A phospholipase A1 platelet activator from the wasp venom of Vespa magnifica (Smith)

Wasp is an impor tant venomous animal that can induce human fatalities. Aortic thrombosis and cerebral infarction are major clinical symptoms after massive wasp stings but the reason leading to the envenomation manifestation is still not known. In this paper, a toxin protein is purified and characterized by Sephadex G-75 gel filtration, CM-Sephadex C-25 cationic exchange and fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) from the venom of the wasp, Vespa magnifica (Smith). This protein, named magnifin, contains phospholipase-like activity and induces platelet aggregation. The cDNA encoding magnifin is cloned from the venom sac cDNA library of the wasp. The predicted protein was deduced from the cDNA with a sequence composed of 337 amino acid residues. Magnifin is very similar to other phospholipase A(1) (PLA(1)), especially to other wasp allergen PLA(1). Magnifin can activate platelet aggregation and induce thrombosis in vivo. The current results proved that PLA(1) in wasp venom could be contributable to aortic thrombosis after massive wasp stings. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of a rapid, sensitive and specific diagnostic assay for fish Aquareovirus based on RT-PCR

A rapid, sensitive and highly specific detection method for Aquareovirus based on reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was developed. Based on multiple sequence alignment of the cloned sequences of a local isolates, the Threadfin reovirus (TFV) and Guppy reovirus (GPV) with Grass carp reovirus (GCRV), a pair of degenerate primers was selected carefully and synthesized. Using this primer combination, only one specific product, approximately 450 bp in length was obtained when RT-PCR was carried out using the genomic double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) of TFV, GPV and GCRV. Similar results were also obtained when Chum salmon reovirus (CSRV) and Striped bass reovirus (SBRV) dsRNA were used as templates. No products were observed when nucleic acids other than the dsRNA of the aquareoviruses described above were used as RT-PCR templates. This technique could detect not only TFV but also GPV and GCRV in low titer virus-infected cell cultured cells. Furthermore, this method has also been shown to be able to diagnose GPV-infected guppy (Poecilia reticulata) that exhibit clinical symptoms as well as GPV-carrier guppy. Collectively, these results showed that the RT-PCR amplification method using specific degenerate primers described below is very useful for rapid and accurate detection of a variety of aquareovirus strains isolated from different host species and origin. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

汉语深层失读及词汇－语义系统的认知神经心理学研究

Chinese deep dyslexia is an important type of reading disorder that attracted many research interests. In the current thesis, three studies concerning Chinese deep dyslexia were performed: (1) clinical dominating and incidental symptoms were collected and their relationships were analyzed, and error scores of different character and word types compared; to verify typical reading model of alphabetic readers, and to develope a novel model for reading Chinese scripts; (2) based on these results, further neuropsychological analysis on the basic rules of lexical-semantic system and semantic distance were employed; (3) rehabilitation scheme were shaped to verify our research results. With cognitive neuropsychological methods, this study was mainly focused on deep dyslexic patients with brain impairment. The results were compared with those of normal people on rapid reading. Computer emulation was also used to describe reading process of patients. Both group analysis and case study were carried out. This study for the first time systematically investigated the clinical symptoms of Chinese deep dyslexia. A novel model was developed with a hypothesis that the sublexical pathway is composed of two parallel pathways: the phonetic sublexical pathway and the semantic sublexical pathway. Two characteristics of Chinese deep dyslexia were found compared with alphabetic deep dyslexia: (1) having no distinct word class effect and imagination effect; (2) the organization of Chinese lexical-semantic system has correlation with construct regulation, imagination and splitability of characters. Evoking of semantic correlation is stronger than phonetic correlation.