Inorganic and Organic Nitrogen Acquisition by a Fern Dicranopteris dichotoma in a Subtropical Forest in South China

The fern Dicranopteris dichotoma is an important pioneer species of the understory in Masson pine (Pinus massoniana) forests growing on acidic soils in the subtropical and tropical China. To improve our understanding of the role of D. dichotoma in nitrogen (N) uptake of these forests, a short-term ¹⁵N experiment was conducted at mountain ridge (MR, with low N level) and mountain foot (MF, with high N level). We injected ¹⁵N tracers as ¹⁵NH₄, ¹⁵NO₃ or ¹⁵N-glycine into the soil surrounding each plant at both MR and MF sites. Three hours after tracer injection, the fern D. dichotoma took up ¹⁵NH₄ ⁺ significantly faster at MF than at MR, but it showed significantly slower uptake of ¹⁵NO₃ ⁻ at MF than at MR. Consequently, ¹⁵NO₃ ⁻ made greater contribution to the total N uptake (50% to the total N uptake) at MR than at MF, but ¹⁵N-glycine only contributed around 11% at both sites. Twenty-four hours after tracer injection, D. dichotoma preferred ¹⁵NH₄ ⁺ (63%) at MR, whereas it preferred ¹⁵NO₃ ⁻ (47%) at MF. We concluded that the D. dichotoma responds distinctly in its uptake pattern for three available N species over temporal and spatial scales, but mainly relies on inorganic N species in the subtropical forest. This suggests that the fern employs different strategies to acquire available N which depends on N levels and time.     

Changes in vegetation and soil properties following 6 years of enclosure in riparian corridors

河岸带是维持生物多样性的重要生态系统之一。然而,由于过度放牧引起的植被消耗和过度开垦等人类活动的干扰,河岸带植被多样性和植被盖度受到严重的破坏,甚至威胁了河道的稳定性。围栏封育在退化草地生态系统修复中被广泛应用,但对退化河岸带植被群落和土壤性质的影响尚不明确。本研究的目的旨在明确围封的实施是否会促进河岸带植被群落的物种组成、物种丰富度和物种多样性恢复,土壤氧分如何随围封年限的增加而变化。辽河干流自2012年起被围栏封育管理,本研究在辽河干流河岸带沿岸设置了20个草本群落长期观测样地,记录了2012–2017年样地中植被高度、盖度和个体数量等参数用于物种丰富度和物种多样性的统计分析。同时,分别测定了2012年和2017年植被群落土壤氧分含量,验证了植被群落和土壤氧分对围封的反馈,研究了2012–2017年辽河干流河岸带的围栏封育对物种多样性和土壤氧分的影响。结果表明,随着围封年限的增加,辽河干流河岸带草本群落植被丰富度和多样性显著增加。物种组成方面,菊科植物的优势度显著增加,禾本科植物优势度显著下降。围封后植被群落的恢复和禁止耕作,加速了土壤中磷和钾的消耗,表现为显著降低,土壤有机质含量对围封的响应表现的相对滞后,并没有显著变化。综上所述,本研究为河岸带植被群落物种多样性、物种组成对围封的响应提供了新的见解。     

Phosphorene as Cathode Material for High‐Voltage,Anti‐Self‐Discharge Zinc Ion Hybrid Capacitors

Output voltage and self‐discharge rate are two important performance indices for supercapacitors, which have long been overlooked, though these play a very significant role in their practical application. Here, a zinc anode is used to construct a zinc ion hybrid capacitor. Expanded operating voltage of the hybrid capacitor is obtained with novel electrolytes. In addition, significantly improved anti‐self‐discharge ability is achieved. The phosphorene‐based zinc ion capacitor exploiting a “water in salt” electrolyte with a working potential can reach 2.2 V, delivering 214.3 F g^?1 after 5000 cycles. The operating voltage is further extended to 2.5 V through the use of an organic solvent as the electrolyte; the solvent is prepared by adding 0.2 m ZnCl₂ into the tetraethylammonium tetrafluoroborate in propylene carbonate (Et₄NBF₄/PC) solvent, and it exhibits 105.9 F g^?1 even after 9500 cycles. More importantly, the phosphorene‐based capacitors possess excellent anti‐self‐discharge performance. The capacitors retain 76.16% of capacitance after resting for 300 h. The practical application of the zinc ion capacitor is demonstrated through a flexible paper‐based printed microcapacitor. It is believed that the developed zinc ion capacitor can effectively resolve the severe self‐discharge problem of supercapacitors. Moreover, high‐voltage zinc ion capacitors provide more opportunities for the application of supercapacitors.     

