Prominent yellow flowers that are present in a Brassica oilseed crop such as canola require careful consideration when selecting a spectral index for yield estimation. This study evaluated spectral ...indices for multispectral sensors that correlate with the seed yield of Brassica oilseed crops. A small-plot experiment was conducted near Adams, Oregon in which spring canola was grown under varying water regimes and nitrogen treatments to create a wide range in oilseed yield. Plot measurements consisted of canopy reflectance at flowering using a hand-held spectroradiometer and seed yield at physiological maturity. Spectroradiometric measurements were converted to MODIS band equivalent reflectance. Selected indices were computed from spectra obtained with the radiometer and correlated with seed yield. A normalized difference yellowness index (NDYI), computed from the green and blue wavebands, overcame limitations of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) during flowering and best modeled variability in relative yield potential. NDYI was more linear and correlated with county-wide oilseed yield data and MODIS satellite data from North Dakota (r2≤0.72) than NDVI (r2≤0.66). NDYI only requires wavebands in the visible region of the spectrum and can be applied to any satellite or aerial sensor that has blue and green channels. These findings highlight the benefit of using a spectral index that is sensitive to reproductive growth of vegetation instead of vegetative growth for crops with spectrally prominent reproductive canopy elements. Our results indicate that NDYI is a better indicator of yield potential than NDVI during mid-season development stages, especially peak flowering.
•We evaluate the performance of NDVI for statistically modeling canola yield.•A contrast of Green and Blue wavebands is better related to yield than NIR and Red.•NIR is not necessary for within-field mapping of yield potential during flowering.
Long-term smoking is a risk factor for chronic pain, and chronic nicotine exposure induces pain-like effects in rodents. The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) has been demonstrated to be associated ...with pain and substance abuse. This study aims to investigate whether ACC microglia are altered in response to chronic nicotine exposure and their interaction with ACC neurons and subsequent nicotine-induced allodynia in mice.
We utilized a mouse model that was fed nicotine water for 28 days. Brain slices of the ACC were collected for morphological analysis to evaluate the impacts of chronic nicotine on microglia. In vivo calcium imaging and whole-cell patch clamp were used to record the excitability of ACC glutamatergic neurons.
Compared to the vehicle control, the branch endpoints and the length of ACC microglial processes decreased in nicotine-treated mice, coinciding with the hyperactivity of glutamatergic neurons in the ACC. Inhibition of ACC glutamatergic neurons alleviated nicotine-induced allodynia and reduced microglial activation. On the other hand, reactive microglia sustain ACC neuronal excitability in response to chronic nicotine, and pharmacological inhibition of microglia by minocycline or liposome-clodronate reduces nicotine-induced allodynia. The neuron-microglia interaction in chronic nicotine-induced allodynia is mediated by increased expression of neuronal CX3CL1, which activates microglia by acting on CX3CR1 receptors on microglial cells.
Together, these findings underlie a critical role of ACC microglia in the maintenance of ACC neuronal hyperactivity and resulting nociceptive hypersensitivity in chronic nicotine-treated mice.
Cigarette smoking is commonly reported among chronic pain patients in the clinic. Although chronic nicotine exposure is directly linked to nociceptive hypersensitivity in rodents, underlying ...neurobiological mechanisms remain unknown.
Multi-tetrode recordings in freely moving mice were used to test the activity of dopaminergic projections from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to pyramidal neurones in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in chronic nicotine-treated mice. The VTA→ACC dopaminergic pathway was inhibited by optogenetic manipulation to detect chronic nicotine-induced allodynia (pain attributable to a stimulus that does not normally provoke pain) assessed by von Frey monofilaments (force units in g).
Allodynia developed concurrently with chronic (28-day) nicotine exposure in mice (0.36 g 0.0141 vs 0.05 g 0.0018, P<0.0001). Chronic nicotine activated dopaminergic projections from the VTA to pyramidal neurones in the ACC, and optogenetic inhibition of VTA dopaminergic terminals in the ACC alleviated chronic nicotine-induced allodynia in mice (0.06 g 0.0064 vs 0.28 g 0.0428, P<0.0001). Moreover, optogenetic inhibition of Drd2 dopamine receptor signalling in the ACC attenuated nicotine-induced allodynia (0.07 g 0.0082 vs 0.27 g 0.0211, P<0.0001).
These findings implicate a role of Drd2-mediated dopaminergic VTA→ACC pathway signalling in chronic nicotine-elicited allodynia.
Multiple plant stresses can affect the health, esthetic condition, and timber harvest value of conifer forests. To monitor spatial and temporal dynamic forest stress conditions, timely, accurate, and ...cost-effective information is needed that could be provided by remote sensing. Recently, satellite imagery has become available via the RapidEye satellite constellation to provide spectral information in five broad bands, including the red-edge region (690–730
nm) of the electromagnetic spectrum. We tested the hypothesis that broadband, red-edge satellite information improves early detection of stress (as manifest by shifts in foliar chlorophyll a
+
b) in a woodland ecosystem relative to other more commonly utilized band combinations of red, green, blue, and near infrared band reflectance spectra. We analyzed a temporally dense time series of 22 RapidEye scenes of a piñon-juniper woodland in central New Mexico acquired before and after stress was induced by girdling. We found that the Normalized Difference Red-Edge index (NDRE) allowed stress to be detected 13
days after girdling — between and 16
days earlier than broadband spectral indices such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Green NDVI traditionally used for satellite based forest health monitoring. We conclude that red-edge information has the potential to considerably improve forest stress monitoring from satellites and warrants further investigation in other forested ecosystems.
