An artificial bee colony-based hybrid approach for waste collection problem with midway disposal pattern

This paper investigates a waste collection problem with the consideration of midway disposal pattern. An artificial bee colony (ABC)-based hybrid approach is developed to handle this problem, in which the hybrid ABC algorithm is proposed to generate the better optimum-seeking performance while a heuristic procedure is proposed to select the disposal trip dynamically and calculate the carbon emissions in waste collection process. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is validated by numerical experiments. Experimental results show that the proposed hybrid approach can solve the investigated problem effectively. The proposed hybrid ABC algorithm exhibits a better optimum-seeking performance than four popular metaheuristics, namely a genetic algorithm, a particle swarm optimization algorithm, an enhanced ABC algorithm and a hybrid particle swarm optimization algorithm. It is also found that the midway disposal pattern should be used in practice because it reduces the carbon emission at most 7.16% for the investigated instances

Internet-Based Vehicle-Cargo Matching Platform Enterprises in China

This paper examines vehicle-cargo matching platform enterprises in China, which play the role of non-truck operating common carriers that are the freight operator by entrusting transportation duties to the actual carrier. We summarize several kinds of operation modes for vehicle-cargo matching: simple vehicle-cargo matching; whole- vehicle system with single loading and multiple unloading; virtual fleet; and integration of whole-vehicle service and carpooling. We selected representative enterprises and analyzed such features as their operation, advantages and disadvantages, profit model, and applications. We compare and analyze those systems

Plasminogen deficiency causes reduced angiogenesis and behavioral recovery after stroke in mice

Plasminogen is involved in the process of angiogenesis; however, the underlying mechanism is unclear. Here, we investigated the potential contribution of plasmin/plasminogen in mediating angiogenesis and thereby contributing to functional recovery post-stroke. Wild-type plasminogen naive (Plg(+/+)) mice and plasminogen knockout (Plg(-/-)) mice were subjected to unilateral permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo). Blood vessels were labeled with FITC-dextran. Functional outcomes, and cerebral vessel density were compared between Plg(+/+) and Plg(-/-) mice at different time points after stroke. We found that Plg(-/-) mice exhibited significantly reduced functional recovery, associated with significantly decreased vessel density in the peri-infarct area in the ipsilesional cortex compared with Plg(+/+) mice. In vitro, cerebral endothelial cells harvested from Plg(-/-) mice exhibited significantly reduced angiogenesis assessed using tube formation assay, and migration, as evaluated using Scratch assays, compared to endothelial cells harvested from Plg(+/+) mice. In addition, using Western blots, expression of thrombospondin (TSP)-1 and TSP-2 were increased after MCAo in the Plg(-/-) group compared to Plg(+/+) mice, especially in the ipsilesional side of brain. Taken together, our data suggest that plasmin/plasminogen down-regulates the expression level of TSP-1 and TSP-2, and thereby promotes angiogenesis in the peri-ischemic brain tissue, which contributes to functional recovery after ischemic stroke

Global systematic review with meta-analysis shows that warming effects on terrestrial plant biomass allocation are influenced by precipitation and mycorrhizal association

Biomass allocation in plants is fundamental for understanding and predicting terrestrial carbon storage. Yet, our knowledge regarding warming effects on root: shoot ratio (R/S) remains limited. Here, we present a meta-analysis encompassing more than 300 studies and including angiosperms and gymnosperms as well as different biomes (cropland, desert, forest, grassland, tundra, and wetland). The meta-analysis shows that average warming of 2.50 °C (median = 2 °C) significantly increases biomass allocation to roots with a mean increase of 8.1% in R/S. Two factors associate significantly with this response to warming: mean annual precipitation and the type of mycorrhizal fungi associated with plants. Warming-induced allocation to roots is greater in drier habitats when compared to shoots (+15.1% in R/S), while lower in wetter habitats (+4.9% in R/S). This R/S pattern is more frequent in plants associated with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, compared to ectomycorrhizal fungi. These results show that precipitation variability and mycorrhizal association can affect terrestrial carbon dynamics by influencing biomass allocation strategies in a warmer world, suggesting that climate change could influence belowground C sequestration

Cerebral endothelial cell derived small extracellular vesicles improve cognitive function in aged diabetic rats

Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) mediate cell-cell communication by transferring their cargo biological materials into recipient cells. Diabetes mellitus (DM) induces cerebral vascular dysfunction and neurogenesis impairment, which are associated with cognitive decline and an increased risk of developing dementia. Whether the sEVs are involved in DM-induced cerebral vascular disease, is unknown. Therefore, we studied sEVs derived from cerebral endothelial cells (CEC-sEVs) of aged DM rats (DM-CEC-sEVs) and found that DM-CEC-sEVs robustly inhibited neural stem cell (NSC) generation of new neuroblasts and damaged cerebral endothelial function. Treatment of aged DM-rats with CEC-sEVs derived from adult healthy normal rats (N-CEC-sEVs) ameliorated cognitive deficits and improved cerebral vascular function and enhanced neurogenesis. Intravenously administered N-CEC-sEVs crossed the blood brain barrier and were internalized by neural stem cells in the neurogenic region, which were associated with augmentation of miR-1 and -146a and reduction of myeloid differentiation primary response gene 88 and thrombospondin 1 proteins. In addition, uptake of N-CEC-sEVs by the recipient cells was mediated by clathrin and caveolin dependent endocytosis signaling pathways. The present study provides ex vivo and in vivo evidence that DM-CEC-sEVs induce cerebral vascular dysfunction and neurogenesis impairment and that N-CEC-sEVs have a therapeutic effect on improvement of cognitive function by ameliorating dysfunction of cerebral vessels and increasing neurogenesis in aged DM rats, respectively

