The role of Epac in the heart

As one of the most important second messengers, 3′,5′-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) mediates various extracellular signals including hormones and neurotransmitters, and induces appropriate responses in diverse types of cells. Since cAMP was formerly believed to transmit signals through only two direct target molecules, protein kinase A and the cyclic nucleotide-gated channel, the sensational discovery in 1998 of another novel direct effecter of cAMP [exchange proteins directly activated by cAMP (Epac)] attracted a great deal of scientific interest in cAMP signaling. Numerous studies on Epac have since disclosed its important functions in various tissues in the body. Recently, observations of genetically manipulated mice in various pathogenic models have begun to reveal the in vivo significance of previous in vitro or cellular-level findings. Here, we focused on the function of Epac in the heart. Accumulating evidence has revealed that both Epac1 and Epac2 play important roles in the structure and function of the heart under physiological and pathological conditions. Accordingly, developing the ability to regulate cAMP-mediated signaling through Epac may lead to remarkable new therapies for the treatment of cardiac diseases.     

ITPKC functional polymorphism associated with Kawasaki disease susceptibility and formation of coronary artery aneurysms

Kawasaki disease is a pediatric systemic vasculitis of unknown etiology for which a genetic influence is suspected. We identified a functional SNP (itpkc_3) in the inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate 3-kinase C (ITPKC) gene on chromosome 19q13.2 that is significantly associated with Kawasaki disease susceptibility and also with an increased risk of coronary artery lesions in both Japanese and US children. Transfection experiments showed that the C allele of itpkc_3 reduces splicing efficiency of the ITPKC mRNA. ITPKC acts as a negative regulator of T-cell activation through the Ca2+/NFAT signaling pathway, and the C allele may contribute to immune hyper-reactivity in Kawasaki disease. This finding provides new insights into the mechanisms of immune activation in Kawasaki disease and emphasizes the importance of activated T cells in the pathogenesis of this vasculitis.     

Water isotope variations in the snow pack and summer precipitation at July 1 Glacier, Qilian Mountains in northwest China

This paper presents the stable isotope data of the snow pack and summer precipitation collected at the July 1 Glacier, Qilian Mountains in northwest China and analyses their relationships with meteorologi- cal factors. On an event scale, there is no temperature effect on the δ 18O values in the summer pre- cipitation, whereas the amount effect is shown to be clear. By tracing the moisture transport history and comparing the precipitation with its isotopic composition, it is shown that this amount effect not only reflects the change in moisture trajectory, which is related to the monsoon activities, but is also associated with the cooling degree of vapor in the cloud, the evaporation of falling raindrops and the isotopic exchange between the falling drops and the atmospheric vapor. As very little precipitation occurs in winter, the snow pack profile mainly represents the precipitation in the other three seasons. There are low precipitation δ 18O ratios in summer and high ratios in spring and autumn. The Meteoric Water Line (MLW) for the summer precipitation is δ D = 7.6 δ 18O 13.3, which is similar to that at Delingha, located in the south rim of the Qilian Mountains. The MWL for the snow pack is δ D = 10.4 δ 18O 41.4, showing a large slope and intercept. The deuterium excess (d) of the snow pack is positively correlated with δ 18O, indicating that both d and δ 18O decrease from spring to summer and increase from early autumn to early spring. This then results in the high slope and intercept of the MWL. Sea- sonal fluctuations of d in the snow pack indicate the change of moisture source and trajectory. During spring and autumn, the moisture originates from continental recycling or rapid evaporation over rela- tively warm water bodies like Black, Caspian and Aral Seas when the dry westerly air masses pass over them, hence very high d values in precipitation are formed. During summer, the monsoon is responsi- ble for the low d values. This indicates that the monsoon can reach the western part of the Qilian Mountains.     

High-Q photonic nanocavity in a two-dimensional photonic crystal

Photonic cavities that strongly confine light are finding applications in many areas of physics and engineering, including coherent electron-photon interactions, ultra-small filters, low-threshold lasers, photonic chips, nonlinear optics and quantum information processing. Critical for these applications is the realization of a cavity with both high quality factor, Q, and small modal volume, V. The ratio Q/V determines the strength of the various cavity interactions, and an ultra-small cavity enables large-scale integration and single-mode operation for a broad range of wavelengths. However, a high-Q cavity of optical wavelength size is difficult to fabricate, as radiation loss increases in inverse proportion to cavity size. With the exception of a few recent theoretical studies, definitive theories and experiments for creating high-Q nanocavities have not been extensively investigated. Here we use a silicon-based two-dimensional photonic-crystal slab to fabricate a nanocavity with Q = 45,000 and V = 7.0 x 10(-14) cm3; the value of Q/V is 10-100 times larger than in previous studies. Underlying this development is the realization that light should be confined gently in order to be confined strongly. Integration with other photonic elements is straightforward, and a large free spectral range of 100 nm has been demonstrated.     

