Energy-dependent regulation of cell structure by AMP-activated protein kinase

AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK, also known as SNF1A) has been primarily studied as a metabolic regulator that is activated in response to energy deprivation. Although there is relatively ample information on the biochemical characteristics of AMPK, not enough data exist on the in vivo function of the kinase. Here, using the Drosophila model system, we generated the first animal model with no AMPK activity and discovered physiological functions of the kinase. Surprisingly, AMPK-null mutants were lethal with severe abnormalities in cell polarity and mitosis, similar to those of lkb1-null mutants. Constitutive activation of AMPK restored many of the phenotypes of lkb1-null mutants, suggesting that AMPK mediates the polarity- and mitosis-controlling functions of the LKB1 serine/threonine kinase. Interestingly, the regulatory site of non-muscle myosin regulatory light chain (MRLC; also known as MLC2) was directly phosphorylated by AMPK. Moreover, the phosphomimetic mutant of MRLC rescued the AMPK-null defects in cell polarity and mitosis, suggesting MRLC is a critical downstream target of AMPK. Furthermore, the activation of AMPK by energy deprivation was sufficient to cause dramatic changes in cell shape, inducing complete polarization and brush border formation in the human LS174T cell line, through the phosphorylation of MRLC. Taken together, our results demonstrate that AMPK has highly conserved roles across metazoan species not only in the control of metabolism, but also in the regulation of cellular structures.     

微观交通仿真软件PARAMICS在ITS模拟和评价中的应用

鉴于已有交通仿真软件不能对智能交通系统(ITS)的模拟和评价提供有效的支持，提出了用微观交通仿真软件PARAMICS(PARAllel MICroscopic Simulator)的应用程序接口(API)实现这一目的的研究框架和技术路线，利用PARAMICS的API函数，编制了能够模拟ITS控制和诱导策略的插件，嵌入到其主要仿真模块中，实现了对多种ITS控制和诱导策略的模拟。在示例中研究了在事件引发的非常发性交通拥堵情况下，多种ITS控制和诱导策略的仿真实现、评价和对比。     

高耐热环氧树脂杂化体系研究

线性异氰酸根封端的聚氨酯酰亚胺(PUI)结合了聚氨酯和聚酰亚胺的优点,由聚氨酯预聚物和均苯四甲酸二酐直接合成.将笼型倍半硅氧烷(POSS)和PUI一同加入到环氧树脂(EP)中制备了一系列EP/PUI/POSS有机-无机纳米复合材料,以提高材料的耐热性和强度.使用TGA、DMA等方法对材料进行了研究,结果表明其热稳定性和力学性能都有显著提高.     

Aberrant methylation of donor genome in cloned bovine embryos

Despite recent successes in cloning various animal species, the use of somatic cells as the source of donor nuclei has raised many practically relevant questions such as increased abortion rates, high birth weight and perinatal death. These anomalies may be caused by incomplete epigenetic reprogramming of donor DNA. Genome-wide demethylation occurs during early development, 'erasing' gamete-specific methylation patterns inherited from the parents. This process may be a prerequisite for the formation of pluripotent stem cells that are important for the later development. Here, we provide evidence that cloned bovine embryos may have impaired epigenetic reprogramming capabilities. We found highly aberrant methylation patterns in various genomic regions of cloned embryos. Cloned blastocysts closely resembled donor cells in their overall genomic methylation status, which was very different from that of normal blastocysts produced in vitro or in vivo. We found demethylation of the Bov-B long interspersed nuclear element sequence in normal embryos, but not in cloned embryos, in which the donor-type methylation was simply maintained during preimplantation development. There were also significant variations in the degree of methylation among individual cloned blastocysts. Our findings indicate that the developmental anomalies of cloned embryos could be due to incomplete epigenetic reprogramming of donor genomic DNA.     

广州市住宅室内、外PM2. 5 中碳污染来源解析

旨在对大气PM2.5中碳污染来源进行解析,以寻求科学合理的预防与污染控制对策.在广州市9个居民住宅的室内、室外同步采集了PM2.5样品,对PM2.5中有机碳(OC)、元素碳(EC)组分采用热光反射分析法(TOR)分析.IMPROVE-TOR法分析OC、EC的过程中,根据固定的温度梯级将OC和EC区分为8个组分(OC1、OC2、OC3、OC4、EC1、EC2、EC3和OPC). 分析了广州市9个采样住宅夏、冬季室内和室外PM2.5中8个碳组分占总碳(TC)的平均丰度及其规律和启示.采用因子分析法对PM2.5中碳污染主要来源的定量贡献进行解析,找出广州市PM2.5中碳污染主要来源及其贡献率.采用简化模型,对室内OC、EC源对室内总碳的相对贡献率,室外OC、EC源对室内总碳的相对贡献率进行了定量化研究.     

Application of Standardization for Initial Design of Plastic Injection Moulds

Today, the time-to-market for plastic products ar e getting shorter, thus the lead-time for making the injection mould is decreasin g. There is potential in timesavings in the mould design stage because the design process that is repeatable for every mould design can be standardized. T he preliminary work of any final plastic injection mould design is to always pro vide an initial design of the mould assembly for product designers (customers) p rior to receiving the final product CAD data. Traditiona...     

Direct ink writing of polycaprolactone/polyethylene oxide based 3D constructs

There has been increasing interest over recent years in the application of three-dimensional(3 D) printing technologies in the biomedical field. One such method is Direct Ink Writing(DIW); this approach has the potential advantage of allowing room-temperature deposition of materials, presented as an ink, to build complex architectures. DIW offers the ability to process biomaterials containing temperature-sensitive components. Due to the fabrication principles of DIW, there are specific rheologic...