Copy number variation and selection during reprogramming to pluripotency

The mechanisms underlying the low efficiency of reprogramming somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are poorly understood. There is a clear need to study whether the reprogramming process itself compromises genomic integrity and, through this, the efficiency of iPS cell establishment. Using a high-resolution single nucleotide polymorphism array, we compared copy number variations (CNVs) of different passages of human iPS cells with their fibroblast cell origins and with human embryonic stem (ES) cells. Here we show that significantly more CNVs are present in early-passage human iPS cells than intermediate passage human iPS cells, fibroblasts or human ES cells. Most CNVs are formed de novo and generate genetic mosaicism in early-passage human iPS cells. Most of these novel CNVs rendered the affected cells at a selective disadvantage. Remarkably, expansion of human iPS cells in culture selects rapidly against mutated cells, driving the lines towards a genetic state resembling human ES cells.     

A closely packed system of low-mass, low-density planets transiting Kepler-11

When an extrasolar planet passes in front of (transits) its star, its radius can be measured from the decrease in starlight and its orbital period from the time between transits. Multiple planets transiting the same star reveal much more: period ratios determine stability and dynamics, mutual gravitational interactions reflect planet masses and orbital shapes, and the fraction of transiting planets observed as multiples has implications for the planarity of planetary systems. But few stars have more than one known transiting planet, and none has more than three. Here we report Kepler spacecraft observations of a single Sun-like star, which we call Kepler-11, that reveal six transiting planets, five with orbital periods between 10 and 47?days and a sixth planet with a longer period. The five inner planets are among the smallest for which mass and size have both been measured, and these measurements imply substantial envelopes of light gases. The degree of coplanarity and proximity of the planetary orbits imply energy dissipation near the end of planet formation.     

Human metabolic individuality in biomedical and pharmaceutical research

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified many risk loci for complex diseases, but effect sizes are typically small and information on the underlying biological processes is often lacking. Associations with metabolic traits as functional intermediates can overcome these problems and potentially inform individualized therapy. Here we report a comprehensive analysis of genotype-dependent metabolic phenotypes using a GWAS with non-targeted metabolomics. We identified 37 genetic loci associated with blood metabolite concentrations, of which 25 show effect sizes that are unusually high for GWAS and account for 10-60% differences in metabolite levels per allele copy. Our associations provide new functional insights for many disease-related associations that have been reported in previous studies, including those for cardiovascular and kidney disorders, type 2 diabetes, cancer, gout, venous thromboembolism and Crohn's disease. The study advances our knowledge of the genetic basis of metabolic individuality in humans and generates many new hypotheses for biomedical and pharmaceutical research.     

Extended megadroughts in the southwestern United States during Pleistocene interglacials

The potential for increased drought frequency and severity linked to anthropogenic climate change in the semi-arid regions of the southwestern United States (US) is a serious concern. Multi-year droughts during the instrumental period and decadal-length droughts of the past two millennia were shorter and climatically different from the future permanent, 'dust-bowl-like' megadrought conditions, lasting decades to a century, that are predicted as a consequence of warming. So far, it has been unclear whether or not such megadroughts occurred in the southwestern US, and, if so, with what regularity and intensity. Here we show that periods of aridity lasting centuries to millennia occurred in the southwestern US during mid-Pleistocene interglacials. Using molecular palaeotemperature proxies to reconstruct the mean annual temperature (MAT) in mid-Pleistocene lacustrine sediment from the Valles Caldera, New Mexico, we found that the driest conditions occurred during the warmest phases of interglacials, when the MAT was comparable to or higher than the modern MAT. A collapse of drought-tolerant C(4) plant communities during these warm, dry intervals indicates a significant reduction in summer precipitation, possibly in response to a poleward migration of the subtropical dry zone. Three MAT cycles ～2?°C in amplitude occurred within Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 and seem to correspond to the muted precessional cycles within this interglacial. In comparison with MIS 11, MIS 13 experienced higher precessional-cycle amplitudes, larger variations in MAT (4-6?°C) and a longer period of extended warmth, suggesting that local insolation variations were important to interglacial climatic variability in the southwestern US. Comparison of the early MIS 11 climate record with the Holocene record shows many similarities and implies that, in the absence of anthropogenic forcing, the region should be entering a cooler and wetter phase.     

Interaction-based quantum metrology showing scaling beyond the Heisenberg limit

Quantum metrology aims to use entanglement and other quantum resources to improve precision measurement. An interferometer using N independent particles to measure a parameter χ can achieve at best the standard quantum limit of sensitivity, δχ?∝?N(-1/2). However, using N entangled particles and exotic states, such an interferometer can in principle achieve the Heisenberg limit, δχ?∝?N(-1). Recent theoretical work has argued that interactions among particles may be a valuable resource for quantum metrology, allowing scaling beyond the Heisenberg limit. Specifically, a k-particle interaction will produce sensitivity δχ?∝?N(-k) with appropriate entangled states and δχ?∝?N(-(k-1/2)) even without entanglement. Here we demonstrate 'super-Heisenberg' scaling of δχ?∝?N(-3/2) in a nonlinear, non-destructive measurement of the magnetization of an atomic ensemble. We use fast optical nonlinearities to generate a pairwise photon-photon interaction (corresponding to k = 2) while preserving quantum-noise-limited performance. We observe super-Heisenberg scaling over two orders of magnitude in N, limited at large numbers by higher-order nonlinear effects, in good agreement with theory. For a measurement of limited duration, super-Heisenberg scaling allows the nonlinear measurement to overtake in sensitivity a comparable linear measurement with the same number of photons. In other situations, however, higher-order nonlinearities prevent this crossover from occurring, reflecting the subtle relationship between scaling and sensitivity in nonlinear systems. Our work shows that interparticle interactions can improve sensitivity in a quantum-limited measurement, and experimentally demonstrates a new resource for quantum metrology.     

印度块菌粗多糖的提取及抗氧化活性研究

采用正交试验研究了热水浸提法提取印度块菌(Tuberindicum Cooke&Massee)子实体粗多糖(TICP)的最优工艺,根据方差分析结果确定了热水浸提法的最优工艺为:料液比1∶15,提取时间120 min,提取温度100℃,提取2次,多糖提取率为6.790 2%.用95%乙醇对粗多糖进行醇沉,然后利用总抗氧化能力(T-AOC)测定法、羟基自由基(OH.)清除法、铁离子螯合能力及测定还原能力等方法对上述印度块菌粗多糖的抗氧化活性进行评价,结果显示块菌粗多糖对羟基自由基的清除活性最高,其EC50值为0.26 mg/mL,其次为还原能力和铁离子螯合能力,其EC50值分别为1.15 mg/mL、2.80 mg/mL,同时块菌粗多糖具有较好的总抗氧化能力(T-AOC),当浓度为20 mg/mL时,其总抗氧化能力为72.06 U/mL.     

基于遥感和GIS方法的千岛湖库区集合植物群落宏观格局初步分析

以杭州市淳安县千岛湖库区的典型集合植物群落为研究对象,运用遥感和GIS方法对其宏观格局特征进行初步分析,探讨了不同面积岛屿的归一化植被指数及其不同等级岛屿斑块的景观格局.结果表明:岛屿大小与岛屿的归一化植被指数呈现明显的正相关关系.各类岛屿内部不同NDVI等级斑块的景观格局对其NDVI整体大小有一定影响.整个景观的破碎...