A tool to evaluate correspondence between extraction ion chromatographic peaks and peptide‐spectrum matches in shotgun proteomics experiments

Chromatographed peptide signals form the basis of further data processing that eventually results in functional information derived from data‐dependent bottom‐up proteomics assays. We seek to rank LC/MS parent ions by the quality of their extracted ion chromatograms. Ranked extracted ion chromatograms act as an intuitive physical/chemical preselection filter to improve the quality of MS/MS fragment scans submitted for database search. We identify more than 4900 proteins when considering detector shifts of less than 7 ppm. High quality parent ions for which the database search yields no hits become candidates for subsequent unrestricted analysis for PTMs. Following this rational approach, we prioritize identification of more than 5000 spectrum matches from modified peptides and confirmed the presence of acetylaldehyde‐modified His/Lys. We present a logical workflow that scores data‐dependent selected ion chromatograms and leverage information about semianalytical LC/LC dimension prior to MS. Our method can be successfully used to identify unexpected modifications in peptides with excellent chromatography characteristics, independent of fragmentation pattern and activation methods. We illustrate analysis of ion chromatograms detected in two different modes by RF linear ion trap and electrostatic field orbitrap.     

Synthesis and DNA Binding Studies of Novel Heterocyclic Substituted Quinoline Schiff Bases: A Potent Antimicrobial Agent

The present article deals with the synthesis of 2-chloroquinoline-3-carbaldehyde [(2-hydroxy-1-naphthyl) methylene] hydrazone (CQCMH) (2a-c) and 2-chloroquinoline-3-carbaldehyde [4-(dimethylamino) benzylidene] hydrazone (CQCDBH) (3a-c) from quinoline derivatives under suitable experimental conditions. The synthesized compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, FTIR, ¹HNMR, and mass spectral data. The selected compounds were studied for interaction with calf thymus-DNA (CT-DNA) by electronic spectra, viscosity measurements as well as thermal denaturation studies. On binding to DNA, the absorption spectrum underwent bathochromic and hypochromic shifts. The binding constant (K_b) had value of 2.3×10³ M^?1 for (2a) and 2.5×10⁴ M^?1 for (3a). The viscosity measurements indicated that the viscosity of sonicated rod like DNA fragments increased. The synthesized derivatives have been screened for antibacterial and antifungal activities.     

The World Unwraps from Tiny Bags: Measuring Landscapes in Miniature

Taking its cue from the combination of life-size and miniature re-enactment that takes place in living history settings, this paper explores human play with scale, focusing in particular on what happens when historical and fantasy figures are made to dwell in miniature landscapes. I discuss relations between modellers and the miniatures that they display in dioramas or manipulate in war games, drawing on multi-sited fieldwork leading up to a small-scale exhibition I organised in Aberdeen in 2008. Taking issue with a discourse of disenchantment in modernity, which has led to a renewed interest in embodied human presence in a material world, I argue that the pleasure that modellers derive from miniature landscaping is a quintessentially contemporary pleasure that owes as much to contact and immersion in materials as to a distancing and abstracting from the miniature terrain through different forms of measurement and layers of representation. This interplay between closeness and distance is brought into sharper focus through discussion with an artist who has made playful use of railway modelling materials in his artwork.     

树鼩血压和心率的无创测定

目的建立健康树鼩的心率、血压正常值参考范围,并探讨不同来源、不同性别、不同年龄树鼩心率、血压的差异。方法随机挑选实验树鼩180只,按来源分为野生成年组、F1代自繁成年组和青幼年组三个组,每组雌雄各半,共60只。采用智能无创血压计（鼠仪）逐只测定HR（心率）、SBP（收缩压）、DBP（舒张压）和MBP（平均动脉压）。结果野生成年树鼩、自繁成年树鼩和青幼年树鼩心率分别为394.33±37.74 BPM、351.61±72.76 BPM和378.19±69.04 BPM,野生和自繁成年树鼩组差异有显著性（P〈0.05）。自繁成年树鼩收缩压、舒张压和平均动脉压均明显低于青幼年树鼩,差异有极显著性（P〈0.01）。野生成年树鼩和自繁成年树鼩相比,收缩压、舒张压和平均动脉压差异均无显著性（P〉0.05）。结论大鼠无创血压计适合于树鼩的血压、心率的测量。通过测定,获得了野生成年树鼩、F1代自繁成年树鼩和青幼年树鼩的心率和血压参考值范围,丰富了树鼩基础生理数据,可为相关研究提供科学参考。     

Testing Someone Else’s Intelligence: From Regimentation to Freedom1

This article discusses the trend in the development of testing from maximum regimentation of the test-takers’ activity (where they solve problems clearly formulated by the creator with a single correct answer) to diagnostic problematic situations that are very new and indefinite with an open beginning and an open end. With increasing frequency, the open beginning used in testing presupposes a freedom of independent formulation of one’s own research questions of the reality being studied and a search for answers while interacting with that reality. The emergence of mass testing of exploratory behavior is a reflection of the conviction that one of the key abilities that will be required in the very near future is the ability to cope with uncertainty and novelty, including by actively investigating them.

The discussion deals with the problems of testing intelligence and creativity in conditions of novelty and uncertainty, including the “judging problem.” It is pointed out that any thinking test, especially a test of creative thinking, is also an implicit (albeit perhaps not conscious) claim by its developers that their wisdom is virtually unsurpassed. After all, it is assumed that any person’s intelligence and creativity that unfold in a new situation may be described in the context of the model produced by the creative intellect of the test’s developer and, hence, by a more powerful “superintellect.” The errors that are practically inevitable with such an approach can be corrected in a dialog among various groups of researchers or, to the contrary, may be deepened if criticism is shut off.

