Highly efficient regeneration and medicinal component determination of Phellodendron chinense Schneid

Phellodendron chinense Schneid is an important Chinese herb with berberine and phellodendrine in stems and leaves, but with little information available on in vitro culture of this species. Disinfection of explants in 75% alcohol for 45 s, sterilization in 0.1% HgCl₂ for 20 min, and submersion in 1.0 mol L⁻¹ gibberellin3 (GA₃) solution for 24 h was the optimal condition for seed germination. Murashige and Skoog’s (MS) medium supplemented with 2.0 mg L⁻¹ 6-benzylaminopurine (6-BA) in combination with 1.5 mg L⁻¹ 1-naphthylacetic acid (NAA) was optimal for callus induction. MS medium supplemented with 2.0 mg L⁻¹ 6-BA was the appropriate medium for induction of adventitious shoots, and 1/2MS medium supplemented with 2.0 mg L⁻¹ indole-3-butytric acid (IBA) and 0.5% active carbon was the optimal medium for root induction. The 15-d survival rate of regenerated plantlets after transplanting to basins containing perlite and peat moss (1:4) was greater than 80%, and the berberine and phellodendrine accumulation was lower in callus compared with regenerated plantlets. The establishment of highly efficient regeneration system provides technical support for genetic breeding of Phellodendron chinense Schneid.

     

阴道微生态在早产中的研究进展

阴道微生态是由阴道的局部解剖结构、周期性的内分泌变化、阴道局部免疫系统和阴道内微生物菌群共同组成的阴道环境和生态系统。多项研究证实阴道微生态失调通过局部炎症因子释放、黏膜免疫应答的改变和局部代谢变化,可引起早产的发生。阴道内小分子物质如糖类、短链脂肪酸和胺类通过代谢路径和代谢产物在阴道微生态失调与早产的发病机制起作用。近年来,阴道微生态的理念得到重视,治疗方法由传统的抗生素治疗转向了综合治疗,目的是恢复正常阴道菌群和阴道上皮黏膜免疫系统。但阴道微生态与宿主之间存在复杂的相互作用,因此仍需要进一步的研究。     

Structure and Nucleotide Polymorphisms in Pig Uncoupling Protein 2 and 3 Genes

Uncoupling proteins (UCPs) are mitochondrial membrane transporters, acting as an uncoupler in oxidative phosphorylation. In this study, we designed 11 primer sets based on the human and mouse UCP2, UCP3 sequences and successfully amplified full regions of porcine UCP2 and UCP3 by polymerase chain reactions (PCR). Comparison of the UCP2 and UCP3 genic structures revealed a highly conservative region was putatively presented, showing the second transmembrane domain may be the UCPs' cardinal function region. Altogether 23 nucleotide polymorphisms of UCP2 and UCP3 genes were discovered in Yorkshire, Wuzhishan, and Lepinghua pigs. These polymorphisms included 3 missense mutations, 16 intronic substitutions, and 4 intronic deletions. The substitution of Ala-55-Val in UCP2 is actually the most common mutation in human. We also calculated genotypic frequencies of five polymorphisms in three pig breeds.     

A Role of RIP3-Mediated Macrophage Necrosis in Atherosclerosis Development

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Highlights? RIP3 deficiency in macrophages reduces advanced atherosclerotic lesions ? RIP3 deficiency reduces primary necrosis of macrophages in advanced lesions ? RIP3-dependent macrophage necrosis is not postapoptotic cell death ? Increased RIP3 converts apoptosis to necrosis in advanced lesional macrophages     

The influences of arboraceous layer on spatial patterns and morphological characteristics of herbaceous layer in an arid plant community

The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of arboraceous layer on the spatial pattern and morphological characteristics of herbaceous layer in Elaeagnus angustifolia–Achnatherum splendens community in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, China. The analyses of community composition and structural characteristics as well as the investigation of soil moisture and salinity showed that different life forms of plants differ in the soil depth at which they absorb and utilize soil moisture. Wavelet analysis showed that there were differences between the spatial patterns of A. splendens in the canopy-projected regions and other regions, and the intrinsic scales were detected. The results from the buffer analysis showed that the control of arboraceous layer on the herbaceous layer on the spatial patterns and the morphological characteristics were influenced not only by canopy shading but also by other causes such as distribution patterns of roots as the morphological characteristics did not monotonically change with distance.     

