Diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome]

Symptoms and signs in 12 patients with severe obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) syndrome have been presented. The most common symptoms were snoring , increased motor activity during sleep and excessive daytime somnolence. The factors predisposing to OSA syndrome were obesity and anatomic abnormalities of the upper airway structure. In some cases the signs of OSA syndrome included hypertension, right heart failure, chronic alveolar hypoventilation and polycythemia. Polysomnography showed sleep fragmentation and the prevalence of light sleep stages. Obstructive sleep apneas repeated 73 +/- 23 times per hour of sleep. The mean apnea duration was 19 +/- 8 s. The mean arterial oxygen saturation during apnea was 72 +/- 14%.     

胰岛素B链C端及B29Lys氨基在胰岛素促生长功能中的作用

利用结晶紫测定细胞生长的方法,在９６孔板培养的小鼠乳腺癌细胞ＧＲ２Ｈ６中,建立了胰岛素促细胞生长活力的测定体系。该方法具有灵敏度高,重复性好,操作简便,周期短及便于大量样品分析测试的优点。利用该方法研究了胰岛素Ｂ链Ｃ端延长与缩短的类似物和胰岛素侧链氨基对胰岛素促生长活性的影响。结果显示,胰岛素Ｂ链Ｃ端在胰岛素的促生长活性中有重要作用;Ｂ链２９Ｌｙｓ氨基对促生长活性也有较大贡献。     

三种蜘蛛丝蛋白组成分析

本文应用高压液相色谱（ＨＰＬＣ）法分析了岳麓山的大腹园蛛Ａｒａｎｅｕｓ ｖｅｎｔｒｉｃｏｓｕｓ（Ｃ．Ｋｏｃｈ,１８７８）,机敏漏头蛛Ａｇｅｌｅｎａ ｄｉｆｆｉｃｌｉｓ （Ｆｏｘ,１９３７）,白额巨蟹蛛Ｈｅｔｅｒｏｐｏｄａ ｖｅｎａｔｏｒｉａ （Ｌｉｎｎａｅｕｓ,１７５７）的丝蛋白的氨基酸组成,以ＳＤＳ－ＰＡＧＥ法测定了大腹园蛛不同丝腺体的未成丝的可溶性丝蛋白的分子量。实验结果表明蛛丝蛋白中占优势的     

A Brønsted acidic ionic liquid as an efficient and environmentally benign catalyst for biodiesel synthesis from free fatty acids and alcohols

Biodiesel could be synthesized using Brønsted acidic ionic liquid N-methyl-2-pyrrolidonium methyl sulfonate ([NMP][CH₃SO₃]) as a catalyst, specially with free long-chain fatty acids or their mixtures, as well as with low-molecular weight alcohols as substrates. This catalyst showed good catalytic and reusable performance under mild conditions and without any additional organic solvent. The ionic liquid could be reused eight times after the water in the ionic liquid was removed. The yields of fatty acid alkyl esters could reach between 93.6% and 95.3% after the esterifications were carried out at 70 °C for 8 h. Therefore, an efficient and environmentally friendly catalyst was provided for the synthesis of biodiesel from low-cost feedstocks such as waste oils.     

Screening of genes expressed in vivo after infection by Vibrio anguillarum M3

Aims: Genes uniquely expressed in vivo may contribute to the overall pathogenicity of an organism and are likely to serve as potential targets for the development of new vaccine. This study aims to screen the genes expressed in vivo after Vibrio anguillarum infection by in vivo‐induced antigen technology (IVIAT). Methods and Results: The convalescent‐phase sera were obtained from turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) survived after infection by the virulent V. anguillarum M3. The pooled sera were thoroughly adsorbed with M3 cells and Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) cells. A genomic expression library of M3 was constructed and screened for the identification of immunogenic proteins by colony immunoblot analysis with the adsorbed sera. After three rounds of screening, 19 putative in vivo‐induced (ivi) genes were obtained. These ivi genes were catalogued into four functional groups: regulator/signalling, metabolism, biological process and hypothetical proteins. Three ivi genes were insertion‐mutated, and the growth and 50% lethal dose (LD₅₀) of these mutants were evaluated. Conclusions: The identification of ivi genes in V. anguillarum M3 sheds light on understanding the bacterial pathogenesis and provides novel targets for the development of new vaccines and diagnostic reagents. Significance and Impact of the Study: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report describing in vivo‐expressed genes of V. anguillarum using IVIAT. The screened ivi genes in this study could be new virulent factors and targets for the development of vaccine, which may have implications for the development of diagnostic regents.     

Carbon nanotube clusters as universal bacterial adsorbents and magnetic separation agents

The magnetic susceptibility and high bacterial affinity of carbon nanotube (CNT) clusters highlight their great potential as a magnetic bio‐separation agent. This article reports the CNT clusters' capability as “universal” bacterial adsorbents and magnetic separation agents by designing and testing a multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWNT) cluster‐based process for bacterial capturing and separation. The reaction system consisted of large clusters of MWNTs for bacterial capture and an external magnet for bio‐separation. The designed system was tested and optimized using Escherichia coli as a model bacterium, and further generalized by testing the process with other representative strains of both gram‐positive and gram‐negative bacteria. For all strains tested, bacterial adsorption to MWNT clusters occurred spontaneously, and the estimated MWNT clusters' adsorption capacities were nearly the same regardless of the types of strains. The bacteria‐bound MWNT clusters also responded almost instantaneously to the magnetic field by a rare‐earth magnet (0.68 Tesla), and completely separated from the bulk aqueous phase and retained in the system. The results clearly demonstrate their excellent potential as highly effective “universal” bacterial adsorbents for the spontaneous adsorption of any types of bacteria to the clusters and as paramagnetic complexes for the rapid and highly effective magnetic separations. © 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 2010     

