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本期的专题源于2007年北京大学景观设计大会,众多中外景观设计师和学者参加了此次会议,会议上不乏精彩的观点和激烈的争论,不同的文化背景并没有成为景观对话与交流的障碍,这是一次中西方景观的对话。在对会议内容进行整理报道的基础之上,我们增加了网络对话,包括“境外景观事务所在中国”和“杂志互动”两个部分的内容。“境外景观事务所在中国”选择了四家在中国有设计项目的境外设计公司做了访谈,     

Dried Blood Spots as Matrix for Evaluation of Valproate Levels and the Immediate and Delayed Metabolomic Changes Induced by Single Valproate Dose Treatment

The immediate and delayed metabolic changes in rats treated with valproate (VPA), a drug used for the treatment of epilepsy, were profiled. An established approach using dried blood spots (DBS) as sample matrices for gas chromatography/mass spectrometry-based metabolomics profiling was modified using double solvents in the extraction of analytes. With the modified method, some of the previously undetectable metabolites were recovered and subtle differences in the metabolic changes upon exposure to a single dose of VPA between males and female rats were identified. In male rats, changes in 2-hydroxybutyric acid, pipecolic acid, tetratriacontane and stearic acid were found between the control and treatment groups at various time points from 2.5 h up to 24 h. In contrast, such differences were not observed in female rats, which could be caused by the vast inter-individual variations in metabolite levels within the female group. Based on the measured DBS drug concentrations, clearance and apparent volume of distribution of VPA were estimated and the values were found to be comparable to those estimated previously from full blood drug concentrations. The current study indicated that DBS is a powerful tool to monitor drug levels and metabolic changes in response to drug treatment.     

晶体管镀金可伐(Fe-Ni-Co合金)引线腐蚀断裂原因的研究

基于模型分析,研究了镀金可伐引线在各种缺陷组合方式下的偶合系统在静、动态3％NaCl溶液中的腐蚀行为。应用OCC理论阐述了蚀孔的形成和形貌特征。大气环境下镀金可伐引线的腐蚀是以偶合腐蚀为起因,具有闭塞小孔腐蚀特征的局部腐蚀。中性介质的实验结果与实际断腿样品在形貌等各方面均十分相符,这支持了上述观点。     

β-Galactosidase with transgalactosylation activity from Lactobacillus fermentum K4

The LacLM β-galactosidase of Lactobacillus fermentum K4 is encoded by 2 consecutive genes, lacL (large subunit) and lacM (small subunit), that share 17 overlapping nucleotides. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that this enzyme was closely related to other Lactobacillus β-galactosidases and provided significant insight into its common and distinct characteristics. We cloned both the lacL and lacM genes of L. fermentum K4 and heterologously expressed each in Escherichia coli, although the recombinant enzyme was only functional when both were expressed on the same plasmid. We evaluated the enzymatic properties of this species-specific LacLM β-galactosidase and discovered that it acts as both a hydrolase, bioconverting lactose into glucose and galactose, and a transgalactosylase, generating prebiotic galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS). The recombinant β-galactosidase showed a broad pH optimum and stability around neutral pH. The optimal temperature and Michaelis constant (K_m) for the substrates o-nitrophenyl-β-d-galactopyranoside and lactose were, respectively, 40°C and 45 to 50°C and 1.31 mM and 27 mM. The enzyme activity was stimulated by some cations such as Na⁺, K⁺, and Mg²⁺. In addition, activity was also enhanced by ethanol (15%, wt/vol). The transgalactosylation activity of L. fermentum K4 β-galactosidase effectively and rapidly generated GOS, up to 37% of the total sugars from the reaction. Collectively, our results suggested that the β-galactosidase from L. fermentum K4 could be exploited for the formation of GOS.     

闭式冷却塔中空气与喷淋水同向和逆向流动的流阻试验研究

一些高效逆流闭式冷却塔盘管管外的空气流动和喷淋水的流动方向相同(顺流),其空气流动阻力的规律性尚待进一步探索,本文对此进行了试验研究。设计构建了相关的试验装置、试验件,进行了一系列的试验。为便于对比,分别针对盘管管外的空气流动和喷淋水的流动方向同向以及逆向(逆流)进行了试验。通过改变喷淋水的喷淋量和空气的流速,得到了相关的空气流动阻力的规律性。试验表明,顺流型式比逆流型式的空气流动阻力大为降低,逆流型式存在空气流动阻力的突增点,顺流型式不存在阻力的突增点。     

Theragnostic Efficacy of K18 Response in Alcohol Use Disorder with Clinically Significant Fibrosis Using Gut-Liver Axis

(1) Background: Fibrosis in early-stage alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD) is commonly under-diagnosed in routine clinical practice. This study characterized the liver-injury and cell death response in alcohol use disorder (AUD) patients with ALD who also exhibited fibrosis and assessed the efficacy of standard of care (SOC) treatment in the improvement in liver injury. (2) Methods: Forty-eight heavy-drinking AUD patients aged 21–65 yrs. without clinical manifestations of liver injury were grouped by Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score, as negative (Gr.1 < 1.45, n = 21) or positive (Gr.2 ≥ 1.45, n = 27). Patients received 2-weeks (2 w) inpatient SOC. Data on demographics, drinking patterns, liver-injury, immune markers, and liver cell death (K18s) markers were analyzed at baseline (BL) and after 2 w SOC. (3) Results: Lifetime drinking (LTDH, yrs.) and acute heavy drinking (Heavy Drinking Days Past 90 Days [HDD90]) markers were significantly higher in Gr.2 vs. Gr.1. BL ALT, AST, AST:ALT and K18M65 were considerably higher in Gr.2. Dysregulated gut dysfunction and elevated immune activity were evident in Gr.2 characterized by TNF-α, IL-8 and LPS levels. After SOC, Gr.2 showed improvement in AST, ALT, AST/ALT ratio; and in the K18M65, K18M30 and K18M65/M30 ratio vs. Gr.1. The true positivity of BL IL-8 response to predict the improvement in K18M65 to normal levels among Gr.2 patients against those who did not have improvement after 2 w SOC was very high (AUROC = 0.830, p = 0.042). (4) Conclusions: Gut dysfunction, elevated cytokine response and necrotic liver cell death were elevated in AUD patients with early-stage ALD. K18 showed promise as a predictive theragnostic factor to differentiate among the AUD patients with early-stage ALD and baseline fibrosis who had improvement in liver injury against those who did not, by the levels of baseline IL-8.