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Autophagy of granulosa cells (GCs) is involved in follicular atresia, which occurs repeatedly during the ovarian development cycle. Several circadian clock genes are rhythmically expressed in both rodent ovarian tissues and GCs. Nuclear receptor subfamily 1 group D member 1 (NR1D1), an important component of the circadian clock system, is involved in the autophagy process through the regulation of autophagy-related genes. However, there are no reports illustrating the role of the circadian clock system in mouse GC autophagy. In the present study, we found that core circadian clock genes ( Bmal1, Per2, Nr1d1, and Dbp) and an autophagy-related gene ( Atg5) exhibited rhythmic expression patterns across 24 h in mouse ovaries and primary GCs. Treatment with SR9009, an agonist of NR1D1, significantly reduced the expression of Bmal1, Per2, and Dbp in mouse GCs. ATG5 expression was significantly attenuated by SR9009 treatment in mouse GCs. Conversely, Nr1d1 knockdown increased ATG5 expression in mouse GCs. Decreased NR1D1 expression at both the mRNA and protein levels was detected in the ovaries of Bmal1−/− mice, along with elevated expression of ATG5. Dual-luciferase reporter assay and electrophoretic mobility shift assay showed that NR1D1 inhibited Atg5 transcription by binding to two putative retinoic acid-related orphan receptor response elements within the promoter. In addition, rapamycin-induced autophagy and ATG5 expression were partially reversed by SR9009 treatment in mouse GCs. Taken together, our current data demonstrated that the circadian clock regulates GC autophagy through NR1D1-mediated inhibition of ATG5 expression, and thus, plays a role in maintaining autophagy homeostasis in GCs.

The circadian clock system plays an important role in regulating testosterone synthesis in mammals. Male Bmal1-/- mice are infertile with low serum testosterone levels and decreased expression of testicular steroidogenic genes, suggesting that circadian clock genes regulate testosterone biosynthesis by activating steroidogenic gene transcription. However, whether the circadian clock regulates testosterone production via other genes remains unknown. Using Bmal1-/- mice and their wild-type (WT) siblings, we aimed to identify additional genes by which the circadian clock regulates testosterone synthesis. WT and Bmal1-/- mouse testes sections had similar normal morphologies, although there was a decrease in testicular spermatozoa in the Bmal1-/- mice. Low serum testosterone levels were detected in the Bmal1-/- mice. RNA sequencing identified 37 and 48 genes that were differentially expressed between WT and Bmal1-/- mouse testes at circadian time (CT2 and CT14), respectively. The cholesterol metabolism pathway was significantly enriched in the KEGG pathway analysis, and there was lower expression of three apolipoprotein genes (Apoa1, Apoa2, and Apoc3) at CT2 in the testes of Bmal1-/- mice than in those of WT mice. These decreases in Apoa1, Apoa2, and Apoc3 expression were verified by quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis, which also revealed downregulation of the expression of the circadian clock (Per2, Dbp, and Nr1d1) and steroidogenic (StAR, Cyp11a1, and Hsd17b3) genes. The expression of circadian clock genes was relatively stable in WT mice over a 20-h period, whereas there was clear circadian rhythmic expression of Apoa1, Apoa2, Apoc3, StAR, Cyp11a1, Hsd3b2, and Hsd17b3. Bmal1-/- mice showed severely reduced expression of testicular circadian clock genes at three time points (CT4, CT12, and CT20), and a reduction in mRNA expression levels of Apo (Apoa1, Apoa2, and Apoc3) and steroidogenic (StAR, Cyp11a1, Hsd3b2, and Hsd17b3) genes. Oil Red O staining showed decreased lipid aggregation in the Leydig cells of Bmal1-/- mouse testes. Considering the vital role of Apo genes in high-density lipoprotein formation and cholesterol transport, the present data suggest that the circadian clock system regulates testosterone production by orchestrating the rhythmic expression of Apo genes. These data extend our understanding of the role of the circadian clock in regulating testosterone production in mammals.

