gcs-ma: a group communication system for mobile agents

Reliable messaging is a key component necessary for mobile agent systems. Current researches focus on reliable one-to-one message delivery to mobile agents. But how to implement a group communication system for mobile agents remains an open issue, which is a powerful block that facilitates the development of fault-tolerant mobile agent systems. In this paper, we propose a group communication system for mobile agents (GCS-MA), which includes totally ordered multicast and membership management functions. We divide a group of mobile agents into several agent clusters,and each agent cluster consists of all mobile agents residing in the same sub-network and is managed by a special module, named coordinator. Then, all coordinators form a ring-based overlay for interchanging messages between clusters. We present a token-based algorithm, an intra-cluster messaging algorithm and an inter-cluster migration algorithm to achieve atomicity and total ordering properties of multicast messages, by building a membership protocol on top of the clustering and failure detection mechanisms. Performance issues of the proposed system have been analysed through simulations. We also describe the application of the proposed system in the context of the service cooperation middleware (SCM) project.

Enhanced photoluminescence of Nd2O3 nanoparticles modified with silane-coupling agent: Fluorescent resonance energy transfer analysis

A liquid laser medium with a lifetime of 492 mu s and a fluorescent quantum efficiency of 52.5% has been presented by stably dispersing dimethyl dichorosilane-modified Nd2O3 nanoparticles in dimethylsulfoxide. Its optical properties and mechanism were investigated and explained by fluorescence resonance energy transfer theory. The calculation result shows that the quenching of Nd-III F-4(3/2)-> I-4(11/2) transition via O-H vibrational excitation can be eventually neglected. The main reason is that the silane-coupling agent molecules remove the -OH groups on Nd2O3 nanoparticles and form a protective out layer. (c) 2007 American Institute of Physics.

Aspergillus sp136抗细菌耐药活性成分研究

基于广谱抗细菌耐药性这一思路，本研究中心建立了一套抗细菌耐药性化合物的筛选方法。由此从3000多种西南地区特殊生境的微生物和植物样品提取物中筛选获得17个抗细菌耐药性活性样品。对其中一株来自峨嵋山土样的微生物（Aspergillus sp136）进行了深入研究。通过TLC自显影等方法从其发酵产物中追踪分离得到抗耐药有效成分，并鉴定为烟曲霉酸。 采用多种方法对烟曲霉酸的体外抗细菌耐药活性进行评价。在平板扩散法中，烟曲霉酸表现出对青霉素（β-内酰氨抗生素）的协同抗耐药能力，其活性大约3倍于克拉维酸。在MIC的测试实验中，烟曲霉酸表现出对青霉素（β-内酰氨抗生素）以及非β-内酰氨抗生素如红霉素、四环素、氯霉素、链霉素、卡那霉素、庆大霉素的抗耐药能力。在棋盘格杀菌以及时间致死曲线的研究中，烟曲霉酸也表现出对青霉素、红霉素、四环素的协同抗细菌耐药活性。 在广泛的活性筛选中发现烟曲霉酸对LDLR基因具有上调活性，表明烟曲霉酸可能具有降血脂的活性。 在研究中发现，同空白对照相比，烟曲霉酸使耐药菌（Bacillus cereus NCPF63509）细胞外β-内酰胺酶酶活大幅度下降，而细胞内β-内酰胺酶酶活仅略有上升，这表明烟曲霉酸对β-内酰胺酶分泌过程具有抑制作用。 综述了β-内酰胺酶的研究进展。 A two-step agar diffusion method was established to screen wide spectrum synergistic antibacterial agents. By using this method, 17 active samples against antibiotic resistance were discovered from more than 3000 plants and microbes, which were collected from southwest china. One isolate Aspergillus sp136 collected from E-mei mountain area was selected for further studies. From the metabolites of this strain, a synergistic antibacterial compound was isolated by bioautographic TLC assay-guided fractionation and identified as helvolic acid. The synergistic effect of helvolic acid was confirmed by several methods in vitro. The synergistic effect of helvolic acid with penicillin (β-lactam antibiotics) was about 3 times as that of clavulanic acid with penicillin in agar diffusion assay. In MIC studies, helvolic acid exhibited synergistic effects with β-lactam antibiotics such as penicillin and non β-lactam antibiotics such as erythromycin, tetracycline, kanamycin, streptomycin and gentamycin. In checkerboard and time-kill studies, helvolic acid also exhibited synergistic effects with penicillin, erythromycin and tetracycline. In general screen of bioactivities, helvolic acid upregulate LDLR gene, which was indirectly determined by the activity of fluorescent enzyme. Therefore, helvolic acid might have the ability to lower lipid in blood. Compared with blank control, the extracellular β-lactamase activity decrease significantly and the intracellular β-lactamase activity increase slightly in Bacillus cereus NCPF63509 in the presence of helvolic acid, indicating that the secretion of β-lactamase was inhibited by helvolic acid. The research of β-lactamase was reviewed.