Forest restoration decouple soil C:N:P stoichiometry but has little effects on microbial biodiversity globally

11 páginas.- 7 figuras.- 71 referenciasIntroduction: Forest restoration is an effective way to promote ecosystem functions and mitigate climate change. However, how forest restoration affect soil C:N:P stoichiometry and microbial biodiversity, as well as their linkage across contrasting forest types globally remains largely illusive. Materials and Methods: Here we conducted a global meta-analysis by synthesizing 121 published papers with 1649 observations to explore how forest restoration affect soil C:N:P stoichiometry and microbial biodiversity globally. Results: Forest restoration significantly increased soil total carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) content, whereas having no significant impact on most microbial diversity indicator, except for an enhancement in bacterial operational taxonomic unit and fungal Simpson. Meanwhile, forest restoration effects on soil C:N:P stoichiometry varied with different forest types, with promoting more soil C and P in ectomycorrhizal than those in arbuscular mycorrhizal forests. Meanwhile, forest restoration induced changes in soil N and P were positively correlated with microbial Shannon index. More importantly, forest restoration effects on soil C:N:P stoichiometry and microbial biodiversity were regulated by climate factors such as mean annual temperature and mean annual precipitation. Conclusion: Our results highlight the crucial role of forest restoration in decoupling the biogeochemical cycles of C, N and P through changes in microbial biodiversity. Therefore, incorporating the decouple effects of forest restoration on soil C:N:P stoichiometry into Earth system models may improve predictions of climate–forest feedbacks in the Anthropocene. © 2023 The Authors. Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment published by Global Initiative of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.Guiyao Zhou was supported by Humboldt Research Foundation. This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 32071593, 31930072, 31770559, 31600387, 31370489 and 42203076).Peer reviewe

Mycorrhizal associations relate to stable convergence in plant-microbial competition for nitrogen absorption under high nitrogen conditions

117 págibnas.- 4 figuras.- referencias.-Nitrogen (N) immobilization (Nim, including microbial N assimilation) and plant N uptake (PNU) are the two most important pathways of N retention in soils. The ratio of Nim to PNU (hereafter Nim:PNU ratio) generally reflects the degree of N limitation for plant growth in terrestrial ecosystems. However, the key factors driving the pattern of Nim:PNU ratio across global ecosystems remain unclear. Here, using a global data set of 1018 observations from 184 studies, we examined the relative importance of mycorrhizal associations, climate, plant, and soil properties on the Nim:PNU ratio across terrestrial ecosystems. Our results show that mycorrhizal fungi type (arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) or ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi) in combination with soil inorganic N mainly explain the global variation in the Nim:PNU ratio in terrestrial ecosystems. In AM fungi-associated ecosystems, the relationship between Nim and PNU displays a weaker negative correlation (r = −.06, p < .001), whereas there is a stronger positive correlation (r = .25, p < .001) in EM fungi-associated ecosystems. Our meta-analysis thus suggests that the AM-associated plants display a weak interaction with soil microorganisms for N absorption, while EM-associated plants cooperate with soil microorganisms. Furthermore, we find that the Nim:PNU ratio for both AM- and EM-associated ecosystems gradually converge around a stable value (13.8 ± 0.5 for AM- and 12.1 ± 1.2 for EM-associated ecosystems) under high soil inorganic N conditions. Our findings highlight the dependence of plant–microbial interaction for N absorption on both plant mycorrhizal association and soil inorganic N, with the stable convergence of the Nim:PNU ratio under high soil N conditions.This research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant nos. 32241032, 31930072, 42261144688, 32271713, 32071593, and 42203076), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (grant no. 2572022BA08). MPT acknowledges the support from the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) under contract number: M822.00029. G. Zhou acknowledges the support from Ramón y Cajal project (RYC2022-035226-I) funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation, the NextGenerationEU program of the European Union (MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 y el FSE+), and AYUDAS DE EXCELENCIA RYC-MAX 2023 project from Spanish National Research Council.Peer reviewe

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Decision Analysis of Disturbance Management in the Process of Medical Supplies Transportation after Natural Disasters

Public health emergencies, such as casualties and epidemic spread caused by natural disasters, have become important factors that seriously affect social development. Special medical supplies, such as blood and vaccines, are important public health medical resources, and the cold-chain distribution of medical supplies is in a highly unstable environment after a natural disaster that is easily affected by disturbance events. This paper innovatively studies the distribution optimization of medical supplies after natural disasters from the perspective of disturbance management. A disturbance management model for medical supplies distribution is established from two dimensions: time and cost. In addition, a hybrid genetic algorithm is introduced to solve the model. Disturbance recovery schemes with different weight coefficients are obtained through the actual numerical experiments, and experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed model and algorithm. Finally, we discuss the formulation of weight coefficients in the case of emergency distribution and general distribution, which provide a reference for emergency decisions in disturbance events