The characteristics and trends of historical writing in the People’s Republic of China since 1978

The December 1978 decision at the third plenary session of the eleventh central committee of the Chinese Communist Party to implement reform and opening-up marks an important watershed in historical studies in contemporary China. With this in mind, historical studies in contemporary China can be conveniently subdivided into three periods: the period from the founding of the People’s Republic of China to the start of the Cultural Revolution (1949–1966); the Cultural Revolution period (1966–1976); and the period starting with reform and opening-up, or the “new period” (1978 onwards). This paper gives a comprehensive survey on historical writing in the People’s Republic of China since 1978. The paper has three parts. The first is about how and why Chinese historians have turned away from traditional political history to cultural and social histories. The second part analyses four paradigms in contemporary historical research in China: the revolutionary history paradigm, modernisation paradigm, postmodern paradigm and global history paradigm. The third part reviews world history studies in China and lists four methods that have successively been employed, namely total/integral history, modernisation history, the history of civilisational exchange and global history. The paper concludes that it is incumbent on Chinese historians to be sensitive to all foreign historiographies while steadfastly adhering to the best Chinese traditions, for only in this way can a unique and worthy model of Chinese historiography emerge

Amino Acid Changes during Energy Storage Compounds Accumulation of Microalgae under the Nitrogen Depletion

The nitrogen depletion stress is widely used to promote energy storage compound (ESC) production of microalgae, such as starch and lipids. Our cultivation results and most reports show that during the nitrogen depletion, the fast ESC’s accumulation happens around the overall nitrogen content lowered to the half of normal cells. It indicates that the cells may take an active nitrogen reassembly to rebalance the requirement of nitrogen, in which the amino acid conversion should play an important role. So here, using a marine strain, Isochrysis zhanjiangensis, as the model to give a detail view on metabolic, transcriptomic and proteomic levels within the “golden period” of ESC’s accumulation. To monitor the metabolic transition in response to nitrogen starvation, the intracellular metabolite fluctuation within 32 h was profiled by GC-MS and LC-MS scanned in selected ion monitoring mode for the first time. These techniques identified and quantified the levels of 14 SMAs, 2 carbohydrates involved in the TCA cycle and glycolysis, and 28 free amino acids (AAs). The pulsed increase of pyruvate, which is the precursor of acetyl-CoA and fatty acids (FAs), indicated a potential to produce more FAs. Although overall AAs showed a decreasing trend under the experimental conditions, Ala and Phe showed increased levels initially. Meanwhile, the transcriptomic and proteomic studies were utilized, and the nitrogen metabolic pathways were studied in this ESC’s fast accumulation period. It is found that gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and other non-protein AAs also play important roles in the regulation of energy metabolism

Seasonal variability of the fatty acid composition in <i>Aurelia aurita</i> (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa):Implications for gelativore food web studies

Jellyfish population play an important role in aquatic food chains, and many animals predate on this ‘mostly water containing’ organisms. However, what gelativores predators could gain from their prey is still poorly understood. This study provides insight into the nutritional value of the moon jelly (Aurelia aurita) by means of its fatty acid (FA) composition, while investigating seasonal variability and differences between its free-swimming life stages. A biweekly sampling was carried out in a temperate coastal ecosystem, the Kiel Fjord, Germany and during two consecutive years. FA profile of A. aurita showed significant seasonal variability, while mature medusae (due to reproductive tissues) possessed highest FA content. In addition, moon jelly contained several essential FAs (i.e. arachidonic acid, 20:4ω6; eicosapentaenoic acid, 20:5ω3; docosahexaenoic acid, 22:6ω3), which likely support predator’s vital physiological functions. Even though total FA contents proved to be low (7 × 10−3–34 × 10−3\% per g dry weight), evidence supporting A. aurita’s capability to meet the dietary requirements of predators such as fish and crustaceans is provided. Finally, implications for gelativore and future food web configurations are discussed, while proposing that jellyfish are likely to be, and become, more than an opportunistic prey to many organisms

