Shared paternal ancestry of Han, Tai-Kadai-speaking, and Austronesian-speaking populations as revealed by the high resolution phylogeny of O1a-M119 and distribution of its sub-lineages within China.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this research was to explore the origin, diversification, and demographic history of O1a-M119 over the past 10,000 years, as well as its role during the formation of East Asian and Southeast Asian populations, particularly the Han, Tai-Kadai-speaking, and Austronesian-speaking populations. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Y-chromosome sequences (n = 141) of the O1a-M119 lineage, including 17 newly generated in this study, were used to reconstruct a revised phylogenetic tree with age estimates, and identify sub-lineages. The geographic distribution of 12 O1a-M119 sub-lineages was summarized, based on 7325 O1a-M119 individuals identified among 60,009 Chinese males. RESULTS: A revised phylogenetic tree, age estimation, and distribution maps indicated continuous expansion of haplogroup O1a-M119 over the past 10,000 years, and differences in demographic history across geographic regions. We propose several sub-lineages of O1a-M119 as founding paternal lineages of Han, Tai-Kadai-speaking, and Austronesian-speaking populations. The sharing of several young O1a-M119 sub-lineages with expansion times less than 6000 years between these three population groups supports a partial common ancestry for them in the Neolithic Age; however, the paternal genetic divergence pattern is much more complex than previous hypotheses based on ethnology, archeology, and linguistics. DISCUSSION: Our analyses contribute to a better understanding of the demographic history of O1a-M119 sub-lineages over the past 10,000 years during the emergence of Han, Austronesians, Tai-Kadai-speaking populations. The data described in this study will assist in understanding of the history of Han, Tai-Kadai-speaking, and Austronesian-speaking populations from ethnology, archeology, and linguistic perspectives in the future.

Paternal gene pool of Malays in Southeast Asia and its applications for the early expansion of Austronesians.

OBJECTIVES: The origin and differentiation of Austronesian populations and their languages have long fascinated linguists, archeologists, and geneticists. However, the founding process of Austronesians and when they separated from their close relatives, such as the Daic and Austro-Asiatic populations in the mainland of Asia, remain unclear. In this study, we explored the paternal origin of Malays in Southeast Asia and the early differentiation of Austronesians. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We generated whole Y-chromosome sequences of 50 Malays and co-analyzed 200 sequences from other Austronesians and related populations. We generated a revised phylogenetic tree with time estimation. RESULTS: We identified six founding paternal lineages among the studied Malays samples. These founding lineages showed a surprisingly coincident expansion age at 5000 to 6000 years ago. We also found numerous mostly close related samples of the founding lineages of Malays among populations from Mainland of Asia. CONCLUSION: Our analyses provided a refined phylogenetic resolution for the dominant paternal lineages of Austronesians found by previous studies. We suggested that the co-expansion of numerous founding paternal lineages corresponds to the initial differentiation of the most recent common ancestor of modern Austronesians. The splitting time and divergence pattern in perspective of paternal Y-chromosome evidence are highly consistent with the previous theories of ethnologists, linguists, and archeologists.

Phylogeography of Y-chromosome haplogroup Q1a1a-M120, a paternal lineage connecting populations in Siberia and East Asia.

Background: Previous studies have suggested that the human Y-chromosome haplogroup Q1a1a-M120, a widespread paternal lineage in East Asian populations, originated in South Siberia. However, much uncertainty remains regarding the origin, diversification, and expansion of this paternal lineage.Aim: To explore the origin and diffusion of paternal Q-M120 lineages in East Asia.Subjects and methods: The authors generated 26 new Y chromosome sequences of Q-M120 males and co-analysed 45 Y chromosome sequences of this haplogroup. A highly-revised phylogenetic tree of haplogroup Q-M120 with age estimates was reconstructed. Additionally, a comprehensive phylogeographic analysis of this lineage was performed including 15,007 samples from 440 populations in eastern Eurasia.Results: An ancient connection of this lineage with populations in Siberia was revealed. However, this paternal lineage experienced an in-situ expansion between 5000 and 3000 years ago in northwestern China. Ancient populations with high frequencies of Q-M120 were involved in the formation of ancient Huaxia populations before 2000 years ago; this haplogroup eventually became one of the founding paternal lineages of modern Han populations.Conclusion: This study provides a clear pattern of the origin and diffusion process of haplogroup Q1a1a-M120, as well as the role of this paternal lineage during the formation of ancient Huaxia populations and modern Han populations.

