Species-specific responses of Late Quaternary megafauna to climate and humans

Despite decades of research, the roles of climate and humans in driving the dramatic extinctions of large-bodied mammals during the Late Quaternary period remain contentious. Here we use ancient DNA, species distribution models and the human fossil record to elucidate how climate and humans shaped the demographic history of woolly rhinoceros, woolly mammoth, wild horse, reindeer, bison and musk ox. We show that climate has been a major driver of population change over the past 50,000 years. However, each species responds differently to the effects of climatic shifts, habitat redistribution and human encroachment. Although climate change alone can explain the extinction of some species, such as Eurasian musk ox and woolly rhinoceros, a combination of climatic and anthropogenic effects appears to be responsible for the extinction of others, including Eurasian steppe bison and wild horse. We find no genetic signature or any distinctive range dynamics distinguishing extinct from surviving species, emphasizing the challenges associated with predicting future responses of extant mammals to climate and human-mediated habitat change.     

Comparative analysis of chimpanzee and human Y chromosomes unveils complex evolutionary pathway

The mammalian Y chromosome has unique characteristics compared with the autosomes or X chromosomes. Here we report the finished sequence of the chimpanzee Y chromosome (PTRY), including 271 kb of the Y-specific pseudoautosomal region 1 and 12.7 Mb of the male-specific region of the Y chromosome. Greater sequence divergence between the human Y chromosome (HSAY) and PTRY (1.78%) than between their respective whole genomes (1.23%) confirmed the accelerated evolutionary rate of the Y chromosome. Each of the 19 PTRY protein-coding genes analyzed had at least one nonsynonymous substitution, and 11 genes had higher nonsynonymous substitution rates than synonymous ones, suggesting relaxation of selective constraint, positive selection or both. We also identified lineage-specific changes, including deletion of a 200-kb fragment from the pericentromeric region of HSAY, expansion of young Alu families in HSAY and accumulation of young L1 elements and long terminal repeat retrotransposons in PTRY. Reconstruction of the common ancestral Y chromosome reflects the dynamic changes in our genomes in the 5-6 million years since speciation.     

Chronic active hepatitis in mice induced by 3-hydroxy-4-pyrone

Summary Chronic active hepatitis was selectively induced in mice by the feeding of a diet containing 3-hydroxy-4-pyrone (0.5% by weight) for periods of 6 weeks and longer. This model should be of particular value in elucidating the pathogenesis of drug-induced forms of chronic active hepatitis. Maltol (3-hydroxy-2-methyl-4-pyrone) did not produce any liver lesion.Acknowledgment. This research was supported in part by a grant from the Sir A.E. Rowden White Bequest to the Department of Pathology, University of Melbourne.To whom correspondance and requests for reprints should be addressed.     

LSIMOS器件的两维分析

本文应用Gummel自洽场理论对LSIMOS器件进行了两维分析,并开发了相应的模拟软件,模拟结果与实验基本吻合。     

梳棉机的混和作用及其与均匀作用的关系

本文主要从理论上探讨了梳棉机的混和作用及其与均匀作用的关系。从梳棉机的输入输出微分方程出发,推导了梳棉机的传递函数,通过z变换将系统离散化得到梳棉机的脉冲传递函数,z反变换得到差分方程。从差分方程的物理意义解释,可以定量地认识梳棉机的混和作用。定义了混和不匀率,根据线性系统理论对不同的喂入情况的混和效果作了进一步的分析。阐明了混和作用与均匀作用的区别和联系,从而对梳棉机的混和作用及其与均匀作用的关系有更为明确的认识。     

The lack of insulin-binding to simple glycosidic receptors

Summary The results of affinity electrophoresis at pH 8.9 show that insulin does not interact with any of a number of glycosidic ligands which bind various lectins. The results are discussed with respect to some similarities between insulin and concanavalin A.     

Calcineurin sets the bandwidth for discrimination of signals during thymocyte development

At critical times in development, cells are able to convert graded signals into discrete developmental outcomes; however, the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. During thymocyte development, cell fate is determined by signals originating from the alphabeta T-cell receptor. Low-affinity/avidity interactions between the T-cell receptor and peptide-MHC complexes direct differentiation to the single-positive stage (positive selection), whereas high-affinity/avidity interactions induce death by apoptosis (negative selection). Here we show that mice deficient in both calcineurin and nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT)c2/c3 lack a population of preselection thymocytes with enhanced ability to activate the mitogen-activated protein kinase (Raf-MEK-ERK) pathway, and fail to undergo positive selection. This defect can be partially rescued with constitutively active Raf, indicating that calcineurin controls MAPK signalling. Analysis of mice deficient in both Bim (which is required for negative selection) and calcineurin revealed that calcineurin-induced ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase) sensitization is required for differentiation in response to 'weak' positive selecting signals but not in response to 'strong' negative selecting signals (which normally induce apoptosis). These results indicate that early calcineurin/NFAT signalling produces a developmental period of ERK hypersensitivity, allowing very weak signals to induce positive selection. This mechanism might be generally useful in the discrimination of graded signals that induce different cell fates.     

酚类的甲硫基化反应的研究(Ⅰ)—3-甲基-4-甲硫基苯酚的合成

本文报导了间甲酚与二甲二硫醚进行甲硫基化反应的规律。采用“高酚量低温反应”和“有机溶剂萃取后处理工艺”使标题化合物合成收率达85—90%,纯度达95%左右。