Excitatory effect of GABAergic axo-axonic cells in cortical microcircuits

Axons in the cerebral cortex receive synaptic input at the axon initial segment almost exclusively from gamma-aminobutyric acid-releasing (GABAergic) axo-axonic cells (AACs). The axon has the lowest threshold for action potential generation in neurons; thus, AACs are considered to be strategically placed inhibitory neurons controlling neuronal output. However, we found that AACs can depolarize pyramidal cells and can initiate stereotyped series of synaptic events in rat and human cortical networks because of a depolarized reversal potential for axonal relative to perisomatic GABAergic inputs. Excitation and signal propagation initiated by AACs is supported by the absence of the potassium chloride cotransporter 2 in the axon.     

Clonally related cortical cells show several migration patterns

The mammalian cerebral cortex is organized into columns of cells with common functional properties. During embryogenesis, cortical neurons are formed deep, near the lateral ventricles, and migrate radially to their final position. This observation led to the suggestion that the cortex consists of radial, ontogenetic units of clonally related neurons. In the experiments reported here, this hypothesis was tested by studying cell lineage in the rat cortex with a retroviral vector carrying the Escherichia coli beta-galactosidase gene, which can be easily visualized. Labeled, clonally related cortical neurons did not occur in simple columnar arrays. Instead, clonally related neurons entered several different radial columns, apparently by migrating along different radial glial fibers.     

大豆整体去雄杂交技术及其利用效果

简述了大豆整体去雄杂交技术,并探讨了利用该技术进行大豆组合配制的效果,结果表明:采用大豆整体去雄杂交技术在成活荚数、成活率、真杂种数、真杂种率等方面均优于常规去雄杂交技术,杂交成功率较常规去雄杂交技术提高28.33个百分点。     

A cortical area selective for visual processing of the human body

Despite extensive evidence for regions of human visual cortex that respond selectively to faces, few studies have considered the cortical representation of the appearance of the rest of the human body. We present a series of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies revealing substantial evidence for a distinct cortical region in humans that responds selectively to images of the human body, as compared with a wide range of control stimuli. This region was found in the lateral occipitotemporal cortex in all subjects tested and apparently reflects a specialized neural system for the visual perception of the human body.     

Synfire chains and cortical songs: temporal modules of cortical activity

How can neural activity propagate through cortical networks built with weak, stochastic synapses? We find precise repetitions of spontaneous patterns of synaptic inputs in neocortical neurons in vivo and in vitro. These patterns repeat after minutes, maintaining millisecond accuracy. Calcium imaging of slices reveals reactivation of sequences of cells during the occurrence of repeated intracellular synaptic patterns. The spontaneous activity drifts with time, engaging different cells. Sequences of active neurons have distinct spatial structures and are repeated in the same order over tens of seconds, revealing modular temporal dynamics. Higher order sequences are replayed with compressed timing.     

浙江省全面实施"百万农民信箱工程"

为了提高农民对信息的接收利用率，浙江省实施了具有多种信息终端，可双向交流、网上群发等多种功能的农民信箱工程：系统由省市联到乡村，普通农户都建有信箱。三年总目标100万用户，第一年10万用户顺利建成并初见成效。     

Specification of cerebral cortical areas

How the immense population of neurons that constitute the human cerebral neocortex is generated from progenitors lining the cerebral ventricle and then distributed to appropriate layers of distinctive cytoarchitectonic areas can be explained by the radial unit hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, the ependymal layer of the embryonic cerebral ventricle consists of proliferative units that provide a proto-map of prospective cytoarchitectonic areas. The output of the proliferative units is translated via glial guides to the expanding cortex in the form of ontogenetic columns, whose final number for each area can be modified through interaction with afferent input. Data obtained through various advanced neurobiological techniques, including electron microscopy, immunocytochemistry, [3H]thymidine and receptor autoradiography, retrovirus gene transfer, neural transplants, and surgical or genetic manipulation of cortical development, furnish new details about the kinetics of cell proliferation, their lineage relationships, and phenotypic expression that favor this hypothesis. The radial unit model provides a framework for understanding cerebral evolution, epigenetic regulation of the parcellation of cytoarchitectonic areas, and insight into the pathogenesis of certain cortical disorders in humans.     

An entirely new approach based on remote sensing data to calculate the nitrogen nutrition index of winter wheat

