Effects of Water Stress and Abscisic Acid on Transpiration Regulation in Wheat

The transpiration response to recurrent light periods was studied'n water-stressed wheat seedlings. Seedlings were stressed by three methods: addition of mannitol to the root medium, root cooling and drving of the roots in air. All three methods induced almost equal effects on transpiration regulation during alternating dark and light intervals. Exogenous abscisic acid supplied to the shoots of excised plants had qualitatively the same effect as water stress. Water stress and ABA increased the time lapse between light-on and the onset of transpiration increase and lowered the amplitude of transpiration increase in light. Weak light introduced before strong light shortened the delay times.     

实验动物屏障系统微生物动态状况

目的研究运行中的实验动物屏障系统微生物的情况。方法采用沉降菌法、棉拭子法等方法,研究运行中的屏障系统不同区域、不同环境指标下屏障系统内微生物的状况。结果动态下的屏障系统微生物情况与国标GB14925-2001中静态环境有较大不同,动物饲养室和动物实验室沉降菌浓度远高于静态要求;辅助区域在规范化消毒及严格管理的情况下,能达到国标要求。屏障系统的微生物情况存在一定的昼夜变化规律,在晚间出现峰值。结论合适的换气次数可有效控制实验动物屏障系统的沉降菌浓度;加强消毒及硬件的管理,是屏障系统内环境稳定的保障。     

长爪沙鼠高胆固醇血症模型的建立与辛伐他汀的作用

目的探索长爪沙鼠高胆固醇血症模型建立及辛伐他汀的影响。方法在饲喂长爪沙鼠高脂饲料的同时给予不同浓度辛伐他汀抑制胆固醇生物合成,通过观察肝脏颜色,测量体重、肝重、TC、LDL-C及HDL-C等血脂和肝功能指标判断高脂饲料和辛伐他汀对血脂和肝脏功能的影响。结果动物体重、肝重和肝脏指数没有显著变化。高脂饲料能够促进脂肪在肝脏的沉积,但是对AST和ALT等肝脏功能指标影响不显著;辛伐他汀能够有效抑制TC、LDL-C、HDL-C、TBA和GLU的升高,但对其他指标影响不明显。结论高脂饲料能够快速建立长爪沙鼠高胆固醇血症模型;辛伐他汀能够抑制内源性胆固醇的合成从而有效抑制血浆胆固醇（TC）、LDL-C和HDL-C的升高。结果表明,特殊的反馈调节机制导致长爪沙鼠无法在大量摄入胆固醇时终止内源性胆固醇的合成。长爪沙鼠特殊的反馈调节机制可能是易发高胆固醇血症的一个主要原因。     

Heavy drinking relates to positive valence ratings of alcohol cues

A positive family history of alcohol use disorders (FH) is a robust predictor of personal alcohol abuse and dependence. Exposure to problem-drinking models is one mechanism through which family history influences alcohol-related cognitions and drinking patterns. Similarly, exposure to alcohol advertisements is associated with alcohol involvement and the relationship between affective response to alcohol cues and drinking behavior has not been well established. In addition, the collective contribution that FH, exposure to different types of problem-drinking models (e.g. parents, peers) and personal alcohol use have on appraisal of alcohol-related stimuli has not been evaluated with a large sample. We investigated the independent effects of FH, exposure to problem-drinking models and personal alcohol use on valence ratings of alcohol pictures in a college sample. College students (n = 227) completed measures of personal drinking and substance use, exposure to problem-drinking models, FH and ratings on affective valence of 60 alcohol pictures. Greater exposure to non-familial problem-drinkers predicted greater drinking among college students (beta = 0.17, P < 0.01). However, personal drinking was the only predictor of valence ratings of alcohol pictures (beta = -0.53, P < 0.001). Personal drinking level predicted valence ratings of alcohol cues over and above FH, exposure to problem-drinking models and demographic characteristics. This suggests that positive affective responses to alcohol pictures are more a function of personal experience (i.e. repeated heavy alcohol use) than vicarious learning.     

