中德食品安全监督体系对比——以德国EHEC事件和中国三聚氰胺事件为例

本文基于网络和新闻媒体的报道和相关评论,对中国三聚氰胺事件和德国EHEC事件中食品安全监督体系中各方在事件中的职责和实际作用进行了对比研究,进而在联系中国国情的前提下,探讨了如何加强中国食品安全监督体系的可行方式。     

关于太平洋安全的中欧对话：展望太平洋：看得到合作的希望吗？

太平洋地区正呈现出紧张局势，这不仅体现在关键的中美关系上，而且也体现在中国与其东部和南中国海周边国家的关系上。正如白宫、美国外交部和五角大楼在2012年初正式宣布且具体实施的那样，美国注意力、行动和军力分配向太平洋地区的“再平衡”战略转移，及此战略背后的真实意图，都引起北京方面的关注。中国担心，美国从大西洋到太平洋的整体“战略转移”，     

弄创新潮头 领行业先驱——广东省长大公路工程有限公司科技创新巡礼

广东省长大公路工程有限公司成立于1952年,是广东省创建最早的公路施工专业队伍,主营业务从公路、桥梁、隧道施工,扩展到公路项目投资和运营管理、工程项目BT与BOT投资建设、设计施工总承包等建设模式、高速公路养护、旧桥加固维修等。公司总资产超过50亿元,是具备国家公路施工总承包特级资质、公路路基工程专业承包壹级资质、路面...     

地籍数据库建设——日常应用和研究

随着地籍工作的不断深入,业务的不断扩展,如何采集、利用、优化地籍数据将会是地籍信息化的重点。本文主要是介绍关系型数据库,地籍数据的新特点,日常数据库维护和数据的挖掘。     

Bypassing genomic imprinting allows seed development

In developing progeny of mammals the two parental genomes are differentially expressed according to imprinting marks, and embryos with only a uniparental genetic contribution die. Gene expression that is dependent on the parent of origin has also been observed in the offspring of flowering plants, and mutations in the imprinting machinery lead to embryonic lethality, primarily affecting the development of the endosperm-a structure in the seed that nourishes the embryo, analogous to the function of the mammalian placenta. Here we have generated Arabidopsis thaliana seeds in which the endosperm is of uniparental, that is, maternal, origin. We demonstrate that imprinting in developing seeds can be bypassed and viable albeit smaller seedlings can develop from seeds lacking a paternal contribution to the endosperm. Bypassing is only possible if the mother is mutant for any of the FIS-class genes, which encode Polycomb group chromatin-modifying factors. Thus, these data provide functional evidence that the action of the FIS complex balances the contribution of the paternal genome. As flowering plants have evolved a special reproduction system with a parallel fusion of two female with two male gametes, our findings support the hypothesis that only with the evolution of double fertilization did the action of the FIS genes become a requirement for seed development. Furthermore, our data argue for a gametophytic origin of endosperm in flowering plants, thereby supporting a hypothesis raised in 1900 by Eduard Strasburger.     

Chiral magnetic order at surfaces driven by inversion asymmetry

Chirality is a fascinating phenomenon that can manifest itself in subtle ways, for example in biochemistry (in the observed single-handedness of biomolecules) and in particle physics (in the charge-parity violation of electroweak interactions). In condensed matter, magnetic materials can also display single-handed, or homochiral, spin structures. This may be caused by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction, which arises from spin-orbit scattering of electrons in an inversion-asymmetric crystal field. This effect is typically irrelevant in bulk metals as their crystals are inversion symmetric. However, low-dimensional systems lack structural inversion symmetry, so that homochiral spin structures may occur. Here we report the observation of magnetic order of a specific chirality in a single atomic layer of manganese on a tungsten (110) substrate. Spin-polarized scanning tunnelling microscopy reveals that adjacent spins are not perfectly antiferromagnetic but slightly canted, resulting in a spin spiral structure with a period of about 12 nm. We show by quantitative theory that this chiral order is caused by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction and leads to a left-rotating spin cycloid. Our findings confirm the significance of this interaction for magnets in reduced dimensions. Chirality in nanoscale magnets may play a crucial role in spintronic devices, where the spin rather than the charge of an electron is used for data transmission and manipulation. For instance, a spin-polarized current flowing through chiral magnetic structures will exert a spin-torque on the magnetic structure, causing a variety of excitations or manipulations of the magnetization and giving rise to microwave emission, magnetization switching, or magnetic motors.     

Human CtIP promotes DNA end resection

In the S and G2 phases of the cell cycle, DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are processed into single-stranded DNA, triggering ATR-dependent checkpoint signalling and DSB repair by homologous recombination. Previous work has implicated the MRE11 complex in such DSB-processing events. Here, we show that the human CtIP (RBBP8) protein confers resistance to DSB-inducing agents and is recruited to DSBs exclusively in the S and G2 cell-cycle phases. Moreover, we reveal that CtIP is required for DSB resection, and thereby for recruitment of replication protein A (RPA) and the protein kinase ATR to DSBs, and for the ensuing ATR activation. Furthermore, we establish that CtIP physically and functionally interacts with the MRE11 complex, and that both CtIP and MRE11 are required for efficient homologous recombination. Finally, we reveal that CtIP has sequence homology with Sae2, which is involved in MRE11-dependent DSB processing in yeast. These findings establish evolutionarily conserved roles for CtIP-like proteins in controlling DSB resection, checkpoint signalling and homologous recombination.     

South-polar features on Venus similar to those near the north pole

Venus has no seasons, slow rotation and a very massive atmosphere, which is mainly carbon dioxide with clouds primarily of sulphuric acid droplets. Infrared observations by previous missions to Venus revealed a bright 'dipole' feature surrounded by a cold 'collar' at its north pole. The polar dipole is a 'double-eye' feature at the centre of a vast vortex that rotates around the pole, and is possibly associated with rapid downwelling. The polar cold collar is a wide, shallow river of cold air that circulates around the polar vortex. One outstanding question has been whether the global circulation was symmetric, such that a dipole feature existed at the south pole. Here we report observations of Venus' south-polar region, where we have seen clouds with morphology much like those around the north pole, but rotating somewhat faster than the northern dipole. The vortex may extend down to the lower cloud layers that lie at about 50 km height and perhaps deeper. The spectroscopic properties of the clouds around the south pole are compatible with a sulphuric acid composition.