Spatial Patterns of Crop Yields in Latin America and the Caribbean

Because of the apparent slowdown in the growth of crop yield potential, the increasing share of farmers already using modern crop varieties, and the accelerating flow of knowledge on agricultural technology, one would expect to find gradual convergence inLatin america, crop yield, convergence, spillover, weather variability

Analytic Network Traffic Prediction Based on User Behavior Modeling

This paper proposes an interpretable user-behavior-based (UBB) network traffic prediction (NTP) method. Based on user behavior, a weekly traffic demand profile can be naturally sorted into three categories, i.e., weekday, Saturday, and Sunday. For each category, the traffic pattern is divided into three components which are mainly generated in three time periods, i.e., morning, afternoon, and evening. Each component is modeled as a normal-distributed signal. Numerical results indicate the UBB NTP method matches the practical wireless traffic demand very well. Compared with existing methods, the proposed UBB NTP method improves the computational efficiency and increases the predictive accuracy.Comment: This paper has been submitted to IEEE Networking Letters for possible publication

Transcriptomics of Lactobacillus paracasei: metabolism patterns and cellular responses under high-density culture conditions

Lactobacillus paracasei has significant potential for development and application in the environmental field, particularly in addressing malodor pollution. This study aims to investigate the cellular response of L. paracasei B1 under high-density culture conditions. The selected strain has previously shown effective deodorizing and bacteriostatic abilities. Transcriptomics techniques are employed to dissect the nutrient metabolism pattern of L. paracasei B1 and its response mechanism under environmental stress. The study characterizes the functions of key differentially expressed genes during growth before and after optimizing the culture conditions. The optimization of fermentation culture conditions provides a suitable growth environment for L. paracasei B1, inducing an enhancement of its phosphotransferase system for sugar source uptake and maintaining high levels of glycolysis and pyruvate metabolism. Consequently, the strain is able to grow and multiply rapidly. Under acid stress conditions, glycolysis and pyruvate metabolism are inhibited, and L. paracasei B1 generates additional energy through aerobic respiration to meet the energy demand. The two-component system and quorum sensing play roles in the response and regulation of L. paracasei B1 to adverse environments. The strain mitigates oxygen stress damage through glutathione metabolism, cysteine and methionine metabolism, base excision repair, and purine and pyrimidine metabolism. Additionally, the strain enhances lysine synthesis, the alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolic pathways, and relies on the ABC transport system to accumulate amino acid-compatible solutes to counteract acid stress and osmotic stress during pH regulation. These findings establish a theoretical basis for the further development and application of L. paracasei B1 for its productive properties

Temporal and spatial variations in body mass and thermogenic capacity associated with alterations in the gut microbiota and host transcriptome in mammalian herbivores

Acknowledgements This work was supported by the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program (No. 2019QZKK0501), the Joint Grant from Chinese Academy of Sciences–People's Government of Qinghai Province on Sanjiangyuan National Park (LHZX-2020-01), the prevention and control techniques and demonstration of rodent pest in degraded alpine degraded grassland of Plateau pasture (2023YFD1400101), and the project of western light for interdisciplinary teams.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Tailoring the Wettability of Colloidal Particles for Pickering Emulsions via Surface Modification and Roughness

Pickering emulsions are water or oil droplets that are stabilized by colloidal particles and have been intensely studied since the late 90s. The surfactant-free nature of these emulsions has little adverse effects such as irritancy and contamination of environment and typically exhibit enhanced stability compared to surfactant-stabilized emulsions. Therefore, they offer promising applications in cosmetics, food science, controlled release, and the manufacturing of microcapsules and porous materials. The wettability of the colloidal particles is the main parameter determining the formation and stability of Pickering emulsions. Tailoring the wettability by surface chemistry or surface roughness offers considerable scope for the design of a variety of hybrid nanoparticles that may serve as novel efficient Pickering emulsion stabilizers. In this review, we will discuss the recent advances in the development of surface modification of nanoparticles

