Impact of phenolic compounds on hydrothermal oxidation of cellulose

The effect of phenolic compounds on hydrothermal oxidation of cellulose was studied using a batch reactor at 300 degrees C with H(2)O(2) as oxidant. Intermediate products, as well as the yields of acetic acid produced in the oxidation of cellulose, phenolic compounds, and cellulose-phenolic compound mixtures were examined. Phenolic compounds used were phenol, 1,4-benzenediol, 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol, and 2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol. In the case of oxidation of cellulose-phenolic compound mixtures, (1) formic acid, a basic oxidation product from carbohydrates, decreased considerably, (2) 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde and 2-furaldehyde, acid-catalyzed dehydration products from carbohydrates, appeared, and (3) the yield of acetic acid increased compared to that in the oxidation of cellulose. From these results, phenolic compounds seem to inhibit the oxidation of cellulose under hydrothermal conditions. The inhibition of the oxidation of cellulose by phenolic compounds seems to be related closer to the stability of phenolic compounds under oxidation conditions rather than the ease to remove phenolic hydrogen on the OH group.     

Passive protective effect of egg-yolk antibodies against enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli K88+ infection in neonatal and early-weaned piglets

The protective effects of egg-yolk antibodies obtained from hens immunized with fimbrial antigens from a local strain (Escherichia coli K88+ MB, Manitoba, Canada) of K88+ piliated enterotoxigenic E. coli (ETEC) were evaluated in 3- and 21-day-old piglets in which ETEC diarrhea was induced and also in early-weaned piglets in a commercial farm. The results demonstrated that the E. coli K88+ MB-induced diarrhea in 3-day-old piglets was cured 24 h after treating with egg-yolk antibodies while those treated with egg-yolk powder from conventional hens continued to have diarrhea and 62.5% of them died of severe diarrhea. For 21-day-old weaned piglets, those fed egg-yolk antibodies had transient diarrhea, positive body weight gains and 100% survival during the period of the experiment, whereas control piglets that were treated with placebo had severe diarrhea and dehydration and some died within 48 h after infection. In the field trial, the incidence and severity of diarrhea of 14-18-day-old weaned piglets fed egg-yolk antibodies were much lower than in those fed a commercial diet containing an antibiotic. These results indicate that the neonatal and early-weaned piglets that received the egg-yolk antibodies were protected against ETEC infection.     

StructureSelector: A web‐based software to select and visualize the optimal number of clusters using multiple methods

Inferences of population genetic structure are of great importance to the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology. The program structure has been widely used to infer population genetic structure. However, previous studies demonstrated that uneven sampling often leads to wrong inferences on hierarchical structure. The most widely used ΔK method tends to identify the uppermost hierarchy of population structure. Recently, four alternative statistics (medmedk , medmeak , maxmedk and maxmeak ) were proposed, which appear to be more accurate than the previously used methods for both even and uneven sampling data. However, the lack of easy‐to‐use software limits the use of these appealing new estimators. Here, we developed a web‐based user‐friendly software structureselector to calculate the four appealing alternative statistics together with the commonly used Ln Pr(X|K) and ΔK statistics. structureselector accepts the result files of structure , admixture or faststructure as input files. It reports the “best” K for each estimator, and the results are available as HTML or tab separated tables. The program can also generate graphical representations for specific K, which can be easily downloaded from the server. The software is freely available at http://lmme.qdio.ac.cn/StructureSelector/ .     

单室微生物电解池除镍途径分析及微生物群落动态特征北大核心CSCD

【目的】为探究UASB颗粒污泥启动的单室微生物电解池(Single-chamber microbial electrolysis cell,SMEC)对Ni(II)的去除途径和SMEC中微生物群落的动态特征。【方法】以乙酸钠为底物,采用单因子控制方法分析SMEC对Ni(II)的去除途径和应用Illumina高通量测序技术解析SMEC启动过程中微生物群落的组成和结构动态学特征。【结果】结果表明,SMEC对重金属的去除主要通过吸附和微生物作用。经培养驯化功能菌群发生变化。成熟单室微生物燃料电池(Single-chamber microbial fuel cell,SMFC)阳极生物膜菌群主要是Proteobacteria(变形菌门,91.42%)中的Geobacter sp.(地杆菌属,76.25%);阴极生物膜菌群主要是Bacteroidetes(拟杆菌门,47.99%)中的Niabella sp.(布鲁氏菌属,33.01%)和Proteobacteria(45.74%)中的Ochrobactrum sp.(苍白杆菌属,10.80%)。成熟SMFC改装成的SMEC在12.5 mg-Ni(II)/L下,阳极生物膜菌群由单一优势菌Geobacter sp.转变为Geobacter sp.(41.56%)和Proteobacteria中的Azospirillum sp.(固氮螺菌属,5.97%);阴极生物膜菌群由Niabella sp.和Ochrobactrum sp.转变为Firmicutes(厚壁菌门,25.21%)中的Acetoanaerobium sp.(19.28%)、Proteobacteria(51.42%)中的Dokdonella sp.(16.48%)和Azospirillum sp.(9.49%)。【结论】本研究表明,污泥微生物经SMFC和SMEC驯化过程及Ni(II)的淘汰和选择,在电极上形成了稳定、高效产电与除镍菌群,优势菌群为Proteobacteria。     

