In this study, we present a novel smart greenhouse control algorithm that optimizes crop yield while minimizing energy consumption costs. To achieve this, we relied on both a greenhouse climate model ...and a greenhouse crop yield model. Our approach involves applying the model predictive control (MPC) method, which utilizes the particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm to identify optimal controllable parameters such as heating, lighting, ventilation levels. The objective of the optimization is to maximize crop yield while minimizing energy consumption costs. We demonstrate the superiority of our proposed control algorithm in terms of performance and energy efficiency compared to the traditional control algorithm. The effectiveness of the PSO-based optimization strategy for finding optimal controllable parameters for MPC control is also demonstrated, outperforming the traditional genetic algorithm optimization. This study provides a promising approach to smart greenhouse control with the potential for increasing crop yield while minimizing energy costs.
SIRT3 is a major mitochondrial deacetylase, which regulates various metabolic pathways by deacetylation; however, the effect of SIRT3 on proline metabolism is not reported. Pyrroline-5-carboxylate ...reductase 1 (PYCR1) participates in proline synthesis process by catalyzing the reduction of P5C to proline with concomitant generation of NAD+ and NADP+. PYCR1 is highly expressed in various cancers, and it can promote the growth of tumor cells. Here, through immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry, we found that PYCR1 is in SIRT3’s interacting network. PYCR1 directly binds to SIRT3 both in vivo and in vitro. CBP is the acetyltransferase for PYCR1, whereas SIRT3 deacetylates PYCR1. We further identified that K228 is the major acetylation site for PYCR1. Acetylation of PYCR1 at K228 reduced its enzymatic activity by impairing the formation of the decamer of PYCR1. As a result, acetylation of PYCR1 at K228 inhibits cell proliferation, while deacetylation of PYCR1 mediated by SIRT3 increases PYCR1’s activity. Our findings on the regulation of PYCR1 linked proline metabolism with SIRT3, CBP and cell growth, thus providing a potential approach for cancer therapy.
Background and Aims
Selection effect (SE) and complementarity effect (CE) are often considered as two key indicators to mediate the positive diversity-productivity relationship in the maize-legume ...intercropping system, as intercropping generally enables crops to use the available resources more efficiently than monoculture. Yet, it is unclear whether soil moisture drives the SE and CE transformation, plant-plant interaction, and accordingly affect the productivity.
Methods
A two-year field experiment was conducted to explore the impacts of soil water status (with and without plastic mulching) on interspecific interaction and productivity and its key mechanism in the maize-faba bean intercropping system.
Results
Low soil moisture reduced the net effect (NE) and land equivalent ratio (LER) with evident yield loss (NE < 0 and LER = 1.05), whereas the improved soil moisture reversed this trend and resulted in overyielding (NE > 0 and LER = 1.13). Regardless of soil moisture, faba bean was the dominant species and maize was the inferior one. Low soil moisture promoted the contribution of SE to productivity (
P
< 0.05). In contrast, high moisture turned to lower the competition intensity of faba bean against maize and accordingly promote the transformation of biodiversity effect from SE to CE. The main mechanism was that the water competition imposed by faba bean strips on maize ones decreased the NE through reducing photosynthetic rate and water use efficiency of maize.
Conclusion
The adaptive transitions of interspecific relationship and the biodiversity effect were driven by soil water availability. This novel phenomenon should be emphasized in the crop diversity management of intercropping system in the rainfed region.
This study determined for the first time the distribution of intravenous nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) and its metabolite nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) in normal and ischemic stroke ...mice, examined the therapeutic effect of NMN on ischemic brain infarction, and evaluated acute toxicity of NMN after intravenous injection of NMN.
NMN and NAD levels were determined using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry in biological samples from mice with or without middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) at different time points post intravenous NMN injection (300 mg/kg). Brain infarction was evaluated 24 h post-MCAO. 2 g/kg NMN was used in the acute toxicity test.
