Nonlinear eco-evolutionary games with global environmental fluctuations and local environmental feedbacks

Environmental changes play a critical role in determining the evolution of social dilemmas in many natural or social systems. Generally, the environmental changes include two prominent aspects: the global time-dependent fluctuations and the local strategy-dependent feedbacks. However, the impacts of these two types of environmental changes have only been studied separately, a complete picture of the environmental effects exerted by the combination of these two aspects remains unclear. Here we develop a theoretical framework that integrates group strategic behaviors with their general dynamic environments, where the global environmental fluctuations are associated with a nonlinear factor in public goods game and the local environmental feedbacks are described by the `eco-evolutionary game'. We show how the coupled dynamics of local game-environment evolution differs in static and dynamic global environments. In particular, we find the emergence of cyclic evolutions of group cooperation and local environment, which forms an interior irregular loop in the phase plane, depending on the relative changing speed of both global and local environments compared to the strategic change. Our results provide important insights toward how diverse evolutionary outcomes could emerge from the nonlinear interactions between strategies and the changing environments

A Novel Human Microbe-Disease Association Prediction Method Based on the Bidirectional Weighted Network

The survival of human beings is inseparable from microbes. More and more studies have proved that microbes can affect human physiological processes in various aspects and are closely related to some human diseases. In this paper, based on known microbe-disease associations, a bidirectional weighted network was constructed by integrating the schemes of normalized Gaussian interactions and bidirectional recommendations firstly. And then, based on the newly constructed bidirectional network, a computational model called BWNMHMDA was developed to predict potential relationships between microbes and diseases. Finally, in order to evaluate the superiority of the new prediction model BWNMHMDA, the framework of LOOCV and 5-fold cross validation were implemented, and simulation results indicated that BWNMHMDA could achieve reliable AUCs of 0.9127 and 0.8967 ± 0.0027 in these two different frameworks respectively, which is outperformed some state-of-the-art methods. Moreover, case studies of asthma, colorectal carcinoma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were implemented to further estimate the performance of BWNMHMDA. Experimental results showed that there are 10, 9, and 8 out of the top 10 predicted microbes having been confirmed by related literature in these three kinds of case studies separately, which also demonstrated that our new model BWNMHMDA could achieve satisfying prediction performance

The role of GLI-SOX2 signaling axis for gemcitabine resistance in pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer, mostly pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC), is one of the most lethal cancers, with a dismal median survival around 8 months. PDAC is notoriously resistant to chemotherapy. Thus far, numerous attempts using novel targeted therapies and immunotherapies yielded limited clinical benefits for pancreatic cancer patients. It is hoped that delineating the molecular mechanisms underlying drug resistance in pancreatic cancer may provide novel therapeutic options. Using acquired gemcitabine resistant pancreatic cell lines, we revealed an important role of the GLI-SOX2 signaling axis for regulation of gemcitabine sensitivity in vitro and in animal models. Down-regulation of GLI transcriptional factors (GLI1 or GLI2), but not SMO signaling inhibition, reduces tumor sphere formation, a characteristics of tumor initiating cell (TIC). Down-regulation of GLI transcription factors also decreased expression of TIC marker CD24. Similarly, high SOX2 expression is associated with gemcitabine resistance whereas down-regulation of SOX2 sensitizes pancreatic cancer cells to gemcitabine treatment. We further revealed that elevated SOX2 expression is associated with an increase in GLI1 or GLI2 expression. Our ChIP assay revealed that GLI proteins are associated with a putative Gli binding site within the SOX2 promoter, suggesting a more direct regulation of SOX2 by GLI transcription factors. The relevance of our findings to human disease was revealed in human cancer specimens. We found that high SOX2 protein expression is associated with frequent tumor relapse and poor survival in stage II PDAC patients (all of them underwent gemcitabine treatment), indicating that reduced SOX2 expression or down-regulation of GLI transcription factors may be effective in sensitizing pancreatic cancer cells to gemcitabine treatment

The Effect of Dietary Lipid Levels on Growth Performance, Lipid Deposition, and Antioxidant Status of Juvenile Turbot, Scophthalmus maximus, Fed Isonitrogenous and Isoenergetics Diets