Detection of copy number variations and their effects in Chinese bulls

BACKGROUND: Copy number variations (CNVs) are a main source of genomic structural variations underlying animal evolution and production traits. Here, with one pure-blooded Angus bull as reference, we describe a genome-wide analysis of CNVs based on comparative genomic hybridization arrays in 29 Chinese domesticated bulls and examined their effects on gene expression and cattle growth traits. RESULTS: We identified 486 copy number variable regions (CNVRs), covering 2.45% of the bovine genome, in 24 taurine (Bos taurus), together with 161 ones in 2 yaks (Bos grunniens) and 163 ones in 3 buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis). Totally, we discovered 605 integrated CNVRs, with more “loss” events than both “gain” and “both” ones, and clearly clustered them into three cattle groups. Interestingly, we confirmed their uneven distributions across chromosomes, and the differences of mitochondrion DNA copy number (gain: taurine, loss: yak & buffalo). Furthermore, we confirmed approximately 41.8% (253/605) and 70.6% (427/605) CNVRs span cattle genes and quantitative trait loci (QTLs), respectively. Finally, we confirmed 6 CNVRs in 9 chosen ones by using quantitative PCR, and further demonstrated that CNVR22 had significantly negative effects on expression of PLA2G2D gene, and both CNVR22 and CNVR310 were associated with body measurements in Chinese cattle, suggesting their key effects on gene expression and cattle traits. CONCLUSIONS: The results advanced our understanding of CNV as an important genomic structural variation in taurine, yak and buffalo. This study provides a highly valuable resource for Chinese cattle’s evolution and breeding researches. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-480) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Intranasal Immunization with Recombinant HA and Mast Cell Activator C48/80 Elicits Protective Immunity against 2009 Pandemic H1N1 Influenza in Mice

Pandemic influenza represents a major threat to global health. Vaccination is the most economic and effective strategy to control influenza pandemic. Conventional vaccine approach, despite being effective, has a number of major deficiencies including limited range of protection, total dependence on embryonated eggs for production, and time consuming for vaccine production. There is an urgent need to develop novel vaccine strategies to overcome these deficiencies.The major objective of this work was to develop a novel vaccine strategy combining recombinant haemagglutinin (HA) protein and a master cell (MC) activator C48/80 for intranasal immunization. We demonstrated in BALB/c mice that MC activator C48/80 had strong adjuvant activity when co-administered with recombinant HA protein intranasally. Vaccination with C48/80 significantly increased the serum IgG and mucosal surface IgA antibody responses against HA protein. Such increases correlated with stronger and durable neutralizing antibody activities, offering protection to vaccinated animals from disease progression after challenge with lethal dose of A/California/04/2009 live virus. Furthermore, protected animals demonstrated significant reduction in lung virus titers, minimal structural alteration in lung tissues as well as higher and balanced production of Th1 and Th2 cytokines in the stimulated splenocytes when compared to those without C48/80.The present study demonstrates that the novel vaccine approach of combining recombinant HA and mucosal adjuvant C48/80 is safe and effective in eliciting protective immunity in mice. Future studies on the mechanism of action of C48/80 and potential combination with other vaccine strategies such as prime and boost approach may help to induce even more potent and broad immune responses against viruses from various clades

New Family of Robust 2D Topological Insulators in van der Waals Heterostructures

We predict a new family of robust two-dimensional (2D) topological insulators in van der Waals heterostructures comprising graphene and chalcogenides BiTeX (X=Cl, Br and I). The layered structures of both constituent materials produce a naturally smooth interface that is conducive to proximity induced new topological states. First principles calculations reveal intrinsic topologically nontrivial bulk energy gaps as large as 70-80 meV, which can be further enhanced up to 120 meV by compression. The strong spin-orbit coupling in BiTeX has a significant influence on the graphene Dirac states, resulting in the topologically nontrivial band structure, which is confirmed by calculated nontrivial Z2 index and an explicit demonstration of metallic edge states. Such heterostructures offer an unique Dirac transport system that combines the 2D Dirac states from graphene and 1D Dirac edge states from the topological insulator, and it offers new ideas for innovative device designs