Electroacupuncture Treatment Improves Learning-Memory Ability and Brain Glucose Metabolism in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease: Using Morris Water Maze and Micro-PET

Introduction. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) causes progressive hippocampus dysfunctions leading to the impairment of learning and memory ability and low level of uptake rate of glucose in hippocampus. What is more, there is no effective treatment for AD. In this study, we evaluated the beneficial and protective effects of electroacupuncture in senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8). Method. In the electroacupuncture paradigm, electroacupuncture treatment was performed once a day for 15 days on 7.5-month-old SAMP8 male mice. In the normal control paradigm and AD control group, 7.5-month-old SAMR1 male mice and SAMP8 male mice were grabbed and bandaged while electroacupuncture group therapy, in order to ensure the same treatment conditions, once a day, 15 days. Results. From the Morris water maze (MWM) test, we found that the treatment of electroacupuncture can improve the spatial learning and memory ability of SAMP8 mouse, and from the micro-PET test, we proved that after the electroacupuncture treatment the level of uptake rate of glucose in hippocampus was higher than normal control group. Conclusion. These results suggest that the treatment of electroacupuncture may provide a viable treatment option for AD

MyBASE: a database for genome polymorphism and gene function studies of Mycobacterium

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mycobacterial pathogens are a major threat to humans. With the increasing availability of functional genomic data, research on mycobacterial pathogenesis and subsequent control strategies will be greatly accelerated. It has been suggested that genome polymorphisms, namely large sequence polymorphisms, can influence the pathogenicity of different mycobacterial strains. However, there is currently no database dedicated to mycobacterial genome polymorphisms with functional interpretations.</p> <p>Description</p> <p>We have developed a <b>my</b>cobacterial data<b>base </b>(MyBASE) housing genome polymorphism data and gene functions to provide the mycobacterial research community with a useful information resource and analysis platform. Whole genome comparison data produced by our lab and the novel genome polymorphisms identified were deposited into MyBASE. Extensive literature review of genome polymorphism data, mainly large sequence polymorphisms (LSPs), operon predictions and curated annotations of virulence and essentiality of mycobacterial genes are unique features of MyBASE. Large-scale genomic data integration from public resources makes MyBASE a comprehensive data warehouse useful for current research. All data is cross-linked and can be graphically viewed via a toolbox in MyBASE.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>As an integrated platform focused on the collection of experimental data from our own lab and published literature, MyBASE will facilitate analysis of genome structure and polymorphisms, which will provide insight into genome evolution. Importantly, the database will also facilitate the comparison of virulence factors among various mycobacterial strains. MyBASE is freely accessible via <url>http://mybase.psych.ac.cn</url>.</p

Influenza Virus Database (IVDB): an integrated information resource and analysis platform for influenza virus research

Frequent outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza and the increasing data available for comparative analysis require a central database specialized in influenza viruses (IVs). We have established the Influenza Virus Database (IVDB) to integrate information and create an analysis platform for genetic, genomic, and phylogenetic studies of the virus. IVDB hosts complete genome sequences of influenza A virus generated by Beijing Institute of Genomics (BIG) and curates all other published IV sequences after expert annotation. Our Q-Filter system classifies and ranks all nucleotide sequences into seven categories according to sequence content and integrity. IVDB provides a series of tools and viewers for comparative analysis of the viral genomes, genes, genetic polymorphisms and phylogenetic relationships. A search system has been developed for users to retrieve a combination of different data types by setting search options. To facilitate analysis of global viral transmission and evolution, the IV Sequence Distribution Tool (IVDT) has been developed to display the worldwide geographic distribution of chosen viral genotypes and to couple genomic data with epidemiological data. The BLAST, multiple sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis tools were integrated for online data analysis. Furthermore, IVDB offers instant access to pre-computed alignments and polymorphisms of IV genes and proteins, and presents the results as SNP distribution plots and minor allele distributions. IVDB is publicly available a

