Direct toxicity of amyloid beta peptide on rat brain mitochondria: preventive role of Mangifera indica and Juglans regia

Role of mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress has been well documented in various cognitive-related disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). Evidence indicates that Aß formation impairs mitochondrial function and that mitochondrial dysfunction is an early event in the pathogenesis of AD. The present study was, therefore, designed to investigate the direct toxicity of Aß peptide on isolated mitochondria obtained from rat brain. Various mitochondrial toxicity/integrity parameters such as succinate dehydrogenase activity, reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation, mitochondrial membrane potential collapse (MMP), mitochondrial swelling, and cytochrome c release were measured following the addition of Aß peptide on isolated mitochondria and then, mitoprotective effect of aqueous extracts of Mangifera indica and Juglans regia against mitochondrial toxicity endpoints parameters induced by Aß peptide were assessed. Our results showed that exposure to Aß peptide (30 nM) in isolated brain mitochondria induced mitochondrial ROS formation, MMP collapse, mitochondrial swelling, and cytochrome c release which is the starting point of apoptosis signaling. All these mitochondrial toxic endpoints induced by Aß peptide inhibited by aqueous extracts of Mangifera indica (100–400 µg/ml) and Juglans regia (200–400 µg/ml). To our knowledge, this is one of the first apparent studies to claim directly targeting of brain mitochondria and induction of apoptosis by Aß peptide as a new hypothesis for etiology of AD and other related neurodegenerative diseases as well as mitopreventive role of common antioxidant nutritional products including walnut and mango.     

Pseudoreplication in Tropical Forests and the Resulting Effects on Biodiversity Conservation

Tropical forest ecosystems are threatened by habitat conversion and other anthropogenic actions. Timber production forests can augment the conservation value of primary forest reserves, but studies of logging effects often yield contradictory findings and thus inhibit efforts to develop clear conservation strategies. We hypothesized that much of this variability reflects a common methodological flaw, simple pseudoreplication, that confounds logging effects with preexisting spatial variation. We reviewed recent studies of the effects of logging on biodiversity in tropical forests (n = 77) and found that 68% were definitively pseudoreplicated while only 7% were definitively free of pseudoreplication. The remaining proportion could not be clearly categorized. In addition, we collected compositional data on 7 taxa in 24 primary forest research plots and systematically analyzed subsets of these plots to calculate the probability that a pseudoreplicated comparison would incorrectly identify a treatment effect. Rates of false inference (i.e., the spurious detection of a treatment effect) were >0.5 for 2 taxa, 0.3–0.5 for 2 taxa, and <0.3 for 3 taxa. Our findings demonstrate that tropical conservation strategies are being informed by a body of literature that is rife with unwarranted inferences. Addressing pseudoreplication is essential for accurately assessing biodiversity in logged forests, identifying the relative merits of specific management practices and landscape configurations, and effectively balancing conservation with timber production in tropical forests. Pseudoreplicación en Bosques Tropicales y Efectos Resultantes Sobre la Conservación de Biodiversidad     

博斯腾湖夏季水下光场特征分析及影响因素探讨

2011年8月,在新疆博斯腾湖17个站点进行水样采集,同步对11个站点进行水下光场原位测定.结果发现,博斯腾湖夏季总颗粒物吸收系数光谱表现出明显的浮游植物吸收特征,而浮游植物光谱曲线有明显的硅藻吸收光谱特征.在光合有效辐射波段,有色可溶性有机物（CDOM）吸收系数与浮游植物吸收系数对总吸收的贡献相当,而非色素颗粒物对总吸收的贡献最低.水下光谱衰减系数的最小值出现在580nm左右的绿光波段,PAR漫射衰减系数平均值为0.53m-1,平均真光层深度约为9.69m,大于湖水平均深度.在博斯腾湖虽然纯水和CDOM在总吸收中占有很重要的部分,但主导漫射衰减的因子仍为颗粒物.通过本文研究,以期能为干旱地区湖泊环境保护和水质遥感监测提供数据和理论基础.     

海原大地震极震区内烈度衰减异常探讨

宁夏海原大地震极震区所存在的南北两侧地震烈度衰减异常及伴随的震害程度差异现象,严格受极震区内黄土微地形地貌、土层厚度、显微结构、工程地质特性和发震构造断裂的控制。上述诸因素与地震波耦合后,达到进一步激化和放大地震能量的效应,导致研究区内黄土强度瞬间丧失,并因之具更高的地震易损性而加重震害。     

基于时变失效的桥式起重机结构可靠性分析

为提高我国起重机产品的安全可靠性水平,用时变可靠性理论分析桥式起重机金属结构。以桥式起重机金属结构为研究对象,时变可靠性理论为基础,研究桥式起重机金属结构的载荷时变可靠性模型和抗力时变可靠性模型,建立桥式起重机金属结构失效状态的时变可靠性数学模型。通过工程算例分析,揭示金属结构抗力随时间衰减与否对可靠度与失效概率的影响,得到不同金属结构抗力衰减系数下桥式起重机主梁金属结构可靠度和失效概率。探索桥式起重机金属结构时变可靠性安全评估方法。对比金属结构抗力衰减系数分别为0.000 2和0.000 3时的分析结果,发现金属结构系统的可靠性随金属结构抗力衰减系数的增加而降低。     