Unidirectional invisibility in a two-layer non-PT-symmetric slab.

Recently, unidirectional invisibility has been demonstrated in parity-time (PT) symmetric periodic structures and has attracted great attention. Nevertheless, fabrication of a complex periodic structure may not be practically easy. In this paper, a simple two-layer non-PT-symmetric slab structure is proposed to realize unidirectional invisibility. We numerically show that in such conventional structure consisting of two slabs with different real parts of refractive indices, unidirectional invisibility can be achieved as proper imaginary parts of refractive indices and thicknesses of the slabs are satisfied. Moreover, the unidirectional invisibility can be converted to unidirectional reflection when the imaginary parts of the refractive indices are tuned to their odd symmetric forms.

Clinical characteristics and management of primary granulocytic sarcoma of the oral cavity: A case report and literature review.

INTRODUCTION: Granulocytic sarcoma (GS) is a commonly occurring tumor comprising immature myeloid cells, which are usually related to acute or chronic myelocytic leukemia. The tumor rarely precedes leukemia without bone marrow involvement and is called primary GS. Although primary GS can occur in any body part, the involvement of the oral cavity is uncommon. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 49-year-old woman hospitalized at the Department of Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery presented with a growing mass in her left maxillary hard palate dating two months back. No obvious physical findings were noted during general examination. She was diagnosed with an oral ulcer at a local clinic, and received antibiotics. However, the symptoms did not improve; the mass became bigger and painful. DIAGNOSIS: An incisional biopsy of the oral mass was performed, the immunohistochemistry showed that the tumor cells tested positive for myeloperoxidase, CD4, BCL-2, KI-67. Bone marrow aspiration was negative for malignant cells, and the laboratory test results revealed only monocytosis. Standard bone marrow cytogenetic analysis showed a normal karyotype and leukemia-related fusion gene detection was normal. Therefore, the final diagnosis was intraoral primary GS. INTERVENTIONS: The patient was treated with a chemotherapy regimen based on idarubicin and cytarabine arabinoside. OUTCOMES: After 2 cycles of idarubicin and cytarabine arabinoside regimen chemotherapy, the patient achieved complete remission. The tumor was barely visible in the left maxillary hard palate. There has been no evidence of disease spread and progression after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Careful morphological and immunohistochemical analyses, correlating with clinical data are necessary to establish the diagnosis of oral primary GS. Early aggressive systemic chemotherapy can effectively relieve symptoms, significantly reducing primary GS conversion into acute myelocytic leukemia and prolonging overall survival.

Molecular and morphological evidence reveals that Daimio Murray, 1875 is a junior synonym of Tagiades Hübner, 1819 (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Tagiadini).

Previous studies have shown that the genus Tagiades Hübner, 1819 is paraphyletic with regard to Daimio Murray, 1875 and/or Darpa Moore, 1866. In this study, we attempt to disentangle the relationships among these three genera based on an integrative approach including molecular data, morphological characters, and biological data from available sources. All evidence shows that Daimio and Tagiades are congeneric, isolated from Darpa. According to the rule of priority, Daimio (syn. n.) is a junior synonym of Tagiades. Therefore, we subsume tethys under Tagiades as Tagiades tethys (Ménétriés, 1875), comb. n.