Biological Potential of Sixteen Legumes in China

Phenolic acids have been identified in a variety of legumes including lima bean, broad bean, common bean, pea, jack bean, goa bean, adzuki bean, hyacinth bean, chicking vetch, garbanzo bean, dral, cow bean, rice bean, mung bean and soybean. The present study was carried out with the following aims: (1) to identify and quantify the individual phenolic acid and determine the total phenolic content (TPC); (2) to assess their antioxidant activity, inhibition activities of α-glucosidase, tyrosinase, and formation of advanced glycation endproducts; and (3) to investigate correlations among the phytochemicals and biological activity. Common bean possesses the highest antioxidant activity and advanced glycation endproducts formation inhibition activity. Adzuki bean has the highest α-glucosidase inhibition activity, and mung bean has the highest tyrosinase inhibition activity. There are significant differences in phytochemical content and functional activities among the bean species investigated. Selecting beans can help treat diseases such as dermatological hyperpigmentation illness, type 2 diabetes and associated cardiovascular diseases

Prioritization of candidate genes for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder by computational analysis of multiple data sources

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common, highly heritable psychiatric disorder characterized by hyperactivity, inattention and increased im-pulsivity. In recent years, a large number of genetic studies for ADHD have been published and related genetic data has been accumulated dramatically. To provide researchers a comprehensive ADHD genetic resource, we previously developed the first genetic database for ADHD (ADHDgene). The abundant genetic data provides novel candidates for further study. Meanwhile, it also brings new challenge for selecting promising candidate genes for replication and verification research. In this study, we surveyed the computational tools for candidate gene prioritization and selected five tools, which integrate multiple data sources for gene prioritization, to prioritize ADHD candidate genes in ADHDgene. The prioritization analysis resulted in 16 prioritized candidate genes, which are mainly involved in several major neurotransmitter systems or in nervous system development pathways. Among these genes, nervous system development related genes, especially SNAP25, STX1A and the gene-gene interactions related with each of them deserve further investigations. Our results may provide new insight for further verification study and facilitate the exploration of pathogenesis mechanism of ADHD

Thermally tunable broadband omnidirectional and polarization-independent super absorber using phase change material VO2

In this letter, we numerically demonstrate a thermally tunable super absorber by using phase change material VO2 as absorbing layer in metal-insulator-metal structure. An omnidirectional super absorption at λ=2.56μm can be realized by heating the patterned grating VO2 film due to magnetic resonance mechanism. Furthermore, a broadband super absorption higher than 0.8 in the entire 1.6μm–4μm region is achieved when VO2 film is patterned chessboard structure and transformed to metal phase beyond transition temperature. This broadband super absorption can be fulfilled in a wide range of incident angle (0°–70°) and under all polarization conditions. Keywords: Phase change material, Metal-insulator-metal, Super absorption, Magnetic resonanc

Determination of genetic variation in Rhodiola crenulata from the Hengduan Mountains Region, China using inter-simple sequence repeats

The plant Rhodiola crenulata is a perennial herbaceous species distributed in the plateau region of southwestern China, especially the Hengduan Mountains region. It has been one of the most important traditional herbal remedies in Tibet for more than one thousand years, but the accelerated and uncontrolled collection of this plant since the 1980s has lead to deforestation. We used inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) to assess levels of genetic variation in R. crenulata from nine diverse natural populations in eastern Tibet and northern Yunnan, the first time such a study has been carried out. The 12 primers we used were able to detect 184 polymorphic loc. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) indicated that species level genetic diversity was relatively high (p = 97.83%, and Ho = 0.464) and analysis using Shannon’s index showed that the within and between genetic diversity of R. crenulata are approximately equal. Nei’s genetic distance and unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic averages (UPGMA) cluster analysis showed that the three populations from Tibet and the six populations from Yunnan form two major clusters. The Yunnan populations from three locations were further divided into three corresponding groups, indicating that genetic differentiation was correlated to geographic distribution. Understanding the genetic structure of R. crenulata provides insight for the conservation and management of this endangered species

