Search

Cellular metabolism plays an essential role in the regrowth and regeneration of a neuron following physical injury. Yet, our knowledge of the specific metabolic pathways that are beneficial to neuron regeneration remains sparse. Previously, we have shown that modulation of O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) signaling, a ubiquitous post-translational modification that acts as a cellular nutrient sensor, can significantly enhance in vivo neuron regeneration. Here, we define the specific metabolic pathway by which O-GlcNAc transferase (ogt-1) loss of function mediates increased regenerative outgrowth. Performing in vivo laser axotomy and measuring subsequent regeneration of individual neurons in C. elegans, we find that glycolysis, serine synthesis pathway (SSP), one-carbon metabolism (OCM), and the downstream transsulfuration metabolic pathway (TSP) are all essential in this process. The regenerative effects of ogt-1 mutation are abrogated by genetic and/or pharmacological disruption of OCM and the SSP linking OCM to glycolysis. Testing downstream branches of this pathway, we find that enhanced regeneration is dependent only on the vitamin B12 independent shunt pathway. These results are further supported by RNA sequencing that reveals dramatic transcriptional changes by the ogt-1 mutation, in the genes involved in glycolysis, OCM, TSP, and ATP metabolism. Strikingly, the beneficial effects of the ogt-1 mutation can be recapitulated by simple metabolic supplementation of the OCM metabolite methionine in wild-type animals. Taken together, these data unearth the metabolic pathways involved in the increased regenerative capacity of a damaged neuron in ogt-1 animals and highlight the therapeutic possibilities of OCM and its related pathways in the treatment of neuronal injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate parameter identification plays an integral role in the modeling of an optimized solar module which in turn helps in the error-free prediction of its output. Five important parameters: the photoelectric current (Iph), ideality factor(α), saturation current (Io), series resistance (Rs), and shunt resistance (Rsh) are required for the accurate modeling of the PV cells/modules and need to be extracted as these parameters are not provided by the manufacturer in the datasheet. This paper proposes a new metaheuristic jellyfish optimization (JFO) algorithm for the parameter extraction of a solar module. The JFO algorithm achieves the optimal solution without being trapped in local solutions in less time. The parameter extraction using the JFO algorithm is done on two different solar modules i.e., Soltech-1STH-215P and PWP-201. The results are compared in terms of extracted parameters (Iph, α, Io, Rs, and Rsh) with the well-known optimization techniques like PSO, GA, and others available in the literature and with the manufacturer I–V and P–V characteristics. The proposed technique I–V and P–V characteristics are validated at different environmental conditions and are found to be similar to that of PSO and GA. It is also observed that the extracted parameters obtained using JFO are comparable with the other twenty-two techniques, and the proposed technique is one of the highly efficient techniques that can be utilized for parameter extraction of PV modules and to predict solar cell characteristics for all commercial modules without setting up any experimental measurements. MATLAB/simulation software is used for implementation and performance validation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multistage interconnection networks are used as a medium for interconnecting processors and memories in multiprocessor systems. Multistage interconnection networks are an effective substitute for crossbar switches, used in telephone network systems and parallel computers, due to their low cost, better performance and easy maintainability. In this paper, we propose new fault-tolerant hybrid multistage interconnection networks obtained from shuffle exchange gamma interconnection network (SEGIN) and logical neighborhood network named as shuffle exchange gamma logical neighborhood interconnection network (SEGLNIN). We evaluated the performance of SEGLNIN in terms of disjoint paths, reliability and hardware cost and compared it with some well-known MINs like shuffle exchange network (SEN), shuffle exchange network with one extra stage (SEN +) and shuffle exchange network with two extra stages (SEN + 2), SEGIN-1, and SEGIN-2. The results illustrate that the performance of the proposed SEGLNIN is better than that of the compared networks in terms of reliability and disjoint paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cause–effect relationship has tremendous role in interpreting the engineering and scientific problems which basically deals with the identifying potential causes of problem. Bayesian belief networks (BBN) also referred as Bayesian casual probabilistic network used widely to deal with probabilistic events to elucidate the complications having uncertainty. A major challenge in BBN is to construct a node probability table (NPT), which grows exponentially with the rising number of variables. Various approaches exist for NPT construction, including expert elicitation, data analysis, survey and weighted functions, noisy-OR, noisy-MAX, recursive noisy-OR (ROR), extended recursive noisy-OR, and ranked nodes. However, these methods are problem-specific and lacking behind a generalized approach applicable to all problem types. To address this issue, this paper proposes a generalized universal approach for constructing the NPT using fuzzy logic. The suggested strategy has been validated by applying it to