Hormonal induction of steroid sulphatase in the mouse

Summary By comparing steroid sulphatase levels per se, and also ratios to -galactosidase, in 6 sets of mice — normal females, entire and castrated males both with and without exogenous testosterone administration — we obtained support for the contention that induction of this enzyme is in part controlled by male hormones.     

Examination of naturally occurring polyacetylenes and α-terthienyl for their ability to induce cytogenetic damage

Summary -Terthienyl and 5 polyacetylenes were examined for chromosome damaging activity using Syrian hamster cells. None of these naturally occurring compounds induced sister chromatid exchanges and neither -terthienyl nor phenylheptatriyne induced chromosome aberrations.The authors wish to thank the National Science and Engineering Research Council for financial support of this research.     

Chu Shih-chieh's Suan-hsüeh ch'i-meng (introduction to mathematical studies)

Conclusion The multi-faceted content of the SHCM and its collection of rules and tables made it an important mathematical work not only in China, but also in Korea and Japan. This book clearly demonstrated Chu's predominant interest in the field of algebra and his contribution to the solution of numerical equations of higher degree, which was a prelude to his famous treatise the Ssu-yüan yü-chien.     

用子波变换分析方法实时监测视觉诱发电位的潜伏期

诱发电位的实时监测在临床中有重要意义。本文提出利用多分辨率子波分析技术来实时监测视觉诱发电位的潜伏期。为克服随机噪声的影响，我们引入相邻响应的相关系数来修正所检测得的潜伏期的偏移，并应用前一次响应的波峰位置来决定当前的搜寻范围。实验表明，本方法能实时监测视觉诱发电位的潜伏期。     

Sensitivity to antitubulin chemotherapeutics is regulated by MCL1 and FBW7

Microtubules have pivotal roles in fundamental cellular processes and are targets of antitubulin chemotherapeutics. Microtubule-targeted agents such as Taxol and vincristine are prescribed widely for various malignancies, including ovarian and breast adenocarcinomas, non-small-cell lung cancer, leukaemias and lymphomas. These agents arrest cells in mitosis and subsequently induce cell death through poorly defined mechanisms. The strategies that resistant tumour cells use to evade death induced by antitubulin agents are also unclear. Here we show that the pro-survival protein MCL1 (ref. 3) is a crucial regulator of apoptosis triggered by antitubulin chemotherapeutics. During mitotic arrest, MCL1 protein levels decline markedly, through a post-translational mechanism, potentiating cell death. Phosphorylation of MCL1 directs its interaction with the tumour-suppressor protein FBW7, which is the substrate-binding component of a ubiquitin ligase complex. The polyubiquitylation of MCL1 then targets it for proteasomal degradation. The degradation of MCL1 was blocked in patient-derived tumour cells that lacked FBW7 or had loss-of-function mutations in FBW7, conferring resistance to antitubulin agents and promoting chemotherapeutic-induced polyploidy. Additionally, primary tumour samples were enriched for FBW7 inactivation and elevated MCL1 levels, underscoring the prominent roles of these proteins in oncogenesis. Our findings suggest that profiling the FBW7 and MCL1 status of tumours, in terms of protein levels, messenger RNA levels and genetic status, could be useful to predict the response of patients to antitubulin chemotherapeutics.     

