Assessment of pentachlorophenol toxicity in newborn calves: clinicopathology and tissue residues

Newborn Holstein bull calves were fed either analytical pentachlorophenol (aPCP) or technical pentachlorophenol (tPCP) for 6 wk to establish and compare the clinical and pathologic manifestations of toxicity. Four groups of three calves/group were each fed either 1 or 10 mg X (kg body weight)-1 X d-1 of either aPCP or tPCP. A fifth group served as control. Dosages of both PCP preparations were normalized to contain equal concentrations of PCP. Toxic effects were observed only at the 10 mg/kg dose in the tPCP-treated calves. These effects included decreased body weight gain, anorexia, decreased serum protein concentration, elevated serum gamma glutamyl transferase, and decreased triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) concentrations. Histologic lesions included cortical atrophy in the thymus and squamous metaplasia and hyperkeratous changes in the Meibomian gland of the eyelid. Thyroid function, which was assessed in vivo by measuring the rate of T3 and T4 production over 4 h after thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH)-challenge, was not impaired suggesting an extrathyroidal site of toxic action. Although serum chemistry indicators were suggestive of hepatic injury there were no discernable lesions. Organ weight analyses were inconclusive but there was a tendency toward enlargement of liver, kidneys and thyroid and decreased weight of lungs, spleen and thymus. A toxic effect clearly related to PCP and not its contaminants was depressed active transport of p-aminohippurate measured in kidney slices in vitro. Steady state concentrations of PCP in serum were about 40 and 90 ppm for the 1 and 10 mg/kg groups, respectively. Concentrations of PCP among the major organs were comparable.     

色氨酸水平对12～17周龄金定蛋鸭抗氧化性能影响的研究

试验旨在通过研究不同水平色氨酸对12~17周龄金定蛋鸭抗氧化指标的影响,最终确定最佳的色氨酸水平。试验采用单因素完全随机分组法,将12周龄健康的金定蛋鸭300只随机分成5组,每组设6个重复,每个重复10只。Ⅰ、Ⅱ、Ⅲ、Ⅳ、Ⅴ组饲喂的色氨酸水平依次为0.199%、0.220%、0.240%、0.260%、0.300%。采用二次曲线方程确定12~17周龄金定蛋鸭色氨酸的最佳水平。结果表明:0.250%~0.267%水平的色氨酸能显著提高试鸭血清和肝脏过氧化氢酶(CAT)、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶(GSH-PX)和总抗氧化能力(T-AOC)(P<0.05),显著提高试鸭肝脏超氧化物歧化酶(SOD)活性(P<0.05),但是对试鸭血清SOD活性影响不显著(P>0.05),显著降低试鸭血清和肝脏丙二醛(MDA)浓度(P<0.05)。综上,0.250%~0.267%水平的色氨酸对12~17周龄金定蛋鸭抗氧化功能具有最好的调节作用。     

青龙湾沙区土壤养分状况分析

为了研究不同植被类型对沙区土壤的改良效果,调查沙区土壤的养分状况,笔者对青龙湾沙区不同植被类型的土壤有机质、有效氮、速效钾、有效磷等指标进行分析。结果表明,青龙湾沙区土壤pH值范围为7.40~7.72,土壤呈中性略偏微碱性;土壤有机质、有效氮、有效磷及速效钾含量偏低。有机质含量对于土壤其他营养元素的含量和有效性均具有比较大的影响。不同植被类型对沙区土壤的改良具有一定的差异,除农田外,果园、毛白杨刺槐混交林的改良效果较好,小叶杨林改良效果较差。总体来说,经过生态林改良后的土壤养分状态得到明显改善。     

冻融损伤对再生混凝土耐久性及与钢筋粘结性能分析

制作掺入引气剂和未掺入引气剂的100%粗骨料取代率的再生混凝土RC1和RC2两组试件以及掺入引气剂和未掺入引气剂的普通混凝土NC1和NC2两组试件,并分别对经过不同次数冻融循环试件的抗压强度、质量损失率、动弹性模量损失率进行研究。结果表明,冻融后各组试件的抗压强度、质量损失率及动弹性模量损失率均降低,对于添加引气剂的NC1和RC1两组试件损失较小,其中RC1组试件在200次冻融后抗压强度损失接近40%,质量损失率达0.5%,动弹性模量损失率38.5%。100%取代率并加入引气剂的ZRC组试件冻融后进行中心拨出实验,发生劈裂破坏和钢筋拔出破坏2种形式。再生粗骨料混凝土与钢筋的极限粘结应力均随冻融次数的增加而降低,200次冻融后极限粘结应力下降33.5,荷载滑移曲线既有上升段也有下降段。     

Novel Wx alleles induced by chemical mutagens in rice,Oryza sativa L.

