Changes in biomechanics and muscle activation in injured ballet dancers during a jump-land task with turnout (Sissonne Fermée)

Large impact loading with abnormal muscle activity and motion patterns may contribute to lower extremity injuries in ballet dancers. Yet, few studies investigated the influence of injury on the ballet movement. The purpose of this study was to find the neuromuscular and biomechanical characteristics in dancers with and without ankle injury during a jump-landing Sissonne Fermée task. Twenty-two ballet dancers were recruited and divided into the injured group (n = 11) and the uninjured group (n = 11). They performed a ballet movement called "Sissonne Fermée" with reflective markers and electrodes attached to their lower extremities. Ground reaction force, joint kinematics, and muscle activity were measured. The injured dancers had greater peak ankle eversion but smaller hindfoot-to-tibial eversion angles. Also, the injured dancers had greater activity of the hamstring of the dominant leg and tibialis anterior of the non-dominant leg during the pre-landing phase. The injured dancers had greater tibialis anterior activity of the dominant leg but less muscle activity in the medial gastrocnemius of the non-dominant leg during the post-landing phase. The injured dancers had a greater co-contraction index in the non-dominant ankle and a lower loading rate. The higher co-contraction indices showed that the injured dancers required more muscle effort to control ankle stability. Furthermore, the injured dancers used a "load avoidance strategy" to protect themselves from re-injury. Neuromuscular control training of the ankle joint for ballet dancers to prevent injury is necessary.     

Silicon＇s organic pool and biological cycle in moso bamboo community of Wuyishan Biosphere Reserve

Biomineralization of Si by plants into phytolith formation and precipitation of Si into clays during weathering are two important processes of silicon’s biogeochemical cycle. As a silicon-accumulating plant, the widely distributed and woody Phyllostachys heterocycla var. pubescens (moso bamboo) contributes to storing silicon by biomineralization and, thus, prevents eutrophication of nearby waterbodies through silicon’s erosion of soil particles. A study on the organic pool and biological cycle of silicon (Si) of the moso bamboo community was conducted in Wuyishan Biosphere Reserve, China. The results showed that: (1) the standing crop of the moso bamboo community was 13355.4 g/m², of which 53.61%, 45.82% and 0.56% are represented by the aboveground and belowground parts of moso bamboos, and the understory plants, respectively; (2) the annual net primary production of the community was 2887.1 g/(m²·a), among which the aboveground part, belowground part, litterfalls, and other fractions, accounted for 55.86%, 35.30%, 4.50% and 4.34%, respectively; (3) silicon concentration in stem, branch, leaf, base of stem, root, whip of bamboos, and other plants was 0.15%, 0.79%, 3.10%, 4.40%, 7.32%, 1.52% and 1.01%, respectively; (4) the total Si accumulated in the standing crop of moso bamboo community was 448.91 g/m², with 99.83% of Si of the total community stored in moso bamboo populations; (5) within moso bamboo community, the annual uptake, retention, and return of Si were 95.75, 68.43, 27.32 g/(m²·a), respectively; (6) the turnover time of Si, which is the time an average atom of Si remains in the soil before it is recycled into the trees or shrubs, was 16.4 years; (7) the enrichment ratio of Si in the moso bamboo community, which is the ratio of the mean concentration of nutrients in the net primary production to the mean concentration of nutrients in the biomass of a community, was 0.64; and lastly, (8) moso bamboo plants stored about 1.26×10¹⁰ kg of silicon in the organic pool made up by the moso bamboo forests in the subtropical area of China. Project (No. 30370275) supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China     

Science Letters：IGFBP7 plays a potential tumor suppressor role against colorectal carcinogenesis with its expression associated with DNA hypomethylation of exon 1

