Tobacco(Nicotiana tabacum)is a widely used platform for producing recombinant proteins for clinical applications.However,achieving mammalian-like glycosylation modifications in plantderived therapeutic proteins remain...Tobacco(Nicotiana tabacum)is a widely used platform for producing recombinant proteins for clinical applications.However,achieving mammalian-like glycosylation modifications in plantderived therapeutic proteins remains challenging,particularly in the case of fucosylation mediated by fucosyltransferases(FUTs).In this study,an RNA interference(RNAi)plasmid targeting the first exon ofα-1,3-fucosyltransferase 4(FUT4)gene was constructed,named as FUT4-RNAi.Using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation with EHA105 harboring the FUT4-RNAi plasmid,we obtained 29 regenerated tobacco lines,17 of which were confirmed as putatively positive by PCR.The mRNA transcript accumulation of the FUT4 gene was significantly reduced in 16 out of the 17 transgenic lines compared to the negative control,cv.Yunyan 87.Among these,11 lines(4^(#),6,7,11^(#),12^(#),15^(#),19^(#),22^(#),26^(#),28^(#) and 29^(#))showed FUT4 transcript levels below 25%of those in cv.Yunyan 87.Four lines(7^(#),12^(#),15^(#),and 29^(#))with the lowest mRNA levels were selected for further analysis by western blotting(WB)and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).The results confirmed a significant decrease in FUT4 protein levels in these lines compared with that in cv.Yunyan 87,with line 29*showing less than 13%of the FUT4 protein content compared to cv.Yunyan 87.This study successfully developed a tobacco chassis with severely downregulated FUT4 expression,laying an important foundation for the production of human therapeutic proteins using a plant expression system.展开更多
【目的】外来物种与本土亲缘关系较近的物种可能会发生交尾竞争,干扰本土物种的正常繁衍。欧洲地熊蜂Bombus terrestris是全球范围内商业化应用最广的传粉蜂种,但在许多国家造成了生物入侵。本研究旨在明确欧洲地熊蜂对我国本土熊蜂产...【目的】外来物种与本土亲缘关系较近的物种可能会发生交尾竞争,干扰本土物种的正常繁衍。欧洲地熊蜂Bombus terrestris是全球范围内商业化应用最广的传粉蜂种,但在许多国家造成了生物入侵。本研究旨在明确欧洲地熊蜂对我国本土熊蜂产生生殖干扰的可能性。【方法】采用四级杆飞行时间-气质联用系统(gas chromatography-quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry,GC-QTOF/MS)测定了欧洲地熊蜂和我国本土9种熊蜂的雄蜂头部分泌物的成分,并进行聚类分析;在人工控制环境下比较了欧洲地熊蜂对我国重要熊蜂种类的交尾影响。【结果】雄蜂头部分泌物气质色谱图在同一熊蜂种内基本一致,而在不同熊蜂种之间差异明显;我国红光熊蜂B.ignitus、兰州熊蜂B.lantschouensis与欧洲地熊蜂的雄蜂头部分泌物成分相似性分别为58.49%与49.23%;在人工控制环境下欧洲地熊蜂雄蜂可以与兰州熊蜂蜂王杂交,并能够显著降低兰州熊蜂的交尾成功率(P<0.01)。【结论】欧洲地熊蜂与我国一些熊蜂种的雄蜂头部分泌物成分相似性较高,能够干扰其正常交尾,具有较高的生殖干扰风险。为了保护我国本土熊蜂资源与生态系统平衡避免造成生物入侵,我们应该谨慎使用外来熊蜂物种。展开更多
Cooperative communication through energy harvested relays in Cognitive Internet of Things(CIoT)has been envisioned as a promising solution to support massive connectivity of Cognitive Radio(CR)based IoT devices and to...Cooperative communication through energy harvested relays in Cognitive Internet of Things(CIoT)has been envisioned as a promising solution to support massive connectivity of Cognitive Radio(CR)based IoT devices and to achieve maximal energy and spectral efficiency in upcoming wireless systems.In this work,a cooperative CIoT system is contemplated,in which a source acts as a satellite,communicating with multiple CIoT devices over numerous relays.Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs)are used as relays,which are equipped with onboard Energy Harvesting(EH)facility.We adopted a Power Splitting(PS)method for EH at relays,which are harvested from the Radio frequency(RF)signals.In conjunction with this,the Decode and Forward(DF)relaying strategy is used at UAV relays to transmit the messages from the satellite source to the CIoT devices.We developed a Multi-Objective Optimization(MOO)framework for joint optimization of source power allocation,CIoT device selection,UAV relay assignment,and PS ratio determination.We formulated three objectives:maximizing the sum rate and the number of admitted CIoT in the network and minimizing the carbon dioxide emission.The MOO formulation is a Mixed-Integer Non-Linear Programming(MINLP)problem,which is challenging to solve.To address the joint optimization problem for an epsilon optimal solution,an Outer Approximation Algorithm(OAA)is proposed with reduced complexity.The simulation results show that the proposed OAA is superior in terms of CIoT device selection and network utility maximization when compared to those obtained using the Nonlinear Optimization with Mesh Adaptive Direct-search(NOMAD)algorithm.展开更多
Spherical q-linearDiophantine fuzzy sets(Sq-LDFSs)provedmore effective for handling uncertainty and vagueness in multi-criteria decision-making(MADM).It does not only cover the data in two variable parameters but is a...Spherical q-linearDiophantine fuzzy sets(Sq-LDFSs)provedmore effective for handling uncertainty and vagueness in multi-criteria decision-making(MADM).It does not only cover the data in two variable parameters but is also beneficial for three parametric data.By Pythagorean fuzzy sets,the difference is calculated only between two parameters(membership and non-membership).According to human thoughts,fuzzy data can be found in three parameters(membership uncertainty,and non-membership).So,to make a compromise decision,comparing Sq-LDFSs is essential.Existing measures of different fuzzy sets do,however,can have several flaws that can lead to counterintuitive results.For instance,they treat any increase or decrease in the membership degree as the same as the non-membership degree because the uncertainty does not change,even though each parameter has a different implication.In the Sq-LDFSs comparison,this research develops the differentialmeasure(DFM).Themain goal of the DFM is to cover the unfair arguments that come from treating different types of FSs opposing criteria equally.Due to their relative positions in the attribute space and the similarity of their membership and non-membership degrees,two Sq-LDFSs formthis preference connectionwhen the uncertainty remains same in both sets.According to the degree of superiority or inferiority,two Sq-LDFSs are shown as identical,equivalent,superior,or inferior over one another.The suggested DFM’s fundamental characteristics are provided.Based on the newly developed DFM,a unique approach tomultiple criterion group decision-making is offered.Our suggestedmethod verifies the novel way of calculating the expert weights for Sq-LDFSS as in PFSs.Our proposed technique in three parameters is applied to evaluate solid-state drives and choose the optimum photovoltaic cell in two applications by taking uncertainty parameter zero.The method’s applicability and validity shown by the findings are contrasted with those obtained using various other existing approaches.To assess its stability and usefulness,a sensitivity analysis is done.展开更多
