Flux regulation through glycolysis and respiration is balanced by inositol pyrophosphates in yeast

Although many prokaryotes have glycolysis alternatives, it\u27s considered as the only energy-generating glucose catabolic pathway in eukaryotes. Here, we managed to create a hybrid-glycolysis yeast. Subsequently, we identified an inositol pyrophosphatase encoded by OCA5 that could regulate glycolysis and respiration by adjusting 5-diphosphoinositol 1,2,3,4,6-pentakisphosphate (5-InsP7) levels. 5-InsP7 levels could regulate the expression of genes involved in glycolysis and respiration, representing a global mechanism that could sense ATP levels and regulate central carbon metabolism. The hybrid-glycolysis yeast did not produce ethanol during growth under excess glucose and could produce 2.68 g/L free fatty acids, which is the highest reported production in shake flask of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This study demonstrated the significance of hybrid-glycolysis yeast and determined Oca5 as an inositol pyrophosphatase controlling the balance between glycolysis and respiration, which may shed light on the role of inositol pyrophosphates in regulating eukaryotic metabolism

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms

Dependence of kinetic sensitivity direction in premixed flames

© 2020 The sensitivities of turbulent combustion simulations to chemical kinetic parameters can be analyzed to understand the controlling reactions in turbulent flames and to quantify the uncertainties in simulations. However, computing the sensitivity of turbulent combustion simulations to a large number of kinetic parameters is still challenging. A promising approach is to estimate the sensitivity from laminar flames, especially for cases where the flamelet model is applicable. Under these conditions, the underlying hypothesis is that the sensitivity direction of the flamelet profiles is independent of the strain rate and the flame coordinate, which is the progress variable for premixed flames. In the present work, this hypothesis was tested in laminar premixed counterflow flames. We first studied the sensitivity directions of two extreme cases, the near-extinction strained flames and the freely propagating unstretched flames. It was found that the sensitivity directions of the extinction strain rate and the laminar flame speed are aligned with each other for various fuels, equivalence ratios, and pressures. We then studied the dependence of the sensitivity direction of the maximum flame temperature on the strain rate as well as the dependence of the sensitivity direction of the species profiles on the progress variable. It was found that the sensitivity direction of maximum temperature was largely independent of the strain rate. Moreover, the sensitivity directions of the temperature and species profiles were independent of the progress variable, and they were all similar to the sensitivity direction of the extinction strain rate. These findings suggest that there is a universal sensitivity direction for turbulent premixed flames and the direction can be estimated by the sensitivity direction of extinction strain rate. These conclusions will enable efficient sensitivity analysis of turbulent combustion simulations when the hypothesis is valid

A Heuristically Accelerated Reinforcement Learning-Based Neurosurgical Path Planner

The steerable needle becomes appealing in the neurosurgery intervention procedure because of its flexibility to bypass critical regions inside the brain; with proper path planning, it can also minimize the potential damage by setting constraints and optimizing the insertion path. Recently, reinforcement learning (RL)-based path planning algorithm has shown promising results in neurosurgery, but because of the trial and error mechanism, it can be computationally expensive and insecure with low training efficiency. In this paper, we propose a heuristically accelerated deep Q network (DQN) algorithm to safely preoperatively plan a needle insertion path in a neurosurgical environment. Furthermore, a fuzzy inference system is integrated into the framework as a balance of the heuristic policy and the RL algorithm. Simulations are conducted to test the proposed method in comparison to the traditional greedy heuristic searching algorithm and DQN algorithms. Tests showed promising results of our algorithm in saving over 50 training episodes, calculating path lengths of 0.35 after normalization, which is 0.61 and 0.39 for DQN and traditional greedy heuristic searching algorithm, respectively. Moreover, the maximum curvature during planning is reduced to 0.046 from 0.139 mm−1 using the proposed algorithm compared to DQN

Preparation of a Water-Based Lubricant from Lignocellulosic Biomass and Its Tribological Properties

Lignocellulosic biomass is considered as a major feedstock to produce value-added renewable chemicals. In this study, a new water-based lubricant was prepared using biomass-derived levulinic acid (LA) and polyols such as ethylene glycol and glycerol. The products were separated by rotary film molecular distillation and characterized by ¹H NMR and mass spectrometry. Lubricant properties such as kinematic viscosity, pour, cloud, and flash points, copper strip corrosion, and volatility at 120 °C were evaluated according to standard ASTM methods. Furthermore, the hydrolytic stability and tribological properties of the products were tested for water-based lubricants. The results indicated that glycerol ester of levulinic acid (LAGLE) exhibited superior lubricant properties, strong resistance to hydrolytic degradation, and excellent antiwear performance, implying that the biomass-derived LAGLE was a potential water-based lubricant

Ultraviolet Spectroscopy Used to Fingerprint Five Wild-Grown Edible Mushrooms (Boletaceae) Collected from Yunnan, China

Nowadays, wild-grown edible mushrooms which are natural, nutritious, and healthy get more and more popular by large consumers. In this paper, UV spectra of different Boletaceae mushrooms with the aid of partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were shown to be a practical and rapid method for discrimination purpose. The specimens of Boletus edulis, Boletus ferrugineus, Boletus tomentipes, Leccinum rugosiceps, and Xerocomus sp. were described based on the UV spectra. From the results, all the specimens were characterized by strong absorption at the wavelengths of 274 and 284 nm and showed the shoulder at 296 nm. However, changes could be seen in the peak heights at the same wavelength for different samples. After analyzing by chemometrics, visual discrimination among samples was presented and the relationships among them were also obtained. This study showed that UV spectroscopy combined with chemometrics methods could be used successfully as a simple and effective approach for characterization of these five wild-grown edible mushrooms at species and genus levels. Meanwhile, this rapid and simple methodology could also provide reference for the discrimination of edible mushrooms

The effects of vermicompost and shell powder addition on Cd bioavailability, enzyme activity and bacterial community in Cd-contaminated soil: A field study

Cadmium (Cd) contamination has become serious in soil and in situ stabilization technology has been widely used for heavy metal remediation. A field study was conducted to determine the effect of amendments with the doses of 3 kg/m2, including single vermicompost (A1), a 95% vermicompost mixed with 5% shell powder composite (A2) and a 95% vermicompost mixed with 5% modified shell powder composite (A3), on the Cd bioavailability, enzyme activity and bacterial community in soil, and the experiment was conducted with lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) grown in a Cd-contaminated farmland soil. The results showed that the application of amendments increased the pH, cation exchange capacity (CEC), organic matter (OM), available nutrients, catalase (S-CAT), invertase (S-SC) and urease (S-UE) activities in soil, while significantly reduced the Cd bioavailability with the lowest Cd bioavailability being observed in the soil with A3 application. The soil bacterial richness and diversity increased after amendments application, and the bacterial community was characterized by an increase in metal-tolerant bacteria but a decrease in Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria and Gemmatimonadetes. In addition, the application of amendments significantly improved the growth of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) and inhibited Cd accumulation in its edible parts, especially, the Cd content in lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) grown in soil with A3 application was below the limit of the National Food Safety Standard of China (maximum level ≤ 0.2 mg/kg). Thus, composite amendment obtained from vermicompost mixed with modified shell powder can be used as potential remediation material in Cd-contaminated soil. Capsule: Composite amendment obtained from vermicompost and modified shell powder had good effects on remediation of Cd-contaminated soil