Description: The interest in deep-sea mining increased along with the environmental concerns of these activities to the deep-sea fauna. The discovery of optimal biomarkers of deep-sea mining activities in deep-sea species is a crucial step toward the supply of important ecological information for environmental impact assessment. In this study, an in situ copper exposure experiment was performed on deep-sea scavenging amphipods. Abyssorchomene distinctus individuals were selected among all the exposed amphipods for molecular characterization. Copper concentration within the gut was assessed, followed by a tandem mass tag-based coupled with two-dimensional liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) applied to identify and quantify the protein expression changes after 48 h of exposure. 2937 proteins were identified and annotated, and 1918 proteins among all identified proteins were assigned by at least two nonambiguous peptides. The screening process was performed based on the differences in protein abundance and the specific correlation between the proteins and copper in previous studies. These differentially produced proteins include Na+/K+ ATPase, cuticle, chitinase, and proteins with unknown function. Their abundances showed correlation with copper and had high sensitivity to indicate the copper level, being here proposed as biomarker candidates for deep-sea mining activities in the future. This is a key step in the development of environmental impact assessment of deep-sea mining activities integrating ecotoxicological data.

Description: Article The control of DNA-mediated assembly depends on a precise understanding of the three-dimensional structure of DNA-nanocrystal-hybridized building blocks. Here, the authors use cryo-electron microscopy and negative-staining techniques to investigate the morphology of DNA-nanogold conjugates. Nature Communications doi: 10.1038/ncomms11083 Authors: Lei Zhang, Dongsheng Lei, Jessica M. Smith, Meng Zhang, Huimin Tong, Xing Zhang, Zhuoyang Lu, Jiankang Liu, A. Paul Alivisatos, Gang Ren

Description: Langmuir DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b01918

Description: Biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) has been used for neural pathway tracing in the central nervous system for many decades, in which high molecular weight BDA appeared to be transported predominantly in the anterograde direction and less in the retrograde direction. In the current study, we reexamined the properties of neural labeling with high molecular weight BDA through a reciprocal neural pathway between thalamus and somatosensory cortex. After injection of BDA into the ventral posteromedial nucleus of thalamus (VPM) in the rat, the BDA labeling was sequentially examined on somatosensory cortex at 3, 5, 7, 10, and 14 survival days. Both of anterogradely labeled axonal terminals and retrogradely labeled neuronal cell bodies were observed simultaneously on the somatosensory cortex. With the increasing of survival times after injection, morphological changes occurred on the labeled axonal arbors and neuronal dendrites, in which the high quality of BDA labeling appeared on the tenth survival day. These results indicate that high molecular weight BDA is not only a sensitive anterograde tracer but also an excellent retrograde marker to be used for tracing through thalamocortical and corticothalamic pathways. And the detailed structure of neural labeling with BDA similar to Golgi-like resolution can be obtained at optimal survival times of animals after the injection of high molecular weight BDA.

