家庭氧疗配合呼吸操治疗慢性阻塞性肺疾病患者的疗效

目的：观察长期家庭氧疗配合呼吸操治疗慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）的临床效果。、方法：选择本院收治的COPD患者80例,随机分为研究组和对照组,各40例,两组均给予常规治疗,研究组同时由医务人员指导给予家庭氧疗和呼吸操训练,随访1年．观察两组治疗前、治疗后6个月和1年肺功能,应用StGeorge’S呼吸问卷（SGRQ）评价生存质量、结果：研究组1年内急性发作1次5人,2次2人,3次及以上1人,对照组1年内急性发作1次9人,2次7人,3次及以上4人（P〈0．05）;研究组治疗后6个月、1年用力肺活量（FVC）、第1秒用力呼气容积（FEVl）和FEVl／FVC均明显升高（P〈0．05）,对照组治疗后6个月、1年FVC、FEVI／FVC与治疗前比较无统计学差异（P〉0．05）;研究组治疗后6个月、1年SGRQ明显降低（P〈0．05）,对照组治疗后6个月、1年SGRQ与治疗前比较无统计学差异（P〉0．05）．结论：家庭氧疗配合呼吸操能明显改善COPD患者肺功能,延缓患者肺功能恶化,提高患者生存质量。     

Multiple hypothesis testing in proteomics: a strategy for experimental work

In quantitative proteomics work, the differences in expression of many separate proteins are routinely examined to test for significant differences between treatments. This leads to the multiple hypothesis testing problem: when many separate tests are performed many will be significant by chance and be false positive results. Statistical methods such as the false discovery rate method that deal with this problem have been disseminated for more than one decade. However a survey of proteomics journals shows that such tests are not widely implemented in one commonly used technique, quantitative proteomics using two-dimensional electrophoresis. We outline a selection of multiple hypothesis testing methods, including some that are well known and some lesser known, and present a simple strategy for their use by the experimental scientist in quantitative proteomics work generally. The strategy focuses on the desirability of simultaneous use of several different methods, the choice and emphasis dependent on research priorities and the results in hand. This approach is demonstrated using case scenarios with experimental and simulated model data.     

三种抗癫痫药对癫痫患者脑电图的背景影响比较研究

目的：研究对比三种抗癫痫药（苯妥因钠、丙戊酸钠、卡马西平）对癫痫患者脑电图的背景影响。方法：选取我院于2009年3月至2011年2月收治的60例癫痫患者,随机分为苯妥因钠（PHT）、卡马西平（CBZ）和丙戊酸钠（SVP）组各20例,动态观察各组患者于治疗期间痫样波放电的频度和EEG背景的变化。结果：EEG痫样波放电的抑制率以SVP最为明显,而CBZ在EEG背景活动影响方面均比其他两组显著。结论：三种药物对癫痫波放电的抑制顺序是SVP〉PHT〉CBZ,SVP组明显优于其他两组。     

HOW AND WHEN DO LAMBS RECOGNIZE THE BLEATS OF THEIR MOTHERS?

ABSTRACT

In domestic sheep Ovis aries, the mother and the young display a preferential bond for each other that relies on multimodal inter-individual recognition. Lambs show a preference for their own dam shortly after birth, and this is important for their survival. The role of acoustic cues in this early preference for the mother is not clear. The aim of the present work was to analyze the timing of acoustic recognition of the mother and to identify the physical parameters used in the recognition of maternal bleats by the lamb.

In a first study, we investigated the ability of lambs to discriminate between the bleats of their own mother and an alien equivalent mother in a two-choice test. Both ewes were hidden behind a canvas sheet and lambs were not allowed to approach the dams closer than 1 m, thus preventing visual as well as olfactory perception. Tests were conducted 12 hr, 24 hr or 48 hr after birth (n=19 or 20/group). An indication of vocal discrimination was already present at 24 hr and at 48 hr lambs spent significantly more time near their mother than near the alien dam.

In a second step, we investigated which physical parameters of the bleats were important for recognition. For this, we conducted playback experiments with modified bleats at two weeks postpartum. Ours results show that lambs pay attention to a combination of various time, energy and frequency parameters: timbre (distribution of energy within the spectrum), amplitude and frequency modulations appear to be the most important parameters encoding the individual signature.

We conclude that vocal recognition between the ewe and her lamb plays an important role in the display of preferential mother-young bond from very early on. Our studies also demonstrate that the encoding of the individual signature is not limited to the frequency domain but rather involves a multiparametric encoding process.     

