Field-Grown Transgenic Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) with Altered Lignin Does Not Affect Soil Chemistry, Microbiology, and Carbon Storage Potential

Cell wall recalcitrance poses a major challenge on cellulosic biofuel production from feedstocks such as switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.). As lignin is a known contributor of recalcitrance, transgenic switchgrass plants with altered lignin have been produced by downregulation of caffeic acid O-methyltransferase (COMT). Field trials of COMT-downregulated plants previously demonstrated improved ethanol conversion with no adverse agronomic effects. However, the rhizosphere impacts of altering lignin in plants are unknown. We hypothesized that changing plant lignin composition may affect residue degradation in soils, ultimately altering soil processes. The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of two independent lines of COMT-downregulated switchgrass plants on soils in terms of chemistry, microbiology, and carbon cycling when grown in the field. Over the first two years of establishment, we observed no significant differences between transgenic and control plants in terms of soil pH or the total concentrations of 19 elements. An analysis of soil bacterial communities via high-throughput 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing revealed no effects of transgenic plants on bacterial diversity, richness, or community composition. We also did not observe a change in the capacity for soil carbon storage: There was no significant effect on soil respiration or soil organic matter. After five years of establishment, δ13C of plant roots, leaves, and soils was measured and an isotopic mixing model used to estimate that 11.2 to 14.5% of soil carbon originated from switchgrass. Switchgrass-contributed carbon was not significantly different between transgenic and control plants. Overall, our results indicate that over the short term (two and five years), lignin modification in switchgrass through manipulation of COMT expression does not have an adverse effect on soils in terms of total elemental composition, bacterial community structure and diversity, and capacity for carbon storage

Joint Production and Maintenance Optimization of a Series–Parallel System with Quality-Contingent Demand

Making a reasonable and effective production plan is always an essential and challenging task in industrial production. A joint optimization model of production and maintenance is proposed in this paper, which considers the structural relationship between production units and the influence of the unit state on demand. A three-unit series–parallel system is selected to calculate the steady-state probability density function of the system, and the model is established by dividing different maintenance situations in one cycle. By analyzing the composition of expected cost and expected time in each situation, the expected cost rate is calculated by using renewal reward theory. The objective function of the model is to minimize the expected cost rate. The genetic algorithm is improved according to the model characteristics. The application of the model is illustrated by a case, and the sensitivity analysis is set to show the influence of different parameters on the decision-making results of the system, providing ideas for decision-makers. Finally, the contrast experiments show the advantages of the proposed model and method

Critical Procedure Identification Method Considering the Key Quality Characteristics of the Product Manufacturing Process

The product’s manufacturing process has an evident influence on product quality. In order to control the quality and identify the critical procedure of the product manufacturing process reasonably and effectively, a method combining genetic back-propagation (BP) neural network algorithm and grey relational analysis is proposed. Firstly, the genetic BP neural network algorithm is used to obtain the key quality characteristics (KQCs) in the product manufacturing process. At the same time, considering the three factors that have an essential impact on the quality of the procedures, the grey correlation analysis method is used to establish the correlation scoring matrix between the procedure and the KQCs to calculate the criticality of each procedure. Finally, taking the manufacturing process of the evaporator as a case, the application process of this method is introduced, and four critical procedures are identified. It provides a reference for the procedure quality control and improvement of enterprise in the future

Automatic classification of atherosclerotic tissue in intravascular optical coherence tomography images

Intravascular optical coherence tomography (IVOCT) has been successfully utilized for in vivo diagnostics of coronary plaques. However, classification of atherosclerotic tissues is mainly performed manually by experienced experts, which is time-consuming and subjective. To overcome these limitations, an automatic method of segmentation and classification of IVOCT images is developed in this paper. The method is capable of detecting the plaque contour between the fibrous tissues and other components. Subsequently, the method classifies the tissues based on their texture features described by Fourier transform and discrete wavelet transform. The experimental results of 103 images show that an overall classification accuracy of over 80% in the indicator of depth and span angle is achieved in comparison to manual results. The validation suggests that this method is objective, accurate, and automatic without any manual intervention. The proposed method is able to demonstrate the artery wall morphology successfully, which is valuable for the research of atherosclerotic disease

Human chorionic gonadotropin β induces migration and invasion via activating ERK1/2 and MMP-2 in human prostate cancer DU145 cells.

