Sonic hedgehog function in chondrichthyan fins and the evolution of appendage patterning

The genetic mechanisms regulating tetrapod limb development are well characterized, but how they were assembled during evolution and their function in basal vertebrates is poorly understood. Initial studies report that chondrichthyans, the most primitive extant vertebrates with paired appendages, differ from ray-finned fish and tetrapods in having Sonic hedgehog (Shh)-independent patterning of the appendage skeleton. Here we demonstrate that chondrichthyans share patterns of appendage Shh expression, Shh appendage-specific regulatory DNA, and Shh function with ray-finned fish and tetrapods. These studies demonstrate that some aspects of Shh function are deeply conserved in vertebrate phylogeny, but also highlight how the evolution of Shh regulation may underlie major morphological changes during appendage evolution.     

Tunicates and not cephalochordates are the closest living relatives of vertebrates

Tunicates or urochordates (appendicularians, salps and sea squirts), cephalochordates (lancelets) and vertebrates (including lamprey and hagfish) constitute the three extant groups of chordate animals. Traditionally, cephalochordates are considered as the closest living relatives of vertebrates, with tunicates representing the earliest chordate lineage. This view is mainly justified by overall morphological similarities and an apparently increased complexity in cephalochordates and vertebrates relative to tunicates. Despite their critical importance for understanding the origins of vertebrates, phylogenetic studies of chordate relationships have provided equivocal results. Taking advantage of the genome sequencing of the appendicularian Oikopleura dioica, we assembled a phylogenomic data set of 146 nuclear genes (33,800 unambiguously aligned amino acids) from 14 deuterostomes and 24 other slowly evolving species as an outgroup. Here we show that phylogenetic analyses of this data set provide compelling evidence that tunicates, and not cephalochordates, represent the closest living relatives of vertebrates. Chordate monophyly remains uncertain because cephalochordates, albeit with a non-significant statistical support, surprisingly grouped with echinoderms, a hypothesis that needs to be tested with additional data. This new phylogenetic scheme prompts a reappraisal of both morphological and palaeontological data and has important implications for the interpretation of developmental and genomic studies in which tunicates and cephalochordates are used as model animals.     

The molecular nature of the zebrafish tail organizer

Based on grafting experiments, Mangold and Spemann showed the dorsal blastopore lip of an amphibian gastrula to be able to induce a secondary body axis. The equivalent of this organizer region has been identified in different vertebrates including teleosts. However, whereas the graft can induce ectopic head and trunk, endogenous and ectopic axes fuse in the posterior part of the body, raising the question of whether a distinct organizer region is necessary for tail development. Here we reveal, by isochronic and heterochronic transplantation, the existence of a tail organizer deriving from the ventral margin of the zebrafish embryo, which is independent of the dorsal Spemann organizer. Loss-of-function experiments reveal that bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), Nodal and Wnt8 signalling pathways are required for tail development. Moreover, stimulation of naive cells by a combination of BMP, Nodal and Wnt8 mimics the tail-organizing activity of the ventral margin and induces surrounding tissues to become tail. In contrast to induction of the vertebrate head, known to result from the triple inhibition of BMP, Nodal and Wnt, here we show that induction of the tail results from the triple stimulation of BMP, Nodal and Wnt8 signalling pathways.     

压剪工况下型钢混凝土柱轴力分配规律试验

为研究型钢混凝土柱在压剪工况下各部分轴力分配比例随位移角的发展情况,利用已完成的21个比例为1∶2的型钢混凝土(SRC)柱试件的低周往复加载试验数据,计算得到试件中型钢、混凝土及纵筋承担的轴力随位移角变化的规律.研究表明:随位移角的增大,型钢承担的轴力先减小后增大,在大位移角下型钢承担的轴力可占总轴力的20%~40%.     

Robustness of the BMP morphogen gradient in Drosophila embryonic patterning

Developmental patterning relies on morphogen gradients, which generally involve feedback loops to buffer against perturbations caused by fluctuations in gene dosage and expression. Although many gene components involved in such feedback loops have been identified, how they work together to generate a robust pattern remains unclear. Here we study the network of extracellular proteins that patterns the dorsal region of the Drosophila embryo by establishing a graded activation of the bone morphogenic protein (BMP) pathway. We find that the BMP activation gradient itself is robust to changes in gene dosage. Computational search for networks that support robustness shows that transport of the BMP class ligands (Scw and Dpp) into the dorsal midline by the BMP inhibitor Sog is the key event in this patterning process. The mechanism underlying robustness relies on the ability to store an excess of signalling molecules in a restricted spatial domain where Sog is largely absent. It requires extensive diffusion of the BMP-Sog complexes, coupled with restricted diffusion of the free ligands. We show experimentally that Dpp is widely diffusible in the presence of Sog but tightly localized in its absence, thus validating a central prediction of our theoretical study.     