In this paper, we obtain some second order necessary conditions for optimal control problems of stochastic evolution equations in infinite dimensions. The control acts on both the drift and diffusi...

With the rapid development of future wireless communication, the combination of NOMA technology and millimeter-wave(mmWave) technology has become a research hotspot. The application of NOMA in mmWave heterogeneous networks can meet the diverse needs of users in different applications and scenarios in future communications. In this paper, we propose a machine learning framework to deal with the user association, subchannel and power allocation problems in such a complex scenario. We focus on maximizing the energy efficiency (EE) of the system under the constraints of quality of service (QoS), interference limitation, and power limitation. Specifically, user association is solved through the Lagrange dual decomposition method, while semi-supervised learning and deep neural network (DNN) are used for the subchannel and power allocation, respectively. In particular, unlabeled samples are introduced to improve approximation and generalization ability for subchannel allocation. The simulation indicates that the proposed scheme can achieve higher EE with lower complexity., Comment: to appear in IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering

Senile animals exhibit a high risk of elevated endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, attenuated circadian clock, and impaired steroidogenesis in testes. However, how these three processes are intertwined in mouse Leydig cells remains unclear. In this study, a mouse model of aging and hydrogen peroxide (H

Light is one of the most important environmental factors affecting plant growth and development. Plants use shade avoidance or tolerance strategies to adjust their growth and development thus increase their success in the competition for incoming light. To investigate the mechanism of shade responses in maize (Zea mays), we examined the anatomical and transcriptional dynamics of the early shade response in seedlings of the B73 inbred line. Transcriptome analysis identified 912 differentially expressed genes, including genes involved in light signaling, auxin responses, and cell elongation pathways. Grouping transcription factor family genes and performing enrichment analysis identified multiple types of transcription factors that are differentially regulated by shade and predicted putative core genes responsible for regulating shade avoidance syndrome. For functional analyses, we ectopically over-expressed ZmHB53, a type II HD-ZIP transcription factor gene significantly induced by shade, in Arabidopsis thaliana. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing ZmHB53 exhibited narrower leaves, earlier flowering, and enhanced expression of shade-responsive genes, suggesting that ZmHB53 might participates in the regulation of shade responses in maize. This study increases our understanding of the regulatory network of the shade response in maize and provides a useful resource for maize genetics and breeding.

Sugars provide a source of energy; they also function as signaling molecules that regulate gene expression, affect metabolism, and alter growth in plants. Rapid responses to sugar signaling and metabolism are essential for optimal growth and fitness, but the regulatory mechanisms underlying these are largely unknown. In this study, we found that the rapid induction of sugar responses in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) requires the W-box cis-elements in the promoter region of GLC 6-PHOSPHATE/PHOSPHATE TRANSLOCATOR2, a well-studied sugar response marker gene. The transcription factors WRKY18 and WRKY53 directly bind to the W-Box cis-elements in the promoter region of sugar response genes and activate their expression. In addition, HISTONE ACETYLTRANSFERASE 1 (HAC1) is recruited to the WRKY18 and WRKY53 complex that resides on the promoters. In this complex, HAC1 facilitates the acetylation of histone 3 Lys 27 (H3K27ac) on the sugar-responsive genes. Taken together, our findings demonstrate a mechanism by which sugar regulates chromatin modification and gene expression, thus helping plants to adjust their growth in response to environmental changes.