Analysis of the neutral polysaccharide fraction of MCP and its inhibitory activity on galectin-3

The pH-modified citrus pectin (MCP) has been demonstrated to inhibit galectin-3 in cancer progression. The components and structures of MCP related to this inhibition remained unknown. In this paper, we fractionated MCP on DEAE-cellulose column into a homogenous neutral fraction MCP-N (about 20?kDa) and a pectin mixture fraction MCP-A (wide molecular distribution on Sepharose CL-6B chromatography). Both MCP-N and MCP-A inhibited hemagglutination mediated by galectin-3 with minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) 625 and 0.5?μg/ml, respectively. MCP-N was identified to be a type I arabinogalactan (AG-I) with a main chain of β-1→4-galactan. MCP-N was digested by α-L-arabinofuranosidase to give its main chain structure fraction (M-galactan, around 18?kDa), which was more active than the original molecule, MIC 50?μg/ml. The acidic degradation of M-galactan increased the inhibitory activity, MIC about 5 times lower than M-galactan. These results above showed that the functional motif of the β-1→4-galactan fragment might lie in the terminal residues rather than in the internal region of the chain. Therefore, MCP-N and its degraded products might be developed to new potential galectin-3 inhibitors. This is the first report concerning the fractionation of MCP and its components on galectin-3 inhibition. The information provided in this paper is valuable for screening more active galectin-3 inhibitors from natural polysaccharides.     

多模式镇痛在全膝关节置换术中的疗效评价

目的:探讨联合关节周围注射镇痛药物和持续静脉镇痛的多模式镇痛对全膝关节置换术(total knee arthroplasty,TKA)患者功能恢复的疗效。方法:60例拟行单侧TKA的患者完全随机分为实验组(28例)和对照组(28例)。所有患者术前48 h开始服用塞来昔布(西乐葆)200 mg/次,每天2次。实验组患者术中膝关节周围注射镇痛药物,术后给予持续静脉镇痛(continuous intravenousanalgesia,CIA)。对照组患者没有运用关节周围注射药物,仅给予术后CIA。记录术后CIA用量、各时间点静止视觉模拟疼痛评分(rest visual analogue score,RVAS)、被动活动视觉模拟疼痛评分(passive visual analogue score,PVAS)和膝关节活动度(range of mo-tion,ROM),同时观察药物的毒副作用。结果:(1)实验组术后24、48 h内PCA的用量均显著低于对照组(P<0.05)。(2)实验组术后4、8、12、24、48 h的RVAS和24、48 h的PVAS均显著低于对照组(P<0.05);术后72 h两组间RVAS和PVAS的差异均无统计学差异(P>0.05)。(3)实验组术后第1、2、3 d的ROM均显著高于对照组(P<0.05),术后第l、2 w两组ROM之间的差异无统计学意义(P>0.05);实验组术后主动屈膝到90?所需的天数显著低于对照组(P<0.05)。(4)实验组中恶心、呕吐和追加药物的发生率均显著低于对照组(P<0.05),未发现伤口感染、延期愈合及组织坏死等并发症。结论:联合使用关节周围注射镇痛药物和持续静脉镇痛的多模式镇痛方案,可以有效的缓解TKA患者术后早期的疼痛,促进患者膝关节的功能恢复,减少了单一用药所产生的不良反应。该方案安全有效、操作简单,是一种值得推广的TKA术后镇痛方法。     

