Independent evolution of structural and coding regions in a Neurospora mitochondrial intron

The discovery of intervening sequences (introns) in eukaryotic genes has raised questions about the origin and evolution of these sequences. Hypotheses concerning these topics usually consider the intron as a unit that could be lost or gained over time, or as a region within which recombination can occur to facilitate the production of new proteins by exon shuffling. Additional complexities are observed in introns of mitochondrial and chloroplast genes which contain secondary structures required for messenger RNA splicing and open-reading frames encoding proteins. Here we describe differences in the organization of protein-coding sequences in the intron of the mitochondrial ND1 gene in two closely related species of Neurospora. These differences show that intron sequences involved in secondary structure formation and in protein coding can evolve as physically distinct elements. Indeed, the secondary structure elements of the ND1 intron can contain two different coding sequences located at two different positions within the intron.     

绘图用矢量汉字库生成工具及应用环境的研制

提出一种将１６× １６点阵汉字库转换成用极坐标表示的矢量汉字库的算法。算法采用了分区搜索、笔划优先启发式信息来控制转化过程，并给出了解决十字交叉笔划断笔现象的一种方法。利用该 算法研制出一个矢量汉字库的自动生成工具软件，以及在 Ｃ语言环境下矢量汉字应用的软件函数库。     

o-N-diisopropylaminoethoxy-butyrophenone,a new local anaesthetic drug

Riassunto Da una serie di-fenossietilamine acilate è stata selezionata una nuova sostanza e cioè l'o-N-diisopropylaminoetossibutirrofenone, che possiede elevate proprietà anestetiche locali di superficie, per infiltrazione e tronculari. Si sono comparate le attività anestetiche e la tossicità del nuovo composto con quelle della cocaina e della procaina.     

The action of calcium and thrombin on isolated 5-hydroxytryptamine organelles of blood platelets

Zusammenfassung In isolierten 5-Hydroxytryptamin-(5HT)-Organellen aus Blutplättchen von Kaninchen, im Gegensatz zu intakten Plättchen, bewirkt Thrombin keine wesentliche Freisetzung von 5HT und Adenosin-Triphosphat (ATP). Anderseits erzeugen geringe Konzentrationen von Kalzium starke Verminderung von 5HT und ATP in den Organellen, hingegen nicht in intakten Plättchen. Nach elektronenmikroskopischen Befunden verursacht Kalzium hochgradige morphologische Veränderungen der isolierten 5HT-Organellen.     

Retinoic acid coordinates somitogenesis and left-right patterning in vertebrate embryos

A striking feature of the body plan of a majority of animals is bilateral symmetry. Almost nothing is known about the mechanisms controlling the symmetrical arrangement of the left and right body sides during development. Here we report that blocking the production of retinoic acid (RA) in chicken embryos leads to a desynchronization of somite formation between the two embryonic sides, demonstrated by a shortened left segmented region. This defect is linked to a loss of coordination of the segmentation clock oscillations. The lateralization of this defect led us to investigate the relation between somitogenesis and the left-right asymmetry machinery in RA-deficient embryos. Reversal of the situs in chick or mouse embryos lacking RA results in a reversal of the somitogenesis laterality defect. Our data indicate that RA is important in buffering the lateralizing influence of the left-right machinery, thus permitting synchronization of the development of the two embryonic sides.     

An Earth-like correspondence between Saturn's auroral features and radio emission

Saturn is a source of intense kilometre-wavelength radio emissions that are believed to be associated with its polar aurorae, and which provide an important remote diagnostic of its magnetospheric activity. Previous observations implied that the radio emission originated in the polar regions, and indicated a strong correlation with solar wind dynamic pressure. The radio source also appeared to be fixed near local noon and at the latitude of the ultraviolet aurora. There have, however, been no observations relating the radio emissions to detailed auroral structures. Here we report measurements of the radio emissions, which, along with high-resolution images of Saturn's ultraviolet auroral emissions, suggest that although there are differences in the global morphology of the aurorae, Saturn's radio emissions exhibit an Earth-like correspondence between bright auroral features and the radio emissions. This demonstrates the universality of the mechanism that results in emissions near the electron cyclotron frequency narrowly beamed at large angles to the magnetic field.     

Generation and annotation of the DNA sequences of human chromosomes 2 and 4

Human chromosome 2 is unique to the human lineage in being the product of a head-to-head fusion of two intermediate-sized ancestral chromosomes. Chromosome 4 has received attention primarily related to the search for the Huntington's disease gene, but also for genes associated with Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome, polycystic kidney disease and a form of muscular dystrophy. Here we present approximately 237 million base pairs of sequence for chromosome 2, and 186 million base pairs for chromosome 4, representing more than 99.6% of their euchromatic sequences. Our initial analyses have identified 1,346 protein-coding genes and 1,239 pseudogenes on chromosome 2, and 796 protein-coding genes and 778 pseudogenes on chromosome 4. Extensive analyses confirm the underlying construction of the sequence, and expand our understanding of the structure and evolution of mammalian chromosomes, including gene deserts, segmental duplications and highly variant regions.