A Blue Native-PAGE analysis of membrane protein complexes in Clostridium thermocellum

Background Clostridium thermocellum is a Gram-positive thermophilic anaerobic bacterium with the unusual capacity to convert cellulosic biomass into ethanol and hydrogen. Identification and characterization of protein complexes in C. thermocellum are important toward understanding its metabolism and physiology. Results A two dimensional blue native/SDS-PAGE procedure was developed to separate membrane protein complexes of C. thermocellum. Proteins spots were identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF Mass spectrometry. 24 proteins were identified representing 13 distinct protein complexes, including several putative intact complexes. Interestingly, subunits of both the F1-F0-ATP synthase and the V1-V0-ATP synthase were detected in the membrane sample, indicating C. thermocellum may use alternative mechanisms for ATP generation. Conclusion Two dimensional blue native/SDS-PAGE was used to detect membrane protein complexes in C. thermocellum. More than a dozen putative protein complexes were identified, revealing the simultaneous expression of two sets of ATP synthase. The protocol developed in this work paves the way for further functional characterization of these protein complexes

Transformation of multiple soybean cultivars by infecting cotyledonary-node with Agrobacterium tumefaciens

Transformation of four soybean cultivars (Nannong88-1, Nannong18-6, Yu23 and Nannong 87C-38) by infecting cotyledonary-node with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain EHA105 harboring pBI121containing GFP reporter gene was conducted. The results indicated that the addition of thiol compounds (L-cysteine, dithiothreitol and sodium thiosulfate) in co-cultivation period increased the transformation efficiency of all four soybean cultivars, with Nannong 88-1 most increased up to 2.20%. Detection of GFP expression in the rooted plants was an effective selection system for the confirmationof soybean transformation. And most GFP-positive plants were confirmed to be positive by Southern blot analysis, which showed that transformation of cotyledonary-node explants mediated byAgrobacterium delivered T-DNA with one or two copies into soybean genome. In our study, the combination of Nannong88-1 with EHA105 is the optimum selection for explant and bacterial inoculum in soybean transformation, which could be applied in future functional study of soybean genes

Profile storage of organic/inorganic carbon in soil: From forest to desert

Understanding the distribution of organic/inorganic carbon storage in soil profile is crucial for assessing regional, continental and global soil C stores and predicting the consequences of global change. However, little is known about the organic/inorganic carbon storages in deep soil layers at various landscapes. This study was conducted to determine the soil organic/inorganic carbon storage in soil profile of 0-3 m at 5 sites of natural landscape from forest to desert. Landscapes are temperate forest, temperate grassland, temperate shrub-grassland, temperate shrub desert, and temperate desert. Root mass density and carbon contents at the profile were determined for each site. The results showed that considerable decrease in root biomass and soil organic carbon content at the soil profile of 0-3 m when landscape varied from forest to desert along a precipitation gradient, while soil inorganic carbon content increased significantly along the precipitation gradient. Namely, for density of soil organic carbon: forest > grassland > shrub-grassland > shrub desert > desert; for density of soil inorganic carbon: forest, grassland < shrub-grassland < shrub desert < desert (P<0.05 in all cases). In landscapes other than forest, more than 50% soil carbon storage was found in 1-3 m depth. For grassland and shrub-grassland, the contribution from 1-3 m was mainly in the form of organic carbon, while for shrub desert and desert the contribution from this depth was mainly in the form of inorganic carbon. The comparison of soil C storage between top 0-1 m and 1-3 m showed that the using top 1 m of soil profile to estimate soil carbon storages would considerably underestimate soil carbon storage. This is especially true for organic soil carbon at grassland region, and for soil inorganic carbon at desert region. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Optimising Event-Driven Spiking Neural Network with Regularisation and Cutoff

Spiking neural networks (SNNs), a variant of artificial neural networks (ANNs) with the benefit of energy efficiency, have achieved the accuracy close to its ANN counterparts, on benchmark datasets such as CIFAR10/100 and ImageNet. However, comparing with frame-based input (e.g., images), event-based inputs from e.g., Dynamic Vision Sensor (DVS) can make a better use of SNNs thanks to the SNNs' asynchronous working mechanism. In this paper, we strengthen the marriage between SNNs and event-based inputs with a proposal to consider anytime optimal inference SNNs, or AOI-SNNs, which can terminate anytime during the inference to achieve optimal inference result. Two novel optimisation techniques are presented to achieve AOI-SNNs: a regularisation and a cutoff. The regularisation enables the training and construction of SNNs with optimised performance, and the cutoff technique optimises the inference of SNNs on event-driven inputs. We conduct an extensive set of experiments on multiple benchmark event-based datasets, including CIFAR10-DVS, N-Caltech101 and DVS128 Gesture. The experimental results demonstrate that our techniques are superior to the state-of-the-art with respect to the accuracy and latency

