北京城区花粉致敏植物种类、分布及物候特征

为了解北京城区花粉致敏植物的种类、分布格局和物候特征,结合文献调研及专家访问,对北京5环以内的花粉致敏植物进行了调查.结果表明:1)北京城区五环内共有致敏花粉植物19科32属99种,其中北京本地种52种,占总数的52.5%,国内其他地区引进种和国外引进种各占总数的26.3%和21.2%;2)北京城区32属花粉致敏植物以北温带成分为主,占40.6%,其次是世界性分布与泛热带分布;3)公园内的花粉致敏植物种数最多,行道树种中花粉致敏植物的比例最高.北京城区各功能区中花粉强致敏草本的盖度,从大到小的顺序是城市废弃地>体育中心及机关单位>道路绿地>公园>居民区>学校>广场;4)北京城区木本花粉致敏植物的花期主要集中在3—4月,草本在7—9月.     

Reconsidering the relation between serum homocysteine and red blood cell distribution width: a cross-sectional study of a large cohort

Purpose: In a recent small sample study, red blood cell distribution width (RDW) was suggested as a predictor of homocysteine levels. The current study was aimed to reexamine this association in a large scale sample.

Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study of healthy adults, conducted at Rabin Medical Center, during 2000–2014. Data were retrieved from the medical charts and a logistic regression controlling for interfering factors was carried out. Sensitivity analysis was implemented by exclusion of individuals with anaemia.

Results: Five thousand, five hundred fifty-four healthy individuals were included. Mean serum homocysteine level was 10.10 (SD 2.72) μmol/L. 34.4% of the study population had a homocysteine level higher than the upper limit of normal (10.8?μmol/L). Homocysteine showed no association with RDW (OR 1.00; 95% CI 0.97–1.03), but increased with age (OR 1.05; 95% CI 1.04–1.06) and decreased with a rise in haemoglobin (OR 0.77; 95% CI 0.71–0.83), and in the mean corpuscular volume (OR 0.86; 95% CI 0.85–0.88). Exclusion of individuals with anaemia did not reveal an association between homocysteine and RDW but found a somewhat smaller association between haemoglobin and RDW [OR 0.82; 95% CI 0.73–0.91].

Conclusions: In our large scale sample we did not find an association between RDW and serum homocysteine.     

Determination of total and active immobilized enzyme distribution in porous solid supports

The total and active immobilized enzyme (IME) distributions in porous supports are studied both theoretically and experimentally. In order to determine experimentally the enzyme distribution profiles within a single particle, we construct a diffusion cell containing controlled-pore glass particles such that the cell would mimic a large pellet support. Our purpose is to study the interplay between the diffusion process within the interparticle void space and immobilization process in the controlled-pore glass particles onto the evolution of the (total and active) enzyme distributions. A mathematical model is developed to describe the interaction of various processes within the diffusion cell. The immobilized enzymes are determined for a system of trypsin and controlled-pore glass particles. The total amount of enzymes are determined by the amino acid analysis, and the active fraction is obtained by an active-site titration. The experimentally measured total IME profiles compare very well with that predicted by the model. The determined active enzyme profile is found to be nonuniform one, and it represents about 40% of the total enzyme immobilized in the support particles.     

革质花盘亚组野生牡丹资源的调查及保护利用建议

革质花盘亚组野生种参与了栽培牡丹的起源,在生物多样性保护和牡丹品种改良中具有重要价值。为了科学合理地保护和开发利用我国特有的野生牡丹资源,本研究通过野外实地调查,结合文献记录,在全国尺度上对革质花盘亚组野生牡丹资源的生物学特性、地理分布特点进行了系统分析。结果表明:革质花盘亚组共有5个野生种和1个杂交种,分布在秦巴山区、陕甘黄土高原和川西北黄土高原地区,其中陕西省野生牡丹资源最为丰富,并在陕西省商南县和旬阳县发现了卵叶牡丹新的原生地分布点;同时对革质花盘亚组的种群特征进行了分析,并针对革质花盘亚组种质资源的药用、观赏和油用潜在利用价值和濒危现状提出了开发利用建议和保护对策。     

Dosiomics-based prediction of radiation-induced hypothyroidism in nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients

PurposeTo predict the incidence of radiation-induced hypothyroidism (RHT) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients, dosiomics features based prediction models were established.Materials and methodsA total of 145 NPC patients treated with radiotherapy from January 2012 to January 2015 were included. Dosiomics features of the dose distribution within thyroid gland were extracted. The minimal-redundancy-maximal-relevance (mRMR) criterion was used to rank the extracted features and selected the most relevant features. Machine learning (ML) algorithms including logistic regression (LR), support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), and k-nearest neighbor (KNN) were utilized to establish prediction models, respectively. Nested sampling and hyper-tuning methods were adopted to train and validate the prediction models. The dosiomics-based (DO) prediction models were evaluated through comparing with the dose-volume factor-based (DV) models in terms of the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). The demographics factors (age and gender) were included in both DO model and DV model.ResultsAge, V45 and 37 dosiomics features exhibited significant correlations with RHT in univariate analysis. For prediction performance, DO prediction models exhibited better results with the best AUC value 0.7 while DV prediction models 0.61. In DO prediction models, the AUC values displayed a trend from ascending to descending with the increasing of selected features. The highest AUC value was achieved when the number of selected features was 3. In DV prediction model, similar trend was not observed.ConclusionThis study established a prediction model based on the dosiomics features with better performance than conventional dose-volume factors, leading to early predict the possible RHT among NPC patients who had received radiotherapy and take precaution measures for NPC patients.     

A comparison of the peri-implant bone stress generated by the preload with screw tightening between ‘bonded’ and ‘contact’ model

A number of finite element analyses (FEAs) for the dental implant were performed without regard for preload and with all interfaces ‘fixed-bonded’. The purpose of this study was comparing the stress distributions between the conventional FEA model with all contacting interfaces ‘fixed-bonded’ (bonded model) and the model with the interfaces of the components in ‘contact’ with friction simulated as a preloaded implant (contact model). We further verified the accuracy of the result of the FEA using model experiment. In the contact model, the stress was more widely distributed than in the bonded model. From the model study, the preload induced by screw tightening generated strain at the peri-implant bone, even before the application of external force. As a result, the bonded model could not reproduce the mechanical phenomena, whereas the contact model is considered to be appropriate for analysing mechanical problems.     

An evaluation of semi‐automated methods for collecting ecosystem‐level data in temperate marine systems

Historically, marine ecologists have lacked efficient tools that are capable of capturing detailed species distribution data over large areas. Emerging technologies such as high‐resolution imaging and associated machine‐learning image‐scoring software are providing new tools to map species over large areas in the ocean. Here, we combine a novel diver propulsion vehicle (DPV) imaging system with free‐to‐use machine‐learning software to semi‐automatically generate dense and widespread abundance records of a habitat‐forming algae over ~5,000 m² of temperate reef. We employ replicable spatial techniques to test the effectiveness of traditional diver‐based sampling, and better understand the distribution and spatial arrangement of one key algal species. We found that the effectiveness of a traditional survey depended on the level of spatial structuring, and generally 10–20 transects (50 × 1 m) were required to obtain reliable results. This represents 2–20 times greater replication than have been collected in previous studies. Furthermore, we demonstrate the usefulness of fine‐resolution distribution modeling for understanding patterns in canopy algae cover at multiple spatial scales, and discuss applications to other marine habitats. Our analyses demonstrate that semi‐automated methods of data gathering and processing provide more accurate results than traditional methods for describing habitat structure at seascape scales, and therefore represent vastly improved techniques for understanding and managing marine seascapes.     

Carrying capacity in a heterogeneous environment with habitat connectivity

A large body of theory predicts that populations diffusing in heterogeneous environments reach higher total size than if non‐diffusing, and, paradoxically, higher size than in a corresponding homogeneous environment. However, this theory and its assumptions have not been rigorously tested. Here, we extended previous theory to include exploitable resources, proving qualitatively novel results, which we tested experimentally using spatially diffusing laboratory populations of yeast. Consistent with previous theory, we predicted and experimentally observed that spatial diffusion increased total equilibrium population abundance in heterogeneous environments, with the effect size depending on the relationship between r and K. Refuting previous theory, however, we discovered that homogeneously distributed resources support higher total carrying capacity than heterogeneously distributed resources, even with species diffusion. Our results provide rigorous experimental tests of new and old theory, demonstrating how the traditional notion of carrying capacity is ambiguous for populations diffusing in spatially heterogeneous environments.