The Age-Sensitive Efficacy of Calorie Restriction on Mitochondrial Biogenesis and mtDNA Damage in Rat Liver

Calorie restriction (CR) is the most efficacious treatment to delay the onset of age-related changes such as mitochondrial dysfunction. However, the sensitivity of mitochondrial markers to CR and the age-related boundaries of CR efficacy are not fully elucidated. We used liver samples from ad libitum-fed (AL) rats divided in: 18-month-old (AL-18), 28-month-old (AL-28), and 32-month-old (AL-32) groups, and from CR-treated (CR) 28-month-old (CR-28) and 32-month-old (CR-32) counterparts to assay the effect of CR on several mitochondrial markers. The age-related decreases in citrate synthase activity, in TFAM, MFN2, and DRP1 protein amounts and in the mtDNA content in the AL-28 group were prevented in CR-28 counterparts. Accordingly, CR reduced oxidative mtDNA damage assessed through the incidence of oxidized purines at specific mtDNA regions in CR-28 animals. These findings support the anti-aging effect of CR up to 28 months. Conversely, the protein amounts of LonP1, Cyt c, OGG1, and APE1 and the 4.8 Kb mtDNA deletion content were not affected in CR-28 rats. The absence of significant differences between the AL-32 values and the CR-32 counterparts suggests an age-related boundary of CR efficacy at this age. However, this only partially curtails the CR benefits in counteracting the generalized aging decline and the related mitochondrial involvement.     

Effects of Ketone Bodies on Brain Metabolism and Function in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Under normal physiological conditions the brain primarily utilizes glucose for ATP generation. However, in situations where glucose is sparse, e.g., during prolonged fasting, ketone bodies become an important energy source for the brain. The brain’s utilization of ketones seems to depend mainly on the concentration in the blood, thus many dietary approaches such as ketogenic diets, ingestion of ketogenic medium-chain fatty acids or exogenous ketones, facilitate significant changes in the brain’s metabolism. Therefore, these approaches may ameliorate the energy crisis in neurodegenerative diseases, which are characterized by a deterioration of the brain’s glucose metabolism, providing a therapeutic advantage in these diseases. Most clinical studies examining the neuroprotective role of ketone bodies have been conducted in patients with Alzheimer’s disease, where brain imaging studies support the notion of enhancing brain energy metabolism with ketones. Likewise, a few studies show modest functional improvements in patients with Parkinson’s disease and cognitive benefits in patients with—or at risk of—Alzheimer’s disease after ketogenic interventions. Here, we summarize current knowledge on how ketogenic interventions support brain metabolism and discuss the therapeutic role of ketones in neurodegenerative disease, emphasizing clinical data.     

The Gut Microbiota: A Potential Gateway to Improved Health Outcomes in Breast Cancer Treatment and Survivorship

Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer in women worldwide. The disease and its treatments exert profound effects on an individual’s physical and mental health. There are many factors that impact an individual’s risk of developing breast cancer, their response to treatments, and their risk of recurrence. The community of microorganisms inhabiting the gastrointestinal tract, the gut microbiota, affects human health through metabolic, neural, and endocrine signaling, and immune activity. It is through these mechanisms that the gut microbiota appears to influence breast cancer risk, response to treatment, and recurrence. A disrupted gut microbiota or state of ‘dysbiosis’ can contribute to a biological environment associated with higher risk for cancer development as well as contribute to negative treatment side-effects. Many cancer treatments have been shown to shift the gut microbiota toward dysbiosis; however, the microbiota can also be positively manipulated through diet, prebiotic and probiotic supplementation, and exercise. The objective of this review is to provide an overview of the current understanding of the relationship between the gut microbiota and breast cancer and to highlight potential strategies for modulation of the gut microbiota that could lead to improved clinical outcomes and overall health in this population.     