超临界二甲醚喷雾特性的试验研究

为研究超临界二甲醚的喷雾特性,在定容容器内模拟涡轮增压发动机气缸内的实际环境,使用高速摄像机对超临界二甲醚喷雾的外形轮廓及发展过程进行观察,并将其与跨临界二甲醚喷雾进行对比。结果表明,二甲醚喷雾在发展过程中发生了明显的卷状分裂,并且观察不到二次分裂现象;超临界二甲醚喷雾的外形轮廓及贯穿距离与跨临界喷雾并未有明显差别,但由于超临界二甲醚在涡轮增压环境中的扩散速率更快,因此其喷雾锥角更大,喷雾核心区的长度更短;两种喷射状态下的二甲醚在喷入定容容器后,其喷雾尖端的推进速率都会先急剧增大,然后在达到峰值后又急剧减小,最后在低速段保持相对稳定。     

Cloning and analysis of [NiFe]-hydrogenase genes from Arthrospira platensis FACHB341

0IntroductionHydrogenase(H2ase)has beeninvestigatedin a va-riety of bacterial groups since it was firstly reported in1931[1-3].Cyanobacteria contain two different types ofH2ase,uptake H2ase(EC1.12.7.2)and bidirectional orreversible H2ase(EC1.12.1.12).Uptake H2ase is in-duced under N2-fixing situation,mainly confinedin hete-rocysts.Bidirectional H2ase is constitutively synthesized,active in both heterocysts and vegetative cells present inboth N2-fixing and non-N2-fixing conditions.This en…     

陈国达矿(Ag9FeTe2S4): 胶东地区金矿床中发现的硫碲化物新矿物

陈国达矿(Ag9FeTe₂S₄), 产于中国胶东金矿区埠南金矿的含金-银的黄铜矿-石英脉中, 呈5~70 μm的半自形-他形粒状与方铅矿、黄铜矿、碲银矿、银金矿、自然银、未定名的Ag₆TeS₂, Ag₁₆FeBiTe₃S₈共生, 并被自然银和螺状硫银矿包围交代. 其平均化学成分(16个EPMA分析值)为Ag_8.97Fe_1.00Te_1.99S_4.04, 理想化学式Ag₉FeTe₂S₄. 利用甘多菲照相及同步辐射迴摆照相技术, 获得陈国达矿的67个衍射线, 主要衍射强线的d值和相对强度(括号中)为: 6.742(69), 6.416(39), 5.951(33), 3.265(100), 2.981(24), 2.649(22), 2.25(24), 2.188(71), 2.142(22), 2.123(31), 2.044(23), 1.949(33). 该衍射数据指标化为斜方晶系, a = 12.769 (2) Å, b = 14.814(2) Å, c = 16.233 (1) Å, V = 3070.6 ų, Z = 9, d_cal = 6.85 g/cm³. 反光显微镜下, 陈国达矿的光学性质与硫银锡矿接近, 浅灰色, 无明显非均质性, 摩氏硬度2~3, 颜色指数: x = 0.3027, y = 0.3076, Y = 25.78%, λ_d = 474 nm, Pe = 3.68%. 该矿物以中国地质学家、地洼学说的创立人陈国达教授的姓名命名. 该矿物及命名经IMA-CNMMN于2004年投票通过. 2005年作者补充数据后, 由CNMMN主席正式公布, 批准号2004-042a.     

A genome-wide association study identifies three new risk loci for Kawasaki disease

We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of Kawasaki disease in Japanese subjects using data from 428 individuals with Kawasaki disease (cases) and 3,379 controls genotyped at 473,803 SNPs. We validated the association results in two independent replication panels totaling 754 cases and 947 controls. We observed significant associations in the FAM167A-BLK region at 8p22-23 (rs2254546, P = 8.2 × 10(-21)), in the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region at 6p21.3 (rs2857151, P = 4.6 × 10(-11)) and in the CD40 region at 20q13 (rs4813003, P = 4.8 × 10(-8)). We also replicated the association of a functional SNP of FCGR2A (rs1801274, P = 1.6 × 10(-6)) identified in a recently reported GWAS of Kawasaki disease. Our findings provide new insights into the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of Kawasaki disease.     

Space‐Time Model versus VAR Model: Forecasting Electricity demand in Japan

This paper examined the forecasting performance of disaggregated data with spatial dependency and applied it to forecasting electricity demand in Japan. We compared the performance of the spatial autoregressive ARMA (SAR‐ARMA) model with that of the vector autoregressive (VAR) model from a Bayesian perspective. With regard to the log marginal likelihood and log predictive density, the VAR(1) model performed better than the SAR‐ARMA( 1,1) model. In the case of electricity demand in Japan, we can conclude that the VAR model with contemporaneous aggregation had better forecasting performance than the SAR‐ARMA model. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.