A modified cornish pasty method for ex ovo culture of the chick embryo development

Chick embryos grown in ex ovo culture by the modified Cornish pasty method reported in Nagai, Lin and Sheng in this issue.     

Structure and Optical Bandgap Relationship of π-Conjugated Systems

In bulk heterojunction photovoltaic systems both the open-circuit voltage as well as the short-circuit current, and hence the power conversion efficiency, are dependent on the optical bandgap of the electron-donor material. While first-principles methods are computationally intensive, simpler model Hamiltonian approaches typically suffer from one or more flaws: inability to optimize the geometries for their own input; absence of general, transferable parameters; and poor performance for non-planar systems. We introduce a set of new and revised parameters for the adapted Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (aSSH) Hamiltonian, which is capable of optimizing geometries, along with rules for applying them to any -conjugated system containing C, N, O, or S, including non-planar systems. The predicted optical bandgaps show excellent agreement to UV-vis spectroscopy data points from literature, with a coefficient of determination , a mean error of −0.05 eV, and a mean absolute deviation of 0.16 eV. We use the model to gain insights from PEDOT, fused thiophene polymers, poly-isothianaphthene, copolymers, and pentacene as sources of design rules in the search for low bandgap materials. Using the model as an in-silico design tool, a copolymer of benzodithiophenes along with a small-molecule derivative of pentacene are proposed as optimal donor materials for organic photovoltaics.     

Information Structure Influences Depth of Syntactic Processing: Event-Related Potential Evidence for the Chomsky Illusion

Information structure facilitates communication between interlocutors by highlighting relevant information. It has previously been shown that information structure modulates the depth of semantic processing. Here we used event-related potentials to investigate whether information structure can modulate the depth of syntactic processing. In question-answer pairs, subtle (number agreement) or salient (phrase structure) syntactic violations were placed either in focus or out of focus through information structure marking. P600 effects to these violations reflect the depth of syntactic processing. For subtle violations, a P600 effect was observed in the focus condition, but not in the non-focus condition. For salient violations, comparable P600 effects were found in both conditions. These results indicate that information structure can modulate the depth of syntactic processing, but that this effect depends on the salience of the information. When subtle violations are not in focus, they are processed less elaborately. We label this phenomenon the Chomsky illusion.     

Validation of Chinese Version of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire (Chi-PCOSQ)

ObjectivesTo evaluate the responsiveness, longitudinal validity, and measurement invariance of the Chinese version of the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Health-related Quality of Life Questionnaire (Chi-PCOSQ).ResultsWith improved 2-hour glucose and insulin levels, we also found significantly increased Chi-PCOSQ total and individual domain scores (total score: t (49) = 5.20; p < 0.001, domain scores: t (49) = 2.72 to 3.87; p < 0.01), except for hair growth. Half of the domains scores (3 of 6) and the total score of Chi-PCOSQ had a medium responsiveness, but WHOQOL-BREF was not sufficiently responsive to clinical changes of PCOS. Improved PCOS-specific health-related quality of life (HRQoL), as indicated by Chi-PCOSQ scores, was significantly associated with improved 2-hour glucose and insulin levels. All indices of the data-model fit of the Chi-PCOSQ structure were satisfactory, except for the slightly high standardized root mean square residual values (0.087 to 0.088). The measurement invariance of Chi-PCOSQ was supported across time.ConclusionChi-PCOSQ is sufficiently sensitive in detecting clinical changes and its measurement structure is suitable for Chinese women with PCOS. It is thus a promising tool for assessing the HRQoL of ethnic Chinese women with PCOS.     

Synergistic effect on anti-methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among combinations of α-mangostin-rich extract,lawsone methyl ether and ampicillin

α-Mangostin-rich extract (AME) exhibited satisfactory inhibitory activities against all tested MRSA strains, with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 7·8–31·25 µg ml⁻¹, whereas lawsone methyl ether (LME) and ampicillin revealed weak antibacterial activity with MICs of 62·5–125 µg ml⁻¹. However, the combination of AME and LME showed synergistic effects against all tested MRSA strains with fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) values of 0·008–0·009, while the combination of AME and ampicillin, as well as LME and ampicillin produced synergistic effects with FICIs of 0·016–0·257. A time-kill assay against MRSA (DMST 20654 strain) revealed a 6-log reduction in CFU per ml, which completely inhibited bacterial growth for the combinations of AME and LME, AME and ampicillin, and LME and ampicillin at a 8-h incubation, while those against MRSA (2468 strain) were at 10-h incubation. The combination of α-mangostin and LME as well as the combinations of each compound with ampicillin synergized the alteration of membrane permeability. In addition, α-mangostin, LME and ampicillin inhibited the biofilm formation of MRSA. These findings indicated that the combinations of AME and LME or each of them in combination with ampicillin had enhanced antibacterial activity against MRSA. Therefore, these compounds might be used as the antibacterial cocktails for treatment of MRSA.     

