Widely Targeted Metabolomics Analysis of Compositional Differences between Purple Black Rice and Common Rice at Different Harvest Periods

In this study, widely targeted metabolomics based on ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was used to analyze the types and contents of differential metabolites between purple black rice and common rice produced in Guangxi and to illustrate the significantly differential metabolic pathways. A total of 667 metabolites were identified, including lipids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, alkaloids, and organic acids. Principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis and overall metabolite profiling showed that 239 of the 278 differential metabolites identified in mature rice samples were up-regulated, and 235 of the 267 differential metabolites identified in the 20 day earlier harvest group were up-regulated when compared with common rice. The metabolite composition of purple black rice at different harvest periods was similar, indicating that porridge made from purple black rice harvested in advance will have soft and glutinous texture as well as complete nutritional structure. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis showed that significantly up-regulated compounds such as rhamnose-3-O-glucoside, hesperidin-7-O-glucoside, homoeriodictyol, eriodictyol, hesperidin, catechin, quercetin, naringin and chalcones in purple black rice were involved in the biosynthetic pathways of flavonoids and flavonols, regulating the contents of flavonoids and flavonols, and improving the nutritional quality and antioxidant effect of purple black rice

Autophagy enforces functional integrity of regulatory T cells by coupling environmental cues and metabolic homeostasis

Regulatory T (Treg) cells respond to immune and inflammatory signals to mediate immunosuppression, but how functional integrity of Treg cells is maintained under activating environments remains elusive. Here we found that autophagy was active in Treg cells and supported their lineage stability and survival fitness. Treg cell-specific deletion of the essential autophagy gene Atg7 or Atg5 led to loss of Treg cells, increased tumor resistance, and development of inflammatory disorders. Atg7-deficient Treg cells had increased apoptosis and readily lost Foxp3 expression, especially after activation. Mechanistically, autophagy deficiency upregulated mTORC1 and c-Myc function and glycolytic metabolism that contributed to defective Treg function. Therefore, autophagy couples environmental signals and metabolic homeostasis to protect lineage and survival integrity of Treg cells in activating contexts

Growth, Mechanical, Thermal and Spectral Properties of Cr3+∶MgMoO4 Crystal

This paper reports the growth, mechanical, thermal and spectral properties of Cr3+∶MgMoO4 crystals. The Cr3+∶MgMoO4 crystals with dimensions up to 30 mm×18 mm×14 mm were obtained by TSSG method. The absorption cross-sections of 4A2→4T1 and 4A2→4T2 transitions are 12.94×10−20 cm2 at 493 nm and 7.89×10−20 cm2 at 705 nm for E//Ng, respectively. The Cr3+∶MgMoO4 crystal shows broad band emission extending from 750 nm to 1300 nm with peak at about 705 nm. The emission cross-section with FWHM of 188 nm is 119.88×10−20 cm2 at 963 nm for E//Ng. The investigated results showed that the Cr3+∶MgMoO4 crystal may be regarded as a potential tunable laser gain medium

FoxA Proteins Regulate H19 Endoderm Enhancer E1 and Exhibit Developmental Changes in Enhancer Binding In Vivo

Multiple enhancers govern developmental and tissue-specific expression of the H19-Igf2 locus, but factors that bind these elements have not been identified. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation, we have found two FoxA binding sites in the H19 E1 enhancer. Mutating these sites diminishes E1 activity in hepatoma cells. Additional chromatin immunoprecipitations show that FoxA binds to E1 in fetal liver, where H19 is abundantly expressed, but that binding decreases in adult liver, where H19 is no longer transcribed, even though FoxA proteins are present at both times. FoxA proteins are induced when F9 embryonal carcinoma cells differentiate into visceral endoderm (VE) and parietal endoderm (PE). We show that FoxA binds E1 in VE cells, where H19 is expressed, but not in PE cells, where H19 is silent. This correlation between FoxA binding and H19 expression indicates a role for FoxA in regulating H19, including developmental activation in the yolk sac and liver and postnatal repression in the liver. This is the first demonstration of a tissue-specific factor involved in developmental control of H19 expression. These data also indicate that the presence of FoxA proteins is not sufficient for binding but that additional mechanisms must govern the accessibility of FoxA proteins to their cognate binding sites within the H19 E1 enhancer

Analysis of wireless English multimedia communication based on spatial state model equation

In order to improve the quality of wireless English multimedia communication, according to the characteristics of space multimedia communication environment and communication equipment, this paper proposes a wireless English synchronous QoS control algorithm with low complexity and easy implementation. Using RTCPSRRTP timestamp and NTP absolute timestamp, the wireless English RTP timestamp is mapped to the same absolute reference clock (sender system time) respectively, and the wireless English synchronization detection decision rule is established according to the synchronization QoS performance requirements between wireless English media. Wireless English synchronization control system model at the receiver. At the receiving end, the wireless English stream is the main media stream and the video stream is the slave media stream. The synchronization detection and judgment is implemented in real time before the video frame is played. The synchronization between audio and video media is realized by corresponding synchronization control of wireless English playback. State space model reflects all the information of system dynamic behavior and is a complete description of system behavior. The state space model has a wide range of applications. It is not only suitable for SISO linear constant systems, but also suitable for nonlinear systems, time-varying systems, MIMO systems and stochastic systems. The more outstanding advantage is that the state space model adopts local calculation and uses the state variables inside the system to describe its dynamic characteristics. This property of local calculation not only greatly simplifies the mathematical expression of multi-dimensional system, but also facilitates the analysis and research of the system. The air link rate of the wireless transceiver is set to 512Kbps. The video is encoded based on H.264 and the audio is encoded based on G.729 Speech coding standard. Compared with the wireless English media synchronization control algorithm based on RTP / RTCP, the results show that the RMSE value after adopting the synchronization algorithm in this paper is reduced by 60.09% and 77.69% at most; Compared with the wireless English media synchronization control algorithm based on RTP / RTCP, the synchronization performance of this algorithm is better than the wireless English media synchronization control algorithm. The RMSE value is reduced by 2% on average and 5.2% at most. In addition, the synchronization control algorithm between wireless English media performs synchronization control by losing frames or pausing decoding before video decoding at the receiver, which affects the quality of wireless English video decoding and reconstruction

