石杉碱甲片联合丁苯酞软胶囊对轻度阿尔茨海默病患者认知功能的疗效观察

目的 评价石杉碱甲片联合丁苯酞软胶囊对阿尔茨海默病患者认知功能的临床疗效.方法 将100例轻度阿尔茨海默病(Alzheimer's disease,AD)患者随机分为石杉碱甲片联合丁苯酞软胶囊组(治疗组)及单独应用石杉碱甲组(对照组).治疗前及治疗90 d后分别评价两组患者简易智力状态检查(Mini-mental State Examination,MMSE)量表、事件诱发电位P300潜伏期、波幅及不良反应.结果 石杉碱甲片联合丁苯酞软胶囊组治疗90 d后,MMSE评分和P300潜伏期、波幅与治疗前比较差异均具有统计学意义(P<0.05);与单独应用石杉碱甲组比较差异具有统计学意义(P<0.05).结论 石杉碱甲片联合丁苯酞软胶囊对轻度阿尔茨海默病患者认知功能有明显改善,且优于单独应用石杉碱甲片组.     

双向认知网络物理层安全策略建模及仿真研究

为提高移动通信系统的性能,构建了一个存在主网络干扰和窃听者的双向认知中继网络的物理层安全传输模型,设计了一种中继选择和功率分配的联合优化策略,用于对抗窃听者,保护收发节点的信息传输。通过仿真分析得出,此非凸优化问题限制条件较多,难以保证粒子群优化算法随机生成的初始解的可行性,从而造成求解困难。提出了一种基于可变网格优化和粒子群优化算法的混合优化算法。仿真结果表明此算法提高了次级网络的保密速率,提升了次级网络的安全性能。     

Defining G protein-coupled receptor peptide ligand expressomes and signalomes in human and mouse islets

Introduction

Islets synthesise and secrete numerous peptides, some of which are known to be important regulators of islet function and glucose homeostasis. In this study, we quantified mRNAs encoding all peptide ligands of islet G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in isolated human and mouse islets and carried out in vitro islet hormone secretion studies to provide functional confirmation for the species-specific role of peptide YY (PYY) in mouse islets.

Materials and methods

GPCR peptide ligand mRNAs in human and mouse islets were quantified by quantitative real-time PCR relative to the reference genes ACTB, GAPDH, PPIA, TBP and TFRC. The pathways connecting GPCR peptide ligands with their receptors were identified by manual searches in the PubMed, IUPHAR and Ingenuity databases. Distribution of PYY protein in mouse and human islets was determined by immunohistochemistry. Insulin, glucagon and somatostatin secretion from islets was measured by radioimmunoassay.

Results

We have quantified GPCR peptide ligand mRNA expression in human and mouse islets and created specific signalomes mapping the pathways by which islet peptide ligands regulate human and mouse GPCR signalling. We also identified species-specific islet expression of several GPCR ligands. In particular, PYY mRNA levels were ~ 40,000-fold higher in mouse than human islets, suggesting a more important role of locally secreted Pyy in mouse islets. This was confirmed by IHC and functional experiments measuring insulin, glucagon and somatostatin secretion.

Discussion

The detailed human and mouse islet GPCR peptide ligand atlases will allow accurate translation of mouse islet functional studies for the identification of GPCR/peptide signalling pathways relevant for human physiology, which may lead to novel treatment modalities of diabetes and metabolic disease.

     

Uncoupled PID Control of Coupled Multi-Agent Nonlinear Uncertain systems

In this paper, PID (proportional-integral-derivative) controllers will be designed to solve the tracking problem for a class of coupled multi-agent systems, where each agent is described by a second-order high-dimensional nonlinear uncertain dynamical system, which only has access to its own tracking error information and does not need to communicate with others. This paper will show that a 3-dimensional manifold can be constructed based on the information about the Lipschitz constants of the system nonlinear dynamics, such that whenever the three parameters of each PID controller are chosen from the manifold, the whole multi-agent system can be stabilized globally and the tracking error of each agent approaches to zero asymptotically. For a class of coupled first-order multi-agent nonlinear uncertain systems, a PI controller will be designed to stabilize the whole system.     

