Characterizations of bipartite and Eulerian partial duals of ribbon graphs

Huggett and Moffatt characterized all bipartite partial duals of a plane graph in terms of all-crossing directions of its medial graph. Then Metsidik and Jin characterized all Eulerian partial duals of a plane graph in terms of semi-crossing directions of its medial graph. Plane graphs are ribbon graphs with genus 0. In this paper, by introducing the notion of modified medial graphs and using their all-crossing directions, we first extend Huggett and Moffatt’s result from plane graphs to ribbon graphs. Then we characterize all Eulerian partial duals of any ribbon graph in terms of crossing-total directions of its medial graph, which are simpler than semi-crossing directions.     

Evaluation of the interaction of bioactive compounds in Cortex Pseudolarix and Radix Stephaniae by the microdialysis probe coupled with high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

An efficient and convenient method, biological fingerprinting chromatogram analysis is presented, which is applied to the comparison of fingerprinting chromatograms of the extracts of Chinese herbal medicines after the interaction with biological systems (cell, DNA, protein, etc.). The method was established for the purpose of screening and analysis of the multiple bioactive compounds in herbal medicines. In this work, microdialysis sampling combined with high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) was studied for binding property of MCF-7 and multidrug resistant MCF-7 cell systems. The results showed that pseudolaric acid A (PAA) and pseudolaric acid B (PAB) in the cortex of Pseudolarix kaempferi (Lamb.) Gorden can easily bind to the MCF-7 cells ranging from 0 to 16.3% (PAA) and from 0 to 35.7% (PAB), and another compound, tetrandrine (TET) from the root of Stephania tetrandrae S. Moore, showed higher binding activity with multidrug resistant MCF-7 cells ranging from 0 to 39.9%.     

地骨皮中生物活性成分的毛细管区带电泳-安培检测方法研究

采用毛细管区带电泳-安培检测法(CZE-AD)同时分离测定了中药地骨皮中刺槐素、莨菪亭、山奈酚、对香豆酸、香草酸、木犀草素和槲皮素等多种生物活性成分,考察了运行液酸度和浓度、分离电压、氧化电位和进样时间等实验参数对分离、检测体系的影响。在最佳实验条件下,以直径300μm的碳圆盘电极为工作电极,检测电位为950 mV(vs.SCE),在80 mmol/L的硼砂缓冲溶液(pH 9.0)中,7组分在24 m in可实现基线分离。7组分峰电流与其浓度在1.0×10-3~1.0×10-1范围内呈良好线性,检出限(S/N=3)达3.5×10-5~6.0×10-5g/L。该方法成功地应用于中药地骨皮中生物活性成分的含量检测。     

Improved functional mapping of the human amygdala using a standard functional magnetic resonance imaging sequence with simple modifications

As the amygdala is involved in various aspects of emotional processing, its characterization using neuroimaging modalities, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), is of great interest. However, in fMRI, the amygdala region suffers from susceptibility artifacts that are composed of signal dropouts and image distortions. Various technically demanding approaches to reduce these artifacts have been proposed, and most require alterations beyond a mere change of the acquisition parameters and cannot be easily implemented by the user without changing the MR sequence code. In the present study, we therefore evaluated the impact of simple alterations of the acquisition parameters of a standard gradient-echo echo-planar imaging technique at 3 T composed of echo times (TEs) of 27 and 36 ms as well as section thicknesses of 2 and 4 mm while retaining a section orientation parallel to the intercommissural plane and an in-plane resolution of 2x2 mm(2). In contrast to previous studies, we based our evaluation on the resulting activation maps using an emotional stimulation paradigm rather than on MR raw image quality only. Furthermore, we tested the effects of spatial smoothing of the functional raw data in the course of postprocessing using spatial filters of 4 and 8 mm. Regarding MR raw image quality, a TE of 27 ms and 2-mm sections resulted in the least susceptibility artifacts in the anteromedial aspect of the temporal lobe. The emotional stimulation paradigm resulted in robust bilateral amygdala activation for the approaches with 2-mm sections only -- but with larger activation volumes for a TE of 36 ms as compared with that of 27 ms. Moderate smoothing with a 4-mm spatial filter represented a good compromise between increased sensitivity and preserved specificity. In summary, we showed that rather than applying advanced modifications of the MR sequence, a simple increase in spatial resolution (i.e., the reduction of section thickness) is sufficient to improve the detectability of amygdala activation.     

