Structural Brain Changes after Traditional and Robot-Assisted Multi-Domain Cognitive Training in Community-Dwelling Healthy Elderly

The purpose of this study was to investigate if multi-domain cognitive training, especially robot-assisted training, alters cortical thickness in the brains of elderly participants. A controlled trial was conducted with 85 volunteers without cognitive impairment who were 60 years old or older. Participants were first randomized into two groups. One group consisted of 48 participants who would receive cognitive training and 37 who would not receive training. The cognitive training group was randomly divided into two groups, 24 who received traditional cognitive training and 24 who received robot-assisted cognitive training. The training for both groups consisted of daily 90-min-session, five days a week for a total of 12 weeks. The primary outcome was the changes in cortical thickness. When compared to the control group, both groups who underwent cognitive training demonstrated attenuation of age related cortical thinning in the frontotemporal association cortices. When the robot and the traditional interventions were directly compared, the robot group showed less cortical thinning in the anterior cingulate cortices. Our results suggest that cognitive training can mitigate age-associated structural brain changes in the elderly.

Trial Registration

ClnicalTrials.gov NCT01596205     

IaaL基因的维管束特异表达导致烟草茎和根外植体分化能力的改变

我们利用水稻苯丙氨酸解氨酶启动子(AQ630)和吲哚乙酰胺赖氨酸酯合成酶基因(iaaL)构建了维管束特异表达的植物表达载体pBAL1并导入烟草基因组中。比较了对照植株、转基因植株的幼茎和根外植体在组织培养中分化能力的变化,结果表明转基因植株茎外植体的不定芽形成明显受到促进,而转化植株根外植体在不定根发生方面对外源IAA的敏感性下降。     

T-piece复苏器在产房中对早产儿复苏中的应用效果评价*

目的:探讨T-piece复苏器在产房中对早产儿复苏中的应用效果。方法:选择2011年1月至2016年12月在本院产科出生的早产儿(胎龄28～37周)62例,随机分为对照组与观察组,各31例,对照组患儿给予自动充气式复苏囊正压人工通气,观察组患儿给予T组合复苏器正压人工通气,比较两组患儿1、5、10 min Apgar评分、肺气漏发生率,以及缺氧缺血性脑病、支气管肺发育不良、坏死性小肠结肠炎、动脉导管未闭、高胆红素血症率。结果:两组患儿胎龄、性别、分娩方式、出生体重、出生后1、5、10 min Apgar评分等方面差异均无统计学意义(P0.05)。与对照组相比,观察组气漏发生率降低,差异有统计学意义(P0.05)。两组患儿缺氧缺血性脑病、支气管肺发育不良、坏死性小肠结肠炎、动脉导管未闭、高胆红素血症率差异无统计学意义(P0.05)。结论:T-piece复苏器在产房中早产儿窒息复苏中的应用效果显著,具有操作简单、效率高等优点,两组复苏成功率差别不大,但T-piece复苏器能可有效减少肺气漏的发生,进而降低新生儿的病死率。     

Biofouling effects on the performance of microbial fuel cells and recent advances in biotechnological and chemical strategies for mitigation

The occurrence of biofouling in MFC can cause severe problems such as hindering proton transfer and increasing the ohmic and charge transfer resistance of cathodes, which results in a rapid decline in performance of MFC. This is one of the main reasons why scaling-up of MFCs has not yet been successfully accomplished. The present review article is a wide-ranging attempt to provide insights to the biofouling mechanisms on surfaces of MFC, mainly on proton exchange membranes and cathodes, and their effects on performance of MFC based on theoretical and practical evidence. Various biofouling mitigation techniques for membranes are discussed, including preparation of antifouling composite membranes, modification of the physical and chemical properties of existing membranes, and coating with antifouling agents. For cathodes of MFC, use of Ag nanoparticles, Ag-based composite nanoparticles, and antifouling chemicals is outlined in considerable detail. Finally, prospective techniques for mitigation of biofouling are discussed, which have not been given much previous attention in the field of MFC research. This article will help to enhance understanding of the severity of biofouling issues in MFCs and provides up-to-date solutions. It will be beneficial for scientific communities for further strengthening MFC research and will also help in progressing this cutting-edge technology to scale-up, using the most efficient methods as described here.     

