The entropy characters of point mutation

The biological diversity, which depends on the genetic material DNA, is the foundation for a species to survive and evolve. The entropy is the best measurement of biological diversity. Based on the single-parameter and the two-parameter models, here we established some differential equations about the point mutation of a DNA sequence with finite length, as well as some functions describing the processes of the variation in quantities of 4 kinds of bases （A, T, G and C） in the DNA sequence. At the molecular level, we discussed the entropy characteristics of point mutation. The results proved that a species maintained its entropy and evolved in the direction of the increasing biological diversity. In order to testify the theoretical results, we did a series of computer simulations of random point mutation in Matlab environment. The results were well consistent with the theoretical researches.     

Super-plasticity of Zr<Subscript>64.80</Subscript>Cu<Subscript>14.85</Subscript>Ni<Subscript>10.35</Subscript>Al<Subscript>10</Subscript> bulk metallic glass at room temperature

Generally, bulk metallic glasses （BMGs） exhibit a very limited plastic deformation under a compression load at room temperature, often less than 2% before fracturing. In this letter, through an appropriate choice of BMGs＇ composition, an amorphous rod of Zr64.80Cu14.85Ni10.35Al10 with a diameter of 2 mm was prepared by using copper mold suction casting. X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry were utilized to determine its structure and thermal stability, and the uniaxial compression test was adopted to study its plastic deformation behavior at room temperature simultaneously. The results showed that the glass transition temperature and onset temperature of the exothermic reaction of the amorphous rod were 646 and 750 K, respectively, and its micro-hardness was 594.7 Hv. During compression, when the engineering strain and engineering stress arrived at 9.05% and 1732 MPa, respectively, i.e., the true strain and true stress reached 9.42% and 1560 MPa, respectively, the amorphous rod started to yield. After yielding, with the increase of load, the strain increased and the glass rod ulti- mately were compressed into flake-like form. Although the maximum engineering strain was larger than 70%, i.e., the maximum true strain exceeded by 120%, the amorphous specimen was not fractured, indicating that it has super-plasticity at room temperature. Through the appropriate choice of composition and optimization of the technological process, flexible BMG with super-plasticity at room temperature could be produced.     

Inter-hemispheric comparison of climate change in the last millennium based on the ECHO-G simulation

The commonality and difference in the variations of temperature and precipitation between the Northern Hemisphere （NH） and Southern Hemispheres （SH） in the last millennium are investigated by analysis of the millennium simulation with the ECHO-G coupled climate model. The NH mean temperature variations are generally consistent with those of the SH counterpart on the interannual, decadal and centennial time scales. But, the transition times between the medieval warm period （MWP）, the little ice age （LIA）, and the present-day warm period （PWP） in the NH leads that in the SH; and the anomaly amplitude in the NH is significantly larger than the SH counterpart. For the precipitation variations, the NH mean precipitation varies in-phase with the SH mean precipitation on decadal and centennial scales （mainly in the mid-high latitudes） but out-of-phase on the interannual scale （mainly in the low latitudes）. During the MWP the warming has comparable amplitude in the NH and SH; however, during the PWP the NH warming is considerably stronger than the SH warming. Further, the present-day temperature rises in the NH high latitudes but decreases in the SH high latitudes, which is very different from the warming pattern during the MWP. Since during the MWP the greenhouse gases （GHG） concentration stayed at a low level, we infer that the present-day opposite temperature tendency in the high latitudes between the two hemispheres may be related to the increase of the GHG concentration.     

Signal and reference wave dually encrypted digital holographic system

We propose a secure digital holographic system with signal and reference waves dually encrypted. Two random phase masks are used to encrypt the images in the input and the Fourier planes. The reference beam is phase encoded by another random phase mask. The encrypted image and the key are recorded by a CCD camera. The data can be processed or transferred directly by computer. We theoretically and experimentally demonstrate encryption and decryption of multiple images and the results show a high quality and good fault tolerance.     

Application of the phylogenetic analysis in mitochondrial disease study

Mitochondrial disease currently received an increasing concern. However, the case-control design commonly adopted in this field is vulnerable to genetic background, population stratification and poor data quality. Although the phylogenetic analysis could help solve part of these problems, it has not received adequate attention. This paper is a review of this method as well as its application in mitochondrial disease study.     

