颈围用于筛选糖调节受损人群的临床价值研究

目的:探讨颈围用于筛选糖调节受损人群的临床价值。方法:选取哈尔滨市第一医院2017年3月至11月收治的糖调节受损患者共100例,男性颈围以38 cm为临界值,女性以35 cm为临界值,分为颈围正常组和颈围异常组,比较两组患者空腹及餐后血糖、空腹胰岛素、糖化血红蛋白、总胆固醇、甘油三酯、低密度脂蛋白等相关指标水平,并分析颈围与以上指标的相关性。结果:颈围异常组患者的餐后2 h血糖、空腹胰岛素、糖化血红蛋白、总胆固醇、甘油三酯、低密度脂蛋白数值高于颈围正常组,尤以甘油三酯明显,高密度脂蛋白数值低于颈围正常组,差异有统计学意义(P0.05)。颈围与餐后2 h血糖、总胆固醇、甘油三酯、低密度脂蛋白水平呈正相关,差异均有统计学意义(P0.05),颈围与高密度脂蛋白水平呈负相关,差异均有统计学意义(P0.05)。结论:颈围可以作为临床预测、评估糖调节受损患者的早期指标,为早期社区筛查及诊断提供相关的参考依据。     

Neuronal RNA‐binding protein HuD regulates addiction‐related gene expression and behavior

The neuronal RNA‐binding protein HuD is involved in synaptic plasticity and learning and memory mechanisms. These effects are thought to be due to HuD‐mediated stabilization and translation of target mRNAs associated with plasticity. To investigate the potential role of HuD in drug addiction, we first used bioinformatics prediction algorithms together with microarray analyses to search for specific genes and functional networks upregulated within the forebrain of HuD overexpressing mice (HuD_OE). When this set was further limited to genes in the knowledgebase of addiction‐related genes database (KARG) that contains predicted HuD‐binding sites in their 3′ untranslated regions (3′UTRs), we found that HuD regulates networks that have been associated with addiction‐like behavior. These genes included Bdnf and Camk2a, 2 previously validated HuD targets. Since addiction is hypothesized to be a disorder stemming from altered gene expression causing aberrant plasticity, we sought to test the role of HuD in cocaine conditioned placed preference (CPP), a model of addiction‐related behaviors. HuD mRNA and protein were upregulated by CPP within the nucleus accumbens of wild‐type C57BL/6J mice. These changes were associated with increased expression of Bdnf and Camk2a mRNA and protein. To test this further, we trained HuD_OE and wild‐type mice in CPP and found that HuD_OE mice showed increased cocaine CPP compared with controls. This was also associated with elevated expression of HuD target mRNAs and proteins, CaMKIIα and BDNF. These findings suggest HuD involvement in addiction‐related behaviors such as cocaine conditioning and seeking, through increased plasticity‐related gene expression.     

You stay,but I Hop: Host shifting near and far co‐dominated the evolution of Enchenopa treehoppers

The importance and prevalence of phylogenetic tracking between hosts and dependent organisms caused by co‐evolution and shifting between closely related host species have been debated for decades. Most studies of phylogenetic tracking among phytophagous insects and their host plants have been limited to insects feeding on a narrow range of host species. However, narrow host ranges can confound phylogenetic tracking (phylogenetic tracking hypothesis) with host shifting between hosts of intermediate relationship (intermediate hypothesis). Here, we investigated the evolutionary history of the Enchenopa binotata complex of treehoppers. Each species in this complex has high host fidelity, but the entire complex uses hosts across eight plant orders. The phylogenies of E. binotata were reconstructed to evaluate whether (1) tracking host phylogeny; or (2) shifting between intermediately related host plants better explains the evolutionary history of E. binotata. Our results suggest that E. binotata primarily shifted between both distant and intermediate host plants regardless of host phylogeny and less frequently tracked the phylogeny of their hosts. These findings indicate that phytophagous insects with high host fidelity, such as E. binotata, are capable of adaptation not only to closely related host plants but also to novel hosts, likely with diverse phenology and defense mechanisms.     

Species-Specific Mechanisms of Neuron Subtype Specification Reveal Evolutionary Plasticity of Amniote Brain Development

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Long-Range Enhancer Interactions Are Prevalent in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells and Are Reorganized upon Pluripotent State Transition

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Transcriptional Repressor HIC1 Contributes to Suppressive Function of Human Induced Regulatory T Cells

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Models for assessing local‐scale co‐abundance of animal species while accounting for differential detectability and varied responses to the environment

We developed a new modeling framework to assess how the local abundance of one species influences the local abundance of a potential competitor while explicitly accounting for differential responses to environmental conditions. Our models also incorporate imperfect detection as well as abundance estimation error for both species. As a case study, we applied the model to four pairs of mammal species in Borneo, surveyed by extensive and spatially widespread camera trapping. We detected different responses to elevation gradients within civet, macaque, and muntjac deer species pairs. Muntjac and porcupine species varied in their response to terrain ruggedness, and the two muntjac responded different to river proximity. Bornean endemic species of civet and muntjac were more sensitive than their widespread counterparts to habitat disturbance (selective logging). Local abundance within several species pairs was positively correlated, but this is likely due to the species having similar responses to (unmodeled) environmental conditions or resources rather than representing facilitation. After accounting for environment and correcting for false absences in detection, negative correlations in local abundance appear rare in tropical mammals. Direct competition may be weak in these species, possibly because the ‘ghost of competition past’ or habitat filtering have already driven separation of the species in niche space. The analytical framework presented here could increase basic understanding of how ecological interactions shape patterns of abundance across the landscape for a range of taxa, and also provide a powerful tool for forecasting the impacts of global change.