Molecular phylogeny of three ambiguous ciliate genera: Kentrophoros,Trachelolophos and Trachelotractus (Alveolata,Ciliophora)

Gao, S., Strüder‐Kypke, M.C., Al‐Rasheid, K.A.S., Lin, X. & Song, W. (2010). Molecular phylogeny of three ambiguous ciliate genera: Kentrophoros, Trachelolophos and Trachelotractus (Alveolata, Ciliophora).—Zoologica Scripta, 39, 305–313. Very few molecular studies on the phylogeny of the karyorelictean ciliates have been carried out because data of this highly ambiguous group are extremely scarce. In the present study, we sequenced the small subunit ribosomal RNA genes of three morphospecies representing two karyorelictean genera, Kentrophoros, Trachelolophos, and one haptorid, Trachelotractus, isolated from the South and East China Seas. The phylogenetic trees constructed using Bayesian inference, maximum likelihood, maximum parsimony and neighbor‐joining methods yielded essentially similar topologies. The class Karyorelictea is depicted as a monophyletic clade, closely related to the class Heterotrichea. The generic concept of the family Trachelocercidae is confirmed by the clustering of Trachelolophos and Tracheloraphis with high bootstrap support; nevertheless, the order Loxodida is paraphyletic. The transfer of the morphotype Trachelocerca entzi Kahl, 1927 to the class Litostomatea and into the new haptorid genus Trachelotractus, as suggested by previous researchers based on morphological studies, is consistently supported by our molecular analyses. In addition, the poorly known species Parduczia orbis occupies a well‐supported position basal to the Geleia clade, justifying the separation of these genera from one another.     

PDMS Microwell Stencil Based Multiplexed Single‐Cell Secretion Analysis

Multiplexed single‐cell protein secretion analysis provides an in‐depth understanding of cellular heterogeneity in intercellular communications mediated by secreted proteins in both fundamental and clinical research. However, it has been challenging to increase the proteomic parameters co‐profiled from every single cell in a facile way. Herein, a simple method to improve the multiplexed proteomic parameters of PDMS microwell based single‐cell secretion analysis platform by sandwiching PDMS stencil in between two antibody‐coated glass slides is introduced. Two different antibody panels can be immobilized easily by static coating, without using sophisticated fluid handling or bulky equipment. 5‐plexed, 3‐fluorescence color single‐cell secretion assay is demonstrated with this platform to investigate human monocytic U937 cells in response to lipopolysaccharide and phorbol myristate acetate stimulation, which identified the existence of functional subsets dictated by different cytokine profiles. The technology introduced here is simple, easy to operate, which holds great potential to become a powerful tool for profiling multiplexed single‐cell cytokine secretion at high throughput to dissect cellular heterogeneity in secretome signatures.     

蛹虫草MF27菌糠多糖对肝细胞氧化损伤的保护作用

蛹虫草是一种可利用大米、小麦等谷物培育的名贵药用真菌,其采收后的菌糠里仍富含许多生物活性物质。本研究立足于蛹虫草菌糠多糖,先分析其化学抗氧化活性,再以H₂O₂诱导氧化应激损伤的LO2细胞为模型,评价其对肝细胞氧化损伤的保护作用,进而解析活性多糖的单糖组分。结果显示,菌糠多糖能够有效清除DPPH自由基、羟基（?OH）自由基和ABTS自由基,EC₅₀分别为0.26mg/mL、1.03mg/mL、0.57mg/mL,提示其具有良好的抗氧化能力;在H₂O₂诱导氧化应激损伤的LO2细胞中,菌糠多糖能有效地保护细胞形态的完整性,并且随浓度梯度递增式地提高细胞存活率,当多糖浓度为5mg/mL时,细胞存活率可达91.83%;在分析其作用机制上,与模型组对比,菌糠多糖能通过调节细胞抗氧化酶SOD（提高4.91倍）和CAT（提高3.40倍）的表达来清除ROS含量（P<0.01）,降低氧化损害;经检测,虫草菌糠活性多糖主要含有葡萄糖、甘露糖、半乳糖、阿拉伯糖、葡萄糖醛酸、木糖、半乳糖醛酸、鼠李糖和岩藻糖等单糖。研究结果表明蛹虫草MF27菌糠多糖具有保护肝细胞氧化损伤的作用,为进一步开发和利用虫草菌糠提供了重要理论依据。