[Effects of glucocorticoids on tuberculous pleural effusion: experiment with rats].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effects of systemic glucocorticoid treatment on tuberculous pleural effusion. METHODS: Ninety Wistar rats were intrapleurally injected with 0.03 mg of standard human Mycobacterium tuberculosis to establish models of tuberculous pleural effusions and then were randomly divided into 2 equal groups both without anti-tuberculosis treatment: glucocorticoids group (GG) undergoing intramuscular injection of 0.3 mg triamcinolone acetonide in the right thigh 24 h after intrapleural injection, and control group (CG) received nothing as control. 8, 24, 32, and 48 hours, and 3, 5, 7, 10, and 15 days after intramuscular injection 5 rats from each group were killed. The thorax was opened, the amount of pleural effusion (PE) was recorded, and the pleural cavity, histopathology of pleura and lung parenchyma were examined. The white blood cell (WBC) count and differential leukocyte count, and levels of total protein (TP), glucose (GLU), and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) in the PE were determined. Bioassays were used to detect the PE levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1), and interferon gamma (IFN-gamma). RESULTS: The PE volumes of GG 8 - 48 h after the intramuscular injection were significantly lower than those of CG (P < 0.05, P < 0.01), and PE completely disappeared on day 3. The WBC in PE 24 - 48 h after and the percentages of neutrophils 8 - 48 h after the intramuscular injection of GG were all significant lower than those of CG (all P < 0.01). The TP levels 32 and 48 h after the intramuscular injection of GG were both significantly higher than those of CG (both P < 0.01). The LDH level of GG within 24 h after the intramuscular injection was significantly lower than that of CG (P < 0.01). Both the sICAM-1 and TGF-beta1 levels of GG were higher 8 h after the intramuscular injection, but lower 48 h after the intramuscular injection than those of CG (both P < 0.01). The IFN-gamma levels 8 - 48 h after the intramuscular injection of GG were all higher than those of CC (all P < 0.01). The IFN-gamma/TGF-beta1 ratios at different time points of GG were all higher than those of CG, and there were significant differences in those 8 - 48 h after the intramuscular injection between these 2 groups (all P < 0.01). Pathologically, the mean thickness of pleura in GG was significantly less than that in CG. Congestion and edema in subpleural and pulmonary interstitium were less in GG than in CG. CONCLUSION: Early use of glucocorticoids helps reduce the inflammatory response in pleural cavity in tuberculous pleurisy accelerate the absorption of pleural effusion and decrease the thickness of pleura.

[A survey of sanitary working status 20 days after the earthquake in Dujiangyan municipality].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the sanitary working status in the districts for locating residents after earthquake in Dujiangyan municipality. METHODS: Some immediate measures were taken after the earthquake including water source surveillance, restoring immunization system and epidemic surveillance. A questionnaire survey was also conducted to collect information in 107 locating districts of 18 towns. RESULTS: Generally, the sanitary working status was good. Temporary sheds in most districts were Tents (75.70%, 81/107) and simple sheds (19.63%, 21/107), and 69.16% (74/107) districts could use water supply and 94.39% (101/107) arrange specialized persons to disinfect the environment and kill pests. The fly density was 2 per eye-view. The proportions for the correct responds to health knowledge, action adopted and attitude of residents were all above 90%. According to the epidemic surveillance system and mobile syndrome surveillance system in disaster area, there was no increasing trend for the incidences of contagious diseases. CONCLUSION: 20 days after earthquake, the whole situation of disease prevention in disaster area is stable.

WITHDRAWN: Bcl-2 Upregulation is Significantly Enhanced in the Hippocampus of Normal Aging Mice After an Acute Challenge Elicited by Pro-inflammatory Cytokines Circulating in the Cerebrospinal Fluid.

Ahead of Print article withdrawn by publisher

Differential response of apoptosis-regulatory Bcl-2 and Bax proteins to an inflammatory challenge in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of aging mice.

Apoptosis plays a key role in normal aging and neurodegeneration. It is now known that normal aging implies low-grade inflammation and increases susceptibility to neurodegenerative diseases, which, in turn, include a neuroinflammatory component. We here investigated, using mice of 2-3 months, 10-11 months, or 18-21 months of age, the expression of apoptosis-regulatory proteins in cortical brain regions in response to intracerebroventricular administration of pro-inflammatory cytokines. A mixture of interferon-gamma and tumor necrosis factor-alpha was injected, using vehicle (phosphate-buffered saline) as control. At 4 days, levels of the anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and pro-apoptotic Bax proteins in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus, examined with Western blotting, were markedly upregulated by cytokine exposure in mice of all age groups with respect to controls. Interestingly, cytokine-elicited Bcl-2 upregulation was aging-dependent, with significant enhancement paralleling the animals' age. Cytokine-elicited Bax expression did not exhibit instead significant aging-related variation. Using the same paradigm and 1 or 2 day survival, Bcl-2 immunoreactivity was observed mainly in neurons of cortex and hippocampus of both control and cytokine-treated mice of all age groups. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry confirmed the enhancement of cytokine-elicited Bcl-2 expression in the cerebral cortex and hippocampus of old mice, and showed that this finding was already evident in the second day after cytokine exposure. The data point out the novel finding that Bcl-2 and Bax expression in cortical brain regions is differentially regulated during senescence in response to an acute inflammatory challenge. Aging-related Bcl-2 increases in neurons after cytokine exposure could contribute to amplify neuroprotective mechanisms in the old brain.

