Egypt's Nile water

Presented at Contemporary challenges for irrigation and drainage: proceedings from the USCID 14th technical conference on irrigation, drainage and flood control held on June 3-6, 1998 in Phoenix, Arizona.Includes bibliographical references.Many irrigated areas worldwide are facing increasing competition from agricultural, municipal, industrial, environmental and other uses of water. In water basins, changes in water use in one area often affect how water is used in another area. It is therefore vital to understand how water resources are presently used, and how changes may affect future use of water. A water accounting methodology is presented to show the use and productivity of water. The methodology was applied to Egypt's Nile River system to evaluate the present status of water use and productivity. It was shown that there has been a trend of increasing consumption of water by agriculture and an increase in the productivity of water available to agriculture. There is little water remaining to be saved, and increases in productivity must focus on gains in productivity per unit of water consumed by evapotranspiration. The example from Egypt demonstrates the use and utility of the water accounting methodology in describing water use patterns by different sectors. It is envisaged that this methodology will be further developed to be useful in a wide range of situations

ARF-OCE for mapping mechanical properties of ocular and vascular tissues

Elastography is an imaging modality for clinical diagnosis based on the tissue stiffness. Benefiting from the high resolution, three-dimensional, and noninvasive nature of optical coherence tomography (OCT), optical coherence elastography (OCE) has the ability to determine elastic properties with a resolution of ~10 μm in 3D. Typical OCE imaging includes excitation for inducing mechanical vibrations, measurement of the sample response using OCT, and estimation of elastic parameters. Acoustic radiation force (ARF) generated by an ultrasonic transducer can noninvasively excite internal tissues without contact; thus, ARF-OCE is suitable for measuring the mechanical properties in deeper tissues. For assessment of the elastic properties of tissues using ARF-OCE, the shear wave velocity, resonant frequency, and vibrational displacement can be measured. Shear wave velocity measurements can be conveniently used for quantitative calculation of the elastic modulus.1-3 The resonant frequency of a tissue has a squared relationship with the Young\u27s modulus, and thus can quantify the elasticity.4 Vibrational displacement can be compared directly when the same pressure is applied to different samples.5 Several diseases are accompanied by and result in the changes in composition and local geometry of tissues. Keratoconus, which causes vision distortions and blurriness, will change the geometry of the cornea. The development of presbyopia is generally caused by the loss of elasticity in the lens. The composition and biomechanical properties of vessels will usually be altered when atherosclerosis occurs. The ARF-OCE technology provides a new opportunity for the early diagnosis of ocular and vascular diseases. Based on the shear wave measurements, our system can be used to quantify the elastic modulus of the cornea and the crystalline lens. By comparing the vibrational displacement, we have detected the differences between normal and cross-linked cornea.6 Recently we developed a miniature probe for mapping the mechanical properties of vascular lesions using ARF-OCE. It has the ability to detect the a vulnerable plaque due to its higher stiffness.7 Because of the noninvasive nature, ARF-OCE has the potential to perform in vivo imaging of deep tissues for the early diagnosis of ocular and vascular diseases. 1. Zhu, J., Qu, Y., Ma, T., Li, R., Du, Y., Huang, S., Shung, K.K., Zhou, Q. and Chen, Z., 2015. Imaging and characterizing shear wave and shear modulus under orthogonal acoustic radiation force excitation using OCT Doppler variance method. Optics letters, 40(9): 2099-2102. 2. Zhu, J., Qi, L., Miao, Y., Ma, T., Dai, C., Qu, Y., He, Y., Gao, Y., Zhou, Q. and Chen, Z., 2016. 3D mapping of elastic modulus using shear wave optical micro-elastography. Scientific reports, 6: 35499. 3. Xu, X., Zhu, J. and Chen, Z., 2016. Dynamic and quantitative assessment of blood coagulation using optical coherence elastography. Scientific reports, 6: 24294. 4. Qi, W., Li, R., Ma, T., Li, J., Kirk Shung, K., Zhou, Q. and Chen, Z., 2013. Resonant acoustic radiation force optical coherence elastography. Applied physics letters, 103(10): 103704. 5. Qi, W., Li, R., Ma, T., Kirk Shung, K., Zhou, Q. and Chen, Z., 2014. Confocal acoustic radiation force optical coherence elastography using a ring ultrasonic transducer. Applied physics letters, 104(12): 123702. 6. Qu, Y., Ma, T., He, Y., Zhu, J., Dai, C., Yu, M., Huang, S., Lu, F., Shung, K.K., Zhou, Q. and Chen, Z., 2016. Acoustic radiation force optical coherence elastography of corneal tissue. IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, 22(3): 288-294. Qu, Y., Ma, T., He, Y., Yu, M., Zhu, J., Miao, Y., Dai, C., Patel, P., Shung, K.K., Zhou, Q. and Chen, Z., 2017. Miniature probe for mapping mechanical properties of vascular lesions using acoustic radiation force optical coherence elastography. Scientific Reports, 7: 473