Off-farm employment in rural areas can be a major contributor to rural poverty reduction and decent rural employment. While women are highly active in the agricultural sector, they are less active than men in off-farm employment. This study analyzes the determinants of participation in off-farm employment of women in rural Uganda. The study is based on a field survey conducted in nine districts with the sample size of 1200 individual females. A two-stage Hechman’s sample selection model was applied to capture women’s decision to participate and the level of participation in non-farm economic activities. Summary statistics of the survey data from rural Uganda shows that: i) poverty and non-farm employment has a strong correlation, implying the importance of non-farm employment as a means for poverty reduction; and ii) there is a large gender gap to access non-farm employment, but the gender gap has been significantly reduced from group of older age to younger generation. The econometric results finds that the following factors have a significant influence on women’s participation in off-farm employment: education level of both the individual and household head (positive in both stages); women’s age (negative in both stages); female-headed household (negative in first stage); household head of polygamous marriage (negative in both stages); distance from major town (negative in the first stage); household size (positive in the second stage); dependency ratio (negative in the second stage); access to and use of government extension services (positive in the first stage); access to and use of an agricultural loan (negative in the second stage); and various district dummies variables. The implications of these findings suggest that those policies aimed at enhancing the identified determinants of women off-farm employment can promote income-generating opportunities for women groups in comparable contexts. In order to capitalize on these positive linkages, policies should be designed to improve skills and knowledge by providing education opportunities and increasing access to employment training, assistance services and loans for non-farm activities and by targeting women in female-headed, large and distant households. The government should increase investments in public infrastructure and services, such as roads, telecommunications and emergency support.

Glyphosate is a broad-spectrum herbicide that impairs testosterone synthesis in mammals. Leydig cells (LCs), the primary producers of testosterone, demonstrate rhythmic expression of circadian clock genes both in vivo and in vitro. The nuclear receptor NR1D1 is an important clock component that constitutes the subsidiary transcriptional/translational loop in the circadian clock system. Nr1d1 deficiency resulted in diminished fertility in both male and female mice. However, whether NR1D1 is involved in the glyphosate-mediated inhibition of testosterone synthesis in LCs remains unclear. Here, the involvement of NR1D1 in glyphosate-mediated inhibition of testosterone synthesis was investigated both in vitro and in vivo. Glyphosate exposure of TM3 cells significantly increased Nr1d1 mRNA levels, but decreased Bmal1, Per2, StAR, Cyp11a1, and Cyp17a1 mRNA levels. Western blotting confirmed elevated NR1D1 and reduced StAR protein levels following glyphosate exposure. Glyphosate exposure also reduced testosterone production in TM3 cells. In primary LCs, glyphosate exposure also upregulated Nr1d1 mRNA levels and downregulated the mRNA levels of other clock genes (Bmal1 and Per2) and steroidogenic genes (StAR, Cyp17a1, Cyp11a1, and Hsd3b2), and inhibited testosterone synthesis. Moreover, glyphosate exposure significantly reduced the amplitude and shortened the period of PER2::LUCIFERASE oscillations in primary LCs isolated from mPer2Luciferase knock-in mice. Four weeks of oral glyphosate upregulated NR1D1 at both the mRNA and protein levels in mouse testes, and this was accompanied by a reduction in StAR expression. Notably, serum testosterone levels were also drastically reduced in mice treated with glyphosate. Moreover, dual-luciferase reporter and EMSA assays revealed that in TM3 cells NR1D1 inhibits the expression of StAR by binding to a canonical RORE element present within its promoter. Together, these data demonstrate that glyphosate perturbs testosterone synthesis via NR1D1 mediated inhibition of StAR expression in mouse LCs. These findings extend our understanding of how glyphosate impairs male fertility.

The present study assessed whether microRNA (miR)‑27a is an influential factor in steroid‑induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) and investigated the underlying mechanism of action. The results indicated that serum miR‑27a was decreased in a rat model of ONFH compared with that in control rats. It was also observed that increased miR‑27a expression promoted osteogenic differentiation and cell proliferation, inhibited caspase‑3/9 and B‑cell lymphoma‑2‑associated X protein expression and induced alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP)‑2, runt‑related transcription factor (Runx)2 and osteonectin mRNA expression in osteoblastic MC3T3‑E1 cells. miR‑27a mimics also induced transforming growth factor (TGF)‑β and Smad7 protein expression in MC3T3‑E1 cells. Furthermore, transfection with TGF‑β expression plasmid was able to enhance the effects of miR‑27a mimics on osteoblastic differentiation, cell proliferation, ALP activity, BMP‑2, Runx2 and osteonectin mRNA expression, and Smad7 protein expression in the MC3T3‑E1 cells. Transfection with a TGF‑β or Smad7 expression plasmid also enhanced the effects of miR‑27a mimics on osteoblastic differentiation, cell proliferation, ALP activity and osteonectin mRNA expression in the MC3T3‑E1 cells. Taken together, the results of the present study suggested that the induction of TGF‑β/Smad7 signaling in osteoblasts may be a potential mechanism by which miR‑27a regulates steroid‑induced ONFH.

