Biological responses inCaenorhabditis elegans to high magnetic fields

Here we describe a device for testing possible influences of high magnetic fields on biological processes, by which alternating-current magnetic stimuli as high as 1.7 T can be administered. Experiments with a simple multicellular organism, the nematodeCaenorhabditis elegans, revealed that intermittent exposure to the magnetic fields modestly inhibited the animal's reproduction as well as its post-embryonic development, and caused a marked but transient derangement in its locomotory behavior. Available evidence indicates that alternating high magnetic fields can elicit both chronic and acute biological effects, but that the effects may be well tolerated or compensated for by the living organism.     

21世纪冶金和材料制备学的发展及对策

21世纪中冶金学及材料制备学的发展在于两个方向。其一是信息论冶金学和材料制备学；其二是在若干外加物理场综合作用下的7台金和材料制备过程。前者意在创建冶金学及材料制备学的一个新的高度。所以，由基础研究到过程控制有5个平台包含在此概念之中。关于第二个方向，本文讨论了超强磁场、脉冲电磁场、脉冲电流、超声波、等离子体以及离子选择性高效透过膜的应用可能性。对企业的发展提出了一个建议：应懂得技术储备的重要。     

Weak static magnetic fields increase the speed of circumnutation in cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) tendrils

Tendrils are thread-like organs whose function is to support the stems of many species of climbing plants. Tendrils naturally move (circumnutate) in space. Individual tendrils of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) Poinset had the vertical component of their mean velocity vector of circumnutation changed when exposed to a range of weak static magnetic fields between 1 and 16 mT. The speed (modulus) of the velocity vector was significantly increased (p=0.016) in the vicinity of a magnet, but its direction did not show a definite trend with respect to the magnet. Although cucumber tendrils bear static positive charges, they did not behave as charged bodies do in a magnetic field, neither did they show a magnetotropic response. In fact, tendrils showed a nastic response to magnetism. Magnetic fields affected some processes underlying the movement of circumnutation, but no clear interpretation of them can be given presently on the basis of the known effects of magnetism on plants. It is clear that cucumber tendrils, because of some inherent susceptibility to magnetism or their particular size and shape, are very sensitive to relatively low static magnetic field strengths.     

Effect of pulsing electromagnetic fields on DNA synthesis in mammalian cells in culture

Summary DNA synthesis in Chinese hamster V79 cells was significantly enhanced when they were exposed to weak, pulsing electromagnetic fields generated by specific combinations of the pulse width (25s), frequency (10, 100 Hz) and magnetic intensity (2×10^–5 8×10^–5T). Conversely the DNA synthesis of cells in the fields at 4×10^–4 T was repressed to 80% of that in controls not exposed to the fields.This work was supported by Kaken Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd, Tokyo, Japan, and in part by a Grant-in-Aid from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan and from the Foundation for Life Science Promotion Tokyo, Japan to I.K.     

A comparative evaluation of objective and subjective weather forecasts in the united states

This paper is concerned primarily with the evaluation and comparison of objective and subjective weather forecasts. Operational forecasts of three weather elements are considered: (1) probability forecasts of precipitation occurrence, (2) categorical (i.e. non-probabilistic) forecasts of maximum and minimum temperatures and (3) categorical forecasts of cloud amount. The objective forecasts are prepared by numerical-statistical procedures, whereas the subjective forecasts are based on the judgements of individual forecasters. In formulating the latter, the forecasters consult information from a variety of sources, including the objective forecasts themselves. The precipitation probability forecasts are found to be both reliable and skilful, and evaluation of the temperature/cloud amount forecasts reveals that they are quite accurate/skilful. Comparison of the objective and subjective forecasts of precipitation occurrence indicates that the latter are generally more skilful than the former for shorter lead times (e.g. 12–24 hours), whereas the two types of forecasts are of approximately equal skill for longer lead times (e.g. 36–48 hours). Similar results are obtained for the maximum and minimum temperature forecasts. Objective cloud amount forecasts are more skilful than subjective cloud amount forecasts for all lead times. Examination of trends in performance over the last decade reveals that both types of forecasts for all three elements increased in skill (or accuracy) over the period, with improvements in objective forecasts equalling or exceeding improvements in subjective forecasts. The role and impact of the objective forecasts in the subjective weather forecasting process are discussed in some detail. The need to conduct controlled experiments and other studies of this process, with particular reference to the assimilation of information from different sources, is emphasized. Important characteristics of the forecasting system in meteorology are identified, and they are used to describe similarities and differences between weather forecasting and forecasting in other fields. Acquisition of some of these characteristics may be beneficial to other forecasting systems.     

