Immune recognition. A new receptor for beta-glucans.

The carbohydrate polymers known as beta-1,3-d-glucans exert potent effects on the immune system - stimulating antitumour and antimicrobial activity, for example - by binding to receptors on macrophages and other white blood cells and activating them. Although beta-glucans are known to bind to receptors, such as complement receptor 3 (ref. 1), there is evidence that another beta-glucan receptor is present on macrophages. Here we identify this unknown receptor as dectin-1 (ref. 2), a finding that provides new insights into the innate immune recognition of beta-glucans.     

硫酸钛为钛源制备二氧化钛的实验条件研究

实验以硫酸钛为钛源、尿素为沉淀剂、聚乙二醇600为分散剂,采用均匀沉淀法制备二氧化钛粉末。主要讨论了影响沉淀形成时间的主要因素:尿素的用量及加入方法、聚乙二醇的用量、以及水浴的温度等。实验结果表明,以硫酸钛为钛源、尿素为沉淀剂、聚乙二醇600为分散剂,采用均匀沉淀法制备二氧化钛粉末最佳反应条件为:在水浴加热343 K条件下,将尿素缓慢滴加到硫酸钛和聚乙二醇600的混合液中,硫酸钛和聚乙二醇600的混合液在磁力搅拌器搅拌时滴加尿素,用硫酸调节pH在1.5~2,保持硫酸钛、尿素和聚乙二醇600的摩尔比1∶12∶0.01。     

Community Development and Renaissance Social Humanism: Some Lessons for Systems Science

Starting from the crisis in our communities—research has indicated it to be widely spread—the author explores the scientific tradition preceding the rise of modernism in order to draw out a more humane way of thinking that may help our contemporary societies. He discerns between two types of Renaissance humanism, one characterised by its cleverness, the other by its compassion and desire to restore dignity to the lives of people struggling to escape the clutches of medievalism. The father of the latter is Erasmus of Rotterdam and we follow the development of his conception of a social humanism as it branches out, through the work of his successors, into every scientific discipline, both natural and human. These disciplines are united by an embracing systemic idea of philosophy that unites the mind with the heart and which Erasmus called “Philosophia Christi”. We examine the two main pillars upon which this philosophy is built, love for our neighbour and education as the only legitimate instrument to change society, and the extraordinary impact it had on science and on communities living in the seventeenth century. We contrast this with the idea of power, the chosen instrument of modernity to transform society, and trace some of its tragic outcomes. We conclude by discussing the incorporation of an Erasmian type of social humanism into systems education and the future development of such programmes.     

生化实验室在实践教学中的课程协调和管理作用

自2011年以来,为实现培养医学生动手能力、批判性思维和创新能力的教学目标,作为基础实验课程的生物化学与分子生物学实验在实验内容和课程设置方面进行了一系列的改革,循序渐进,由浅入深,同时突出小班化精英化的教育特色,最大限度地使学生受益。在整个课程的实施过程中,生物化学与分子生物学实验室作为实践课程开展的核心部门,无论是在课程准备,课程安排,还是在教学资源分配和课程内容改革中,都起到了有利的协调和管理作用,最大限度地服务于实践教学,使实验课程在良好有序的环境中发展前行。     

A very faint core-collapse supernova in M85

An anomalous transient in the early Hubble-type (S0) galaxy Messier 85 (M85) in the Virgo cluster was discovered by Kulkarni et al. on 7 January 2006 that had very low luminosity (peak absolute R-band magnitude M(R) of about -12) that was constant over more than 80 days, red colour and narrow spectral lines, which seem inconsistent with those observed in any known class of transient events. Kulkarni et al. suggest an exotic stellar merger as the possible origin. An alternative explanation is that the transient in M85 was a type II-plateau supernova of extremely low luminosity, exploding in a lenticular galaxy with residual star-forming activity. This intriguing transient might be the faintest supernova that has ever been discovered.     

West Nile virus emergence and large-scale declines of North American bird populations

Emerging infectious diseases present a formidable challenge to the conservation of native species in the twenty-first century. Diseases caused by introduced pathogens have had large impacts on species abundances, including the American chestnut, Hawaiian bird species and many amphibians. Changes in host population sizes can lead to marked shifts in community composition and ecosystem functioning. However, identifying the impacts of an introduced disease and distinguishing it from other forces that influence population dynamics (for example, climate) is challenging and requires abundance data that extend before and after the introduction. Here we use 26 yr of Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) data to determine the impact of West Nile virus (WNV) on 20 potential avian hosts across North America. We demonstrate significant changes in population trajectories for seven species from four families that concur with a priori predictions and the spatio-temporal intensity of pathogen transmission. The American crow population declined by up to 45% since WNV arrival, and only two of the seven species with documented impact recovered to pre-WNV levels by 2005. Our findings demonstrate the potential impacts of an invasive species on a diverse faunal assemblage across broad geographical scales, and underscore the complexity of subsequent community response.