Blockage of the NLRP3 inflammasome by MCC950 improves anti-tumor immune responses in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

The NLRP3 inflammasome is a critical innate immune pathway responsible for producing active interleukin (IL)-1β, which is associated with tumor development and immunity. However, the mechanisms regulating the inflammatory microenvironment, tumorigenesis and tumor immunity are unclear. Herein, we show that the NLRP3 inflammasome was over-expressed in human HNSCC tissues and that the IL-1β concentration was increased in the peripheral blood of HNSCC patients. Additionally, elevated NLRP3 inflammasome levels were detected in tumor tissues of Tgfbr1/Pten 2cKO HNSCC mice, and elevated IL-1β levels were detected in the peripheral blood serum, spleen, draining lymph nodes and tumor tissues. Blocking NLRP3 inflammasome activation using MCC950 remarkably reduced IL-1β production in an HNSCC mouse model and reduced the numbers of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), regulatory T cells (Tregs) and tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). Moreover, inhibiting NLRP3 inflammasome activation increased the numbers of CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T cells in HNSCC mice. Notably, the numbers of exhausted PD-1⁺ and Tim3⁺ T cells were significantly reduced. A human HNSCC tissue microarray showed that NLRP3 inflammasome expression was correlated with the expression of CD8 and CD4, the Treg marker Foxp3, the MDSC markers CD11b and CD33, and the TAM markers CD68 and CD163, PD-1 and Tim3. Overall, our results demonstrate that the NLRP3 inflammasome/IL-1β pathway promotes tumorigenesis in HNSCC and inactivation of this pathway delays tumor growth, accompanied by decreased immunosuppressive cell accumulation and an increased number of effector T cells. Thus, inhibition of the tumor microenvironment through the NLRP3 inflammasome/IL-1β pathway may provide a novel approach for HNSCC therapy.     

A Novel Routing Method for Social Delay-Tolerant Networks

The lack of continuous connectivity and a complete path from source to destination makes node communication quite difficult in Delay-Tolerant Networks(DTNs). Most studies focus on routing problems in idealized network environments without considering social properties. Communication devices are carried by individuals in many DTNs; therefore, DTNs are unique social networks to some extent. To design efficient routing protocols for DTNs, it is important to analyze their social properties. In this paper, a more accurate and comprehensive metric for detecting the quality of the relationships between nodes is proposed, by considering the contact time, contact frequency, and contact regularity. An overlapping hierarchical community detection method is designed based on this new metric, and a tree structure is built. Furthermore, we exploit the overlapping community structure and the tree structure to provide message-forwarding paths from the source node to the destination node.The simulation results show that our Routing method based on Overlapping hierarchical Community Detection(ROCD) achieves better delivery rate than SimBet and Bubble Rap, the classic routing protocols, without affecting the average delay.     

三角代数上Lie积为平方零元的非线性Jordan高阶可导映射

设U是一个 2-无挠的三角代数,D ={d_n}_n∈N是U上一个Lie积为平方零元的非线性Jordan高阶可导映射。证明了三角代数U上的每一个Lie积为平方零元的非线性Jordan高阶可导映射都是高阶导子。作为结论的应用,得到套代数或 2-无挠的上三角分块矩阵代数上的每一个Lie积为平方零元的非线性Jordan高阶可导映射都是高阶导子。     

2018年天文学热点回眸

 天文学是一门以观测为基础的学科，其发展主要依靠观测和数据的支持。基于SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System天文物理学数据系统中高被引文章并结合热点新闻报道，回顾了2018年天文学热点的进展和发现，以观测和基础研究、仪器研制及工具开发两大方面论述了2018年天文学研究热点。     

桉树生态营林的理论探索与实践

桉树生态环境问题是世界性难题,迫切需要开展生态营林理论的探索与实践。本文通过系统地研究营林措施与人工林生态服务功能关系的变化规律,分析不同营林措施对桉树人工林生态服务功能的作用机制,并通过桉树生态营林实践,建立起现代桉树生态营林理论体系。文中提出生态营林的定义、生态营林原则和生态营林的理论体系。6年的生态营林实践表明,采取"低干扰、低投入、低污染"的生态营林方式,获得"高产量、高价值、高效率"的营林效果,实现长短结合、一般用材与珍贵用材结合、木材生产与生态服务协同提升的生态营林目标。该理论是解决当今桉树人工林木材生产和生态服务失衡以及生物安全、土壤安全、生态安全问题,实现高质量发展的重要理论基础,对推动我国现代林业高质量发展具有重要的指导作用。