From mutant pools of two Taiwanese elite japonica cultivars, Tainung 67 and Taikeng 8, we identified 13 mutant lines possessing opaque endosperm with relatively low amylose contents (AC) ranging from 1.5% to 7.1%. Because of different AC, paste viscosities of these 13 mutant lines differed, as revealed by palatability and physicochemical properties. The mutated gene conferring opaque endosperm was isolated from the F₂ population of one mutant line, WY1× indica cv. ‘Taichung Sen 17’, by positional cloning, revealing a G3018→A3018 substitution at exon 9 of Waxy leading to a non‐synonymous mutation from alanine to valine. Two additional alleles were identified from the other 12 mutant lines, for which single‐nucleotide substitutions G2708 → A2708 and G3029 → A3029 occurred in exons 8 and 9, leading to non‐synonymous mutations from arginine to histidine and glutamic acid to lysine, respectively. The three novel wx alleles had different effects on grain quality, specifically on eating and cooking quality, and could be applied in rice breeding programmes to develop new low AC varieties by marker‐assisted selection.     

Structure of human urokinase plasminogen activator in complex with its receptor

The urokinase plasminogen activator binds to its cellular receptor with high affinity and initiates signaling cascades that are implicated in pathological processes including tumor growth, metastasis, and inflammation. We report the crystal structure at 1.9 angstroms of the urokinase receptor complexed with the urokinase amino-terminal fragment and an antibody against the receptor. The three domains of urokinase receptor form a concave shape with a central cone-shaped cavity where the urokinase fragment inserts. The structure provides insight into the flexibility of the urokinase receptor that enables its interaction with a wide variety of ligands and a basis for the design of urokinase-urokinase receptor antagonists.     

Ginger and its bioactive component inhibit enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin-induced diarrhea in mice

Ginger is one of the most commonly used fresh herbs and spices. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin (LT)-induced diarrhea is the leading cause of infant death in developing countries. In this study, we demonstrated that ginger significantly blocked the binding of LT to cell-surface receptor G M1, resulting in the inhibition of fluid accumulation in the closed ileal loops of mice. Biological-activity-guided searching for active components showed that zingerone (vanillylacetone) was the likely active constituent responsible for the antidiarrheal efficacy of ginger. Further analysis of chemically synthesized zingerone derivatives revealed that compound 31 (2-[(4-methoxybenzyl)oxy]benzoic acid) significantly suppressed LT-induced diarrhea in mice via an excellent surface complementarity with the B subunits of LT. In conclusion, our findings provide evidence that ginger and its derivatives may be effective herbal supplements for the clinical treatment of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli diarrhea.     

Divergent nematic susceptibility in an iron arsenide superconductor

Within the Landau paradigm of continuous phase transitions, ordered states of matter are characterized by a broken symmetry. Although the broken symmetry is usually evident, determining the driving force behind the phase transition can be complicated by coupling between distinct order parameters. We show how measurement of the divergent nematic susceptibility of the iron pnictide superconductor Ba(Fe(1-x)Co(x))(2)As(2) distinguishes an electronic nematic phase transition from a simple ferroelastic distortion. These measurements also indicate an electronic nematic quantum phase transition near the composition with optimal superconducting transition temperature.     

Feline immunodeficiency virus subtype C is prevalent in northern part of Taiwan

The seroepidemiological survey of cats conducted in northern part of Taiwan in 1998 revealed that the positive rate of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)-infection was 21.9% (7/32) and the rate was much higher than those of previous reports. We succeeded in isolation of three strains of FIV from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of the blood samples. Nucleotide sequences of the env variable V3 to V5 region of the strains revealed that the isolates from distinct areas belong to subtype C. These data together with our previous report (Inada et al. 1997. Arch. Virol., 142: 1459-1467) indicate that FIV subtype C is prevalent in northern part of Taiwan.     

Characterization of the dimer-monomer equilibrium of the papaya Copper/Zinc superoxide dismutase and its equilibrium shift by a single amino acid mutation.

The coding region of the copper/zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu/Zn SOD) cDNA from papaya fruit, Carica papaya L. cv. Tainong 2, was cloned into an expression vector, pET-20b(+). The Cu/Zn SOD was expressed in Escherichia coli and purified by His-tag technique. Two active forms of the enzyme (30% dimer and 70% monomer) in equilibrium were observed. The activity of the dimeric enzyme was higher than that of the monomeric form. The thermal inactivation rate constant K(d) values calculated for the dimer and monomer at 90 degrees C were -0.0203 and -0.0216 min(-1), and the half-lives for inactivation were 41.9 and 31.8 min, respectively. This indicated that the dimeric enzyme was more stable than its monomeric form. The dimerization of the enzyme was inhibited under acidic pH (below 3.0) or imidazole buffer (above 0.5 M), whereas it was not affected under alkaline pH (above 9.0). Both activity and forms of the enzyme were not affected by 1-4% SDS. Furthermore, the dimeric enzyme was much more resistant to proteolytic attack after 3 h of incubation at 37 degrees C with trypsin or chymotrypsin. In addition, mutation of the papaya Cu/Zn SOD at position 48 from Leu to Phe (L48F) affected the association of monomer, whereas a mutant with Lys substitution (L48K) at the same position tended to dissociate into monomeric form.