Comprehensive metabolomic,proteomic and physiological analyses of grain yield reduction in rice under abrupt drought–flood alternation stress

Abrupt drought–flood alternation (T1) is a meteorological disaster that frequently occurs during summer in southern China and the Yangtze river basin, often causing a significant loss of rice production. In this study, the response mechanism of yield decline under abrupt drought–flood alternation stress at the panicle differentiation stage was analyzed by looking at the metabolome, proteome as well as yield and physiological and biochemical indexes. The results showed that drought and flood stress caused a decrease in the yield of rice at the panicle differentiation stage, and abrupt drought–flood alternation stress created a synergistic effect for the reduction of yield. The main reason for the decrease of yield per plant under abrupt drought–flood alternation was the decrease of seed setting rate. Compared with CK0 (no drought and no flood), the net photosynthetic rate and soluble sugar content of T1 decreased significantly and its hydrogen peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, peroxidase activity increased significantly. The identified differential metabolites and differentially expressed proteins indicated that photosynthesis metabolism, energy metabolism pathway and reactive oxygen species response have changed strongly under abrupt drought–flood alteration stress, which are factors that leads to the rice grain yield reduction.     

Determination of free amino acids in burley tobacco by high performance liquid chromatography

A reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for determining free amino acids in burley tobacco. The test was done by OPA/3-mercaptopropionic acid as the pre-column derivatizing reagent. Chromatographic column was Elitte C¹⁸ column (4.6 mm × 250 mm i.d., 5 μm). Mobile phase A was 18 mol/l NaAc (pH7.2) including 0.002%(v/v) triethylamine and 0.3%(v/v) furanidine. Mobile phase B was 100 mol/l NaAc (pH7.2)–acetonitrile–methanol (v/v = 1:2:2). The column temperature was 40 °C and the flow rate was 1.0 ml/min. The fluorescence detector was used with 350 nm excitation wave length and 450 nm emission wave length. The average recoveries of the method ranged from 95.3–100.7% with the relative standard deviation of 2.32–9.24%. The method is simple, accurate and has good repeatability. The results of the determination of seventeen kinds of free amino acids in burley leaves were produced by the way of different ratios of cake fertilizer and inorganic fertilizer. The results show that Aspartic acid has the highest content however ratio of cake fertilizer and inorganic fertilizer. The contents of most of the free amino acids are increased and then gradually decreased with the increase in organic manure. The contents of most of the free amino acids are very close at 15:85% ratio and 30:70% ratio of cake fertilizer and inorganic fertilizer. The total amount of free amino acids is the highest at 30:70% ratio of cake fertilizer and inorganic fertilizer. Considering comprehensively, the quality of burley leaves is the best at 30:70% ratio of cake fertilizer and inorganic fertilizer.     

Conformation and activity ofPhaseolus coccineus var. rubronanus lectin

The conformation of native and denaturedPhaseolus coccineus var. rubronanus lectin was studied by circular dichroism (CD) and correlated to the hemagglutinating activity. The far-UV CD spectrum at 25°C showed a broad, negative band around 223 nm and a positive one at 196 nm. CD data analysis of the lectin indicated a -sheet-rich protein. At high temperatures, the spectrum was blue-shifted with increasing magnitude; these changes correlated well with the loss of the activity. The conformation of lectin betweenpH 2 and 10 remained essentially unchanged. AtpH 13 the CD spectrum resembled that of unordered form with a negative band near 200 nm and the activity was completely lost. The denatured lectin in 6 M guanidine hydrochloride would be renatured upon diluting the denaturant to 0.75 M; the changes in CD spectrum again correlated well with the loss of the activity. The effect of sodium dodecyl sulfate on the lectin was drastic; it sharply increased thea-helix at the expense of the -sheet and reduced the activity; the changes reached a plateau above 20 mM surfactant.     

悬钩子属种质的评价

在进行了７省悬钩子资源调查的基础上,在南京建立了悬钩子属田间基因库。３年来对田间基因库内保存并开花结果的３０个种进行了开花结果性状的记栽和评价。内容包括果实特征,糖、酸、维生素类、氨基酸、矿质元素含量分析,染色体计数等。分析了种间和种内多样性物存在及在良种选育中利用的可能性。