Structure of astacin and implications for activation of astacins and zinc-ligation of collagenases.

Astacin, a digestive zinc-endopeptidase from the crayfish Astacus astacus L., is the prototype for the 'astacin family', which includes mammalian metallo-endopeptidases and developmentally regulated proteins of man, fruitfly, frog and sea urchin. Here we report the X-ray crystal structure of astacin, which reveals a deep active-site cleft, with the zinc at its bottom ligated by three histidines, a water molecule and a more remote tyrosine. The third histidine (His 102) forms part of a consensus sequence, shared not only by the members of the astacin family, but also by otherwise sequentially unrelated proteinases, such as vertebrate collagenases. It may therefore represent the elusive 'third' zinc ligand in these enzymes. The amino terminus of astacin is buried forming an internal salt-bridge with Glu 103, adjacent to His 102. Astacin pro-forms extended at the N terminus, as observed for some 'latent' mammalian astacin homologues, did not exhibit this 'active' conformation, indicating an activation mechanism reminiscent of trypsin-like serine proteinases.     

小麦群体连续选择效应的综合分析

本试验对由信谷核不育基因构成的异效群体内４个性状进行连续两轮歧化选择，并将所得数据进行群体综合分析。结果表明：整个群体的平均表现和变异程度未发明显变化；但群体分布状况有一定改变，尤其是每穗粒数的分布数化较为明显；株高和千粒重的有效因子数估计基本符合小麦遗传实际表现，每穗粒数的有效有效因子数估计略低，说明此性状遗传背景较为简单。     

Exocytotic fusion is activated by Rab3a peptides.

Studies of intracellular traffic in yeast and mammalian systems have implicated members of the Rab family of small GTP-binding proteins as regulators of membrane fusion. We have used the patch clamp technique to measure exocytotic fusion events directly and investigate the role of GTP-binding proteins in regulating exocytosis in mast cells. Intracellular perfusion of mast cells with GTP-gamma S is sufficient to trigger complete exocytotic degranulation in the absence of other intracellular messengers. Here we show that GTP is a potent inhibitor of GTP-gamma S-induced degranulation, indicating that sustained activation of a GTP-binding protein is sufficient for membrane fusion. We have found that synthetic oligopeptides, corresponding to part of the effector domain of Rab3a, stimulate complete exocytotic degranulation, similar to that induced by GTP-gamma S. The response is selective for Rab3a sequence and is strictly dependent on Mg2+ and ATP. This suggests that sustained activation of a Rab3 protein causes exocytotic fusion. The peptide response can be accelerated by GDP-beta S, suggesting that Rab3a peptides compete with endogenous Rab3 proteins for a binding site on a target effector protein, which causes fusion on activation.     

“926”植物生长调节剂的药效作用及机理研究

试验表明，“９２６”植物生长调节剂对植物种子活力、根系活力、植物生长发育具有明显的促进作用。用“９２６”浸稻种和玉米种，可提高发芽势、发芽率，增加次生根数和次生根长。苗期施药，同样可促进幼苗生长发育、促进根系发育、增加分蘖、分枝，提高成穗率。其它生育期施药，可分别提高成稳率、穗粒数、粒重，显著提高作物产量。     

管节点疲劳裂纹扩展规律和寿命估算

对Ｔ型管节点的疲劳试验进行分析，研究疲劳裂纹的扩展规律，用“柔度法”计算应力强度因子范围ΔＫ，确定材料常数ｃ，ｍ，提出并运用“直线－曲线模式法”估算管节点疲劳寿命，结果与试验吻合，具有一定的实用参考价值。     

基于主客体作用的荧光传感器研究进展

基于主客体作用的荧光传感器研究备受人们关注，近年来得到了迅速发展。本介绍了以冠醚、环糊精、杯芳烃等大环化合物作为接受体的荧光传感器的制备、分子离子识别机制和应用研究现状，展望了未来的发展趋势。     

Which survey indicators are useful for monitoring consumption? Evidence from European countries

This paper assesses the information content of two survey indicators for consumption developments in the near future for eight European countries in the period 1985–1998. Empirical work on this topic typically focuses on consumer confidence, the perceptions of buyers of consumption goods. This paper examines whether perceptions of sellers of consumption goods, measured by retail trade surveys, may also improve short‐term monitoring of consumption. We find that both consumer confidence and retailer confidence embody valuable information, when analysed in isolation. For France, Italy and Spain we conclude that adding retail confidence does not improve the indicator model once consumer confidence has been included. For the UK the reverse case is obtained. For the remaining four countries we show that combining consumer sentiment and retail trade confidence into a composite indicator leads to optimal results. Our results suggest that incorporating information from retail trade surveys may offer significant benefits for the analysis of short‐term prospects of consumption. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.