Control of excessive neural circuit excitability and prevention of epileptic seizures by endocannabinoid signaling

Progress in research on endocannabinoid signaling has greatly advanced our understanding of how it controls neural circuit excitability in health and disease. In general, endocannabinoid signaling at excitatory synapses suppresses seizures by inhibiting glutamate release. In contrast, endocannabinoid signaling promotes seizures by inhibiting GABA release at inhibitory synapses. The physiological distribution of endocannabinoid signaling molecules becomes disrupted with the development of epileptic focus in patients with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy and in animal models of experimentally induced epilepsy. Augmentation of endocannabinoid signaling can promote the development of epileptic focus at initial stages. However, at later stages, increased endocannabinoid signaling delays it and suppresses spontaneous seizures. Thus, the regulation of endocannabinoid signaling at specific synapses that cause hyperexcitability during particular stages of disease development may be effective for treating epilepsy and epileptogenesis.     

Quantitative Analysis of Multi-Recovery-Based Intrusion Tolerance Model

Quantitative analysis has always been a difficult problem in security analysis of intrusion tolerance systems. An intrusion tolerance model based on multiple recovery mechanisms is introduced in this paper and how to quantify the security attributes of the model is proposed. A state transition model with recovery states more accurately describes the dynamic behavior of the system. Considering that recovery mechanisms have a great impact on the security performance of the system, we set up the cost models corresponding to different recovery mechanisms. We propose a feasible security measure based on mean cost to security failure in order to evaluate the system cost during the recovery phase. The experimental results confirmed the feasibility of the proposed methods.     

The Life-Cycle Model with Optimal Retiring Age and Simulation

In this paper, a life-cycle model with retirement is set up to study how an individual chooses the optimal retiring age on account of wage growth rate, longevity and healthy state. It is proved that there exists optimal retiring age under given conditions. The numerical simulations are given to show how wage growth rate, longevity and healthy state affect retiring age.     

Community Work Research through Co-Operative Inquiry in Timor-Leste,Australia and Peru: Insights into Process

Co-operative inquiry is an under-explored method in community-based research. Its democratic approach involves a group of “co-researchers” collaboratively inquiring into a mutually-agreed research topic through systematic cycles of reflection and action. This article shares the process, outcomes, and methodological reflections of three co-operative inquiries that were conducted as part of an international study regarding love in community work. Groups of up to 10 community workers in rural villages in Timor-Leste, Australia, and Peru engaged in co-operative inquiry to collaboratively develop new knowledge to inform practice. The article analyses data regarding co-inquirer experiences of the methodology, and identifies the strengths and challenges of the co-operative inquiry method to support the collective generation of new knowledge. The article concludes that co-operative inquiry involves shared power, participation, action, and contextual reflexivity, and is a useful method for community workers to collaboratively develop innovative approaches to community work practice through cycles of reflection and action.     

The Convergence of Least-Squares Progressive Iterative Approximation for Singular Least-Squares Fitting System

Data fitting is an extensively employed modeling tool in geometric design. With the advent of the big data era, the data sets to be fitted are made larger and larger, leading to more and more leastsquares fitting systems with singular coefficient matrices. LSPIA (least-squares progressive iterative approximation) is an efficient iterative method for the least-squares fitting. However, the convergence of LSPIA for the singular least-squares fitting systems remains as an open problem. In this paper, the authors showed that LSPIA for the singular least-squares fitting systems is convergent. Moreover, in a special case, LSPIA converges to the Moore-Penrose (M-P) pseudo-inverse solution to the leastsquares fitting result of the data set. This property makes LSPIA, an iterative method with clear geometric meanings, robust in geometric modeling applications. In addition, the authors discussed some implementation detail of LSPIA, and presented an example to validate the convergence of LSPIA for the singular least-squares fitting systems.     

Prediction of end-use energy consumption in a region of Northwest China

End-use energy consumption can reflect the industrial development of a country and the living standards of its residents. The study of end-use energy consumption can provide a solid basis for industrial restructuring, energy saving, and emission reduction. In this paper, we analyzed the end-use energy consumption of a region in Northwestern China, and applied the Markov prediction method to forecast the future demand of different types of end-use energy. This provides a reference for the energy structure optimization in the Northwestern China.     

内质网应激反应中microRNA的表达变化（英文）

各种生理学和病理学条件导致内质网腔中未折叠或错误折叠蛋白质的积累,引发内质网应激.通过RNA深度测序,我们发现内质网应激胁迫下,He La和HEK293细胞中一些micro RNA的表达发生改变.通过利用实时定量PCR技术,我们进一步验证了在这些细胞中hsa-mi R-423-5p的表达上调,而hsa-mi R-221-3p和hsa-mi R-452-5p的表达下调.荧光素酶活性检测和Western blotting实验证实CDKN1A是hsa-mi R-423-5p的靶基因,而CDKN1B是hsa-mi R-221-3p和hsa-mi R-452-5p的靶基因.我们推测micro RNA通过调控它们的靶基因,在内质网应激的适应性反应中协同作用.     

Laccases of prokaryotic origin: enzymes at the interface of protein science and protein technology

The ubiquitous members of the multicopper oxidase family of enzymes oxidize a range of aromatic substrates such as polyphenols, methoxy-substituted phenols, amines and inorganic compounds, concomitantly with the reduction of molecular dioxygen to water. This family of enzymes can be broadly divided into two functional classes: metalloxidases and laccases. Several prokaryotic metalloxidases have been described in the last decade showing a robust activity towards metals, such as Cu(I), Fe(II) or Mn(II) and have been implicated in the metal metabolism of the corresponding microorganisms. Many laccases, with a superior efficiency for oxidation of organic compounds when compared with metals, have also been identified and characterized from prokaryotes, playing roles that more closely conform to those of intermediary metabolism. This review aims to present an update of current knowledge on prokaryotic multicopper oxidases, with a special emphasis on laccases, anticipating their enormous potential for industrial and environmental applications.     

How Research on Microbiomes is Changing Biology: A Discussion on the Concept of the Organism

Multicellular organisms contain numerous symbiotic microorganisms, collectively called microbiomes. Recently, microbiomic research has shown that these microorganisms are responsible for the proper functioning of many of the systems (digestive, immune, nervous, etc.) of multicellular organisms. This has inclined some scholars to argue that it is about time to reconceptualise the organism and to develop a concept that would place the greatest emphasis on the vital role of microorganisms in the life of plants and animals. We believe that, unfortunately, there is a problem with this suggestion, since there is no such thing as a universal concept of the organism which could constitute a basis for all biological sciences. Rather, the opposite is true: numerous alternative definitions exist. Therefore, comprehending how microbiomics is changing our understanding of organisms may be a very complex matter. In this paper we will demonstrate that this pluralism proves that claims about a change in our understanding of organisms can be treated as both true and untrue. Mainly, we assert that the existing concepts differ substantially, and that only some of them have to be reconsidered in order to incorporate the discoveries of microbiomics, while others are already flexible enough to do so. Taking into account the plurality of conceptualisations within different branches of modern biology, we will conduct our discussion using the developmental and the cooperation–conflict concepts of the organism. Then we will explain our results by referring to the recent philosophical debate on the nature of the concept of the organism within biology.