磁性流化床轴向返混系数测定

对稳态对流磁性流化（MSB）的一般特性进行了实验研究，对连续对流吸附床层的轴向返混系数进行了在线测定。实验表明，磁性流化床对流吸附床层的轴向返混系数比普通对流吸附床层中的返混系数小1－2个数量级。在一定的流速下，轴向返混系数会随着磁场强度的变化而变化。     

Interfacial molecular assembly and surface patterning

Based on a brief review of the traditional surface patterning research, this article introduces the recent progress in the research on surface patterning via molecular self-assembly. Because the size scale of molecular self-assemblies is in the range of 1–100 nm, the method of molecular self-assembly can easily lead to the construction of ordered structures in nanometer scale, and thus break through the size limit of traditional lithography. Some novel ways of molecular self-assembly for surface patterning are particularly introduced in this review, including supramolecular architecture at interface, chemisorption of dendron thoils, and surface aggregation of bolaform amphiphiles. Provided that we know more and more about the basic principles governing the surface morphology, it is believed that interfacial molecular assembly would be a very competitive supramolecular technique, and a potential application in many fields such as surface property adjustment, organic patterned devices, surface molecular recognition, and combinatorial chemistry is greatly anticipated.     

闭式涡轮转盘塔的轴向混合

用脉冲示踪法研究了闭式涡轮转盘塔（ＣＴＲＤＣ）中连续相的轴向扩散系数ＥＣ与转速ＮＲ、一Ｖ等操作条件的关系,经回归分析得到ＥＣ的计算关联式,并且与转盘塔（ＲＤＣ）的研究结果作了比较。实验结果表明：由于闭式涡轮的强烈搅拌作用,ＮＲ大大下降液滴大小（ｄｐ）分布更均匀。与ＲＤＣ相比,ＣＴＲＤＣ中的轴向混和程度大大降低。     

Posterior segmentation of the Drosophila embryo in the absence of a maternal posterior organizer gene

Maternal hunchback activity suppresses the genetic pathway for abdomen formation in the Drosophila embryo. The active component of the posterior group of maternal genes, nanos, acts as a specific repressor of hunchback in the posterior region. Absence of both repressors results in normal embryos, indicating that posterior segmentation may not directly require maternal determinants.     

Developmental basis of limblessness and axial patterning in snakes.

The evolution of snakes involved major changes in vertebrate body plan organization, but the developmental basis of those changes is unknown. The python axial skeleton consists of hundreds of similar vertebrae, forelimbs are absent and hindlimbs are severely reduced. Combined limb loss and trunk elongation is found in many vertebrate taxa, suggesting that these changes may be linked by a common developmental mechanism. Here we show that Hox gene expression domains are expanded along the body axis in python embryos, and that this can account for both the absence of forelimbs and the expansion of thoracic identity in the axial skeleton. Hindlimb buds are initiated, but apical-ridge and polarizing-region signalling pathways that are normally required for limb development are not activated. Leg bud outgrowth and signalling by Sonic hedgehog in pythons can be rescued by application of fibroblast growth factor or by recombination with chick apical ridge. The failure to activate these signalling pathways during normal python development may also stem from changes in Hox gene expression that occurred early in snake evolution.     

非对称楔横轧轴向平衡与轴向窜动机理研究

为轧制出合格的非对称轴类件产品,需要阐明非对称轧制轧件轴向力调整平衡机理和轧件轴向窜动机理.作者建立了非对称楔横轧的有限元模型,分析了非对称轧制与对称轧制两种工艺下轧件所受的轴向力,发现非对称轧制时轴向力能自调整;比较分析跟踪点的轴向位移,得到了非对称轧制弱侧瞬时展宽量增大、强侧瞬时展宽量减小的结论,该结论在实验中得到了验证;将非对称轧制分为稳态轧制和非稳态轧制过程,分析了非稳态轧制轴向力调整平衡的过程和稳态轧制时轧件窜动的原因.     