Under either normal or MCAO conditions, serum NMN levels sharply increased after intravenous NMN administration and then decreased rapidly within 15 min, while serum NAD levels remained unchanged during 30 min observation. Both substances displayed tissue accumulation over time and stored faster under MCAO conditions, with kidney having the highest concentrations. Particularly, NMN accumulated earlier than NAD in the brain. Moreover, NMN reduced cerebral infarction at 24 h post-MCAO. No acute toxicity was observed for 14 days. NRK1 and SLC12A8 involved in two pathways of NMN uptake exhibited the highest expressions in kidney and colon, respectively, among 11 different tissues.
NMN distributes to various tissues after intravenous injection and has the ability to enter the brain to boost NAD levels, and exhibits safety and therapeutic effect on acute ischemic stroke injury. High renal distribution of NMN indicates its importance in the kidney.
•Impacts of vegetation and climate changes on water cycle were quantified.•Increases in extreme precipitation probably tended to decrease AET.•Climate change played a crucial role on hydrological ...cycle than vegetation.
With the changing climate, global and regional hydrological cycles have evolved significantly. Yet and despite numerous previous studies, the respective impacts of climate and vegetation changes on water cycle remain poorly understood. In order to better understand the changes of the hydrological cycle at basin scale, four typical basins within the Poyang Lake Basin for showing different responses to climate and vegetation changes were studied. Observed annual streamflows increased by a rate between 0.54 and 2.59m3s−1year−1 in the Meigang, Saitang and Gaosha Basins, but decreased by 0.54m3s−1year−1 in the Xiashan Basin. The SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) model modified by involving the better descriptions of plant physiology effects, was used to separate among the respective impacts of climate and vegetation changes on the basins’ hydrological processes. The results from sensitivity experiments suggested that, (1) the decrease in ET was mainly because of the decreased wind speed, which reduced ET by 2.72, 0.50, and 1.36mmyear−2 in the Meigang, Saitang and Gaosha Basins, respectively; the increased streamflow with the rates of 1.25, 1.55, and 0.75m3s−1year−1, respectively, was more likely to explain the increase of water quantities, while the increased streamflow in the Xiashan Basin was attributed to the increase in precipitation; (2) vegetation changes tended to slightly increase ET (less than 0.20mmyear−2) and decrease the streamflow (less than −0.10m3s−1year−1) in all the basins, implying that vegetation played a less important role in the changing hydrological cycle. Strikingly, it was found that the increase in extreme precipitation was associated with a decrease in ET, possibly because extreme precipitation could rapidly turn into streamflow, limiting water infiltration into soils and subsequent evaporation.
The placenta is an organ with extraordinary phenotypic diversity in eutherian mammals. Recent evidence suggests that numerous human placental enhancers are evolved from lineage-specific insertions of ...endogenous retroviruses (ERVs), yet the transcription factors (TFs) underlying their regulation remain largely elusive. Here, by first focusing on MER41, a primate-specific ERV family previously linked to placenta and innate immunity, we uncover the binding motifs of multiple crucial trophoblast TFs (GATA2/3, MSX2, GRHL2) in addition to innate immunity TFs STAT1 and IRF1. Integration of ChIP-seq data confirms the binding of GATA2/3, MSX2, and their related factors on the majority of MER41-derived enhancers in human trophoblast stem cells (TSCs). MER41-derived enhancers that are constitutively active in human TSCs are distinct from those activated upon interferon stimulation, which is determined by the binding of relevant TFs and their subfamily compositions. We further demonstrate that GATA2/3 and MSX2 have prevalent binding to numerous other ERV families - indicating their broad impact on ERV-derived enhancers. Functionally, the derepression of many syncytiotrophoblast genes after MSX2 knockdown is likely to be mediated by regulatory elements derived from ERVs - suggesting ERVs are also important for mediating transcriptional repression. Overall, this study characterizes the regulation of ERV-derived regulatory elements by GATA2/3, MSX2, and their cofactors in human TSCs, and provides mechanistic insights into the importance of ERVs in human trophoblast regulatory network.