Vitamin D Signaling through Induction of Paneth Cell Defensins Maintains Gut Microbiota and Improves Metabolic Disorders and Hepatic Steatosis in Animal Models.

Metabolic syndrome (MetS), characterized as obesity, insulin resistance, and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD), is associated with vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency in epidemiological studies, while the underlying mechanism is poorly addressed. On the other hand, disorder of gut microbiota, namely dysbiosis, is known to cause MetS and NAFLD. It is also known that systemic inflammation blocks insulin signaling pathways, leading to insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, which are the driving force for hepatic steatosis. Vitamin D receptor (VDR) is highly expressed in the ileum of the small intestine, which prompted us to test a hypothesis that vitamin D signaling may determine the enterotype of gut microbiota through regulating the intestinal interface. Here, we demonstrate that high-fat-diet feeding (HFD) is necessary but not sufficient, while additional vitamin D deficiency (VDD) as a second hit is needed, to induce robust insulin resistance and fatty liver. Under the two hits (HFD+VDD), the Paneth cell-specific alpha-defensins including α-defensin 5 (DEFA5), MMP7 which activates the pro-defensins, as well as tight junction genes, and MUC2 are all suppressed in the ileum, resulting in mucosal collapse, increased gut permeability, dysbiosis, endotoxemia, systemic inflammation which underlie insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis. Moreover, under the vitamin D deficient high fat feeding (HFD+VDD), Helicobacter hepaticus, a known murine hepatic-pathogen, is substantially amplified in the ileum, while Akkermansia muciniphila, a beneficial symbiotic, is diminished. Likewise, the VD receptor (VDR) knockout mice exhibit similar phenotypes, showing down regulation of alpha-defensins and MMP7 in the ileum, increased Helicobacter hepaticus and suppressed Akkermansia muciniphila. Remarkably, oral administration of DEFA5 restored eubiosys, showing suppression of Helicobacter hepaticus and increase of Akkermansia muciniphila in association with resolving metabolic disorders and fatty liver in the HFD+VDD mice. An in vitro analysis showed that DEFA5 peptide could directly suppress Helicobacter hepaticus. Thus, the results of this study reveal critical roles of a vitamin D/VDR axis in optimal expression of defensins and tight junction genes in support of intestinal integrity and eubiosis to suppress NAFLD and metabolic disorders

Cationic Polystyrene Resolves Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis, Obesity, and Metabolic Disorders by Promoting Eubiosis of Gut Microbiota and Decreasing Endotoxemia.

