Internalization of Western Ideals on Appearance and Self-Esteem in Jamaican Undergraduate Students

Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry - Beauty ideals in the Caribbean are shifting with increased exposure to Western and European standards of appearance. Previous research has shown a consistent...     

枯草芽孢杆菌微生态制剂发酵研究进展

微生态制剂是饲用抗生素的绿色有效替代品。枯草芽孢杆菌在逆境中可形成抗逆性强的芽孢,在生产和应用过程中保持高活性,是一种高效的微生态制剂菌种。提高枯草芽孢杆菌活菌数及芽孢率是保证微生态制剂产品质量的关键。本文综述了枯草芽孢杆菌芽孢形成的分子生物学机制及影响芽孢形成的重要因素,进一步比较枯草芽孢杆菌微生态制剂不同发酵方式的特点,重点阐述了提高枯草芽孢杆菌有效生物量的工艺优化,最后介绍了枯草芽孢杆菌微生态制剂的应用,并对将来研究思路进行了讨论。     

不同牛分枝杆菌特异性基因PCR方法的比较

【背景】牛结核病是我国二类动物疫病,世界动物卫生组织将其列为法定报告的动物疫病。牛主要通过患病牛呼吸道分泌物和咳嗽所产生的气溶胶感染;人则主要通过食用未经高温处理的病牛的肉或奶感染。因此,经过病原学PCR检测对疑似患病牛牛奶或屠宰组织样品进行快速检验确诊,能够最大限度地减少奶牛养殖中乳品生产业的经济损失。【目的】研究并确定适宜的牛分枝杆菌PCR扩增引物及参数,为临床快速准确诊断牛结核病提供参考。【方法】对已报道的5对PCR引物,运用降落(touch down) PCR法确定适宜退火温度(Tm);运用梯度稀释的牛分枝杆菌C68001株(国内牛结核菌素生产用菌株)基因组DNA以及不同菌液含量的人工模拟临床样本(淋巴结、肺脏和牛奶),确定不同引物PCR方法的敏感性;同时以6种常见牛感染菌(牛种布鲁氏菌2308、羊种布鲁氏菌Rev.1、牛分枝杆菌C68001和AN5、禽分枝杆菌C68202、副结核分枝杆菌C68681和胞内分枝杆菌C68226)核酸样本,确定不同引物PCR方法的特异性。【结果】所有引物在53-63℃均含有目的条带,确定引物的最佳退火温度是60℃。在细菌核酸敏感性检验中,1号和3号引物的检测敏感性最高,达10-10 ng/μL;其次是2号和5号,达10-5 ng/μL。对于人工模拟感染样本,1号、3号和4号引物在淋巴结和肺脏中检测敏感性最高,其次是2号;而2号、3号、4号和5号引物对奶样检测敏感性最高。对于特异性检验,2号和5号引物特异性较好,可检测到明显的牛分枝杆菌特异性条带,对通常不引起牛结核病而只干扰免疫学诊断的禽分枝杆菌检测条带较微弱,而布鲁氏菌、副结核分枝杆菌和胞内分枝杆菌均无检测条带。【结论】2号引物及其反应参数的PCR方法敏感性、特异性良好,适合用于牛结核病的快速准确诊断。     

16S/18S/ITS扩增子高通量测序引物的生物信息学评估和改进

【背景】在过去的十几年里,基于核糖体RNA基因的扩增子测序技术被广泛用于各种生态系统中微生物群落的多样性检测。扩增子测序的使用极大地促进了土壤、水体、空气等环境中微生物生态的相关研究。【目的】随着高通量测序技术的不断发展和参考数据库的不断更新,针对不同的环境样本的引物选择和改进仍然需要更深入的校验。【方法】本文收集了目前在微生物群落研究中被广泛采用的标记基因扩增通用引物,包括16S rRNA基因扩增常用的8对通用引物和2对古菌引物、9对真菌转录间隔区(internal transcribed spacer,ITS)基因扩增引物,以及18S rRNA基因扩增的4对真核微生物通用引物和1对真菌特异性引物。这些引物中包括了地球微生物组计划(Earth Microbiome Project,EMP)推荐的2对16S rRNA基因扩增引物、1对ITS1基因扩增引物和1对18S rRNA基因扩增引物。采用最近更新的标准数据库对这些引物进行了覆盖度和特异性评价。【结果】EMP推荐的引物依然具有较高的覆盖度,而其他引物在覆盖度及对特定环境或类群的特异性上也各有特点。此外,最近有研究对这些通用引物进行了一些改进,而我们也发现,一个碱基的变化都可能会导致评价结果或扩增产物发生明显变化,简并碱基的引入既可以覆盖更多的物种,但同时也会在一定程度上降低关注物种的特异性。【结论】研究结果为微生态研究中标记基因的引物选择提供了一个广泛的指导,但在关注具体科学问题时,引物的选择仍需数据指导与实验尝试。     

LncRNA LEF1-AS1 promotes osteogenic differentiation of dental pulp stem cells via sponging miR-24-3p

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry - Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia, which characterized by toxic senile plaques is composed of amyloid-β (Aβ)....     

Distinguishing the effects of vegetation restoration on runoff and sediment generation on simulated rainfall on the hillslopes of the loess plateau of China

Aims

Since the 1970s, extensive croplands were converted to forest and pasture lands to control severe soil erosion on the Loess Plateau of China. We quantify the direct and indirect effects of vegetation restoration on runoff and sediment yield on hillslopes in the field to improve environmental governance.

Methods

An artificial rainfall experiment at a rainfall intensity of 120 mm h⁻¹ and a slope gradient of 22° were used to distinguish the effects of vegetation restoration on runoff and sediment yield.

Results

Compared to the farmland slopes, vegetation restoration directly prolonged the time-to-runoff by 140%, reduced the runoff rate by 20%, and increased the soil infiltration capacity by 15%. Vegetation restoration indirectly delayed the time-to-runoff by 120%, reduced the runoff rate and sediment yield rate by 50% and 94%, respectively, and increased the soil infiltration capacity by 58% on the hillslopes with vegetation restoration.

Conclusions

The direct effects of vegetation restoration on runoff and sediment yield were lower than its indirect impacts. Vegetation cover, decreases in soil bulk density, and increases in belowground root biomasses and > 0.25 mm aggregate stability were the primary causes of runoff and sediment yield reduction on the slopes with vegetation restoration.

     

Reduced growth responses of mesosulfuron-methyl-resistant blackgrass to allelopathic wheat are driven by underground chemical interaction

Plant and Soil - The incidence of herbicide-resistant blackgrass is escalating in wheat fields; the development of alternatives to traditional herbicides is crucial. Allelopathic wheat can suppress...