Following the progression in Internet of Things(IoT) and 5G communication networks, the traditional cloud computing model have shifted to fog computing. Fog computing provides mobile computing, network control and sto...Following the progression in Internet of Things(IoT) and 5G communication networks, the traditional cloud computing model have shifted to fog computing. Fog computing provides mobile computing, network control and storage to the network edges to assist latency critical and computation-intensive applications. Moreover, security features are improved in fog paradigm by processing critical data on edge devices instead of data centres outside the control plane of users. However, fog network deployment imposes many challenges including resource allocation, privacy of users, non-availability of programming model and testing software and support for the heterogenous networks. This article highlights these challenges and their potential solutions in detail. This article also discusses threetier fog network architecture, its standardization and benefits in detail. The proposed resource allocation mechanism for three tier fog networks based on swap matching is described. Results show that by practicing the proposed resource allocation mechanism, maximum throughput with reduced latency is achieved.展开更多
A field experiment was conducted during spring 2011 at Agronomic Research Area, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan to evaluate the comparative efficacy of Zn uptake and grain yield in three maize hybrids ...A field experiment was conducted during spring 2011 at Agronomic Research Area, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan to evaluate the comparative efficacy of Zn uptake and grain yield in three maize hybrids namely Pioneer-32F 10, Monsanto-6525 and Hycorn-8288 through the application of Zn in the form of ZnSO4. The ZnSO4 treatments comprised;soil application at the time of sowing @ 12 kg·ha-1 (Zn1), foliar application at vegetative stage (9 leaf stage) @ 1% ZnSO4 solution (Zn2) and foliar application at reproductive stage (anthesis) @ 1% ZnSO4 solution (Zn3) and one treatment was kept as a control, where zinc was not applied (Zn0). The experimental results showed substantial difference in all physiological and yield parameters except plant height and stem diameter. Statistically maximum grain yield (8.76 t·ha-1) was obtained with foliar spray of ZnSO4 at 9 leaf stage (Zn2) in case of Monsanto-6525. As regard to quality parameters, Pioneer-32F 10 and Hycorn-8288 accumulated more zinc contents in grains but Monsanto-6525 attained more zinc concentration in straw. Foliar spray of ZnSO4 at 9 leaf stage produced 19.42% more zinc contents in grains as compared to other ZnSO4 treatments. Foliar spray of ZnSO4 at 9 leaf stage in Monsanto-6525 hybrid produced higher grain yield.展开更多
Bulk metallic glasses(BMGs)are thermodynamically metastable.As such,crystallization occurs when a BMG is thermally annealed at a temperature above the glass transition temperature.While extensive studies have been per...Bulk metallic glasses(BMGs)are thermodynamically metastable.As such,crystallization occurs when a BMG is thermally annealed at a temperature above the glass transition temperature.While extensive studies have been performed on the crystallization kinetics of BMGs,most of them have focused on the amorphous-to-crystalline structural ordering,and little attention has been paid to chemical distribution and its relationship with the structural ordering during the crystallization process.In this paper,a new approach,with simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry(DSC)and small angle neutron scatter-ing(SANS)measurements,was applied to study in situ the crystallization of a Zr_(45.5)Cu_(45.5)Al_(9)BMG upon isothermal annealing at a temperature in the supercooled liquid region.Quantitative analysis of the DSC and SANS data showed that the structural evolution during isothermal annealing could be classified into three stages:(Ⅰ)incubation;(Ⅱ)amorphous-to-crystalline structural ordering;(Ⅲ)continuous chemical redistribution.This finding was validated by composition analysis with atom probe tomography(APT),which further identified a transition region formed by expelling Al into the matrix.The transition re-gion,with a composition of(Cu,Al)_(50)Zr_(50),served as an intermediate step facilitating the formation of a thermodynamically stable crystalline phase with a composition of(Cu,Al)_(10)Zr_(7).展开更多
Today,coronavirus appears as a serious challenge to the whole world.Epidemiological data of coronavirus is collected through media and web sources for the purpose of analysis.New data on COVID-19 are available daily,y...Today,coronavirus appears as a serious challenge to the whole world.Epidemiological data of coronavirus is collected through media and web sources for the purpose of analysis.New data on COVID-19 are available daily,yet information about the biological aspects of SARS-CoV-2 and epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 remains limited,and uncertainty remains around nearly all its parameters’values.This research provides the scientic and public health communities better resources,knowledge,and tools to improve their ability to control the infectious diseases.Using the publicly available data on the ongoing pandemic,the present study investigates the incubation period and other time intervals that govern the epidemiological dynamics of the COVID-19 infections.Formulation of the testing hypotheses for different countries with a 95%level of condence,and descriptive statistics have been calculated to analyze in which region will COVID-19 fall according to the tested hypothesized mean of different countries.The results will be helpful in decision making as well as in further mathematical analysis and control strategy.Statistical tools are used to investigate this pandemic,which will be useful for further research.The testing of the hypothesis is done for the differences in various effects including standard errors.Changes in states’variables are observed over time.The rapid outbreak of coronavirus can be stopped by reducing its transmission.Susceptible should maintain safe distance and follow precautionary measures regarding COVID-19 transmission.展开更多
