SENEX gene promotes cell proliferation by activating RB/E2F pathway in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma cells

The present study aimed to clarify the role of SENEX in malignant cell proliferation in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma(DLBCL).22 DLBCL patients(6 newly diagnosed cases,7 cases at complete remission,and 9 relapsed cases)were included in the study.Our results indicated that both SENEX gene and protein were significantly increased in peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMCs)and tumor cells of relapsed DLBCL patients,accompanied by overexpression of p21,p16,and phosphorylated retinoblastoma(Rb).Silencing the SENEX gene in a DLBCL cell line caused a significant decrease in cell proliferation and inhibited cell cycle progression in the G1 phase.Phosphorylated Rb and E2F1 were also decreased,and activation of the Rb/E2F1 pathway was obviously suppressed.To conclude,the SENEX gene promotes proliferation in PBMC and tumor cells of DLBCL patients by activating the Rb/E2F1 pathway,in a manner suggesting that increased SENEX expression affects the relapse of DLBCL and may serve as an important target for DLBCL therapy.

Stability of General Linear Dynamic Multi-Agent Systems under Switching Topologies with Positive Real Eigenvlues

The time-varying network topology can significantly affect the stability of multi-agent systems.This paper examines the stability of leader-follower multi-agent systems with general linear dynamics and switching network topologies,which have applications in the platooning of connected vehicles.The switching interaction topology is modeled as a class of directed graphs in order to describe the information exchange between multi-agent systems,where the eigenvalues of every associated matrix are required to be positive real.The Hurwitz criterion and the Riccati inequality are used to design a distributed control law and estimate the convergence speed of the closed-loop system.A sufficient condition is provided for the stability of multi-agent systems under switching topologies.A common Lyapunov function is formulated to prove closed-loop stability for the directed network with switching topologies.The result is applied to a typical cyber-physical system—that is,a connected vehicle platoon—which illustrates the effectiveness of the proposed method.

现代生物声学的学科发展趋势及中国机遇

随着数字录音技术、电子学和微电子学、人工智能、信息科学等跨学科领域的技术革新,现代生物声学逐渐与生物学、生态学等学科及关联学科之间形成了广泛的交叉前沿领域。现阶段,现代生物声学主要以生物学、生态学等基础学科的理论方法为指导,着重于揭示环境中各类声音在生物之间以及生物与人类、环境之间的相互作用及相关科学规律,为人类认识、保护和利用生物声学资源提供理论基础和解决方案。本文重点阐述了现代生物声学的学科内涵和学科特征,介绍了动物生物声学、生态声学、水下生物声学、环境生物声学、保护生物声学、计算生物声学以及现代生物声学研究的技术框架等前沿热点和发展趋势,评估了中国生物声学研究的学科现状与发展机遇,并对未来学科建设进行了展望。

Frequent and prolonged nocturnal occupation of port areas by Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis): Forced choice for feeding?

During the Yangtze Freshwater Dolphin Expedition 2012,Yangtze finless porpoises(Neophocaena asiaeorientalis)were acoustically monitored in 9 port areas at night.During 6566 min of nocturnal monitoring,porpoise sonar was detected for 488 min(7.43%of the total time).Of all 81 encounters,the longest echolocation span obtained was 102.9 min,suggesting frequent and prolonged porpoise occupation of the port areas.A combined total of 2091 click trains were recorded,with 129(6.2%)containing minimum inter-click intervals(ICIs)below 10 ms(termed a buzz).Buzzes with a decrease in ICIs and search and approach phases that resembled feeding echolocation signals accounted for 44.2%(N=52)of all buzzes.Buzzes with an increase in ICIs,suggesting a mirrored prey capture phase,accounted for 20.2%(N=26)and could reflect attempts to locate escaped prey because they were followed by approach-phase feeding buzzes.Anecdotal evidence of porpoises fleeing the proximity of vessels was observed.The recordings indicating clusters of porpoises feeding near the port areas suggest a forced choice for feeding due to the relatively higher prey availability in the port areas compared to other areas in the Yangtze River that are probably overfished.

Whistle signal variations among three Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin populations in the South China Sea:a combined effect of the Qiongzhou Strait’s geographical barrier function and local ambient noise?

Geographic variations in the dolphin whistles could be useful in assessing association and isolation among populations.Whistle of free-ranging Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins(Sousa chinensis)among the Pearl River Estuary(PRE),Leizhou Bei(LZB)and Sanniang Bay(SNB)populations were investigated.A total of 2850 whistles with legible fundamental contour were extracted and 15 acoustic parameters were measured.Contrary to SNB,PRE and LZB had the same relative proportion of tonal type compositions with flat and sine representing the most frequent types.The generalized linear model analysis showed significant acoustic difference among populations and tonal types.All frequency parameters in SNB were significantly higher than those in PRE and LZB,where no significant variation was observed in most of the parameters either at the population level or within each tonal type.Canonical discriminant functions analysis showed a smaller difference between PRE and LZB than between PRE and SNB and between LZB and SNB.Compared with previous recordings,recent recordings demonstrated a consistent pattern of becoming higher in whistle frequency parameters in both LZB and SNB populations,suggesting that noise pollution in LZB and SNB increasing with time according to the acoustic niche hypothesis.Dolphin whistle’s geographic variations could be shaped by the combined function of the geographical barrier function of the Qiongzhou strait and local ambient noise.Considering the isolated condition and the relatively smaller population size of the humpback dolphin in the SNB,more effective and proactive conservation actions should be taken to prevent the extinction of small populations.