Description: Background: Sub-acute ruminal acidosis (SARA) is a well-recognized digestive disorder found in particular in well-managed dairy herds. SARA can result in increased flow of fermentable substrates to the hindgut, which can increase the production of volatile fatty acids, alter the structure of the microbial community, and have a negative effect on animal health and productivity. However, little is known about changes in the structure of the microbial community and its relationship with fatty acids during SARA. Four cannulated primiparous (60 to 90 day in milk) Holstein dairy cows were assigned to two diets in a 2 x 2 crossover experimental design. The diets contained (on a dry matter basis): 40% (control diet, COD) and 70% (SARA induction diet, SAID) concentrate feeds. Samples of ruminal fluid and feces were collected on day 12, 15, 17 and 21 of the treatment period, and the pH was measured in the ruminal and fecal samples; the fecal microbita was determined by pyrosequencing analysis of the V1--V3 region of amplified 16S ribosomal RNA (16S rRNA). Results: SAID decreased ruminal and fecal pH and increased the propionate, butyrate and total volatile fatty acid (TVFA) concentration in feces when compared with the COD. A barcoded DNA pyrosequencing method was used to generate 2116 16S operational taxonomic units (OTUs). A total of 11 phyla were observed, distributed amongst all cattle on both diets; however, only 5 phyla were observed in all animals regardless of dietary treatment, and considerable animal to animal variation was revealed. The average abundance and its range of the 5 phyla were as follows: Firmicutes (63.7%, 29.1--84.1%), Proteobacteria (18.3%, 3.4--46.9%), Actinobacteria (6.8%, 0.4--39.9%), Bacteroidetes (7.6%, 2.2--17.7%) and Tenericutes (1.6%, 0.3--3%). Feeding the SAID resulted in significant shifts in the structure of the fecal microbial community when compared with the traditional COD. Among the 2116 OTUs detected in the present study, 88 OTUs were affected significantly by diet; and the proportion of these OTUs was 20.6% and 17.4% among the total number of sequences, respectively. Among the OTUs affected, the predominant species, including OTU2140 (G: Turicibacter), OTU1695 (G: Stenotrophomonas) and OTU8143 (F: Lachnospiraceae), were increased, while the abundance of OTU1266 (S: Solibacillus silvestris) and OTU2022 (G: Lysinibacillus) was reduced in the SAID group compared with the COD. Further, our results indicated that the fecal volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations were significantly related to presence of some certain species of Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes in the feces. Conclusions: This is, to our knowledge, the first study that has used barcoded DNA pyrosequencing to survey the fecal microbiome of dairy cattle during SARA. Our results suggest that particular bacteria and their metabolites in the feces appear to contribute to differences in host health between those given SAID and traditional COD feeding. A better understanding of these microbial populations will allow for improved nutrient management and increased animal growth performance.

Description: This paper summarized the separation process of radon based on its geophysical-chemical properties. Taking into account the geological conditions of mining, the mathematical model of radon migration in underground multilayer strata (UMS) was established to investigate the distribution law of radon concentration in UMS. It was found that the distribution of radon concentration in UMS is affected by both the properties of the strata and the depth of cover and the radon concentration law varies at different depths even in the same layer stratum. At last, in order to validate the derivation result of the mathematical model of radon migration in UMS, the actual measured values (AMV) and the calculated values (CV) were compared further. As a result, the CV was found to be approximately equal to the AMV with deviation values (DV) less than 5%, which indicates that the derivation result of the mathematical model of radon migration in UMS is correct.

Description: This paper is concerned with the problem of optimal control of photovoltaic grid-connected inverter. Firstly, the discrete-time nonlinear mathematical model of single-phase photovoltaic grid-connected inverter in the rotating coordinate system is constructed by the Delta operator, which simplifies the control process and facilitates direct digital realization. Then, a novel optimal control method which is significant to achieve trajectory tracking for photovoltaic grid-connected inverter is developed by constructing a control Lyapunov functional against the difficulty of solving HJB (Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman) partial differential equations. More importantly, the performance matrix of the controller which is very meaningful to many performance indicators of the system is also optimized via the particle swarm optimization. Finally, two numerical examples are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Description: In our previous studies, we found that plague vaccines can induce long-term antibody response, but no significant antibody boost was observed when the immunized mice were challenged with virulent Y. pestis . However, a booster vaccination of subunit vaccine on week 3 after primary immunization elicited a significantly higher antibody titer than a single dose, whereas no significant antibody titer difference was observed between a single dose and two doses of EV76 vaccination. To address these issues, in this study, we first investigated the kinetics of memory B cells and plasma cells in the mice immunized with EV76 or F1 protein by flow cytometry, and then determined antibody titer in five groups of mice immunized with various vaccination strategy. The results showed that memory B cells dropped to a low level at day 56 after primary immunization. In contrast, plasma cells were maintained for more than 98 days. The group with primary immunization of EV76 and booster of F1 antigen developed a higher antibody titer than the group with immunization of F1 antigen and booster of EV76. This result supports a hypothesis that an excess of antigens can neutralize preexisting antibodies, and then the redundant antigen induces antibody boost. Taken together, a boost of antibody titer after revaccination may be dependent on the existence of memory B cells and an excess of antigen vaccination. In addition, the present study showed an ideal immunization strategy that first immunization with a live attenuated vaccine, like EV76, and then with a subunit vaccine. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.