SIMEX for correction of dietary exposure effects with Box-Cox transformed data

Modelling dietary data, and especially 24-hr dietary recall (24HDR) data, is a challenge. Ignoring the inherent measurement error (ME) leads to biased effect estimates when the association between an exposure and an outcome is investigated. We propose an adapted simulation extrapolation (SIMEX) algorithm for modelling dietary exposures. For this purpose, we exploit the ME model of the NCI method where we assume the assumption of normally distributed errors of the reported intake on the Box-Cox transformed scale and of unbiased recalls on the original scale. According to the SIMEX algorithm, remeasurements of the observed data with additional ME are generated in order to estimate the association between the level of ME and the resulting effect estimate. Subsequently, this association is extrapolated to the case of zero ME to obtain the corrected estimate. We show that the proposed method fulfils the key property of the SIMEX approach, that is, that the MSE of the generated data will converge to zero if the ME variance converges to zero. Furthermore, the method is applied to real 24HDR data of the I.Family study to correct the effects of salt and alcohol intake on blood pressure. In a simulation study, the method is compared with the NCI method resulting in effect estimates with either smaller MSE or smaller bias in certain situations. In addition, we found our method to be more informative and easier to implement. Therefore, we conclude that the proposed method is useful to promote the dissemination of ME correction methods in nutritional epidemiology.     

Revisiting the dimensionality of biological diversity

Biodiversity can be represented by different dimensions. While many diversity metrics try to capture the variation of these dimensions they also lead to a ‘fragmentation’ of the concept of biodiversity itself. Developing a unified measure that integrates all the dimensions of biodiversity is a theoretical solution for this problem, however, it remains operationally impossible. Alternatively, understanding which dimensions better represent the biodiversity of a set of communities can be a reliable way to integrate the different diversity metrics. Therefore, to achieve a holistic understand of biological diversity, we explore the concept of dimensionality. We define dimensionality of diversity as the number of complementary components of biodiversity, represented by diversity metrics, needed to describe biodiversity in an unambiguously and effective way. We provide a solution that joins two components of dimensionality – correlation and the variation – operationalized through two metrics, respectively: evenness of eigenvalues (EE) and importance values (IV). Through simulation we show that considering EE and IV together can provide information that is neglected when only EE is considered. We demonstrate how to apply this framework by investigating the dimensionality of South American small mammal communities. Our example evidenced that, for some representations of biological diversity, more attention is needed in the choice of diversity metrics necessary to effectively characterize biodiversity. We conclude by highlighting that this integrated framework provides a better understanding of dimensionality than considering only the correlation component.     

微水相超声波协同固定化脂肪酶催化酯交换过程优化

超声波协同固定化脂肪酶催化制备生物柴油的最佳工艺条件为：超声波功率70W、叔丁醇为反应介质、叔丁醇用量3％（v／v）、醇油比3：1且甲醇分三批加入、反应温度40℃、水含量为2％（v／v）。副产物甘油对固定化脂肪酶使用寿命影响最大,使用后的固定化脂肪酶用丙酮洗去表面的甘油,进行酯交换反应,酶的稳定性大为提高,可连续使用16批次。     

短毛柽柳不同部位中总黄酮含量及稳定性研究

目的：比较短毛柽柳中不同部位总黄酮的含量差异,研究黄酮化合物保存的条件,方法：采用超声波乙醇浸提法,在正交优先的最佳条件（料液比为1∶15,超声处理时间为40min,乙醇浓度为45%,超声温度50℃,提取3次）下提取不同部位总黄酮,并测定不同条件下其吸光度的变化。结果：柽柳花、叶、茎中总黄酮得率分别为24.585mg/g、25.623mg/g、41.726mg/g,柽柳中提取的黄酮溶液在光照、高温、高浓度蔗糖溶液和Na＋存在条件下不稳定;pH 4~7条件下较稳定;氧化剂对其稳定性的影响不大。结论：柽柳茎中总黄酮含量明显高于其他两个部位。柽柳黄酮保存时应避免接触碳水化合物和盐离子,在避光、常温、中性条件下保存。     

鱼类个性测定方法研究进展

动物个性是指在不同时空条件下动物种内个体间行为的稳定差异。鱼类个性的研究历史已超过50年,但不同时期和不同研究的鱼类个性测定方法存在较大差异,缺乏一个规范的用于量化鱼类个性研究的方法论。本文作者认为,关注鱼类个性的常规测定方法,了解现有个性定义及其生态学意义,规范鱼类个性的常规实验方法是有必要的。本文所涉及的个性是指狭义上的个性,即对勇敢性、探索性、活跃性、好斗性和社会性等个性的研究方法进行综述,规范了鱼类个性的常规测定方法及注意事项,并对过往研究中鱼类个性测定方法的不足之处进行了讨论和展望。     

