Identification of candidate chemosensory receptors in the antennal transcriptome of Tropidothorax elegans

Molecular Biology Reports - Chemosensory receptors in the dendritic membrane of olfactory cells are critical for the molecular recognition and discrimination of odorants. Tropidothorax elegans is a...     

Protective Effects of 28-O-Caffeoyl Betulin (B-CA) on the Cerebral Cortex of Ischemic Rats Revealed by a NMR-Based Metabolomics Analysis

28-O-caffeoyl betulin (B-CA) has been demonstrated to reduce the cerebral infarct volume caused by transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) injury. B-CA is a novel derivative of naturally occurring caffeoyl triterpene with little information associated with its pharmacological target(s). To date no data is available regarding the effect of B-CA on brain metabolism. In the present study, a ¹H-NMR-based metabolomics approach was applied to investigate the therapeutic effects of B-CA on brain metabolism following MCAO in rats. Global metabolic profiles of the cortex in acute period (9 h after focal ischemia onset) after MCAO were compared between the groups (sham; MCAO?+?vehicle; MCAO?+?B-CA). MCAO induced several changes in the ipsilateral cortex of ischemic rats, which consequently led to the neuronal damage featured with the downregulation of NAA, including energy metabolism dysfunctions, oxidative stress, and neurotransmitter metabolism. Treatment with B-CA showed statistically significant rescue effects on the ischemic cortex of MCAO rats. Specifically, treatment with B-CA ameliorated the energy metabolism dysfunctions (back-regulating the levels of succinate, lactate, BCAAs, and carnitine), oxidative stress (upregulating the level of glutathione), and neurotransmitter metabolism disturbances (back-regulating the levels of γ-aminobutyric acid and acetylcholine) associated with the progression of ischemic stroke. With the administration of B-CA, the levels of three phospholipid related metabolites (O-phosphocholine, O-phosphoethanolamine, sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) and NAA improved significantly. Overall, our findings suggest that treatment with B-CA may provide neuroprotection by augmenting the metabolic changes observed in the cortex following MCAO in rats.

     

Rapamycin Ameliorates Cognitive Impairments and Alzheimer’s Disease-Like Pathology with Restoring Mitochondrial Abnormality in the Hippocampus of Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Mice

Neurochemical Research - Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and diabetes mellitus (DM) share common pathophysiological findings, in particular, the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) has been...     

露天煤矿排土场边坡植被组成特征及其群落稳定性评价

研究植被恢复过程中植物群落组成、结构及稳定性的变化,可进一步了解到植物群落的演替过程及规律。采用空间代时间的方法对内蒙古锡林郭勒盟北电胜利露天煤矿4个排土场边坡人工恢复植被进行群落调查,在此基础上采用多样性指数与优化后的M.Godron稳定性指数对植物物种组成、物种多样性及其群落稳定性进行分析,探究不同恢复年限排土场边坡植被在恢复过程中群落特征及稳定性变化特征。结果表明：（1）排土场边坡植物物种组成共有16科44属56种,植物群落组成较简单,其中禾本科种类最多,生长型以草本植物为主。（2）随着恢复年限的增加,植物生活型由一、二年生转变为多年生,坡面优势种由人工种植植物转变为本土植物。（3）整体看,随着恢复年限增加,物种多样性呈下降趋势,群落稳定性整体呈上升趋势。（4）由于不同坡向土壤微环境差异,北坡恢复效果及稳定性好于南坡。本研究在一定程度上可为露天煤矿排土场边坡人工修复过程中植物物种及合理配置模式的选择提供科学依据。     

京津冀地区生态系统服务供需测度及时空演变

生态系统服务供需状况深刻影响地区生态安全与经济社会的可持续发展。以京津冀为研究区,选取产水、碳固持以及粮食生产3项生态系统服务,应用InVEST模型、ArcGIS空间分析模块,定量测度2005年与2015年京津冀地区生态系统服务供需水平,探索京津冀地区生态系统服务供需时空格局及类型演变特征。结果表明：（1）在2005年与2015年,京津冀地区产水服务处于供需赤字状态,碳固持服务和粮食生产服务处于供需盈余状态,且各项生态系统服务供需状态呈显著的空间异质性;（2）2005年与2015年京津冀地区生态系统服务综合供需状况呈赤字状态,主要赤字范围以京津为中心呈环状分布,并在此期间范围有所扩大。（3）基于生态系统服务供需状况,将京津冀各县区划分为生态涵养区、生态保育区、生态改良区、生态恢复区以及生态控制区,并针对各类型区生态系统供需状况及其时空演变规律,提出了相应的政策建议。     

