Distinct physiological and behavioural functions for parental alleles of imprinted Grb10

Imprinted genes, defined by their preferential expression of a single parental allele, represent a subset of the mammalian genome and often have key roles in embryonic development, but also postnatal functions including energy homeostasis and behaviour. When the two parental alleles are unequally represented within a social group (when there is sex bias in dispersal and/or variance in reproductive success), imprinted genes may evolve to modulate social behaviour, although so far no such instance is known. Predominantly expressed from the maternal allele during embryogenesis, Grb10 encodes an intracellular adaptor protein that can interact with several receptor tyrosine kinases and downstream signalling molecules. Here we demonstrate that within the brain Grb10 is expressed from the paternal allele from fetal life into adulthood and that ablation of this expression engenders increased social dominance specifically among other aspects of social behaviour, a finding supported by the observed increase in allogrooming by paternal Grb10-deficient animals. Grb10 is, therefore, the first example of an imprinted gene that regulates social behaviour. It is also currently alone in exhibiting imprinted expression from each of the parental alleles in a tissue-specific manner, as loss of the peripherally expressed maternal allele leads to significant fetal and placental overgrowth. Thus Grb10 is, so far, a unique imprinted gene, able to influence distinct physiological processes, fetal growth and adult behaviour, owing to actions of the two parental alleles in different tissues.     

Lower-crustal intrusion on the North Atlantic continental margin

When continents break apart, the rifting is sometimes accompanied by the production of large volumes of molten rock. The total melt volume, however, is uncertain, because only part of it has erupted at the surface. Furthermore, the cause of the magmatism is still disputed-specifically, whether or not it is due to increased mantle temperatures. We recorded deep-penetration normal-incidence and wide-angle seismic profiles across the Faroe and Hatton Bank volcanic margins in the northeast Atlantic. Here we show that near the Faroe Islands, for every 1 km along strike, 360-400 km(3) of basalt is extruded, while 540-600 km(3) is intruded into the continent-ocean transition. We find that lower-crustal intrusions are focused mainly into a narrow zone approximately 50 km wide on the transition, although extruded basalts flow more than 100 km from the rift. Seismic profiles show that the melt is intruded into the lower crust as sills, which cross-cut the continental fabric, rather than as an 'underplate' of 100 per cent melt, as has often been assumed. Evidence from the measured seismic velocities and from igneous thicknesses are consistent with the dominant control on melt production being increased mantle temperatures, with no requirement for either significant active small-scale mantle convection under the rift or the presence of fertile mantle at the time of continental break-up, as has previously been suggested for the North Atlantic Ocean.     

大学数学入门

大学数学涉及很多内容：微积分、线性代数、概率论、数值计算方法、复变函数、数学物理方程等等。这些内容是任何学科都会用到的知识,是进一步学习专业课知识的基础。对于很多刚进入大学的学生来说,学好大学数学是打好专业课基础的保证,     

从肥满度看布氏田鼠对气候环境的适应

布氏田鼠肥满度和气温、地表温、地下40 cm土层温度、降水量成显著性负相关,成年鼠对气候条件的适应范围宽于幼鼠.从肥满度角度来看,布氏田鼠能够较好地适应其生活环境.     

布氏田鼠空间分布格局

在鼠种群高密度时期,洞群为均匀分布.位于洞群中心的土丘通常被小叶锦鸡儿灌丛覆盖。分析布氏田鼠空间分布格局的适宜样方单位面积为10m×10m。鼠种群、雄鼠以及雌鼠都是聚集分布。繁殖季节,幼鼠以个体群为基本分布单元呈聚集分布,亚成体鼠以个体群为基本分布单元呈随机分布,成体鼠以个体为基本分布单元呈随机分布。布氏田鼠的聚集分布是由其繁殖方式和社群关系所致,而不太可能是栖息环境所致。鼠种群聚集分布强度从春到秋无显著性改变。     

用网捕技术分析小龙门林场夏季小型森林鸟类群落的年动态

借助网捕方法进行鸟类群落的研究表明：至少连续３ｄ的网捕才能获得鸟群落中绝大多数的物种，在网捕中应特别注意在鸟早、中、晚的３个活动高峰期间检查粘网，以及天气的影响，通过连续８ａ对北京小龙门林场小型森林鸟类群落的研究，发现其鸟群落物种数和生物量的年际变化不大，保持稳定，而群落的多样性和均匀性逐年上升。     

The proteins of linked genes evolve at similar rates

Much more variation in the rate of protein evolution occurs than is expected by chance. But why some proteins evolve rapidly but others slowly is poorly resolved. It was proposed, for example, that essential genes might evolve slower than dispensable ones, but this is not the case; and despite earlier claims, rates of evolution do not correlate with amino-acid composition. A few patterns have been found: proteins involved in antagonistic co-evolution (for example, immune genes, parasite antigens and reproductive conflict genes) tend to be rapidly evolving, and there is a correlation between the rate of protein evolution and the mutation rate of the gene. Here we report a new highly statistically significant predictor of a protein's rate of evolution, and show that linked genes have similar rates of protein evolution. There is also a weaker similarity of rates of silent site evolution (see ref. 13), which appears to be, in part, a consequence of the similarity in rates of protein evolution. The similarity in rates of protein evolution is not a consequence of underlying mutational patterns. A pronounced negative correlation between the rate of protein evolution and a covariant of the recombination rate indicates that rates of protein evolution possibly reflect, in part, the local strength of stabilizing selection.