Neural components of social evaluation.

Evaluative responses appear to involve 2 seemingly distinct sets of processes: those that are automatically activated and others that are more consciously controlled. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, the authors investigated the brain systems associated with automatic and controlled evaluative processing. Participants made either evaluative (good-bad) or nonevaluative (past-present) judgments about famous names. Greater amygdala activity was observed for names rated as "bad" relative to those rated as "good," regardless of whether the task directly involved an evaluative judgment (good-bad) or not (past-present). Good-bad judgments resulted in greater medial and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity than past-present judgments. Furthermore, there was greater ventrolateral PFC activity in good-bad judgments marked by greater ambivalence. Together, these findings indicate a neural distinction between processes engaged for automatic and controlled evaluation. Whereas automatic processes are sensitive to simple valence, controlled processes are sensitive to attitudinal complexity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

萌动青稞的研究进展

萌动谷物的研究越来越受到广大学者的关注,特别是萌动青稞。萌动青稞是一种新型的功能性食品,因其具有良好的口感和较高的营养价值而受到人们的喜爱。通过比较青稞萌动前后营养成分的变化、萌动后青稞的生理功效,以及国内外萌动青稞产品的研发现状,综述了国内外萌动青稞研究进展,为我国萌动青稞的开发与利用提供参考。     

黑暗条件下干露对孔石莼生理生化指标的影响

在黑暗条件下干露胁迫处理孔石莼的叶状体,测定其叶绿素a、脯氨酸、可溶性糖、丙二醛的含量以及过氧化物酶（POD）的活性随不同处理时间段（0、0.5、1、2、4、6h）的变化.实验结果显示：孔石莼的各项生理指标与对照组（未经干露处理）相比,除叶绿素a的含量逐渐下降外,其余各项生理指标均出现上升的趋势,其中脯氨酸的含量和POD活性均在4h后急剧升高;经6h胁迫后复水,各指标均有不同程度的恢复.这说明孔石莼对黑暗条件下的干露有一定的适应性,该结果可为孔石莼干露适应的生理机制提供参考.     

SPECTRAL ANALYSIS OF STATIONARY POINT PROCESSES USING THE FAST FOURIER TRANSFORM ALGORITHM

Abstract. In this paper we consider techniques of spectral analysis for stationary point processes in order to study the behaviour of a complex physiological system. The estimates of the power spectrum are obtained by smoothing the periodogram which is computed very rapidly with the help of the fast Fourier transform algorithm. In the computation of the estimates we can use either the whole record of the data or a number of disjoint records.     

Two-dimensional multiarray formation of hepatocyte spheroids on a microfabricated PEG-brush surface

A two-dimensional microarray of ten thousand (100 x 100) hepatocyte heterospheroids, underlaid with endothelial cells, was successfully constructed with 100 microm spacing in an active area of 20 x 20 mm on microfabricated glass substrates that were coated with poly(ethylene glycol) brushes. Cocultivation of hepatocytes with endothelial cells was essential to stabilize hepatocyte viability and liver-specific functions, allowing us to obtain hepatocyte spheroids with a diameter of 100 microm, functioning as a miniaturized liver to secret albumin for at least one month. The most important feature of this study is that these substrates are defined to provide an unprecedented control of substrate properties for modulating cell behavior, employing both surface engineering and synthetic polymer chemistry. The spheroid array constructed here is highly useful as a platform of tissue and cell-based biosensors and detects a wide variety of clinically, pharmacologically, and toxicologically active compounds through a cellular physiological response.     

