LTP inhibits LTD in the hippocampus via regulation of GSK3beta

Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) has been implicated in major neurological disorders, but its role in normal neuronal function is largely unknown. Here we show that GSK3beta mediates an interaction between two major forms of synaptic plasticity in the brain, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-dependent long-term potentiation (LTP) and NMDA receptor-dependent long-term depression (LTD). In rat hippocampal slices, GSK3beta inhibitors block the induction of LTD. Furthermore, the activity of GSK3beta is enhanced during LTD via activation of PP1. Conversely, following the induction of LTP, there is inhibition of GSK3beta activity. This regulation of GSK3beta during LTP involves activation of NMDA receptors and the PI3K-Akt pathway and disrupts the ability of synapses to undergo LTD for up to 1 hr. We conclude that the regulation of GSK3beta activity provides a powerful mechanism to preserve information encoded during LTP from erasure by subsequent LTD, perhaps thereby permitting the initial consolidation of learnt information.     

Diagnostic Performance of Echocardiography for the Detection of Acute Cardiac Allograft Rejection: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective

Many studies have addressed the diagnostic performance of echocardiography to evaluate acute cardiac allograft rejection compared with endomyocardial biopsy. But the existence of heterogeneity limited its clinical application. Thus, we conducted a comprehensive, systematic literature review and meta-analysis for the purpose.

Methods

Studies prior to September 1, 2014 identified by Medline/PubMed, EMBASE and Cochrance were examined by two independent reviews. We conducted meta-analysis by using Meta-DiSc 1.4 software. An assessment tool of QUADAS-2 was applied to evaluate the risk of bias and applicability of the studies.

Results

Thirty studies met the inclusion criteria of meta-analysis. The four parameters of pressure half time, isovolumic relaxation time, index of myocardial performance and late diastolic mitral annular motion velocity were included in the meta-analysis, with a pooled diagnostic odds ratio of 10.43, 6.89, 15.95 and 5.68 respectively, and the area under the summary receiver operating characteristic curves value of 0.829, 0.599, 0.871 and 0.685 respectively.

Conclusion

The meta-analysis and systematic review demonstrate that no single parameter of echocardiography showed a reliable diagnostic performance for acute cardiac allograft rejection. A result of echocardiography for ACAR should be comprehensively considered by physicians in the context of clinical presentations and imaging feature.     

Screening and isolation of an organic solvent-tolerant bacterium for high-yield production of organic solvent-stable protease

Forty-three strains were screened from crude oil-contaminated samples by toluene and cyclohexane enrichment in medium. Ten of these strains demonstrated high protease activity on skim-milk agar. Among them, the PT121 isolate, identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, was selected based on its extracellular protease stability in the presence of hydrophilic organic solvents. The crude protease also retained most of its activity up to at least 14 days in the presence of various organic solvents at 50% concentration, and the protease activity in production medium was 10,876U/ml after 72h incubation. This protease showed high activity as a catalyst for aspartame precursor Cbz-Asp-Phe-NH2 synthesis in the presence of 50% dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO).     

非NMDA受体参与双相呼气和吸气神经元电活动的调节

在新生大鼠延髓脑片上同步记录舌下神经根和双相呼气神经元／吸气神经元单位的放电活动,并在灌流的改良Kredbs液中先后加以非NMDA受体的激动剂KA和拮抗剂DNQX,观察对神经元单位放电的影响,以进一步探讨非NMDA受体在对双相呼气神经元之间交互兴奋和吸气神经元兴奋性突触输入中的作用,结果表明,使用非NMDA受体激动剂KA以后,双相呼气神经元的放电频率和蜂频率都明显增大,吸气神经元中期放电的频率和非NMDA受体激动剂KA以后,双相呼气神经元的放电频率和峰频率都明显增大,吸气神经元中期放电的频率和峰频率也显著增大,而早期和晚期放电的频率无明显改变,用相应拮抗剂以后,上述效应明显被抑制,结果提示,非NMDA受体参与了双相呼气神经元之间的交互兴奋作用,并且也介导了吸气神经元的兴奋性突触输入／     

凤凰木种子蛋白的分离提纯和生化性质

研究了植物凤凰木种子中的蛋白质成分,试图分离出新的核糖体失活蛋白凤凰木种子经磷酸盐缓冲液抽提,硫酸铵分级盐析,分子筛和阴离子交换剂等多次柱层析,分离出三种组分ＤｒⅠ、ＤｒⅡ和ＤｒⅢ．ＳＤＳ－ＰＡＧＥ和ＩＥＦ实验表明这三种蛋白质均达到单一纯,而ＨＰＬＣ实验则表明它们的纯度不低于９０％。它们的分子量据ＳＤＳ－ＰＡＧＥ和ＨＰＬＣ实验分别约２３５００、２６０００、２８５００．ＩＥＦ实验测得三者的等电点均为５．２左右。测定了组分ＤｒⅠ的蛙卵泡裂解活性,其毒性约为天花粉蛋白的１／４０．分析了它们的氨基酸组成。估算了三种蛋白质的二级结构含量,结果表明三者均富含β折叠结构。已有的实验事实表明这三种蛋白质的生化行为明显异于核糖体失活蛋白,因而很可能不属于这一蛋白质家族。     

