A validated model of passive skeletal muscle to predict force and intramuscular pressure

The passive properties of skeletal muscle are often overlooked in muscle studies, yet they play a key role in tissue function in vivo. Studies analyzing and modeling muscle passive properties, while not uncommon, have never investigated the role of fluid content within the tissue. Additionally, intramuscular pressure (IMP) has been shown to correlate with muscle force in vivo and could be used to predict muscle force in the clinic. In this study, a novel model of skeletal muscle was developed and validated to predict both muscle stress and IMP under passive conditions for the New Zealand White Rabbit tibialis anterior. This model is the first to include fluid content within the tissue and uses whole muscle geometry. A nonlinear optimization scheme was highly effective at fitting model stress output to experimental stress data (normalized mean square error or NMSE fit value of 0.993) and validation showed very good agreement to experimental data (NMSE fit values of 0.955 and 0.860 for IMP and stress, respectively). While future work to include muscle activation would broaden the physiological application of this model, the passive implementation could be used to guide surgeries where passive muscle is stretched.     

囊萼花属─—中国玄参科新记录属及—新种

报道了我国玄参科的一个新记录属──囊萼花属ＣｙｒｔａｎｄｒｏｍｏｅａＺｏｌｌ，该属为印度－马来西亚分布，它经过泰国北部，缅甸与我国发生连系，到达我国云南贡山、屏边、金平。全世界有１１—１２种，我国（云南）首次记录两种，其中一种为新种。     

How reliable are the Powell–Wetherall plot method and the maximum-length approach? Implications for length-based studies of growth and mortality

Length-based methods are the cornerstone of many population studies and stock assessments. This study tested two widely used methods: the Powell–Wetherall (P–W) plot and the L_max approach (i.e., estimating L_∞ directly from L_max). In most simulations, P–W estimates of the ratio total mortality/growth (Z/K ratio) were biased beyond acceptable limits (bias?>?30%). Bias in Z/K showed a complex behavior, without possible corrections. Estimates of asymptotic length (L_∞) were less biased than Z/K, but were very sensitive to intra-cohort variability in growth and to changes in the occurrence of large individuals in the sample. Exclusion of the largest size classes during the regression procedure or weighing by abundance does not solve these issues. Perfect linearization of the data and extremely narrow confidence intervals for Z/K will lead users to erroneous overconfidence in outputs. Clearly, the P–W method is not suitable for the assessment of Z/K ratios of natural populations. Estimation of L_∞ may be tentatively possible under very specific conditions, with necessary external verifications. Also, this study demonstrates that there is no way to estimate L_∞ directly from L_max, since there is no particular relationship to expect a priori between L_∞ and L_max. Errors in estimating L_∞ directly affect the estimate of the growth constant K and all other subsequent calculations in population studies, stock assessments and ecosystem models. New approaches are urgently needed for length-based studies of body growth (e.g., unconstrained curve fit with subsequent bootstrapping), that consider the inherent uncertainty regarding the underlying data and processes.     

Capturing pair-wise epistatic effects associated with three agronomic traits in barley

Genetic association mapping has been widely applied to determine genetic markers favorably associated with a trait of interest and provide information for marker-assisted selection. Many association mapping studies commonly focus on main effects due to intolerable computing intensity. This study aims to select several sets of DNA markers with potential epistasis to maximize genetic variations of some key agronomic traits in barley. By doing so, we integrated a MDR (multifactor dimensionality reduction) method with a forward variable selection approach. This integrated approach was used to determine single nucleotide polymorphism pairs with epistasis effects associated with three agronomic traits: heading date, plant height, and grain yield in barley from the barley Coordinated Agricultural Project. Our results showed that four, seven, and five SNP pairs accounted for 51.06, 45.66 and 40.42% for heading date, plant height, and grain yield, respectively with epistasis being considered, while corresponding contributions to these three traits were 45.32, 31.39, 31.31%, respectively without epistasis being included. The results suggested that epistasis model was more effective than non-epistasis model in this study and can be more preferred for other applications.     

