Social Big Data: Mining, Applications, and Beyond

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Metagenomic Analysis of Bacteria, Fungi, Bacteriophages, and Helminths in the Gut of Giant Pandas

To obtain full details of gut microbiota, including bacteria, fungi, bacteriophages, and helminths, in giant pandas (GPs), we created a comprehensive microbial genome database and used metagenomic sequences to align against the database. We delineated a detailed and different gut microbiota structures of GPs. A total of 680 species of bacteria, 198 fungi, 185 bacteriophages, and 45 helminths were found. Compared with 16S rRNA sequencing, the dominant bacterium phyla not only included Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Actinobacteria but also Cyanobacteria and other eight phyla. Aside from Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Glomeromycota, Mucoromycota, and Microsporidia were the dominant fungi phyla. The bacteriophages were predominantly dsDNA Myoviridae, Siphoviridae, Podoviridae, ssDNA Inoviridae, and Microviridae. For helminths, phylum Nematoda was the dominant. In addition to previously described parasites, another 44 species of helminths were found in GPs. Also, differences in abundance of microbiota were found between the captive, semiwild, and wild GPs. A total of 1,739 genes encoding cellulase, β-glucosidase, and cellulose β-1,4-cellobiosidase were responsible for the metabolism of cellulose, and 128,707 putative glycoside hydrolase genes were found in bacteria/fungi. Taken together, the results indicated not only bacteria but also fungi, bacteriophages, and helminths were diverse in gut of giant pandas, which provided basis for the further identification of role of gut microbiota. Besides, metagenomics revealed that the bacteria/fungi in gut of GPs harbor the ability of cellulose and hemicellulose degradation

Protein-metabolite association studies identify novel proteomic determinants of metabolite levels in human plasma

Although many novel gene-metabolite and gene-protein associations have been identified using high-throughput biochemical profiling, systematic studies that leverage human genetics to illuminate causal relationships between circulating proteins and metabolites are lacking. Here, we performed protein-metabolite association studies in 3,626 plasma samples from three human cohorts. We detected 171,800 significant protein-metabolite pairwise correlations between 1,265 proteins and 365 metabolites, including established relationships in metabolic and signaling pathways such as the protein thyroxine-binding globulin and the metabolite thyroxine, as well as thousands of new findings. In Mendelian randomization (MR) analyses, we identified putative causal protein-to-metabolite associations. We experimentally validated top MR associations in proof-of-concept plasma metabolomics studies in three murine knockout strains of key protein regulators. These analyses identified previously unrecognized associations between bioactive proteins and metabolites in human plasma. We provide publicly available data to be leveraged for studies in human metabolism and disease

Systemic Markers of Lung Function and Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 Second Decline across Diverse Cohorts.

Rationale: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a complex disease characterized by airway obstruction and accelerated lung function decline. Our understanding of systemic protein biomarkers associated with COPD remains incomplete. Objectives: To determine what proteins and pathways are associated with impaired pulmonary function in a diverse population. Methods: We studied 6,722 participants across six cohort studies with both aptamer-based proteomic and spirometry data (4,566 predominantly White participants in a discovery analysis and 2,156 African American cohort participants in a validation). In linear regression models, we examined protein associations with baseline forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and FEV1/forced vital capacity (FVC). In linear mixed effects models, we investigated the associations of baseline protein levels with rate of FEV1 decline (ml/yr) in 2,777 participants with up to 7 years of follow-up spirometry. Results: We identified 254 proteins associated with FEV1 in our discovery analyses, with 80 proteins validated in the Jackson Heart Study. Novel validated protein associations include kallistatin serine protease inhibitor, growth differentiation factor 2, and tumor necrosis factor-like weak inducer of apoptosis (discovery β = 0.0561, Q = 4.05 × 10-10; β  = 0.0421, Q = 1.12 × 10-3; and β = 0.0358, Q = 1.67 × 10-3, respectively). In longitudinal analyses within cohorts with follow-up spirometry, we identified 15 proteins associated with FEV1 decline (Q < 0.05), including elafin leukocyte elastase inhibitor and mucin-associated TFF2 (trefoil factor 2; β = -4.3 ml/yr, Q = 0.049; β = -6.1 ml/yr, Q = 0.032, respectively). Pathways and processes highlighted by our study include aberrant extracellular matrix remodeling, enhanced innate immune response, dysregulation of angiogenesis, and coagulation. Conclusions: In this study, we identify and validate novel biomarkers and pathways associated with lung function traits in a racially diverse population. In addition, we identify novel protein markers associated with FEV1 decline. Several protein findings are supported by previously reported genetic signals, highlighting the plausibility of certain biologic pathways. These novel proteins might represent markers for risk stratification, as well as novel molecular targets for treatment of COPD

Proteomic Profiling Platforms Head to Head: Leveraging Genetics and Clinical Traits to Compare Aptamer- And Antibody-Based Methods