The article analyzes a fundamental methodological error of creativity testing—the “standard list of creative answers” drawn up by the test-maker in advance, against which the participants’ solutions are checked. This error is explored in the case of an invention-oriented task in the international scholastic test PISA 2012, based on which the education ratings of countries are constructed.

An optimistic thesis is offered: no matter how successful testing is, humankind will never be fully prepared to determine its creative potential, due to its forward development. Without diagnostic tools, however, it will be far less prepared; they are a new and important part of that potential.     

土壤有机碳库的关键影响因素及其不确定性

土壤是陆地生态系统最大的有机碳库,比植被碳库或大气碳库的两倍还多。准确评估土壤有机碳库是预测全球变化与土壤有机碳之间反馈关系的关键。但目前对土壤有机碳库的估算还存在很大不确定性。该文综述了土壤有机碳库估算及其影响因素和土壤有机碳库估算不确定性的来源和常用的采样方法,以及计算土壤碳汇的最新研究进展。未来技术进步以及模型的不断完善可能会降低土壤有机碳库估算的不确定性,提高其估算的精度     

Driving a musculoskeletal model with inertial and magnetic measurement units

We developed and evaluated a new kinematic driver for musculoskeletal models using ambulatory inertial and magnetic measurement units (IMMUs). The new driver uses the orientation estimates based on sensor fusion of each individual IMMU and benefits from two important properties of musculoskeletal models. First, these models contain more complex, anatomical, kinematic models than those currently used for sensor fusion of multiple IMMUs and are continuously improved. Second, they allow movement between segment and measured sensor. For three different tasks, the new IMMU driver, (optical) marker drivers and a combination of both were used to reconstruct the motion. Maximal root mean square (RMS) joint angle differences with respect to the silver standard (combined IMMU/marker drivers) were found for the hip joint; 4°, 2° and 5° during squat, gait and slideboard tasks for IMMU-driven reconstructions, compared with 6°, 5° and 5° for marker-driven reconstructions, respectively. The measured angular velocities corresponded best to the IMMU-driven reconstructions, with a maximal RMS difference of 66°/s, compared with 108°/s and 91°/s for marker-driven reconstructions and silver standard. However, large oscillations in global accelerations occurred during IMMU-driven reconstructions resulting in a maximal RMS difference with respect to measured acceleration of 23 m/s², compared with 9 m/s² for reconstructions that included marker drivers. The new driver facilitates direct implementation of IMMU-based orientation estimates in currently available biomechanical models. As such, it can help in the rapid expansion of biomechanical analysis based on outdoor measurements.     

Approaches,challenges and recent advances in automated bee counting devices: A review

For nearly 100 years, electronic bee counters have been developed using various technologies to track the foraging activity of mostly honey bee colonies. These counters should enable remote monitoring of the hives without disturbing natural flight behaviour while generating precise scientific data. However, there are few counters on the market that are able to fulfil this task. One main challenge is the lack of standardised methods to validate a counter's precision, as validation is crucial to categorise and judge the data produced by the counter, especially for scientific purposes. Another challenge is the interpretation of flight data to measure the effects of environmental or anthropogenic sources. Nevertheless, recent developments in the field are promising. This review describes the historic development of automated bee flight measurements and critically compares validation methods to encourage their improvement. To increase the comparability of future analyses of bee counters, current advances in data interpretation are also presented.     

Quantifying the errors in animal contacts recorded by proximity loggers

Automated contact detection by means of proximity loggers permits the measurement of encounters between individuals (animal-animal contacts) and the time spent by individuals in the proximity of a focal resource of interest (animal-fixed logger contacts). The ecological inference derived from contact detection is intrinsically associated with the distance at which the contact occurred. But no proximity loggers currently exist that record this distance and therefore all distance estimations are associated with error. Here we applied a probabilistic approach to model the relationship between contact detection and inter-logger distance, and quantify the associated error, on free-ranging animals in semi-controlled settings. The probability of recording a contact declined with the distance between loggers, and this decline was steeper for weaker radio transmission powers. Even when proximity loggers were adjacent, contact detection was not guaranteed, irrespective of the radio transmission power. Accordingly, the precision and sensitivity of the system varied as a function of inter-logger distance, radio transmission power, and experimental setting (e.g., depending on animal body mass and fine-scale movements). By accounting for these relationships, we were able to estimate the probability that a detected contact occurred at a certain distance, and the probability that contacts were missed (i.e., false negatives). These calibration exercises have the potential to improve the predictability of the study and enhance the applicability of proximity loggers to key wildlife management issues such as disease transmission rates or wildlife use of landscape features and resources.     

基于ATP生物发光法的微生物数量快速检测技术的研究进展

微生物数量的快速检测一直是工业生产与食品行业需要解决的问题,腺嘌呤核苷三磷酸(adenosine triphosphate,ATP)生物发光法具有操作简便、检测周期短等优点,可满足一般微生物检测的需求。然而,ATP生物发光法的准确性也受到不同因素的影响,如微生物的ATP检测限值较高、微生物自身及其他因素(如非微生物ATP、提取剂种类、荧光素酶活性等)均对微生物数量的检测产生影响。本文简述了不同微生物数量检测方法的优缺点,介绍了ATP生物发光法的发展历程及原理,综述了非微生物ATP与游离ATP、微生物量、ATP提取剂、荧光素酶等因素对ATP生物发光法灵敏度与稳定性的影响,归纳总结了ATP生物发光法及检测设备在食品、医疗、污水处理等领域的应用现状,并就ATP生物发光法体系的优化及ATP在线检测的应用等方面进行了展望,以期为ATP生物发光法的高效应用提供新的思路。