Cardiac angiogenic imbalance leads to peripartum cardiomyopathy

Peripartum cardiomyopathy (PPCM) is an often fatal disease that affects pregnant women who are near delivery, and it occurs more frequently in women with pre-eclampsia and/or multiple gestation. The aetiology of PPCM, and why it is associated with pre-eclampsia, remain unknown. Here we show that PPCM is associated with a systemic angiogenic imbalance, accentuated by pre-eclampsia. Mice that lack cardiac PGC-1α, a powerful regulator of angiogenesis, develop profound PPCM. Importantly, the PPCM is entirely rescued by pro-angiogenic therapies. In humans, the placenta in late gestation secretes VEGF inhibitors like soluble FLT1 (sFLT1), and this is accentuated by multiple gestation and pre-eclampsia. This anti-angiogenic environment is accompanied by subclinical cardiac dysfunction, the extent of which correlates with circulating levels of sFLT1. Exogenous sFLT1 alone caused diastolic dysfunction in wild-type mice, and profound systolic dysfunction in mice lacking cardiac PGC-1α. Finally, plasma samples from women with PPCM contained abnormally high levels of sFLT1. These data indicate that PPCM is mainly a vascular disease, caused by excess anti-angiogenic signalling in the peripartum period. The data also explain how late pregnancy poses a threat to cardiac homeostasis, and why pre-eclampsia and multiple gestation are important risk factors for the development of PPCM.     

化学发光自显影免疫印迹法（Western Blotting）检测绒山羊皮肤组织中催乳素受体蛋白

采集不同季节绒山羊皮肤组织样品,提取总蛋白,经聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳,将电泳结果转移到醋酸纤维薄膜,然后与催乳素抗体结合、辣根过氧化物酶标记二抗结合,后者作用于化学发光底物,暗室中置X-光胶片上自显影数分钟,经显影、定影,得到黑色曝光斑,根据胶片上曝光斑的位置确定出催乳素受体的分子量为87kD。根据不同时期样品黑斑的大小得出各时期催乳素受体表达量与绒毛生长趋势是一致的。     

道路交通驾驶员差异性分类定量研究

驾驶员个体差异是影响城市道路交通运营、效率及安全的一个重要因素之一。为了实现对驾驶员差异性的影响分析,采用驾驶模拟舱研究平台对驾驶员样本进行归类。研究分别选取了反映驾驶员特征的静态驾驶适性和动态驾驶适性两类,共计15个指标。采用因子分析的方法将相关指标归纳为驾驶员的5个类因子,并通过主成份分析的方法找出每类因子中的主导指标,并以此指标作为聚类分析的输入变量。结果表明聚类分析得到的三类驾驶员具有明显的各自特征。     

Abundance and diversity of microbial life in ocean crust

Oceanic lithosphere exposed at the sea floor undergoes seawater-rock alteration reactions involving the oxidation and hydration of glassy basalt. Basalt alteration reactions are theoretically capable of supplying sufficient energy for chemolithoautotrophic growth. Such reactions have been shown to generate microbial biomass in the laboratory, but field-based support for the existence of microbes that are supported by basalt alteration is lacking. Here, using quantitative polymerase chain reaction, in situ hybridization and microscopy, we demonstrate that prokaryotic cell abundances on seafloor-exposed basalts are 3-4 orders of magnitude greater than in overlying deep sea water. Phylogenetic analyses of basaltic lavas from the East Pacific Rise (9 degrees N) and around Hawaii reveal that the basalt-hosted biosphere harbours high bacterial community richness and that community membership is shared between these sites. We hypothesize that alteration reactions fuel chemolithoautotrophic microorganisms, which constitute a trophic base of the basalt habitat, with important implications for deep-sea carbon cycling and chemical exchange between basalt and sea water.     

播种方式对紫花苜蓿＋无芒雀麦人工草地土壤剖面养分分布的影响

采用田间调查取样和室内分析相结合的方法,2007年在内蒙古民族大学农学院试验农场以2年生单播紫花苜蓿、单播无芒雀麦、隔行混播和同行混播人工草地为研究对象,采用分层取样法研究了不同播种方式对土壤理化性质的影响,结果表明：在牧草生长期间单播无芒雀麦草地土壤容重最小,紫花苜蓿草地土壤容重最大;单播无芒雀麦、隔行混播和同行混播草地0～20cm土层有机质含量大于单播紫花苜蓿草地,20～30cm不显著,30～40cm单播紫花苜蓿草地显著增加,分别是隔行混播草地、同行混播和单播无芒雀麦草地的1.11、1.72和1.94倍;速效N单播无芒雀麦草地最低,速效P、速效K单播紫花苜蓿草地最低.     

