Fine-tuning the spatial allocation of phytohormones for smart canopy,smart breeding,and smart agriculture

<正>The dual challenges of global climate change and population growth have increased demand for higher crop yields per unit area. The innovative technology of smart agriculture aims to synergize breeding, cultivation, and production through the application of biological and informatics technologies. Historically, the “Green Revolution” introduced semidwarf varieties of certain key crops by utilizing mutations affecting gibberellin pathways, which significantly increased planting densities and yields.     

A Simple,Low-Cost Conductive Composite Material for 3D Printing of Electronic Sensors

3D printing technology can produce complex objects directly from computer aided digital designs. The technology has traditionally been used by large companies to produce fit and form concept prototypes (‘rapid prototyping’) before production. In recent years however there has been a move to adopt the technology as full-scale manufacturing solution. The advent of low-cost, desktop 3D printers such as the RepRap and emoH@baF has meant a wider user base are now able to have access to desktop manufacturing platforms enabling them to produce highly customised products for personal use and sale. This uptake in usage has been coupled with a demand for printing technology and materials able to print functional elements such as electronic sensors. Here we present formulation of a simple conductive thermoplastic composite we term ‘carbomorph’ and demonstrate how it can be used in an unmodified low-cost 3D printer to print electronic sensors able to sense mechanical flexing and capacitance changes. We show how this capability can be used to produce custom sensing devices and user interface devices along with printed objects with embedded sensing capability. This advance in low-cost 3D printing with offer a new paradigm in the 3D printing field with printed sensors and electronics embedded inside 3D printed objects in a single build process without requiring complex or expensive materials incorporating additives such as carbon nanotubes.     

Multi-sensors acquisition,data fusion,knowledge mining and alarm triggering in health smart homes for elderly people

We deal in this paper with the concept of health smart home (HSH) designed to follow dependent people at home in order to avoid the hospitalisation, limiting hospital sojourns to short acute care or fast specific diagnostic investigations. For elderly people the project of such a HSH has been called AISLE (Apartment with Intelligent Sensors for Longevity Effectiveness). For this purpose, system having three levels of automatic measuring (1) the circadian activity, (2) the vegetative state, and (3) some state variables specific of certain organs involved in precise diseases, has been developed within the framework of a 'Health Integrated Smart Home Information System' (HIS2). HIS2 is an experimental platform for technologic development and clinical evaluation, in order to ensure the medical security and quality of life for patients who need home based medical monitoring. Location sensors are placed in each room of the HIS2, allowing the monitoring of patient's successive daily activity phases within the patient's home environment. We proceed with a sampling in an hourly schedule to detect weak variations of the nycthemeral rhythms. Based on numerous measurements, we establish a mean value with confidence limits of activity variables in normal behaviour permitting to detect for example a sudden abnormal event (like a fall) as well as a chronic pathologic activity (like a pollakiuria), allowing us to define a canonical domain within which the patient's activity is qualified to be 'predictable'. Alerts are set off if the patient's activity deviates from a predictable canonical domain. Moreover, we can follow the cardio-respiratory state by measuring the intensity of the respiratory sinusal arrhythmia in order to quantify the integrity of the bulbar vegetative system, and we finally propose to carefully watch abnormal symptoms like arterial pressure or presence of plasma proteins in the expired air flow for early detecting respectively hypertension or pulmonary oedema.     

Fourth-Generation Epac-Based FRET Sensors for cAMP Feature Exceptional Brightness,Photostability and Dynamic Range: Characterization of Dedicated Sensors for FLIM,for Ratiometry and with High Affinity

Epac-based FRET sensors have been widely used for the detection of cAMP concentrations in living cells. Originally developed by us as well as others, we have since then reported several important optimizations that make these sensors favourite among many cell biologists. We here report cloning and characterization of our fourth generation of cAMP sensors, which feature outstanding photostability, dynamic range and signal-to-noise ratio. The design is based on mTurquoise2, currently the brightest and most bleaching-resistant donor, and a new acceptor cassette that consists of a tandem of two cp¹⁷³Venus fluorophores. We also report variants with a single point mutation, Q270E, in the Epac moiety, which decreases the dissociation constant of cAMP from 9.5 to 4 μM, and thus increases the affinity ~ 2.5-fold. Finally, we also prepared and characterized dedicated variants with non-emitting (dark) acceptors for single-wavelength FLIM acquisition that display an exceptional near-doubling of fluorescence lifetime upon saturation of cAMP levels. We believe this generation of cAMP outperforms all other sensors and therefore recommend these sensors for all future studies.     

