into two-cell embryos. The experiments confirmed that mouse oocytes recombined with the nuclei of Pbs I could maintain fertilization and development. These results present valuable references for further utilization of genetic resources for farm animals