Analysis on the Effect of Groundwater Overexploitation Control in Water receiving region of the First Phase of the South-North Water Transfer Project

The South-North Water Transfer Project is playing a more and more important role in ensuring economic and social development and maintaining a good ecological environment for north of China. However, long-term over-exploitation of groundwater has caused a series of ecological and environmental problems. The first phase of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project was successfully passed through in 2013 and 2014. The water supplied by this huge project provided critical water source for implementing groundwater overexploitation control. In order to promote the management and protection of groundwater resources, the overdraft areas had adopted comprehensive measures to reduce groundwater extraction, such as accelerating the construction of supporting projects, shutting down groundwater mining wells, improving the groundwater monitoring station network, and reforming the water resources fees and so on. The urban groundwater overexploitation control work has received good progress. Based on the investigation and statistics of groundwater overexploitation control in the water receiving region of the first phase of the South-North Water Transfer Project, it was found that since the first phase of the South-to-North Water Transfer Project passing though, the water groundwater withdrawal decreased by 15.23×108 m3 by making full use of the water from the South-North Water Transfer Project, including 2.36×108 m3 in Beijing, 0.67×108 m3 in Tianjin, 6.39×108 m3 in Hebei, 3.84×108 m3 in Henan, 1.62×108 m3 in Shandong, and 0.35×108 m3 in Jiangsu, respectively. The number of groundwater withdrawal wells closed was 15202, including 331 wells in Beijing, 582 in Tianjin, 4895 in Hebei, 6213 in Henan, 2012 in Shandong, and 1169 eyes in Jiangsu, respectively. In terms of groundwater level, the trend of continuous decline in groundwater level has been effectively curbed in most areas of the water receiving region, however, in some areas the groundwater level is still declining due to the too large cumulative over-exploitation of groundwater. Shijiazhuang City was selected as typical monitoring site to explain the groundwater overexploitation control effect on groundwater level. The analysis of the monitoring data of typical monitoring sites showed that groundwater overexploitation control has a great influence on the groundwater level change in Shijiazhuang urban area. This study also puts forward some problems and suggestions in promoting the groundwater overexploitation control in the water receiving region, and provides reference for the construction of ecological civilization and national water security

Frequency-dependent changes in local intrinsic oscillations in chronic primary insomnia: A study of the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations in the resting state

New neuroimaging techniques have led to significant advancements in our understanding of cerebral mechanisms of primary insomnia. However, the neuronal low-frequency oscillation remains largely uncharacterized in chronic primary insomnia (CPI). In this study, the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (ALFF), a data-driven method based on resting-state functional MRI, was used to examine local intrinsic activity in 27 patients with CPI and 27 age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls. We examined neural activity in two frequency bands, slow-4 (between 0.027 and 0.073 Hz) and slow-5 (0.010–0.027 Hz), because blood-oxygen level dependent (BOLD) fluctuations in different low-frequency bands may present different neurophysiological manifestations that pertain to a spatiotemporal organization. The ALFF associated with the primary disease effect was widely distributed in the cerebellum posterior lobe (CPL), dorsal and ventral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, precuneus, somatosensory cortex, and several default-mode sub-regions. Several brain regions (i.e., the right cerebellum, anterior lobe, and left putamen) exhibited an interaction between the frequency band and patient group. In the slow-5 band, increased ALFF of the right postcentral gyrus/inferior parietal lobule (PoCG/IPL) was enhanced in association with the sleep quality (ρ = 0.414, P = 0.044) and anxiety index (ρ = 0.406, P = 0.049) of the CPI patients. These findings suggest that during chronic insomnia, the intrinsic functional plasticity primarily responds to the hyperarousal state, which is the loss of inhibition in sensory-informational processing. Our findings regarding an abnormal sensory input and intrinsic processing mechanism might provide novel insight into the pathophysiology of CPI. Furthermore, the frequency factor should be taken into consideration when exploring ALFF-related clinical manifestations. Keywords: Amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations, Chronic primary insomnia, Functional magnetic resonance imaging, resting state, Functional plasticit