Background In plants, the basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors play key roles in diverse biological processes. Genome-wide comprehensive and systematic analyses of bHLH proteins have been well conducted in Arabidopsis, rice, tomato and other plant species. However, only few of bHLH family genes have been functional characterized in maize. Results In this study, our genome-wide analysis identified 208 putative bHLH family proteins (ZmbHLH proteins) in maize (Zea mays). We classified these proteins into 18 subfamilies by comparing the ZmbHLHs with Arabidopsis thaliana bHLH proteins. Phylogenetic analysis, conserved protein motifs, and exon-intron patterns further supported the evolutionary relationships among these bHLH proteins. Genome distribution analysis found that the 208 ZmbHLH loci were located non-randomly on the ten maize chromosomes. Further, analysis of conserved cis-elements in the promoter regions, protein interaction networks, and expression patterns in roots, leaves, and seeds across developmental stages, suggested that bHLH family proteins in maize are probably involved in multiple physiological processes in plant growth and development. Conclusion We performed a genome-wide, systematic analysis of bHLH proteins in maize. This comprehensive analysis provides a useful resource that enables further investigation of the physiological roles and molecular functions of the ZmbHLH transcription factors. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12870-018-1441-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Millimeter wave (mmWave) communication technology has become an attractive solution to meet exponential growth demand for mobile data services. In this paper, we propose a deep neural networks (DNN) based algorithm for user association and power optimization problem in mmWave heterogeneous network on the basis of gradient iterative algorithm. We jointly design the user association and power optimization to maximize energy efficiency (EE) utilizing Lagrange dual decomposition and then approximate it by DNN models. In addition, an asynchronous distributed DNN based scheme is proposed, which divides the large network model into small distributed networks for distributed data processing on each small base station side to reduce computational time. Simulation results show that the proposed scheme can achieve a high EE with low computation time.

In the wake of growth in intelligent mobile devices and wide usage of bandwidth-hungry applications in mobile Internet, the demand for wireless data traffic and ubiquitous mobile broadband is rapidly increasing. Because of these developments, the research on next generation networks presents an accelerative tendency on a global scale. Edge computing is drawing lots of attention for reducing the time delay and improving the quality of service for networks. F-RAN is an emergent architecture that makes full use of edge computing and distributed storing capabilities in edge devices. In this article, we propose an architecture of NOMA-based F-RANs that has strong capability of edge computing and can meet the heterogeneous requirements in 5G/6G systems. NOMA with SIC is regarded as a critical multi-user access technology. In NOMA, more than one user can access the same time, code domain, and frequency resources. By assigning different power levels to multiple users and implementing SIC, multi-user detection can be achieved. In this article, we provide a description of the NOMAbased F-RANs architecture, and discuss the resource allocation in it. We focus on the power and subchannel allocation in consideration of using NOMA and edge caching. Simulation results show that the proposed NOMA-based F-RANs architecture and the resource management mechanisms can achieve high net utility for the RANs.

The main purpose of this paper is to present some of our recent results about the second-order necessary conditions for stochastic optimal controls with the control variable entering into both the drift and the diffusion terms. In particular, when the control region is convex, a pointwise second-order necessary condition for stochastic singular optimal controls in the classical sense is established, whereas when the control region is allowed to be nonconvex, we obtain a pointwise second-order necessary condition for stochastic singular optimal controls in the sense of the Pontryagin-type maximum principle. Unlike deterministic optimal control problems or stochastic optimal control problems with control-independent diffusions, there exist some essential difficulties in deriving the pointwise second-order necessary optimality conditions from the integral conditions when the controls act in the diffusion terms of the stochastic control systems. Some techniques from Malliavin calculus are employed to overcome...