Effects of a PRECEDE-PROCEED Model-Based Intervention on Fatigue in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective:This research aimed to determine how a 12-week PRECEDE-PROCEED model-based intervention affected fatigue in patients with coronary heart disease.Methods:This cluster randomized controlled trial recruited participants diagnosed with coronary heart disease at 2 community health centers in China. Participants in the control group (n = 36) received routine health education, whereas those in the intervention group (n = 38) were given a 12-week PRECEDE-PROCEED model-based intervention and routine health education. The intervention consisted of 6 training sessions on coronary heart disease, fatigue, fatigue management, self-management skills and social support. A primary outcome (fatigue) and 4 secondary outcomes (knowledge of fatigue, self-management, quality of life and body mass index) were assessed using the Fatigue Scale-14, Fatigue Cognitive Questionnaire for Patients with Coronary Heart Disease, Coronary Artery Disease Self-Management Scale, Chinese Cardiovascular Questionnaire of Quality of Life, and electronic weighing scale, respectively. Data were collected 3 times over 12 weeks.Results:Compared with the control group, the intervention group showed a statistically significant improvement in the level of fatigue (8.72 vs 7.06, P < .001), knowledge of fatigue (P < .001), self-management skills (P < .001), and quality of life (P < .001). However, there was no significant difference in body mass index between the 2 groups (P = .504).Conclusions:The findings suggest that a well-designed intervention based on the PRECEDE-PROCEED model could alleviate fatigue symptoms and increase knowledge of fatigue, self-management skills and quality of life in patients with coronary heart disease

Joint Trading and Scheduling among Coupled Carbon-Electricity-Heat-Gas Industrial Clusters

This paper presents a carbon-energy coupling management framework for an industrial park, where the carbon flow model accompanying multi-energy flows is adopted to track and suppress carbon emissions on the user side. To deal with the quadratic constraint of gas flows, a bound tightening algorithm for constraints relaxation is adopted. The synergies among the carbon capture, energy storage, power-to-gas further consume renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions. Aiming at carbon emissions disparities and supply-demand imbalances, this paper proposes a carbon trading ladder reward and punishment mechanism and an energy trading and scheduling method based on Lyapunov optimization and matching game to maximize the long-term benefits of each industrial cluster without knowing the prior information of random variables. Case studies show that our proposed trading method can reduce overall costs and carbon emissions while relieving energy pressure, which is important for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)

Interaction between dietary selenium intake and age on severe headache or migraine in the United States: a population-based study

BackgroundStudies have shown that an antioxidant diet is a protective factor against migraine. However, the association between selenium, an important antioxidant consumed from the diet, and migraine has received little attention. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between dietary selenium intake with migraine, with particular interest in age differences.MethodsThis study based on cross-sectional data from people who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 1999 and 2004. The multiple logistic regression model was applied to examine the association between selenium intake and migraine, and subgroup analyses were performed. Non-linear associations were explored with restricted cubic spline (RCS) models.ResultsThe study included a total of 9,849 adults aged 20 years and older. Compared with individuals with lowest selenium intake Q1 (≤59.4 ug/day), the adjusted OR values for selenium intake and migraine in Q2 (59.41–82.70 ug/day), Q3 (82.71–106 ug/day), Q4 (106.01–143.16 ug/day), and Q5 (≥143.17 ug/day) were 0.82 (95% CI: 0.64–1.05), 0.99 (95% CI: 0.77–1.26), 0.74 (95% CI: 0.54–0.99), and 0.68 (95% CI: 0.48–0.97), respectively. Sensitivity analyses showed a robust association between them. Our findings also suggested an interaction between age and selenium intake (p for interaction = 0.04). Additionally, the relationship between selenium intake and migraine in adults with 20–50 years was L-shaped. The OR of developing migraine was 0.97 (95% CI: 0.94–0.98) in individuals with selenium intake ≥101.9 ug/day in adults with 20–50 years.ConclusionA higher dietary selenium intake is significantly associated with a decreased prevalence of migraine, and age can modify the association between them. Therefore, the present study indicate that an appropriate intake of selenium-rich foods in adults aged 20–50 years may prevent migraines