Waterways to Greenways: A Case Study in Shangjie, Zhengzhou, Henan, China

This case study introduces how we used a water sensitive approach to plan a storm water and sponge city project, which expanded into a holistic green infrastructure project. The project is in the Shangjie district in city of Zhengzhou, Henan China. The whole site is 61.16 km² including several waterways. The city is expanding into areas that were previously agricultural. Developers and city both desire to improve the ecological value of the city to boost the economic growth of the Shangjie district. The main goal for the client is to transform the existing industrial city into a more resilient and livable ecological region. Our approach is to holistically solve the region\u27s increasing demand for flood control and storm water management, and to improve ecological and recreational values along these riparian corridors. We propose additional waterways and water bodies to act as green infrastructure, then link the greenways to existing or proposed parks to form a comprehensive greenway network. Our multidisciplinary team conducted detailed investigations and collaborated extensively. The team consists of hydraulic engineers, civil engineers, environmental planners, landscape planners, urban planners, economic planners, and others. We used a variety of technologies, including GIS, Infoworks, remote sensing technology, MIKE model, and lab tests

Variant Amino Acid Residues Alter the Enzyme Activity of Peanut Type 2 Diacylglycerol Acyltransferases

Diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT) catalyzes the final step in triacylglycerol (TAG) biosynthesis via the acyl-CoA-dependent acylation of diacylglycerol. This reaction is a major control point in the Kennedy pathway for biosynthesis of TAG, which is the most important form of stored metabolic energy in most oil-producing plants. In this study, Arachis hypogaea type 2 DGAT (AhDGAT2) genes were cloned from the peanut cultivar ‘Luhua 14.’ Sequence analysis of 11 different peanut cultivars revealed a gene family of 8 peanut DGAT2 genes (designated AhDGAT2a-h). Sequence alignments revealed 21 nucleotide differences between the eight ORFs, but only six differences result in changes to the predicted amino acid (AA) sequences. A representative full-length cDNA clone (AhDGAT2a) was characterized in detail. The biochemical effects of altering the AhDGAT2a sequence to include single variable AA residues were tested by mutagenesis and functional complementation assays in transgenic yeast systems. All six mutant variants retained enzyme activity and produced lipid droplets in vivo. The N6D and A26P mutants also displayed increased enzyme activity and/or total cellular fatty acid (FA) content. N6D mutant mainly increased the content of palmitoleic acid, and A26P mutant mainly increased the content of palmitic acid. The A26P mutant grew well both in the presence of oleic and C18:2, but the other mutants grew better in the presence of C18:2. AhDGAT2 is expressed in all peanut organs analyzed, with high transcript levels in leaves and flowers. These levels are comparable to that found in immature seeds, where DGAT2 expression is most abundant in other plants. Over-expression of AhDGAT2a in tobacco substantially increased the FA content of transformed tobacco seeds. Expression of AhDGAT2a also altered transcription levels of endogenous tobacco lipid metabolic genes in transgenic tobacco, apparently creating a larger carbon ‘sink’ that supports increased FA levels

Transcriptome analysis of alternative splicing in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Abstracts Background Alternative splicing (AS) represents a mechanism widely used by eukaryotes for the post-transcriptional regulation of genes. The detailed exploration of AS in peanut has not been documented. Results The strand-specific RNA-Seq technique was exploited to characterize the distribution of AS in the four samples of peanut (FH1-seed1, FH1-seed2, FH1-root and FH1-leaf). AS was detected as affecting around 37.2% of the full set of multi-exon genes. Some of these genes experienced AS throughout the plant, while in the case of others, the effect was organ-specific. Overall, AS was more frequent in the seed than in either the root or leaf. The predominant form of AS was intron retention, and AS in transcription start site and transcription terminal site were commonly identified in all the four samples. It is interesting that in genes affected by AS, the majority experienced only a single type of event. Not all of the in silico predicted transcripts appeared to be translated, implying that these are either degraded or sequestered away from the translation machinery. With respect to genes involved in fatty acid metabolism, about 61.6% were shown to experience AS. Conclusion Our report contributes significantly in AS analysis of peanut genes in general, and these results have not been mentioned before. The specific functions of different AS forms need further investigation

The experimental research on cognitive function recovery of electrical stimulation pre-conditioned rats after brain trauma

Objective To investigate the cognitive change in electrical stimulation (ECS) pre-conditioned rats after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and the role of endothelial progenitor cells in brain trauma. Methods Adult male Wistar rats were divided into 4 groups randomly: Sham group (n = 61), TBI group (n = 61), ECS pre-conditioned and TBI group (ECS-TBI group, n = 61), ECS group (n = 61). At 3 h, 6 h, 24 h, 48 h, 72 h after fluid percussion injury (FPI), 6 rats were randomly selected from each group and the number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells was counted by flow cytometry. At the same time, 3 rats from each group were chosen randomly and brain tissue was taken out. Microvascular density (MVD) of injured hippocampus was measured by vWF immunohistochemical staining. Ten rats of each group were subjected to Morris Water Maze Test and escaping latencies were recorded separately at 7-11 days after FPI. Results Compared with TBI group, the number of endothelial progenitor cells in peripheral circulation increased significantly in ECS-TBI group at 3 hours and 6 hours after brain trauma (P = 0.000, for all), and reduced to baseline gradually afterwards. The vWF+ MVD on the injured side of hippocampus in ECS-TBI group was higher than those of other groups 1d after FPI, and reached to a peak at 7 d (P < 0.01). In Morris Water Maze Test, the escaping latency of ECS-TBI rats were reduced significantly compared to that of the TBI group from 3 d to 5 d after brain trauma (P < 0.01). Conclusion Compared to TBI group, there was less cognitive defect in ECS-TBI group after traumatic brain injury. This protective effect may partially due to enhanced angiogenesis induced by increasing circulating endothelial progenitor cells after ECS. Endothelial progenitor cells accumulated in the injured brain may promote post-traumatic angiogenesis and recovery of neurological function. DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2011.06.00

Additional file 7: of Transcriptome analysis of alternative splicing in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Table S7. Fatty acid related genes. (XLSX 250 kb

Additional file 2: of Transcriptome analysis of alternative splicing in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Table S2. Genome alignment results of the clean data from the four samples. (DOC 31 kb

Additional file 3: of Transcriptome analysis of alternative splicing in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Table S3. The number of the isoforms of the AS genes. (XLSX 1826 kb

Additional file 1: of Transcriptome analysis of alternative splicing in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Table S1. Sequencing results from the four peanut samples. (DOCX 16 kb

Additional file 6: of Transcriptome analysis of alternative splicing in peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Table S6. Optimization of the gene structures. (XLSX 2040 kb