Molecular basis of parathyroid hormone receptor signaling and trafficking: a family B GPCR paradigm

The parathyroid hormone (PTH) receptor type 1 (PTHR), a G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR), transmits signals to two hormone systems—PTH, endocrine and homeostatic, and PTH-related peptide (PTHrP), paracrine—to regulate different biological processes. PTHR responds to these hormonal stimuli by activating heterotrimeric G proteins, such as G_S that stimulates cAMP production. It was thought that the PTHR, as for all other GPCRs, is only active and signals through G proteins on the cell membrane, and internalizes into a cell to be desensitized and eventually degraded or recycled. Recent studies with cultured cell and animal models reveal a new pathway that involves sustained cAMP signaling from intracellular domains. Not only do these studies challenge the paradigm that cAMP production triggered by activated GPCRs originates exclusively at the cell membrane but they also advance a comprehensive model to account for the functional differences between PTH and PTHrP acting through the same receptor.     

An improved 3-D ray tracing method using linear traveltime interpolation

An approach of three-dimensional seismic ray tracing is presented, which is derived from adopting two-dimensional linear traveltime interpolation (LTI). By adjusting the forward process using the partition of grid interface, and backward step by considering more directions, the new approach is suitable for the application of three-dimensional models. The calculation results show that, with the same accuracy, the improved 3-D method is much faster than the method of traditional LTI directly applied in the three-dimensional case.     

Language clusters based on linguistic complex networks

To investigate the feasibility of using complex networks in the study of linguistic typology, this paper builds and explores 15 lin-guistic complex networks based on the dependency syntactic treebanks of 15 languages. The results show that it is possible to classify human languages by means of the following main parameters of complex networks: (a) average degree of the node, (b) cluster coefficients, (c) average path length, (d) network centralization, (e) diameter, (f) power exponent of degree distribution, and (g) the determination coefficient of power law distributions. The precision of this method is similar to the results achieved by means of modern word order typology. This paper tries to solve two problems of current linguistic typology. First, the language sample of a typological study is not real text; second, typological studies pay too much attention to local language structures in the course of choosing typological parameters. This study performs better in global typological features of language and not only enhances typological methods, but it is also valuable for developing the applications of complex networks in the humanities, social, and life sciences.     

Prediction of sites under adaptive evolution in flavin-containing monooxygenases: Selection pattern revisited

Flavin-containing monooxygenase (FMO), like cytochrome P450 (CYP), is a monooxygenase that uses the reducing equivalents of NADPH to reduce one atom of molecular oxygen to water, while the other atom is used to oxidize the substrate. Recently, it was shown that some CYP isoforms have been subject to positive selection. However, it is unknown whether the highly conserved phase I detoxification enzyme, FMO, has undergone similar positive Darwinian selection. We used maximum-likelihood models of codon substitution, evolutionary fingerprinting, and cross species comparison to investigate the occurrence of adaptive evolution in FMO sequences. We used recent genomic data from a range of species, including vertebrates and invertebrates. We present the evidence for the occurrence of adaptive evolution in mammalian FMO 3, 4, 5, and fugu FMOs but not in mammalian FMO 1, FMO 2, frog FMOs, other fish FMOs and invertebrate FMOs. The sites under adaptive evolution were significantly associated with the insertion domain in mammalian FMO 5. We identified specific amino acid sites in FMOs 3–5 that are likely targets for selection based on the patterns of parallel amino acid change. The most likely role of adaptive evolution is the repair of mutations that permitted optimal NADP+ binding and improved catalytic efficiency. The occurrence of positive selection during the evolution of phase I detoxification enzymes such as FMOs 3–5 and fugu FMO suggests the occurrence of both high selection pressure acting on species within their unique habitats and significant changes in intensity and direction (forms of xenobiotics and drugs) resulting from changes in microhabitat and food.     

Plasmonic biosensors and nanoprobes based on gold nanoshells

Gold nanoshells (GNSs), consisting of a dielectric core coated with gold, have gained extensive attention as they show readily tunable optical properties and good biocompatibility. As highly sensitive and label-free optical biosensors with wide applications, GNSs have been investigated in many fields including drug delivery, immunoassay, cancer treatment, biological sensing and imaging. Taking advantage of the adjustability of the local surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and the sensitivity of the surfaceenhanced Raman scattering (SERS) signal of GNSs, we have developed diverse applications including plasmonic biosensors and nanoprobes based on GNSs. In this review we introduce plasmonic and electromagnetic properties and fabrication methods of GNSs. We describe research progress in recent years, and highlight several applications of GNSs developed by our group. Finally we provide a brief assessment of future development of GNSs as plasmonic materials that can be integrated with complementary analytical techniques.     

Comprehensive optimal control on seismic response of a single-tower self-anchored suspension bridge

Earthquake may cause severe damage to all kinds of bridge such as the falling down of the girder; therefore,effective measures should be employed to control the seismic displacement. In this paper,the method of comprehensive optimal control,com-bined with analytic hierarchy process,is employed to investigate the seismic response control of the Nanjing Jiangxinzhou Bridge,which is a single-tower self-anchored suspension bridge (SSSB). Also,3-dimensional nonlinear seismic response analyses are con-ducted. Three types of practical connection measures for seismic response control of SSSB are investigated,and the optimal pa-rameters of the connection devices are achieved by this method. Results show that both the elastic connection devices and the damp-ers with rational parameters can reduce the seismic displacement of the bridge effectively,but the elastic connection devices will in-crease the seismic force of the tower. When all factors are consid-ered,the optimal measure is by using the elastic connection devices and the dampers together. These results can provide references for seismic response control of SSSBs.     

Hexagonal metric for linear codes over a finite field

This paper consider Hexagonal-metric codes over certain class of finite fields. The Hexagonal metric as defined by Huber is a non-trivial metric over certain classes of finite fields. Hexagonal-metric codes are applied in coded modulation scheme based on hexagonal-like signal constellations. Since the development of tight bounds for error correcting codes using new distance is a research problem, the purpose of this note is to generalize the Plotkin bound for linear codes over finite fields equipped with the Hexagonal metric. By means of a two-step method, the author presents a geometric method to construct finite signal constellations from quotient lattices associated to the rings of Eisenstein-Jacobi (EJ) integers and their prime ideals and thus naturally label the constellation points by elements of a finite field. The Plotkin bound is derived from simple computing on the geometric figure of a finite field.     

唐长安城永安渠与西市

隋唐长安城的永安渠与西市存在密切联系。一方面,永安渠对西市起到供水、美化环境、防洪排涝、抗旱、防火等作用;另一方面,永安渠在隋唐长安城西市中的多功能作用,越发突显出永安渠的重要性。西市因永安渠更加繁荣,永安渠的地位也因西市更加重要。     

Optimal dividend strategies in a double compound poisson risk process

In this paper, we consider a double compound Poisson risk model involving two independent classes ofinsurance risks with a threshold dividend strategy. We derived the integro-differential equations (IDE) with certain boundary conditions for the present value of dividends until ruin. When the claims from both classes are exponentially distributed, we show that the threshold dividend strategy is an optimal dividend strategy.     

新生军训管理系统设计

军事训练是大学生入学的第一堂课,也是大学管理的重要组成部分。但目前新生的军训管理工作繁重,效率低下,越来越不能适应军训的需要。为此本文根据面向对象方法和UM L工具,设计出一套新生军训管理系统,一定程度上解决了军训管理工作中存在的问题。