转基因大豆MON89788芯片式数字PCR定量方法的建立

针对抗虫耐除草剂大豆转基因品系MON89788,从转基因植物基因组DNA的提取、核酸模板的质量和浓度控制、引物探针的筛选、PCR反应过程的建立等方面建立了一套完整的转基因大豆芯片式dPCR定量检测方法。本实验也对该方法的重复性和定量检测限进行考察。10组5%转基因品系大豆MON89788样品定量重复性RSD在1.17%-9.97%之间,均满足国际上转基因定量结果RSD小于25%的要求。用该方法对转基因含量为5%、1%、0.1%的大豆MON89788进行定量检测,其定量结果为5.20%、0.94%和0.11%,RSD分别为6.2%、3.6%和15.2%。该检测方法的定量限达到0.1%,能满足欧盟对转基因定量标识0.9%的要求。将本实验建立的方法用于转基因大豆的定量检测,能为规范我国转基因监管工作的实施提供强有力的技术支撑。     

一种新型免疫层析技术在临床乳腺癌Her-2蛋白定量检测中的应用

建立一种靶点蛋白质快速定量检测方法。在原有侧向流动免疫层析技术的基础上,通过优化层析材料和纳米微球的均一性、改进检测区的检测方法,经逐点扫描技术,建立标准浓度曲线,以达到对临床靶点蛋白质的定量检测。以乳腺癌组织中的Her2表达为例,通过对已知浓度样品的检测,验证本技术方法的准确度大于96%。另外,以蛋白质免疫印迹作为组织中特定蛋白质检测金标准,分析临床肿瘤组织中Her2蛋白的含量,其准确率也达到95.5%,而免疫组织化学方法检测准确率仅为69.58%。新型免疫层析法检测结果与靶向治疗患者的愈后密切相关(P<0.01)。改进后的新型免疫层析方法能够准确地对临床靶点蛋白质进行定量检测,而且结合侧向流动技术的简单、快速和易用性,这种新型检测方法可以广泛应用于临床组织标本、血液标本和体液标本中靶点蛋白质的临场定量检测,在一定程度上可以替代免疫组化技术。     

Exotic grass invasion impacts fitness of an endangered prairie butterfly, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Icaricia icarioides fenderi</Emphasis>

Fender’s blue butterfly is an endangered species restricted to fragmented, grassland remnants that are becoming increasingly dominated by tall, invasive grasses in western Oregon, USA. I performed a removal experiment to assess the impacts of structural degradation accompanying the invasion of Arrhenatherum elatius, tall oat grass, on butterfly fitness and fitness related behaviors. Clipping of A. elatius to native grass sward height resulted in 2.5–5 times as many eggs laid per leaf of host plant. Both male and female butterflies basked more frequently in areas removed of A. elatius inflorescences and upon encountering the treatment edge butterflies had a high rate of return into a large area removed of the grass inflorescences. Although butterfly behavior appeared to be affected by the change in sward height on the treatment edge, there was no evidence for the edge causing a disproportionate egg load. Invasion and dominance by A. elatius appeared to diminish host plant apparency which may result in overloading of eggs on conspicuous host plants, increased incidence of emigration, and a decrease in the likelihood of colonization because female butterflies appeared indifferent to larval resources beneath A. elatius inflorescences. Dominance of natural shortgrass prairies by tall stature grasses like A. elatius may be an insidious form of habitat degradation for grassland Lepidoptera worldwide, but it may go largely unnoticed because larval and adult resources can persist under the unnaturally tall grass canopy.     

Multi-model recursive identification for nonlinear systems with non-uniformly sampling

A recursive least squares based on Multi-model is proposed for non-uniformly sampled-data nonlinear (NUSDN) systems. The corresponding state space model of an NUSDN system is derived using lifting technique. Taking advantage of the Fuzzy c-Mean Clustering algorithm, NUSDN is divided into several local models. The basic idea is that the NUSDN system is viewed as a model switching system under a given rule. Once the local models are identified, the global model is determined. A pH neutralization process validate the performance of the proposed algorithm.