Molten-salt synthesis of tungsten oxide nanotubes： Morphological and gas sensitivity

A very simple molten-salt method was used to synthesize WO3 nanotubes at moderate temperature （600 ）. The outer and inner diameters of the WO3 nanotubes were about 100 nm and 30 nm,with a length of dozens of micrometers. TEM and XRD analyses showed that the WO3 nanotubes were single crystal, and had monoclinic structure with the axes preferentially aligned along the [011] direction. The photoluminescence and the gas sensitivity of the nanotubes had been tested, showing that the products very well responded to acetone at 340℃.     

Proteomic analysis of long-term salinity stress-responsive proteins in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Thellungiella halophila</Emphasis> leaves

Salinity is one of the most severe environmental factors that may impair crop productivity. A proteomic study based on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis is performed in order to analyze the long-term salinity stress response of Thellungiella halophila, an Arabidopsis-related halophyte. Four-week-old seedlings are exposed to long-term salinity treatment. The total crude proteins are extracted from leaf blades, separated by 2-DE, stained with Coomassie Brilliant Blue, and differentially displayed spots are identified by MALDI-TOF MS or QTOF MS/MS. Among 900 protein spots reproducibly detected on each gel, 30 spots exhibit significant change and some of them are identified. The identified proteins include not only some previously characterized stress-responsive proteins such as TIR-NBS-LRR class disease resistance protein, ferritin-1, and pathogenesis-related protein 5, but also some proteins related to energy pathway, metabolism, RNA processing and protein degradation, as well as proteins with unknown functions. The possible functions of these proteins in salinity tolerance of T. halophila are discussed and it is suggested that the long-term salinity tolerance of T. halophila is achieved, at least partly, by enhancing defense system, adjusting energy and metabolic pathway and maintaining RNA structure.     

Nitric oxide suppresses stomatal opening by inhibiting inward-rectifying K<Stack><Subscript>in</Subscript><Superscript>+</Superscript></Stack> channels in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Arabidopsis</Emphasis> guard cells

We explore nitric oxide （NO） effect on K^＋in, channels in Arabidopsis guard cells. We observed NO inhibited K^＋in, currents when Ca^2＋ chelator EGTA （Ethylene glycol-bis（2-aminoethylether）-N,N,N′,N;tetraacetic acid） was not added in the pipette solution; K^＋in currents were not sensitive to NO when cytosolic Ca^2＋ was chelated by EGTA. NO inhibited the Arabidopsis stomatal opening, but when EGTA was added in the bath solution, inhibition effect of NO on stomatal opening vanished. Thus, it implies that NO elevates cytosolic Ca^2＋ by activating plasma membrane Ca^2＋ channels firstly, then inactivates K^＋in, chartnels, resulting in stomatal opening suppressed subsequently.     

The mobilization of rat’s mesenchymal stem cells into peripheral blood by LiCL and its potency differentiation

Mesenchymal stem cells （MSCs） are multipotent cells, which can differentiate into different tissues. It is still controversial whether MSCs can be isolated from adult peripheral blood （PB） under normal conditions and whether they can be mobilized in a way similar to that of hematopoieUc stem cells （HSCs）. In this study, rat MSCs circulating in the PB under normal conditions can be isolated and cultured, and MSCs from PB and BM can be mobilized by LiCL. The mobilized MSCs can be induced to differentiate into neuron by such factors as β-mercaptoethanol and supernatants of nerve cell cultures. The present study provides a broader perspective on the repair of neural trauma.     

Novel protein detection method based on proximity-dependent polymerase reaction and aptamers

In recent years, specific detection of proteins is one of the hot issues about aptamers in proteomics. Here we reported a simple, sensitive and specific proximity-dependent protein assay with dual DNA aptamers. Thrombin was used as the model protein, and two aptamer probes with complementary sequence at 3′-end were designed for the two distinct epitopes of the protein. Association of the two aptamers with thrombin resulted in stable hybrids due to the proximity of 3′-end, then polymerase reaction was induced. The amount of obtained dsDNA was indicated using the fluorescence dye Sybr Green I. The results showed that the initial velocity of polymerase reaction had a positive correlation with concentration of thrombin. The advantages of this dual-aptamer-based approach included simple and flexible design of aptamer probes, high selectivity and high sensitivity. The detection limit was 6.9 pmol/L.