High endemicity of alveolar echinococcosis in Yili Prefecture,Xinjiang Autonomous Region,the People’s Republic of China: Infection status in different ethnic communities and in small mammals

Alveolar echinococcosis (AE) is a life-threatening disease in humans caused by the larval stage of Echinococcus multilocularis. The tapeworm is transmitted between small mammals and dogs/foxes in the Northern Hemisphere. In this study 286 AE cases were reported from eight counties and one city in Yili Prefecture, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, the People’s Republic of China from 1989 to 2015 with an annual incidence (AI) of 0.41/100,000. Among the patients, 73.08% were diagnosed in the last 11 years. Four counties in the high mountainous areas showed higher AI (0.51–1.22 cases/100,000 residents) than the four counties in low level areas (0.19–0.29/100,000 residents). The AI of AE in Mongolian (2.06/100,000 residents) and Kazak (0.93/100,000 residents) ethnic groups was higher than the incidence in other ethnic groups indicating sheep-farming is a risk for infection given this activity is mainly practiced by these two groups in the prefecture. A total of 1411 small mammals were captured with 9.14% infected with E. multilocularis metacestodes. Microtus obscurus was the dominant species in the mountain pasture areas with 15.01% of the voles infected, whereas Mus musculus and Apodemus sylvaticus were the dominant small mammals in the low altitude areas. Only 0.40% of A. sylvaticus were infected with E. multilocularis. PCR amplification and sequencing analysis of the mitochondrial cox1 gene showed that E. multilocularis DNA sequences from the small mammals were identical to isolates of local human AE cases. The overall results show that Yili Prefecture is a highly endemic area for AE and that the high-altitude pasture areas favorable for M. obscurus may play an important role in its transmission in this region.     

Taurine replacement attenuates hyperalgesia and abnormal calcium signaling in sensory neurons of STZ-D rats

The etiology of painful diabetic neuropathy is poorly understood, but may result from neuronal hyperexcitability secondary to alterations of Ca2+ signaling in sensory neurons. The naturally occurring amino acid taurine functions as an osmolyte, antioxidant, Ca2+ modulator, inhibitory neurotransmitter, and analgesic such that its depletion in diabetes may predispose one to neuronal hyperexcitability and pain. This study reports the effects of taurine replacement on hyperalgesia and sensory neuron Ca2+ homeostasis in streptozotocin-diabetic (STZ-D) rats. Nondiabetic and STZ-D rats were treated with a 2% taurine-supplemented diet for 6-12 wk. Thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia were determined by measuring hindpaw withdrawal latency to radiant heat and the withdrawal threshold to the von Frey anesthesiometer. Intracellular Ca2+ signaling was explored in neurons from L4-L6 dorsal root ganglia (DRG), using fura 2 fluorescence. Taurine replacement of diabetic rats attenuated deficits of nerve conduction and prevented reductions of mechanical and thermal withdrawal threshold and latency, respectively. In small DRG sensory neurons from diabetic rats, recovery of intracellular Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) in response to KCl was slowed and 73% corrected by taurine. The amplitudes of caffeine and ATP-induced [Ca2+]i transients were decreased by 47 and 27% (P < 0.05), respectively, in diabetic rat DRG sensory neurons and corrected by 74 and 93% (P < 0.05), respectively, by taurine replacement. These data indicate that taurine is important in the regulation of neuronal Ca2+ signaling and that taurine deficiency may predispose one to nerve hyperexcitability and pain, complicating diabetes.     

老年人认知训练的神经机制研究

伴随老化,老年人的认知和脑功能会表现出一定的下降趋势.尽管如此,人类的大脑到老年期都会保有一定的可塑性,认知训练的方式是延缓认知和脑功能衰退的有效手段.本文回顾了以往针对老年人不同类型的认知训练研究,探讨了认知训练的理论基础(包括放大观和补偿观),深入分析了老年人认知训练的神经机制,并在此基础上指出以往研究中理论基础冲突的不足和对未来研究老年人训练任务适配性的展望.     

Direct measurements of the kinematics and dynamics of bat flight

Experimental measurements and analysis of the flight of bats are presented, including kinematic analysis of high-speed stereo videography of straight and turning flight, and measurements of the wake velocity field behind the bat. The kinematic data reveal that, at relatively slow flight speeds, wing motion is quite complex, including a sharp retraction of the wing during the upstroke and a broad sweep of the partially extended wing during the downstroke. The data also indicate that the flight speed and elevation are not constant, but oscillate in synchrony with both the horizontal and vertical movements of the wing. PIV measurements in the transverse (Trefftz) plane of the wake indicate a complex 'wake vortex' structure dominated by a strong wing tip vortex shed from the wing tip during the downstroke and either the wing tip or a more proximal joint during the upstroke. Data synthesis of several discrete realizations suggests a 'cartoon' of the wake structure during the entire wing beat cycle. Considerable work remains to be done to confirm and amplify these results.     

Embryological Studies on Narcissus tazetta var. chinensis

Chinese narcissus (Narcissus tazetta var.chinensis Roem) blooms but has no seeds.Embryological studies on the species were conducted to discover the causes of its sterility.Its anther wall is composed of four layers of cells,and its tapetum is of the secretory type.The cytokinesis of microspore mother cells is of the successive type,and the tetrad is tetrahedral.During meiosis of microspore mother cells,some chromosomes lagged,and several micronuclei were found in tetrads.Only 27.7% of the pollen grains contained full cytoplasm,and 1.3% of them germinated in culture medium.No pollen grain,however,could germinate on the stigma.The ovary is trilocular with axile placenta,and the ovules are bitegmic,tenuinucellate,and anatropous.Its embryo sac is of the polygonum type.Most embryo sacs degenerated,and only about 4.5% of the ovules contained a normal embryo sac with an egg cell,two synergids,three antipodal,and a central cell containing two polar nuclei.One reason for the sterility of Chinese narcissus is the abnormality of microsporogenesis and megasporogenesis,in which only a few functional pollen grains and embryo sacs are produced.The other reason is that the pollen grains cannot germinate on the stigma.     

