Removing ECG contamination from EMG recordings: a comparison of ICA-based and other filtering procedures

Trunk muscle electromyography (EMG) is often contaminated by the electrocardiogram (ECG), which hampers data analysis and potentially yields misinterpretations. We propose the use of independent component analysis (ICA) for removing ECG contamination and compared it with other procedures previously developed to decontaminate EMG. To mimic realistic contamination while having uncontaminated reference signals, we employed EMG recordings from peripheral muscles with different activation patterns and superimposed distinct ECG signals that were recorded during rest at conventional locations for trunk muscle EMG. ICA decomposition was performed with and without a separately collected ECG signal as part of the data set and contaminated ICA modes representing ECG were identified automatically. Root mean squared relative errors and correlations between the linear envelopes of uncontaminated and contaminated EMG were calculated to assess filtering effects on EMG amplitude. Changes in spectral content were quantified via mean power frequencies. ICA-based filtering largely preserved the EMG's spectral content. Performance on amplitude measures was especially successful when a separate ECG recording was included. That is, the ICA-based filtering can produce excellent results when EMG and ECG are indeed statistically independent and when mode selection is flexibly adjusted to the data set under study.     

球孢白僵菌Hog1 MAPK同源基因BbHog1的克隆及特征分析

根据几种丝状真菌Hog1 MAPK的保守氨基酸序列设计简并引物,从昆虫病原真菌球孢白僵菌中扩增出MAPK同源基因的部分片段,然后利用YADE法延伸该片段的上、下游邻接序列,获得MAPK编码基因的全长序列,命名为BbHog1。序列分析表明,该基因编码358个氨基酸的多肽,推测分子量为40.99kDa,等电点为5.49。BbHog1含有MAPK保守的蛋白激酶激活域(TGY),序列与粗糙脉孢霉os-2(AF297032)、烟曲霉OSM1(XM_747571)、隐球酵母HOG1(AF243531)和酿酒酵母Hog1(Z73285)等Hog1 MAPK高度同源,相似性分别为94%、89%、83%和80%。系统聚类结果表明,BbHog1与酵母Hog1 MAPK同源。Southern杂交表明,BbHog1在球孢白僵菌基因组中以单拷贝形式存在。Northern分析表明,BbHog1在高渗、亚高温和营养胁迫等条件下的表达明显升高。由此推测,BbHog1基因可能与球孢白僵菌对逆境胁迫的适应性调节密切相关。     

不同配置模式林分中光肩星天牛空间格局的地统计研究

运用地统计学方法对光肩星天牛在新疆杨和复叶槭混交林（新复混交林）、合作杨纯林以及新疆杨与合作杨混交林（新合混交林）3种林分中的空间格局进行了研究.结果表明：刻槽、排粪孔和羽化孔在新复混交林和合作杨纯林中呈现较明显的空间聚集状态,而在新合混交林中则呈现完全的随机分布.新复混交林中,刻槽和排粪孔在林内的扩散趋势完全相反,即刻槽由林地周围向中心扩散,而排粪孔则由林地中心向四周扩散,这在一定程度上反映了光肩星天牛喜好产卵于刻槽较少,危害较轻的树上,而羽化孔在新复混交林中的分布数量较少,仅有几处聚集分布,由这些零星分布的聚集斑块向周围扩散;合作杨纯林中,由于林缘通风透光,合作杨生长状况较好,受害严重,从而导致枯死,最终失去对光肩星天牛的诱集作用,光肩星天牛刻槽、排粪孔和羽化孔由林地周围向中心扩散;而新合混交林中,刻槽、排粪孔和羽化孔在林内有多个聚集区域,并以此为中心向四周扩散,保持聚集和扩散平衡状态,从而表现为随机分布,这主要是由林内树种的配置情况所决定的.就不同配置树种的空间依赖性范围而言,刻槽和羽化孔在新复混交林内的空间依赖性范围要远远大于合作杨纯林,而排粪孔则远小于合作杨;就样方内的空间连续性强度而言,新复混交林中刻槽大于合作杨纯林,而排粪孔和羽化孔均小于合作杨纯林,这些均说明光肩星天牛危害在新复混交林内较集中,而在合作杨纯林内较分散.     

利用多模板Y形接头延伸法进行相邻序列的连续扩增

Y形接头延伸法(Y-shaped adaptor dependent extension,YADE)是一种扩增已知DNA片段相邻序列的方法,但其效率常受到已知序列周围酶切位点数目的限制。在Y形接头延伸中采用由多种酶切和连接产生的DNA作模板,大大提高了该方法扩增相邻序列的效率,实现了相邻序列的连续扩增。利用该方法通过2轮连续的扩增从7种酶切连接产物中成功地获得了1个棉花小GTP酶基因(GhRacB)的2228bp上游序列。结果表明,多模板Y形接头延伸法是一种从复杂基因组中扩增相邻序列的有用方法。     

耐低水活度高毒力虫生真菌菌株选育

以球孢白僵菌Beauveria bassiana和玫烟色拟青霉Paecilomyces fumosoroseus为研究对象,利用紫外线诱变芽生孢子和低水活度条件胁迫筛选,选育出突变株Bb07240、Pf01120和Pf01160,它们在低水活度（或相对湿度）下的生长和萌发均明显优于其相应的初始菌株。生物测定表明,突变株对桃蚜的毒力明显高于其初始菌株。     