[Astrocyte activation and Bcl-2 protein expression induced by lipopolysaccharide in mouse brain].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the changes of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 expression in neurons and activation of brain astroglial cells, and the relationship between astrocytes and neurons in mice after a single intracerebroventricular (ICV) stereotaxic injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). METHODS: C57BL/6J mice of different ages were divided into a control group and an experiment group. Immunohistochemistry to Bcl-2 and that to GFAP were conducted to observe the expression of Bcl-2 protein in neurons and GFAP in astrocytes in the brain at different time-points after the LPS injection. The glial cell type expressing Bcl-2 was characterized with immunofluorescence double labeling. RESULTS: GFAP-immunoreactive cells in the control mice were observed mainly within hippocampal formation, piriform, entorhinal cortex, septum, striatum, amygdaloid nucleus, subcortical white matter, as well as in the main fiber tracts. At 24 h after the LPS treatment there was no obvious difference in GFAP immunoreactivity compared with the controls. Astrocytes were markedly activated in periventricular brain regions such as hippocampus, the hypothalamic parenchyma surrounding the third ventricle, with larger cell body and hypertrophic processes 2 days after the endotoxin treatment. After the LPS injection, Bcl-2 positive cells were distributed widely in the brain, such as in the cortex (primary and secondary motor cortex, somatosensory cortex), hypothalamic parenchyma surrounding the third ventricle, diagonal band, hippocampus, septum and the red nucleus of the midbrain. At these sites, Bcl-2 induction increased significantly 2 days after the ICV LPS injection, with some subregional differences, peaking on 4th day. No immunofluorescent double labeling cells for GFAP and Bcl-2 were observed in the brain of the mice after the LPS administration, but merging GFAP positive astrocytes and Bcl-2 positive neurons were seen. Double staining for Bcl-2 and GFAP also showed that the projections of activated astrocytes were found in the sheath of Bcl-2 positive neurons 4 days after the ICV LPS administration. CONCLUSION: LPS can activate astroglial cells and upregulate of Bcl-2 expression in the neurons in the mouse brain, which may participate in the administration of central nervous system to central-immunity stimulated regulation and the protective response to the inflammatory stimulus. The projections of activated astrocytes are found in the sheath of Bcl-2 positive neurons, indicating that there is close relationship between astrocytes and neurons.

Early-life lipopolysaccharide exposure potentiates forebrain expression of NLRP3 inflammasome proteins and anxiety-like behavior in adolescent rats.

BACKGROUND: Neonatal inflammation may affect brain development and lead to cognitive and emotional deficits at adolescence and adulthood. The nucleotide binding and oligomerization domain-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 (NLRP3) is the core component of NLRP3 inflammasome, which may involve in neuroinflammation. We explored if early-life exposure to the bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) could promote the expression of proteins related to NLRP3 inflammasome, including NLRP3, the apoptosis-associated speck-like protein (ASC) and cysteiny aspartate-specific protease (Caspase-1) in the forebrain, and behavioral alteration in adolescent rats. METHODS: Two-week old Sprague Dawley rats were divided into naïve control, vehicle (phosphate buffered saline, PBS) control and LPS (100µg/kg, i.p.) treatment groups. Anxiety and depression-like behaviors were examined around 1month age, with the expression of NLRP3, ASC and Caspase-1 in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and hippocampus analyzed by means of immunohistochemistry and western blot. RESULTS: LPS-treated rats exhibited anxiety but not depressive-like behavior as indicated by results of open field, elevated plus maze, dark-light box, sucrose preference and forced swimming tests. Increased immunolabeling of NLRP3, ASC and Caspase-1 in neurons and/or microglia occurred in the PFC and hippocampus in LPS-treated adolescents relative to controls, with immunoblot shown elevated levels of these proteins. CONCLUSION: Early-life inflammatory stress promotes the expression of NLRP3 inflammasome proteins in the brain and the occurrence of anxiety-like behavior in adolescent rats.

Mutant presenilin2 promotes apoptosis through the p53/miR-34a axis in neuronal cells.