neuroConstruct: a tool for modeling networks of neurons in 3D space

Conductance-based neuronal network models can help us understand how synaptic and cellular mechanisms underlie brain function. However, these complex models are difficult to develop and are inaccessible to most neuroscientists. Moreover, even the most biologically realistic network models disregard many 3D anatomical features of the brain. Here, we describe a new software application, neuroConstruct, that facilitates the creation, visualization, and analysis of networks of multicompartmental neurons in 3D space. A graphical user interface allows model generation and modification without programming. Models within neuroConstruct are based on new simulator-independent NeuroML standards, allowing automatic generation of code for NEURON or GENESIS simulators. neuroConstruct was tested by reproducing published models and its simulator independence verified by comparing the same model on two simulators. We show how more anatomically realistic network models can be created and their properties compared with experimental measurements by extending a published 1D cerebellar granule cell layer model to 3D.     

Rational Selection of Nanorod Plasmons: Material, Size, and Shape Dependence Mechanism for Optical Sensors

The localized surface plasmon resonance dependence on surrounding medium refractive index of Ag, Al, Au, and Cu nanoparticles is examined by electrodynamic approach. The refractive index sensitivity and sensing figure of merit (FOM) dependence of selected metal nanoparticles with similar geometry shows that although, sensing relevant parameters are shape (i.e., aspect ratio), and material dependent below the width 20 nm, but above this size these parameters are material independent under similar geometrical conditions. We have concluded that at optimum size, however, Al shows much higher refractive index sensitivity (RIS) in comparison to Au, Cu, and Ag, but FOM is higher for Ag in comparison to other metals. The observed sensing behavior is expected due to parameters like surface scattering, dynamic depolarization, radiation damping, and interband transitions, which may influence the nanorod plasmons.     

单分子装置：传感器、连接器、致动器

生物大分子之所以可以实现生物学功能是与其独特的力学性质息息相关的。作为纳米科技领域一个重要工具,原子力显微镜（AFM）可以对纳米尺度的生物大分子进行操纵并检测其力学性质。本文介绍了利用原子力显微镜对几类特殊蛋白以及DNA的力学性质的研究结果,发现这些生物分子具有很好的力学传感、连接和致动能力,将来有望作为单分子装置在纳米世界发挥更多功用。     

Disposable microfluidic devices: fabrication, function, and application

This review article describes recent developments in microfluidics, with special emphasis on disposable plastic devices. Included is an overview of the common methods used in the fabrication of polymer microfluidic systems, including replica and injection molding, embossing, and laser ablation. Also described are the different methods by which on-chip operations--such as the pumping and valving of fluid flow, the mixing of different reagents, and the separation and detection of different chemical species--have been implemented in a microfluidic format. Finally, a few select biotechnological applications of microfluidics are presented to illustrate both the utility of this technology and its potential for development in the future.     

PAS Domains: Internal Sensors of Oxygen, Redox Potential, and Light

PAS domains are newly recognized signaling domains that are widely distributed in proteins from members of the Archaea and Bacteria and from fungi, plants, insects, and vertebrates. They function as input modules in proteins that sense oxygen, redox potential, light, and some other stimuli. Specificity in sensing arises, in part, from different cofactors that may be associated with the PAS fold. Transduction of redox signals may be a common mechanistic theme in many different PAS domains. PAS proteins are always located intracellularly but may monitor the external as well as the internal environment. One way in which prokaryotic PAS proteins sense the environment is by detecting changes in the electron transport system. This serves as an early warning system for any reduction in cellular energy levels. Human PAS proteins include hypoxia-inducible factors and voltage-sensitive ion channels; other PAS proteins are integral components of circadian clocks. Although PAS domains were only recently identified, the signaling functions with which they are associated have long been recognized as fundamental properties of living cells.     