沙棘木蠹蛾蛹的空间分布

沙棘木蠹蛾（Holcocerus hippophaecolus Hua, Chou , Fang et Chen）是近几年在内蒙古、辽宁、山西、宁夏和陕西等地大面积爆发的一种钻蛀性害虫,该虫约4a完成1代,主要以幼虫危害沙棘（Hippophae rhamnoidea）的根部和干部,老熟幼虫在土壤中化蛹.为了解种群的空间结构,从而有效控制其危害,应用生物学统计方法和地质统计学（Geostatistics）方法对沙棘木蠹蛾蛹的空间分布特性进行了分析研究.结果表明：约90%的蛹在6月初到7月末之间羽化,而7月份羽化的数量占总数的一半之多.在调查样地中,雌雄蛹的比例基本为1：1.每株沙棘树周围,蛹的数量为0～4个,有蛹株率仅为24.3%.蛹在距离根基部周围1.3m的范围内均有分布,不同分布区间内蛹的数量变化没有一定的规律性,但90%的蛹分布在距根基部1m的范围内.沙棘木蠹蛾蛹的种群呈现较明显的空间聚集状态,空间依赖范围大小为11.1m,局部空间连续性强度为90.7%,呈现较明显的斑块状分布,在整个区域内有很多聚集点.对不同样方大小的变异曲线图进行比较得知：样方边长分别为5、6、7m时,变程、空间局部连续性强度和基台值的变化幅度均很小,几乎相等,而样方边长为5m时的决定系数较大,此样方为最适样方大小.     

The porcine chloride channel calcium-activated family member pCLCA4a mirrors lung expression of the human hCLCA4

Pig models of cystic fibrosis (CF) have recently been established that are expected to mimic the human disease closer than mouse models do. The human CLCA (originally named chloride channels, calcium-activated) member hCLCA4 is considered a potential modifier of disease severity in CF, but its murine ortholog, mCLCA6, is not expressed in the mouse lung. Here, we have characterized the genomic structure, protein processing, and tissue expression patterns of the porcine ortholog to hCLCA4, pCLCA4a. The genomic structure and cellular protein processing of pCLCA4a were found to closely mirror those of hCLCA4 and mCLCA6. Similar to human lung, pCLCA4a mRNA was strongly expressed in porcine lungs, and the pCLCA4a protein was immunohistochemically detected on the apical membranes of tracheal and bronchial epithelial cells. This stands in sharp contrast to mouse mCLCA6, which has been detected exclusively in intestinal epithelia but not the murine lung. The results may add to the understanding of species-specific differences in the CF phenotype and support the notion that the CF pig model may be more suitable than murine models to study the role of hCLCA4.     

Binding of trastuzumab to ErbB2 is inhibited by a high pericellular density of hyaluronan

Although trastuzumab is an efficient drug, primary and acquired resistance is a challenging problem. The authors have previously shown in mouse xenograft experiments that masking ErbB2 by hyaluronan leads to diminished binding of the antibody and consequent resistance. In the current work, they correlated trastuzumab binding with the pericellular density of hyaluronan in ErbB2-overexpressing human breast cancer samples. A method for quantifying the relative binding of trastuzumab was developed involving constant and low-frequency background subtraction, segmenting the image to membrane and background pixels followed by evaluation of trastuzumab fluorescence, normalized with the expression level of ErbB2, only in the membrane. The normalized binding of trastuzumab showed a negative correlation with the pericellular density of hyaluronan (r = -0.52) with the effect being the most pronounced in the extreme cases (i.e., low and high hyaluronan densities predicted strong and weak binding of trastuzumab, respectively). Removal of hyaluronan by hyaluronidase digestion unmasked the trastuzumab binding epitope of ErbB2 demonstrated by a significantly increased normalized binding of the antibody. The results show that the accumulation of pericellular hyaluronan plays a crucial role in masking ErbB2.     

YKL-40 is differentially expressed in human embryonic stem cells and in cell progeny of the three germ layers

The secreted glycoprotein YKL-40 participates in cell differentiation, inflammation, and cancer progression. High YKL-40 expression is reported during early human development, but its functions are unknown. Six human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines were cultured in an atmosphere of low or high oxygen tension, in culture medium with or without basic fibroblast growth factor, and on feeder layers comprising mouse embryonic fibroblasts or human foreskin fibroblasts to evaluate whether hESCs and their progeny produced YKL-40 and to characterize YKL-40 expression during differentiation. Secreted YKL-40 protein and YKL-40 mRNA expression were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and quantitative RT-PCR. Serial-sectioned colonies were stained for YKL-40 protein and for pluripotent hESC (OCT4, NANOG) and germ layer (HNF-3β, PDX1, CD34, p63, nestin, PAX6) markers. Double-labeling showed YKL-40 expression in OCT4-positive hESCs, PAX6-positive neuroectodermal cells, and HNF-3β-positive endodermal cells. The differentiating progeny showed strong YKL-40 expression. Abrupt transition between YKL-40 and OCT4-positive hESCs and YKL-40-positive ecto- and neuroectodermal lineages was observed within the same epithelial-like layer. YKL-40-positive cells within deeper layers lacked contact with OCT4-positive cells. YKL-40 may be important in initial cell differentiation from hESCs toward ectoderm and neuroectoderm, with retained epithelial morphology, whereas later differentiation into endoderm and mesoderm involves a transition into the deeper layers of the colony.