稀土与L-酪氨酸甘氨酸三元固态配合物的合成与表征

在乙醇溶液中合成了四种稀土与 L-酪氨酸、甘氨酸的三元固态配合物 RE( Tyr) 1.5 ( Gly) 4 ( Cl O4) 3( RE=La3+、Ce3+、Gd3+、Y3+) ,并通过摩尔电导、热分析、红外光谱等进行了表征。     

2,4,6-三甲基苯乙酸的合成新方法

以2,4,6-三甲基苯甲醛为原料,通过相转移催化反应在水-氯仿体系中先合成α-羟基-2,4,6-三甲基苯乙酸(收率52%);再通过次磷酸还原α-羟基-2,4,6-三甲基苯乙酸得到最终产物2,4,6-三甲基苯乙酸(收率91%)。此法绿色便捷,成本相对较低。     

H∞混合灵敏度控制在主汽压系统中的应用

主蒸汽压力是电厂热工过程控制中的重要参数,由于锅炉燃烧工况变化较大,主汽压对象模型具有不确定性,常规控制方法很难得到预期的控制效果。为提高系统控制品质,提出了主汽压系统的H∞混合灵敏度设计方法,给出了选择加权函数的具体方法,采用MATLAB软件进行仿真计算,得到H∞最优控制器。仿真结果表明,在对象模型参数发生较大变化时,与常规PID调节方法相比,H∞最优控制器能使主汽压控制系统具有良好的鲁棒稳定性和动态性能。     

地方煤矿安全现状的模糊综合评价研究

对山西省临汾地区4个县的地方煤矿安全现状进行研究,收集了200多份地方煤矿安全现状综合评价资料。利用层次分析法,建立了地方煤矿安全现状综合评价指标体系;采用模糊综合评价方法,对临汾地区4个县的地方煤矿以县级为单位分别进行了模糊综合评价及分析比较研究,论述了模糊综合评价方法的有效性及其在地方煤矿系统安全评价中的应用前景,为模糊综合评价方法在矿业系统工程的推广应用拓展了思路。     

Drugs and immunity: cannabinoids and their role in decreased resistance to infectious disease

Marijuana, Cannabis sativa, elicits a variety of effects in experimental animals and humans. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the major psychoactive component in marijuana. This substance has been shown, also, to be immunosuppressive and to decrease host resistance to bacterial, protozoan, and viral infections. Macrophages, T lymphocytes, and natural killer cells appear to be major targets of the immunosuppressive effects of THC. Definitive data which directly link marijuana use to increased susceptibility to infection in humans currently is unavailable. However, cumulative reports indicating that THC alters resistance to infection in vitro and in a variety of experimental animals support the hypothesis that a similar effect occurs in humans.     

Outbreak of Salmonella serotype Hartford infections associated with unpasteurized orange juice

CONTEXT: Acidic foods such as orange juice have been thought to be unlikely vehicles of foodborne illness. OBJECTIVE: To investigate an outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Hartford (Salmonella Hartford) infections among persons visiting a theme park in Orlando, Fla, in 1995. DESIGN: Review of surveillance data, matched case-control study, laboratory investigation, and environmental studies. SETTING: General community. PARTICIPANTS: The surveillance case definition was Salmonella Hartford or Salmonella serogroup C1 infection in a resident of or a visitor to Orlando in May or June 1995. In the case-control study, case patients were limited to theme park hotel visitors and controls were matched to case patients by age group and hotel check-in date. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Risk factors for infection and source of implicated food. RESULTS: Sixty-two case patients from 21 states were identified. Both Salmonella Hartford and Salmonella enterica serotype Gaminara (Salmonella Gaminara) were isolated from stool samples of 1 ill person. Thirty-two case patients and 83 controls were enrolled in the case-control study. Ninety-seven percent of case patients had drunk orange juice in the theme park vs 54% of controls (matched odds ratio, undefined; 95% confidence interval, 5.2 to undefined). The orange juice was unpasteurized and locally produced. Salmonella Gaminara was isolated from 10 of 12 containers of orange juice produced during May and July, indicating ongoing contamination of juice probably because of inadequately sanitized processing equipment. CONCLUSIONS: Unpasteurized orange juice caused an outbreak of salmonellosis in a large Florida theme park. All orange juice was recalled and the processing plant closed. Pasteurization or other equally effective risk-management strategies should be used in the production of all juices.     

Epidermal growth factor receptor and transforming growth factor alpha expression in papillary and nonpapillary renal cell carcinoma: correlation with metastatic behavior and prognosis

Papillary renal carcinomas are a cytogenetically unique subset of renal carcinomas that have been reported to be clinically less aggressive. We have examined 19 papillary tumors for immunohistochemical expression of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGF-R) and its ligand, transforming growth factor alpha (TGF-alpha). EGF-R and TGF-alpha expression was also studied in 149 nonpapillary tumors and 7 mixed papillary/solid tumors. EGF-R and TGF-alpha expression were compared to histology, stage, metastatic behavior, and survival. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded nephrectomy specimens collected between 1977 and 1986 were stained with antibodies to EGF-R and TGF-alpha. Patients with papillary tumors were found to present with earlier stage disease and had significantly longer survival. Papillary tumors had a significantly lower rate of EGF-R positivity than solid pattern tumors (21% versus 73%, P < 0.001). Intermediate or strong cell membrane immunoreactivity for EGF-R was associated with high tumor grade and poor disease-specific survival. EGF-R positivity in the primary tumor was associated with the presence of metastatic disease and with metastatic spread to lung versus bone. Tumor parenchymal TGF-alpha staining was present in 50% of the cases and was not associated with stage or grade. Unrelated to tumor parenchymal TGF staining, tumor vessels stained for TGF-alpha in 56% of the cases. Vessel TGF-alpha staining was absent in papillary tumors (P < 0.001). The improved clinical behavior of papillary tumors as compared to nonpapillary renal tumors may be related, in part, to their relatively lower levels of EGF-R expression.     

