垂直绿化生态效益研究综述

全球气候变化和城市化背景下城市生态环境问题越发凸显,面对日趋紧张的土地资源现状,垂直绿化建设成为重要的城市绿地补充手段,对改善城市环境具有重要意义。垂直绿化具有多种生态效益,且其效益发挥受到多因素共同影响。如何统筹协调生态效益和影响因素之间的复杂关系,以使其综合生态效益最大化,是当前垂直绿化建设亟待解决的科学问题之一。基于文献综述法归纳了不同生态效益的机制及其关键影响因素,并对多效益和多影响因素进行了综合分析。结果表明,垂直绿化具有缓解城市热岛、建筑节能减排、固碳、净化空气、降噪、截留雨水和支持生物多样性等七种主要生态效益,并受到植被特征、设施结构特征、气象条件、空间格局等多方面因素的共同影响。基于对效益和影响因素的综合分析,进一步提出了两点规划思路：首先,关注环境需求和效益供给的耦合关系能够更加科学合理地指导区域垂直绿化建设布局。其次,关注生态效益间的关系,以区域关键生态环境问题为导向进行效益权衡并结合考虑其影响因素的重要性程度能为规划设计提供有效建议。     

Metformin attenuates trauma‐induced heterotopic ossification via inhibition of Bone Morphogenetic Protein signalling

AMP‐activated protein kinase (AMPK) is an intracellular sensor of energy homoeostasis that is activated under energy stress and suppressed in energy surplus. AMPK activation leads to inhibition of anabolic processes that consume ATP. Osteogenic differentiation is a process that highly demands ATP during which AMPK is inhibited. The bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) signalling pathway plays an essential role in osteogenic differentiation. The present study examines the inhibitory effect of metformin on BMP signalling, osteogenic differentiation and trauma‐induced heterotopic ossification. Our results showed that metformin inhibited Smad1/5 phosphorylation induced by BMP6 in osteoblast MC3T3‐E1 cells, concurrent with up‐regulation of Smad6, and this effect was attenuated by knockdown of Smad6. Furthermore, we found that metformin suppressed ALP activity and mineralization of the cells, an event that was attenuated by the dominant negative mutant of AMPK and mimicked by its constitutively active mutant. Finally, administration of metformin prevented the trauma‐induced heterotopic ossification in mice. In conjuncture, AMPK activity and Smad6 and Smurf1 expression were enhanced by metformin treatment in the muscle of injured area, concurrently with the reduction of ALK2. Collectively, our study suggests that metformin prevents heterotopic ossification via activation of AMPK and subsequent up‐regulation of Smad6. Therefore, metformin could be a potential therapeutic drug for heterotopic ossification induced by traumatic injury.     

Reference gene selection and validation for mRNA expression analysis by RT-qPCR in murine M1- and M2-polarized macrophage

Molecular Biology Reports - Murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (M0) and M1- and M2-polarized macrophages are being widely used as a laboratory model for polarized macrophages related molecular...     

Determining Microeukaryotic Plankton Community around Xiamen Island,Southeast China,Using Illumina MiSeq and PCR-DGGE Techniques

Microeukaryotic plankton are important components of aquatic environments and play key roles in marine microbial food webs; however, little is known about their genetic diversity in subtropical offshore areas. Here we examined the community composition and genetic diversity of the microeukaryotic plankton in Xiamen offshore water by PCR-DGGE (polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis), clone-based sequencing and Illumina based sequencing. The Illumina MiSeq sequencing revealed a much (approximately two orders of magnitude) higher species richness of the microeukaryotic community than DGGE, but there were no significant difference in species richness and diversity among the northern, eastern, southern or western stations based on both methods. In this study, Copepoda, Ciliophora, Chlorophyta, Dinophyceae, Cryptophyta and Bacillariophyta (diatoms) were the dominant groups even though diatoms were not detected by DGGE. Our Illumina based results indicated that two northern communities (sites N2 and N3) were significantly different from others in having more protozoa and fewer diatoms. Redundancy analysis (RDA) showed that both temperature and salinity were the significant environmental factors influencing dominant species communities, whereas the full microeukaryotic community appeared to be affected by a complex of environmental factors. Our results suggested that extensive sampling combined with more deep sequencing are needed to obtain the complete diversity of the microeukaryotic community, and different diversity patterns for both abundant and rare taxa may be important in evaluating the marine ecosystem health.     

Bioaccumulation and Biovolatilisation of Pentavalent Arsenic by Penicillin janthinellum, Fusarium oxysporum and Trichoderma asperellum Under Laboratory Conditions

Some fungi are able to control and remediate arsenic (As)-contaminated soil, sediment, or water. Here, we investigate potential accumulation and volatilisation of As by three fungi strains. Results indicated that the highest level of As was accumulated by Penicillin janthinellum with 39.54 μg after 10 days in the culture system amended with 2,500 μg As(V), which represents 50 mg/l As. Fusarium oxysporum showed the highest amount of volatilised As with 304.06 μg after 15 days. The As content in the treated system (filter paper + As + fungi) was significantly higher than that in the control (filter paper + As; filter paper + fungi; filter paper). Trichoderma asperellum and F. oxysporum showed superior abilities for the absorption of extracellular As and accumulation of intracellular As, which accounted for 82.2 and 63.4% of the total accumulated As, respectively. However, P. janthinellum presented an equal distribution of intracellular and extracellular As. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis suggested that little impact on mycelium growth of the three fungal strains was seen after exposure to 50 mg/l As(V) for 5 days, while the growth of fungi in the control was inhibited. The present results demonstrate that P. janthinellum, F. oxysporum, and T. asperellum would be expected to tackle As-contaminated environments.