Insulin-like growth factor binding-protein-7 （IGFBP7） was obtained from our previous colonic adenocarcinoma （CRC） and normal mucosa suppression subtraction hybridization （SSH） cDNA libraries. By RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry, we found that IGFBP7 was overexpressed in CRC tissue compared to normal tissue. However, our in vitro experiments performed in 10 CRC cell lines showed that IGFBP7 expressed only in SW480 and Caco2 cell lines, which implied an underlying reversible regulatory mechanism. Using methylation-specific PCR （MSP） and bisulfite sodium PCR （BSP）, we found that its expression was associated with DNA hypomethylation of exonl. This was further supported by the in vitro study which showed restored IGFBP7 expression after demethylation agent 5-aza-2＇-deoxycytidine treatment. Correlation analysis between IGFBP7 expression and prognosis indicated that overexpression of IGFBP7 in CRC tissue correlated with favourable survival. Investigation of the functional role of IGFBP7 through transfection studies showed that IGFBP7 protein could inhibit growth rate, decrease colony formation activity, and induce apoptosis in RKO and SW620 cells, suggesting it a potential tumor suppressor protein in colorectal carcinogenesis. In conclusion, our study clearly demonstrated that IGFBP7 plays a potential tumor suppressor role against colorectal carcinogenesis and its expression is associated with DNA hypomethylation of exon 1.     

Evaluation and application of an efficient plant DNA extraction protocol for laboratory and field testing

Nucleic acids in plant tissue lysates can be captured quickly by a cellulose filter paper and prepared for amplification after a quick purification.In this study,a published filter paper strip method was modified by sticking the filter paper on a polyvinyl chloride resin(PVC)sheet.This modified method is named EZ-D,for EASY DNA extraction.Compared with the original cetyl trimethylammonium bromide(CTAB)method,DNA extracted by EZ-D is more efficient in polymerase chain reaction(PCR)amplification due to the more stable performance of the EZ-D stick.The EZ-D method is also faster,easier,and cheaper.PCR analyses showed that DNA extracted from several types of plant tissues by EZ-D was appropriate for specific identification of biological samples.A regular PCR reaction can detect the EZ-D-extracted DNA template at concentration as low as 0.1 ng/μL.Evaluation of the EZ-D showed that DNA extracts could be successfully amplified by PCR reaction for DNA fragments up to 3000 bp in length and up to 80%in GC content.EZ-D was successfully used for DNA extraction from a variety of plant species and plant tissues.Moreover,when EZ-D was combined with the loop-mediated isothermal amplification(LAMP)method,DNA identification of biological samples could be achieved without the need for specialized equipment.As an optimized DNA purification method,EZ-D shows great advantages in application and can be used widely in laboratories where equipment is limited and rapid results are required.     

优良的网页设计应该注意的几个要素

《网页设计》是现代教育技术专业的一门必修课.笔者根据自己从事网页设计的经验,从网页的内容、设计语言的选择、布局风格、数据库的应用、讨论区的创建以及网络安全等几个方面探讨了网页设计应注意的一些基本要素.     

Mechanism of the self-excited oscillation pipeline flocculator

1 Introduction Flocculation is a critical course in disposal of both feedwater and wastewater. It has been proved that by using the flocculation technique, water quality can be improved with reduced cost. The flocculation effect is determined by two facto…     

A new type of variable structure temperature programming controller

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Isolation and identification of Sclerotinia stem rot causal pathogen in Arabidopsis thaliana

A new stem rot disease is found to occur naturally on Arabidopsis plants in greenhouses of Fuzhou, China. In order to identify its pathogen, we conducted a series of fimgal isolation and purification, plant reinoculation, and ascus and ascospore induction from the sclerotia. The isolate caused typical water-soaked lesions after reinoeulation and produced sclerotia both on Arabidopsis plants and culture medium plates, and the sclerotia could be induced to produce discal apothecia and 8 binucleate ascospores per ascus. These disease symptom and fungal morphology data revealed that the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary was the pathogen for Arabidopsis stem rot. To confirm this, we further amplified its large subunit ribosomal DNA (LSU rDNA) by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and compared the sequence with the known LSU rDNA sequences in GenBank. The results show that the sequence shares the highest identities with the LSU rDNAs of different S. sclerotiorum strains. Taking all these data together, we concluded that the fungus that caused the Arabidopsis stem rot is S. sclerotiorum (Lib.) de Bary. This is the first report that Arabidopsis is naturally infected by S. sclerotiorum.