两种保护剂对C离子诱导小鼠急性肝损伤的应答；Response of Two Protective Agents to Acute Injury Induced by ~(12)C~(6+) Ions in Mouse Liver

比较了N-乙酰半胱氨酸(NAC)及乙酰左旋肉毒碱(ALCAR)对12C6+离子照射小鼠的损伤效应,并探讨了其可能的作用机制。利用4Gy剂量的12C6+离子束对预先给予NAC(100mg/kg)和ALCAR(100mg/kg)保护的昆明小鼠进行单次全身照射。随后检测肝组织中总抗氧化能力(TAC)、DNA单链断裂和细胞凋亡率。结果显示,与照射对照组相比,提前给予NAC和ALCAR均极显著地增强了肝组织的抗氧化能力(P<0.001),减轻了12C6+离子导致的肝组织中DNA断裂(P<0.001)和细胞凋亡(P<0.001)。此外,还发现ALCAR组抗重离子辐照损伤的能力显著地高于NAC组(P<0.05)。实验结果提示了NAC和ALCAR可通过抵御组织内的氧化胁迫,阻止DNA链的断裂和细胞的凋亡,实现对C离子辐照损伤的保护效应。而且ALCAR比NAC可能更适合成为有潜力、有希望的抗C重离子辐射药物。

Development of functionalized terbium fluorescent nanoparticles for antibody labeling and time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay application

Silica-based functionalized terbium fluorescent nanoparticles were prepared, characterized and developed as a fluorescence probe for antibody labeling and time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay. The nanoparticles were prepared in a water-in-oil (W/O) microemulsion containing a strongly fluorescent Tb3+ chelate. N,N.N-1,N-1-12,6-bis(3'-aminomethyl-1'-pyrazolyl)phenylpyridine] tetrakis(acetate)-Tb3+ (BPTA-Tb3+), Triton X-100, octanol, and cyclohexane by controlling copolymerization of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and 3-[2-(2- aminoethylamino)-ethylamino]propyl-trimethoxysilane (AEPS) with ammonia water. The characterizations by transmission electron microscopy and fluorometric quantum methods show that the nanoparticles are spherical and uniform in size, 45 +/- 3 nm in diameter, strongly fluorescent with fluorescence yield of 10% and a long fluorescence lifetime of 2.0 ms. The amino groups directly introduced to the nanoparticle's surface by using AEPS in the preparation made the surface modification and bioconjugation of the nanoparticles easier. The nanoparticle-labeled anti-human alpha-fetoprotein antibody was prepared and used for time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay of (x-fetoprotein (AFP) in human serum samples. The assay response is linear from 0.10 ng ml(-1) to about 100 ng ml(-1) with the detection limit of 0.10 ng ml(-1). The coefficient variations (CVs) of the method are less than 9.0%. and the recoveries are in the range of 84-98% for human serum sample measurements. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.