强阳离子交换毛细管液相色谱-反相加压毛细管电色谱二维系统的构建及其在中药黄柏提取物分离中的应用

加压毛细管电色谱(pCEC)具有电泳和液相色谱的双重分离机理,其柱效高、选择性强、分辨率高和分离速度快并可进行梯度洗脱。我们在此基础上加入离子交换色谱模式,构建了强阳离子交换-反相加压毛细管液相色谱(micro strong cation exchange liquid chromatography/reversed phase pressurized capillary electrochromatography, μ-SCXLC/RP-pCEC)二维系统,并对中药黄柏的提取物进行了优化分离。第一维μ-SCXLC采用线性盐梯度分离,样品被切割成11个馏分洗脱收集后进入第二维,第二维脱盐后,采用RP-pCEC进行分离分析,梯度洗脱。以中药黄柏提取物为样品,此二维系统的分辨率和峰容量都较一维系统有很大提高,理论峰容量可达900左右,证明构建的二维体系非常适合复杂样品的分离分析。     

Corticonic models of brain mechanisms underlying cognition and intelligence

The concern of this review is brain theory or more specifically, in its first part, a model of the cerebral cortex and the way it: (a) interacts with subcortical regions like the thalamus and the hippocampus to provide higher-level-brain functions that underlie cognition and intelligence, (b) handles and represents dynamical sensory patterns imposed by a constantly changing environment, (c) copes with the enormous number of such patterns encountered in a lifetime by means of dynamic memory that offers an immense number of stimulus-specific attractors for input patterns (stimuli) to select from, (d) selects an attractor through a process of “conjugation” of the input pattern with the dynamics of the thalamo–cortical loop, (e) distinguishes between redundant (structured) and non-redundant (random) inputs that are void of information, (f) can do categorical perception when there is access to vast associative memory laid out in the association cortex with the help of the hippocampus, and (g) makes use of “computation” at the edge of chaos and information driven annealing to achieve all this. Other features and implications of the concepts presented for the design of computational algorithms and machines with brain-like intelligence are also discussed. The material and results presented suggest, that a Parametrically Coupled Logistic Map network (PCLMN) is a minimal model of the thalamo–cortical complex and that marrying such a network to a suitable associative memory with re-entry or feedback forms a useful, albeit, abstract model of a cortical module of the brain that could facilitate building a simple artificial brain.

In the second part of the review, the results of numerical simulations and drawn conclusions in the first part are linked to the most directly relevant works and views of other workers. What emerges is a picture of brain dynamics on the mesoscopic and macroscopic scales that gives a glimpse of the nature of the long sought after brain code underlying intelligence and other higher level brain functions.     

A simple and effective method for identification of Fraxini Cortex from different sources by multi-mode fingerprint combined with chemometrics

Fraxini Cortex has a long history of being used as a medicinal plant in traditional Chinese medicine. However, it is challenging to differentiate and make quality evaluations for Fraxini Cortex from different origins due to their similarities in morphological features, as well as general chemical composition using traditional chemical analytical methods. In this study, a simple and effective method was developed to identify Fraxini Cortex from different origins by multi-mode fingerprint combined with chemometrics. Digital images of the high-performance thin-layer chromatography profiles were converted to grayscale intensity, and the common patterns of high-performance thin-layer chromatography fingerprints were generated with ChemPattern software. Authentication and quality assessment were analyzed by similarity analysis, hierarchical cluster analysis, principal component analysis, and multivariate analysis of variance. The ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography fingerprints were analyzed by similarity analysis, principal component analysis, and orthogonal partial least square-discriminant analysis. When combined with chemometrics, high-performance thin-layer chromatography and ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography fingerprint provided a simple and effective method to evaluate the comprehensive quality of Fraxini Cortex, and to distinguish its two original medicinal materials (Fraxinus chinensis Roxb. and Fraxinus rhynchophylla Hance.) recorded in the Chinese Pharmacopeia and its three adulterants (Fraxinus mandschurica Rupr., Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh., and Juglans mandshurica Maxim.). A similar workflow may be applied to establish a differentiation method for other medicinal and economic plants.     

