IKK inhibition prevents PM2.5-exacerbated cardiac injury in mice with type 2 diabetes

Epidemiological studies have found that individuals with diabetes mellitus(DM) display an increased susceptibility for adverse cardiovascular outcomes when exposed to air pollution.This study was conducted to explore the potential mechanism linking ambient fine particles(PM2.5) and heart injury in a Type 2 DM(T2DM) animal model. The KKay mouse, an animal model of T2DM, was exposed to concentrated ambient PM2.5 or filtered air for 8 weeks via a versatile aerosol exposure and concentrator system. Simultaneously, an inhibitor of IκB kinase-2(IKK-a)(IMD-0354), which is a blocker of nuclear factor κB(NF-κB)nuclear translocation, was administrated by intracerebroventricular injection(ICV) to regulate the NF-êB pathway. The results showed that ambient PM2.5 induced the increase of, NF-êB, cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2) and mitogen activated protein kinase(MAPK) expression in cardiac tissue, and that IMD-0354 could alleviate the inflammatory injury. The results suggested that the NF-êB pathway plays an important role in mediating the PM2.5-induced cardiovascular injury in the T2DM model. Inhibiting NFκB may be a therapeutic option in air-pollution-exacerbated cardiovascular injury in diabetes mellitus.     

有机化学品不同温度下(过冷)液体蒸气压预测模型的建立与评价

(过冷)液体蒸气压(PL)是评价化学品在环境中分配、迁移和归趋行为的重要参数。PL具有较强的温度依附性。发展一种能够精确预测不同环境温度下化学品PL的方法,有助于填补化学品生态风险评估的大量数据缺失。本研究收集整理了661种有机化合物在不同温度下(200~830 K)共计10 478个log PL值。在此基础上,采用偏最小二乘(PLS)回归和支持向量机(SVM)方法,构建了PL的线性和非线性预测模型。结果表明:2种模型均具有良好的拟合度、稳健性及预测能力,SVM模型的预测性能略高于PLS模型(PLS:R2adj.tra=0.912,RMSEtra=0.477,Q2ext=0.910;SVM:R2adj.tra=0.997,RMSEtra=0.092,Q2ext=0.967)。机理分析表明,温度是影响PL的主要因素,温度越高,蒸气压越大;其次,X1sol也影响PL大小,X1sol用来描述分子间的色散作用,分子间色散力越小,蒸气压越大;此外,化合物的氢键个数、极性和分子构型等因素也影响PL大小。采用Wiliams plot方法表征了PLS模型应用域。所建立的模型可用来预测烷烃、烯烃、醇、酮、羧酸、苯、酚、联苯、卤代芳香烃、含N化合物及含S化合物在不同温度下的PL数据。     

基于支持向量机的湖泊生态系统健康评价研究

利用支持向量机在处理分类问题、小样本问题和泛化推广方面的优势,构建了基于支持向量机的湖泊生态系统健康评价模型.同时,对广州市最大的人工湖——白云湖的水质及生物群落情况进行了监测,最后运用该模型对白云湖生态系统健康状况进行了评价.评价结果表明,白云湖生态系统处于病态状态,不能达到其净化水质的设计作用.建议从提高进水水质、实施湖区截污和丰富生物量3方面改善白云湖生态系统健康水平.与传统熵权综合健康指数法和熵权模糊综合评价法相比,所建模型更加客观、科学地评价了湖泊生态系统健康状况,能够为湖泊生态系统健康管理提供一定依据,具有广阔的应用前景.     

Prenatal exclusion of Leigh syndrome due to T8993C mutation in the mitochondrial DNA

Leigh syndrome (LS) is a mitochondrial encephalopathy that is caused by a mutation either in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) or in the nuclear encoded genes of the mitochondrial proteins. Prenatal diagnosis of defects in the mtDNA is usually problematic because of mtDNA heteroplasmy and tissue specificity. However, the mutations T8993 G/C in the ATP synthase subunit 6 gene of the mtDNA show a more even tissue distribution and do not appear to change significantly over time. There are only few reports of prenatal diagnosis of the T8993G mutation in Leigh disease. Here we describe the first prenatal genetic testing of T8993C in a fetus of a mother whose previous child had died of Leigh syndrome due to the T8993C mutation. Mutant load in the chorionic villus sample (CVS) as well as in amniocytes was undetectable, thus predicting a very high likelihood of an unaffected outcome, indicative of a healthy baby. The diagnosis was confirmed after birth. Gathering data on the prenatal diagnosis of mtDNA mutations is of great importance so that prenatal diagnosis of both T8993G and T8993C mutations can be offered routinely. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

空气微生物对铜陵市环境质量的指示作用

所测铜陵市区空气的平均细菌含量约４１８１．５ＣＦＵ．ｍ－３，总菌含量约４４９５．９ＣＦＵ．ｍ－３。与许多中国的大中城市比，污染不重，结果指示铜陵空气尚处于正常状态之中。     

Rethinking the contribution of indigenous management in small-scale water provision among selected rural communities in Cameroon

This paper describes the pro-active role of rural communities in negotiating livelihood and sustenance through the improvement of some of their local water sources. It discusses the strategies put in place to ensure the availability of water, one of the worlds scarcest natural resources. Despite some external assistance, local communities are increasingly shouldering the responsibility of ensuring the availability of water through self-reliant efforts. These attempts are being undermined by a high incidence of waterborne and water-related diseases, which are impacting on health, and hygiene and other health care delivery systems. The management of potable water is proving to be a herculean task for most communities after the departure of funding partners. To guarantee the proper maintenance of pipe borne water schemes, communities are rethinking their strategies as they grapple with difficulties to put in place viable techniques for sustainability of water supply schemes.Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

区域生态环境评价的灰色关联投影模型

区域生态环境评价是实现全面环境管理，协调区域经济发展与生态环境保护．实现区域可持续发展的重要手段。由于评价所涉及的地域复杂性和因素多样性，许多评价方法和体系都处于不断探索和发展之中。区域生态环境系统是一个灰色系统，包括了自然、经济和社会等方面具有信息不确知性和不完全性的因素。基于灰色系统理论和矢量投影原理，建立了区域生态环境评价的灰色关联投影模型。该模型将评价样本及各级质量标准视为矢量．分别向同一矢量(理想样本)进行投影。根据投影值的大小，确定样本所属的生态环境质量级别及样本间的优劣排序。以巢湖流域为个案，在建立生态环境评价指标体系和标准的基础上，运用所建模型对其生态环境质量现状进行了评价，结果与实际情况相吻合。即巢湖流域总体以及分区合肥市、六安市的生态环境质量为4级，分区巢湖市为5级。研究表明，灰色关联投影模型对于多指标的区域生态环境质量评价是科学的、有效的，具有一定的推广和实用价值。     

Pipeline leakage detection and isolation: An integrated approach of statistical and wavelet feature extraction with multi-layer perceptron neural network (MLPNN)

Leakage diagnosis of hydrocarbon pipelines can prevent environmental and financial losses. This work proposes a novel method that not only detects the occurrence of a leakage fault, but also suggests its location and severity. The OLGA software is employed to provide the pipeline inlet pressure and outlet flow rates as the training data for the Fault Detection and Isolation (FDI) system. The FDI system is comprised of a Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Network (MLPNN) classifier with various feature extraction methods including the statistical techniques, wavelet transform, and a fusion of both methods. Once different leakage scenarios are considered and the preprocessing methods are done, the proposed FDI system is applied to a 20-km pipeline in southern Iran (Goldkari-Binak pipeline) and a promising severity and location detectability (a correct classification rate of 92%) and a low False Alarm Rate (FAR) were achieved.