甜仁山杏优株幼果抗寒性研究

以2个优选的甜仁山杏的幼果为试材．以生产中主栽大扁杏品种“优一”和野生山杏（山苦1、山苦2）为对照,通过冷冻处理,以胚褐变率、电导率和MDA值为指标,研究了甜仁山杏优株的抗寒性。结果表明。供试2个优选的甜仁山杏品系胚褐变率低,半致死温度（LT50）较对照低0．51～0．94℃。供试5个品系抗寒性的顺序依次为山甜1〉山甜2〉山苦1、山苦2〉“优一”。     

Recombinase-mediated cassette exchange (RMCE): traditional concepts and current challenges

Traditional DNA transduction routes used for the modification of cellular genomes are subject to unpredictable alterations, as the cell-intrinsic repair machinery may affect both the integrity of the transgene and the recipient locus. These problems are overcome by recombinase-mediated cassette exchange (RMCE) approaches enabling predictable expression patterns by the nondisruptive insertion of a gene cassette at a pre-characterized genomic locus. The destination is marked by a “tag” consisting of two heterospecific recombination target sites (RTs) at the flanks of a selection marker. Provided on a circular donor vector, an analogous cassette encoding the gene of interest can cleanly replace the resident cassette under the influence of a site-specific recombinase. RMCE was first based on the yeast integrase Flp but had to give way to the originally more active phage-derived Cre enzyme. To be effective, both Tyr-recombinases have to be applied at a considerable concentration, which, in the case of Cre, triggers endonucleolytic activities and therefore cellular toxicity. This review addresses the particularities of both recombination routes depending on the structure of the synaptic complex and on improved integrase and RT variants. While the performance of Flp-RMCE can now firmly rely on optimized Flp variants and multiple sets of functional target sites (FRTs), the Cre system suffers from the promiscuity of its RT mutants, which is explained in molecular terms. At present, RMCE enters applications in the stem cell field. Remarkable efforts are noted in the framework of various mouse mutagenesis programs, which, in their first phase, have targeted virtually all genes and now start to shift their emphasis from gene trapping to gene modification.     

Palaeoenvironmental aspects of Late Ordovician Sericoidea shell concentrations in an impact crater,Tvären,Sweden

Frisk, Å.M. & Harper, D.A.T. 2010: Palaeoenvironmental aspects of Late Ordovician Sericoidea shell concentrations in an impact crater, Tvären, Sweden. Lethaia, Vol. 44, pp. 383–396. Numerous studies have reported the presence of the small, thin‐shelled cosmopolitan rhynchonelliformean Sericoidea as being environmentally controlled and, together with its close relatives, characteristic of deep‐water, distal, clastic Ordovician and Silurian settings. Assemblages of Sericoidea have been analysed from post‐impact strata in a newly formed Late Ordovician impact crater. In the crater succession, colonization of benthic faunas can be monitored through the post‐impact limestone, demonstrating a number of environmental preferences. Consequently, the crater, as a result of its restricted area, provides an experimental arena for faunal distributions to be correlated with specific environments. The continuous infilling of the crater following its formation reveals a transition from argillaceous mudstones to carbonates deposited in deeper‐water environments to shallower regimes. Rhynchonelliformean brachiopods inhabited the crater depression very late after the impact and are entirely represented by the genus Sericoidea, occurring abundantly in the upper third of the existing crater infill. The deep‐water regime that existed in the depression during the initial interval of crater formation had been substantially reduced. Clearly Sericoidea‐bearing associations associated with shaly substrates did not merely favour and occupy deep‐water environments as previously suggested. The unfavourable conditions triggered by the impact and the inhospitable aftermath allowed Sericoidea to exploit a less‐crowded ecospace. This reorganization, following the catastrophe, from a deep‐water related ecological niche to considerable shallower settings suggests that Sericoidea was a pioneer colonist displaying an opportunist r‐strategy. The shell beds analysed are related to shallower water and this may, moreover, help unravel the dilemma of the general absence of Sericoidea in the deeper‐water Foliomena fauna. □Dalby Limestone, impact crater, Late Ordovician, opportunists, Sericoidea, Tvären.     

Right ventricular dysfunction following acute myocardial infarction in the absence of pulmonary hypertension in the mouse

Background

Cardiac remodelling after AMI is characterized by molecular and cellular mechanisms involving both the ischemic and non-ischemic myocardium. The extent of right ventricular (RV) dilatation and dysfunction and its relation to pulmonary hypertension (PH) following AMI are unknown. The aim of the current study was to evaluate changes in dimensions and function of the RV following acute myocardial infarction (AMI) involving the left ventricle (LV).

Methods

We assessed changes in RV dimensions and function 1 week following experimental AMI involving the LV free wall in 10 mice and assessed for LV and RV dimensions and function and for the presence and degree of PH.

Results

RV fractional area change and tricuspidal annular plane systolic excursion significantly declined by 33% (P = 0.021) and 28% (P = 0.001) respectively. Right ventricular systolic pressure measured invasively in the mouse was within the normal values and unchanged following AMI.

Conclusion

AMI involving the LV and sparing the RV induces a significant acute decline in RV systolic function in the absence of pulmonary hypertension in the mouse indicating that RV dysfunction developed independent of changes in RV afterload.