Effects of ambient air pollution on allergic rhinitis among preschool children in Changsha, China

Prevalence of allergic rhinitis has rapidly increased among Chinese children,but the reasons are unclear.Recent findings have suggested that exposure to outdoor air pollutants may increase the risk of allergic rhinitis,but the results were inconsistent.This study further investigated the effect of outdoor air pollutants on allergic rhinitis among preschool children.A standardized questionnaire on health,home and environmental factors was conducted for 4988 children aged 1–8 in the city of Changsha,and the concentrations of PM10(particle diameter 10 m),sulfur dioxide(SO2)and nitrogen dioxide(NO2)during 2006–2011 were acquired from the official web of Changsha Environmental Protection Agency.Results showed that the prevalence of children’s doctor diagnosed rhinitis was 8.4%(95%confidence interval[CI]7.0%–10.0%).It was found that the prevalence of rhinitis was not associated with site-specific background concentrations of air pollutants,but significantly positively correlated with age-related accumulative personal exposure of PM10,SO2and NO2.We conclude that age-related accumulative personal exposure to ambient air pollution may play an important role in the development of rhinitis.     

Structural,morphological, Raman,optical, magnetic,and antibacterial characteristics of CeO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanostructures

In this study, CeO₂ nanostructures were synthesized by a soft chemical method. A hydrothermal treatment was observed to lead to an interesting morphological transformation of the nanoparticles into homogeneous microspheres composed of nanosheets with an average thickness of 40 nm. Structural analysis revealed the formation of a single-phase cubic fluorite structure of CeO₂ for both samples. A Raman spectroscopic study confirmed the XRD results and furthermore indicated the presence of a large number of oxygen vacancies in the nanosheets. These oxygen vacancies led to room-temperature ferromagnetism (RTFM) of the CeO₂ nanosheets with enhanced magnetic characteristics. Amazingly, the nanosheets exhibited substantially greater antibacterial activity than the nanoparticles. This greater antibacterial activity was attributed to greater exposure of high-surface-energy polar surfaces and to the presence of oxygen vacancies.     

PLATFORM SELECTION FOR COMPLEX SYSTEMS:BUILDING AUTOMATION SYSTEMS

Automation systems for buildings interconnect components and technologies from the information technology industry and the telecommunications industry.In these industries,existing platforms and new platforms（that are designed to make building automation systems work） compete for market acceptance and consequently several platform battles among suppliers for building automation networking are being waged.It is unclear what the outcome of these battles will be and also which factors are important in achieving platform dominance.Taking the fuzziness of decision makers＇ judgments into account,a fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making methodology called the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process is applied to investigate the importance of such factors in platform battles for building automation networking.We present the relative importance of the factors for three types of platforms（subsystem platforms,system platforms,and evolved subsystem platforms）.The results provide a first indication that the set of important factors differs per type of platform.For example,when focusing on other stakeholders,for subsystem platforms,the previous installed base is of importance;for system platforms,the diversity of the network of stakeholders is essential;and for evolved subsystem platforms,the judiciary is an important factor.     

Sequencing of neuroblastoma identifies chromothripsis and defects in neuritogenesis genes

Neuroblastoma is a childhood tumour of the peripheral sympathetic nervous system. The pathogenesis has for a long time been quite enigmatic, as only very few gene defects were identified in this often lethal tumour. Frequently detected gene alterations are limited to MYCN amplification (20%) and ALK activations (7%). Here we present a whole-genome sequence analysis of 87 neuroblastoma of all stages. Few recurrent amino-acid-changing mutations were found. In contrast, analysis of structural defects identified a local shredding of chromosomes, known as chromothripsis, in 18% of high-stage neuroblastoma. These tumours are associated with a poor outcome. Structural alterations recurrently affected ODZ3, PTPRD and CSMD1, which are involved in neuronal growth cone stabilization. In addition, ATRX, TIAM1 and a series of regulators of the Rac/Rho pathway were mutated, further implicating defects in neuritogenesis in neuroblastoma. Most tumours with defects in these genes were aggressive high-stage neuroblastomas, but did not carry MYCN amplifications. The genomic landscape of neuroblastoma therefore reveals two novel molecular defects, chromothripsis and neuritogenesis gene alterations, which frequently occur in high-risk tumours.     

The Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia enables predictive modelling of anticancer drug sensitivity

The systematic translation of cancer genomic data into knowledge of tumour biology and therapeutic possibilities remains challenging. Such efforts should be greatly aided by robust preclinical model systems that reflect the genomic diversity of human cancers and for which detailed genetic and pharmacological annotation is available. Here we describe the Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia (CCLE): a compilation of gene expression, chromosomal copy number and massively parallel sequencing data from 947 human cancer cell lines. When coupled with pharmacological profiles for 24 anticancer drugs across 479 of the cell lines, this collection allowed identification of genetic, lineage, and gene-expression-based predictors of drug sensitivity. In addition to known predictors, we found that plasma cell lineage correlated with sensitivity to IGF1 receptor inhibitors; AHR expression was associated with MEK inhibitor efficacy in NRAS-mutant lines; and SLFN11 expression predicted sensitivity to topoisomerase inhibitors. Together, our results indicate that large, annotated cell-line collections may help to enable preclinical stratification schemata for anticancer agents. The generation of genetic predictions of drug response in the preclinical setting and their incorporation into cancer clinical trial design could speed the emergence of 'personalized' therapeutic regimens.     

The effects of beta-endorphin on arginine-8-vasopressin and oxytocin levels in rat brain areas

Summary Measurements were made of the effects of intracerebroventricular treatment with beta-endorphin (BE; 100 ng) on the arginine-8-vasopressin (AVP) and oxytocin contents of rat hypothalamic and limbic brain areas (hippocampus, amygdala and septum). The hormone concentrations were determined by radioimmunoassay. The administration of BE resulted in a significant reduction of the AVP level in the amygdala in a naloxone-reversible manner. Naloxone (Nal) administered subcutaneously significantly increased the AVP content in the septum. The results revealed that BE and Nal had regionally specific effects on the activity of the vasopressinergic system but not on that of the oxytocinergic system in the brain.     

结核分枝杆菌H37Rv组氨醇脱氢酶基因的克隆、表达及酶学性质分析

以结核分枝杆菌H37Rv基因组为模板,扩增hisD基因,构建pET-28a-HDH重组质粒;转化重组质粒到E.coli BL21(DE3)并诱导表达,纯化可溶性的结核分枝杆菌L-组氨醇脱氢酶(HDH),并对其性质进行研究,结果表明:重组结核分枝杆菌L-组氨醇脱氢酶能以L-组氨醇和NAD 为底物催化L-组氨醇生成L-组氨酸;该酶的最适pH值为8.3,最适温度为45℃,比活力为1.788 U/mg;Mn2 ,Ca2 ,Zn2 ,Co2 等对酶促反应有激活作用;底物NAD 和L-组氨醇的米氏常数分别为0.9765 mmol/L和2.755μmol/L;25℃时重组蛋白的二级结构中有20.5%的α-螺旋,40.9%β-折叠,4.2%β-转角,34.3%无规卷曲.     

鸡冠花色素的提取与分离方法的初步研究

本以鸡冠花[Celosia cristata L.]花序为实验材料，以水作提取溶剂，采用正交法设计实验组合，按正交表L16（4^5）对提取温度、提取时间和物料配比等三个因子，每个因子四个水平进行实验，用硅胶柱层析法和薄层层析法对色素提取液进行分离纯化。结果发现：鸡冠花色素的提取温度以25℃,提取时间以2h，物料配比以1：15为提取该色素的最佳条件；鸡冠花色素提取液可分离出鸡冠花红色素、鸡冠花黄色素、果胶等三种物质。     

Bose-Einstein condensation of photons in an optical microcavity

Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC)-the macroscopic ground-state accumulation of particles with integer spin (bosons) at low temperature and high density-has been observed in several physical systems, including cold atomic gases and solid-state quasiparticles. However, the most omnipresent Bose gas, blackbody radiation (radiation in thermal equilibrium with the cavity walls) does not show this phase transition. In such systems photons have a vanishing chemical potential, meaning that their number is not conserved when the temperature of the photon gas is varied; at low temperatures, photons disappear in the cavity walls instead of occupying the cavity ground state. Theoretical works have considered thermalization processes that conserve photon number (a prerequisite for BEC), involving Compton scattering with a gas of thermal electrons or photon-photon scattering in a nonlinear resonator configuration. Number-conserving thermalization was experimentally observed for a two-dimensional photon gas in a dye-filled optical microcavity, which acts as a 'white-wall' box. Here we report the observation of a Bose-Einstein condensate of photons in this system. The cavity mirrors provide both a confining potential and a non-vanishing effective photon mass, making the system formally equivalent to a two-dimensional gas of trapped, massive bosons. The photons thermalize to the temperature of the dye solution (room temperature) by multiple scattering with the dye molecules. Upon increasing the photon density, we observe the following BEC signatures: the photon energies have a Bose-Einstein distribution with a massively populated ground-state mode on top of a broad thermal wing; the phase transition occurs at the expected photon density and exhibits the predicted dependence on cavity geometry; and the ground-state mode emerges even for a spatially displaced pump spot. The prospects of the observed effects include studies of extremely weakly interacting low-dimensional Bose gases and new coherent ultraviolet sources.