Current progress of China＇s free ART program

China＇s Free ART Program was initiated in 2002 as an emergency response to save and improve the lives of AIDS patients living mainly in impoverished rural regions of central China. With little experience in HIV/AIDS treatment and care and resource limitations, China＇s efforts to provide widespread access to free antiretroviral therapy has been a process fraught with difficulty. However, the Free ART Program is progressing from an emergency response to a standardized treatment and care system. The development of national guidelines, training programs, a laboratory support network, a national patient database, programs for special populations such as children and patients living with coinfections, and operational research has improved the scope and quality of the free treatment program. As of June 30, 2005, a total of 19,456 patients in 28 provinces, autonomous regions, and special municipalities had received free ART. Challenges stemming from the nature of China＇s health system and patient population persist, but with strong government support and a diverse set of resources, China has the capacity to overcome these challenges and to provide nationwide access to high quality treatment and care.     

Biomechanism of impact resistance in the woodpecker’s head and its application

The woodpecker does not suffer head/eye impact injuries while drumming on a tree trunk with high acceleration(more than 1000×g) and high frequency.The mechanism that protects the woodpecker’s head has aroused the interest of ornithologists,biologists and scientists in the areas of mechanical engineering,material science and electronics engineering.This article reviews the literature on the biomechanisms and materials responsible for protecting the woodpecker from head impact injury and their applications in engineering and human protection.     

埃塞俄比亚塔纳湖鲤科鱼类体内亚美尼亚许氏绦虫Khawia armeniaca (Cholodkovsky, 1915) Shulman, 1958 (绦虫纲: 鲤蠢目) 的形态鉴定

在埃塞俄比亚境内塔纳湖中发现了1种寄生于鲤科鱼类: 间魮(Labeobarbus intermedius)和Labeobarbus tsanensis体内的许氏绦虫, 经形态学鉴定其为亚美尼亚许氏绦虫Khawia armeniaca (Cholodkovsky, 1915)(绦虫纲: 鲤蠢目)。该绦虫鉴别特征为头节呈半球状, 边缘光滑, 无皱褶; 睾丸分布区域从虫体中部至阴茎囊之前; 卵巢前卵黄腺分布于虫体中后部至阴茎囊前部区域, 少数排列在阴茎囊之后; 子宫起始于阴茎囊后方弯曲环绕直至卵巢后部区域, 有少许卵黄腺排列在子宫和卵巢的两侧。此外, K. armeniaca卵巢呈滤泡状或蝴蝶状, 雌雄生殖孔分离但彼此距离很近, 开口于体表并形成同一生殖腔, 且雄性生殖孔位于雌性生殖孔前方。卵巢后卵黄腺数目少于100个, 分布于虫体末端, 卵黄腺距离卵巢后翼较远, 部分样品内卵黄腺接近卵巢后翼。     

新鲜烟叶中12种多酚类化合物的UPLC-MS-MS分析

多酚类物质含量高低是衡量烟叶质量的重要指标,快速准确测定其含量可为烟叶质量评价和多酚代谢研究提供技术支持.本研究将25 mg新鲜烟叶冻干粉末样品经5 mL 50％甲醇超声20 min提取后离心,上清液经0.22 μm滤膜过滤后用超高效液相色谱-串联质谱仪(UPLC-MS-MS)在多反应监测(MRM)模式下分析.研究发现,咖啡酸、阿魏酸、莨菪亭和香豆素等4种低含量多酚化合物在0.05～5.00 μg/mL范围内线性良好;新绿原酸、莨菪苷、山奈酚、山奈酚苷和山奈酚-3-O-芸香糖苷等5种中等含量多酚化合物在0.2～40.0 μg/mL范围内线性良好;绿原酸、隐绿原酸和芸香苷等3种高含量多酚化合物在5～200 μg/mL范围内线性良好.12种多酚的回收率在84.7％～102％,相对标准偏差(n=6)在1.9％～5.7％,定量限在0.5～8.0μg/g.研究结果表明,本方法具有灵敏度高、专一性好和结果准确等特点,适用于新鲜烟叶中12种多酚含量的高通量分析,可为新鲜烟叶代谢过程中多酚含量的变化研究提供有效分析手段.     

Maternal-effect Floped gene is essential for the derivation of embryonic stem cells in mice

Floped (official name Ooep) is specifically and abundantly expressed in mouse oocytes and embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Depletion of Floped from oocytes leads to early embryonic arrest at the 2-cell stage. Although crucial in cleavage stage development, its roles in early embryos as well as in ESCs remain completely unknown. Here, we compared the efficiency of mouse ESC derivation from inner cell mass (ICM) with and without Floped to study its possible roles in mESCs. Derivation rates of mESC from wild-type, heterozygous, and homozygous blastocysts were 33.3%, 21.43%, and 3.85%, respectively, indicating that Floped-/-blastocysts had significantly decreased derivation rates. Respective outgrowth appearing rate five days after blastocyst attachment were 83.3%, 85.7%, and 15.4%. Morphologically, the outgrowth of ICM from Floped-/-blastocysts appeared severely death three to five days after blastocyst attachment, and the respective derived stem cells showed long-term instability with long-standing epithelial-like colonies. This result suggests a possible role of Floped in the course of ICM-ESCs transition.     