“第六代”：后现代文化的符码“仿真”——张元、管虎创作比较研究

张元出生于1963年,1985年进入北京电影学院摄影系学习。他在1990年代初期拍摄完成的《妈妈》被认为是当代国内第一部“独立电影”。张元称得上是中国新生代导演群体中少有的“高产者”。在“浮出地表”之前,电影《北京杂种》《儿子》和《东宫.西宫》为他赢得了众多的国际声誉;而在1998年取得国际广播电影电视总局的“解禁令”之后,他又相继执导了影片《过年回家》《疯狂英语》《我爱你》《绿茶》《江姐》和《看上去很美》,也因此成为较早涉足国内电影商业化运作的一位新生代导演。作为新生代导演群体中的一类代表,张元的典型意义不仅在于他往返游走于“先锋”与“主旋律”之间的那份从容,而且“张元现象”也成为考量中国新生代导演十余年间辗转于电影美学与市场运作之间独特体验的生动样本。别有深意的是,这些细节都在某种特定的“全球化语境”中得到了更进一步的放大和渲染。本期邀约的四篇论文中,孙绍谊博士与李迅研究员提供的导演访谈尽可能地保留了许多现场交流的细节,使我们得以直接了解张元本人对于国内电影市场不无真诚又略显偏激的态度。这不仅是对读者反应式批评的有益补充,而且也正是本栏目所期冀的多元文体与多元研究路向的一次探索实践。刘福泉教授的《张元:在寻找中站立》秉承了传统美学批评的理路,以反叛、寻找、皈依为关键词,梳理张元从“小众”到“大众”乃至“主旋律”创作的心路历程。Adam Lam博士的《“第六代”:后现代文化的符码“仿真”》则通过对张元与另一位新生代导演管虎作品的比较研究,试图说明在“国际化”的巨型“能指”背后隐藏的权力运作机制。关于此问题,钱春莲、邱宝林二位博士合作完成的论文《论新生代电影导演的跨文化传播策略》提供出另外一种思路。论文从传播学的角度入手,探讨在经济全球化和文化全球化的双重维度上,新生代导演如何在直面市场的经济策略与以民族认同为基点的文化策略之间寻求微妙的平衡,并且将两岸三地青年导演的区域性合作纳入新生代电影的产业实践。这无疑开辟出一个新的研究路向,同时也呈现出一种新的合作发展的现实可能性。     

HAb18G/CD147-mediated calcium mobilization and hepatoma metastasis require both C-terminal and N-terminal domains

HAb18G/CD147 is a heavily glycosylated protein containing two immunoglobulin superfamily domains. Our previous studies have indicated that overexpression of HAb18G/CD147 enhances metastatic potentials in human hepatoma cells by disrupting the regulation of store-operated Ca²⁺ entry by nitric oxide (NO)/cGMP. In the present study, we investigated the structure-function of HAb18G/CD147 by transfecting truncated HAb18G/CD147 fragments into human 7721 hepatoma cells. The inhibitory effect of HAb18G/CD147 on 8-bromo-cGMP-regulated thapsigargin-induced Ca²⁺ entry was reversed by the expression of either C or N terminus truncated HAb18G/CD147 in T7721C and T7721N cells, respectively. The potential effect of HAb18G/CD147 on metastatic potentials, both adhesion and invasion capacities, of hepatoma cells was abolished in T7721C cells, but not affected in T7721N cells. Release and activation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), MMP-2 and MMP-9, were found to be enhanced by the expression of HAb18G/CD147, and this effect was abolished by both truncations. Thapsigargin significantly enhanced release and activation of MMPs (MMP-2 and MMP-9) in non-transfected 7721 cells, and this effect was negatively regulated by SNAP. However, no effects of thapsigargin or SNAP were observed in T7721 cells, and expression of HAb18G/CD147 enhanced secretion and activation of MMPs at a stable and high level. Taken together, these results suggest that both ectodomain and intracellular domains of HAb18G/CD147 are required to mediate the effect of HAb18G/CD147 on the secretion and activation of MMPs and metastasis-related processes in human hepatoma cells by disrupting the regulation of NO/cGMP-sensitive intracellular Ca²⁺ mobilization although each domain may play different roles.Received 1 April 2004; received after revision 15 June 2004; accepted 22 June 2004     

Selective Smoothed Finite Element Method

The paper examines three selective schemes for the smoothed finite element method (SFEM) which was formulated by incorporating a cell-wise strain smoothing operation into the standard compatible finite element method (FEM). These selective SFEM schemes were formulated based on three selective integration FEM schemes with similar properties found between the number of smoothing cells in the SFEM and the number of Gaussian integration points in the FEM. Both scheme 1 and scheme 2 are free of nearly incompressible locking, but scheme 2 is more general and gives better results than scheme 1. In addition, scheme 2 can be applied to anisotropic and nonlinear situations, while scheme 1 can only be applied to isotropic and linear situations. Scheme 3 is free of shear locking. This scheme can be applied to plate and shell problems. Results of the numerical study show that the selective SFEM schemes give more accurate results than the FEM schemes.     

Upper intestinal lipids regulate energy and glucose homeostasis

Upon the entry of nutrients into the small intestine, nutrient sensing mechanisms are activated to allow the body to adapt appropriately to the incoming nutrients. To date, mounting evidence points to the existence of an upper intestinal lipid-induced gut–brain neuronal axis to regulate energy homeostasis. Moreover, a recent discovery has also revealed an upper intestinal lipid-induced gut–brain–liver neuronal axis involved in the regulation of glucose homeostasis. In this mini-review, we will focus on the mechanisms underlying the activation of these respective neuronal axes by upper intestinal lipids.