Myosin gene mutation correlates with anatomical changes in the human lineage

Powerful masticatory muscles are found in most primates, including chimpanzees and gorillas, and were part of a prominent adaptation of Australopithecus and Paranthropus, extinct genera of the family Hominidae. In contrast, masticatory muscles are considerably smaller in both modern and fossil members of Homo. The evolving hominid masticatory apparatus--traceable to a Late Miocene, chimpanzee-like morphology--shifted towards a pattern of gracilization nearly simultaneously with accelerated encephalization in early Homo. Here, we show that the gene encoding the predominant myosin heavy chain (MYH) expressed in these muscles was inactivated by a frameshifting mutation after the lineages leading to humans and chimpanzees diverged. Loss of this protein isoform is associated with marked size reductions in individual muscle fibres and entire masticatory muscles. Using the coding sequence for the myosin rod domains as a molecular clock, we estimate that this mutation appeared approximately 2.4 million years ago, predating the appearance of modern human body size and emigration of Homo from Africa. This represents the first proteomic distinction between humans and chimpanzees that can be correlated with a traceable anatomic imprint in the fossil record.     

土壤:重要却被忽视和低估的人类环境

大多数人提起土壤都会不以为然,只是有“脏”的印象,然而,土壤却是人类环境极为重要的部分之一。土壤具有复杂的结构,独特的生物、化学和物理性质。它为初级生产者──植物提供水分和营养,从而为其它陆地生态系统提供了食物链的基础。除了极少部分食物来自水体,几乎所有的人类食物都来自土壤中生长的农作物,或是来自以草为食的动物,而这些草也是在土壤上生长的。由于过度开发、污染和使用不当,土壤正在面临着巨大的威胁。许多关于土地利用的决策没有考虑到其下的土壤,为了提出严肃的建议以保证土地的持续利用,必须对土壤的性质、…     

大型桥梁多点激励效应的研究现状与发展

首先简要地就多点激励的模拟、分析方法等介绍了近年来国内外多点激励问题的研究现状,然后主要针对大跨度桥梁,侧重阐述了不同结构型式对多点激励的反应特征等方面已取得的一些研究成果和结论．最后就如何进一步展开该领域的研究进行了初步探讨．