Betaine Alleviates High-Fat Diet-Induced Disruption of Hepatic Lipid and Iron Homeostasis in Mice

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by excessive fat deposition in the liver, which is often associated with disrupted iron homeostasis. Betaine has been reported to be hepatoprotective, yet whether and how betaine ameliorates high-fat diet-induced disruption of hepatic lipid and iron homeostasis remains elusive. In this study, mice were fed either standard (CON) or high-fat diet (HFD) for 9 weeks to establish a NAFLD model. Mice raised on HF diet were then assigned randomly to HF and HFB groups, HFB group being supplemented with 1% (w/v) of betaine in the drinking water for 13 weeks. Betaine supplementation significantly alleviated excessive hepatic lipid deposition and restored hepatic iron content. Betaine partly yet significantly reversed HFD-induced dysregulation of lipogenic genes such as PRARγ and CD36, as well as the iron-metabolic genes including FPN and HAMP that encodes hepcidin. Similar mitigation effects of betaine were observed for BMP2 and BMP6, the up-stream regulators of hepcidin expression. Betaine significantly rectified disrupted expression of methyl transfer gene, including BHMT, GNMT and DNMT1. Moreover, HFD-modified CpG methylation on the promoter of PRARγ and HAMP genes was significantly reversed by betaine supplementation. These results indicate that betaine alleviates HFD-induced disruption of hepatic lipid and iron metabolism, which is associated with modification of CpG methylation on promoter of lipogenic and iron-metabolic genes.     

长江大保护下补短板工程的生态治理理念

在长江大保护框架下,针对目前补短板工程治理现状提出河道治理需要融入生态治理理念,可通过建立重要河段水生态保护模拟器,模拟河道系统的污染物、植被措施、水雨情等的变化,既能反映整条河道水生态环境、水量、污染物消纳状况,又能对局部河道的水生态特征进行诊断分析,以便对局部水体的管治提出合理有效的对策,避免局部河段的超标引发整条河道的水生态及水环境恶化。     

Expression Patterns of Sugar Transporter Genes in the Allocation of Assimilates and Abiotic Stress in Lily

During the growth cycle of lilies, assimilates undergo a process of accumulation, consumption and reaccumulation in bulbs and are transported and allocated between aboveground and underground organs and tissues. The sink–source relationship changes with the allocation of assimilates, affecting the vegetative growth and morphological establishment of lilies. In this study, the carbohydrate contents in different tissues of five critical stages during lily development were measured to observe the assimilates allocation. The results showed bulbs acted as the main source to provide energy before the budding stage (S3); after the flowering stage (S4), bulbs began to accumulate assimilates as a sink organ again. During the period when the plant height was 30cm with leaf-spread (S2), leaves mainly accumulated assimilates from bulbs through the symplastic pathway, while when leaves were fully expanded, it transformed to export carbohydrates. At the S4 stage, flowers became a new active sink with assimilates influx. To further understand the allocation of assimilates, 16 genes related to sugar transport and metabolism (ST genes) were identified and categorized into different subfamilies based on the phylogenetic analysis, and their protein physicochemical properties were also predicted. Tissue-specific analysis showed that most of the genes were highly expressed in stems and petals, and it was mainly the MST (monosaccharide transporter) genes that were obviously expressed in petals during the S4 stage, suggesting that they may be associated with the accumulation of carbohydrates in flowers and thus affect flower development process. LoSWEET14 (the Sugar will eventually be exported transporters) was significantly correlated with starch in scales and with soluble sugar in leaves. Sugar transporters LoHXT6 and LoSUT1 were significantly correlated with soluble sugar and sucrose in leaves, suggesting that these genes may play key roles in the accumulation and transportation of assimilates in lilies. In addition, we analyzed the expression patterns of ST genes under different abiotic stresses, and the results showed that all genes were significantly upregulated. This study lays a solid foundation for further research on molecular mechanism of sink–source change and response to abiotic stresses in lilies.     

多层住宅顶层改善措施

顶层住宅由于其用水、防水、隔热，上下楼不便等缺陷，不受居民的欢迎，在分配及销售上均存在着许多问题。本文对改善顶层住房的舒适性方面，提出了多种综合性措施，将顶层的不利因素转化为有利因素，具有一定的推广价值。     

A novel ethanol gas sensor based on ZnO-microwire

One-dimensional (1D) ZnO microwires were successfully synthesized by chemical vapor deposition and their structural and morphological properties were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, demonstrating that the microwires were single crystalline with perfect hexagonal structure and smooth surface. Using these 1D microstructures, we fabricated a novel ZnO-based ethanol gas sensor. Operating at room temperature, the sensor was found to have good sensing characteristics. The reliability and stability of the sensor could be improved by connecting multiple 1-wire devices (1-WD) in parallel into a multi-wires device. In interior natural lighting environment and under 3 V bias, the response and recovery time of the 1-WD to 200 ppm ethanol gas were <10 s and about 300 s, respectively, and the minimum and maximum detection limit were about 2 and 200 ppm, respectively. A sensing model was proposed for discussing the performance of the sensor. The simplicity in fabrication, low power consumption and low cost make the sensor suitable for practical application in many fields, especially in identifying driving under the influence and chemical industry monitoring.     

Bad-scenario-set robust scheduling for a job shop to hedge against processing time uncertainty

This paper proposed two robust scheduling formulations in real manufacturing systems based on the concept of bad scenario set to hedge against processing time uncertainty, which is described by discrete scenarios. Two proposed robust scheduling formulations are applied to an uncertain job-shop scheduling problem with the makespan as the performance criterion. The united-scenario neighbourhood (UN) structure is constructed based on bad scenario set for the scenario job-shop scheduling problem. A tabu search (TS) algorithm with the UN structure is developed to solve the proposed robust scheduling problem. An extensive experiment was conducted. The computational results show that the first robust scheduling formulation could be preferred to the second one for the discussed problem. It is also verified that the obtained robust solutions could hedge against the processing time uncertainty through decreasing the number of bad scenarios and the degree of performance degradation on bad scenarios. Moreover, the computational results demonstrate that the developed TS algorithm is competitive for the proposed robust scheduling formulations.     

SiAlCN前驱体低温陶瓷化过程研究

采用异丙醇铝改性氨解制备的聚甲基乙烯基硅氮烷来制备聚铝硅氮烷,研究其在200～800℃下的陶瓷化过程中所发生的结构变化.采用红外光谱(IR)、气相色谱(GC)和耦合热重/差热分析(TG/DTA)对陶瓷化过程的键变化、挥发物、热失重和差热分析进行表征.结果表明:200℃之前有吸热峰是溶剂和低聚物挥发所致,此时只有1％的质量损失;质量损失主要发生在200～600℃之间,可达28％,进一步交联成键,大量CH4,H2和NH3放出;600℃到800℃只有3％的失重,陶瓷化过程基本结束.通过IR,GC和DTA推测出陶瓷化过程可能发生的变化,XRD结果表明800℃裂解产物是非晶态物质.     

我国有机食品的现状及发展趋势

介绍了有机食品的特点及对人与自然和谐发展的作用,并概述了我国有机食品的发展现状及趋势.