Immunohistochemical identification of aquaporin 2 in the kidneys of young beef cattle

Aquaporin 2 (AQP2) is a small, integral tetrameric plasma membrane protein that is expressed in mammalian kidneys. The specific constitution of this protein and its selective permeability to water means that AQP2 plays an important role in hypertonic urine production. Immunolocalization of AQP2 has been studied in humans, monkeys, sheep, dogs, rabbits, rats, mice and adult cattle. We analyzed the expression of AQP2 in kidneys of 7-month-old Polish-Friesian var. black and white male calves. AQP2 was localized in the principal cells of collecting ducts in medullary rays penetrating the renal cortex and in the collecting ducts of renal medulla. AQP2 was expressed most strongly in the apical plasma membrane, but expression was observed also in the intracellular vesicles and basolateral plasma membrane. Our study provides new information concerning the immunolocalization of AQP2 in calf kidneys.     

不同耕作措施对冬小麦-夏玉米复种连作系统土壤有机碳和水分利用效率的影响

在连续8年田间定位试验的基础上,分析了关中平原冬小麦 夏玉米复种连作系统2008—2009年连续两个生长季期间不同耕作措施(结合秸秆还田和不还田)对土壤有机碳和水分利用率的影响.结果表明: 相对于传统耕作,保护性耕作有利于土壤有机碳、水分利用效率和作物产量的提高,其中在“深松+秸秆还田”耕作模式下的增幅最高,土壤有机碳含量在0～30 cm土层增幅达到19.5%,水分利用效率和作物产量提高了16.9%和20.5%,而免耕模式则有效提高了0～10 cm土层有机碳含量.在该地区土壤和气候条件下,深松结合秸秆粉碎还田是最理想的耕作模式,最有利于土壤有机碳累积,并提高水分利用效率和作物产量.     

Comparative analysis of DNA polymorphisms and phylogenetic relationships among Syzygium cumini Skeels based on phenotypic characters and RAPD technique

The Indian black berry (Syzygium cumini Skeels) has a great nutraceutical and medicinal properties. As in other fruit crops, the fruit characteristics are important attributes for differentiation were also determined for different accessions of S. cumini. The fruit weight, length, breadth, length: breadth ratio, pulp weight, pulp content, seed weight and pulp: seed ratio significantly varied in different accessions. Molecular characterization was carried out using PCR based RAPD technique. Out of 80 RAPD primers, only 18 primers produced stable polymorphisms that were used to examine the phylogenetic relationship. A sum of 207 loci were generated out of which 201 loci found polymorphic. The average genetic dissimilarity was 97 per cent among jamun accessions. The phylogenetic relationship was also determined by principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) that explained 46.95 per cent cumulative variance. The two-dimensional PCoA analysis showed grouping of the different accessions that were plotted into four sub-plots, representing clustering of accessions. The UPGMA (r = 0.967) and NJ (r = 0.987) dendrogram constructed based on the dissimilarity matrix revealed a good degree of fit with the cophenetic correlation value. The dendrogram grouped the accessions into three main clusters according to their eco-geographical regions which given useful insight into their phylogenetic relationships.     

L<Subscript>2</Subscript>-norm multiple kernel learning and its application to biomedical data fusion

Background  

This paper introduces the notion of optimizing different norms in the dual problem of support vector machines with multiple kernels. The selection of norms yields different extensions of multiple kernel learning (MKL) such as L _∞, L ₁, and L ₂ MKL. In particular, L ₂ MKL is a novel method that leads to non-sparse optimal kernel coefficients, which is different from the sparse kernel coefficients optimized by the existing L _∞ MKL method. In real biomedical applications, L ₂ MKL may have more advantages over sparse integration method for thoroughly combining complementary information in heterogeneous data sources.     

Target highlights in CASP13: Experimental target structures through the eyes of their authors

The functional and biological significance of selected CASP13 targets are described by the authors of the structures. The structural biologists discuss the most interesting structural features of the target proteins and assess whether these features were correctly reproduced in the predictions submitted to the CASP13 experiment.     

Nifedipine loaded chitosan microspheres prepared by emulsification phase-separation

A high yield of nifedipine-chitosan microspheres could be obtained using an emulsification phase-separation method. A high level of entrapment of nifedipine in the microspheres was achieved. The microspheres exhibited excellent swelling properties. Differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffractometry, and scanning electron microscopy confirmed that at 1.84% loading, nifedipine was dispersed molecularly. The microspheres exhibited faster release at low loadings compared to high loadings. Fitting the data to the coupled Fickian/case II equation, showed that at low loadings polymer relaxation coefficients (k₂) were high. As the polymer content increased in the microspheres, the value of n (diffusional exponent characteristic of the release mechanism) approached one, which is indicative of zero order.