With the frequent occurrences of emergency events,emergency decision making(EDM)plays an increasingly significant role in coping with such situations and has become an important and challenging research area in recent...With the frequent occurrences of emergency events,emergency decision making(EDM)plays an increasingly significant role in coping with such situations and has become an important and challenging research area in recent times.It is essential for decision makers to make reliable and reasonable emergency decisions within a short span of time,since inappropriate decisions may result in enormous economic losses and social disorder.To handle emergency effectively and quickly,this paper proposes a new EDM method based on the novel concept of q-rung orthopair fuzzy rough(q-ROPR)set.A novel list of q-ROFR aggregation information,detailed description of the fundamental characteristics of the developed aggregation operators and the q-ROFR entropy measure that determine the unknown weight information of decision makers as well as the criteria weights are specified.Further an algorithm is given to tackle the uncertain scenario in emergency to give reliable and reasonable emergency decisions.By using proposed list of q-ROFR aggregation information all emergency alternatives are ranked to get the optimal one.Besides this,the q-ROFR entropy measure method is used to determine criteria and experts’weights objectively in the EDM process.Finally,through an illustrative example of COVID-19 analysis is compared with existing EDM methods.The results verify the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed methodology.展开更多
This work presents a new method of data hiding in digital images,in discrete cosine transform domain.The proposed method uses the least significant bits of the medium frequency components of the cover image for hiding...This work presents a new method of data hiding in digital images,in discrete cosine transform domain.The proposed method uses the least significant bits of the medium frequency components of the cover image for hiding the secret information,while the low and high frequency coefficients are kept unaltered.The unaltered low frequency DCT coefficients preserves the quality of the smooth region of the cover image,while no changes in the high DCT coefficient preserve the quality of the edges.As the medium frequency components have less contribution towards energy and image details,so the modification of these coefficients for data hiding results in high quality stego images.The distortion due to the changes in the medium frequency coefficients is insignificant to be detected by the human visual system.The proposed methods demonstrated a hiding capacity of 43:11%with the stego image quality of a peak signal to the noise ration of 36:3 dB,which is significantly higher than the threshold of 30 dB for a stego image quality.The proposed technique is immune to steganalysis and has proved to be highly secured against both spatial and DCT domain steganalysis techniques.展开更多
COVID-19 has caused severe health complications and produced a substantial adverse economic impact around the world.Forecasting the trend of COVID-19 infections could help in executing policies to effectively reduce t...COVID-19 has caused severe health complications and produced a substantial adverse economic impact around the world.Forecasting the trend of COVID-19 infections could help in executing policies to effectively reduce the number of new cases.In this study,we apply the decomposition and ensemble model to forecast COVID-19 confirmed cases,deaths,and recoveries in Pakistan for the upcoming month until the end of July.For the decomposition of data,the Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition(EEMD)technique is applied.EEMD decomposes the data into small components,called Intrinsic Mode Functions(IMFs).For individual IMFs modelling,we use the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average(ARIMA)model.The data used in this study is obtained from the official website of Pakistan that is publicly available and designated for COVID-19 outbreak with daily updates.Our analyses reveal that the number of recoveries,new cases,and deaths are increasing in Pakistan exponentially.Based on the selected EEMD-ARIMA model,the new confirmed cases are expected to rise from 213,470 to 311,454 by 31 July 2020,which is an increase of almost 1.46 times with a 95%prediction interval of 246,529 to 376,379.The 95%prediction interval for recovery is 162,414 to 224,579,with an increase of almost two times in total from 100802 to 193495 by 31 July 2020.On the other hand,the deaths are expected to increase from 4395 to 6751,which is almost 1.54 times,with a 95%prediction interval of 5617 to 7885.Thus,the COVID-19 forecasting results of Pakistan are alarming for the next month until 31 July 2020.They also confirm that the EEMD-ARIMA model is useful for the short-term forecasting of COVID-19,and that it is capable of keeping track of the real COVID-19 data in nearly all scenarios.The decomposition and ensemble strategy can be useful to help decision-makers in developing short-term strategies about the current number of disease occurrences until an appropriate vaccine is developed.展开更多
Supply chain management is an essential part of an organisation's sustainable programme.Understanding the concentration of natural environment,public,and economic influence and feasibility of your suppliers and pu...Supply chain management is an essential part of an organisation's sustainable programme.Understanding the concentration of natural environment,public,and economic influence and feasibility of your suppliers and purchasers is becoming progressively familiar as all industries are moving towards a massive sustainable potential.To handle such sort of developments in supply chain management the involvement of fuzzy settings and their generalisations is playing an important role.Keeping in mind this role,the aim of this study is to analyse the role and involvement of complex q-rung orthopair normal fuzzy(CQRONF)information in supply chain management.The major impact of this theory is to analyse the notion of confidence CQRONF weighted averaging,confidence CQRONF ordered weighted averaging,confidence CQRONF hybrid averaging,confidence CQRONF weighted geometric,confidence CQRONF ordered weighted geometric,confidence CQRONF hybrid geometric operators and try to diagnose various properties and results.Furthermore,with the help of the CRITIC and VIKOR models,we diagnosed the novel theory of the CQRONF-CRITIC-VIKOR model to check the sensitivity analysis of the initiated method.Moreover,in the availability of diagnosed operators,we constructed a multi-attribute decision-making tool for finding a beneficial sustainable supplier to handle complex dilemmas.Finally,the initiated operator's efficiency is proved by comparative analysis.展开更多