This paper is the second part of our series of work to establish pointwise second-order necessary conditions for stochastic optimal controls. In this part, we consider the general cases, i.e., the control region is allowed to be nonconvex, and the control variable enters into both the drift and the diffusion terms of the control systems. By introducing four variational equations and four adjoint equations, we obtain the desired necessary conditions for stochastic singular optimal controls in the sense of Pontryagin-type maximum principle., Comment: 49 pages

In living organisms, daily light/dark cycles profoundly affect cellular processes. In plants, optimal growth and development, and adaptation to daily light-dark cycles, require starch synthesis and turnover. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms coordinating daily starch metabolism remain poorly understood. To explore the roles of Arabidopsis thaliana light signal transduction proteins FAR-RED ELONGATED HYPOCOTYLS3 (FHY3) and FAR-RED-IMPAIRED RESPONSE1 (FAR1) in starch metabolism, the contents of starch and water-soluble polysaccharides, and the structure of starch granules were investigated in fhy3, far1 and fhy3 far1 mutant plants. Disruption of FHY3 or FAR1 reduced starch accumulation and altered starch granule structure in the fhy3-4, far1-2, and fhy3-4 far1-2 mutant plants. Furthermore, molecular and genetic evidence revealed that the gene encoding the starch-debranching enzyme ISOAMYLASE2 (ISA2) is a direct target of FHY3 and FAR1, and functions in light-induced starch synthesis. Our data establish the first molecular link between light signal transduction and starch synthesis, suggesting that the light-signaling proteins FHY3 and FAR1 influence starch synthesis and starch granule formation through transcriptional activation of ISA2.

This paper is devoted to the first and second order necessary optimality conditions for stochastic optimal control problems of the Bolza type. The control system is governed by a stochastic differential equation whose drift and diffusion terms are control dependent and the set of controls may be nonconvex. The optimal controls under consideration are those providing the weak local minima. The derived first order necessary condition involves one adjoint equation and a pointwise variational inequality. They are very similar to the known necessary conditions of the deterministic optimal control theory. The second order necessary condition is stated in the integral form and involves two adjoint equations. For sufficiently regular singular weak local minimizers this second order integral inequality implies a pointwise condition. To obtain these results we use the classical variational approach reinforced by the set-valued analysis and the Malliavin calculus. The proofs of our results being quite long and technical will appear elsewhere.

