适用于不等保护的自适应视频编码方法

为了提高视频编码效率,同时便于设计有效的不等保护方法,提出一种同时考虑视频内容空间特性和时间特性的视频编码方法.首先确定可表征宏块内容空间特性和时间特性的参数,然后确定反映宏块与空间邻近及时间邻近宏块之间相关性强弱的加权因子,最后将宏块划归到对恢复视频质量影响较大的重要slice组或一般slice组进行编码.与不考虑视频内容特性的编码方法相比,该方法不但可以进一步提高编码效率,而且更有利于识别对恢复视频质量影响较大的宏块,以便利用不等保护方法对这些重要宏块提供较多的保护.实验结果表明,在编码比特率相近的条件下,该方法对恢复视频质量平均提高了0.22 dB和0.46 dB,且在slice组具有相同大小的前提下,该方法定义的重要slice组对恢复视频质量平均提高了1.52 dB和1.20 dB.     

RNASEL Arg462Gln variant is implicated in up to 13% of prostate cancer cases

RNASEL (encoding ribonuclease L) has recently been proposed as a candidate for the hereditary prostate cancer (HPC1) gene. We determined that the RNASEL variant Arg462Gln has three times less enzymatic activity than the wildtype and is significantly associated with prostate cancer risk (P = 0.007). At least one copy of the mutated allele that causes this substitution is carried by nearly 60% of the men in our study. Men that are heterozygous with respect to the mutated allele have 50% greater risk of prostate cancer than non-carriers, and homozygotes have more than double the risk.     

Non-framework cation migration and irreversible pressure-induced hydration in a zeolite

Zeolites crystallize in a variety of three-dimensional structures in which oxygen atoms are shared between tetrahedra containing silicon and/or aluminium, thus yielding negatively charged tetrahedral frameworks that enclose cavities and pores of molecular dimensions occupied by charge-balancing metal cations and water molecules. Cation migration in the pores and changes in water content associated with concomitant relaxation of the framework have been observed in numerous variable-temperature studies, whereas the effects of hydrostatic pressure on the structure and properties of zeolites are less well explored. The zeolite sodium aluminosilicate natrolite was recently shown to undergo a volume expansion at pressures above 1.2 GPa as a result of reversible pressure-induced hydration; in contrast, a synthetic analogue, potassium gallosilicate natrolite, exhibited irreversible pressure-induced hydration with retention of the high-pressure phase at ambient conditions. Here we report the structure of the high-pressure recovered phase and contrast it with the high-pressure phase of the sodium aluminosilicate natrolite. Our findings show that the irreversible hydration behaviour is associated with a pronounced rearrangement of the non-framework metal ions, thus emphasizing that they can clearly have an important role in mediating the overall properties of zeolites.     

Catecholamine-sensitive adenylate cyclase of human fat cell ghosts. Inhibition of catecholamine stimulation by phenylephrine

Summary The alpha-adrenergic agonist phenylephrine (up to 1 mM) did not affect basal and NaF-stimulated adenylate cyclase activities of human fat cell ghosts, but caused a dose-dependent inhibition of cAMP formation in the presence of catecholamines.     

Polymorphisms in FKBP5 are associated with increased recurrence of depressive episodes and rapid response to antidepressant treatment

The stress hormone-regulating hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been implicated in the causality as well as the treatment of depression. To investigate a possible association between genes regulating the HPA axis and response to antidepressants and susceptibility for depression, we genotyped single-nucleotide polymorphisms in eight of these genes in depressed individuals and matched controls. We found significant associations of response to antidepressants and the recurrence of depressive episodes with single-nucleotide polymorphisms in FKBP5, a glucocorticoid receptor-regulating cochaperone of hsp-90, in two independent samples. These single-nucleotide polymorphisms were also associated with increased intracellular FKBP5 protein expression, which triggers adaptive changes in glucocorticoid receptor and, thereby, HPA-axis regulation. Individuals carrying the associated genotypes had less HPA-axis hyperactivity during the depressive episode. We propose that the FKBP5 variant-dependent alterations in HPA-axis regulation could be related to the faster response to antidepressant drug treatment and the increased recurrence of depressive episodes observed in this subgroup of depressed individuals. These findings support a central role of genes regulating the HPA axis in the causality of depression and the mechanism of action of antidepressant drugs.     