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different lipid (fish oil/soybean oil=1:1, w/w) levels in diets with 45% crude protein on growth performance, body composition, and antioxidant status of turbot (Scophthalmus maximus L.). 2040 turbot (39±0.2g) were randomly divided into 4 groups with 3 replicates and fed isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets with lipid levels of 6.0%(L6.0), 8.5%(L8.5), 11.0%(L11.0), and 13.5%(L13.5) for 56 days. Hepatic lipase (HL) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were evaluated, as well as lipid peroxidation measured as malondialdehyde (MDA). Results showed that no significant difference was observed in feeding rate (FR), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and protein retention, while dietary lipid levels caused a significant increase (P<0.05) in specific growth rate (SGR) The L13.5 group showed the highest lipid and energy retention and this was significantly higher than in other groups; lipid content in whole body and liver increased significantly with increased dietary lipid (P<0.05); the HL and SOD activity, and MDA in the liver all increased significantly (P<0.05)with dietary lipid supplementation in L13.5. In general, high dietary lipid levels enhanced growth rate of turbot, but the increment of growth was due mainly to excessive lipid deposition. Oxidation stress was observed in fish fed the diet containing 13.5% lipid. The optimal level of dietary lipid for good growth and antioxidant status in turbot was found to be 11%

Analysis and simulation on two types of thrust reversers in an aircraft engine

With rapid development of new composite material and manufacturing, innovative engineering solutions are supplied to the advanced nacelle, such as integrated propulsion system(IPS), carbon-fiber composite inner skin by single-piece molding process，which offers a reduction in fuel burn and less noise produced by engines. The advanced nacelle has an O-duct thrust reverser demonstrator whose composite structure is in the form of an “O” as opposed to the traditional “D-duct”. A comparative study is to be conducted to investigate the differences between the latest O-duct and conventional D-duct in numerical approaches. To focus on the quantitative analysis of thrust reverser’s operation, this paper mainly uses CATIA/Digital Mock Up(DMU) to simulate under deployment and stowed conditions of two different thrust reverser. After comparing the structural weight, the design models of blocker door are built for kinematic analysis of relevant mechanism and simulation. The results show that simplified design and elimination of multiple interfaces generates weight saving, O-duct improves airflows within the engine, meanwhile D-duct has excellent cost effective and maintainability

The Effect of Dietary Lipid Levels on Growth Performance, Lipid Deposition, and Antioxidant Status of Juvenile Turbot, Scophthalmus maximus, Fed Isonitrogenous and Isoenergetics Diets

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different lipid (fish oil/soybean oil=1:1, w/w) levels in diets with 45% crude protein on growth performance, body composition, and antioxidant status of turbot (Scophthalmus maximus L.). 2040 turbot (39±0.2g) were randomly divided into 4 groups with 3 replicates and fed isonitrogenous and isoenergetic diets with lipid levels of 6.0%(L6.0), 8.5%(L8.5), 11.0%(L11.0), and 13.5%(L13.5) for 56 days. Hepatic lipase (HL) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were evaluated, as well as lipid peroxidation measured as malondialdehyde (MDA). Results showed that no significant difference was observed in feeding rate (FR), protein efficiency ratio (PER) and protein retention, while dietary lipid levels caused a significant increase (P&lt;0.05) in specific growth rate (SGR) The L13.5 group showed the highest lipid and energy retention and this was significantly higher than in other groups; lipid content in whole body and liver increased significantly with increased dietary lipid (P&lt;0.05); the HL and SOD activity, and MDA in the liver all increased significantly (P&lt;0.05)with dietary lipid supplementation in L13.5. In general, high dietary lipid levels enhanced growth rate of turbot, but the increment of growth was due mainly to excessive lipid deposition. Oxidation stress was observed in fish fed the diet containing 13.5% lipid. The optimal level of dietary lipid for good growth and antioxidant status in turbot was found to be 11%. The IJA appears exclusively as a peer-reviewed on-line open-access journal at http://www.siamb.org.il/. To read papers free of charge, please register online at registration form. Sale of IJA papers is strictly forbidden. 2 Liu et al

