Inducing dopaminergic differentiation of expanded rat mesencephalic neural stem cells by ascorbic acid in vitro

Ascorbic acid (AA) induced differentiation of neural stem cells (NSCs) into dopaminergic (DAergic) neurons is reported.NSCs derived from rat mesencephalon were maintained and expanded in a defined medium containing mitogens of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and epidermal growth factor (EGF).Compared with the control, ascorbic acid treatment led to more DAergic neuronal differentiation as indicated by the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and dopamine transporter (DAT), which are specific markers of dopamine neurons.AA induction also enhanced expression of Nurr1 and Shh.PD98059, an inhibitor of mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MAPK/ERK) pathway, could block AA-induced Nurr1, TH and DAT mRNA expression.The results might suggest a new strategy to provide enough dopaminergic cells for the therapy of Parkinson's disease (PD), and Nurr1 and ERK signaling pathway might participate in the AA-induced DAergic differentiation.     

Function analysis of a semi-dwarf sdg in rice with near isogenic lines

The physiological phenotype of the rice semi-dwarf mutant,sdg,was characterized in details using a pair of near isogenic .Neither gibberellin*deficient nor gibberellin-insensitive is characteristic of the sdgphenotype.Byanalyzing the secretion of aamylas and the promotion of stem growth caused by eogenous gibberellin(GA),the sdg plant was found to have decreased sensitivity to the GA at the seedling stage. The dwarfism stature of the sdg mutant can be attributed to the shortened internodes. Increase of the cell sults indicate the protein encded by the wild type gene of sdg may be a regulator for cell elogation.     

Poly(dimethylsiloxane) based microchip for DNA electrophoresis

A novel poly(dimethylsiloxane)(PDMS) -based microchip for DNA separation through electrophoresis has been developed using a micro-electro-mechanical-system(MEMS) technology. Unlike previous hybrid PDMS microchip, one PDMS film is first created on glass support by pressing method in our microchip. Thus, increased band-broadening phenomena, arising from the material nonuniformity at the walls of microchannel, can be avoided in electrophoresis process. A low-viscosity hydroxypropylmethylcellulose-100 (HPMC-100) is used as the separation medium for fluorescent intercalator-labeled double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) fragments. Mannitol is introduced to PDMS-based microchip as a separation medium additive to enhance separation efficiency. At applied electric field strength of 150 V/cm, excellent separations of the PCR marker could be achieved with an effective separation distance of 25mm .     

Multiple change-points estimation of moving-average processes under dependence assumptions

In this paper, some results of convergence for a least-square estimator in the problem of multiple change-points estimation are presented and the moving-average processes of ρ-mixing sequence in the mean shifts are discussed. When the number of change points is known, the consistency of change-points estimator is derived. When the number of changes is unknown, the consistency of the change-points number and the change-points estimator by penalized least-squares method are obtained. The results are also true for φ-mixing, α-mixing, associated and negative associated sequences under suitable conditions.     

Relationship between the exposure dose of high intensity focused ultrasound and the heated necrosis element

Heated necrosis element of tissues is the basis for treating tumor by high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), so study on the relationship between the HIFU exposure dose and the heated necrosis element of tissues is of great significance for both HIFU clinical applications and basic research. Using Pennes and Rayleigh formulae the relationship between the exposure dose of an annular focused transducer and the heated necrosis element (I.e. Biological focused region) in a bovine liver in vitro at a depth of 2 cm is simulated in an exposure dose range with radiation sound intensity of 7000～25400 W/cm2 and exposure time of 0～20 s. The theoretical results appear to be in quite good agreement with the experimental ones. It is shown that on the basis of existing theories the heated necrosis element produced by HIFU exposure can be predicted. The deviation of the theory from the experiments under higher exposure dose has also been discussed.     

Comparative physical mapping of rice BAC clones linked to resistance genes Glh,Bph-3 and xa-5 in Oryza sativa L. and O. granulata Nees et Arn. ex Watt.