Recent years have witnessed growing scientific research interest in the Internet of Things(IoT)technologies,which supports the development of a variety of applications such as health care,Industry 4.0,agriculture,ecol...Recent years have witnessed growing scientific research interest in the Internet of Things(IoT)technologies,which supports the development of a variety of applications such as health care,Industry 4.0,agriculture,ecological data management,and other various domains.IoT utilizes the Internet as a prime medium of communication for both single documents as well as multi-digital messages.However,due to the wide-open nature of the Internet,it is important to ensure the anonymity,untraceably,confidentiality,and unforgeability of communication with efficient computational complexity and low bandwidth.We designed a light weight and secure proxy blind signcryption for multi-digital messages based on a hyperelliptic curve(HEC).Our results outperform the available schemes in terms of computational cost and communication bandwidth.The designed scheme also has the desired authentication,unforgeability of warrants and/or plaintext,confidentiality,integrity,and blindness,respectively.Further,our scheme is more suitable for devices with low computation power such as mobiles and tablets.展开更多
Worldwide,the dietary deficiency of zinc(Zn)is prevailing in almost all arid and semi-arid regions.Zinc deficiency is not only the major constraint of lower yield,but also dietary Zn deficiency in cereals grains may c...Worldwide,the dietary deficiency of zinc(Zn)is prevailing in almost all arid and semi-arid regions.Zinc deficiency is not only the major constraint of lower yield,but also dietary Zn deficiency in cereals grains may cause increasing malnutrition and chronic health problems in human.Exogenous application of Zn through basal soil nutrition might be a useful option to recover Zn deficiency in mung bean.Therefore,field study was conducted to optimize the optimum level and method of Zn nutrition to enhance crop yield and Zn biofortification of mung bean through basal application.Zinc was applied at 0,5,10 and 15 kg/ha as basal application and side dressing,and in combination(50%basal application+50%side dressing).The results highlighted that Zn nutrition prominently improved the mung bean yield as compared with control(no Zn applied).The maximum grains yield and Zn concentration in grains were obtained where Zn was applied at 15 kg/ha as basal application as compared with all other combinations.Better improvement in grain yield was due to significant increase in more number of pods and grain size owing to well-developed root system,improved leaf area index and high chlorophyll contents in mung beans leaves.Amongst all applied Zn nutrition’s the basal application of Zn(15 kg/ha)was a viable option to get higher yield and Zn biofortification of mung bean.展开更多
BACKGROUND Monogenic forms of diabetes(MFD)are single gene disorders.Their diagnosis is challenging,and symptoms overlap with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.AIM To identify the genetic variants responsible for MFD in the ...BACKGROUND Monogenic forms of diabetes(MFD)are single gene disorders.Their diagnosis is challenging,and symptoms overlap with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.AIM To identify the genetic variants responsible for MFD in the Pakistani population and their frequencies.METHODS A total of 184 patients suspected of having MFD were enrolled.The inclusion criterion was diabetes with onset below 25 years of age.Brief demographic and clinical information were taken from the participants.The maturity-onset diabetes of the young(MODY)probability score was calculated,and glutamate decarboxylase ELISA was performed.Antibody negative patients and features resembling MODY were selected(n=28)for exome sequencing to identify the pathogenic variants.RESULTS A total of eight missense novel or very low-frequency variants were identified in 7 patients.Three variants were found in genes for MODY,i.e.HNF1A(c.169C>A,p.Leu57Met),KLF11(c.401G>C,p.Gly134Ala),and HNF1B(c.1058C>T,p.Ser353Leu).Five variants were found in genes other than the 14 known MODY genes,i.e.RFX6(c.919G>A,p.Glu307Lys),WFS1(c.478G>A,p.Glu160Lys)and WFS1(c.517G>A,p.Glu173Lys),RFX6(c.1212T>A,p.His404Gln)and ZBTB20(c.1049G>A,p.Arg350His).CONCLUSION The study showed wide spectrum of genetic variants potentially causing MFD in the Pakistani population.The MODY genes prevalent in European population(GCK,HNF1A,and HNF4a)were not found to be common in our population.Identification of novel variants will further help to understand the role of different genes causing the pathogenicity in MODY patient and their proper management and diagnosis.展开更多
This research proposes multicriteria decision-making(MCDM)-based real-time Mesenchymal stem cells(MSC)transfusion framework.The testing phase of the methodology denotes the ability to stick to plastic surfaces,the upr...This research proposes multicriteria decision-making(MCDM)-based real-time Mesenchymal stem cells(MSC)transfusion framework.The testing phase of the methodology denotes the ability to stick to plastic surfaces,the upregulation and downregulation of certain surface protein markers,and lastly,the ability to differentiate into various cell types.First,two scenarios of an enhanced dataset based on a medical perspective were created in the development phase to produce varying levels of emergency.Second,for real-timemonitoring ofCOVID-19 patients with different emergency levels(i.e.,mild,moderate,severe,and critical),an automated triage algorithmbased on a formal medical guideline is proposed,taking into account the improvement and deterioration procedures fromone level to the next.For this strategy,Einstein aggregation