护听器个人防护值验证技术

本文介绍了关于护听器实际防护值的研究数据,和用于护听器个人防护效果验证的方法,以及3ME-A-RfitTM听力防护验证系统。研究表明,护听器的标称降噪值对其实际防护值的指示性非常差,目前也还没有一个可靠的方法来使用护听器的标称值。3ME-A-RfitTM听力防护验证系统是使用实地真耳内置麦克风(F-MIRE)方法,在实际工作现场中快速、定量地测定护听器在具体使用者身上取得的个人声衰减值(PAR),让安全管理人员对员工实际获得的防护水平有清晰的了解。     

Sorption of the natural endocrine disruptors,oestrone and 17 beta-oestradiol in the aquatic environment

Adsorption of hydrophobic contaminants at the particle/water interface is one of the key processes controlling their fate in the aquatic environment. The sorption of the natural female hormones oestrone and 17-oestradiol has been studied under simulated riverine conditions. Both the kinetics and the effects of varying fundamental environmental parameters (e.g. sediment properties) on the thermodynamic equilibrium partition coefficient (K _p) have been studied in continuous and batch sorption experiments, respectively. Results showed that the sorption of oestrone and 17-oestradiol by sediment was relatively slow, reaching equilibrium in 50 days. In addition, relatively small adsorption of both oestrone and 17-oestradiol onto the sediment was observed, with K _p values between 200 and 250 mL g^–1. The comparable K _p values of the two compounds reflect their structural similarity. It can be concluded that the two endocrine disruptors, oestrone and 17-oestradiol remain primarily in association with the aqueous phase.     

Triterpenoid and caffeic acid derivatives in the leaves of ragweed, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ambrosia artemisiifolia</Emphasis> L. (Asterales: Asteraceae), as feeding stimulants of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ophraella communa</Emphasis> LeSage (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae)

Summary. The leaf beetle Ophraella communa infests almost exclusively Ambrosia artemisiifolia in the fields of Japan, even though it normally feeds on several Asteraceous plants. A filter paper bioassay showed that the feeding of O. communa is strongly stimulated by methanolic extracts of A. artemisiifolia. The feeding stimulants for O. communa have been isolated from methanolic extracts of A. artemisiifolia. -Amyrin acetate, -amyrin acetate, 5-caffeoylquinic acid (chlorogenic acid) and 3,5-dicaffeoylquinic acid from A. artemisiifolia have been identified as feeding stimulants for O. communa. Triterpenoid derivatives (-amyrin acetate or -amyrin acetate) and caffeic acid derivatives (3, 5-dicaffoylquinic acid or 5-caffeoylquinic acid) showed feeding stimulant activity when mixed together.     

Distribution of Poly(β-propiolactone) Aerobic Degrading Microorganisms in Different Environments

The distribution of degading microorganisms of high molecular weight poly(-propiolactone) (PPL), whose individual structural units are similar to those of poly(-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and poly(€-caprolactone) (PCL), was examined. Despite the fact that PPL is a chemosynthetic polymer, many kinds of PPL-degrading microorganisms were found to be distributed as resident populations widely in natural environments. A total of 77 strains of PPL-degrading microorganisms was isolated. From standard physiological and biochemical tests, at least 41 strains were referred to as Bacillus species. Microbial degradation of fibrous PPL proceeded rapidly in some enrichment cultures but was not as complete as that of PHB. Most of the isolated PPL-degrading microorganisms were determined to be PCL degraders and/or PHB degraders. Therefore, it can be assumed that mostly PPL is recognized by the microorganisms as PHB or another natural substrate of the same type as which PCL is regarded. Microbial degradation of PPL was confirmed by some Bacillus strains from type culture collections. The similarity of microbial degradation between PPL and PCL was found to be very close.     

Comment on “Analysis of groundwater contamination using concentration-time series recorded during an integral pumping test: Bias introduced by strong concentration gradients within the plume” by Allelign Zeru and Gerhard Schäfer

We consider the results of a recent paper in this journal [Zeru, A. and Schäfer, G., 2005. Analysis of groundwater contamination using concentration–time series recorded during an integral pumping test: Bias introduced by strong concentration gradients within the plume. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology 81 (2005) 106–124], which addresses the field-scale characterisation of contaminant plumes in groundwater. There, it is concluded that contaminant concentration gradients can bias Integral Pumping Test (IPT) interpretations considerably, in particular if IPTs are conducted in advective fronts of contaminant plumes. We discuss implications of this setting and also argue that the longitudinal and transverse dispersivities used in the examples of Zeru and Schäfer (2005) of up to 30 m and 3 m, respectively, are generally very high for the here relevant capture zone scale (< 20 m). However, regardless of both longitudinal and transverse concentration gradients, we further show through a counter-example that IPT results are unbiased as long as the concentration attenuation along the flow direction is linear over the capture zone extent.