Neurodegenerative disorders have attracted attention in last decades due to their high incidence in the world. The p53/miR-34a axis triggers apoptosis and suppresses viability in multiple types of cells, but little is known about its role in neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, we showed that presenilin (PS)-2, a major gene associated with familial Alzheimer's disease (AD) could trigger the apoptosis through the p53/miR-34a axis in PC12 cells. First we found that PC12 cell viability was downregulated by PS-2 and mutant PS-2 overexpression, especially by mutant PS-2 overexpression. Then, we established a mutant PS-2-overexpressing PC12 cell line and confirmed that mutant PS-2 induced not only p53 but also miR-34a expression. The transfection of miR-34a inhibitor reversed PS-2-induced effects on cellular viability and apoptosis. Mutant PS-2 overexpression promoted caspase-3 expression, reduced Sirt1 and Bcl-2 expression, all of which were miR-34a downstream genes related with cell apoptosis. Moreover, mutant PS-2 also activated the p53/miR-34a axis and induced apoptosis in AD transgenic mice brain. These results implied that mutant PS-2 might promote the apoptosis of neuronal cells through triggering the p53/miR-34a axis. Altogether our results provide a novel insight into neurodegenerative disease and deepen our understandings of AD pathogenic processes.

The aging suprachiasmatic nucleus and cytokines: functional, molecular, and cellular changes in rodents.

The aging process brings about a switch to a low-grade chronic inflammatory condition in the periphery and brain, a condition which may prime brain cells, including those of the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Little information is available, however, on the responses of the SCN to neuroinflammation and immune-related challenges, and such responses have not been hitherto investigated during aging. We here provide an overview of these issues and summarize data we obtained in the study of the SCN of young and aged mice. In particular, we analyzed: i) the electrophysiological properties of the SCN core (the retino-recipient region) in tissue slices; ii) expression and day/night variation of transcripts encoding the receptors for the cytokines interferon-gamma and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, as well as the expression of transcripts encoding the proteins "suppressors of cytokine signaling" SOCS1 and SOCS3, by means of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction; levels of mRNAs were correlated with neuronal activation, revealed by Fos induction, elicited in the SCN by intracerebroventricular injections of a mixture of interferon-gamma and tumor necrosis factor-alpha during the daytime and nighttime; and iii) response of astrocytes and microglia in the SCN to the same paradigm of cytokine administration. Marked changes of all the above-mentioned parameters were found in the aged SCN, indicating that the circadian pacemaker is a target of the aging process. In addition, the findings indicate that neurons and glial cells of the biological clock are sensitive to inflammatory signals, and that the response to such signals is altered during senescence.

[Etiology and individualized treatment of erectile dysfunction in young adult men: a report of 110 cases].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the etiology and individualized treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED) in young adult men. METHODS: Included in the investigation were 110 young adult men with ED, at the mean age of 28 (ranging from 22 to 39) and with the average disease course of 24 months (ranging from 6 to 48). The etiology of ED was determined for each patient by history inquiry, medical examination, laboratory investigation and erectile function test, and then individualized therapies were administered accordingly. RESULTS: Of all the diagnosed cases of ED, 42 (38.2%) were psychogenic, 36 (32.7%) organic and 32 (29.1%) of the mixed type. Four cases of schizophrenia were transferred elsewhere, 4 pelvic fracture induced cases gave up treatment, and the other 102 received individualized therapies, with the average effectiveness rate of 88.2%. CONCLUSION: Determination of the etiology of ED and the corresponding individualized treatment is the linchpin for improving the therapeutic effect of ED in young adult men.

[A study on the model of tuberculous pleurisy and intrapleural inflammatory and immunological responses in rats].