miRNA-711-SP1-collagen-I pathway is involved in the anti-fibrotic effect of pioglitazone in myocardial infarction

Although microRNAs(miRNAs) have been intensively studied in cardiac fibrosis,their roles in drug-mediated anti-fibrotic therapy are still unknown.Previously,Pioglitazone attenuated cardiac fibrosis and increased miR-711 experimentally.We aimed to explore the role and mechanism of miR-711 in pioglitazone-treated myocardial infarction in rats.Our results showed that pioglitazone significantly reduced collagen-I levels and increased miR-711 expression in myocardial infarction heart.Pioglitazone increased the expression of miR-711 in cardiac fibroblasts,and overexpression of miR-711 suppressed collagen-I levels in angiotensin II(Ang II)-treated or untreated cells.Transfection with antagomir-711 correspondingly abolished the pioglitazone-induced reduction in collagen-I levels.Bioinformatics analysis identified SP1,which directly promotes collagen-I synthesis,as the putative target of miR-711.This was confirmed by luciferase assay and western blot analysis.Additionally,increased SP1 expression was attenuated by pioglitazone in myocardial infarction heart.Furthermore,transfection of antagomir-711 attenuated pioglitazone-reduced SP1 expression in cardiac fibroblasts with or without Ang II stimulation.We conclude that pioglitazone up-regulated miR-711 to reduce collagen-I levels in rats with myocardial infarction.The miR-711-SP1-collagen-I pathway may be involved in the anti-fibrotic effects of pioglitazone.Our findings may provide new strategies for miRNA-based anti-fibrotic drug research.     

不同农事操作技术对稻田害虫和天敌种群动态的影响

【目的】通过分析常规稻作田、稻虾共作田和香根草Vetiveria zizanioides诱集田3种农事操作技术对水稻害虫及其天敌种群动态的影响,为湖北地区新型绿色农事操作技术防控田间害虫、天敌保育和稻田有害生物可持续治理策略提供重要依据。【方法】在水稻抽穗期,采用目测法、扫网法、盆拍法、剥查法对3种农事操作稻田(常规稻作田、稻虾共作田和香根草)内害虫(稻飞虱、稻叶蝉、稻螟虫)和天敌进行搜集和统计。【结果】香根草诱集田内稻飞虱种群数量显著低于稻虾共作田(P0.05),常规稻作田间稻叶蝉、稻螟虫种群数量显著高于稻虾共作田和香根草诱集田数量(P0.05);3种农事操作技术下稻田间天敌种类主要以捕食性天敌蜘蛛类、草蛉类、黑肩绿盲蝽Crytorrhinuslividipennis和青翅隐翅虫Paederus fuscipes为主。其中,稻虾共作田和香根草诱集田拟环纹豹蛛Pardosa pseudoannulata、拟水狼蛛Piratasubpiraticus和黑肩绿盲蝽Cyrtorhinuslividipennis种群数量显著高于常规稻作田(P0.05)。【结论】香根草稻作田间稻叶蝉、稻螟虫种群数量显著低于常规稻作田,稻虾共作田间稻叶蝉、稻飞虱种群数量显著低于常规稻作田;3种农事操作技术下稻田间天敌种类主要以捕食性天敌蜘蛛类、草蛉类、黑肩绿盲蝽为主。     

水杨酸、脱落酸和过氧化氢对镉胁迫小麦幼苗光合及抗氧化酶活性的影响

采用溶液培养方法,用水杨酸(SA)、脱落酸(ABA)或过氧化氢(H2O2)对2叶期小麦进行处理,研究了Cd胁迫下小麦的光合速率及抗氧化酶活性。结果表明:3种处理能不同程度增强叶片和根系中超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)和过氧化物酶(POD)的活性,提高叶片过氧化氢酶(CAT)活性,降低丙二醛(MDA)含量;增加叶片叶绿素含量及其光合速率。说明3种处理能增强小麦对Cd的抗性,其中H2O2预处理的效果最明显。     

大气二氧化碳浓度升高对银杏叶片内源激素的影响

采用开顶箱系统,研究了银杏叶片内源激素脱落酸(ABA)、吲哚乙酸(IAA)、玉米素核苷(ZR)和赤霉素(GA₃)对大气CO₂浓度升高(环境CO₂浓度+350 μmol·mol^-1,EC)的响应.结果表明,EC处理能使ABA含量降低,与对照(CK)相比, ABA含量最大降低63.0%(处理后120 d).EC处理使叶片IAA和ZR含量增加,而且随着处理时间的延长,差异均达显著水平;IAA含量在处理后100 d为CK的2倍,ZR含量在处理后80 d时为CK的2.5倍.EC处理使叶片GA₃峰值提前出现. (IAA+GA₃+ZR)/ABA比值随着银杏的生长逐渐降低,在处理后期(处理后40～120 d)明显高于CK,表明大气CO₂浓度升高可促进银杏的生长发育.     

Phylogenetic Analysis of Homologous Proteins Encoded by UL2 and UL23 genes of Herpesviridae

The proteins encoded by the Herpesviridae β-gene play a critical role in the replication stage of the virus.In this paper,phylogenetic analyses provided evidence that some β-gene products,such as UL2 and UL23 from HSV1,have their homologous genes in its family,and also exist in prokaryotic organisms,indicating that these viruses appear to have been assembled over evolutionary time by numerous independent events of horizontal gene transfer.