information under the Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy environment(PyPHFE)is developed.Einstein operations on PyPHFE such as Einstein sum,product,scalar multiplication,and their properties are investigated.Then,several Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy Einstein aggregation operators,namely the Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy weighted average(PyPHFWA)operator,Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy Einstein weighted geometric(PyPHFEWG)operator,Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy Einstein ordered weighted average(PyPHFEOWA)operator,Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy Einstein ordered weighted geometric(PyPHFEOWG)operator,Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy Einstein hybrid average(PyPHFEHA)operator and Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy Einstein hybrid geometric(PyPHFEHG)operator are investigated.All the above-mentioned operators are helpful in design the algorithm to tackle uncertainty in decision making problems.In last,a numerical case study of decision making is presented to demonstrate the applicability and validity of the proposed technique.Besides,the comparison of the existing and the proposed technique is established to show the effectiveness and validity of the established technique.展开更多
Evaluation on the diversified Information and Communication Technologies( ICTs) application along their association in socio-economic attributes can provide valuable insights about the trends of farmers towards improv...Evaluation on the diversified Information and Communication Technologies( ICTs) application along their association in socio-economic attributes can provide valuable insights about the trends of farmers towards improvement.Therefore,analytical research design and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data collected from 400 respondents within different regions of Punjab Province in Pakistan.Based on the findings,it is recommended that government in collaboration with all stakeholders should launch regular,holistic and modern ICTs programs like applications of robo calls,SMS,etc.services at central level to ensure timely availability of agricultural information to improving the quality of young farmers.Furthermore,it is recommended to launch effective monitoring and evaluation mechanism of ICTs for agricultural development.展开更多
基金supported by Key Research and Development Program of China National Tobacco Corporation (2021-150-110202102026)。
文摘Tobacco(Nicotiana tabacum)is a widely used platform for producing recombinant proteins for clinical applications.However,achieving mammalian-like glycosylation modifications in plantderived therapeutic proteins remains challenging,particularly in the case of fucosylation mediated by fucosyltransferases(FUTs).In this study,an RNA interference(RNAi)plasmid targeting the first exon ofα-1,3-fucosyltransferase 4(FUT4)gene was constructed,named as FUT4-RNAi.Using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation with EHA105 harboring the FUT4-RNAi plasmid,we obtained 29 regenerated tobacco lines,17 of which were confirmed as putatively positive by PCR.The mRNA transcript accumulation of the FUT4 gene was significantly reduced in 16 out of the 17 transgenic lines compared to the negative control,cv.Yunyan 87.Among these,11 lines(4^(#),6,7,11^(#),12^(#),15^(#),19^(#),22^(#),26^(#),28^(#) and 29^(#))showed FUT4 transcript levels below 25%of those in cv.Yunyan 87.Four lines(7^(#),12^(#),15^(#),and 29^(#))with the lowest mRNA levels were selected for further analysis by western blotting(WB)and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).The results confirmed a significant decrease in FUT4 protein levels in these lines compared with that in cv.Yunyan 87,with line 29*showing less than 13%of the FUT4 protein content compared to cv.Yunyan 87.This study successfully developed a tobacco chassis with severely downregulated FUT4 expression,laying an important foundation for the production of human therapeutic proteins using a plant expression system.
文摘【目的】外来物种与本土亲缘关系较近的物种可能会发生交尾竞争,干扰本土物种的正常繁衍。欧洲地熊蜂Bombus terrestris是全球范围内商业化应用最广的传粉蜂种,但在许多国家造成了生物入侵。本研究旨在明确欧洲地熊蜂对我国本土熊蜂产生生殖干扰的可能性。【方法】采用四级杆飞行时间-气质联用系统(gas chromatography-quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry,GC-QTOF/MS)测定了欧洲地熊蜂和我国本土9种熊蜂的雄蜂头部分泌物的成分,并进行聚类分析;在人工控制环境下比较了欧洲地熊蜂对我国重要熊蜂种类的交尾影响。【结果】雄蜂头部分泌物气质色谱图在同一熊蜂种内基本一致,而在不同熊蜂种之间差异明显;我国红光熊蜂B.ignitus、兰州熊蜂B.lantschouensis与欧洲地熊蜂的雄蜂头部分泌物成分相似性分别为58.49%与49.23%;在人工控制环境下欧洲地熊蜂雄蜂可以与兰州熊蜂蜂王杂交,并能够显著降低兰州熊蜂的交尾成功率(P<0.01)。【结论】欧洲地熊蜂与我国一些熊蜂种的雄蜂头部分泌物成分相似性较高,能够干扰其正常交尾,具有较高的生殖干扰风险。为了保护我国本土熊蜂资源与生态系统平衡避免造成生物入侵,我们应该谨慎使用外来熊蜂物种。
文摘Cooperative communication through energy harvested relays in Cognitive Internet of Things(CIoT)has been envisioned as a promising solution to support massive connectivity of Cognitive Radio(CR)based IoT devices and to achieve maximal energy and spectral efficiency in upcoming wireless systems.In this work,a cooperative CIoT system is contemplated,in which a source acts as a satellite,communicating with multiple CIoT devices over numerous relays.Unmanned Aerial Vehicles(UAVs)are used as relays,which are equipped with onboard Energy Harvesting(EH)facility.We adopted a Power Splitting(PS)method for EH at relays,which are harvested from the Radio frequency(RF)signals.In conjunction with this,the Decode and Forward(DF)relaying strategy is used at UAV relays to transmit the messages from the satellite source to the CIoT devices.We developed a Multi-Objective Optimization(MOO)framework for joint optimization of source power allocation,CIoT device selection,UAV relay assignment,and PS ratio determination.We formulated three objectives:maximizing the sum rate and the number of admitted CIoT in the network and minimizing the carbon dioxide emission.The MOO formulation is a Mixed-Integer Non-Linear Programming(MINLP)problem,which is challenging to solve.To address the joint optimization problem for an epsilon optimal solution,an Outer Approximation Algorithm(OAA)is proposed with reduced complexity.The simulation results show that the proposed OAA is superior in terms of CIoT device selection and network utility maximization when compared to those obtained using the Nonlinear Optimization with Mesh Adaptive Direct-search(NOMAD)algorithm.
基金the Deanship of Scientific Research at Umm Al-Qura University(Grant Code:22UQU4310396DSR65).
