Melanin-concentrating hormone is the cognate ligand for the orphan G-protein-coupled receptor SLC-1.

The underlying causes of obesity are poorly understood but probably involve complex interactions between many neurotransmitter and neuropeptide systems involved in the regulation of food intake and energy balance. Three pieces of evidence indicate that the neuropeptide melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is an important component of this system. First, MCH stimulates feeding when injected directly into rat brains; second, the messenger RNA for the MCH precursor is upregulated in the hypothalamus of genetically obese mice and in fasted animals; and third, mice lacking MCH eat less and are lean. MCH antagonists might, therefore, provide a treatment for obesity. However, the development of such molecules has been hampered because the identity of the MCH receptor has been unknown until now. Here we show that the 353-amino-acid human orphan G-protein-coupled receptor SLC-1 expressed in HEK293 cells binds MCH with sub-nanomolar affinity, and is stimulated by MCH to mobilize intracellular Ca2+ and reduce forskolin-elevated cyclic AMP levels. We also show that SLC-1 messenger RNA and protein is expressed in the ventromedial and dorsomedial nuclei of the hypothalamus, consistent with a role for SLC-1 in mediating the effects of MCH on feeding.     

Innovative Principle and Method for Digital Jacquard Fabric Designing

Digital jacquard fabric has its design concept and method directly borrowed from computer images and color modes, which enabled creation of jacquard fabric design that is far beyond what freehand patterns can express. In this paper, the principles of digital jacquard fabric design were classified into two parts: colorless mode and colorful mode, and an innovative layered combination design method has been suggested contenting with this new design concept, by which digital jacquard fabric can be designed from colorless single-layer structure to colorful compound structure. As a result, designed colorless and colorful jacquard fabrics are capable of expressing picturesque and photo-realistic effects with a mega level color number on face of fabric. It is envisaged that the results of the study are of tremendous benefit to the creation of new jacquard fabric ith an inimitable digital effect and this creation pose no problem in mass production.     

Introduction: genetic determinants of mid- and late-life dementias

We introduce a series of papers dealing with genetic aspects of a subset of dementias of mid-life and late-life in order to illustrate four principles. First, there appear to be many genetic loci with the potential to modulate susceptibility to such dementias. Second, most of those so far discovered are autosomal dominants and none are autosomal recessives. Third, the autosomal dominant mutations are individually rare. Their frequencies in a given population are likely to be functions of genetic drift. Fourth, despite their rarity, they may inform us about the pathogenesis of more common late-life dementias, notably dementias of the Alzheimer type, which have polygenic determinants. The most important such modulation so far discovered involves polymorphic forms of the APOE locus.     

双面花纹提花织物结构设计原理和方法

数码设计技术的应用,为传统双面花纹效果提花织物的设计创新提供了条件,其创新的实质在于改变传统的提花织物的结构设计理念.通过分析数码设计技术的应用特点,对双面花纹提花织物的结构设计原理进行深入探讨,并提出一种便捷的设计方法.其结构设计的基本原理是先设计织物的正反面结构图,再利用分层组合的方法将正反面的织物结构图进行组合,通过规则的接结组织使双面效果的织物结构合为一个整体,并满足表组织对里组织具有遮盖效应.由于该结构设计方法满足全息组织和组织库的应用,对用于织物正反面效果设计的图案题材没有限制,设计产品在结构上具有平衡交织的特点,可以用于大批量生产,具有良好的应用前景.     

转瞬即逝的击溅图像

物理学家阿瑟·沃辛顿（ArthurWorthington）在各种不同。形状和大小的物体落入水中时所产生的击溅的照片中发现了自然造物之美妙，并对此引起了很大的兴趣。如今在我们周围处处都可以找到他倾注毕生热情留下来的遗赠物。某些图像借助于现代科学已经变得为肉眼所可见了，这些图像立刻变得如此为世人注目和如此地美妙，以至它们已经被看成是许多自然形态和自然过程的至高无上的表象。一个球形物品落入牛奶槽中会产生一种畜溅的短暂的冠状装饰图像，这种图像已经使通常的感觉产生了这样的效果，即它可以用来作为牛奶制品的标识物，由此英国公…     

翻译批评研究的新篇章——《翻译批评导论》述评

在扼要综述《翻译批评导论》主要内容的基础上,指出该书具有系统性、创新性、简洁性、深刻性等鲜明特点,是我国第一部较为全面系统研究翻译批评的学术专著,对翻译批评研究具有里程碑的意义。     

Primary source knowledge and technical decision-making: Mbeki and the AZT debate

Demands for public participation in technical decision-making are currently high on the agenda of Science & Technology Studies. It is assumed that the democratisation of technical decision-making processes generally leads to more socially desirable and acceptable outcomes. While this may be true in certain cases, this assumption cannot be generalised. I will discuss the case of the so-called ‘South African AZT debate’. The controversy started when President Thabo Mbeki, after reading some scientific papers on the toxicity of AZT, decided to bar the use of the drug in the public health sector as a means to reduce the transmission of HIV from mothers to children. While the scientific mainstream accepts the effectiveness of AZT in reducing the risk of vertical HIV transmission, a few maverick scientists reject the clinical evidence and argue that the risks of using AZT by far outweigh its benefits. Based on various textual sources and using the ‘Periodic Table of Expertises’ developed by Collins and Evans, Mbeki’s expertise at the time of his intervention into the technical question whether AZT is a medicine or a poison can be classified as primary source knowledge. It is shown that this type of expertise is insufficient for technical decision-making. Mbeki’s primary source knowledge legitimated his presentation of the claims of maverick scientists as a serious contribution to the debate—with tragic consequences for tens of thousands of babies.     

Deficiency of UBR1, a ubiquitin ligase of the N-end rule pathway, causes pancreatic dysfunction, malformations and mental retardation (Johanson-Blizzard syndrome)

Johanson-Blizzard syndrome (OMIM 243800) is an autosomal recessive disorder that includes congenital exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, multiple malformations such as nasal wing aplasia, and frequent mental retardation. We mapped the disease-associated locus to chromosome 15q14-21.1 and identified mutations, mostly truncating ones, in the gene UBR1 in 12 unrelated families with Johanson-Blizzard syndrome. UBR1 encodes one of at least four functionally overlapping E3 ubiquitin ligases of the N-end rule pathway, a conserved proteolytic system whose substrates include proteins with destabilizing N-terminal residues. Pancreas of individuals with Johanson-Blizzard syndrome did not express UBR1 and had intrauterine-onset destructive pancreatitis. In addition, we found that Ubr1(-/-) mice, whose previously reported phenotypes include reduced weight and behavioral abnormalities, had an exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, with impaired stimulus-secretion coupling and increased susceptibility to pancreatic injury. Our findings indicate that deficiency of UBR1 perturbs the pancreas' acinar cells and other organs, presumably owing to metabolic stabilization of specific substrates of the N-end rule pathway.     

The DNA helicase BRIP1 is defective in Fanconi anemia complementation group J

The protein predicted to be defective in individuals with Fanconi anemia complementation group J (FA-J), FANCJ, is a missing component in the Fanconi anemia pathway of genome maintenance. Here we identify pathogenic mutations in eight individuals with FA-J in the gene encoding the DEAH-box DNA helicase BRIP1, also called FANCJ. This finding is compelling evidence that the Fanconi anemia pathway functions through a direct physical interaction with DNA.