A pandemic of metabolic diseases, consisting of type 2 diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and obesity, has imposed critical challenges for societies worldwide, prompting investigation of underlying mechanisms and exploration of low-cost and effective treatment. In this report, we demonstrate that metabolic disorders in mice generated by feeding with a high-fat diet without dietary vitamin D can be prevented by oral administration of polycationic amine resin. Oral administration of cholestyramine, but not the control uncharged polystyrene, was able to sequester negatively charged bacterial endotoxin in the gut, leading to 1) reduced plasma endotoxin levels, 2) resolved systemic inflammation and hepatic steatohepatitis, and 3) improved insulin sensitivity. Gut dysbiosis, characterized as an increase of the phylum Firmicutes and a decrease of Bacteroidetes and Akkermansia muciniphila, was fully corrected by cholestyramine, indicating that the negatively charged components in the gut are critical for the dysbiosis. Furthermore, fecal bacteria transplant, derived from cholestyramine-treated animals, was sufficient to antagonize the metabolic disorders of the recipient mice. These results indicate that the negatively charged components produced by dysbiosis are critical for biogenesis of metabolic disorders and also show a potential application of cationic polystyrene to treat metabolic disorders through promoting gut eubiosis

Joint retrieval of growing season corn canopy LAI and leaf chlorophyll content by fusing Sentinel-2 and MODIS images

Continuous and accurate estimates of crop canopy leaf area index (LAI) and chlorophyll content are of great importance for crop growth monitoring. These estimates can be useful for precision agricultural management and agricultural planning. Our objectives were to investigate the joint retrieval of corn canopy LAI and chlorophyll content using filtered reflectances from Sentinel-2 and MODIS data acquired during the corn growing season, which, being generally hot and rainy, results in few cloud-free Sentinel-2 images. In addition, the retrieved time series of LAI and chlorophyll content results were used to monitor the corn growth behavior in the study area. Our results showed that: (1) the joint retrieval of LAI and chlorophyll content using the proposed joint probability distribution method improved the estimation accuracy of both corn canopy LAI and chlorophyll content. Corn canopy LAI and chlorophyll content were retrieved jointly and accurately using the PROSAIL model with fused Kalman filtered (KF) reflectance images. The relation between retrieved and field measured LAI and chlorophyll content of four corn-growing stages had a coefficient of determination (R2) of about 0.6, and root mean square errors (RMSEs) ranges of mainly 0.1-0.2 and 0.0-0.3, respectively. (2) Kalman filtering is a good way to produce continuous high-resolution reflectance images by synthesizing Sentinel-2 and MODIS reflectances. The correlation between fused KF and Sentinel-2 reflectances had an R2 value of 0.98 and RMSE of 0.0133, and the correlation between KF and field-measured reflectances had an R2 value of 0.8598 and RMSE of 0.0404. (3) The derived continuous KF reflectances captured the crop behavior well. Our analysis showed that the LAI increased from day of year (DOY) 181 (trefoil stage) to DOY 236 (filling stage), and then increased continuously until harvest, while the chlorophyll content first also increased from DOY 181 to DOY 236, and then remained stable until harvest. These results revealed that the jointly retrieved continuous LAI and chlorophyll content could be used to monitor corn growth conditions

Genome-Wide Identification of Papain-Like Cysteine Proteases in Gossypium hirsutum and Functional Characterization in Response to Verticillium dahliae

Cotton, a natural fiber producing crop of huge importance, is often prone to attack of Verticillium dahliae. Papain-like cysteine proteases (PLCPs) constitute a large family in plants and were proposed to involve in plant defense against pathogen attack in a number of studies. However, there is no detailed characterization of PLCP genes in cotton against infection of V. dahliae. In this study, we carried out a genome-wide analysis in cotton and identified seventy-eight PLCPs, which were divided into nine subfamilies based on their evolution phylogeny: RD21 (responsive to desiccation 21), CEP (cysteine endopeptidase), XCP (xylem cysteine peptidase), XBCP3 (xylem bark cysteine peptidase 3), THI, SAG12 (senescence-associated gene 12), RD19 (responsive to desiccation 19), ALP (aleurain-like protease) and CTB (cathepsin B-like). Genes in each subfamily exhibit a similar structure and motif composition. The expression patterns of these genes in different organs were examined, and subfamily RD21 was the most abundant in these families. Expression profiles under abiotic stress showed that thirty-five PLCP genes were induced by multiple stresses. Further transcriptome analysis showed that sixteen PLCP genes were up-regulated in response to V. dahliae in cotton. Among those, GhRD21-7 showed a higher transcription level than most other PLCP genes. Additionally, over-expression of GhRD21-7 led to enhanced resistance and RNAi lines were more susceptible to V. dahliae in cotton. Our results provide valuable information for future functional genomic studies of PLCP gene family in cotton