Antioxidant,anti-lipidemic,hypoglycemic and antiproliferative effects of phenolics from Cortex Mori Radicis

Cortex Mori Radicis (CMR) is enriched in various phenolics, this study aimed to estimate the antioxidant effect, enzyme (lipase, α-amylase, α-glucosidase and acetyl-cholinesterase) inhibition and the anti-proliferative effect of the phenolic compounds in CMR. However, the amount of these compounds obtained from CMR is highly dependent on the processing conditions. In this study, the processing parameters of extracting the phenolics from CMR using ultrasonic technique pooled with high-speed shearing extraction (UTPHSE) were optimized. Subsequently, the phenolics from Cortex Mori Radicis (PCMR) were purified using AB-8 macroporous resin, and their chemical analysis, antioxidant, enzyme inhibition, and antiproliferative activities were studied. Based on our findings, the optimal parameters of UTPHSE were: L/S ratio 25.8:1 (mL/g), voltage 81.0 V, ultrasonic temperature 51.8 ℃ and ultrasonic time 289 s. And under the optimal extraction conditions, the extraction rate of the PCMR was 0.531 ± 0.004%. Compared with PCMR, the contents of “total phenolics, flavonoids, flavonols, flavanols and phenolic acids” increased 2.30, 2.67, 2.59, 3.63 and 2.72 times in the purified phenolics from Cortex Mori Radicis (PPCMR), respectively. In addition, PPCMR depicted significant DPPH, ABTS⁺ and superoxide anion radicals’ scavenging capability, reducing power, ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and remarkable inhibitory activities on “lipase, alpha-amylase, alpha-glucosidase, and the proliferation of HeLa, HepG2 and NCI-H460”. At the same time, the morphological changes of HeLa, HepG2 and NCI-H460 cells suggested that PPCMR could effectively inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells in vitro. Therefore, PPCMR have good potential as natural antioxidants, antilipidemic, hypoglycemic, and antineoplastic agents in functional foods and pharmaceuticals.     

GC-MS联用技术结合化学计量学方法分析厚朴叶挥发油成分

利用水蒸气蒸馏法提取湖南产厚朴叶的挥发油成分,采用GC-MS联用技术结合化学计量学方法(直观推导式演进特征投影法和选择性离子法)进行分析,同时结合程序升温保留指数辅助定性。结果共鉴定出54种化合物,占挥发油总量的84.95%。主要化学成分为α-、β-和γ-桉油醇,含量分别为13.10%、28.21%和14.67%。此外,含量较高的化合物还有α-蒎烯(2.96%)、芳樟醇(1.71%)、丹皮酚(1.88%)、石竹烯(2.04%)、佛术烯(3.60%)、α-瑟林烯(3.84%)和[1AR-(1Aα,4α,4Aβ,7Bα)]-1A,2,3,4,4A,5,6,7B-八氢化-1,1,4,7-四甲基-1H-环丙烯并[E]奥(1.34%)。研究表明,将化学计量学方法用于中药挥发油成分的分析可提高定性分析的准确性。所得结果可为厚朴药植物资源的开发利用提供依据。     

Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Alkaloids in Cortex Phellodendri by HPLC-ESI-MS/MS and HPLC-DAD

A combined method of high performance liquid chromatograph-elecrtrospray-ionization mass spectrometer(HPLC-ESI-MS/MS) coupled with a photodiode array detector(HPLC-DAD) and principal component analysis(PCA) was applied to the qualitative and quantitative analyses of alkaloids in Cortex Phellodendri(CP) samples, and to the differentiation of two species of CP, Cortex Phellodendri Chinensis(CPC) and Cortex Phellodendri Amurensis(CPA). Twenty-two peaks appeared in the HPLC-MS base peak chromatogram of CP detec...