文摘Spherical q-linearDiophantine fuzzy sets(Sq-LDFSs)provedmore effective for handling uncertainty and vagueness in multi-criteria decision-making(MADM).It does not only cover the data in two variable parameters but is also beneficial for three parametric data.By Pythagorean fuzzy sets,the difference is calculated only between two parameters(membership and non-membership).According to human thoughts,fuzzy data can be found in three parameters(membership uncertainty,and non-membership).So,to make a compromise decision,comparing Sq-LDFSs is essential.Existing measures of different fuzzy sets do,however,can have several flaws that can lead to counterintuitive results.For instance,they treat any increase or decrease in the membership degree as the same as the non-membership degree because the uncertainty does not change,even though each parameter has a different implication.In the Sq-LDFSs comparison,this research develops the differentialmeasure(DFM).Themain goal of the DFM is to cover the unfair arguments that come from treating different types of FSs opposing criteria equally.Due to their relative positions in the attribute space and the similarity of their membership and non-membership degrees,two Sq-LDFSs formthis preference connectionwhen the uncertainty remains same in both sets.According to the degree of superiority or inferiority,two Sq-LDFSs are shown as identical,equivalent,superior,or inferior over one another.The suggested DFM’s fundamental characteristics are provided.Based on the newly developed DFM,a unique approach tomultiple criterion group decision-making is offered.Our suggestedmethod verifies the novel way of calculating the expert weights for Sq-LDFSS as in PFSs.Our proposed technique in three parameters is applied to evaluate solid-state drives and choose the optimum photovoltaic cell in two applications by taking uncertainty parameter zero.The method’s applicability and validity shown by the findings are contrasted with those obtained using various other existing approaches.To assess its stability and usefulness,a sensitivity analysis is done.
文摘Following the progression in Internet of Things(IoT) and 5G communication networks, the traditional cloud computing model have shifted to fog computing. Fog computing provides mobile computing, network control and storage to the network edges to assist latency critical and computation-intensive applications. Moreover, security features are improved in fog paradigm by processing critical data on edge devices instead of data centres outside the control plane of users. However, fog network deployment imposes many challenges including resource allocation, privacy of users, non-availability of programming model and testing software and support for the heterogenous networks. This article highlights these challenges and their potential solutions in detail. This article also discusses threetier fog network architecture, its standardization and benefits in detail. The proposed resource allocation mechanism for three tier fog networks based on swap matching is described. Results show that by practicing the proposed resource allocation mechanism, maximum throughput with reduced latency is achieved.
文摘A field experiment was conducted during spring 2011 at Agronomic Research Area, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan to evaluate the comparative efficacy of Zn uptake and grain yield in three maize hybrids namely Pioneer-32F 10, Monsanto-6525 and Hycorn-8288 through the application of Zn in the form of ZnSO4. The ZnSO4 treatments comprised;soil application at the time of sowing @ 12 kg·ha-1 (Zn1), foliar application at vegetative stage (9 leaf stage) @ 1% ZnSO4 solution (Zn2) and foliar application at reproductive stage (anthesis) @ 1% ZnSO4 solution (Zn3) and one treatment was kept as a control, where zinc was not applied (Zn0). The experimental results showed substantial difference in all physiological and yield parameters except plant height and stem diameter. Statistically maximum grain yield (8.76 t·ha-1) was obtained with foliar spray of ZnSO4 at 9 leaf stage (Zn2) in case of Monsanto-6525. As regard to quality parameters, Pioneer-32F 10 and Hycorn-8288 accumulated more zinc contents in grains but Monsanto-6525 attained more zinc concentration in straw. Foliar spray of ZnSO4 at 9 leaf stage produced 19.42% more zinc contents in grains as compared to other ZnSO4 treatments. Foliar spray of ZnSO4 at 9 leaf stage in Monsanto-6525 hybrid produced higher grain yield.
基金financially supported by the Croucher Foundation(Project No.City U 9500034)the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region(No.JLFS/P102/18)+5 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.51871120,51520105001,5157117051571170,and 51501090)the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Committee(No.JCYJ20170413140446951)support from the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China(No.2016YFA0401501)support of the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(Nos.30919011107,30919011404)the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province(No.BK20171425)support from Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation(No.2020B1515120077)。
文摘Bulk metallic glasses(BMGs)are thermodynamically metastable.As such,crystallization occurs when a BMG is thermally annealed at a temperature above the glass transition temperature.While extensive studies have been performed on the crystallization kinetics of BMGs,most of them have focused on the amorphous-to-crystalline structural ordering,and little attention has been paid to chemical distribution and its relationship with the structural ordering during the crystallization process.In this paper,a new approach,with simultaneous differential scanning calorimetry(DSC)and small angle neutron scatter-ing(SANS)measurements,was applied to study in situ the crystallization of a Zr_(45.5)Cu_(45.5)Al_(9)BMG upon isothermal annealing at a temperature in the supercooled liquid region.Quantitative analysis of the DSC and SANS data showed that the structural evolution during isothermal annealing could be classified into three stages:(Ⅰ)incubation;(Ⅱ)amorphous-to-crystalline structural ordering;(Ⅲ)continuous chemical redistribution.This finding was validated by composition analysis with atom probe tomography(APT),which further identified a transition region formed by expelling Al into the matrix.The transition re-gion,with a composition of(Cu,Al)_(50)Zr_(50),served as an intermediate step facilitating the formation of a thermodynamically stable crystalline phase with a composition of(Cu,Al)_(10)Zr_(7).