Oryza granulata Nees et Arn. ex Watt. is one of the three wild relatives of rice,which are the most valuable for study and utilization in China.In this study,the homology and physical locations of three rice resistance genes,Glh,Bph-3 and xa-5 are comparatively analyzed between O.sativa and O. granulata by Southern blotting and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH).The results of Southern blotting indicate that there exist homologous sequences of the tested RFLP markers in O. granulata.By using three bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones scanned by the tested RFLP as probes, FISH signals are detected on both mitotic and pachytene chromosomes in O.sativa and O.granulata.Dual-color FISH demonstrates that two of the three BAC clones (14E16 and 38J9) are located on the short arm of the same chromosome pair in O. granulata. Additionally, colinearity is shown for the two clones between O.sativa and O.granulata. Another BAC clone 44B4 is located on the end of the short arm of other chromosome pair in these two species.Although the phylogenetic relationship between O.sativa and O.granulata is the most distinct in Oryza and these two species have evidently different biological features and ecological habits, the relative lengths and arm ratios of the detected chromosomes and the relative positions of the tested clone signals on chromosomes in O. granulata are quite similar to those in O. sativa.     

NPP distribution related to the terrains along the North-South Transect of Eastern China

Vegetation net primary productivity (NPP) is defined as the accumulative amount of organic matters per unit area and time, which is calculated from the difference between accumulative photosynthesis and accumulative autotrophic respiration by green plants. Since the NPP reflects the physiological and ecological characteristics of the plants and the interactive results of the environmental factors, it is an important index to evaluate a structure of ecological system, functional features and …     

SEM analysis of the changes of carbon layer structure of mesocarbon microbeads heat-treated at different temperatures

Mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB) with narrow size distribution, excellent sphericity and no obvious conglutination have been prepared with a coal tar pitch containing quinoline insolubles (QI) as the raw material. Optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) are used to examine the structure of the MCMB. It has been found that SEM technique shows the structural information of MCMB clearly in the form of micrographs even when the structure of MCMB is complex, while the optical technique is useful for analysis of the regular structure of the mesophase spheres but cannot be effectively used to analyze either the complex structure of the green MCMB or the structures of the further heat-treated ones at different temperatures. According to the characteristics of the carbon layers, the structures of the as-prepared MCMB in the present experiment could be classified as (I) Parallel Layer type structure and (2) Bent Layer type structure with the carbon layers gathering at one or two points in the MCMB. In the experiments, SEM is also utilized to investigate the structures of MCMB that are heat-treated at different temperatures. It has been found that the MCMB without any further heat-treatment show no layered-carbons, while the ones heat-treated at temperaturehigher than 1000℃ exhibit obvious layered carbons across their sections. When increasing the heat-treatment temperature, the carbon layers become thinner and flatter.     

SHRIMP zircon U-Pb ages of garnet pyroxenite and Fushui gabbroic complex in Songshugou region and constraints on tectonic evolution of Qinling Orogenic Belt

“Qinling Group (?)” in Songshugou region in the north of the Shangdan Fault consists predominantly of amphibolite with or without garnet and amphibole-plagioclase gneiss and intercalated with lensiod blocks of garnet pyroxenite, where the famous Songshugou dunite body occurs (Fig. 1). Petrographic study reveals that garnet pyroxenite is the representative rock of early     

Analysis of carbon isotopes in airborne carbonate and implications for aeolian sources

Methods were developed to determine the mass ratios of carbon isotopes in trace amounts of aerosol carbonate. A Finnigan MAT 252 mass spectrometer fitted with an on-line Kiel device was to determine the ^13C/^12C ratio in CO2 produced from the carbonate. A study using these methods was conducted to characterize the carbonate carbon isotopes in aerosol samples collected in Xi‘an on dusty and normal days during March and April 2002. Results of the study demonstrate that insights into the origin of the dust can be deduced from its isotopic composition. That is, the δ^13C ofcarbonate for dust storm samples ranged from -1.4‰ to -4.2‰, and this is consistent with sandy materials in dust source regions upwind. In contrast, for non-dusty days δ^13C ranged from -7.5% to -9.3‰, which is more similar to fine particles emitted from local surface soils. Comparisons of dust storm aerosols with surface soils from source regions and with aerosol samples collected downwind indicate that the δ^13C values did not change appreciably during longrange transport. Therefore, carbon isotopes have the potential for distinguishing among source materials, and this approach provides a powerful new tool for identifying dust provenance.