抗氧化乳酸菌在体外结肠环境清除羟自由基的研究

目的利用鼠肝匀浆经Fe^2＋ -VitC诱导产生丙二醛（MDA）为模型研究29株乳酸菌的抗氧化活性。方法建立体外模拟结肠发酵体系,分析3株具有不同抗氧化能力的乳酸菌（Lactobacillus paracasei Fn032,Laaobacillus rhamnosus GG,Lactobacillus sp．Fn001）在正常结肠和铁过载结肠模型中清除羟自由基效果及对肠球菌增殖的的影响,并检测3株菌螯合亚铁离子能力及其无细胞提取物超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）活性。结果体外结肠体系中羟自由基含量与肠球菌数量有显著相关性。在正常结肠环境中,3株乳酸菌清除羟自由基能力与其SOD活性一致,但与其抑制肠球菌增殖能力和螯合亚铁离子能力不一致。在高铁结肠环境中,3株乳酸菌清除羟自由基能力与它们抑制肠球菌增殖能力和螯合亚铁离子能力一致,但与SOD活性不一致。结论正常条件下乳酸菌可通过产生抗氧化酶来清除结肠自由基,铁过载条件则可增强具有铁螯和能力乳酸菌的抗氧化活性。     

Ad-sTNFRI-IgGFc腺病毒载体的构建及其转染人气道平滑肌细胞

TNF-a是一种具有广泛生物学活性的前炎症细胞因子, 参与哮喘整个病理生理过程。可溶性肿瘤坏死因子受体(sTNFR)可以拮抗肿瘤坏死因子活性, 已被用来治疗与TNF相关的炎性疾病。将sTNFRI-IgGFc基因插入腺病毒穿梭质粒pDC316, 与辅助质粒pBHGloxΔE1, 3Cre共转染HEK293细胞, 重组产生Ad-sTNFRI-IgGFc, PCR鉴定毒种正确后, 进行扩增、纯化和滴度测定, 转染人气道平滑肌细胞, 利用RT-PCR、免疫组化方法, 流式细胞仪, ELISA检测转染后细胞中sTNFRI-IgGFc的转录和表达。实验结果证明成功构建了Ad-sTNFRI-IgGFc腺病毒载体, 感染性滴度达3×1010 TCID50/mL, 200 moi转染气道平滑肌细胞阳性率达99.32%, 转染后气道平滑肌细胞在mRNA和蛋白水平均有sTNFRI-IgGFc表达。转染上清稀释64倍后仍对TNF有拮抗活性。为将表达sTNFRI-IgGFc腺病毒基因治疗哮喘的实验研究提供了基础。     

New mechanism of nerve injury in Alzheimer’s disease: β‐amyloid‐induced neuronal pyroptosis

The present study was designed to investigate the role of β‐amyloid (Aβ_1‐42) in inducing neuronal pyroptosis and its mechanism. Mice cortical neurons (MCNs) were used in this study, LPS + Nigericin was used to induce pyroptosis in MCNs (positive control group), and Aβ_1‐42 was used to interfere with MCNs. In addition, propidium iodide (PI) staining was used to examine cell permeability, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release assay was employed to detect cytotoxicity, immunofluorescence (IF) staining was used to investigate the expression level of the key protein GSDMD, Western blot was performed to detect the expression levels of key proteins, and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was utilized to determine the expression levels of inflammatory factors in culture medium, including IL‐1β, IL‐18 and TNF‐α. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) was used to silence the mRNA expression of caspase‐1 and GSDMD, and Aβ_1‐42 was used to induce pyroptosis, followed by investigation of the role of caspase‐1‐mediated GSDMD cleavage in pyroptosis. In addition, necrosulfonamide (NSA), an inhibitor of GSDMD oligomerization, was used for pre‐treatment, and Aβ_1‐42 was subsequently used to observe the pyroptosis in MCNs. Finally, AAV9‐siRNA‐caspase‐1 was injected into the tail vein of APP/PS1 double transgenic mice (Alzheimer's disease mice) for caspase‐1 mRNA inhibition, followed by observation of behavioural changes in mice and measurement of the expression of inflammatory factors and pyroptosis‐related protein. As results, Aβ_1‐42 could induce pyroptosis in MCNs, increase cell permeability and enhance LDH release, which were similar to the LPS + Nigericin‐induced pyroptosis. Meanwhile, the expression levels of cellular GSDMD and p30‐GSDMD were up‐regulated, the levels of NLRP3 inflammasome and GSDMD‐cleaved protein caspase‐1 were up‐regulated, and the levels of inflammatory factors in the medium were also up‐regulated. siRNA intervention in caspase‐1 or GSDMD inhibited Aβ_1‐42‐induced pyroptosis, and NSA pre‐treatment also caused the similar inhibitory effects. The behavioural ability of Alzheimer's disease (AD) mice was relieved after the injection of AAV9‐siRNA‐caspase‐1, and the expression of pyroptosis‐related protein in the cortex and hippocampus was down‐regulated. In conclusion, Aβ_1‐42 could induce pyroptosis by GSDMD protein, and NLRP3‐caspase‐1 signalling was an important signal to mediate GSDMD cleavage, which plays an important role in Aβ_1‐42‐induced pyroptosis in neurons. Therefore, GSDMD is expected to be a novel therapeutic target for AD.     

横斑锦蛇的现状

结合近几年来的野外调查,对横斑锦蛇的现状进行了报道。横斑锦蛇目前仅见于四川省西部的汶川、宝兴、石棉、泸定和雅安5个县、市,其中石棉和宝兴两县为其新分布区。横斑锦蛇栖息于海拔1650－2500m的湿润山地落叶阔叶林及灌草丛中,数量稀少,亟待加强保护和研究。 此外,还对唯一的幼蛇标本进行了描述。