We explored the joint effects of different metabolic obesity phenotypes on all-cause and disease-specific mortality risk among the American population. Data were obtained from the National Health and ...Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999-2018. Mortality outcome data were from mortality files linked to National Death Index record and follow-up information was up to December 31, 2019. 50,013 participants were finally included. Four metabolic obesity phenotypes were defined based on obesity and metabolic status: metabolically healthy obese (MHO), metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO), metabolically healthy non-obese (MHNO), and metabolically unhealthy non-obese (MUNO). Population-weighted Cox proportional hazards models were used to explore the all-cause and disease-specific mortality risk of metabolic obesity phenotypes. The all-cause mortality risk of MUO and MUNO was significantly higher than MHNO. MUNO was associated with a significantly increased risk of death from heart disease (HR: 1.40, 95% CI 1.16-1.70), hypertension (HR: 1.68, 95% CI 1.34-2.12), diabetes (HR: 2.29, 95% CI 1.67-3.15), and malignant neoplasms (HR:1.29, 95% CI 1.09-1.53). Metabolic unhealth significantly increased the risk of all-cause mortality, regardless of obesity status. Among individuals with metabolic unhealthy status, obesity significantly reduced the risk of all-cause mortality (HR: 0.91, 95% CI 0.85-0.98). Our study highlights the importance of identifying and characterizing metabolic obesity phenotypes in obese and metabolically abnormal patients, as well as healthy adults. Comprehensive evaluation of obesity and metabolic status is necessary to adopt appropriate interventions and treatment measures and maximize patient benefit.
The objective of the study was to assess the association between changes in plasma follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and the potential effect on idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH) in ...male patients. A total of 116 male patients with IPAH and 53 healthy controls were included from XX Hospital. Plasma FSH concentration was assessed in all participants. Receiver operating characteristic curves were used to assess the mortality risk. Kaplan–Meier curve and Cox regression analyses were used to predict the value of FSH on the survival rate of male IPAH patients. The plasma FSH concentration in the IPAH group was significantly higher than that in the control group (p = .017). Nonsurvivors had significantly higher levels of FSH than survivors (p < .0001). FSH levels were positively correlated with World Health Organization Functional Class, mean pulmonary artery pressure, and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR; p = .023, p < .0001, and p < .0001, respectively) and negatively correlated with 6-min walk distance (6MWD) and cardiac output (CO; p = .004 and p = .010). Cox regression model analysis showed that the levels of FSH were also the independent factors of mortality in male IPAH patients (p < .0001). The IPAH patients with higher FSH levels had higher PVR, lower 6MWD, CO, and a lower survival rate (p = .042, p = .003, p = .029, and p < .0001, respectively). Therefore, we identified that increased FSH levels were associated with disease severity in male patients with IPAH and independently predicted risk of disease and poor survival rate.
The present study aimed to investigate the effects of citrus extract (CE) on intestinal microbiota, microbial metabolite profiles, and the mucosal immune status in broilers. A total of 540 ...one-day-old yellow-feathered broilers were randomly allotted into three groups and fed a basal diet (control group), or a basal diet containing 10 mg/kg of zinc bacitracin (antibiotic group), or 10 mg/kg of CE (CE group). Each treatment consisted of six replicates, with 30 broilers per replicate. After 63-day feeding, two broilers per replicate were randomly selected and slaughtered, and their ileal and cecal digesta and ileal tissue were collected for microbial composition, microbial metabolites, and gene expression analysis. The results showed that CE significantly increased the abundance of
and
than did the antibiotic group (adjusted
< 0.05), whereas it decreased the abundance of
and
(adjusted
< 0.05). Meanwhile, the CE group also increased the numbers of
and
than did the control and antibiotic groups (
< 0.05), whereas it decreased the number of
(
< 0.05). For microbial metabolites, dietary supplementation with CE increased the concentrations of lactate, total short-chain fatty acids, acetate, and butyrate in the cecum than did the control and antibiotic groups (
< 0.05), whereas it decreased the concentrations of amino acid fermentation products (ammonia, amines,
-cresol, and indole) (
< 0.05). Additionally, supplementation with CE up-regulated (
< 0.05) the mRNA expression of intestinal barrier genes (
and
) in the ileum than did both the control and antibiotic groups. However, antibiotic treatment induced gut microbiota dysbiosis, altered the microbial metabolism, and disturbed the innate immune homeostasis. In summary, these results provide evidence that dietary supplementation with CE can improve the intestinal barrier function by changing microbial composition and metabolites, likely toward a host-friendly gut environment. This suggests that CE may possibly act as an efficient antibiotic alternative for yellow-feathered broiler production.
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