Functional Materials for Catalytic and Magnetic Applications

1 Introduction Metal, metal oxide and metal compound nanoparticles (NPs) received considerable attention due to their unique properties: catalytic, magnetic, optical, electronic, etc. We believe that for different applications, there are preferable morphologies of NP-stabilizing medium composites. For example, small (1-3 nm) nanoparticles formed in micro/mesoporous hypercrosslinked polystyrene demonstrate excellent catalytic properties in various hydrogenation and oxidation reactions due to high surface...     

何去何从——也谈文学艺术终结论

有关文学是否会终结于电信化时代的话题目前成为文艺理论界争论的热点,“文学终结论”者立论的依据(“媒介决定论”)是值得商榷的。电子信息时代在整个人类发展史上具有革命性的意义,包括文学在内的许多事物都正处于转型与重塑的过程中。文学的涵义是发展的、开放的、复杂的,我们不能用一成不变的观念去框定当下这种多元的文学现状。目前理论界正在探讨的其实已经不是文学是否会终结的问题,而是文学转型的问题。     

^226Ra evidence for the ecosystem shift over the past 40 years in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre

Surface seawater was collected for ~(226)Ra measurement in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre from July to October, 1999 and October to December, 2003. Combined with the historical data reported for this sea area, a declined trend of surface ~(226)Ra concentrations was observed since 1960s, indicating the ecosystem shift in response to global warming. On one side, the enhanced stratification of the upper water column resulting from global warming reduced the ~(226)Ra input from the depth, on the other, the temporal increase of biological production resulting from the climate-related ecosystem structure change strengthened the ~(226)Ra removal from the surface ocean. Both the physical and biological processes resulted in the decrease of surface ~(226)Ra concentrations in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. The temporal trend of surface ~(226)Ra concentrations was consistent with the trends of chlorophyll a, silicate, phosphate and primary production previously reported. This study provided ~(226)Ra evidence for the ecosystem shift under global change.     

Phylogenetic position of sponges in early metazoan evolution and bionic applications of siliceous sponge spicules

Sponges are the oldest and the simplest but not primitive multicellular animals. They represent the earliest evolutionary metazoan phylum still extant. It was a long and painful scientific process to posi-tion the most enigmatic and mysterious metazoan,the Porifera,into their correct phylogenetic place among the eukaryotes in general and multicellular animals in particular. As living fossils,sponges provide the best evidence for the early evolution of Metazoa. More recently,interest has been focused on the bionic applications of sponges' siliceous spicules,after the discovery of their unique structure and high fiber performance. In this review,the emergence of sponges,evolutionary novelties found in sponges,and the phylogenetic position of sponges in early metazoan evolution are highlighted. In ad-dition,the present state of knowledge on silicatein-mediated "biosilica" formation in marine sponges,including the involvement of other molecules in silica metabolism and their potential application in nanobiotechnology and medicine,is given.     

Charybdotoxin, a protein inhibitor of single Ca2+-activated K+ channels from mammalian skeletal muscle

The recent development of techniques for recording currents through single ionic channels has led to the identification of a K+-specific channel that is activated by cytoplasmic Ca2+. The channel has complex properties, being activated by depolarizing voltages and having a voltage-sensitivity that is modulated by cytoplasmic Ca2+ levels. The conduction behaviour of the channel is also unusual, its high ionic selectivity being displayed simultaneously with a very high unitary conductance. Very little is known about the biochemistry of this channel, largely due to the lack of a suitable ligand for use as a biochemical probe for the channel. We describe here a protein inhibitor of single Ca2+-activated K+ channels of mammalian skeletal muscle. This inhibitor, a minor component of the venom of the Israeli scorpion, Leiurus quinquestriatus, reversibly blocks the large Ca2+-activated K+ channel in a simple biomolecular reaction. We have partially purified the active component, a basic protein of relative molecular mass (Mr) approximately 7,000.