Mobile Phone Call Data as a Regional Socio-Economic Proxy Indicator

The advent of publishing anonymized call detail records opens the door for temporal and spatial human dynamics studies. Such studies, besides being useful for creating universal models for mobility patterns, could be also used for creating new socio-economic proxy indicators that will not rely only on the local or state institutions. In this paper, from the frequency of calls at different times of the day, in different small regional units (sub-prefectures) in Côte d''Ivoire, we infer users'' home and work sub-prefectures. This division of users enables us to analyze different mobility and calling patterns for the different regions. We then compare how those patterns correlate to the data from other sources, such as: news for particular events in the given period, census data, economic activity, poverty index, power plants and energy grid data. Our results show high correlation in many of the cases revealing the diversity of socio-economic insights that can be inferred using only mobile phone call data. The methods and the results may be particularly relevant to policy-makers engaged in poverty reduction initiatives as they can provide an affordable tool in the context of resource-constrained developing economies, such as Côte d''Ivoire''s.     

Spontaneous Activation of Quiescent Uq Transposable Elements during Endosperm Development in Zea Mays

This study addresses the question of the activation of quiescent transposable elements in maize breeding lines. The a-ruq reporter allele of the Uq transposable element system expresses Uq activity (spots or sectors of spots in otherwise colorless aleurone tissue) when exposed to various genotypes of assorted maize inbred lines lacking any active Uq element. This activation of quiescent Uq elements occurs randomly during the growth of the endosperm. It is concluded that there are components in the genome that enhance the rare activation of quiescent Uq elements. Further, it seems that this activation occurs in the absence of any stress-inducing treatment, but that normal growth conditions provide sufficient stimulus for such activation.     

Systematics of Mukdenia and Oresitrophe (Saxifragaceae): Insights from genome skimming data

Oresitrophe and Mukdenia (Saxifragaceae) are epilithic sister genera used in traditional Chinese medicine. The taxonomy of Mukdenia, especially of M. acanthifolia, has been controversial. To address this, we produced plastid and mitochondrial data using genome skimming for Mukdenia acanthifolia and Mukdenia rossii, including three individuals of each species. We assembled complete plastomes, mitochondrial CDS and nuclear ribosomal ETS/ITS sequences using these data. Comparative analysis shows that the plastomes of Mukdenia and Oresitrophe are relatively conservative in terms of genome size, structure, gene content, RNA editing sites and codon usage. Five plastid regions that represent hotspots of change (trnH-psbA, psbC-trnS, trnM-atpE, petA-psbJ and ccsA-ndhD) are identified within Mukdenia, and six regions (trnH-psbA, petN-psbM, trnM-atpE, rps16-trnQ, ycf1 and ndhF) contain a higher number of species-specific parsimony-informative sites that may serve as potential DNA barcodes for species identification. To infer phylogenetic relationships between Mukdenia and Oresitrophe, we combined our data with published data based on three different datasets. The monophyly of each species (Oresitrophe rupifraga, M. acanthifolia and M. rossii) and the inferred topology ((M. rossii, M. acanthifolia), O. rupifraga) are well supported in trees reconstructed using the complete plastome sequences, but M. acanthifolia and M. rossii did not form a separate clade in the trees based on ETS + ITS data, while the mitochondrial CDS trees are not well-resolved. We found low recovery of genes in the Angiosperms353 target enrichment panel from our unenriched genome skimming data. Hybridization or incomplete lineage sorting may be the cause of discordance between trees reconstructed from organellar and nuclear data. Considering its morphological distinctiveness and our molecular phylogenetic results, we strongly recommend that M. acanthifolia be treated as a distinct species.     

Increased high‐latitude photosynthetic carbon gain offset by respiration carbon loss during an anomalous warm winter to spring transition

Arctic and boreal ecosystems play an important role in the global carbon (C) budget, and whether they act as a future net C sink or source depends on climate and environmental change. Here, we used complementary in situ measurements, model simulations, and satellite observations to investigate the net carbon dioxide (CO₂) seasonal cycle and its climatic and environmental controls across Alaska and northwestern Canada during the anomalously warm winter to spring conditions of 2015 and 2016 (relative to 2010–2014). In the warm spring, we found that photosynthesis was enhanced more than respiration, leading to greater CO₂ uptake. However, photosynthetic enhancement from spring warming was partially offset by greater ecosystem respiration during the preceding anomalously warm winter, resulting in nearly neutral effects on the annual net CO₂ balance. Eddy covariance CO₂ flux measurements showed that air temperature has a primary influence on net CO₂ exchange in winter and spring, while soil moisture has a primary control on net CO₂ exchange in the fall. The net CO₂ exchange was generally more moisture limited in the boreal region than in the Arctic tundra. Our analysis indicates complex seasonal interactions of underlying C cycle processes in response to changing climate and hydrology that may not manifest in changes in net annual CO₂ exchange. Therefore, a better understanding of the seasonal response of C cycle processes may provide important insights for predicting future carbon–climate feedbacks and their consequences on atmospheric CO₂ dynamics in the northern high latitudes.