沙棘果渣总黄酮提取工艺优化及抗氧化活性研究

利用果胶酶协同超声波法,对沙棘果渣有效成分总黄酮的提取工艺及其抗氧化活性进行了研究。以提取率为指标,通过酶用量、液料比、乙醇浓度、提取时间、提取温度、超声功率等单因素分析,选定酶用量、液料比、超声提取时间3个因素进行响应面试验,确定提取优化工艺条件为:果胶酶用量5.1%,液料比41∶1,超声提取时间81 min,此条件下,沙棘果渣总黄酮提取率达到8.91 mg/g;以BHT为阳性对照,进行了抗氧化活性研究,得出沙棘果渣总黄酮提取液浓度为0.14 mg/mL时,对DPPH自由基的清除率达到了94.42%;提取液浓度为1.2 mg/mL时,对羟自由基和超氧阴离子的清除率分别为83.10%和43.41%。整体来看,沙棘果渣总黄酮具有较强的抗氧化能力。     

Recommendations for Improved Assessment of Noise Impacts on Wildlife

ABSTRACT Research to determine noise impacts on animals benefits from methodology that adequately describes the acoustical stimulus as well as the resulting biological responses. We present acoustical considerations and research techniques that we have found to be useful. These include acoustical definitions and noise measurement techniques that conform to standardized acoustical practice and advice for controlled experimentation to supplement behavioral observation. Specific considerations include characteristics of noise stimulus, selection of noise metrics, use of frequency-weighting algorithms tailored to a specific animal species, selection and placement of noise measurement equipment, and methods for documenting animal responses. We also present arguments for measuring the noise stimulus at the location and time of each response observation. Our purpose is to recommend some baseline terminology, metrics, and techniques prerequisite to effective assessment of noise impacts on terrestrial wildlife whenever and wherever potential conflicts arise.     

Photosynthetic electron transport and proton flux under moderate heat stress

Moderate heat stress has been reported to increase PSI cyclic electron flow (CEF). We subjected leaves of Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) mutants disrupted in the regulation of one or the other pathway of CEF flow—crr2 (chlororespiratory reduction, deficient in regulation of chloroplast NAD(P)H dehydrogenase-dependent CEF) and pgr5 (proton gradient regulation, proposed to have reduced efficiency of antimycin-A-sensitive-CEF regulation) to moderate heat stress. Light-adapted leaves were switched from 23 to 40°C in 2 min. Gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, the electrochromic shift (ECS), and P700 were measured. Photosynthesis of crr2 and pgr5 was more sensitive to heat and had less ability to recover than the genetic background gl. The proton conductance in light was increased by heat and it was twice as much in pgr5, which had much smaller light-induced proton motive force. We confirmed that P700 becomes more reduced at high temperature and show that, in contrast, the proportion of PSII open centers (with Q _A oxidized) increases. The two mutants had much slower P700⁺ reduction rate during and after heat than gl. The proportion of light absorbed by PSI versus PSII was increased in gl and crr2 during and after heat treatment, but not in pgr5. We propose that heat alters the redox balance away from PSII and toward PSI and that the regulation of CEF helps photosynthesis tolerate heat stress.     

Mechanisms of action of acriflavine: electron microscopic study of cell wall changes induced in Staphylococcus aureus by acriflavine

The antimicrobial action of acriflavine, a quaternary ammonium compound, on Staphylococcus aureus was studied by electron microscopic observation. The bactericidal activity of acriflavine was dose-dependent over the 4 hr of exposure time. Scanning electron micrographs showed a wavy wrinkled cell surface following treatment with acriflavine. Transmission electron micrographs showed thickened cell walls following treatment with acriflavine. Acriflavine-induced cell wall thickness seemed to affect both the peripheral and cross walls, but was reversible after treatment removal. These findings indicate that cell wall thickness is a characteristic phenotype of S. aureus exposed to acriflavine. It is therefore believed that cell wall thickness plays an important role in the mechanism of action of acriflavine.     

Circular permutation of ligand‐binding module improves dynamic range of genetically encoded FRET‐based nanosensor

Quantitative measurement of small molecules with high spatiotemporal resolution provides a solid basis for correct understanding and accurate modeling of metabolic regulation. A promising approach toward this goal is the FLIP (fluorescent indicator protein) nanosensor based on bacterial periplasmic binding proteins (PBPs) and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between the yellow and cyan variants of green fluorescent protein (GFP). Each FLIP has a PBP module that specifically binds its ligand to induce a conformation change, leading to a change in FRET between the two GFP variant modules attached to the N‐ and C‐termini of the PBP. The larger is the dynamic range the more reliable is the measurement. Thus, we attempted to expand the dynamic range of FLIP by introducing a circular permutation with a hinge loop deletion to the PBP module. All the six circularly permutated PBPs tested, including structurally distinct Type I and Type II PBPs, showed larger dynamic ranges than their respective native forms when used for FLIP. Notably, the circular permutation made three PBPs, which totally failed to show FRET change when used as their native forms, fully capable of functioning as a ligand binding module of FLIP. These FLIPs were successfully used for the determination of amino acid concentration in complex solutions as well as real‐time measurement of amino acid influx in living yeast cells. Thus, the circular permutation strategy would not only improve the performance of each nanosensor but also expand the repertoire of metabolites that can be measured by the FLIP nanosensor technology.