Transcriptome sequencing of Verticillium dahliae from a cotton farm reveals positive correlation between virulence and tolerance of sugar-induced hyperosmosis

Verticillium dahliae causes disease symptoms in its host plants; however, due to its rapid variability, V. dahliae is difficult to control. To analyze the reason for this pathogenic differentiation, 22 V. dahliae strains with different virulence were isolated from a cotton farm. The genetic diversity of cotton varieties make cotton cultivars have different Verticillium wilt resistance, so the Xinluzao 7 (susceptible to V. dahliae), Zhongmian 35 (tolerant), and Xinluzao 33 (resistant) were used to investigate the pathogenicity of the strains in a green house. Vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) assays, Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) PCR, and pathogenicity analysis showed that SHZ-4, SHZ-5, and SHZ-9 had close kinship and significantly different pathogenicity. Transcriptome sequencing of the three strains identified 19 of 146 unigenes in SHZ-4_vs_ SHZ-5, SHZ-5_vs_ SHZ-9, and SHZ-4_vs_ SHZ-9. In these unigenes, three proteinase and four polysaccharide degrading hydrolases were found to be associated with the pathogenicity. However, due to a number of differentially expressed genes in the transport, these unigenes not only played a role in nutrition absorption but might also contribute to the resistance of sugar-induced hyperosmosis. Moreover, the tolerance ability was positively related to the pathogenicity of V. dahliae. This resistance to sugar-induced hyperosmosis might help V. dahliae to access the nutrition of the host. The pathogenicity of V. dahliae correlated with the resistance of sugar-induced-hyperosmosis, which provides clues for the cultivation of V. dahliae resistant varieties

Changes of water clarity in large lakes and reservoirs across China observed from long-term MODIS

Water clarity is a well-established first-order indicator of water quality and has been used globally by water regulators in their monitoring and management programs. Assessments of water clarity in lakes over large temporal and spatial scales, however, are rare, limiting our understanding of its variability and the driven forces. In this study, we developed and validated a robust Secchi disk depth (ZSD) algorithm for lakes across China based on two water color parameters, namely Forel-Ule Index (FUI) and hue angle α, retrieved from MODIS data. The MODIS ZSD model shows good results when compared with in-situ measurements from 17 lakes, with a 27.4% mean relative difference (MRD) in the validation dataset. Compared with other empirical ZSD models, our FUI and α-based model demonstrates improved performance and adaptability over a wide range of water clarity and trophic states. This algorithm was subsequently applied to MODIS measurements to provide a comprehensive assessment of water clarity in large lakes (N = 153) across China for the first time. The mean summer ZSD of the studied lakes between 2000 and 2017 demonstrated marked spatial and temporal variations. Spatially, the ZSD of large lakes presented a distinct spatial pattern of “high west and low east” over China. This spatial pattern was found to be associated with the significant differences in lake depth and altitude between west and east China while China's population, GDP, temperature, and precipitation distribution have also contributed to a certain extent. Temporally, the ZSD of most lakes increased during this period, with an overall mean rate of 3.3 cm/yr for all lakes. Here, 38.6% (N = 59) of the lakes experienced a significant increase in their ZSD value during the past 18 years while only 8.5% (N = 13) showed a significant decreasing trend. Significant increases in lake ZSD were observed in west China, which were found to correlate with the increase of air temperature and lake surface area. This is possibly a response of the lakes in west China to climate change. In the lake systems of east China, which are predominately used as a drinking water source, the increase in lake ZSD was found to be strongly correlated with changes in local GDP (gross domestic production), NDVI (normalized difference vegetation index) and lake surface area, suggesting a combined effect of the implemented management practices and climatic variability. The results of this study provide important information for water quality conservation and management in China, and also highlight the value of satellite remote sensing in monitoring water quality over lakes at a large scale and long-term