High-throughput proteomic profiling using antibody or aptamer-based affinity reagents is used increasingly in human studies. However, direct analyses to address the relative strengths and weaknesses of these platforms are lacking. We assessed findings from the SomaScan1.3K (N = 1301 reagents), the SomaScan5K platform (N = 4979 reagents), and the Olink Explore (N = 1472 reagents) profiling techniques in 568 adults from the Jackson Heart Study and 219 participants in the HERITAGE Family Study across four performance domains: precision, accuracy, analytic breadth, and phenotypic associations leveraging detailed clinical phenotyping and genetic data. Across these studies, we show evidence supporting more reliable protein target specificity and a higher number of phenotypic associations for the Olink platform, while the Soma platforms benefit from greater measurement precision and analytic breadth across the proteome

An Overview of Foreign Long-Range Precise Air Striking Development

Long-range air striking is an important trend in the modern air operations. This paper focuses on the development of equipment, technology, and operation concepts in long-range air strike domain in foreign countries, analyzes the main research status in this field and summarizes the development trends in operation concepts, weapon platforms, and kill chains. Three typical operation modes of long-range air striking, which are collaborative target detection guided long-range striking, collaborative target indication guided long-range striking and networked relayed guided long-range striking, are proposed from the perspective of how guidance information is generated. Based on the development situation in foreign countries, key technologies supporting long-range air striking are summarized and discussed

The cognitive model of human behavior and personality

Human behavior triggered by stimuli is always associated with cognitive factors such as personal experience, cultural context, and so on. Understanding the cognitive trigger mechanism and predicting human behavior are the long-term target of psychology. Behavior physically visible body activities, states of consciousness, thoughts, feelings, representations, and other internal activities were widely and deeply investigated in a narrow and general sense, However, no unified agreement on the definition and mechanism of behavior has been obtained. We previously proposed a formula for human behavior. Based on this, this paper aims to clarify the types of stimuli and their corresponding internal cognitive magnitudes that will be associated with assessment, value, and scene. The general and underlying deterministic causality of behavior will be proved again. Besides of this, human value concept and human behavior pattern throw cast to human personality of the big-five model or five factors model, and the nine-type personality schema. These interlock information chains reveal that an event information component and structure decide human pattern and its personal components which may grow out of biological and social evolution. Generally, it indicates that a general standard definition and mathematical expression is effective. On a functional level, the unified mechanism of psychology is proposed as the association of behavior and internal factor of cognition established

Analysis of Air-Breathing Hypersonic Maneuver Flight Styles and Key Technologies

The maneuver flight performance is one of the key capabilities to ensure the implementation of various applications for air-breathing hypersonic aircraft. This article focuses on the study of the maneuverability characteristics of air-breathing hypersonic aircraft. Firstly, the development trend of foreign air-breathing hypersonic aircraft is analyzed, and a preliminary analysis is conducted on their typical maneuverability levels and maneuverability styles. Taking the current typical hypersonic missile project in the United States as an example, the typical maneuverability application patterns of air-breathing hypersonic aircraft are summarized. On this basis, key supporting technologies for ensuring and improving the maneuverability of air-breathing hypersonic aircraft are analyzed from the aspects of overall design, aerodynamic shape, flight engine integration, guidance control, and multi-field coupling

Community differentiation of rhizosphere microorganisms and their responses to environmental factors at different development stages of medicinal plant Glehnia littoralis

Rhizosphere microorganisms play a key role in affecting plant quality and productivity through its interaction with plant root system. To figure out the bottleneck of the decline of yield and quality in the traditional Chinese medicinal herbs Glehnia littoralis they now encounter, it is important to study the dynamics of rhizosphere microbiota during the cultivation of G. littoralis. In the present study, the composition, diversity and function of rhizosphere microbes at different development stages of G. littoralis, as well as the correlation between rhizosphere microbes and environmental factors were systematically studied by high-throughput sequencing. There were significant differences between the rhizosphere microbes at early and middle-late development stages. More beneficial bacteria, such as Proteobacteria, and more symbiotic and saprophytic fungi were observed at the middle-late development stage of G. littoralis, while beneficial bacteria such as Actinobacteria and polytrophic transitional fungi were abundant at all development stages. The results of redundancy analysis show that eight environmental factors drive the changes of microflora at different development stages. pH, soil organic matter (SOM) and available phosphorus (AP) had important positive effects on the bacterial and fungal communities at the early development stage; saccharase (SC) and nitrate nitrogen (NN) showed significant positive effects on the bacterial and fungal communities at the middle and late stages; while urease (UE), available potassium (AK), and alkaline phosphatase (AKP) have different effects on bacterial and fungal communities at different development stages. Random forest analysis identified 47 bacterial markers and 22 fungal markers that could be used to distinguish G. littoralis at different development stages. Network analysis showed that the rhizosphere microbes formed a complex mutualistic symbiosis network, which is beneficial to the growth and development of G. littoralis. These results suggest that host development stage and environmental factors have profound influence on the composition, diversity, community structure and function of plant rhizosphere microorganisms. This study provides a reference for optimizing the cultivation of G. littoralis