We previously demonstrated that human chorionic gonadotropin β (hCGβ) induced migration and invasion in human prostate cancer cells. However, the involved molecular mechanisms are unclear. Here, we established a stable prostate cancer cell line overexpressing hCGβ and tested hCGβ-triggered signaling pathways causing cell migration and invasion. ELISA showed that the hCGβ amount secreted into medium increased with culture time after the hCGβ-transfected cells were incubated for 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24 h. More, hCGβ standards promoted MAPK (ERK1/2) phosphorylation and increased MMP-2 expression and activity in both dose- and time-dependent manners in hCGβ non-transfected cells. In addition, hCGβ promoted ERK1/2 phosphorylation and increased MMP-2 expression and activity significantly in hCGβ transfected DU145 cells. Whereas ERK1/2 blocker PD98059 (25 µM) significantly downregulated phosphorylated ERK1/2 and MMP-2. Particularly, hCGβ promoted cell migration and invasion, yet the PD98059 diminished the hCGβ-induced cell motility under those conditions. These results indicated that hCGβ induced cell motility via promoting ERK1/2 phosphorylation and MMP-2 upregulation in human prostate cancer DU145 cells

Maintenance Service Configuration Optimization for Complex Equipment

Maintenance activities mostly depend on the specific conditions of individual equipment, being defined as personalized businesses. In order to improve the efficiency of maintenance activities for complex equipment in lots, the thinking of mass customization is used. After the modular technology used for generic maintenance model, the product/service was divided into mandatory and optional modules, which can form multiple optional maintenance service solutions. Considering the characteristics of maintenance activities and customers’ personalized maintenance requirements, configuration optimization is used to find the most satisfied maintenance solution under different objectives. This paper aims to provide the configuration optimization ideas and solutions for complex equipment maintenance services. A multi-objective optimization model was established, and an algorithm based on Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithms (NSGA-II) was proposed to solve this configuration optimization model. Finally, the maintenance service of the Electric Multiple Units (EMU) bogie was taken as an example to verify the feasibility of the model and the algorithm

Sulforaphane inhibits invasion via activating ERK1/2 signaling in human glioblastoma U87MG and U373MG cells.

Glioblastoma has highly invasive potential, which might result in poor prognosis and therapeutic failure. Hence, the key we study is to find effective therapies to repress migration and invasion. Sulforaphane (SFN) was demonstrated to inhibit cell growth in a variety of tumors. Here, we will further investigate whether SFN inhibits migration and invasion and find the possible mechanisms in human glioblastoma U87MG and U373MG cells.First, the optimal time and dose of SFN for migration and invasion study were determined via cell viability and cell morphological assay. Further, scratch assay and transwell invasion assay were employed to investigate the effect of SFN on migration and invasion. Meanwhile, Western blots were used to detect the molecular linkage among invasion related proteins phosphorylated ERK1/2, matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and CD44v6. Furthermore, Gelatin zymography was performed to detect the inhibition of MMP-2 activation. In addition, ERK1/2 blocker PD98059 (25 µM) was integrated to find the link between activated ERK1/2 and invasion, MMP-2 and CD44v6.The results showed that SFN (20 µM) remarkably reduced the formation of cell pseudopodia, indicating that SFN might inhibit cell motility. As expected, scratch assay and transwell invasion assay showed that SFN inhibited glioblastoma cell migration and invasion. Western blot and Gelatin zymography showed that SFN phosphorylated ERK1/2 in a sustained way, which contributed to the downregulated MMP-2 expression and activity, and the upregulated CD44v6 expression. These molecular interactions resulted in the inhibition of cell invasion.SFN inhibited migration and invasion processes. Furthermore, SFN inhibited invasion via activating ERK1/2 in a sustained way. The accumulated ERK1/2 activation downregulated MMP-2 expression and decreased its activity and upregulated CD44v6. SFN might be a potential therapeutic agent by activating ERK1/2 signaling against human glioblastoma

HCGβ promotes cell migration and invasion.

<p>(A) We seeded 1×10⁵ cells in a 24-well plate with cell inserts, the cells were added with/without PD98059(25 µM) for 6 h to detect cell migration, the results showed that hCGβ promotes cell migration significantly versus control. (B) In the same conditions we incubated the cells in the invasion chamber with artificial basement membrane, the cells were added with/without PD98059(25 µM) for 12 h to detect cell invasion, the results showed that hCGβ promotes cell invasion significantly. All procedures were performed as described in Methods. *, indicates <i>P<0.05</i> versus control. Data were shown as means ± SEM from three separate tests.</p

HCG detection in the culture medium via ELISA.

<p>Data showed that there was hCGβ secreted into cell medium. Furthermore, the level of hCGβ secreted into medium increased with time after the hCGβ transfected cells were incubated for 3, 6, 9, 12 and 24 h.</p

HCGβ increased MMP-2 activity via ERK1/2.

<p>We collected the conditional medium from the above treatment was for geltin zymography assay as the Methods. The results showed that hCGβ increased MMP-2 activity and PD98059 reduced those effects. *, indicates <i>P<0.05</i> versus control. Data were shown as means ± SEM from three separate tests. The lower panel of gel pictures showed an equal loading that a parallel SDS gel was run to test β-actin via Western blot.</p