A widespread plant-fungal-bacterial symbiosis promotes plant biodiversity,plant nutrition and seedling recruitment

Highly diverse microbial assemblages colonize plant roots. It is still poorly understood whether different members of this root microbiome act synergistically by supplying different services (for example, different limiting nutrients) to plants and plant communities. In order to test this, we manipulated the presence of two widespread plant root symbionts, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and nitrogen-fixing rhizobia bacteria in model grassland communities established in axenic microcosms. Here, we demonstrate that both symbionts complement each other resulting in increased plant diversity, enhanced seedling recruitment and improved nutrient acquisition compared with a single symbiont situation. Legume seedlings obtained up to 15-fold higher productivity if they formed an association with both symbionts, opposed to productivity they reached with only one symbiont. Our results reveal the importance of functional diversity of symbionts and demonstrate that different members of the root microbiome can complement each other in acquiring different limiting nutrients and in driving important ecosystem functions.     

Epidermal Growth Factor Removal or Tyrphostin AG1478 Treatment Reduces Goblet Cells & Mucus Secretion of Epithelial Cells from Asthmatic Children Using the Air-Liquid Interface Model

Rationale

Epithelial remodelling in asthma is characterised by goblet cell hyperplasia and mucus hypersecretion for which no therapies exist. Differentiated bronchial air-liquid interface cultures from asthmatic children display high goblet cell numbers. Epidermal growth factor and its receptor have been implicated in goblet cell hyperplasia.

Objectives

We hypothesised that EGF removal or tyrphostin AG1478 treatment of differentiating air-liquid interface cultures from asthmatic children would result in a reduction of epithelial goblet cells and mucus secretion.

Methods

In Aim 1 primary bronchial epithelial cells from non-asthmatic (n = 5) and asthmatic (n = 5) children were differentiated under EGF-positive (10ng/ml EGF) and EGF-negative culture conditions for 28 days. In Aim 2, cultures from a further group of asthmatic children (n = 5) were grown under tyrphostin AG1478, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, conditions. All cultures were analysed for epithelial resistance, markers of differentiation using immunocytochemistry, ELISA for MUC5AC mucin secretion and qPCR for MUC5AC mRNA.

Results

In cultures from asthmatic children the goblet cell number was reduced in the EGF negative group (p = 0.01). Tyrphostin AG1478 treatment of cultures from asthmatic children had significant reductions in goblet cells at 0.2μg/ml (p = 0.03) and 2μg/ml (p = 0.003) as well as mucus secretion at 2μg/ml (p = 0.04).

Conclusions

We have shown in this preliminary study that through EGF removal and tyrphostin AG1478 treatment the goblet cell number and mucus hypersecretion in differentiating air-liquid interface cultures from asthmatic children is significantly reduced. This further highlights the epidermal growth factor receptor as a potential therapeutic target to inhibit goblet cell hyperplasia and mucus hypersecretion in asthma.     

Interspecies transfer of female mitochondrial DNA is coupled with role-reversals and departure from neutrality in the mussel Mytilus trossulus.

Mussels of the genus Mytilus have distinct and highly diverged male and female mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genomes with separate routes of inheritance. Previous studies of European populations of Mytilus trossulus demonstrated that 33% of males are heteroplasmic for a second mtDNA genome of increased length and that hybridization with Mytilus edulis does not block mtDNA introgression, in contrast to reports for American populations. Here, we demonstrate that the female mtDNA type of M. edulis has replaced the resident female mtDNA type of European M. trossulus. This is supported by COIII sequence data indicating that the female mtDNA of European M. trossulus is very similar to that of M. edulis and that in phylogenetic trees, the mtDNAs of these two species cluster together but separately from American M. trossulus sequences, the latter not being disturbed by introgressive hybridization. We also provide evidence that the mtDNA genome of increased length found in heteroplasmic males of European M. trossulus derives from a recent partition of an introgressed M. edulis female type into the male route of transmission. Neutrality tests reveal that European populations of M. trossulus display an excess of replacement polymorphism within the female mtDNA type with respect to conspecific American populations, as well as a significant excess of rare variants, of a similar magnitude to those previously reported for the invading European M. edulis mtDNA. Results are consistent with a nearly neutral model of molecular evolution and suggest that selection acting on European M. trossulus mtDNA is largely independent of the nuclear genetic background.     

Aspartate aminotransferase allozyme variation in a germplasm collection of the domesticated lentil (Lens culinaris)

Summary Variation at a polymorphic Aspartate aminotransferase locus was assayed in a sample of 298 accessions from the ICARDA germplasm collection of the domesticated lentil (Lens culinaris). Two alleles Aat-1 ^F and Aat-1 ^S were detected with global frequencies of 0.51 and 0.49, respectively. Fifty-nine percent of accessions were polymorphic for both alleles. The frequency of outcrossing was estimated from the observed heterozygosity to be about 1%. This is higher than direct estimates of outcrossing and implicates selection in favour of heterozygous gene combinations. Significant variation in allele frequency and in the occurrence of polymorphic accessions was observed between countries or geographic areas. Significant associations were observed between the allozymes and agronomic characters. In particular high frequency of Aat-1 ^F appeared to be associated with late flowering and maturity and low yield.