A train timetabling and stop planning optimization model with passenger demand

Train timetabling plays an important part in train management, not only for passengers, but also for train operators. In a highly dynamic transportation market, train timetabling is an essential bridge connecting the service supplier with transportation demand. However, in present operations, train scheduling without considering passenger demand can reduce competitive advantages of railway in the multimodal transportation market and will further lead to passenger dissatisfaction. Therefore, it’s important to schedule trains responding to passenger demand in the train planning process. In this paper, we focus on the problem of train timetabling with passenger demand, specifically deciding train stop plan based on different origin-destination passenger demand pairs. Taking the stop indicators as important decision variables, a mixed integer linear programming model is proposed to address this train timetabling and stopping plan integration issue, with minimizing total train travel time and maximizing the number of transported passengers. The weighted-sum method is used to find the Pareto optimal solutions for the proposed bi-objective mathematical model. A set of numerical tests is presented based on Beijing-Jinan high-speed railway line (part of Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway line) by Cplex optimization solver to validate the model.ISSN:1650-3686ISSN:1650-374

Facile and Controllable Fabrication of Protein-Only Nanoparticles through Photo-Induced Crosslinking of Albumin and Their Application as DOX Carriers

Protein-based nanoparticles, as an alternative to conventional polymer-based nanoparticles, offer great advantages in biomedical applications owing to their functional and biocompatible characteristics. However, the route of fabrication towards protein-based nanoparticles faces substantial challenges, including limitations in size control and unavoidable usage of toxic crosslinkers or organic solvents, which may raise safety concerns related to products and their degradation components. In the present study, a photo-induced crosslinking approach was developed to prepare stable, size-controlled protein-only nanoparticles. The facile one-step reaction irradiated by visible light enables the formation of monodispersed bovine serum albumin nanoparticles (BSA NPs) within several minutes through a tyrosine photo-redox reaction, requiring no cross-linking agents. The size of the BSA NPs could be precisely manipulated (from 20 to 100 nm) by controlling the duration time of illumination. The resultant BSA NPs exhibited spherical morphology, and the α-helix structure in BSA was preserved. Further study demonstrated that the 35 nm doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded BSA NPs achieved a drug loading content of 6.3%, encapsulation efficiency of 70.7%, and a controlled release profile with responsivity to both pH and reducing conditions. Importantly, the in vitro drug delivery experiment demonstrated efficient cellular internalizations of the DOX-loaded BSA NPs and inhibitory activities on MCF-7 and HeLa cells. This method shows the promise of being a platform for the green synthesis of protein-only nanoparticles for biomedical applications

A Discrete-Space Train Movement Model for a High-Speed Train under Temporary Speed Restriction

This paper constructs a discrete-space train movement model to evaluate the impact of a temporary speed restriction (TSR) for a high-speed railway train. The established model can demonstrate train movement under different TSR conditions. The proposed model can reveal whether a train is affected by the block section influenced by the TSR within a time duration. Moreover, the model can output detailed train trajectories and the minimal train running time between two adjacent stations to analyse the impact of the TSR. Based on the experimental results, we carry out a comprehensive analysis of the impact of several factors on the running time and train trajectories, including the length of the affected area (i.e., number of affected block sections), the location of the TSR, the limited speed value, and the stopping patterns of the train at two adjacent stations. The experiments show that the proposed discrete-space train movement model can be used to analyse the impact of the TSR on a high-speed railway train under various considered TSR conditions

A stochastic programming approach for scheduling extra metro trains to serve passengers from uncertain delayed high-speed railway trains

The metro system is an important component of the urban transportation system due to the large volume of transported passengers. Hub stations connecting metro and high-speed railway (HSR) networks are particularly critical in this system. When HSR trains are delayed due to a disruption on the HSR network, passengers of these trains arriving at the hub station at night may fail to get their last metro connection. The metro operator can thus decide to schedule extra metro trains at night to serve passengers from delayed HSR trains. In this paper, we consider the extra metro train scheduling problem in which the metro operator decides how many extra metro trains to dispatch and their schedules. The problem is complex because (i) the arrival of delayed HSR trains is usually uncertain, and (ii) the operator has to minimize operating costs (i.e., number of additional trains and operation-ending time) but maximize the number of served passengers, which are two conflicting objectives. In other words, the problem we consider is stochastic and biobjective. We formulate this problem as a two-stage stochastic program with recourse and use an epsilon-constrained method to find a set of nondominated solutions. We perform extensive numerical experiments using realistic instances based on the Beijing metro network and two HSR lines connected to this network. We find that our stochastic model outperforms out-of-sample a deterministic model that relies on forecasts of the delay by a range of 3–5%. Moreover, we show that our solutions are nearly optimal by computing a perfect information dual bound and obtaining average optimality gaps below 1%.ISSN:1979-2016ISSN:2042-319