龙眼新品种(系)引种南宁的生长与开花结果特性比较

‘宝石1号''‘晚香''和‘福晚8号''是2017年从福建省农业科学院果树研究所引进到广西南宁市的龙眼新品种(系)。为研究其在本地的生长发育和开花结果规律,该文以广西主栽品种‘石硖''和‘桂明1号''为对照材料,研究其树体生长发育情况、产量、物候期、开花和落花落果规律及雌花开放数与温湿度的关系。结果表明:引进的3个龙眼新品种(系)高接后的植株长势和产量与‘石硖''相近,‘宝石1号''的单穗重最重,其次是‘福晚8号'',‘晚香''与2个主栽品种相近; ‘福晚8号''的果实成熟期最晚,生育期最长,达196 d,比‘桂明1号''长15 d。‘宝石1号''的花期最长,‘晚香''的最短,3个新品种(系)的雌雄花开放顺序均为“雄-雌-雄-雌-雄”,‘宝石1号''和‘福晚8号''的雌雄花相遇时间较长,为18～19 d; 3个龙眼新品种(系)在南宁均有3次落果高峰期,落果主要集中在6月份的第二次生理落果期。3个龙眼新品种(系)的雌花开放数与花前温湿度的关系密切,花期前后一定的温湿度范围内,较高的温度和较低的空气湿度有利于‘宝石1号''和‘福晚8号''的雌花开放,而较低的温度和较高的空气湿度有利于‘晚香''的雌花开放。综上结果表明,3个引进的福建龙眼新品种(系)在广西均能正常开花结果且表现较好,‘宝石1号''较早熟,‘福晚8号''成熟期最晚、雌雄花相遇时间长且落果率较低。     

Origin of Serpin-Mediated Regulation of Coagulation and Blood Pressure

Vertebrates evolved an endothelium-lined hemostatic system and a pump-driven pressurized circulation with a finely-balanced coagulation cascade and elaborate blood pressure control over the past 500 million years. Genome analyses have identified principal components of the ancestral coagulation system, however, how this complex trait was originally regulated is largely unknown. Likewise, little is known about the roots of blood pressure control in vertebrates. Here we studied three members of the serpin superfamily that interfere with procoagulant activity and blood pressure of lampreys, a group of basal vertebrates. Angiotensinogen from these jawless fish was found to fulfill a dual role by operating as a highly selective thrombin inhibitor that is activated by heparin-related glycosaminoglycans, and concurrently by serving as source of effector peptides that activate type 1 angiotensin receptors. Lampreys, uniquely among vertebrates, thus use angiotensinogen for interference with both coagulation and osmo- and pressure regulation. Heparin cofactor II from lampreys, in contrast to its paralogue angiotensinogen, is preferentially activated by dermatan sulfate, suggesting that these two serpins affect different facets of thrombin’s multiple roles. Lampreys also express a lineage-specific serpin with anti-factor Xa activity, which demonstrates that another important procoagulant enzyme is under inhibitory control. Comparative genomics suggests that orthologues of these three serpins were key components of the ancestral hemostatic system. It appears that, early in vertebrate evolution, coagulation and osmo- and pressure regulation crosstalked through antiproteolytically active angiotensinogen, a feature that was lost during vertebrate radiation, though in gnathostomes interplay between these traits is effective.     

Targeting JNK by a New Curcumin Analog to Inhibit NF-kB-Mediated Expression of Cell Adhesion Molecules Attenuates Renal Macrophage Infiltration and Injury in Diabetic Mice

Macrophage infiltration contributes to the pathogenesis of diabetic renal injury. However, the regulatory mechanisms between macrophage infiltration and epithelial cell activation are still unclear. Our previous study found that C66, a novel curcumin analog, was able to inhibit inflammatory cytokine expression in vitro and in vivo. This study further elucidated whether C66 can prevent glucose-induced renal epithelial activation and inflammatory macrophage infiltration by a MAPK/NF-κB medicated mechanism. Our data show that pretreatment with C66 not only significantly reduced high glucose (HG)-induced over-expressions of VCAM-1, ICAM-1 and MCP-1, but also remarkably inhibited NF-κB activation, MAPKs phosphorylation, and subsequently macrophage adhesion in renal epithelial NRK-52E cells. Furthermore, we find that MAPKs, especially JNK, play important roles in HG-induced NF-κB activation, which regulates the over-expression of adhesion molecules in HG-stimulated NRK-52E cells. A molecular docking predicted that C66 may target JNK2, which leads to its anti-inflammatory actions. In vivo, administration of C66 or JNK special inhibitor SP600125 at 5 mg/kg markedly decreased diabetes-induced renal adhesion molecule expression, NF-κB activation, inflammatory cell infiltration, and pathological indexes in the kidneys of diabetic mice. These findings provide a perspective on the renoprotective effects of C66 in diabetes, and outline a novel therapeutic strategy of JNK inhibition for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy.     