Cuticular lipids of the booklouse,Liposcelis bostrychophila: hydrocarbons,aldehydes, fatty acids,and fatty acid amides

The booklouse, Liposcelis bostrychophila, is an increasingly common pest of stored food products worldwide. We report here the cuticular lipid composition of this pest (the first report of the hydrocarbons of any member of the Order Psocoptera and the first report of fatty acid amides as cuticular components for any insect). No unsaturated hydrocarbons were present. A homologous series of n-alkanes (C₂₁–C₃₄), monomethyl alkanes (3-, 4-, 5-, 7-, 9-, 11-, 12-, 13- and 15-methyl-) with a carbon chain range of C₂₈–C₄₂, and dimethyl alkanes (3, 7-; 9, 13-; 11, 15-; 13, 17-; 9, 21-; 11, 19-; and 13, 21-); with a carbon number range of C₃₁–C₄₃ were identified. The relative abundances of these hydrocarbons were low, comprising approximately 0.0125% of total biomass. The amides were a homologous series (C₁₆–C₂₂ in chain length), with the major amide being stearoyl amide. In addition to the amides, free fatty acids (C_16:1, C_16:0, C_18:2, C_18:1, and C_18:0 in chain length) and three straight chain aldehydes (C₁₅, C₁₆, and C_17:1 in chain length) also occurred as cuticular components. These findings are discussed in terms of the chemical and physiological ecology of this species.     

Salt-Toggled Capture Selection of Uric Acid Binding Aptamers

Uric acid is the end-product of purine metabolism in humans and an important biomarker for many diseases. To achieve the detection of uric acid without using enzymes, we previously selected a DNA aptamer for uric acid with a K_d of 1 μM but the aptamer required multiple Na⁺ ions for binding. Saturated binding was achieved with around 700 mM Na⁺ and the binding at the physiological condition was much weaker. In this work, a new selection was performed by alternating Mg²⁺-containing buffers with Na⁺ and Li⁺. After 13 rounds of selection, a new aptamer sequence named UA-Mg-1 was obtained. Isothermal titration calorimetry confirmed aptamer binding in both selection buffers, and the K_d was around 8 μM. The binding of UA-Mg-1 to UA required only Mg²⁺. This is an indicator of successful switching of metal dependency via the salt-toggled selection method. The UA-Mg-1 aptamer was engineered into a fluorescent biosensor based on the strand-displacement assay with a limit of detection of 0.5 μM uric acid in the selection buffer. Finally, comparison with the previously reported Na⁺-dependent aptamer and a xanthine/uric acid riboswitch was also made.     

Luminescent Conjugated Oligothiophenes for Sensitive Fluorescent Assignment of Protein Inclusion Bodies

Small hydrophobic ligands identifying intracellular protein deposits are of great interest, as protein inclusion bodies are the pathological hallmark of several degenerative diseases. Here we report that fluorescent amyloid ligands, termed luminescent conjugated oligothiophenes (LCOs), rapidly and with high sensitivity detect protein inclusion bodies in skeletal muscle tissue from patients with sporadic inclusion body myositis (s‐IBM). LCOs having a conjugated backbone of at least five thiophene units emitted strong fluorescence upon binding, and showed co‐localization with proteins reported to accumulate in s‐IBM protein inclusion bodies. Compared with conventional amyloid ligands, LCOs identified a larger fraction of immunopositive inclusion bodies. When the conjugated thiophene backbone was extended with terminal carboxyl groups, the LCO revealed striking spectral differences between distinct protein inclusion bodies. We conclude that 1) LCOs are sensitive, rapid and powerful tools for identifying protein inclusion bodies and 2) LCOs identify a wider range of protein inclusion bodies than conventional amyloid ligands.     

低聚半乳糖对几种人群肠道菌群改善及机体免疫调节的功能研究

低聚半乳糖是功能性低聚糖的一种,在母乳中含量比较丰富.低聚半乳糖具有良好的生理功能,是功能食品良好的功能因子和理想的食品配料.它在调节肠道菌群、提高免疫力、改善代谢综合征等方面有非常好的效果.本文综述了低聚半乳糖对旅行者、肥胖者以及老年人三种特定人群的生理功效研究.     

植物单宁的应用及研究进展

植物单宁是自然界广泛分布的一类天然产物，具有结构类型的多样性和生物活性的广谱性，其在医药、食品、农业、材料、化工等多学科领域得到广泛的应用，已引起国内外研究者的普遍关注。本文就植物单宁近年来的研究与应用进展予以评述，旨在为新的活性成分研究及其资源的高效利用提供依据。