Polymer networks as actuator and sensor systems to be used for automation of biomedical devices]

Polymer networks are based on molecules which are covalently or physically connected in a three-dimensional network. In presence of an appropriate solvent these networks swell by solvent absorption to form gels. These gels, which are called hydrogels in case of water absorption, are able to change their volume by more than a hundred-fold. During the swelling or shrinking process the hydrogels perform a mechanical work. Their volume standardized working capacity can be ten-times larger than that of an electromagnet. Due to their simple design, miniaturisation properties, and their ability to realize many automatic sensor and actuator functions, smart hydrogels offer new solutions in biomedical technology.     

Secondary Transporters for Nickel and Cobalt Ions: Theme and Variations

Nickel/cobalt transporters (NiCoTs), a family of secondary metal transporters in prokaryotes and fungi, are characterized by an eight-transmembrane-domain (TMD) architecture and mediate high-affinity uptake of cobalt and/or nickel ions into the cells. One of the strongly conserved regions within the NiCoTs is the signature sequence RHA(V/F)DADHI within TMD II. This stretch of amino acid residues plays an important role in the affinity, velocity and specificity of metal transport. Some relatives of the NiCoTs, named HupE, UreJ and UreH, contain a similar signature sequence and are encoded within or adjacent to [NiFe] hydrogenase or urease operons, or elsewhere in the genome of many prokaryotes. HupE and UreH from Rhodopseudomonas palustris CGA009 and UreJ from Cupriavidus necator H16 were shown to mediate Ni²⁺ transport upon heterologous production in E. coli. Other variants of NiCoTs are found in many marine cyanobacteria and in plants. The cyanobacterial proteins are encoded by a segment adjacent to the genes for [Ni] superoxide dismutase and a corresponding putative maturation peptidase. The plant proteins contain N-terminal sequences resembling bipartite transit peptides of thylakoid lumenal and thylakoid integral membrane precursor proteins; expression of a YFP-fusion protein in transfected leaf cells is consistent with targeting of this protein to the plastid, but the function of the plant gene product has yet to be demonstrated.     

CyClus3D: a Cytoscape plugin for clustering network motifs in integrated networks

SUMMARY: Network motifs in integrated molecular networks represent functional relationships between distinct data types. They aggregate to form dense topological structures corresponding to functional modules which cannot be detected by traditional graph clustering algorithms. We developed CyClus3D, a Cytoscape plugin for clustering composite three-node network motifs using a 3D spectral clustering algorithm. AVAILABILITY: Via the Cytoscape plugin manager or http://bioinformatics.psb.ugent.be/software/details/CyClus3D.     

Native fibrin gel networks observed by 3D microscopy, permeation and turbidity

Native fully hydrated fibrin gels formed at different fibrinogen and thrombin concentrations and at different ionic strengths were studied by confocal laser 3D microscopy, liquid permeation and turbidity. The gels were found to be composed of straight rod-like fiber elements that often came together at denser nodes. In gels formed at high fibrinogen concentrations, or with high amounts of thrombin, the spaces between the fibers decreased, indicating a decrease of gel porosity. The fiber strands were also shorter. Gel porosity decreased dramatically in gels formed at the high ionic strengths. Shorter fibers were observed and fiber swelling occurred at ionic strengths above 0.24. Quantitative parameters for gel porosity, fiber mass/length ratio and diameter were also derived by liquid permeation and turbidometric analyses of the gels. Permeation analysis showed that gel porosity (measured as Ks) decreased in gels formed at higher fibrin and thrombin concentrations in agreement with the porosity observed by microscopy. The turbidometric analysis showed good agreement with the permeation data for gels formed at various thrombin concentrations, but supported the permeation data more poorly in gels formed at different fibrinogen concentrations, especially above 2.5 mg/ml. Turbidometric analysis showed that the fiber mass/length ratio and diameter decreased in gels formed at ionic strength up to 0.24, as was seen in the permeation study. However, at higher ionic strengths swelling of the fibers was suggested from the gel turbidity data and this was also indicated by microscopy. These findings are discussed in relation to previous hydrodynamic and electron microscopic studies of fibrin gels.     

