Performance analysis of capacitive soil moisture, temperature sensors and their applications at farmer's field.

This study aims to assess the effectiveness of PCB-based capacitive soil moisture sensors for local field conditions. The electrical scheme of designed sensors has been presented in this study. The PCB-based capacitive soil moisture sensors are calibrated using a linear equation developed between analog values of capacitive sensors and soil moisture content measured from the gravimetric method. The performance of the designed soil moisture sensors was assessed at five different locations at varying depths (i.e., 15 cm, 30 cm, and 45 cm). The calibration results indicated a positive correlation between the soil moisture content and measurement frequency of the sensor for wheat crop, with R2 values of 0.72, 0.83, and 0.83 for 15 cm, 30 cm, and 45 cm depths, respectively. Results reveal that 85% of the sensors accurately detected the patterns in soil moisture fluctuations during the cropping period. The designed capacitive sensors demonstrated a maximum relative error of 5.87% for 45 cm depth. However, the relative error remained below 5% for the 15 cm and 30 cm soil depths. For the sugarcane crop, R2 values vary from 0.66 to 0.82, with the highest relative error of 5.22% at a 15 cm depth. These sensors offer a highly cost-effective solution for farmers, with the entire wireless sensor network system including one sensor node, three soil moisture sensors, and one soil temperature sensor, which is priced at approximately $150, making it a practical and affordable option for widespread adoption.

Cellular Modeling of CLN6 with IPSC-derived Neurons and Glia.

Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (NCL), type 6 (CLN6) is a neurodegenerative disorder associated with progressive neurodegeneration leading to dementia, seizures, and retinopathy. CLN6 encodes a resident-ER protein involved in trafficking lysosomal proteins to the Golgi. CLN6p deficiency results in lysosomal dysfunction and deposition of storage material comprised of Nile Red + lipids/proteolipids that include subunit C of the mitochondrial ATP synthase (SUBC). White matter involvement has been recently noted in several CLN6 animal models and several CLN6 subjects had neuroimaging was consistent with leukodystrophy. CLN6 patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs) were generated from several of these subjects. IPSCs were differentiated into oligodendroglia or neurons using well-established small-molecule protocols. A doxycycline-inducible transgenic system expressing neurogenin-2 (the I3N-system) was also used to generate clonal IPSC-lines (I3N-IPSCs) that could be rapidly differentiated into neurons (I3N-neurons). All CLN6 IPSC-derived neural cell lines developed significant storage material, CLN6-I3N-neuron lines revealed significant Nile Red + and SUBC + storage within three and seven days of neuronal induction, respectively. CLN6-I3N-neurons had decreased tripeptidyl peptidase-1 activity, increased Golgi area, along with increased LAMP1 + in cell bodies and neurites. SUBC + signal co-localized with LAMP1 + signal. Bulk-transcriptomic evaluation of control- and CLN6-I3N-neurons identified >1300 differentially-expressed genes (DEGs) with Gene Ontogeny (GO) Enrichment and Canonical Pathway Analyses having significant changes in lysosomal, axonal, synaptic, and neuronal-apoptotic gene pathways. These findings indicate that CLN6-IPSCs and CLN6-I3N-IPSCs are appropriate cellular models for this disorder. These I3N-neuron models may be particularly valuable for developing therapeutic interventions with high-throughput drug screening assays and/or gene therapy.