Resting potential of excitable neuroblastoma cells in weak magnetic fields

The mechanism by which static and low-frequency magnetic fields are transduced into biological signals responsible for reported effects on brain electrical activity is not yet ascertained. To test the hypothesis that fields can cause a subthreshold change in the resting membrane potential of excitable cells, we measured changes in transmembrane current under voltage clamp produced in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells, using the patch-clamp method in the whole-cell configuration. In separate experiments, cells were exposed to static fields of 1, 5, and 75 G, to time-varying fields of 1 and 5 G, and to combined static and time-varying fields tuned for resonance of Na+, K+, Ca2+, or H+. To increase sensitivity, measurements were made on cells connected by gap junctions. For each cell, the effect of the field was evaluated on the basis of 100 trials consisting of a 5-s exposure immediately followed by a 5-s control period. In each experiment, the field had no discernible effect on the transmembrane current in the vicinity of zero current (- 50 mV voltage clamp). The sensitivity of the measuring system was such that we would have detected a current corresponding to a change in membrane potential as small as 38 microV. Consequently, if sensitivity of mammalian cells to magnetic fields is mediated by subthreshold changes in membrane potential, as in sensory transduction of sound, light, and other stimuli, then the ion channels responsible for the putative changes are probably present only in specialized sensory neurons or neuroepithelial cells. A change in transmembrane potential in response to magnetic fields is not a general property of excitable cells in culture.     

场助纳米二氧化钛薄膜光催化降解甲紫的研究

纳米二氧化钛是一种重要的无机功能材料。本文采用溶胶-凝胶法制备了TiO_2薄膜,利用"场助"影响其光催化特性。光催化实验以可能具有致癌性并且难以生化降解的三苯甲烷类染料——甲紫作为降解物质,用2100型分光光度计来测量降解率,以确定电场、磁场强度对光催化特性的影响。光催化实验结果表明,外加电场(未参与水的电解)、磁场对于协助光催化降解甲紫有着明显的效果。随着外加电场、磁场强度的增加,甲紫溶液的降解率有大幅提高。反应符合一级动力学方程。     

磁场处理对农作物产生的效应概述

大量研究表明，当生物体所处的磁场环境发生变化时，会产生各种各样的效应。本文综述了磁场处理对农作物产生的效应研究进展。     

Biomimetic actuators: where technology and cell biology merge

The structural and functional analysis of biological macromolecules has reached a level of resolution that allows mechanistic interpretations of molecular action, giving rise to the view of enzymes as molecular machines. This machine analogy is not merely metaphorical, as bio-analogous molecular machines actually are being used as motors in the fields of nanotechnology and robotics. As the borderline between molecular cell biology and technology blurs, developments in the engineering and material sciences become increasingly instructive sources of models and concepts for biologists. In this review, we provide a--necessarily selective--summary of recent progress in the usage of biological and biomimetic materials as actuators in artificial environments, focussing on motors built from DNA, classical cellular motor systems (tubulin/kinesin, actin/myosin), the rotary motor F1F0-ATPase and protein-based 'smart' materials.     

壳聚糖磁性光敏剂血卟啉衍生物微球的制备及其体外表征研究

目的制备壳聚糖包覆的磁性光敏剂血卟啉衍生物微球并考察其体外表征。方法以五羰基铁为原料制备羰基铁粉纳米颗粒,非溶剂法将羰基铁粉纳米颗粒与光敏剂血卟啉衍生物HPD复合,并用壳聚糖包覆制备成壳聚糖包覆磁性血卟啉衍生物微球(CS-M-HPD)。使用电子显微镜、激光粒度仪、X-射线衍射仪和磁力测定仪考察微球的表征。结果检测结果表明该微球为球形,分散性良好,粒径大多集中在290～300 nm。微球羰基铁粉纯度高,呈现优良磁性。结论本研究实现了壳聚糖对磁性HPD的包覆,得到了单分散性磁性HPD微球,为进一步研究该微球靶向光动力治疗肿瘤的生物活性奠定了实验基础。     

X-rays from the Sun

X-ray astronomy began in 1948 with the first detection of X-rays from the Sun. Astronomical X-ray observations need to be performed from high-altitude rockets and satellites because the Earth's atmosphere absorbs X-rays. Currently about 100,000 X-ray sources are known all over the sky. The Sun is by far the strongest source. The outermost solar atmosphere, the corona, emits X-rays due to its high temperature of a few million K. Solar X-ray emission is highly variable. Eruptions lead to variations of the X-ray flux on time scales of minutes. The average X-ray flux varies with the 11-year sunspot cycle by a factor of about 1000. Solar X-rays have a profound influence on the Earth's upper atmosphere.     