模拟胃酸条件下的幽门螺杆菌CAT特异性抗体活性研究

幽门螺杆菌是常见的感染性病原菌,人类多种疾病发生与此菌感染有关。预防和治疗菌体感染及引发的相关疾病仍是现代医学面临的课题。实验利用原核表达的幽门螺杆菌过氧化氢酶(1~380 aa)免疫家兔,获得效价为1∶6 000的特异性抗血清,经硫酸铵沉淀法得到初步纯化的抗体。在体外模拟胃酸环境下(pH3.4)将抗体进行水解。SDS-PAGE结果显示,抗体的重链能被水解。水解后的抗体产物经ELISA方法检测,仍然具有与抗原特异性结合的能力。实验结论证实,在体外环境下特异性幽门螺杆菌抗体保护作用不会被胃蛋白酶的水解而破坏,提示口服特异性抗体预防和治疗幽门螺杆菌感染可能是一条可行的途径。     

Effects of leptin replacement on hypothalamic-pituitary growth hormone axis function and circulating ghrelin levels in ob/ob mice

Leptin-deficient obese mice (ob/ob) have decreased circulating growth hormone (GH) and pituitary GH and ghrelin receptor (GHS-R) mRNA levels, whereas hypothalamic GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) and somatostatin (SST) expression do not differ from lean controls. Given the fact that GH is suppressed in diet-induced obesity (a state of hyperleptinemia), it remains to be determined whether the absence of leptin contributes to changes in the GH axis of ob/ob mice. Therefore, to study the impact of leptin replacement on the hypothalamic-pituitary GH axis of ob/ob mice, leptin was infused for 7 days (sc), resulting in circulating leptin levels that were similar to wild-type controls (approximately 1 ng/ml). Leptin treatment reduced food intake, body weight, and circulating insulin while elevating circulating n-octanoyl ghrelin concentrations. Leptin treatment did not alter hypothalamic GHRH, SST, or GHS-R mRNA levels compared with vehicle-treated controls. However, leptin significantly increased pituitary GH and GHRH-R expression and tended to enhance circulating GH levels, but this latter effect did not reach statistical significance. In vitro, leptin (1 ng/ml, 24 h) did not affect pituitary GH, GHRH-R, or GHS-R mRNA but did enhance GH release. The in vivo effects of leptin on circulating hormone and pituitary mRNA levels were not replicated by pair feeding ob/ob mice to match the food intake of leptin-treated mice. However, leptin did prevent the fall in hypothalamic GHRH mRNA and circulating IGF-I levels observed in pair-fed mice. These results demonstrate that leptin replacement has positive effects on multiple levels of GH axis function in ob/ob mice.     

Belowground net primary productivity and biomass allocation of a grassland in Inner Mongolia is affected by grazing intensity

The root system of permanent grasslands is of outstanding importance for resource acquisition. Particularly under semi-arid conditions, the acquisition of water and nutrients is highly variable during the vegetation growth period and between years. Additionally, grazing is repeatedly disturbing the functional equilibrium between the root system and the transpiring leaf canopy. However, very few data is available considering grazing effects on belowground net primary productivity (BNPP) and root-shoot dry mass allocation in natural grassland systems. We hypothesise that grazing significantly reduces BNPP due to carbon reallocation to shoot growth. Root biomass and BNPP were estimated by soil coring in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and from ingrowth cores in 2005 and 2006 at one site which has been protected from grazing since 1979 (UG79), at one winter grazing (WG), and one heavily grazed (HG) site. BNPP was estimated from the summation of significant increments of total and live root biomass and from accumulated root biomass of ingrowth cores. Belowground biomass varied from 1,490–2,670 g m^?2 and was significantly lower under heavy grazing than at site UG79. Root turnover varied from 0.23 to 0.33 year^?1 and was not significantly different between sites. Heavy grazing significantly decreased live root biomass and BNPP compared to site UG79. Taking BNPP estimates from live root biomass dynamics and ingrowth cores as the most reliable values, the portion of dry mass allocated belowground relative to total net primary productivity (BNPP/NPP) varied between 0.50–0.66 and was reduced under heavy grazing in 2005, but not in 2006. The positive correlation between cumulative root length density of ingrowth cores and leaf dry matter suggests that the ingrowth core method is suitable for studying BNPP in this semi-arid steppe system. Grazing effects on BNPP and BNPP/NPP should be considered in regional carbon models and estimates of belowground nutrient cycling.