Homodimer formation of retinoid X receptor induced by 9-cis retinoic acid.

Retinoid response pathways are mediated by two classes of receptors, the retinoic acid receptors (RARs) and the retinoid X receptors (RXRs). A central question is whether distinct response pathways are regulated by these two classes of receptors. The observation that the stereoisomer 9-cis-retinoic acid binds with high affinity to RXRs suggested that this retinoid has a distinct role in controlling RXR activity, but it was almost simultaneously discovered that RXRs function as auxiliary receptors for RARs and related receptors, and are essential for DNA binding and function of those receptors. Hence, although RARs seem to operate effectively only as heterodimeric RAR/RXR complexes, RXRs themselves apparently function predominantly, if not exclusively, as auxiliary receptors. Here we report that 9-cis-retinoic acid induces RXR homodimer formation. Our results demonstrate a new mechanism for retinoid action by which a ligand-induced homodimer mediates a distinct retinoid response pathway.     

湿地状态对石油污染和植物长势影响的模拟研究

模拟实验中建立了一系列不同状态的“湿地桶”,桶中装有从黄河三角洲采集的被石油污染的土壤和当地的湿地植物。通过监测湿地植物（芦苇、香蒲等）的长势和化验土壤中总石油烃（TPH）及油和脂（O/G）随时间的变化,以探讨湿地状态对石油污染和植物长势的影响。结果显示：湿地环境对土壤中的石油污染有明显的降解作用,芦苇等挺水植物的生长量与积水深度呈正相关,土壤中少量含油并不构成对湿地植物生长的威胁。此实验可为建立油田的湿地缓冲带提供科学依据。     

Formation of ordered ice nanotubes inside carbon nanotubes

Following their discovery, carbon nanotubes have attracted interest not only for their unusual electrical and mechanical properties, but also because their hollow interior can serve as a nanometre-sized capillary, mould or template in material fabrication. The ability to encapsulate a material in a nanotube also offers new possibilities for investigating dimensionally confined phase transitions. Particularly intriguing is the conjecture that matter within the narrow confines of a carbon nanotube might exhibit a solid-liquid critical point beyond which the distinction between solid and liquid phases disappears. This unusual feature, which cannot occur in bulk material, would allow for the direct and continuous transformation of liquid matter into a solid. Here we report simulations of the behaviour of water encapsulated in carbon nanotubes that suggest the existence of a variety of new ice phases not seen in bulk ice, and of a solid-liquid critical point. Using carbon nanotubes with diameters ranging from 1.1 nm to 1.4 nm and applied axial pressures of 50 MPa to 500 MPa, we find that water can exhibit a first-order freezing transition to hexagonal and heptagonal ice nanotubes, and a continuous phase transformation into solid-like square or pentagonal ice nanotubes.