Revealing Pathway Dynamics in Heart Diseases by Analyzing Multiple Differential Networks

Development of heart diseases is driven by dynamic changes in both the activity and connectivity of gene pathways. Understanding these dynamic events is critical for understanding pathogenic mechanisms and development of effective treatment. Currently, there is a lack of computational methods that enable analysis of multiple gene networks, each of which exhibits differential activity compared to the network of the baseline/healthy condition. We describe the iMDM algorithm to identify both unique and shared gene modules across multiple differential co-expression networks, termed M-DMs (multiple differential modules). We applied iMDM to a time-course RNA-Seq dataset generated using a murine heart failure model generated on two genotypes. We showed that iMDM achieves higher accuracy in inferring gene modules compared to using single or multiple co-expression networks. We found that condition-specific M-DMs exhibit differential activities, mediate different biological processes, and are enriched for genes with known cardiovascular phenotypes. By analyzing M-DMs that are present in multiple conditions, we revealed dynamic changes in pathway activity and connectivity across heart failure conditions. We further showed that module dynamics were correlated with the dynamics of disease phenotypes during the development of heart failure. Thus, pathway dynamics is a powerful measure for understanding pathogenesis. iMDM provides a principled way to dissect the dynamics of gene pathways and its relationship to the dynamics of disease phenotype. With the exponential growth of omics data, our method can aid in generating systems-level insights into disease progression.     

国家种质库部分作物种子生活力监测结果与分析

对国家种质库中23种作物1.8万多份种子进行了生活力监测,结果表明,贮存10～12年后,96%以上的被监测种子发芽率仍保持在85%以上,但有95份种子(占被监测份数的0.51%)出现了明显的下降(发芽率从80%以上降至70%以下).胡萝卜、莴苣、棉花、胡麻、蓖麻等5种作物种子整体监测发芽率平均值都出现了显著下降,而胡萝卜、莴苣这二种作物的监测发芽率下降更为显著.不同起始发芽率水平及贮存前所处环境条件对贮存种子的生活力下降有一定影响.     

Synonymous Codon Usage Bias in Plant Mitochondrial Genes Is Associated with Intron Number and Mirrors Species Evolution

Synonymous codon usage bias (SCUB) is a common event that a non-uniform usage of codons often occurs in nearly all organisms. We previously found that SCUB is correlated with both intron number and exon position in the plant nuclear genome but not in the plastid genome; SCUB in both nuclear and plastid genome can mirror the evolutionary specialization. However, how about the rules in the mitochondrial genome has not been addressed. Here, we present an analysis of SCUB in the mitochondrial genome, based on 24 plant species ranging from algae to land plants. The frequencies of NNA and NNT (A- and T-ending codons) are higher than those of NNG and NNC, with the strongest preference in bryophytes and the weakest in land plants, suggesting an association between SCUB and plant evolution. The preference for NNA and NNT is more evident in genes harboring a greater number of introns in land plants, but the bias to NNA and NNT exhibits even among exons. The pattern of SCUB in the mitochondrial genome differs in some respects to that present in both the nuclear and plastid genomes.     

宁夏枸杞的大、小孢子发生和雌、雄配子体发育

在幼小花药横切面上,每个角隅处可见一层拱形孢原细胞,其经过平周分裂形成初生造孢细胞、次生造孢细胞,发育为小孢子母细胞。减数分裂过程中胞质分裂为同时型。四分体为四面体型。成熟花粉粒含二细胞,具三孔沟型萌发孔。花药绒毡层由二部分组成:药壁区的绒毡层由初生壁细胞所产生,药隔区的由药隔细胞直接转化成,为双重起源,呈二型性,属分泌型。雌蕊由二个心皮构成二室子房,中轴胎座。倒生胚珠具单珠被、薄珠心,珠被绒毡层。胚囊发育为蓼型。在胚囊细胞分化后,组成胚囊的四种细胞继续发育,表现出各自的形态学变化。     

Development of new transformation-competent artificial chromosome vectors and rice genomic libraries for efficient gene cloning

The transformation-competent artificial chromosome vector (TAC) system has been shown to be very useful for efficient gene isolation in Arabidopsis thaliana (Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96 (1998) 6535). To adapt the vector system for gene isolation in crops, two new TAC vectors and rice genomic libraries were developed. The new vectors pYLTAC17 and pYLTAC27 use the Bar gene and Hpt gene driven by the rice Act1 promoter as the plant selectable markers, respectively, and are suitable for transformation of rice and other grasses. Two representative genomic libraries (I and II) of an Indica rice variety Minghui63, a fertility restorer line for hybrid rice, were constructed with pYLTAC17 using different size classes of partially digested DNA fragments. Library I and library II consisted of 34,560 and 1.2 x 10(5) clones, with average insert sizes of approximately 77 and 39 kb, respectively. The genome coverage of the libraries I and II was estimated to be about 5 and 11 haploid genome equivalents, respectively. Clones of the library I were stored individually in ninety 384-well plates, and those of the library II were collected as bulked pools each containing 30-50 clones and stored in eight 384-well plates. A number of probes were used to hybridize high-density colony filters of the library I prepared by an improved replicating method and each detected 2-9 positive clones. A method for rapid screening of the library II by pooled colony hybridization was developed. A TAC clone having an 80 kb rice DNA insert was successfully transferred into rice genome via Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. The new vectors and the genomic libraries should be useful for gene cloning and genetic engineering in rice and other crops.