Fisheries: mislabelling of a depleted reef fish

Any fish species that appears to be readily available in the marketplace will create an impression among the public that there is a plentiful supply of that fish in the sea, but this may belie the true state of the fisheries' stock. Here we use molecular genetic analysis to show that some three-quarters of the fish sold in the United States as 'red snapper'--the US Food and Drug Administration's legally designated common name for Lutjanus campechanus--belong to another species. Mislabelling to this extent not only defrauds consumers but could also adversely affect estimates of stock size if it influences the reporting of catch data that are used in fisheries management.     

Reducing uncertainty about carbon dioxide as a climate driver

The lack of an adequate ancient analogue for future climates means that we ultimately must use and trust climate models, evaluated against modern observation and our best geologic records of warm and cold climates of the past. Armed with an elevated confidence in the models, we will then be able to make reliable predictions of the Earth's response to our risky experiment with the climate system.     

PPAR-γ is a major driver of the accumulation and phenotype of adipose tissue Treg cells

Obesity and type-2 diabetes have increased markedly over the past few decades, in parallel. One of the major links between these two disorders is chronic, low-grade inflammation. Prolonged nutrient excess promotes the accumulation and activation of leukocytes in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and ultimately other tissues, leading to metabolic abnormalities such as insulin resistance, type-2 diabetes and fatty-liver disease. Although invasion of VAT by pro-inflammatory macrophages is considered to be a key event driving adipose-tissue inflammation and insulin resistance, little is known about the roles of other immune system cell types in these processes. A unique population of VAT-resident regulatory T (Treg) cells was recently implicated in control of the inflammatory state of adipose tissue and, thereby, insulin sensitivity. Here we identify peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ, the 'master regulator' of adipocyte differentiation, as a crucial molecular orchestrator of VAT Treg cell accumulation, phenotype and function. Unexpectedly, PPAR-γ expression by VAT Treg cells was necessary for complete restoration of insulin sensitivity in obese mice by the thiazolidinedione drug pioglitazone. These findings suggest a previously unknown cellular mechanism for this important class of thiazolidinedione drugs, and provide proof-of-principle that discrete populations of Treg cells with unique functions can be precisely targeted to therapeutic ends.     

Passenger deletions generate therapeutic vulnerabilities in cancer

Inactivation of tumour-suppressor genes by homozygous deletion is a prototypic event in the cancer genome, yet such deletions often encompass neighbouring genes. We propose that homozygous deletions in such passenger genes can expose cancer-specific therapeutic vulnerabilities when the collaterally deleted gene is a member of a functionally redundant family of genes carrying out an essential function. The glycolytic gene enolase 1 (ENO1) in the 1p36 locus is deleted in glioblastoma (GBM), which is tolerated by the expression of ENO2. Here we show that short-hairpin-RNA-mediated silencing of ENO2 selectively inhibits growth, survival and the tumorigenic potential of ENO1-deleted GBM cells, and that the enolase inhibitor phosphonoacetohydroxamate is selectively toxic to ENO1-deleted GBM cells relative to ENO1-intact GBM cells or normal astrocytes. The principle of collateral vulnerability should be applicable to other passenger-deleted genes encoding functionally redundant essential activities and provide an effective treatment strategy for cancers containing such genomic events.     

Debris Flow Monitoring System and Observed Event in Taiwan： A Case Study at Aiyuzi River

Since 2002,the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau,which is responsible for the conservation and administrative man-agement of hillside in Taiwan,has been cooperating with Feng Chia University. Together,they have successfully carried out the establishment and maintenance of 13 fixed debris flow monitoring stations over the island and 2 mobile debris flow monitoring sta-tions. During July 2004,a powerful southwest air current brought by Mindulle Typhoon caused serious flood in central and southern Taiwan. This paper aims to describe the establishment of debris flow monitoring systems in Taiwan and the observation of the debris flow event during Mindulle Typhoon at Aiyuzi River in Shenmu Village,Nantou County by the monitoring station.     

双丁酰环腺苷酸对人胃腺癌体外培养细胞DNA合成的影响

应用~3H-TdR光镜和电镜放射自显影观察表明,MGc80-3 细胞标记指数达31.51％,标记银粒集中于分裂间期的S期细胞核中,细胞核呈重标记状态,绝大多数标记银粒分布于细胞核常染色质区域,少数见于核孔附近的常染色质或核孔附近的细胞质中,核仁未见标记,显示细胞内 DNA合成十分活跃。但经 dBcAMP诱导后,标记指数则降至 4.35％,细胞核呈弱标记状态,电镜放射自显影则未在细胞核内见到标记银粒,表明其DNA合成受到明显抑制。这种变化是由于dBcAMP诱导胃癌细胞内cAMP水平提高而实现的,认为DNA合成抑制是导致MGc80-3细胞走向分化的一个重要原因,对于癌变细胞恶性表型逆转具有重要作用。