Overcompensation and population cycles in an ungulate.

Although theoretical studies show that overcompensatory density-dependent mechanisms can potentially generate regular or chaotic fluctuations in animal numbers, the majority of realistic single-species models of invertebrate populations are not overcompensatory enough to cause sustained population cycles. The possibility that overcompensation may generate cycles or chaos in vertebrate populations has seldom been considered. Here we show that highly overcompensatng density-dependent mortality can generate recurrent population crashes consistent with those observed in a naturally limited population of Soay sheep. The observed interval of three or more years between crashes points to sharp 'focusing' of mortality over a narrow range of population density.     

量子阱中类氢杂质束缚能的压力效应

本文采用变分法研究了量子阱中类氢杂质的束缚能的压力效应，尤其在阱较窄的情形下，其压力效应更为显著．     

系列硫氮环分子的量子化学从头算研究

本文用从头算方法,采用 STO—3G 基组,对系列硫氮环分子(包括未知分子)的基态几何构型进行了全优化,在优化的结果基础上,比较了硫氮环分子的稳定性,得出了硫氮环分子的稳定构型,本文还讨论了硫氮环分子的芳香性问题,说明在硫氮环系列分子中,只有一部分具有“多电子芳香性”。同时预测了 S_2N_3~+和 S_5N_~(2+)合成的可能性。     

Retrograde transport of endocytosed Shiga toxin to the endoplasmic reticulum.

Shiga toxin and some other protein toxins that act on targets in the cytosol have previously been shown to enter the trans-Golgi network. Transport by this route may be necessary for translocation of the toxin to the cytosol and for intoxication, but it is not known whether the enzymatically active part of the toxins actually enters the cytosol from the trans-Golgi network. It has been suggested that such toxins are transported in a retrograde manner to the endoplasmic reticulum and that translocation occurs in this organelle, but retrograde transport of endocytosed material beyond the trans-Golgi network has never been demonstrated. Here we show that in butyric acid-treated A431 cells endocytosed Shiga toxin is not only transported to the trans-Golgi network, but also to all Golgi stacks, to the endoplasmic reticulum and to the nuclear envelope. Furthermore, butyric acid sensitizes the cells to Shiga toxin, which is consistent with the possibility that retrograde transport is required for translocation of the toxin to the cytosol.     

试论新南非语言政策的演变及其对教育的影响

文章以语言政策最近的发展为背景,讨论了与语言使用现实和执行相关的问题;以全南非语言委员会(PANSALB)遭遇的一些问题、公共场所语言使用情况、家庭使用语的分类以及学校里的教学指导语为案例进行阐释。这些案例表明了在执行语言政策和形成包容性的民族认同方面,南非依然困难重重。     

Titius—Bode定则的发展,天体量子论和泛量子理论

太阳系的Titius-Bode定则可以发展为r_n=an~2,令α_1=0.042,n=3,4,5,6是类地行星;令α_2=1.2,n=2,3,4,5,6是类木行星。此时海王星、冥王星都是规则的,且适用于大多数卫星。由此可以完全类比于玻尔原子模型,并得出太阳系量子常数H=(αGM_⊙)~(1/2)和天体薛定谔方程。这样距离规则是行星演化时统计性的结果,宇宙中应普遍存在波粒二象性和形式相似而量子常数各不相同的泛量子理论。     

DNA fingerprinting transforms the art of cell authentication.

The increasing diversity of new cell cultures is seriously stretching the capabilities of traditional methods of identification. DNA fingerprinting is set to play an important role in increasing confidence in the authenticity of cultures in research and industry.     

Prediction of the structure of a receptor-protein complex using a binary docking method.

To validate procedures of rational drug design, it is important to develop computational methods that predict binding sites between a protein and a ligand molecule. Many small molecules have been tested using such programs, but examination of protein-protein and peptide-protein interactions has been sparse. We were able to test such applications once the structures of both the maltose-binding protein (MBP) and the ligand-binding domain of the aspartate receptor, which binds MBP, became available. Here we predict the binding site of MBP to its receptor using a 'binary docking' technique in which two MBP octapeptide sequences containing mutations that eliminate maltose chemotaxis are independently docked to the receptor. The peptides in the docked solutions superimpose on their original positions in the structure of MBP and allow the formation of an MBP-receptor complex. The consistency of the computational and biological results supports this approach for predicting protein-protein and peptide-protein interactions.