Control efficacy of complex networks

Acknowledgements W.-X.W. was supported by CNNSF under Grant No. 61573064, and No. 61074116 the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities and Beijing Nova Programme, China. Y.-C.L. was supported by ARO under Grant W911NF-14-1-0504.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Study on Traffic Status Threshold Based on Floating Taxi

AbstractThe applications of floating car in road traffic condition identification are taken seriously and gradually developed. The paper studies the variables threshold in traffic condition information based on the floating taxi: section traffic information update cycle, data sampling interval, section covering ratio, floating taxi sample size. The optimization idea of floating taxi sample size is given. The traffic condition identification algorithm based on the floating taxi is put forward. The practice in two road sections shows that the algorithm is feasible which can offer useful reference for urban traffic management and resident trips decision

Polygonatum sibiricum extract exerts inhibitory effect on diabetes in a rat model

Purpose: To investigate the effect of Polygonatum sibiricum extract (PSE) on streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. Methods: PSE was obtained by steeping the dried Polygonatum sibiricum in water at 60 oC three times, each for 1 h, before first drying in an oven at 100C and then freeze-drying the final extract, thus obtained. Diabetic model rats were prepared by a single intraperitoneal injection of a freshly prepared solution of streptozotocin (50 mg/kg). The rats were randomly divided into 6 groups of ten rats each: negative control, normal control, reference (glibenclamide1 mg/kg) as well as PSE groups, (35, 70 and 140 mg/kg). Blood glucose and plasma insulin levels were measured to determine antihyperglycemic effect. Oxidative stress was evaluated in liver and kidney by their antioxidant markers, viz, lipid peroxidation (LPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD), reduced glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT). Blood serum levels of creatinine and urea were determined in both diabetic control and treated rats. Results: Compared with diabetic rats, oral administration of PSE at a concentration of 120 mg/kg daily for 30 days showed a significant decrease in fasting blood glucose (118.34 ± 3.29 mg/dL) (p < 0.05) and increased insulin level (12.86± 0.62 uU/mL, p < 0.05). Furthermore, it significantly reduced biochemical parameters (serum creatinine, 0.83 ±0.21 mg/dL, p < 0.05) and serum urea (43.26±1.42 mg/dL, p < 0.05). Conclusion: The results suggest that PSE may effectively normalize impaired antioxidant status in streptozotocin-induced diabetes in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, PSE has a protective effect against lipid peroxidation by scavenging free radicals, restoration of insulin function, and reduction of the incidence of complications

Transportation dynamics on networks of mobile agents

Most existing works on transportation dynamics focus on networks of a fixed structure, but networks whose nodes are mobile have become widespread, such as cell-phone networks. We introduce a model to explore the basic physics of transportation on mobile networks. Of particular interest are the dependence of the throughput on the speed of agent movement and communication range. Our computations reveal a hierarchical dependence for the former while, for the latter, we find an algebraic power law between the throughput and the communication range with an exponent determined by the speed. We develop a physical theory based on the Fokker-Planck equation to explain these phenomena. Our findings provide insights into complex transportation dynamics arising commonly in natural and engineering systems

Long-distance transport of sucrose in source leaves promotes sink root growth by the EIN3-SUC2 module

In most plants, sucrose, a major storage sugar, is transported into sink organs to support their growth. This key physiological process is dependent on the function of sucrose transporters. Sucrose export from source tissues is predominantly controlled through the activity of SUCROSE TRANSPORTER 2 (SUC2), required for the loading of sucrose into the phloem of Arabidopsis plants. However, how SUC2 activity is controlled to support root growth remains unclear. Glucose is perceived via the function of HEXOKINASE 1 (HXK1), the only known nuclear glucose sensor. HXK1 negatively regulates the stability of ETHYLENE-INSENSITIVE3 (EIN3), a key ethylene/glucose interaction component. Here we show that HXK1 functions upstream of EIN3 in the regulation of root sink growth mediated by glucose signaling. Furthermore, the transcription factor EIN3 directly inhibits SUC2 activity by binding to the SUC2 promoter, regulating glucose signaling linked to root sink growth. We demonstrate that these molecular components form a HXK1-EIN3-SUC2 module integral to the control of root sink growth. Also, we demonstrate that with increasing age, the HXK1-EIN3-SUC2 module promotes sucrose phloem loading in source tissues thereby elevating sucrose levels in sink roots. As a result, glucose signaling mediated-sink root growth is facilitated. Our findings thus establish a direct molecular link between the HXK1-EIN3-SUC2 module, the source-to sink transport of sucrose and root growth

Glucose and sucrose signaling modules regulate the arabidopsis juvenile-to-adult phase transition

Summary: CINV1, converting sucrose into glucose and fructose, is a key entry of carbon into cellular metabolism, and HXK1 functions as a pivotal sensor for glucose. Exogenous sugars trigger the Arabidopsis juvenile-to-adult phase transition via a miR156A/SPL module. However, the endogenous factors that regulate this process remain unclear. In this study, we show that sucrose specifically induced the PAP1 transcription factor directly and positively controls CINV1 activity. Furthermore, we identify a glucose feed-forward loop (sucrose-CINV1-glucose-HXK1-miR156-SPL9-PAP1-CINV1-glucose) that controls CINV1 activity to convert sucrose into glucose signaling to dynamically control the juvenile-to-adult phase transition. Moreover, PAP1 directly binds to the SPL9 promoter, activating SPL9 expression and triggering the sucrose-signaling-mediated juvenile-to-adult phase transition. Therefore, a glucose-signaling feed-forward loop and a sucrose-signaling pathway synergistically regulate the Arabidopsis juvenile-to-adult phase transition. Collectively, we identify a molecular link between the major photosynthate sucrose, the entry point of carbon into cellular metabolism, and the plant juvenile-to-adult phase transition