Global networks for invasion science: benefits,challenges and guidelines

Much has been done to address the challenges of biological invasions, but fundamental questions (e.g., which species invade? Which habitats are invaded? How can invasions be effectively managed?) still need to be answered before the spread and impact of alien taxa can be effectively managed. Questions on the role of biogeography (e.g., how does biogeography influence ecosystem susceptibility, resistance and resilience against invasion?) have the greatest potential to address this goal by increasing our capacity to understand and accurately predict invasions at local, continental and global scales. This paper proposes a framework for the development of ‘Global Networks for Invasion Science’ to help generate approaches to address these critical and fundamentally biogeographic questions. We define global networks on the basis of their focus on research questions at the global scale, collection of primary data, use of standardized protocols and metrics, and commitment to long-term global data. Global networks are critical for the future of invasion science because of their potential to extend beyond the capacity of individual partners to identify global priorities for research agendas and coordinate data collection over space and time, assess risks and emerging trends, understand the complex influences of biogeography on mechanisms of invasion, predict the future of invasion dynamics, and use these new insights to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of evidence-based management techniques. While the pace and scale of global change continues to escalate, strategic and collaborative global networks offer a powerful approach to inform responses to the threats posed by biological invasions.     

The vitamin D deficiency pandemic and consequences for nonskeletal health: mechanisms of action

Vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin, is important for childhood bone health. Over the past two decades, it is now recognized that vitamin D not only is important for calcium metabolism and maintenance of bone health throughout life, but also plays an important role in reducing risk of many chronic diseases including type I diabetes, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, deadly cancers, heart disease and infectious diseases. How vitamin D is able to play such an important role in health is based on observation that all tissues and cells in the body have a vitamin D receptor, and, thus, respond to its active form 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. However, this did not explain how living at higher latitudes and being at risk of vitamin D deficiency increased risk of these deadly diseases since it was also known that the 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D levels are normal or even elevated when a person is vitamin D insufficient. Moreover, increased intake of vitamin D or exposure to more sunlight will not induce the kidneys to produce more 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. The revelation that the colon, breast, prostate, macrophages and skin among other organs have the enzymatic machinery to produce 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D provides further insight as to how vitamin D plays such an essential role for overall health and well being. This review will put into perspective many of the new biologic actions of vitamin D and on how 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D is able to regulate directly or indirectly more than 200 different genes that are responsible for a wide variety of biologic processes.     

Schools for health: Focus on health, education and the school-age child

Mortality in children under five years old has been dramatically reduced through successful programmes of immunization and control of diarrhoeal diseases. UNICEF estimates that some 90% of children in developing regions now survive to reach school age. These survivors face new and continuing threats to their health, which can affect their physical development and may also prevent them taking full advantage of their only opportunity for formal education. The physical and mental growth of the 1000 million school-age children today will influence how the world is shaped for coming generations. Yet the health problems of this age group have received little attention. Recognizing the importance of this age group, a workshop funded by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation was held 10-13 November 1994 in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, USA, to review what is known about the health of school-age children, what is or can be done to improve their health, and what steps must be taken to find ways to improve the health and educational achievement of this important segment of the world's population. Don Bundy and Helen Guyatt here report on the workshop, which had three major conclusions: (1) the school-age children of developing countries face health problems that remain neglected and poorly understood; (2) an important research need is to develop simpler means of monitoring the health status of school-age children and evaluating the impact of public health interventions in this age group; and (3) two strategies are available to address this public health problem. The first is to develop further and test programmes that appear, from available evidence and pilot studies, to offer effective means of improving the health of this age group at reasonable cost, and to be sustainable; and the second is, over a longer term, to develop the capacity within countries to assess the health problems of school-age children and devise cost-effective strategies to address these problems. This report attempts, in brief form, to survey what is known about the health status of school-age children, to discuss the possible benefits to health and learning that accrue from health interventions, and to suggest some avenues currently available for both research and application.