Allocation of energy use in petroleum refineries to petroleum products

Aim, Scope, and Background  Studies to evaluate the energy and emission impacts of vehicle/fuel systems have to address allocation of the energy use and emissions associated with petroleum refineries to various petroleum products because refineries produce multiple products. The allocation is needed in evaluating energy and emission effects of individual transportation fuels. Allocation methods used so far for petroleum-based fuels (e.g., gasoline, diesel, and liquefied petroleum gas [LPG]) are based primarily on mass, energy content, or market value shares of individual fuels from a given refinery. The aggregate approach at the refinery level is unable to account for the energy use and emission differences associated with producing individual fuels at the next sub-level: individual refining processes within a refinery. The approach ignores the fact that different refinery products go through different processes within a refinery. Allocation at the subprocess level (i.e., the refining process level) instead of at the aggregate process level (i.e., the refinery level) is advocated by the International Standard Organization. In this study, we seek a means of allocating total refinery energy use among various refinery products at the level of individual refinery processes. Main Features  We present a petroleum refinery-process-based approach to allocating energy use in a petroleum refinery to petroleum refinery products according to mass, energy content, and market value share of final and intermediate petroleum products as they flow through refining processes within a refinery. The approach is based on energy and mass balance among refining processes within a petroleum refinery. By using published energy and mass balance data for a simplified U.S. refinery, we developed a methodology and used it to allocate total energy use within a refinery to various petroleum products. The approach accounts for energy use during individual refining processes by tracking product stream mass and energy use within a refinery. The energy use associated with an individual refining process is then distributed to product streams by using the mass, energy content, or market value share of each product stream as the weighting factors. Results  The results from this study reveal that product-specific energy use based on the refinery process-level allocation differs considerably from that based on the refinery-level allocation. We calculated well-to-pump total energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for gasoline, diesel, LPG, and naphtha with the refinery process-based allocation approach. For gasoline, the efficiency estimated from the refinery-level allocation underestimates gasoline energy use, relative to the process-level based gasoline efficiency. For diesel fuel, the well-to-pump energy use for the process-level allocations with the mass- and energy-content-based weighting factors is smaller than that predicted with the refinery-level allocations. However, the process-level allocation with the market-value-based weighting factors has results very close to those obtained by using the refinery-level allocations. For LPG, the refinery-level allocation significantly overestimates LPG energy use. For naphtha, the refinery-level allocation overestimates naphtha energy use. The GHG emission patterns for each of the fuels are similar to those of energy use. Conclusions  We presented a refining-process-level-based method that can be used to allocate energy use of individual refining processes to refinery products. The process-level-based method captures process-dependent characteristics of fuel production within a petroleum refinery. The method starts with the mass and energy flow chart of a refinery, tracks energy use by individual refining processes, and distributes energy use of a given refining process to products from the process. In allocating energy use to refinery products, the allocation method could rely on product mass, product energy contents, or product market values as weighting factors. While the mass- and energy-content-based allocation methods provide an engineering perspective of energy allocation within a refinery, the market-value-based allocation method provides an economic perspective. The results from this study show that energy allocations at the aggregate refinery level and at the refining process level could make a difference in evaluating the energy use and emissions associated with individual petroleum products. Furthermore, for the refining-process-level allocation method, use of mass — energy content- or market value share-based weighting factors could lead to different results for diesel fuels, LPG, and naphtha. We suggest that, when possible, energy use allocations should be made at the lowest subprocess level — a confirmation of the recommendation by the International Standard Organization for life cycle analyses. Outlook  The allocation of energy use in petroleum refineries at the refining process level in this study follows the recommendation of ISO 14041 that allocations should be accomplished at the subprocess level when possible. We developed a method in this study that can be readily adapted for refineries in which process-level energy and mass balance data are available. The process-level allocation helps reveal some additional energy and emission burdens associated with certain refinery products that are otherwise overlooked with the refinery-level allocation. When possible, process-level allocation should be used in life-cycle analyses.     

Analysis of particle size reduction on overall surface area and enzymatic hydrolysis yield of corn stover

Particle size of lignocellulose materials is an important factor for enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency. In this study, corn stover was milled and sieved into different size fractions from 1.42, 0.69, 0.34, to 0.21 mm, and the corresponding enzymatic hydrolysis yields were 24.69, 23.96, 25.34, and 26.97 %, respectively. The results indicate that the hydrolysis yield is approximately constant with changing corn stover particle sizes in the experimental range. The overall surface area and the inner pore size measurement show that the overall specific surface area was less than 2 % with the half reduction of particle size due to the greater inner pore surface area. The scanning electron microscope photographs gave direct evidence of the much greater inner pore surface area of corn stover particles. This result provided a reference when a proper size reduction of lignocellulose materials is considered in biorefining operations.     

“强基计划”背景下生物学实验教学改革——以“生物学综合设计”课程为例北大核心CSCD

人才培养是未来国家竞争的核心。“强基计划”是我国对基础学科拔尖创新人才培养模式的重要探索,是满足国家重大战略人才需求的重要举措。“强基计划”招收的学生,往往成绩优异、兴趣浓厚,这为相关学科的人才培养模式提出了新要求和新目标。其中,“强基计划”背景下的基础教学改革势在必行。超学科教育理念(science,technology,engineering,arts,mathematics,STEAM)作为一种跨学科的综合性教育理念,与“强基计划”的建设理念不谋而合。鉴于此,天津大学生命科学学院根据“强基计划”背景下生物学科人才培养目标,结合STEAM教育理念,以“生物学综合设计”课程为例,对生物学实验教学改革进行了探索与实践。