Metabolic engineering of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis> for biotechnological production of high-value organic acids and alcohols

Confronted with the gradual and inescapable exhaustion of the earth’s fossil energy resources, the bio-based process to produce platform chemicals from renewable carbohydrates is attracting growing interest. Escherichia coli has been chosen as a workhouse for the production of many valuable chemicals due to its clear genetic background, convenient to be genetically modified and good growth properties with low nutrient requirements. Rational strain development of E. coli achieved by metabolic engineering strategies has provided new processes for efficiently biotechnological production of various high-value chemical building blocks. Compared to previous reviews, this review focuses on recent advances in metabolic engineering of the industrial model bacteria E. coli that lead to efficient recombinant biocatalysts for the production of high-value organic acids like succinic acid, lactic acid, 3-hydroxypropanoic acid and glucaric acid as well as alcohols like 1,3-propanediol, xylitol, mannitol, and glycerol with the discussion of the future research in this area. Besides, this review also discusses several platform chemicals, including fumaric acid, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, sorbitol, itaconic acid, and 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid, which have not been produced by E. coli until now.     

引起免疫失败的IBV分离株的生物学特性及结构基因分析

本研究应用鸡胚尿囊腔接种的方法,从广西患传染性支气管炎的免疫失败的病鸡中分离到一株传染性支气管炎病毒(IBV)(命名GX-YES),通过间接血凝试验、动物回归试验和气管环交叉中和试验对该毒株进行鉴定和主要生物学特性的研究,同时利用RT-PCR技术扩增克隆该病毒的SI基因和N基因并测定其核苷酸序列.结果表明:该病毒株有间接血凝性;致病性较强;血清型不同于常用疫苗株H120、Ma5、4/91.同源性分析表明,SI基因核苷酸和氨基酸序列与参考株的同源性分别为63.5%～81.2%和50.7%～78.8%;N基因核苷酸和氨基酸序列与参考株的同源性分别为85.7%～87.2%和89.5%～91.7%;SI基因和N基因系统进化分析表明分离株与其它参考毒株的亲缘关系较远.SI基因和N基因分型与血清学试验结果相吻合.本研究结果提示了广西分离株GX-YL5可能是一个新的变异株,这可能是目前免疫失败的重要因素,同时也为研制适合本地使用的IBV疫苗提供了科学依据和物质基础.     

我国工业生物过程工程研究进展

工业生物技术的进步离不开工业生物过程工程研究的不断深入及发展,我国作为工业发酵大国在工业生物技术由实验室向产业化转化过程中面对诸多挑战,由此而逐渐发展起来的我国工业生物过程工程发展先后经历了多个阶段,伴随着不同阶段的发展,我国的工业生物技术水平得到不断的提升。本文重点回顾了近三、四十年来我国工业生物过程工程发展的历程,包括早期由化工过程研究引入的动力学模型化研究、基于过程控制的优化理论与方法的应用、基于过程在线监测技术发展起来的参数相关性分析方法、过程多尺度理论的建立、基于现代固态发酵的新型固态发酵罐的设计及优化技术发展等。通过对生物过程工程发展历程的回顾对先进工业生物过程发展面临的技术难题及由此引出的未来发展重点方向进行了探讨。     

Nitrogen deposition contributes to soil acidification in tropical ecosystems

Elevated anthropogenic nitrogen (N) deposition has greatly altered terrestrial ecosystem functioning, threatening ecosystem health via acidification and eutrophication in temperate and boreal forests across the northern hemisphere. However, response of forest soil acidification to N deposition has been less studied in humid tropics compared to other forest types. This study was designed to explore impacts of long‐term N deposition on soil acidification processes in tropical forests. We have established a long‐term N‐deposition experiment in an N‐rich lowland tropical forest of Southern China since 2002 with N addition as NH₄NO₃ of 0, 50, 100 and 150 kg N ha^?1 yr^?1. We measured soil acidification status and element leaching in soil drainage solution after 6‐year N addition. Results showed that our study site has been experiencing serious soil acidification and was quite acid‐sensitive showing high acidification (pH_(H2O)<4.0), negative water‐extracted acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) and low base saturation (BS,< 8%) throughout soil profiles. Long‐term N addition significantly accelerated soil acidification, leading to depleted base cations and decreased BS, and further lowered ANC. However, N addition did not alter exchangeable Al³⁺, but increased cation exchange capacity (CEC). Nitrogen addition‐induced increase in SOC is suggested to contribute to both higher CEC and lower pH. We further found that increased N addition greatly decreased soil solution pH at 20 cm depth, but not at 40 cm. Furthermore, there was no evidence that Al³⁺ was leaching out from the deeper soils. These unique responses in tropical climate likely resulted from: exchangeable H⁺ dominating changes of soil cation pool, an exhausted base cation pool, N‐addition stimulating SOC production, and N saturation. Our results suggest that long‐term N addition can contribute measurably to soil acidification, and that shortage of Ca and Mg should receive more attention than soil exchangeable Al in tropical forests with elevated N deposition in the future.