► Multiple plant stresses can affect the health of forests. ► The utility of red-edge satellite data for detecting tree stress was examined. ► A red-edge employing index detected stress 13
days after it was induced. ► Traditional red and green employing indices detected stress 12 to 16
days later. ► Red-edge satellite data may improve forest health monitoring from space.
To characterize an emergent carbapenem-resistant hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (CR-hvKP) strain, NUHL30457, which co-produces NDM-1 and KPC-2 carbapenemases.
We performed WGS analysis on a ...clinical carbapenemase-producing hypervirulent K. pneumoniae (CP-hvKP) strain NUHL30457. Sequence data were analysed using comparative genomics and phylogenetics. WGS was used to perform MLST, capsular genotyping and identification of virulence and antimicrobial resistance genes. The virulence of NUHL30457 was analysed by serum killing assay, neutrophil phagocytosis and mouse lethality assay.
The NUHL30457 strain was carbapenem resistant and belonged to ST86 and serotype K2. A significant increase in resistance to serum killing and antiphagocytosis was found in the NUHL30457 strain compared with the reference strain. The murine lethality assay showed an LD50 of 2.5 × 102 cfu for the NUHL30457 strain, indicating hypervirulence. WGS revealed that NUHL30457 has a single 5.3 Mb chromosome (57.53% G + C content) and four plasmids in the range 49.2-215.7 kb. The incompatibility group (Inc)N plasmid p30457-4 carried the blaNDM-1 and qnrS1 genes. The IncFII(K) plasmid p30457-3 also carried an array of resistance elements, including blaCTX-M-65, blaTEM-1 and blaKPC-2. The IncHI1/IncFIB plasmid p30457-1, which carried virulence genes, was identical to a pLVPK plasmid reported previously.
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to isolate an ST86 hvKP strain that co-produces NDM-1 and KPC-2 carbapenemase. Further investigation is required to reinforce our understanding of the epidemiology and virulence mechanisms of this clinically significant CP-hvKP.
The optimization of task scheduling in cloud computing is built with the purpose of improving its working efficiency. Aiming at resolving the deficiencies during the method deployment, supporting ...algorithms are therefore introduced. This paper proposes a particle swarm optimization algorithm with the combination of based on ant colony optimization, which proposes the parameter determination into particle swarm algorithm. The integrated algorithm is capable of keeping particles in the fitness level at a certain concentration and guarantee the diversity of population. Further, the global best solution with high accurate converge can be exactly gained with the adjustment of learning factor. After the implementation of proposed method in task scheduling, the scheme for optimizing task scheduling shows better working performance in fitness, cost as well as running period, which presents a more reliable and efficient idea of optimal task scheduling.
Reproductive growth, such as by flowers, may contribute to a canopy-level signal yet there are no current indices that measure variation in flowering. This study was conducted to determine how ...flowers influence the overall canopy signal and what bands of light may be useful for estimating variation in flower density and leaf area index (LAI). The effects of the number of yellow flowers per unit area and LAI on canopy spectral reflectance of spring canola (Brassica napus L.) were investigated in a field study consisting of three water regimes and three fertilizer nitrogen levels near Pendleton, Oregon, USA. A band ratio of green and blue light was strongly (r
2
= 0.87) related to the number of yellow flowers per unit area, whereas a ratio of near-infrared and blue light was most suitable for estimating LAI during flowering. Spectral information during flowering may improve how remote sensing is used to describe plant development and reproductive capacity during the growing season.
To investigate the prognostic values and potential mechanisms of ferroptosis-related genes in clear cell renal cell carcinoma.
Univariate Cox, least absolute shrinkage and selection operator ...regression and multivariate Cox regression analyses were employed to identify prognosis-related hub ferroptosis-related genes and establish a prognostic model.
The authors established a novel clinical predictive model based on seven hub ferroptosis-related genes in The Cancer Genome Atlas training cohort (n = 374) that was verified in the testing cohort (n = 156) and the entire group (n = 530). Functional analysis indicated that several carcinogenic pathways were enriched. Tumor-infiltrating cells and immunosuppressive molecules were significantly different between the two risk groups.
Collectively, the authors successfully constructed a novel ferroptosis-related risk signature that was significantly associated with the prognosis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma.
The transcription factor hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) mediates adaptive responses to oxidative stress by nuclear translocation and regulation of gene expression. Mitochondrial changes are ...critical for the adaptive response to oxidative stress. However, the transcriptional and non-transcriptional mechanisms by which HIF-1α regulates mitochondria in response to oxidative stress are poorly understood. Here, we examined the subcellular localization of HIF-1α in human cells and identified a small fraction of HIF-1α that translocated to the mitochondria after exposure to hypoxia or H2O2 treatment. Moreover, the livers of mice with CCl4-induced fibrosis showed a progressive increase in HIF-1α association with the mitochondria, indicating the clinical relevance of this finding. To probe the function of this HIF-1α population, we ectopically expressed a mitochondrial-targeted form of HIF-1α (mito-HIF-1α). Expression of mito-HIF-1α was sufficient to attenuate apoptosis induced by exposure to hypoxia or H2O2-induced oxidative stress. Moreover, mito-HIF-1α expression reduced the production of reactive oxygen species, the collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential, and the expression of mitochondrial DNA-encoded mRNA in response to hypoxia or H2O2 treatment independently of nuclear pathways. These data suggested that mitochondrial HIF-1α protects against oxidative stress induced-apoptosis independently of its well-known role as a transcription factor.
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•HIF-1α is recruited to mitochondria in response to oxidative stress.•Mitochondrial HIF-1α protects against oxidative stress induced apoptosis.•HIF-1α in mitochondria reduces ROS levels and reverses mitochondrial damage.•Mitochondrial HIF-1α reduces mtDNA encoded mRNA levels.•Mitochondrial HIF-1α may involve in liver fibrosis.
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