A hybrid genetic--neural algorithm for modeling the biodegradation process of DnBP in AAO system

A hybrid artificial neural network - genetic algorithm numerical technique was successfully developed to model, and to simulate the biodegradation process of di-n-butyl phthalate in an anaerobic/anoxic/oxic (AAO) system. The fate of DnBP was investigated, and a removal kinetic model including sorption and biodegradation was formulated. To correlate the experimental data with available models or some modified empirical equations, the steady state model equations describing the biodegradation process have been solved using genetic algorithm (GA) and artificial neural network (ANN) from the water quality characteristic parameters. Compared with the kinetic model, the performance of the GA-ANN for modeling the DnBP was found to be more impressive. The results show that the predicted values well fit measured concentrations, which was also supported by the relatively low RMSE (0.2724), MAPE (3.6137) and MSE (0.0742)and very high R (0.9859) values, and which illustrates the GA-ANN model predicting effluent DnBP more accurately than the mechanism model forecasting.     

巴西橡胶树转录中介体HbMed25基因克隆与表达分析

转录中介体(mediator,Med)中的Med25基因在植物的组织发育、器官发生、胁迫响应以及调控茉莉酸(JA)信号途径等方面起重要调控作用。该文在巴西橡胶树基因组序列中找到了橡胶树Med25基因的序列,通过RT-qPCR和RACE技术克隆HbMed25基因的全长序列并进行生物信息学预测分析结果显示,HbMed25基因包含2 655 bp的开放阅读框,编码884个氨基酸,蛋白分子量为95 kD,理论等电点为8.68,疏水性蛋白,亚细胞定位最可能为细胞核。Real-time PCR分析结果显示,HbMed25基因在树皮中表达量最高,在植物激素JA处理的形成层和胶乳材料中HbMed25基因在处理早期(1 h和2～4 h)上调表达,受割胶处理HbMed25基因在处理早期上调表达且对高产的橡胶树品系(CATAS 8-79和CATAS 7-33-97)的割胶处理响应更明显。综上结果认为,HbMed25基因极大可能参与了JA信号途径的调控,对阐明JA诱导橡胶树次生乳管分化的分子调控机制具有促进作用。     

短期寒潮天气对福州市绿地土壤呼吸及组分的影响

城市生态系统土壤呼吸在区域乃至国家尺度上的碳预算与碳循环中都具有重要地位,研究突发天气下城市生态系统土壤呼吸及其组分的变化对准确估算城市土壤碳排放具有重要意义。以亚热带城市草坪(沟叶结缕草,Zoysia matrell)和片林(南洋杉,Araucaria heterophylla)为研究对象,于2011年2月10日至19日通过监测一次突发短期降温天气前后土壤呼吸及其组分(微生物呼吸和根系呼吸)的动态变化,探讨了短期低温天气对城市生态系统土壤呼吸的影响。结果表明:在突发寒潮天气发生后,片林和草坪的土壤温度均显著降低,降温幅度最大分别达7.4℃和5.5℃,二者的土壤呼吸均因降温而骤降,降低比例分别高达79.4%和71.2%。但土壤呼吸及组分也随期间的降水事件而呈现出明显波动。整个观测期间片林土壤呼吸、微生物呼吸与根系呼吸的日均值分别2.54 μmol · m^-2 · s^-1、0.76 μmol · m^-2 · s^-1和1.78 μmol · m^-2 · s^-1,而在草坪中三者分别为1.07 μmol · m^-2 ·s^-1、0.83 μmol · m^-2 · s^-1和0.24 μmol · m^-2 · s^-1。土壤温度是控制降温过程中城市绿地土壤呼吸及其组分的关键限制因子并与之呈指数正相关关系,但由于冠层结构简单、耐寒性较低,草坪对温度变化的响应更加敏感。在短期降温中草坪土壤呼吸、微生物呼吸与根系呼吸的Q₁₀值明显提高,分别高达4.18、8.17和18.17。受降水与降温的共同影响,草坪与片林各土壤呼吸类型同时受土壤温度、土壤含水量与降水量的控制,由这3个因子构成的多元回归模型可以较好地拟合各呼吸类型的日均值变化(R²>0.55)。     

Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction of Arabinogalactan and Dihydroquercetin Simultaneously from Larix gmelinii as a Pretreatment for Pulping and Papermaking

An ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) method using ethanol was applied for extracting arabinogalactan (AG) and dihydroquercetin (DHQ) simultaneously from larch wood, as a pretreatment for pulping and papermaking. The extraction parameters were optimized by a Box-Behnken experimental design with the yields of AG and DHQ as the response values. Under optimum conditions (three extractions, each using 40% ethanol, for 50 min, 200 W ultrasound power and 1∶18 solid-liquid ratio), the yields of AG and DHQ were 183.4 and 36.76 mg/g, respectively. After UAE pretreated, the wood chips were used for Kraft pulping (KP) and high boiling solvent pulping (HBSP). The pulping yield after pretreatment was higher than that of untreated (the pulping yields of untreated HBSP and KP were 42.37% and 39.60%, and the pulping yields of HBSP and KP after UAE-pretreated were 44.23% and 41.50% respectively), as indicated by a lower kappa number (77.91 and 27.30 for untreated HBSP and KP; 77.01 and 26.83 for UAE-pretreated HBSP and KP). Furthermore, the characteristics of paper produced from pretreated wood chips were superior to those from the untreated chips: the basis weight was lower (85.67 and 82.48 g·cm⁻² for paper from untreated KP and HBSP; 79.94 and 80.25 g·cm⁻² for paper from UAE-pretreated KP and HBSP), and the tensile strengths, tearing strengths, bursting strengths, and folding strengths were higher than these of paper after UAE-pretreated, respectively.     

Association Mapping for Important Agronomic Traits in Core Collection of Rice (Oryza sativa L.) with SSR Markers

Mining elite genes within rice landraces is of importance for the improvement of cultivated rice. An association mapping for 12 agronomic traits was carried out using a core collection of rice consisting of 150 landraces (Panel 1) with 274 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, and the mapping results were further verified using a Chinese national rice micro-core collection (Panel 2) and a collection from a global molecular breeding program (Panel 3). Our results showed that (1) 76 significant (P<0.05) trait-marker associations were detected using mixed linear model (MLM) within Panel 1 in two years, among which 32% were identical with previously mapped QTLs, and 11 significant associations had >10% explained ratio of genetic variation; (2) A total of seven aforementioned trait-marker associations were verified within Panel 2 and 3 when using a general linear model (GLM) and 55 SSR markers of the 76 significant trait-marker associations. However, no significant trait-marker association was found to be identical within three panels when using the MLM model; (3) several desirable alleles of the loci which showed significant trait-marker associations were identified. The research provided important information for further mining these elite genes within rice landraces and using them for rice breeding.     

Stormwater Runoff Pollutant Loading Distributions and Their Correlation with Rainfall and Catchment Characteristics in a Rapidly Industrialized City

Fast urbanization and industrialization in developing countries result in significant stormwater runoff pollution, due to drastic changes in land-use, from rural to urban. A three-year study on the stormwater runoff pollutant loading distributions of industrial, parking lot and mixed commercial and residential catchments was conducted in the Tongsha reservoir watershed of Dongguan city, a typical, rapidly industrialized urban area in China. This study presents the changes in concentration during rainfall events, event mean concentrations (EMCs) and event pollution loads per unit area (EPLs). The first flush criterion, namely the mass first flush ratio (MFFn), was used to identify the first flush effects. The impacts of rainfall and catchment characterization on EMCs and pollutant loads percentage transported by the first 40% of runoff volume (FF₄₀) were evaluated. The results indicated that the pollutant wash-off process of runoff during the rainfall events has significant temporal and spatial variations. The mean rainfall intensity (I), the impervious rate (IMR) and max 5-min intensity (I_max5) are the critical parameters of EMCs, while I_max5, antecedent dry days (ADD) and rainfall depth (R_D) are the critical parameters of FF₄₀. Intercepting the first 40% of runoff volume can remove 55% of TSS load, 53% of COD load, 58% of TN load, and 61% of TP load, respectively, according to all the storm events. These results may be helpful in mitigating stormwater runoff pollution for many other urban areas in developing countries.     