The nitrogen nutrition index(NNI) is a reliable indicator for diagnosing crop nitrogen(N) status. However, there is currently no specific vegetation index for the NNI inversion across multiple growth periods. To overcome the limitations of the traditional direct NNI inversion method(NNI_(T1)) of the vegetation index and traditional indirect NNI inversion method(NNI_(T2)) by inverting intermediate variables including the aboveground dry biomass(AGB) and plant N concentration(PNC), this study proposed a new NNI remote sensing index(NNI_(RS)). A remote-sensing-based critical N dilution curve(Nc_(_RS)) was set up directly from two vegetation indices and then used to calculate NNI_(RS). Field data including AGB, PNC, and canopy hyperspectral data were collected over four growing seasons(2012–2013(Exp.1), 2013–2014(Exp. 2), 2014–2015(Exp. 3), 2015–2016(Exp. 4)) in Beijing, China. All experimental datasets were cross-validated to each of the NNI models(NNI_(T1), NNI_(T2) and NNI_(RS)). The results showed that:(1) the NNI_(RS) models were represented by the standardized leaf area index determining index(sLAIDI) and the red-edge chlorophyll index(CI_(red edge)) in the form of NNI_(RS)=CI_(red edge)/(a×sLAIDI~b), where "a" equals 2.06, 2.10, 2.08 and 2.02 and "b" equals 0.66, 0.73, 0.67 and 0.62 when the modeling set data came from Exp.1/2/4, Exp.1/2/3, Exp.1/3/4, and Exp.2/3/4, respectively;(2) the NNI_(RS) models achieved better performance than the other two NNI revised methods, and the ranges of R2 and RMSE were 0.50–0.82 and 0.12–0.14, respectively;(3) when the remaining data were used for verification, the NNI_(RS) models also showed good stability, with RMSE values of 0.09, 0.18, 0.13 and 0.10, respectively. Therefore, it is concluded that the NNI_(RS) method is promising for the remote assessment of crop N status.     

绍鸭幽门区生长抑素细胞的免疫组织化学研究

用ABC免疫组织化学方法,标记1,10,16,22 周龄期绍鸭幽门区生长 抑素免疫反应细胞(D 细胞),观察细胞的形态、分布,计数幽门区单位面积内D 细胞的数目。结果表明:幽门区的D 细胞形态多为角锥形和卵圆形,有许多胞质突起。类型以“开放型”为主,少数为“封闭型”。D 细胞单个散在分布,主要位于幽门腺内,个别位于粘膜上皮。单位面积内D细胞的数目随周龄增加而增多,至16 周龄达高峰,22 周龄开始下降。     

Operant conditioning of cortical unit activity

The activity of single neurons in precentral cortex of unanesthetized monkeys (Macaca mulatta) was conditioned by reinforcing high rates of neuronal discharge with delivery of a food pellet. Auditory or visual feedback of unit firing rates was usually provided in addition to food reinforcement. After several training sessions, monkeys could increase the activity of newly isolated cells by 50 to 500 percent above rates before reinforcement.     

A region of the Herpesvirus saimiri genome required for oncogenicity

Herpesvirus saimiri naturally infects squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) without producing signs of disease; infection of other New World primates, however, results in a rapidly progressing, malignant, T-cell lymphoma. Results described in this report identify a region of the viral genome that is required for oncogenicity in owl monkeys (Aotus trivirgatus); this region is not required for replication of the virus. This is believed to be the first such genomic region identified in a herpesvirus system.     

Translation in mammalian cells of a gene linked to the poliovirus 5' noncoding region

The central portion (region P) of the 742-nucleotide noncoding 5' end of poliovirus allows the RNA to initiate protein synthesis in the absence of the usual 5' 7-methylguanosine capping group. Poliovirus 5' noncoding region was fused to a reporter gene and transfected into cells. There was extensive augmentation of the expression of this gene by poliovirus-mediated inhibition of cap-dependent protein synthesis. That the construct initiated in a cap-independent manner was verified through in vitro experiments. Small lesions throughout region P blocked its initiation function, implying that a coherent functional unit, hundreds of nucleotides long, is responsible for cap-independent initiation by poliovirus RNA.     

A major genome region underlying artemisinin resistance in malaria

Evolving resistance to artemisinin-based compounds threatens to derail attempts to control malaria. Resistance has been confirmed in western Cambodia and has recently emerged in western Thailand, but is absent from neighboring Laos. Artemisinin resistance results in reduced parasite clearance rates (CRs) after treatment. We used a two-phase strategy to identify genome region(s) underlying this ongoing selective event. Geographical differentiation and haplotype structure at 6969 polymorphic single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 91 parasites from Cambodia, Thailand, and Laos identified 33 genome regions under strong selection. We screened SNPs and microsatellites within these regions in 715 parasites from Thailand, identifying a selective sweep on chromosome 13 that shows strong association (P = 10(-6) to 10(-12)) with slow CRs, illustrating the efficacy of targeted association for identifying the genetic basis of adaptive traits.     

环渤海地区1种新记录入侵植物——钻形紫菀

报道了采自辽宁大连和河北省昌黎县的菊科1种环渤海地区新记录入侵植物——钻形紫菀Aster subulatus Michx.,地处该种入侵的我国最东北端.标本存放于华南农业大学林学院树木学标本室(CANT).     

人类巨细胞病毒HCMV UL49区域一个新转录本的发现

将人类巨细胞病毒HCMVTowne株接种至人包皮成纤维细胞(HFF)中,收集病毒感染后的细胞,抽提病毒RNA,运用RT-PCR技术扩增基因的序列,对PCR产物作TA克隆,重组体进行测序和生物信息学分析。结果表明,HCMV的UL49区域存在一个新转录本,暂命名为UL49X。将所获得的序列与HCMV基因组比对分析表明,UL49X序列为68783bp到78608bp处的基因片段,并发现从69194bp到71530bp处有个典型的内含子。