Wading through the swamp: what does tropical peatland restoration mean to national‐level stakeholders in Indonesia?

Ecological restoration is considered to play an important role in mitigating climate change, protecting biodiversity, and preventing environmental degradation. Yet, there are often multiple perspectives on what outcomes restoration should be aiming to achieve, and how we should get to that point. In this study we interview a range of policymakers, academics, and non‐governmental organization (NGO) representatives to explore the range of perspectives on the restoration of Indonesia's tropical peatlands—key global ecosystems that have undergone large‐scale degradation. Thematic analysis suggests that participants agreed about the importance of restoration, but had differing opinions on how effective restoration activities to date have been and what a restored peatland landscape should look like. These results exemplify how ecological restoration can mean different things to different people, but also highlight important areas of consensus for moving forward with peatland restoration strategies.     

Mild cycles open closed communities to ecological restoration

Species loss is a global issue. With up to a million species at risk and insufficient protected area to maintain the world's biodiversity, humanity will increasingly need to rely on species re‐introductions to locally restore diversity and function. However, such restoration attempts are bound to fail when ecological communities get locked in a closed state that is resistant to recovery. It is presently unknown how to repair these closed systems. We use mathematical models to identify ways out of this problem. We first show how ecological communities may enter a closed state, to then explain how to open them up again for restoration of their original diversity. We find that restoration is often still possible shortly after initial species loss, as (1) the secondary extinctions that produce closure have not happened yet and (2) mild population fluctuations still allow successful repair during a transient postdisturbance phase. However, after this typically short window of opportunity for restoration, the system enters a new equilibrium, which may be a closed state. Our analysis shows how to take ecological communities out of the closed state: Appropriate management of carrying capacities produces a regime of mild population fluctuations that opens a window for successful species re‐introductions. These windows can be perpetually recurring or permanently open. Such opportunities for repair can be absent under regimes of wild cycles or perfect stability. We conclude that mild cycles may open windows of opportunity for the repair of communities that have become resistant to recovery.     

Psoralen attenuates bleomycin‐induced pulmonary fibrosis in mice through inhibiting myofibroblast activation and collagen deposition

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a progressive disease characterized by excessive deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) and chronic inflammation with limited therapeutic options. Psoralen, a major active component extracted from Psoralea corylifolia L. seed, has several biological effects. However, the role of psoralen in IPF is still unclear. Here, we hypothesized that psoralen played an essential role in IPF in the inhibition of fibroblast proliferation and inflammatory response. A murine model of IPF was established by injecting bleomycin (BLM) intratracheally, and psoralen was administered for 14 days from the 7^th to 21^st day after BLM injection. Our results demonstrated that psoralen treatment reduced body weight loss and improved the survival rate of mice with IPF. Histological and immunofluorescent examination showed that psoralen alleviated BLM‐induced lung parenchymal inflammatory and fibrotic alteration. Furthermore, psoralen inhibited proliferation and collagen synthesis of mouse fibroblasts and partially reversed BLM‐induced expression of α‐smooth muscle actin at both the tissue and cell level. Moreover, psoralen decreased the expression of transforming growth factor‐β1, interleukin‐1β, and tumor necrosis factor‐α in the lungs of BLM‐stimulated mice. Our results reveale for the first time that psoralen exerts therapeutic effects against IPF in a BLM‐induced murine model.     

The protective effects of grape seed procyanidin B2 against asporin mediates glycated low‐density lipoprotein induced‐cardiomyocyte apoptosis and fibrosis

The progression of diabetic cardiomyopathy is related to cardiomyocyte dysfunction and apoptosis. Our previous studies showed that asporin (ASPN) was significantly increased in the myocardium of db/db mice through proteomics, and grape seed procyanidin B2 (GSPB2) significantly inhibited the expression of ASPN in the heart of db/db mice. We report here that ASPN played a critical role in glycated low‐density lipoproteins (gly‐LDL) induced‐cardiomyocyte apoptosis. We found that gly‐LDL upregulated ASPN expression. ASPN increased H9C2 cardiomyocyte apoptosis with down‐regulation of Bcl‐2, upregulation of transforming growth factor‐β1, Bax, collagen III, fibronectin, and phosphorylation of smad2 and smad3. However, GSPB2 treatment reversed ASPN‐induced impairments in H9C2 cardiomyocytes. These results provide evidence for the cardioprotective action of GSPB2 against ASPN injury, and thus suggest a new target for fighting against diabetic cardiomyopathy.     

Effects of flavonoids on tongue squamous cell carcinoma

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the tongue is associated with tobacco use, alcohol abuse, and human papillomavirus (HPV) infections. While clinical outcomes have recently improved for HPV‐positive patients in general, 50% of patients suffering from tongue cancer die within 5 years of being diagnosed. Flavonoids are secondary plant metabolites with a wide range of biological activities including antioxidant, anti‐inflammatory, and anticancer activities. Flavonoids have generated high interest as therapeutic agents owing to their low toxicity and their effects on a large variety of cancer cell types. In this literature review, we evaluate the actions of flavonoids on SCC of the tongue demonstrated in both in vivo and in vitro models.     