Light is one of the most important environmental factors affecting plant growth and development. Plants use shade avoidance and shade tolerance strategies to adjust their growth and development thus increase their success in the competition for incoming light. To investigate the mechanism of shade responses in maize (Zea mays), we examined the anatomical and transcriptional dynamics of the early shade response in seedlings of the B73 inbred line. Transcriptome analysis identified 912 differentially expressed genes, including genes involved in light signaling, auxin responses, and cell elongation pathways. Grouping transcription factor family genes and performing enrichment analysis identified multiple types of transcription factors that are differentially regulated by shade and predicted putative core genes responsible for regulating shade avoidance syndrome. For functional tests, we ectopically over-expressed ZmHB53, a type II HD-ZIP transcription factor gene significantly induced by shade, in Arabidopsis thaliana. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing ZmHB53 exhibited narrower leaves, earlier flowering, and enhanced expression of shade-responsive genes, suggesting that ZmHB53 participates in the regulation of shade responses in maize. This study increases our understanding of the regulatory network of the shade response in maize and provides a useful resource for maize genetics and breeding.HighlightOur findings not only increase the understanding of the regulatory network of the shade avoidance in maize, and also provide a useful resource for maize genetics and breeding.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate interleukin-1β (IL-1β), IL-6, and IL-17 levels in both synovial fluid and serum of patients with primary knee medial osteoarthritis (OA) after high tbial osteotomy (HTO). METHODS: Twenty-six patients with primary knee medial OA undergoing HTO between January 2011 and June 2014 (experimental group) and 30 healthy individuals (control group) were recruited into the study. There was no significant difference in gender, age, and body mass index between 2 groups (P>0.05). The X-ray film was taken to record healing time at osteotomy site, to measure the tibiofemoral angle, and to assess limb alignment after HTO. Visual analogue scale (VAS) pain score and knee society score (KSS) were used to evaluate pain level and function of the knee. The IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-17 concentrations in both plasma and synovial fluid were measured before operation and at 6, 12, and 18 months after operation in the experimental group using ELISA method; the levels in plasma were measured in control group. RESULTS: Primary healing of incisions was achieved in patients. All patients were followed up 18-24 months (mean, 21 months). The X-ray film showed osseous healing at osteotomy site at 9-14 weeks (mean, 11.5 weeks). The average tibiofemoral angle was 167.5° (range, 165-170°) after bone healing. Satisfactory limb alignment was obtained in all patients. The postoperative VAS pain score was significantly decreased and KSS score was significantly improved when compared with preoperative scores (P0.05). The preoperative plasma and synovial fluid IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-17 concentrations were significantly higher in patients than controls (P0.05). CONCLUSION: HTO can significantly improve the pain symptom and joint function and reduce IL-1β, IL-6, and IL-17 levels in both plasma and synovial fluid of patients with medial compartment knee OA, but these cytokines can not return to normal level.

International audience; In this paper, the first and second order necessary optimality conditions are established for stochastic optimal control problems with control and initial-final states constraints. The control regions are allowed to be nonconvex, the diffusion terms contain the control variable and the final state constraints are defined by finitely many inequality constraints. In the difference with the existing literatures, the second order variations of the control set are used to derive the second order necessary conditions. This leads to stronger results under less restrictive, than usual, assumptions. Key words. Stochastic optimal control, normal first order necessary optimality conditions, second order necessary conditions, second order tangents.

Figure S1. Original tree of bHLH family genes in maize, rice and Arabidopsis. Radial tree of bHLH domains in maize, rice and Arabidopsis. The maize bHLH subfamilies are indicated by Roman numerals. (PDF 242 kb)

This paper is the first part of our series work to establish pointwise second-order necessary conditions for stochastic optimal controls. In this part, both drift and diffusion terms may contain the control variable but the control region is assumed to be convex. Under some assumptions in terms of Malliavin calculus, we establish the desired necessary condition for stochastic singular optimal controls in the classical sense., 28 pages