Small molecule inhibition of fibroblast growth factor receptors in cancer

Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) signal through FGF receptors (FGFRs), which are a sub-family of the superfamily of receptor tyrosine kinases, to regulate human development and metabolism. Uncontrolled FGF signaling is responsible for diverse array of developmental disorders, most notably skeletal syndromes due to FGFR gain-of-function mutations. Studies in the last few years have provided significant evidence for the importance of FGF signaling in the pathogenesis of diverse cancers, including endometrial and bladder cancers. FGFs are both potent mitogenic and angiogenic factors and can contribute to carcinogenesis by stimulating cell proliferation and tumor angiogenesis. Gene knockout and pharmacological inhibition of FGFRs in in vivo and in vitro models validate FGFRs as a target for cancer treatment. Considerable efforts are being expended to develop specific, small-molecule inhibitors for treating FGFR-driven cancers. Recent reviews on the FGF/FGFR system have focused primarily on signaling, pathophysiology, and functions in cancer. In this article, we review the key roles of FGFR in cancer, provide an update on the status of clinical trials with small-molecule FGFR inhibitors, and discuss how the current structural data on FGFR kinases guide the design and characterization of new FGFR inhibitors.     

An unexpected link between angiotensinogen and thrombin

Angiotensinogen is well known as source protein for a group of potent vasoactive hormones, however, a discrete biochemical activity of the angiotensinogen body is not known. Here we investigated angiotensinogen from the lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis (L. fluviatilis), an early-diverged vertebrate. The recombinantly produced protein showed progressive inhibitory activity towards human α-thrombin with a second-order rate constant of 2.6×10(4) M(-1) min(-1). Heparin enhanced the reaction rate >800-fold with a bell-shaped dose-response curve and a stoichiometry of inhibition (SI) of 1.3, revealing lamprey angiotensinogen as an effective α-thrombin inhibitor. Genomic, biochemical, and protein sequence data indicate that angiotensinogen and heparin cofactor II (HCII) originated from a common ancestral thrombin antagonist, thus providing insight into an early stage of thrombin control.     

Inhibition of MAPK‐mediated ACE expression by compound C66 prevents STZ‐induced diabetic nephropathy

A range of in vitro, experimental and clinical intervention studies have implicated an important role for hyperglycaemia‐induced activation of the renin‐angiotensin system (RAS) in the development and progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN). Blockade of RAS by angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors is an effective strategy in treating diabetic kidney diseases. However, few studies demonstrate the mechanism by which hyperglycaemia up‐regulates the expression of ACE gene. Our previous studies have identified a novel curcumin analogue, (2E,6E)‐2,6‐bis(2‐(trifluoromethyl)benzylidene)cyclohexanone (C66), which could inhibit the high glucose (HG)‐induced phosphorylation of mitogen‐activated protein kinases in mouse macrophages. In this study, we found that the renal protection of C66 in diabetic mice was associated with mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) inactivation and ACE/angiotensin II (Ang II) down‐regulation. Generally, MAPKs have been considered as a downstream signalling of Ang II and a mediator for Ang II‐induced pathophysiological actions. However, using C66 and specific inhibitors as small molecule probes, in vitro experiments demonstrate that the MAPK signalling pathway regulates ACE expression under HG stimulation, which contributes to renal Ang II activation and the development of DN. This study indicates that C66 is a potential candidate of DN therapeutic agents, and more importantly, that reduction in ACE expression by MAPKs inhibition seems to be an alternative strategy for the treatment of DN.     

State Classification and Motion Description for the Lower Extremity Exoskeleton SJTU-EX

A lower extremity exoskeleton, SJTU-EX, is proposed, which mainly aims to help soldiers and workers to support a payload in motions. To solve the issues of the exoskeleton-environment and exoskeleton-human interactions, four types of foot contact are proposed based on their different kinematic characteristics. By the combination of single leg states, sixteen exo- skeleton states are presented using a series of meaningful notations from the topological point of view. The generalized function set （GF set） theory is employed to achieve the kinematic characteristics of the end effectors in different states. Moreover six mathematical formulations of the dynamics of the exoskeleton and its interactions with the human wearer are developed for different exoskeleton states. The applicability and potential of the proposed classification method are demonstrated by analyzing common lower limb motions, which are described concisely by a sequence of notations. Finally, a new concept of characteristic state is put forward to uniquely indicate the type of motion.     

Using priced timed automaton to analyse the energy consumption in cloud computing environment

According to the fact that cloud servers have different energy consumption on different running states, as well as the energy waste problem caused by the mismatching between cloud servers and cloud tasks, we carry out researches on the energy optimal method achieved by a priced timed automaton for the cloud computing center in this paper. The priced timed automaton is used to model the running behaviors of the cloud computing system. After introducing the matching matrix of cloud tasks and cloud resources as well as the power matrix of the running states of cloud servers, we design a generation algorithm for the cloud system automaton based on the generation rules and reduction rules given ahead. Then, we propose another algorithm to settle the minimum path energy consumption problem in the cloud system automaton, therefore obtaining an energy optimal solution and an energy optimal value for the cloud system. A case study and repeated experimental analyses manifest that our method is effective and feasible.