Effects of acupuncture on declined cerebral blood flow,impaired mitochondrial respiratory function and oxidative stress in multi-infarct dementia rats

Brain energy disorders and oxidative stress due to chronic hypoperfusion were considered to be the major risk factors in the pathogenesis of dementia. In previous studies, we have demonstrated that acupuncture treatment improved cognitive function of VaD patients and multi-infarct dementia (MID) rats. Acupuncture therapy also increased the activities of glycometabolic enzymes in the brain. But it is not clear whether acupuncture treatment compensates neuronal energy deficit after cerebral ischemic through enhancing the activities of glucose metabolic enzymes and preserving mitochondrial function, and whether acupuncture neuroprotective effect is associated with activations of mitochondrial antioxidative defense system. So, the effect of acupuncture therapy on cognitive function, cerebral blood flow (CBF), mitochondrial respiratory function and oxidative stress in the brain of MID rats was investigated in this study. The results showed that acupuncture treatment significantly improved cognitive abilities and increased regional CBF of MID rats. Acupuncture elevated the activities of total SOD, CuZnSOD and MnSOD, decreased the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide anion, regulated the ratio of reduced glutathione (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) in mitochondria, and raised the level of the respiratory control index (RCI) and P/O ratio and the activities of mitochondrial respiratory enzymes of MID rats. These results indicated that acupuncture treatment improved cognitive function of MID rats; and this improvement might be due to increased CBF, which ameliorated mitochondrial dysfunction induced by ischemia and endogenous oxidative stress system of brain.     

Bivariate flow cytometry of farm animal chromosomes: a potential tool for gene mapping

Bivariate flow karyotypes of chromosomes from sheep, cattle and pig lymphocytes and from a cattle-mouse somatic cell hybrid line were obtained using a dual laser fluorescence-activated cell sorter (FACS). Pig chromosomes were resolved into 19-20 peaks, indicating that most, if not all, pig chromosomes could be separated by this technique. Sheep chromosomes showed incomplete separation but three clear peaks, presumably representing the three large metacentric chromosomes, plus five other clusters were obtained. Cattle chromosomes showed poor separation but about four peaks could be distinguished, indicating that certain chromosomes could be sorted in this species. The use of cattle-mouse hybrids may enable other individual cattle chromosomes to be obtained. It is concluded that FACS separation will be a useful additional tool for gene mapping.     

Whole-plant ABA flux and the regulation of water loss in Cedrella odorata

Three-month-old Cedrella odorata seedlings were exposed to a soil-drying treatment. During this period, xylem sap was periodically collected from the plant by applying pneumatic pressure to the roots. This also allowed whole-plant water status to be measured by recording the balancing pressure applied. The concentration of ABA in xylem sap (C) was related to the whole-plant transpiration rate (V) which was measured with a sap flow gauge. The analysis of these paired measurements centred on how the reciprocal of C (R) varied with respect to V. This revealed that (1) the observed increases in C could not be explained by the reductions in V alone, (2) initially, decreases in V were associated with proportional increases in the whole-plant ABA flux (M), and (3) this relationship broke down at low values of V since zero flow was associated with a finite value for C estimated to be 41 pmol ABA mmol^?1 H₂O. A simple static model is developed from the observations that is able to explain the data well, and the results are discussed in terms of the effects of ABA on stomatal conductance (g_sw).     

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。     

Evaluating regional water security through a freshwater ecosystem service flow model: A case study in Beijing-Tianjian-Hebei region,China

Freshwater ecosystem service is essential to human’s survival and development. Many studies have documented the spatial differences in the supply and demand of ecosystem services and proposed the concept of ecosystem services flows. However, few studies characterize freshwater ecosystem service flow quantitatively. Therefore, our paper aims to quantify the effects of freshwater ecosystem service flow on downstream areas. We developed a freshwater ecosystem service flow model and applied it in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region, China, for the year of 2000, 2005, and 2010. We assessed the regional water security with an improved freshwater security index by integrating freshwater service provision, consumption and flow; and found that most areas of the BTH region (69.2%) were affected by upstream freshwater flows. The areas achieving water security in the region also expanded to 66.9%, 66.1%, and 71.3%, which were 6.4%, 6.8% and 5.7% increments compared to no-flow situation, in 2000, 2005 and 2010, respectively. Setting quota for human water consumption is suggested to further improve water security. These results highlight the need to fully understand the connections between distant freshwater ecosystem service provision and local freshwater ecosystem service consumption. This approach may also help managers to choose more sustainable strategies for critical freshwater resource management across different regions.     

Perfusion culture apparatus for suspended mammalian cells

A variety of processes have been proposed for mammalian cell culture in the commercial production of useful substances (e.g., monoclonal antibodies, therapeutic and diagnostics proteins). Among them, the perfusion culture of suspended non-immobilized cells is the most advantageous. Perfusion culture can be classified by the separation process of suspended cells from the culture mixture into three types, namely filtration, gravitational settling and centrifugation. From a commercial point of view, the present situation and technical problems of suspended-cell perfusion culture will be reviewed based on the three types, The recent development of perfusion culture has been carried out mainly on the filtration separation process, but the centrifugation process seems to have a promising future because of operation stability and scale-up feasibility. The reasons will be explained in details.     

The NADPH-dependent electron flow in chloroplasts of the higher plants

The NADPH-dependent reduction of some photosynthetic electron carriers in the dark, and the reduction of NADP+ associated with the glycolytic sequence and the oxidative pentose phosphate pathway in chloroplasts are reviewed. The postulated pathways of electron transports sensitive and insensitive to antimycin A are also evaluated. It is proposed that the electron flow, predominantly through cytochrome bf complex, may be also involved in the pathway of NADPH-dependent and antimycin A-insensitive back electron transport. An information on the chlororespiration in higher plants is also included. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.