放线菌分类地位的变迁及其系统学研究最新进展

放线菌是目前细菌域最大的谱系之一,门下物种繁多。放线菌作为人类生产和生活极为密切的微生物类群,其强大的代谢产物编码能力为人们所共识。放线菌系统学是以实现对放线菌进行分类、鉴定、命名为目标的基础学科,因此它是放线菌资源研究和开发利用的重要理论基础。近期,我们放线菌资源与利用团队对2009年版放线菌分类系统再次进行了更新和修订,并被国际权威分类学期刊IJSEM杂志接受发表,进一步巩固了我国在本领域的国际领先地位。重点对放线菌的概念演变、分类地位变迁,以及放线菌系统学研究的最新进展做全面概述,并对其未来发展方向进行了展望,以供国内从事本领域研究的同行参考。     

三种淡水鱼类在中国南北两个地区的肠道菌群差异比较

山东省德州市禹城市和湖南省长沙市望城区分别属于我国北方和南方地区,环境和气候差异明显。本试验以禹城市和望城区两地的草鱼(Ctenopharyngodon idella)、鲫鱼(Carassius auratus)和鲤鱼(Cyprinus carpio)为研究对象,对肠道中的菌群进行16s rRNA V4高变区扩增,基于IonS5 TM XL测序平台进行测序,并对相关数据进行分析。结果表明,在门水平上鲫鱼、鲤鱼、草鱼的肠道优势菌主要为变形菌门(Proteobacteria)、梭杆菌门(Fusobacteria)、硬壁菌门(Firmicutes),拟杆菌门(Bacteroidetes),各组中这四种菌门所占比之和均在80%以上;基于Bray-Curtis距离值的秩次进行组间差异显著性检验,山东草鱼组和湖南草鱼组比较中组间差异大于组内差异(R=0.307,P<0.05),且线性判别分析显示湖南草鱼组的特征性菌群为弧菌属,而山东草鱼组的为梭菌纲,推测特征性菌群差异与环境的影响有关;有害菌种的统计分析表明,湖南鲫鱼组和鲤鱼组的嗜水气单胞菌属相对丰度明显高于对应的山东鲫鱼组和鲤鱼组,山东草鱼组和鲤鱼组的弧菌属相对丰度高于对应的湖南草鱼组和鲤鱼组,可能受外界环境的影响,不同地区抵御外来有害细菌的能力也不一样。本研究对两地的淡水鱼类肠道微生物群落结构进行了比较和分析,为进一步的鱼类发育研究奠定基础。     

超连续谱激光可见谱段致人眼眩目效应研究

本文采用超连续谱激光光源滤除其红外部分仅输出可见谱段部分,在不超过国家安全标准允许的最大辐照量条件下,以正入射方式照射人眼后,记录并分析在明、暗适应条件下中心极限视力恢复时间、中心近极限视力恢复时间和视觉后像持续时间,明确超连续谱激光可见谱段对人眼的眩目效果。明适应下激光照射0.1 s导致人眼中心极限视力恢复时间为31~119 s,中心近极限视力恢复时间为19~76 s;暗适应下激光照射0.1 s导致人眼中心极限视力恢复时间为26~223 s,中心近极限视力恢复时间为13~123 s;明、暗适应下导致人眼眩目效应的最小功率密度值分别为0.055 mW/cm^2和0.005 mW/cm^2。结果表明,超连续谱激光可见谱段对人眼有良好的眩目效果,可导致数十秒至数百秒的中心视力下降,随着照射功率密度增高,眩目效应增强,显示出较好的量效关系,且相同功率密度时暗适应下人眼的眩目效果优于明适应。该研究探究了明、暗适应条件下超连续谱激光对人眼眩目效应,明确了超连续谱激光与人眼眩目的量效关系。     

辅色剂对紫淮山花色苷稳定性的影响及其热降解动力学研究

为探究谷胱甘肽和没食子酸对紫淮山花色苷的辅色作用,本文研究了谷胱甘肽和没食子酸对紫淮山花色苷降解率、热稳定性及色差的影响。试验表明,谷胱甘肽和没食子酸能有效抑制花色苷的降解,且最佳添加量分别为0.03%和0.2%。在此添加量条件下,紫淮山花色苷在50、70、90℃水浴中的热降解均符合一级降解反应动力学规律。添加谷胱甘肽和没食子酸的紫淮山花色苷降解速率常数(k)小于对照组,半衰期(t 1/2)和活化能(Ea)高于对照组,说明谷胱甘肽和没食子酸能够增强花色苷的热稳定性。色差测定结果表明,经谷胱甘肽和没食子酸辅色后的紫淮山花色苷,其明度指数(L*)和色品指数(a*、b*)较对照组变化缓慢,颜色的稳定性增强。