Epigenetic Regulation of Hepatitis B Virus Covalently Closed Circular DNA: Implications for Epigenetic Therapy against Chronic Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection represents a significant public health burden worldwide. Although current therapeutics manage to control the disease progression, lifelong treatment and surveillance are required because drug resistance develops during treatment and reactivations frequently occur following medication cessation. Thus, the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is decreased but not eliminated. One major reason for the treatment failure is the inability to eradicate or inactivate the viral covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) which is a stable episomal form of viral genome decorated with host histones and non-histone proteins. Accumulating evidence suggests that epigenetic modifications of cccDNA contribute to viral replication and the outcome of chronic HBV infection. Here, we summarize the progress on HBV epigenetics research and the therapeutic implications for chronic HBV infection by learning from the epigenetic therapies for cancer and other viral diseases, which may open a new venue to cure the chronic hepatitis B

The role of gelatinous zooplankton in coastal and oceanic food webs: life history strategy and trophic ecology

Gelatinous zooplankton (GZ) are comprised of diverse taxonomic groups. The population outbreaks of some GZ species occurring in marine ecosystems have drawn increasing attention because of their eco-economic consequences in recent decades. In this context, many ecological questions about GZ have not been well documented. This dissertation aims to investigate essential biomolecules transfer and consequences on life history traits of Aurelia aurita under the combined effects of food quality, food quantity, and temperature. Besides, large-scale stable isotope data were assembled in order to discover the general community structure of GZ in the oceanic food web. The dissertation structures in the form of five chapters. The first chapter gives a general introduction to GZ in food webs and basic theory of bio-tracers. Chapter 2 displays and discusses the role of food quality combined with food quantity and temperature affecting essential biomolecules transfer in a three-trophic-level food chain encompassing A. aurita polyps. Chapter 3 is a follow-up study, which stresses these environmental factors influencing on life history traits of the moon jelly, A. aurita, polyps. In Chapter 4, the trophic ecology of oceanic GZ is presented. By applying stable isotope analysis in the eastern tropical Atlantic, the general jelly web structure and isotopic niche differentiation of different GZ taxonomic groups in the overall pelagic food web was assessed. Finally, Chapter 5 summarized the findings from the experimental and field studies on GZ and put forwarded outlooks for further GZ ecology research in both coastal and oceanic food webs. In summary, this dissertation stresses food quality as an important factor playing critical roles on essential biomolecules transfer in food webs and explaining polyps’ life history strategies under multiple stressors. Furthermore, as GZ play diverse and critical roles in aquatic food webs, the trophic “dead-end” concept of GZ should be reassessed

Low generation triazine-based dendrimers-synthesis, characterzation and in vitro biological activity

In the present study, two low generation triazine-based dendrimers, G1.0(Cl)4 dendrimer and G1.5(OH)8 dendrimer, were synthesized and their cytotoxicity were tested by using the NIH 3T3 and the A2780 cell lines. In the synthesis process of the G1.0(Cl)4 dendrimer, cyanuric chloride (CAC) which has high reactivity chlorine atom was connected to the terminal of triethylene glycol (TEG) via nucleophilic substitution by controlling temperature. The prepared G1.0(Cl)4 dendrimer was purified by silica gel column chromatography. Then the four chlorine atoms in the G1.0(Cl)4 dendrimer were substituted by diethanolamine (DEA) to give dendrimer with the hydroxyl terminal group G1.5(OH)8. The starting materials, CAC, G1.0(Cl)4 dendrimer and G1.5(OH)8 dendrimer were analyzed by one-dimensional NMR, FTIR and MS techniques. The two dendrimers, G1.0(Cl)4 and G1.5(OH)8, showed perfect stability in the air environment at room temperature. However, G1.0(Cl)4 is not soluble in water while the G1.5(OH)8 dendrimer is a water soluble compound. Furthermore, cell biological evaluation at the studied concentrations showed that the CAC, as well as the prepared G1.0(Cl)4 and G1.5(OH)8 dendrimers, have no cytotoxicity towards the NIH 3T3 and A2780 cell lines