文摘Today,coronavirus appears as a serious challenge to the whole world.Epidemiological data of coronavirus is collected through media and web sources for the purpose of analysis.New data on COVID-19 are available daily,yet information about the biological aspects of SARS-CoV-2 and epidemiological characteristics of COVID-19 remains limited,and uncertainty remains around nearly all its parameters’values.This research provides the scientic and public health communities better resources,knowledge,and tools to improve their ability to control the infectious diseases.Using the publicly available data on the ongoing pandemic,the present study investigates the incubation period and other time intervals that govern the epidemiological dynamics of the COVID-19 infections.Formulation of the testing hypotheses for different countries with a 95%level of condence,and descriptive statistics have been calculated to analyze in which region will COVID-19 fall according to the tested hypothesized mean of different countries.The results will be helpful in decision making as well as in further mathematical analysis and control strategy.Statistical tools are used to investigate this pandemic,which will be useful for further research.The testing of the hypothesis is done for the differences in various effects including standard errors.Changes in states’variables are observed over time.The rapid outbreak of coronavirus can be stopped by reducing its transmission.Susceptible should maintain safe distance and follow precautionary measures regarding COVID-19 transmission.
基金This Project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research(DSR),King Abdulaziz University,Jeddah,under the Grant No.(G:578-135-1441)The authors,therefore,acknowledge with thanks DSR for technical and financial support.
文摘With the frequent occurrences of emergency events,emergency decision making(EDM)plays an increasingly significant role in coping with such situations and has become an important and challenging research area in recent times.It is essential for decision makers to make reliable and reasonable emergency decisions within a short span of time,since inappropriate decisions may result in enormous economic losses and social disorder.To handle emergency effectively and quickly,this paper proposes a new EDM method based on the novel concept of q-rung orthopair fuzzy rough(q-ROPR)set.A novel list of q-ROFR aggregation information,detailed description of the fundamental characteristics of the developed aggregation operators and the q-ROFR entropy measure that determine the unknown weight information of decision makers as well as the criteria weights are specified.Further an algorithm is given to tackle the uncertain scenario in emergency to give reliable and reasonable emergency decisions.By using proposed list of q-ROFR aggregation information all emergency alternatives are ranked to get the optimal one.Besides this,the q-ROFR entropy measure method is used to determine criteria and experts’weights objectively in the EDM process.Finally,through an illustrative example of COVID-19 analysis is compared with existing EDM methods.The results verify the effectiveness and practicability of the proposed methodology.
文摘This work presents a new method of data hiding in digital images,in discrete cosine transform domain.The proposed method uses the least significant bits of the medium frequency components of the cover image for hiding the secret information,while the low and high frequency coefficients are kept unaltered.The unaltered low frequency DCT coefficients preserves the quality of the smooth region of the cover image,while no changes in the high DCT coefficient preserve the quality of the edges.As the medium frequency components have less contribution towards energy and image details,so the modification of these coefficients for data hiding results in high quality stego images.The distortion due to the changes in the medium frequency coefficients is insignificant to be detected by the human visual system.The proposed methods demonstrated a hiding capacity of 43:11%with the stego image quality of a peak signal to the noise ration of 36:3 dB,which is significantly higher than the threshold of 30 dB for a stego image quality.The proposed technique is immune to steganalysis and has proved to be highly secured against both spatial and DCT domain steganalysis techniques.
文摘COVID-19 has caused severe health complications and produced a substantial adverse economic impact around the world.Forecasting the trend of COVID-19 infections could help in executing policies to effectively reduce the number of new cases.In this study,we apply the decomposition and ensemble model to forecast COVID-19 confirmed cases,deaths,and recoveries in Pakistan for the upcoming month until the end of July.For the decomposition of data,the Ensemble Empirical Mode Decomposition(EEMD)technique is applied.EEMD decomposes the data into small components,called Intrinsic Mode Functions(IMFs).For individual IMFs modelling,we use the Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average(ARIMA)model.The data used in this study is obtained from the official website of Pakistan that is publicly available and designated for COVID-19 outbreak with daily updates.Our analyses reveal that the number of recoveries,new cases,and deaths are increasing in Pakistan exponentially.Based on the selected EEMD-ARIMA model,the new confirmed cases are expected to rise from 213,470 to 311,454 by 31 July 2020,which is an increase of almost 1.46 times with a 95%prediction interval of 246,529 to 376,379.The 95%prediction interval for recovery is 162,414 to 224,579,with an increase of almost two times in total from 100802 to 193495 by 31 July 2020.On the other hand,the deaths are expected to increase from 4395 to 6751,which is almost 1.54 times,with a 95%prediction interval of 5617 to 7885.Thus,the COVID-19 forecasting results of Pakistan are alarming for the next month until 31 July 2020.They also confirm that the EEMD-ARIMA model is useful for the short-term forecasting of COVID-19,and that it is capable of keeping track of the real COVID-19 data in nearly all scenarios.The decomposition and ensemble strategy can be useful to help decision-makers in developing short-term strategies about the current number of disease occurrences until an appropriate vaccine is developed.
文摘Supply chain management is an essential part of an organisation's sustainable programme.Understanding the concentration of natural environment,public,and economic influence and feasibility of your suppliers and purchasers is becoming progressively familiar as all industries are moving towards a massive sustainable potential.To handle such sort of developments in supply chain management the involvement of fuzzy settings and their generalisations is playing an important role.Keeping in mind this role,the aim of this study is to analyse the role and involvement of complex q-rung orthopair normal fuzzy(CQRONF)information in supply chain management.The major impact of this theory is to analyse the notion of confidence CQRONF weighted averaging,confidence CQRONF ordered weighted averaging,confidence CQRONF hybrid averaging,confidence CQRONF weighted geometric,confidence CQRONF ordered weighted geometric,confidence CQRONF hybrid geometric operators and try to diagnose various properties and results.Furthermore,with the help of the CRITIC and VIKOR models,we diagnosed the novel theory of the CQRONF-CRITIC-VIKOR model to check the sensitivity analysis of the initiated method.Moreover,in the availability of diagnosed operators,we constructed a multi-attribute decision-making tool for finding a beneficial sustainable supplier to handle complex dilemmas.Finally,the initiated operator's efficiency is proved by comparative analysis.