1H NMR-Based Metabolomics Investigation of Copper-Laden Rat: A Model of Wilson’s Disease

Background and Purpose

Wilson’s disease (WD), also known as hepatoleticular degeneration (HLD), is a rare autosomal recessive genetic disorder of copper metabolism, which causes copper to accumulate in body tissues. In this study, rats fed with copper-laden diet are used to render the clinical manifestations of WD, and their copper toxicity-induced organ lesions are studied. To investigate metabolic behaviors of ‘decoppering’ process, penicillamine (PA) was used for treating copper-laden rats as this chelating agent could eliminate excess copper through the urine. To date, there has been limited metabolomics study on WD, while metabolic impacts of copper accumulation and PA administration have yet to be established.

Materials and Methods

A combination of ¹HNMR spectroscopy and multivariate statistical analysis was applied to examine the metabolic profiles of the urine and blood serum samples collected from the copper-laden rat model of WD with PA treatment.

Results

Copper accumulation in the copper-laden rats is associated with increased lactate, creatinine, valine and leucine, as well as decreased levels of glucose and taurine in the blood serum. There were also significant changes in p-hydroxyphenylacetate (p-HPA), creatinine, alpha-ketoglutarate (α-KG), dimethylamine, N-acetylglutamate (NAG), N-acetylglycoprotein (NAC) in the urine of these rats. Notably, the changes in p-HPA, glucose, lactate, taurine, valine, leucine, and NAG were found reversed following PA treatment. Nevertheless, there were no changes for dimethylamine, α-KG, and NAC as a result of the treatment. Compared with the controls, the concentrations of hippurate, formate, alanine, and lactate were changed when PA was applied and this is probably due to its side effect. A tool named SMPDB (Small Molecule Pathway Database) is introduced to identify the metabolic pathway influenced by the copper-laden diet.

Conclusion

The study has shown the potential application of NMR-based metabolomic analysis in providing further insights into the molecular mechanism underlying disorder due to WD.     

石山苣苔属的潜在适生区特征及其环境驱动变量

石山苣苔属(Petrocodon Hance)是著名的观赏花卉之一，但气候动荡和人类活动的强烈干扰，使其绝大部分被评估为极危(CR),至少也是易危(VU)以上。为重建末次间冰期以来石山苣苔属潜在适生区的时空变化，探讨适生区对环境变化的响应关系，为石山苣苔属的起源、地理分化研究和中国特有种质资源保护、园林开发利用提供理论指导，该研究结合120个分布记录和17个环境变量，应用优化的MaxEnt模型和地理信息技术(ArcGIS)对石山苣苔属在中国及中南半岛的适生区及其分布格局进行模拟，并基于逐步多元线性回归分析、冗余分析和蒙特卡洛检验评估影响石山苣苔属当前地理分布的主导变量。结果表明：(1)优化的MaxEnt模型的预测精度高，AUC值大于0.96;石山苣苔属当前适生区从中国西南部连续分布至越南北部，零散分布于中国中部和南部、块状分布于缅甸北部，其中以中国云贵高原南部为最佳适生区。(2)制约石山苣苔属当前地理分布的主导环境变量为最干月降雨量(bio14)、最热季度平均降雨量(bio18)、最湿季降雨量(bio16)、温度变化方差(bio4)、最冷月最低温度(bio6)、海拔(alt)。(3)在...     

Different neurotropic pathogens elicit neurotoxic CCR9- or neurosupportive CXCR3-expressing microglia

What mechanism that determines microglia accomplishing destructive or constructive role in CNS remains nebulous. We report here that intracranial priming and rechallenging with Toxoplasma gondii in mice elicit neurotoxic CCR9+ Irg1+ (immunoresponsive gene 1) microglia, which render resistance to apoptosis and produce a high level of TNF-alpha; priming and rechallenging with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus elicit neurosupportive CXCR3+ Irg1- microglia, which are sensitive to apoptosis and produce a high level of IL-10 and TGF-beta. Administration of CCR9 and/or Irg1 small interfering RNA alters the frequency and functional profiles of neurotoxic CCR9+ Irg1+ and neurosupportive CXCR3+ Irg1- microglia in vivo. Moreover, by using a series of different neurotropic pathogens, including intracellular parasites, chronic virus, bacteria, toxic substances, and CNS injury to intracranially prime and subsequent rechallenge mice, the bi-directional elicitation of microglia has been confirmed as neurotoxic CCR9+ Irg1+ and neurosupportive CXCR3+ Irg1- cells in these mouse models. These data suggest that there exist two different types of microglia, providing with a novel insight into microglial involvement in neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory pathogenesis such as Alzheimer's disease and AIDS dementia.