Nitric oxide signaling in ischemic heart

OBJECTIVE: Several recent studies have implicated a role of endogenous nitric oxide (NO) in the pathophysiology of myocardial ischemic/reperfusion injury. However, the mechanism by which NO exerts its beneficial/detrimental effects remains unknown. This study examined the intracellular signaling of NO by studying the role of the NO-cGMP signaling pathway on the phospho-diesteratic breakdown and turnover of phosphoinositides during myocardial ischemia and reperfusion. METHODS: Isolated working rat hearts were made ischemic for 30 min followed by 30 min of reperfusion. A separate group of hearts were pre-perfused with 3 mM L-arginine for 10 min prior to ischemia. The release of NO was monitored using an on-line amperometric sensor. The aortic flow and developed pressure were examined to determine the effects of L-arginine on ischemic/reperfusion injury. For signal transduction experiments, sarcolemmal membranes were radiolabeled by perfusing the isolated hearts with [3H]myoinositol and [14C]arachidonic acid. Hearts were then perfused for 10 min in the presence or absence of L-arginine via the Langendorff mode. Ischemia was induced for 30 min followed by 30 min of reperfusion. Experiments were terminated before L-arginine and after L-arginine treatment, after ischemia, and during reperfusion. Biopsies were processed to determine the isotopic incorporation into various phosphoinositols as well as phosphatidic acid and diacylglycerol. cGMP was assayed by radioimmunoassay and SOD content was determined by enzymatic analysis. RESULTS: The release of NO was diminished following ischemia and reperfusion and was augmented by L-arginine. L-Arginine reduced ischemic/reperfusion injury as evidenced by the enhanced myocardial functional recovery. cGMP, which remained unaffected by ischemia and reperfusion, was stimulated significantly after L-arginine treatment. The cGMP level persisted up to 10 min of reperfusion and then dropped slightly. Reperfusion of ischemic myocardium resulted in significant accumulation of radiolabeled inositol phosphate, inositol bisphosphate, and inositol triphosphate. Isotopic incorporation of [3H]inositol into phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol-4-phosphate, and phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate was increased significantly during reperfusion. Reperfusion of the ischemic heart prelabeled with [14C]-arachidonic acid resulted in modest increases in [14C]diacylglycerol and [14C]phosphatidic acid. Pretreatment of the heart with L-arginine significantly reversed this enhanced phosphodiesteratic breakdown during ischemia and early reperfusion. However, at the end of the reperfusion the inhibitory effect of L-arginine on the phosphodiesterases seems to be reduced. In L-arginine-treated hearts, SOD activity was progressively decreased with the duration of reperfusion time. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest for the first time that NO plays a significant role in transmembrane signaling in the ischemic myocardium. The signaling seems to be transmitted via cGMP and opposes the effects of phosphodiesterases by inhibiting the ischemia/reperfusion-induced phosphodiesteratic breakdown. This signaling effect appears to be reduced as reperfusion progresses. These results, when viewed in the light of free radical chemistry of NO, suggest that such on- and off-signaling of NO may be linked to its interaction with the superoxide radical generated during the reperfusion of ischemic myocardium.     

Sexual conflict and speciation

We review the significance of two forms of sexual conflict (different evolutionary interests of the two sexes) for genetic differentiation of populations and the evolution of reproductive isolation. Conflicting selection on the alleles at a single locus can occur in males and females if the sexes have different optima for a trait, and there are pleiotropic genetic correlations between the sexes for it. There will then be selection for sex limitation and hence sexual dimorphism. This sex limitation could break down in hybrids and reduce their fitness. Pleiotropic genetic correlations between the sexes could also affect the likelihood of mating in interpopulation encounters. Conflict can also occur between (sex-limited) loci that determine behaviour in males and those that determine behaviour in females. Reproductive isolation may occur by rapid coevolution of male trait and female mating preference. This would tend to generate assortative mating on secondary contact, hence promoting speciation. Sexual conflict resulting from sensory exploitation, polyspermy and the cost of mating could result in high levels of interpopulation mating. If females evolve resistance to make pre- and postmating manipulation, males from one population could be more successful with females from the other, because females would have evolved resistance to their own (but not to the allopatric) males. Between-locus sexual conflict could also occur as a result of conflict between males and females of different populations over the production of unfit hybrids. We develop models which show that females are in general selected to resist such matings and males to persist, and this could have a bearing on both the initial level of interpopulation matings and the likelihood that reinforcement will occur. In effect, selection on males usually acts to promote gene flow and to restrict premating isolation, whereas selection on females usually acts in the reverse direction. We review theoretical models relevant to resolution of this conflict. The winning role depends on a balance between the 'value of winning' and 'power' (relating to contest or armament costs): the winning role is likely to correlate with high value of winning and low costs. Sperm-ovum (or sperm-female tract) conflicts (and their plant parallels) are likely to obey the same principles. Males may typically have higher values of winning, but it is difficult to quantify 'power', and females may often be able to resist mating more cheaply than males can force it. We tentatively predict that sexual conflict will typically result in a higher rate of speciation in 'female-win' clades, that females will be responsible for premating isolation through reinforcement, and that 'female-win' populations will be less genetically diverse.