改革,大潮中的轴心力量

社会的发展必然以经济的发展为先导,如何发展经济,如何面对发展的问题,中国共产党的轴心力量尤为重要。随着时代的发展进步,中国国情的变化,中国共产党的基本路线也发生了变化,转折点为党的十一届三中全会,十一届三中全会是我党历史上一次具有划时代意义的大会。在十一届三中全会上,重新确立了党的政治路线,那就是否定了“无产阶级专政下继续革命”的错误理论,停止使用“以阶级斗争为纲”,做出了把党的工作重心和全国人民的注意力转移到社会主义现代化建设上来。十三大确立了“一个中心,两个基本点”(以经济建设为中心,坚持改革开放,坚持四项基本原则)的基本路     

Role of PHABULOSA and PHAVOLUTA in determining radial patterning in shoots

The upper side of the angiosperm leaf is specialized for efficient capture of sunlight whereas the lower side is specialized for gas exchange. In Arabidopsis, the establishment of polarity in the leaf probably requires the generation and perception of positional information along the radial (adaxial versus abaxial or central versus peripheral) dimension of the plant. This is because the future upper (adaxial) side of the leaf develops from cells closer to the centre of the shoot, whereas the future under (abaxial) side develops from cells located more peripherally. Here we implicate the Arabidopsis PHABULOSA and PHAVOLUTA genes in the perception of radial positional information in the leaf primordium. Dominant phabulosa (phb) and phavoluta (phv) mutations cause a dramatic transformation of abaxial leaf fates into adaxial leaf fates. They do so by altering the predicted sterol/lipid-binding domains of ATHB14 and ATHB9, proteins of previously unknown function that also contain DNA-binding motifs. This change probably renders the protein constitutively active, implicating this domain as a central regulator of protein function and the PHB and PHV proteins as receptors for an adaxializing signal.     

Role for sperm in spatial patterning of the early mouse embryo

Despite an apparent lack of determinants that specify cell fate, spatial patterning of the mouse embryo is evident early in development. The axis of the post-implantation egg cylinder can be traced back to organization of the pre-implantation blastocyst. This in turn reflects the organization of the cleavage-stage embryo and the animal-vegetal axis of the zygote. These findings suggest that the cleavage pattern of normal development may be involved in specifying the future embryonic axis; however, how and when this pattern becomes established is unclear. In many animal eggs, the sperm entry position provides a cue for embryonic patterning, but until now no such role has been found in mammals. Here we show that the sperm entry position predicts the plane of initial cleavage of the mouse egg and can define embryonic and abembryonic halves of the future blastocyst. In addition, the cell inheriting the sperm entry position acquires a division advantage and tends to cleave ahead of its sister. As cell identity reflects the timing of the early cleavages, these events together shape the blastocyst whose organization will become translated into axial patterning after implantation. We present a model for axial development that accommodates these findings with the regulative nature of mouse embryos.     

Activin- and Nodal-related factors control antero-posterior patterning of the zebrafish embryo

Definition of cell fates along the dorso-ventral axis depends on an antagonistic relationship between ventralizing transforming growth factor-beta superfamily members, the bone morphogenetic proteins and factors secreted from the dorsal organizer, such as Noggin and Chordin. The extracellular binding of the last group to the bone morphogenetic proteins prevents them from activating their receptors, and the relative ventralizer:antagonist ratio is thought to specify different dorso-ventral cell fates. Here, by taking advantage of a non-genetic interference method using a specific competitive inhibitor, the Lefty-related gene product Antivin, we provide evidence that cell fate along the antero-posterior axis of the zebrafish embryo is controlled by the morphogenetic activity of another transforming growth factor-beta superfamily subgroup--the Activin and Nodal-related factors. Increasing antivin doses progressively deleted posterior fates within the ectoderm, eventually resulting in the removal of all fates except forebrain and eyes. In contrast, overexpression of activin or nodal-related factors converted ectoderm that was fated to be forebrain into more posterior ectodermal or mesendodermal fates. We propose that modulation of intercellular signalling by Antivin/Activin and Nodal-related factors provides a mechanism for the graded establishment of cell fates along the antero-posterior axis of the zebrafish embryo.     

矿用轴流通风机的性能分析及应用

通风机是矿井生产的关键设备。文章分析了GAF改造型矿井轴流通风机,结构合理,工作性能良好,经过现场试验,运行情况良好,值得推荐和使用,能够实现高效节能,特别是旧矿井更换老风机,安全可靠。     

展会电子商务组展商信号发送博弈模型的分析与构建

在Spence建立的信号发送模型的基础上,对展会电子商务组展商选择信誉信号水平的各种均衡情况进行了分析.研究表明:由于展会电子商务市场特有的缺陷,导致虚假信号的发布行为.根据模型可知:只有当分离均衡条件成立时,参展商才能区分展会电子商务组展商的信誉好坏,保障自身的合法权益.但是分离均衡的产生条件意味着巨大的成本.在这种情况下,需要通过各种不同的手段来降低信誉好的组展商的信号发送成本,进而促进展会电子商务业的蓬勃发展.