Measurement of Greenhouse Gas Flux from Agricultural Soils Using Static Chambers

Measurement of greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes between the soil and the atmosphere, in both managed and unmanaged ecosystems, is critical to understanding the biogeochemical drivers of climate change and to the development and evaluation of GHG mitigation strategies based on modulation of landscape management practices. The static chamber-based method described here is based on trapping gases emitted from the soil surface within a chamber and collecting samples from the chamber headspace at regular intervals for analysis by gas chromatography. Change in gas concentration over time is used to calculate flux. This method can be utilized to measure landscape-based flux of carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane, and to estimate differences between treatments or explore system dynamics over seasons or years. Infrastructure requirements are modest, but a comprehensive experimental design is essential. This method is easily deployed in the field, conforms to established guidelines, and produces data suitable to large-scale GHG emissions studies.     

Effect of metallothionein on cell viability and its interactions with cadmium and zinc in HEK293 cells

Metallothioneins (MTs) are thought to participate in a wide variety of physiological roles, but the mechanisms involved are still unclear. The study was designed to examine the possible factors related to these mechanisms. Methods, including transfection, MTT assay and flow cytometry, were used to investigate the effect of MTs on cell viability and their interactions with cadmium and zinc in HEK293 cells. The results showed that transient overexpression of human MT1A, MT2 and MT3 genes dynamically affected cell viability, and the effect was influenced by zinc and cadmium ions. Overexpressed MTs with added zinc showed a greater inhibitory effect on cell viability. Overexpressed MTs protected cells against low concentrations of cadmium ions (10 microM), but increased cell death in response to high concentrations (20-50 microM). Out of the three MTs, MT1A was more efficient than MT2 and MT3 in its resistance to cadmium (10 microM), and MT3 together with zinc showed more cell growth inhibition than MT1 and MT2. These results indicate that both of the divalent metal ions that could bind MTs, as well as the individual MT isoforms, affect the role of MTs on cell viability, which may explain in part why the comprehensive effect of MTs on the cells was elusive.     

Cd2+、Al3+作用下蚕豆UDS与微核相关性分析及高等植物UDS技术初探

为探讨金属离子对高等植物非按期DNA合成(UnscheduledDNASythesis,简称UDS)和微核(MCN)的诱导作用、二者之间的关联性以及利用高等植物UDS技术检测环境诱变物的可行性,利用3HTdR前体掺入法研究了Cd²⁺、Al³⁺作用下蚕豆的UDS效应。结果表明,Cd²⁺、Al³⁺均能不同程度地诱导蚕豆UDS和MCN的发生;UDS量与微核率(MCNF)之间呈负相关(r<0),但相关不显着(|r|0.05),且二者间的相关程度在Cd²⁺和Al³⁺两种金属离子作用下没有显着差别(P>0.05);利用高等植物UDS技术检测环境诱变物质,在一定受检物剂量范围内是可靠的,但超过这个剂量范围,UDS技术无法检出.     

低能铁离子束对原卟啉IX二钠盐的辐照效应研究

110ke V Fe^ 离子注入原卟啉IX二钠盐薄膜亲品后的一些谱学分析结果表明,低能铁离子束辐照可以导致生物分子的损伤和化学改性,并且初步证实注入铁离子在样品分子中慢化沉积后形成含铁的金属络合物,即注入铁离子的质量沉积。     

Three-year field response of young olive trees (Olea europaea L., cv. Arbequina) to soil salinity: Trunk growth and leaf ion accumulation

Irrigated olive is rapidly increasing in arid and semiarid areas, many of which may be negatively affected by soil salinity. We evaluated changes in trunk growth and leaf Cl^–, Na⁺ and K⁺ concentrations in young Arbequina olives (Olea europaea L.) grown in a saline-sodic field over a three-year period. The trunk diameter was measured at the beginning and the end of the 1999 (70 trees), 2000 (59 trees) and 2001 (42 trees) growing periods. Leaves, sampled in August of each year, were analyzed for Cl^–, Na⁺ and K⁺ concentrations. Soil salinity (apparent electrical conductivity, ECa) of each monitored tree was measured 14 times during the 1999–2001 experimental period with an electromagnetic sensor and converted to root zone electrical conductivity of the soil saturation extract (ECe) based on ECa–ECe calibration curves. Salinity tolerance was determined using the Maas and Hoffman threshold–slope response model. Based on salinity thresholds (ECe_thr), the tolerance of olive in terms of trunk growth was high in 1999 (ECe_thr = 6.7 dS m^–1), but declined with age and time of exposure to salts by 30% in 2000 (ECe_thr = 4.7 dS m^–1) and by 55% in 2001 (ECe_thr = 3.0 dS m^–1). Based on the high absolute slopes obtained in all years (values between 16% and 23% dS^–1 m), olive was classified as very sensitive to ECe values above the threshold. Trunk growth thresholds based on leaf ion concentrations varied, depending on years, between 2.6 and 4.0 mg g^–1 (Cl_thr) and between 1.0 and 1.2 mg g^–1 (Na_thr), indicating that Arbequina olive was less sensitive to leaf Cl^– and much more sensitive to leaf Na⁺ than values reported as toxic in greenhouse studies. Leaf K⁺ slightly decreased with increasing salinity, whereas the K⁺/Na⁺ ratio sharply decreased with increasing salinity. We concluded that the initial salinity tolerance of olive was high, but declined sharply with time of exposure to salts and became quite sensitive due primarily to increasing toxic concentrations of Na⁺ in the leaves.     