A Simple and Effective Mass Spectrometric Approach to Identify the Adulteration of the Mediterranean Diet Component Extra-Virgin Olive Oil with Corn Oil

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) with its nutraceutical characteristics substantially contributes as a major nutrient to the health benefit of the Mediterranean diet. Unfortunately, the adulteration of EVOO with less expensive oils (e.g., peanut and corn oils), has become one of the biggest source of agricultural fraud in the European Union, with important health implications for consumers, mainly due to the introduction of seed oil-derived allergens causing, especially in children, severe food allergy phenomena. In this regard, revealing adulterations of EVOO is of fundamental importance for health care and prevention reasons, especially in children. To this aim, effective analytical methods to assess EVOO purity are necessary. Here, we propose a simple, rapid, robust and very sensitive method for non-specialized mass spectrometric laboratory, based on the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) coupled to unsupervised hierarchical clustering (UHC), principal component (PCA) and Pearson’s correlation analyses, to reveal corn oil (CO) adulterations in EVOO at very low levels (down to 0.5%).     

基于调谐频率与分频处理的高分辨率反演技术

讨论了基于调谐频率与分频处理的高分辨率反演技术，给出了方法的基本原理，即利用地震数据的调谐频率和分频处理分析，半定量地确定储层厚度，并将其作为地震反演的约束条件。方法的实现过程是：通过层状地质模型的地震正演模拟，建立不同主频子波时地层厚度与调谐频率的关系；利用地震资料时-频分析技术，实现地震资料分频处理；利用合成地震记录标定地震子波主频；利用分频处理结果，借助于调谐频率分析与调谐振幅分析，给出地震反演约束条件；利用反演算法消除地震子波影响，提高和拓展地震资料的频带范围，实现储层的高分辨率成像。普光地区的应用实例表明，调谐频率与分频处理的高分辨率反演方法无需对储层空间变化规律进行假设，适用于强非均质碳酸盐岩储层的高分辨率成像。     

Early impact of a fat-enriched diet on behavioral responses of male and female rats.

Prolonged high-fat diets have been shown to affect an organism's stress responsiveness at the neuroendocrine level. In the present study, the authors used a 7-day protocol of fat administration in adult rats of both sexes to investigate the early behavioral impact of a moderately fat (20%) diet, often used by Western societies, on rats' reaction to acute stress and novelty. Their results show that this diet can reduce the rats' active behavioral responses to subsequent stressors and influence their corticosterone secretion. Fat-fed male rats adopted a less active behavior to cope with forced swimming stress, whereas their exploratory behavior in the open field environment was rather increased compared with chow-fed males. Fat-fed female rats exhibited a less active behavioral response to both stress paradigms compared with their chow-fed counterparts. Fat diet abolished facilitation in corticosterone secretion following a subsequent stressor in both sexes. However, only in males did fat diet exaggerate corticosterone response to novelty, irrespective of the previous stress history of the rat. These data indicate that a short-term metabolic stress can modify the rats' stress coping strategy in interaction with the gender. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

开关电源的噪声及其抑制

介绍开关电源的常态噪声和共态噪声产生的原因，以及几种抑制噪声的方法。     

城市可持续发展的水资源约束分析

自然资源与环境的可持续性是城市可持续发展的基础。在城市化加速发展的过程中,资源提供了经济发展的动力,也天然地确定了城市经济发展的边界。随着城市化水平的不断提升,我国大部分城市中水资源的需求量急剧增大,供需矛盾日趋尖锐化。作为城市发展不可缺少资源之一的水资源已经成为制约城市可持续发展的重要因素之一。     

数据录入约束与导航器

信息软件使用的方便性、易用性、安全性和稳定性在很大程度上取决于数据录入方式的优劣。分析了数据录入的约束规则，探讨了录入导航原理，并介绍了一种已在开目管理软件中普遍采用的数据录入导航器组件。     

先进控制在环管法聚丙烯装置中的应用

以九江石油化工总厂70kt/a聚丙烯装置产率控制为例,介绍先进过程控制系统在石油化工装置上的应用情况。