Dietary supplementation of magnolol alleviates fatty liver hemorrhage syndrome in postpeak Xinhua laying hens via regulation of liver lipid metabolism

ABSTRACT: As a metabolic disease, fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome (FLHS) has emerged as a major cause of noninfectious mortality in laying hens, resulting in substantial economic losses to the poultry industry. This study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects of magnolol on FLHS in postpeak laying hen model, focusing on lipid metabolism, antioxidative capacity, and potential molecular mechanisms of action. We selected 150 Xinhua laying hens aged 50 wk and divided them into normal diet group (ND), high-fat diet group (HFD), 100 mg/kg magnolol group (MG100), 300 mg/kg magnolol group (MG300), 500 mg/kg magnolol group (MG500) on average. The experiment lasted for 6 wk, and liver samples were collected from the hens at the end of the experiment. The results demonstrated that the inclusion of magnolol in the diet had a significant impact on various factors. It led to a reduction in weight, an increase in egg production rate, a decrease in blood lipid levels, and an improvement in abnormal liver function, liver steatosis, and oxidative stress. These effects were particularly prominent in the MG500 group. The RNA—Seq analysis demonstrated that in the MG500 group, there was a down-regulation of genes associated with fatty acid synthesis (Acc, Fasn, Scd, Srebf1, Elovl6) compared to the HFD group. Moreover, genes related to fatty acid oxidation (CPT1A and PGC1α) were found to be up-regulated. The Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis of these differentially expressed genes indicated their enrichment in the PPAR signaling pathway. These findings demonstrate that magnolol can mitigate FLHS by inhibiting fatty acid synthesis and promoting fatty acid oxidation. This discovery offers a novel approach for treating FLHS in laying hens, reducing the economic losses associate with FLHS

Application of McKinsey Curve in Building Emission Reduction Technology

In order to promote the application of McKinsey energy reduction cost curves in buildings, This paper introduces the concept of McKinsey abatement cost curves, the current application status of building abatement measures and abatement cost data, makes an analysis for the economic characteristics of different energy efficiency measures in retrofit projects, and presents the retrofit measures, annual energy savings and investment costs used in retrofit programs by taking the example of energy efficiency retrofits in office and commercial buildings in the past 2 years, discloses the data changes in abatement costs for some energysaving retrofit technologies contrastingly, and suggests that dates should be iterated based on McKinsey abatement cost curves. The McKinsey abatement cost ctuve is usefill for guiding the selection of building energy efficiency measures. The curve is economical and visualized compatibly and is a good reference for making abatement decisions through timely updating the data of retrofit technologies and influencing factors

Inhibitory Effect of Ursolic Acid on the Migration and Invasion of Doxorubicin-Resistant Breast Cancer

The cause of death in most breast cancer patients is disease metastasis and the occurrence of multidrug resistance (MDR). Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), which is involved into multiple pathways, is closely related to carcinogenesis and development. Ursolic acid (UA), a natural triterpenoid compound, has been shown to reverse the MDR characteristics of tumor cells. However, the effect of UA on the invasion and metastasis of tumor cells with MDR is not known. Therefore, we investigated the effects of UA on invasion and metastasis, ODC-related polyamine metabolism, and MAPK-Erk-VEGF/MMP-9 signaling pathways in a doxorubicin-resistant breast cancer cell (MCF-7/ADR) model. The obtained results showed that UA significantly inhibited the adhesion and migration of MCF-7/ADR cells, and had higher affinities with key active cavity residues of ODC compared to the known inhibitor di-fluoro-methyl-ornithine (DFMO). UA could downregulate ODC, phosphorylated Erk (P-Erk), VEGF, and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) activity. Meanwhile, UA significantly reduced the content of metabolites of the polyamine metabolism. Furthermore, UA increased the intracellular accumulation of Dox in MCF-7/ADR cells. Taken together, UA can inhibit against tumor progression during the treatment of breast cancer with Dox, and possibly modulate the Erk-VEGF/MMP-9 signaling pathways and polyamine metabolism by targeting ODC to exert these effects