Phytochrome-interacting factors (PIFs) play important roles in photomorphogenesis, the shade avoidance response, and other aspects of plant growth and development. PIF family proteins have been well-studied in Arabidopsis thaliana, but little is known about their physiological functions and molecular mechanisms in maize (Zea mays). In this study, we investigated the physiological functions of ZmPIF4 and ZmPIF5, two highly conserved members of the PIF gene family. RT-qPCR and western blot analyses revealed that ZmPIF4 and ZmPIF5 expression and ZmPIF4 and ZmPIF5 levels peak at night and remain low during the day. Overexpression of ZmPIF4 and ZmPIF5 in Arabidopsis partially rescued the reduced hypocotyl elongation and defective response to gravity in pif1 pif3 pif4 pif5 quadruple mutants (pifq). In addition, under high red: far-red light conditions, Arabidopsis lines overexpressing ZmPIF4 exhibited a constitutive shade avoidance response, including early flowering, slender leaves and inflorescences, plant lodging and precocious leaf senescence. Furthermore, ZmPIF4 physically interacted with the Arabidopsis DELLA protein REPRESSOR OF GA1-3 (RGA), indicating a potential interaction between ZmPIF4 and gibberellin signaling pathway on plant growth. Taken together, our results revealed that ZmPIF4 and ZmPIF5 are functionally conserved proteins that may play conserved roles in the response to phytochrome signaling in plants. Highlights: In this study, the functions of ZmPIF4 and ZmPIF5 were characterized by expression in Arabidopsis, revealing conserved roles of PIF family proteins in photomorphogenesis and the shade avoidance response in land plants.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the benefit provided by intraosseous infiltration combined with intra-articular injection of platelet-rich plasma to treat mild and moderate stages of knee joint degeneration (Kellgren-Lawrence score II–III) compared with other treatments, specifically intra-articular injection of PRP and of HA. Eighty-six patients with grade II to grade III knee OA according to the Kellgren-Lawrence classification were randomly assigned to intra-articular combined with intraosseous injection of PRP (group A), intra-articular PRP (group B), or intra-articular HA (group C). Patients in group A received intra-articular combined with intraosseous injection of PRP (administered twice, 2 weeks apart). Patients in group B received intra-articular injection of PRP every 14 days. Patients in group C received a series of five intra-articular injections of HA every 7 days. All patients were evaluated using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) score before the treatment and at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 18 months after treatment. There were significant improvements at the end of the 1st month. Notably, group A patients had significantly superior VAS and WOMAC scores than were observed in groups B and C. The VAS scores were similar in groups B and group C after the 6th month. Regarding the WOMAC scores, groups B and C differed at the 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 12th months; however, no significant difference was observed at the 18th month. The combination of intraosseous with intra-articular injections of PRP resulted in a significantly superior clinical outcome, with sustained lower VAS and WOMAC scores and improvement in quality of life within 18 months.

In recent years, inference of gene regulatory networks has received ever increasing attention in the systems biology field. In this paper, for the first time, a fractional gene regulatory algorithm by extended fractional Kalman filter (EFKF) is proposed to estimate the hidden states as well as the unknown static parameters of the model, which can provide insight into the underlying regulatory relations among genes in the biological system. In the proposed method, gene regulatory networks are inferred via evolutionary modeling based on time-series microarray measurements. The gene regulatory network is considered as a fractional order discrete stochastic dynamic model that consists of the gene measurement equation and the gene regulation equation. After specifying the model structure, we apply the EFKF algorithm for identifying both the model parameters and the actual value of gene expression levels. In this paper, the main advantages of using fractional order systems, increasing the flexibility and improving the accuracy of the system state equation in EFKF are highlighted. The performance of the EFKF algorithm is compared with EKF and other nonlinear algorithms in predicting the parameters of gene regulatory networks from synthetic data and real biological data. Extensive computer simulations illustrate that the proposed algorithm outperforms EKF and other methods, and therefore, it can serve as a natural framework for inference gene regulatory networks with a nonlinear structure.

The purpose of this study was to explore whether the use of mobile technology could better enhance students' business English vocabulary learning than the employment of traditional print material. A group of sophomores (N=43) from a Chinese university in North China were randomly assigned to two groups: the experimental group (N=23), who worked on a given list of business vocabulary via SMS, and the control group (N=20), who studied the same list of vocabulary via paper print material. The results of the posttest reveal that the experimental group did significantly better than the control group. However, the results of the delayed test show that the two groups were not significantly different from each other in term of vocabulary retention rates. The study concludes that a blended use of mobile technology such as SMS and paper print material could better give rise to students' business English vocabulary learning. The limitations and suggestions for future research are also discussed.

In optimization problems, it is significant to study the directional derivatives and subdifferentials of objective functions. Using directional derivatives and subdifferentials of objective functions, we can establish optimality conditions, derive error bound properties, and propose optimal algorithms. In this paper, the upper and lower estimates for the Clarke directional derivatives of a class of marginal functions are established. Employing this result, we obtain the exact formulations of the Clarke directional derivatives of the regularized gap functions for nonsmooth quasi-variational inequalities.

