The origins and nature of critical systems thinking

Critical systems thinking is a relative newcomer in the systems tradition of thought. Nevertheless, it has already made a number of significant contributions to the field and is now developing more quickly than any other part of systems thinking. The paper charts the origins and nature of this evolving, critical systems, body of work. The author's own impressions of its development are first set out. This helps establish that critical systems thinking has come to rest upon five commitments which define its essential character. These commitments are then used to classify the published literature associated with critical systems thinking. The result is a review of the origins and nature of critical systems thinking up to 1990.     

模拟失重对大鼠睾丸组织结构及AR和HSP70表达的影响

采用-30°尾部悬帛模拟失重生理效应,32只Wistar雄性大鼠随机分为7 d对照组、14 d对照组、悬吊7 d组和悬吊14 d组4组,运用HE染色和免疫组织化学染色方法,分别观察模拟失重7 d、14 d大鼠睾丸组织的组织病理学变化,同时定置对比观察了对照组、模拟失重组大鼠睾丸组织中AR和HSP70的表达和定位.结果显示,悬吊7 d和14 d的大鼠睾丸组织均出现了明显的组织病理学变化,表现为睾丸曲细精管内生精上皮细胞排列紊乱,出现不同程度的变性、坏死:悬吊14 d的大鼠睾丸的病变比悬吊7 d的更为明显.免疫组化染色结果表明,模拟失重7 d、14 d的大鼠睾丸组织中,AR表达量均极显著降低(P<0.01);而HSP70表达置均极显著升高(P<0.01).在组织间隙和间质渗出物中出现大量eHSP70.研究表明,模拟失重状态对雄性大鼠生殖器官睾丸的组织结构会造成严重的病理损伤,导致睾丸生精上皮不可逆损伤,使睾丸组织分泌表达AR的功能减退,引起HSP70的过量表达和大量释放形成eHSP70,以至造成睾丸实质的严重损伤.     

CDK targets Sae2 to control DNA-end resection and homologous recombination

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) are repaired by two principal mechanisms: non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR). HR is the most accurate DSB repair mechanism but is generally restricted to the S and G2 phases of the cell cycle, when DNA has been replicated and a sister chromatid is available as a repair template. By contrast, NHEJ operates throughout the cell cycle but assumes most importance in G1 (refs 4, 6). The choice between repair pathways is governed by cyclin-dependent protein kinases (CDKs), with a major site of control being at the level of DSB resection, an event that is necessary for HR but not NHEJ, and which takes place most effectively in S and G2 (refs 2, 5). Here we establish that cell-cycle control of DSB resection in Saccharomyces cerevisiae results from the phosphorylation by CDK of an evolutionarily conserved motif in the Sae2 protein. We show that mutating Ser 267 of Sae2 to a non-phosphorylatable residue causes phenotypes comparable to those of a sae2Delta null mutant, including hypersensitivity to camptothecin, defective sporulation, reduced hairpin-induced recombination, severely impaired DNA-end processing and faulty assembly and disassembly of HR factors. Furthermore, a Sae2 mutation that mimics constitutive Ser 267 phosphorylation complements these phenotypes and overcomes the necessity of CDK activity for DSB resection. The Sae2 mutations also cause cell-cycle-stage specific hypersensitivity to DNA damage and affect the balance between HR and NHEJ. These findings therefore provide a mechanistic basis for cell-cycle control of DSB repair and highlight the importance of regulating DSB resection.     

豚鼠耳蜗基底膜的振动特性

为探讨豚鼠耳蜗基底膜的听觉机制,利用多普勒激光测振技术进行了声音在28只成年健康豚鼠耳中传递的测试实验.将豚鼠麻醉后切断头取出听泡,采用电钻暴露其耳蜗基底膜,利用多普勒激光测振仪在给定的声压级、频率的纯音激励条件下测量豚鼠外耳道耳蜗基底膜的振动速度,并测量了中耳镫骨的振动速度.结果表明,豚鼠外耳道基底膜具有频率选择特性,而且其基底膜的振动具有行波特性.     

Mutation in the gene encoding ferritin light polypeptide causes dominant adult-onset basal ganglia disease.

We describe here a previously unknown, dominantly inherited, late-onset basal ganglia disease, variably presenting with extrapyramidal features similar to those of Huntington's disease (HD) or parkinsonism. We mapped the disorder, by linkage analysis, to 19q13.3, which contains the gene for ferritin light polypeptide (FTL). We found an adenine insertion at position 460-461 that is predicted to alter carboxy-terminal residues of the gene product. Brain histochemistry disclosed abnormal aggregates of ferritin and iron. Low serum ferritin levels also characterized patients. Ferritin, the main iron storage protein, is composed of 24 subunits of two types (heavy, H and light, L) which form a soluble, hollow sphere. Brain iron deposition increases normally with age, especially in the basal ganglia, and is a suspected causative factor in several neurodegenerative diseases in which it correlates with visible pathology, possibly by its involvement in toxic free-radical reactions. We found the same mutation in five apparently unrelated subjects with similar extrapyramidal symptoms. An abnormality in ferritin strongly indicates a primary function for iron in the pathogenesis of this new disease, for which we propose the name 'neuroferritinopathy'.     

Stimulated platelets use serotonin to enhance their retention of procoagulant proteins on the cell surface.

Activated platelets bind numerous adhesive and procoagulant proteins by receptor-mediated processes. Although there is little evidence to suggest that these processes are heterogeneous in platelets, we previously found that platelets co-stimulated with collagen and thrombin express functional alpha-granule factor V only on a subpopulation of cells. Here we show that these cells, referred to as 'COAT-platelets', bind additional alpha-granule proteins, including fibrinogen, von Willebrand factor, thrombospondin, fibronectin and alpha2-antiplasmin. These proteins are all transglutaminase substrates, and inhibitors of transglutaminase prevent the production of COAT-platelets. A synthetic transglutaminase substrate (CP15) also binds to COAT-platelets, and analysis by high performance liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry shows that a product is formed with a relative molecular mass (Mr) equal to CP15 plus 176. Serotonin, an abundant component of platelet-dense granules, has an Mr of 176, and fibrinogen isolated from COAT-platelets contains covalently linked serotonin. Synthetic bovine serum albumin-(serotonin)6 binds selectively to COAT-platelets and also inhibits the retention of procoagulant proteins on COAT-platelets. These data indicate that COAT-platelets use serotonin conjugation to augment the retention of procoagulant proteins on their cell surface through an as yet unidentified serotonin receptor.     

技术创新、技术转移及其商品化——试论非线性研究方法的必要性

在过去的30年中，学者和决策者们已经形成了对技术创新、技术转移及其商品化的研究方法，以合理对待和加速全球的经济发展，然而，由于此类研究及相关政策采用线性组织方式，它们多数不能适应当今世界发展的需要，越来越多的证据表明，适用于过去工业经济系统的线性方法必须加以修正才能适应“新”经济中非线性的现实。