文摘Recent years have witnessed growing scientific research interest in the Internet of Things(IoT)technologies,which supports the development of a variety of applications such as health care,Industry 4.0,agriculture,ecological data management,and other various domains.IoT utilizes the Internet as a prime medium of communication for both single documents as well as multi-digital messages.However,due to the wide-open nature of the Internet,it is important to ensure the anonymity,untraceably,confidentiality,and unforgeability of communication with efficient computational complexity and low bandwidth.We designed a light weight and secure proxy blind signcryption for multi-digital messages based on a hyperelliptic curve(HEC).Our results outperform the available schemes in terms of computational cost and communication bandwidth.The designed scheme also has the desired authentication,unforgeability of warrants and/or plaintext,confidentiality,integrity,and blindness,respectively.Further,our scheme is more suitable for devices with low computation power such as mobiles and tablets.
文摘Worldwide,the dietary deficiency of zinc(Zn)is prevailing in almost all arid and semi-arid regions.Zinc deficiency is not only the major constraint of lower yield,but also dietary Zn deficiency in cereals grains may cause increasing malnutrition and chronic health problems in human.Exogenous application of Zn through basal soil nutrition might be a useful option to recover Zn deficiency in mung bean.Therefore,field study was conducted to optimize the optimum level and method of Zn nutrition to enhance crop yield and Zn biofortification of mung bean through basal application.Zinc was applied at 0,5,10 and 15 kg/ha as basal application and side dressing,and in combination(50%basal application+50%side dressing).The results highlighted that Zn nutrition prominently improved the mung bean yield as compared with control(no Zn applied).The maximum grains yield and Zn concentration in grains were obtained where Zn was applied at 15 kg/ha as basal application as compared with all other combinations.Better improvement in grain yield was due to significant increase in more number of pods and grain size owing to well-developed root system,improved leaf area index and high chlorophyll contents in mung beans leaves.Amongst all applied Zn nutrition’s the basal application of Zn(15 kg/ha)was a viable option to get higher yield and Zn biofortification of mung bean.
基金Canadian Institutes of Health Research,No.PJT-159715.
文摘BACKGROUND Monogenic forms of diabetes(MFD)are single gene disorders.Their diagnosis is challenging,and symptoms overlap with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.AIM To identify the genetic variants responsible for MFD in the Pakistani population and their frequencies.METHODS A total of 184 patients suspected of having MFD were enrolled.The inclusion criterion was diabetes with onset below 25 years of age.Brief demographic and clinical information were taken from the participants.The maturity-onset diabetes of the young(MODY)probability score was calculated,and glutamate decarboxylase ELISA was performed.Antibody negative patients and features resembling MODY were selected(n=28)for exome sequencing to identify the pathogenic variants.RESULTS A total of eight missense novel or very low-frequency variants were identified in 7 patients.Three variants were found in genes for MODY,i.e.HNF1A(c.169C>A,p.Leu57Met),KLF11(c.401G>C,p.Gly134Ala),and HNF1B(c.1058C>T,p.Ser353Leu).Five variants were found in genes other than the 14 known MODY genes,i.e.RFX6(c.919G>A,p.Glu307Lys),WFS1(c.478G>A,p.Glu160Lys)and WFS1(c.517G>A,p.Glu173Lys),RFX6(c.1212T>A,p.His404Gln)and ZBTB20(c.1049G>A,p.Arg350His).CONCLUSION The study showed wide spectrum of genetic variants potentially causing MFD in the Pakistani population.The MODY genes prevalent in European population(GCK,HNF1A,and HNF4a)were not found to be common in our population.Identification of novel variants will further help to understand the role of different genes causing the pathogenicity in MODY patient and their proper management and diagnosis.
基金the Deanship of Scientific Research at Umm Al-Qura University for supporting this work by Grant Code:22UQU4310396DSR32。
文摘This research proposes multicriteria decision-making(MCDM)-based real-time Mesenchymal stem cells(MSC)transfusion framework.The testing phase of the methodology denotes the ability to stick to plastic surfaces,the upregulation and downregulation of certain surface protein markers,and lastly,the ability to differentiate into various cell types.First,two scenarios of an enhanced dataset based on a medical perspective were created in the development phase to produce varying levels of emergency.Second,for real-timemonitoring ofCOVID-19 patients with different emergency levels(i.e.,mild,moderate,severe,and critical),an automated triage algorithmbased on a formal medical guideline is proposed,taking into account the improvement and deterioration procedures fromone level to the next.For this strategy,Einstein aggregation information under the Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy environment(PyPHFE)is developed.Einstein operations on PyPHFE such as Einstein sum,product,scalar multiplication,and their properties are investigated.Then,several Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy Einstein aggregation operators,namely the Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy weighted average(PyPHFWA)operator,Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy Einstein weighted geometric(PyPHFEWG)operator,Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy Einstein ordered weighted average(PyPHFEOWA)operator,Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy Einstein ordered weighted geometric(PyPHFEOWG)operator,Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy Einstein hybrid average(PyPHFEHA)operator and Pythagorean probabilistic hesitant fuzzy Einstein hybrid geometric(PyPHFEHG)operator are investigated.All the above-mentioned operators are helpful in design the algorithm to tackle uncertainty in decision making problems.In last,a numerical case study of decision making is presented to demonstrate the applicability and validity of the proposed technique.Besides,the comparison of the existing and the proposed technique is established to show the effectiveness and validity of the established technique.
文摘Evaluation on the diversified Information and Communication Technologies( ICTs) application along their association in socio-economic attributes can provide valuable insights about the trends of farmers towards improvement.Therefore,analytical research design and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data collected from 400 respondents within different regions of Punjab Province in Pakistan.Based on the findings,it is recommended that government in collaboration with all stakeholders should launch regular,holistic and modern ICTs programs like applications of robo calls,SMS,etc.services at central level to ensure timely availability of agricultural information to improving the quality of young farmers.Furthermore,it is recommended to launch effective monitoring and evaluation mechanism of ICTs for agricultural development.