Averting biodiversity collapse in tropical forest protected areas

The rapid disruption of tropical forests probably imperils global biodiversity more than any other contemporary phenomenon. With deforestation advancing quickly, protected areas are increasingly becoming final refuges for threatened species and natural ecosystem processes. However, many protected areas in the tropics are themselves vulnerable to human encroachment and other environmental stresses. As pressures mount, it is vital to know whether existing reserves can sustain their biodiversity. A critical constraint in addressing this question has been that data describing a broad array of biodiversity groups have been unavailable for a sufficiently large and representative sample of reserves. Here we present a uniquely comprehensive data set on changes over the past 20 to 30 years in 31 functional groups of species and 21 potential drivers of environmental change, for 60 protected areas stratified across the world’s major tropical regions. Our analysis reveals great variation in reserve ‘health’: about half of all reserves have been effective or performed passably, but the rest are experiencing an erosion of biodiversity that is often alarmingly widespread taxonomically and functionally. Habitat disruption, hunting and forest-product exploitation were the strongest predictors of declining reserve health. Crucially, environmental changes immediately outside reserves seemed nearly as important as those inside in determining their ecological fate, with changes inside reserves strongly mirroring those occurring around them. These findings suggest that tropical protected areas are often intimately linked ecologically to their surrounding habitats, and that a failure to stem broad-scale loss and degradation of such habitats could sharply increase the likelihood of serious biodiversity declines.     

Subgroup-specific structural variation across 1,000 medulloblastoma genomes

Medulloblastoma, the most common malignant paediatric brain tumour, is currently treated with nonspecific cytotoxic therapies including surgery, whole-brain radiation, and aggressive chemotherapy. As medulloblastoma exhibits marked intertumoural heterogeneity, with at least four distinct molecular variants, previous attempts to identify targets for therapy have been underpowered because of small samples sizes. Here we report somatic copy number aberrations (SCNAs) in 1,087 unique medulloblastomas. SCNAs are common in medulloblastoma, and are predominantly subgroup-enriched. The most common region of focal copy number gain is a tandem duplication of SNCAIP, a gene associated with Parkinson's disease, which is exquisitely restricted to Group 4α. Recurrent translocations of PVT1, including PVT1-MYC and PVT1-NDRG1, that arise through chromothripsis are restricted to Group 3. Numerous targetable SCNAs, including recurrent events targeting TGF-β signalling in Group 3, and NF-κB signalling in Group 4, suggest future avenues for rational, targeted therapy.     

The ageing systemic milieu negatively regulates neurogenesis and cognitive function

In the central nervous system, ageing results in a precipitous decline in adult neural stem/progenitor cells and neurogenesis, with concomitant impairments in cognitive functions. Interestingly, such impairments can be ameliorated through systemic perturbations such as exercise. Here, using heterochronic parabiosis we show that blood-borne factors present in the systemic milieu can inhibit or promote adult neurogenesis in an age-dependent fashion in mice. Accordingly, exposing a young mouse to an old systemic environment or to plasma from old mice decreased synaptic plasticity, and impaired contextual fear conditioning and spatial learning and memory. We identify chemokines--including CCL11 (also known as eotaxin)--the plasma levels of which correlate with reduced neurogenesis in heterochronic parabionts and aged mice, and the levels of which are increased in the plasma and cerebrospinal fluid of healthy ageing humans. Lastly, increasing peripheral CCL11 chemokine levels in vivo in young mice decreased adult neurogenesis and impaired learning and memory. Together our data indicate that the decline in neurogenesis and cognitive impairments observed during ageing can be in part attributed to changes in blood-borne factors.