青海东部人工生态公益林近自然经营的林分结构调整

依据研究区5种典型人工林近自然状况,以人工生态公益林的近自然经营管理为目标,提出林分结构调整策略与方法。主要从林分结构、物种组成、年龄及枯死木几个方面考虑选取了垂直结构、水平结构、草本盖度及其多样性、天然更新、物种多样性、组成系数、直径分布、枯木比例、健康木比例10个指标,应用基于单位圆的π值法则,采取定性与定量相结合的方法,对5种林分的近自然状态做出评价并依据评价结果提出相应改造措施。青海云杉-白桦混交林（ω_PB=0.4786）属于远近自然林分,此类林分在密度合理的情况下无需过多人为抚育;青杨-白桦混交林（ω_BP=0.2664）属于近人工林,此类林分以伐除病虫害严重的青杨、调整密度和补植青海云杉为主;青海云杉-青杨混交林（ω_PP=0.2283）属于近人工林,此类林分以伐除病虫害严重的青杨、调整密度和补植白桦为主;青海云杉-落叶松混交林（ω_PL=0.1872）属于人工林,此类林分以调整密度和补植白桦为主;青海云杉纯林（ω_P=0.0190）属于人工林,此类林分以调整密度和营造杉桦混交林为主。通过近自然度评价与分析,为当地近自然经营提供了直观可靠的依据。在进行林分结构调整时,首先通过伐除干扰木来调整林分密度,其次要营造针阔混交林分,其中以青海云杉和白桦混交林为主要目标林分。     

一种来源于红螺菌科细菌新型卤醇脱卤酶的克隆表达及其酶学性质鉴定

作为一类多功能生物催化剂,卤醇脱卤酶在手性β-取代醇和环氧化合物合成应用方面备受关注。目前催化功能较为清楚的卤醇脱卤酶不足40种,且绝大部分催化性能并不能满足科学研究和实际应用的要求,因此挖掘并鉴定更多的卤醇脱卤酶具有重要意义。本文克隆表达了来源于红螺菌科细菌Rhodospirillaceaebacterium中一个假定卤醇脱卤酶(HHDH-Ra)并对其催化特性以及酶学性质进行研究。将HHDH-Ra基因克隆到表达宿主大肠杆菌Escherichia coli BL21(DE3),结果显示目的蛋白为可溶性表达。底物特异性研究显示HHDH-Ra对1,3-二氯-2-丙醇(1,3-DCP)和4-氯-3-羟基丁酸乙酯(CHBE)具有良好的特异性。以1,3-DCP为反应底物获得HHDH-Ra的最适pH和最适温度分别为8.0和30℃。pH稳定性结果显示HHDH-Ra在pH 6.0–8.0具有较好的稳定性且经过100 h处理以后仍能保持70%左右的酶活。温度稳定性结果显示HHDH-Ra在30℃、40℃条件下的半衰期为60h,且当温度提高到50℃时,该酶的半衰期仍有20h,远高于已报道的酶。因此,来源于Rhodospirillaceae bacterium新型卤醇脱卤酶具有较好的温度、pH稳定性以及催化活性,在合成关键化学、医药中间体中具有一定的应用潜力。     

On computation of semiparametric maximum likelihood estimators with shape constraints

Large sample theory of semiparametric models based on maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) with shape constraint on the nonparametric component is well studied. Relatively less attention has been paid to the computational aspect of semiparametric MLE. The computation of semiparametric MLE based on existing approaches such as the expectation‐maximization (EM) algorithm can be computationally prohibitive when the missing rate is high. In this paper, we propose a computational framework for semiparametric MLE based on an inexact block coordinate ascent (BCA) algorithm. We show theoretically that the proposed algorithm converges. This computational framework can be applied to a wide range of data with different structures, such as panel count data, interval‐censored data, and degradation data, among others. Simulation studies demonstrate favorable performance compared with existing algorithms in terms of accuracy and speed. Two data sets are used to illustrate the proposed computational method. We further implement the proposed computational method in R package BCA1SG , available at CRAN.