What role does China play in the recent rush for land acquisition in Africa? Conventional wisdom suggests a large role for the Chinese government and its firms. Ou r research suggests the opposite. Land acquisitions by Chinese companies have so far been quite limited, and focused on production for African consumption. We trace the evolution of strategy and incentives for Chinese agricultural engagement in Africa, and examine more closely several of the more well known cases, sorting out the myths and the realities.

The main purpose of this paper is to establish the first and second order necessary optimality conditions for stochastic optimal controls using the classical variational analysis approach. The control system is governed by a stochastic differential equation, in which both drift and diffusion terms may contain the control variable and the set of controls is allowed to be nonconvex. Only one adjoint equation is introduced to derive the first order necessary condition; while only two adjoint equations are needed to state the second order necessary conditions for stochastic optimal controls., 43

Optimal control problems of forward-backward stochastic Volterra integral equations (FBSVIEs, in short) with closed control regions are formulated and studied. Instead of using spike variation method as one may imagine, here we turn to treat the non-convexity of the control regions by borrowing some tools in set-valued analysis and adapting them into our stochastic control systems. A duality principle between linear backward stochastic Volterra integral equations and linear stochastic Fredholm-Volterra integral equations with conditional expectation are derived, which extends and improves the corresponding results in [25], [30]. Some first order necessary optimality conditions for optimal controls of FBSVIEs are established. In contrast with existed common routines to treat the non-convexity of stochastic control problems, here only one adjoint system and one-order differentiability requirements of the coefficients are needed., Comment: 29 pages

As one of the emerging technologies, the Second Life virtual world provides learners of English as a Foreign Language with a unique opportunity of learning authentic language with native and non-native speakers of English in a virtual environment. It enables them to learn the target language in a real-life-like social communication environment. To date, numerous studies have focused more on the benefits and affordances of learning in such an environment. Little has been done in terms of an empirical exploration into the barriers that impede effective spoken English learning. This study was intended to reduce the gap through investigating a group of Chinese students' experience when they carried out spoken English learning activities in Second Life. A qualitative research method was employed to unveil the challenges of Spoken English learning in this virtual world. Participant observation was made both during the training sessions and in the process of their performing learning tasks. The participants were later interviewed. The study concluded that the success of enabling effective spoken English leaning requires a timely elimination of technical problems and a systemic optimization of learning environments from both pedagogical and administrative perspectives. Limitations of this study and directions for future research were also discussed. Practitioner Notes What is already known about this topic The potential of the Second Life virtual world for educational purposes., Pedagogical affordances of the virtual world., Pedagogical applications of the virtual world to the fields of science and humanities., What this paper adds Pedagogical exploration of spoken English teaching and learning in the virtual world., Identification of pedagogical challenges in learning and teaching of spoken English skills., Countermeasures for fighting off the challenges., Implications for practice and/or policy Development of instructors' computer literacy and virtual world literacy skills., Essentiality of administrative support for ensuring pedagogical success., Instructors' awareness of increasing workload. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two main components of soil respiration, i.e., root/rhizosphere and microbial respiration, respond differently to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations both in mechanism and sensitivity because they have different substrates derived from plant and soil organic matter, respectively. To model the carbon cycle and predict the carbon source/sink of forest ecosystems, we must first understand the relative contributions of root/rhizosphere and microbial respiration to total soil respiration under elevated CO2 concentrations. Root/rhizosphere and soil microbial respiration have been shown to increase, decrease and remain unchanged under elevated CO2 concentrations. A significantly positive relationship between root biomass and root/rhizosphere respiration has been found. Fine roots respond more strongly to elevated CO2 concentrations than coarse roots. Evidence suggests that soil microbial respiration is highly variable and uncertain under elevated CO2 concentrations. Microbial biomass and activity are related or unrelated to rates of microbial respiration. Because substrate availability drives microbial metabolism in soils, it is likely that much of the variability in microbial respiration results from differences in the response of root growth to elevated CO2 concentrations and subsequent changes in substrate production. Biotic and abiotic factors affecting soil respiration were found to affect both root/rhizosphere and microbial respiration.