Mechanism of Na‐Ion Storage in Hard Carbon Anodes Revealed by Heteroatom Doping

Hard carbon is the leading candidate anode for commercialization of Na‐ion batteries. Hard carbon has a unique local atomic structure, which is composed of nanodomains of layered rumpled sheets that have short‐range local order resembling graphene within each layer, but complete disorder along the c‐axis between layers. A primary challenge holding back the development of Na‐ion batteries is that a complete understanding of the structure–capacity correlations of Na‐ion storage in hard carbon has remained elusive. This article presents two key discoveries: first, the characteristics of hard carbons structure can be modified systematically by heteroatom doping, and second, that these structural changes greatly affect Na‐ion storage properties, which reveals the mechanisms for Na storage in hard carbon. Specifically, via P or S doping, the interlayer spacing is dilated, which extends the low‐voltage plateau capacity, while increasing the defect concentrations with P or B doping leads to higher sloping sodiation capacity. The combined experimental studies and first principles calculations reveal that it is the Na‐ion‐defect binding that corresponds to the sloping capacity, while the Na intercalation between graphenic layers causes the low‐potential plateau capacity. The understanding suggests a new design principle of hard carbon anode: more reversibly binding defects and dilated turbostratic domains, given that the specific surface area is maintained low.     

L-精氨酸生物合成的代谢流量分析

建立并完善了谷氨酸棒杆菌GWY020及其2个逐步叠加不同遗传标记的突变株HUI821和GUI089合成L-精氨酸的中心代谢网络。分别测定了它们在特定培养时段(50 h~52 h)L-精氨酸等代谢物的胞外浓度, 由此计算这一时段这些代谢物在发酵液中积累(或消耗)的速率, 分别作出这3株菌在拟稳态下的代谢流量分布图, 进而研究育种过程中不同遗传标记的叠加对代谢网络中L-精氨酸合成流量分布的影响。结果表明遗传标记的引入使流量分配发生了重大变化, 节点处的流量分配朝着有利于L-精氨酸合成的方向改变。从代谢流量分析角度上, 证明结构类似物抗性和敏感性突变是代谢流导向和设计育种的有效手段, 代谢流量分析将成为设计育种的提供新思路。     

新型战伤急救止血剂体内抗菌活性的实验研究

目的：探讨新型战伤急救止血剂对家兔急性感染伤口的抗菌作用。方法：选用兔感染创面模型,分新型战伤止血剂、5A沸石、Quiclot和空白对照组对创面进行治疗,通过组织学观察、组织内细菌计数等方法对各组抗菌性能进行研究。结果：肉眼和组织学观察新型战伤急救止血剂治疗组动物模型伤口,炎症反应均小于其他各组;新型战伤急救止血剂治疗组织内细菌计数为104,比其他3组显著减少（P〈0.01）。结论：新型战伤急救止血剂具有良好的体内抗菌性能。     

Sequential abundant ion fragmentation analysis (SAIFA): an alternative approach for phosphopeptide identification using an ion trap mass spectrometer

Phosphorylation has been the most studied of all the posttranslational modifications of proteins. Mass spectrometry has emerged as a powerful tool for phosphomapping on proteins/peptides. Collision-induced dissociation (CID) of phosphopeptides leads to the loss of phosphoric or metaphosphoric acid as a neutral molecule, giving an intense neutral loss product ion in the mass spectrum. Dissociation of the neutral loss product ion identifies peptide sequence. This method of data-dependent constant neutral loss (DDNL) scanning analysis has been commonly used for mapping phosphopeptides. However, preferential losses of groups other than phosphate are frequently observed during CID of phosphopeptides. Ions that result from such losses are not identified during DDNL analysis due to predetermined scanning for phosphate loss. In this study, we describe an alternative approach for improved identification of phosphopeptides by sequential abundant ion fragmentation analysis (SAIFA). In this approach, there is no predetermined neutral loss molecule, thereby undergoing sequential fragmentation of abundant peak, irrespective of the moiety lost during CID. In addition to improved phosphomapping, the method increases the sequence coverage of the proteins identified, thereby increasing the confidence of protein identification. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to use SAIFA for phosphopeptide identification.