Drift of an erythrocyte flow line due to the magnetic field

Summary Drifts of erythrocyte-flow lines due to inhomogeneous magnetic field in a laminar flow in a buffer solution are shown for the first time, and are interpreted as being due to the paramagnetism of hemoglobins included in the erythrocytes. The drifts were dependent on the hematocrit of the flowing erythrocyte suspension.     

Nonlinear response of biophoton emission to external perturbations.

By considering an exciplex system consisting of collective molecules in interaction with both the 'pumping' fields and the biophoton fields, the two-level exciplex model and the three-level exciplex model are presented. They are useful for the investigation of the quasi-stationary behaviour of biophoton emission, and biophoton emission as a dynamic process in the presence of external perturbations. Our theoretical results predict a series of nonlinear effects, such as chaos, fractal behaviour, and non-equilibrium phase transition. These effects characterize the coherence nature of living systems. In our approaches, there are two important quantities f and x, which can be used to mark the working points of the two-level and three-level exciplex systems. All the influences of external perturbations on the exciplex systems, e.g. change of temperature, the addition of agents, exposure to light, etc., can be interpreted as shifts of the working points of the systems, leading to a diversity of nonlinear response of biophoton emission. In addition, the agreements of the theoretical results and the corresponding experimental observations on biophoton emission from biological systems in the presence of external perturbations are demonstrated.     

Internalization of cationic peptides: the road less (or more?) traveled

Facilitating the entry of molecules into mammalian cells is of great interest to fields as diverse as cell biology and drug delivery. The discovery of natural protein transduction domains and the development of artificial ones, including polyarginine, provides a means to achieve this goal. Here, we comment on key chemical and biological aspects of cationic peptide internalization, including the physiological relevance of this process. Received 13 April 2006; received after revision 21 May 2006; accepted 2 June 2006     

Molecular recognition in applied enzyme chemistry

Molecular recognition impinges upon many fields of biological chemistry, especially those involving catalytic processes. This review gives examples from studies at Strathclyde of both small and macromolecular systems. Mechanism-based enzyme inhibitors are described with reference to dihydrofolate reductase, dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, and cholesterol metabolism. Applications of molecular recognition related to synthetic transformations are discussed in terms of aromatic substitution, chemically modified papain, and catalytic antibodies for Diels-Alder reactions.     

Molecular recognition in applied enzyme chemistry.

Molecular recognition impinges upon many fields of biological chemistry, especially those involving catalytic processes. This review gives examples from studies at Strathclyde of both small and macromolecular systems. Mechanism-based enzyme inhibitors are described with reference to dihydrofolate reductase, dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, and cholesterol metabolism. Applications of molecular recognition related to synthetic transformations are discussed in terms of aromatic substitution, chemically modified papain, and catalytic antibodies for Diels-Alder reactions.     

第六次科技革命的“核心专利争夺”已悄然展开——2001年以来第六次科技革命的十种前兆

2001年以来，关于第六次科技革命的十种前兆涉及自然人、网络人、仿生人和再生人等多个领域。而第六次科技革命的核心专利争夺，主要涉及信息转换器技术、人格信息包技术、仿生技术、创生技术、再生技术等。     

Ubiquitin-proteasome system

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has turned out to be an invaluable tool in the molecular biological sciences for elucidating the housekeeping functions of eukaryotic cells. Due to its easy amenability to biochemical, genetic, molecular biological and cell biological experimentation, including genomics and proteomics, yeast has become one of the most frequently used eukaryotic model organisms. One of the fields where studies in yeast have a truly pacemaking character is cellular control by proteolysis. The function of vacuolar (lysosomal) proteolysis was elucidated. The in vivo role of ubiquitin and its relation to the proteasome was uncovered. This research led to an avalanche of studies in many different eukaryotic systems, including mammals, and provided us with surprising new insights in cellular control in health and disease.     

烯二炔类抗肿瘤抗生素的生物合成研究进展

烯二炔类抗生素以其独特的化学结构和强烈的抗肿瘤活性成为化学、生物和医药领域重点关注的对象。本文简要介绍了近年来关于烯二炔化合物的生物合成研究进展,以及运用组合生物合成的原理创造新型烯二炔结构类似物的前景。烯二炔类抗生素为我们研究复杂天然产物的生物合成提供了一个很好的模型,其基因和生化水平机制的阐明将进一步丰富组合生物合成的内容和手段,最终有利于发现和发展新型的抗肿瘤药物。     

突发性地质灾害研究现状

近年来,突发性地质灾害的频繁发生,给人们的生命财产造成的损失越来越大,对突发性地质灾害的研究已经成为国际社会关注的热点领域.为了及时总结该领域已有的研究成果,为防灾减灾提供科学依据,本文从对突发性地质灾害的成因、危险性评价、预测预警和防治等方面进行了现状综述,分析讨论了突发性地质灾害及防治存在的问题与进一步研究的方向.