OBJECTIVE: To develop a rat model of tuberculous pleurisy and to explore the mechanism of intrapleural inflammatory and immunological responses. METHODS: Fifty Wistar rats were injected intrapleurally with 0.03 mg of standard human mycobacterium tuberculous bacilli H37Rv each. The rats were killed in group on days 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 15, 20, 30 and 60 after the day of intrapleural injection. The thorax was opened and the amount of pleural effusion was recorded, and histopathology of pleural tissues and lung tissues were observed. The white blood cell (WBC) count and differentials, levels of total protein (TP), glucose (GLU) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) of pleural effusions were determined. Pleural fluid was analyzed for the levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), transforming growth factor beta1 (TGF-beta1) and interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) by using appropriate bioassays. Ten rats were intrapleurally received 2 ml of normal saline and another 10 rats received 2 ml of undiluted PPD solution each as control. RESULTS: Bilateral pleural effusions appeared within 15 days in all rats intrapleurally received tuberculous bacilli. The peak amount of pleural fluid was on day 5 (6.7 +/- 0.5 ml). The neutrophils were the predominant cells for the first 24 hours, and then were followed by lymphocytes. In the pleural fluid, total protein concentration was between 51-55 g/L. The levels of glucose and LDH were 5.2 mmol/L and 18.1 micromol.s(-1).L(-1) on day 1 and changed to 2.8 mmol/L and 28.9 micromol.s(-1).L(-1) on day 15 respectively. The biochemistry parameters were in accordance with characteristics of tuberculous pleurisy. The sICAM-1 level increased early (21.9 ng/ml on day 1) and peaked on day 3 (38.0 ng/ml), then decreased over time (4.4 ng/ml on day 15). The level of IFN-gamma was 41.2 pg/ml on day 1 and increased and maintained at high levels over time. TGF-beta1 levels increased and peaked on day 7 (47.2 ng/ml), and then on day 15 decreased to a level lower than that of day 1. The ratio of IFN-gamma/TGF-beta1 increased from 1.32 on day 1 to 5.69 on day 15. Correlation analysis showed that sICAM-1 and IFN-gamma were closely related with WBC count and its differentials, as well as with LDH levels. Histopathological study revealed early pleural inflammation and late caseation. CONCLUSIONS: Wistar rats can be used as an experimental model for tuberculous pleurisy. Tuberculous inflammatory and immunological responses in acute tuberculous pleurisy is enhanced rather than suppressed.

Glial transcripts and immune-challenged glia in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of young and aged mice.

Biological rhythms are frequently disturbed with advancing age, and aging-related changes of glia in the hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the master circadian pacemaker, require special attention. In particular, astrocytes contribute to SCN function, and aging is associated with increased inflammatory activity in the brain, in which microglia could be especially implicated. On this basis, we investigated in the SCN of young and old mice glial transcripts and cell features, and the glial cell response to a central inflammatory challenge. Quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to analyze the expression of mRNAs encoding the astrocytic glial fibrillary acidic protein and the microglial antigen CD11b. Both these transcripts, here investigated in the SCN for the first time, were significantly increased in the old SCN. Glial cell phenotyping with immunohistochemistry revealed hypertrophic and intensely stained astrocytes and microglia in the aged SCN. In both age groups, microglia were scattered throughout the SCN and astrocytes were prominent in the ventral portion, where retinal fibers are densest; in the aged SCN, astrocytes were also numerous in the dorsal portion. After intracerebroventricular injections of a mixture of interferon-gamma and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, or phosphate-buffered saline as control, immunolabeling was evaluated with stereological cell counts and confocal microscopy. Phenotypic features of astrocyte and microglia activation in response to cytokine injections were markedly enhanced in the aged SCN. Subregional variations in glial cell density were also documented in the aged compared to the young SCN. Altogether, the findings show increases in the expression of glial transcripts and hypertrophy of astrocytes and microglia in the aged SCN, as well as age-dependent variation in the responses of immune-challenged SCN glia. The data thus point out an involvement of glia in aging-related changes of the biological clock.

[Effects of soil, climate, and their interaction on some neutral volatile aroma components in flue-cured tobacco leaves from high quality tobacco planting regions of Hunan Province].

A pot experiment with the soils from Yongzhou, Liuyang, and Sangzhi, the high-quality tobacco planting regions of Hunan Province, was conducted to study the effects of climate, soil, and their interaction on some neutral volatile aroma components in flue-cured tobacco leaves. The contents of test neutral volatile aroma components in the flue-cured tobacco leaves were of medium variation, and the variation intensity was decreased in the order of dihydroactinolide, damascenone, furfural, total megastigmatrienone, and beta-ionone. Climate, soil, and their interaction affected the neutral volatile aroma components in different degrees. The furfural content was most affected by climate, the damascenone content was most affected by climate and by soil, the total megastigmatrienone and beta-ionone contents were most affected by the interaction of soil and climate, while the dihydroactinolide content was less affected by soil, climate, and their interaction. The contribution of climate, soil, and their interaction to the contents of the five aroma components was 40.82%, 20.67%, and 38.51%, respectively. During different growth periods of tobacco, different climate factors had different effects on the neutral volatile aroma components. The rainfall, cloudiness, and mean air temperature at rooting stage, the diurnal temperature amplitude, sunshine time, and evaporation at vigorous growth stage, and the rainfall, evaporation, and mean air temperature at maturing stage were the top three climate factors affecting the contents of the neutral volatile aroma components in flue-tobacco leaves. For the soil factors, the available potassium, available phosphorus, and pH were the top three factors affecting the contents of the five components.