a BBN prototype for software design and development. The proposed strategy has been evaluated with best-case and worst-case software metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crustal configuration beneath the indenting northeast corner of the Indian Plate in the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis has been investigated with the help of receiver function (RF) analysis of teleseismic earthquakes recorded by 19 broad-band seismological stations. The common conversion point stacking of RFs and 1-D velocity models obtained through inversion provide new information on the intracrustal structure. The study reveals the signature of the Main Himalayan Thrust (MHT) beneath the Lohit Valley at ∼22–26 km depth. The MHT is not prominent in the Siang window plausibly due to large-scale crustal deformation related to the formation of the window and antiform folding. Unlike in the western and central Himalaya, the MHT does not play a major role in seismogenesis in the Lohit Valley and Siang Window, where seismicity is active up to the crustal depth of ∼40 km. The crustal thickness increases from ∼38 km at Pasighat in the south to ∼50 km at the northernmost station (Gelling) in the Siang window. In Lohit Valley, the crustal thickness increases from ∼40 km at Mahadevpur in the west to ∼54 km in the Tidding–Tuting suture zone, which again shallows to ∼51 km in the eastern Lohit Plutonic Complex (Walong station). The thinner crust beneath the Tidding–Tuting suture compared to the Indus Tsangpo Suture Zone of northwest Himalaya is caused due to the differences in convergence rate, higher exhumation rate and mechanisms to accommodate collision and rotational tectonics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) is a donor which provides the methyl groups for histone or nucleic acid modification and phosphatidylcholine production. SAM is hypothesized to link metabolism and chromatin modification, however, its role in acute gene regulation is poorly understood. We recently found that Caenorhabditis elegans with reduced SAM had deficiencies in H3K4 trimethylation (H3K4me3) at pathogen-response genes, decreasing their expression and limiting pathogen resistance. We hypothesized that SAM may be generally required for stress-responsive transcription. Here, using genetic assays, we show that transcriptional responses to bacterial or xenotoxic stress fail in C. elegans with low SAM, but that expression of heat shock genes are unaffected. We also found that two H3K4 methyltransferases, set-2/SET1 and set-16/MLL, had differential responses to survival during stress. set-2/SET1 is specifically required in bacterial responses, whereas set-16/MLL is universally required. These results define a role for SAM in the acute stress-responsive gene expression. Finally, we find that modification of metabolic gene expression correlates with enhanced survival during stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crustal thickness and Poisson's ratios are estimated across the northwest (NW) Himalaya and eastern Ladakh applying H-k stacking method on receiver functions of teleseismic earthquakes recorded at 16 broadband seismological stations. The results show significant lateral variation of crustal thickness from the Lesser and Higher Himalaya (∼50 km thick) to Ladakh (∼80 km thick) through the Indus Tsangpo Suture Zone (ITSZ). The Indian Moho is continuously traceable across the ITSZ which is consistent with the underthrusting of the Indian plate beyond the surface collision boundary. The estimated Poisson's ratios in the Lesser and Higher Himalaya are low (0.249-0.253), suggesting felsic composition of the crust. The Poisson's ratio is intermediate in the Tethyan Himalaya (0.269-0.273) and high beneath Ladakh (0.280-0.303), indicating the effect of aqueous fluid/partial melt present in the crust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Mounting evidence suggests that nutritional exposures during pregnancy influence the fetal epigenome, and that these epigenetic changes can persist postnatally, with implications for disease risk across the life course.Methods: We review human intergenerational studies using a three-part search strategy. Search 1 investigates associations between preconceptional or pregnancy nutritional exposures, focusing on one-carbon metabolism, and offspring DNA methylation. Search 2 considers associations between offspring DNA methylation at genes found in the first search and growth-related, cardiometabolic and cognitive outcomes. Search 3 isolates those studies explicitly linking maternal nutritional exposure to offspring phenotype via DNA methylation. Finally, we compile all candidate genes and regions of interest identified in the searches and describe their genomic locations, annotations and coverage on the Illumina Infinium Methylation beadchip arrays.Results: We summarize findings from the 34 studies found in the first search, the 31 studies found in the second search and the eight studies found in the third search. We provide details of all regions of interest within 45 genes captured by this review.Conclusions: Many studies have investigated imprinted genes as priority loci, but with the adoption of microarray-based platforms other candidate genes and gene classes are now emerging. Despite a wealth of information, the current literature is characterized by heterogeneous exposures and outcomes, and mostly comprise observational associations that are frequently underpowered. The synthesis of current knowledge provided by this review identifies research needs on the pathway to developing possible early life interventions to optimize lifelong health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]