The genome sequence of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea

Magnaporthe grisea is the most destructive pathogen of rice worldwide and the principal model organism for elucidating the molecular basis of fungal disease of plants. Here, we report the draft sequence of the M. grisea genome. Analysis of the gene set provides an insight into the adaptations required by a fungus to cause disease. The genome encodes a large and diverse set of secreted proteins, including those defined by unusual carbohydrate-binding domains. This fungus also possesses an expanded family of G-protein-coupled receptors, several new virulence-associated genes and large suites of enzymes involved in secondary metabolism. Consistent with a role in fungal pathogenesis, the expression of several of these genes is upregulated during the early stages of infection-related development. The M. grisea genome has been subject to invasion and proliferation of active transposable elements, reflecting the clonal nature of this fungus imposed by widespread rice cultivation.     

中国古代文学学习的困惑及反思

高等院校中国古代文学课程已经形成了一个比较完善的学科体系,其所传授的知识内容、教学的模式也已相对固定.但由于高校中国古代文学教学课时数相对较少、教学内容庞杂、学生学习方法不当等诸多原因,学生在学习时面临不少的困惑.     

Homology of a candidate spermatogenic gene from the mouse Y chromosome to the ubiquitin-activating enzyme E1.

The Sxr (sex-reversed) region, a fragment of the Y chromosome short arm, can cause chromosomally female XXSxr or XSxrO mice to develop as sterile males. The original Sxr region, termed Sxra, encodes: Tdy, the primary sex-determining gene; Hya, the controlling or structural locus for the minor transplantation antigen H-Y; gene(s) controlling the expression of the serologically detected male antigen (SDMA); Spy, a gene(s) required for the survival and proliferation of A spermatogonia during spermatogenesis; Zfy-1/Zfy-2, zinc-finger-containing genes of unknown function; and Sry, which is probably identical to Tdy. A deletion variant of Sxra, termed Sxrb, which lacks Hya, SDMA expression, Spy and some Zfy-2 sequences, makes positional cloning of these genes possible. We report here the isolation of a new testis-specific gene, Sby, mapping to the DNA deleted from the Sxrb region (the delta Sxrb interval). Sby has extensive homology to the X-linked human ubiquitin-activating enzyme E1. The critical role of this enzyme in nuclear DNA replication together with the testis-specific expression of Sby suggests Sby as a candidate for the spermatogenic gene Spy.     

Implications of toxins in the ecology and evolution of plant pathogenic microorganisms: Bacteria

This review attempts to rationalise what is known about bacterial phytotoxins and associate it with the ecology and possible evolution of the producing organisms. Study of non-toxin producing variants gives insight into the ecological role of the toxin. Elucidation of chemical structures of phytotoxins has shown that many exist as families of analogous compounds. Studies on the variation of chemical structures and how they are distributed across species and genera can lead to development of hypotheses on evolutionary relationships. Knowledge on biosynthetic pathways to tosins allows recognition of specific enzymatic steps involved in developing the characteristic features of the structures. Phytotoxins often have a potent biochemical activity, and in some cases the producing organism has associated mechanisms to prevent action of the toxin upon itself; in such cases toxigenesis is clearly not a chance event. The various aspects of bacterial toxigenesis indicate that bacterial phytotoxins are special secondary metabolic products that play beneficial roles to the producing organisms in their various ecological niches.     

Effects of the adenylate cyclase activator forskolin and its inactive derivative 1,9-dideoxyforskolin on insect cytochrome P-450 dependent steroid hydroxylase activity.

The adenylate cyclase activator forskolin and its pharmacologically inactive derivative 1,9-dideoxyforskolin were found to inhibit in a dose-dependent fashion the ecdysone 20-monooxygenase activity associated with wandering stage larvae of Drosophila melanogaster and fat body and midgut from last instar larvae of the tobacco hornworm, Manduca sexta. The concentrations of these labdane diterpenes required to elicit a 50% inhibition of the cytochrome P-450 dependent steroid hydroxylase activity in the insect tissues ranged from approximately 5 x 10(-6) to 5 x 10(-4) M.