Activation-induced cytidine deaminase turns on somatic hypermutation in hybridomas

The production of high-affinity protective antibodies requires somatic hypermutation (SHM) of the antibody variable (V)-region genes. SHM is characterized by a high frequency of point mutations that occur only during the centroblast stage of B-cell differentiation. Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), which is expressed specifically in germinal-centre centroblasts, is required for this process, but its exact role is unknown. Here we show that AID is required for SHM in the centroblast-like Ramos cells, and that expression of AID is sufficient to induce SHM in hybridoma cells, which represent a later stage of B-cell differentiation that does not normally undergo SHM. In one hybridoma, mutations were exclusively in G*C base pairs that were mostly within RGYW or WRCY motifs, suggesting that AID has primary responsibility for mutations at these nucleotides. The activation of SHM in hybridomas indicates that AID does not require other centroblast-specific cofactors to induce SHM, suggesting either that it functions alone or that the factors it requires are expressed at other stages of B-cell differentiation.     

古耀州瓷着色元素的中子活化分析

运用中子活化分析(NAA)技术,测定耀州瓷釉中29种元素的质量含量,从中选取24种着色元素．通过对比分析,最后确定铁是耀州瓷的着色主元素,证明了考古界“耀州瓷以铁为着色主元素”的说法．     

二阶非线性泛函微分方程解的有界性的判据

考虑二阶非线性泛函微分方程y"(t)+a(t)f(y(t))+b(t)y(t-τ)+c(t)y'(t)=0 (*)y"(t)+a(t)f(y(t))+b(t)g(y(t-τ))+c(t)y'(t)=0, (**)其中a∈C1([0,∞,(0,∞)),b∈C([0,∞),R),c∈C([0,∞),(0,∞)),f,g∈C(R,R)且存在常数λ＞0,μ＞0,使当u≠0时有u/f(u)≥λ,g2(u)≤μu2.文章得到方程(**)所有解有界的一个充分条件为,存在函数h∈C1([0,∞),(0,∞)),使得h(t)≥a't+2a(t)c(t)/b2(t),h'(t)≤0,∫∞h(s)ds＜∞.     

Fuzzy cluster analysis of the provenance of ancient Yaozhou porcelain body

The technique of neutron activation analysis (NAA) has been employed to measure the content of 29 kinds of elements in the sample of Yaozhou porcelain bodies,Then a fuzzy cluster analsis has been conducted to the NAA data and a diagram of the dynamic fuzzy cluster analysis has been achived,The results indicate that the batch of ancient Yaozhou porcelain bodies,which were of different overglaze color and were produced by different kilns during a period of over 800 years from the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) to the Yuan Dyansty(1271-1368 A.D.) ,has shared a stable and concentrated raw material source,Provenances of porcelain bodies from different times ,though having their specific independence ,enjoy a close relationship and are not far from one another,Provenances of porcelain bodies made during the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties (907-960 A.D.)are found to be closer to one another,while those of the Song (960-1279A.D.) and the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234 A.D.)are comparatively concentrated in certain areas and are different from those of the Tang Dynasty .Both the tri-colored glazed pottery made in Yaozhou kilns during the Tang Dynasty and the Yaozhou porcelain bodies of the Tang period are from the same provenance.     

Molecular self-assembly behavior of mono[6-O-6-(4-carboxyl-phenyl)]-β-CD in solution and solid state

A novel modified cyclodextrin, mono[6-O-6-(4-carboxyl-phenyl)]-]-β-CD (1), has been synthesized by the reaction of mono[6-(p-toluenesulfonyl)]-β-CD with 4-hydroxybenzoate, and its molecular self-assembly behavior in both solution and solid state was studied by means of crystallography, NMR spectroscopy and microcalorimetry. The results indicate that the bezoic acid groups are successively penetrated intermolecularly into the adjacent β-CD cavities to form helical columnar supramolecules in the solid state. As compared with crystal, the similar self-assembly behavior of 1 in aqueous solution has also been confirmed by the ^1H ROESY spectroscopy. Thermodynamically, the formation of polymeric supramolecules by modified CD in aqueous solution is mainly driven by entropy changes.     

Experimental investigation of parallel optical data storage using pyrrylfulgide photochromic material

The optical storage characteristics of a new kind of organic photochromic material棗pyrrylfulgide were experimentally investigated in the established parallel optical data storage system. Using the pyrrylfulgide/PMMA film as a photon-mode recording medium, micro-images and encoded binary digital data were recorded, readout and erased in this parallel system. The storage density currently reaches 3?107 bit/cm2. The recorded information on the film can be kept for years in darkness at room temperature.     

Expression of recombinant human lysozyme in the milk of transgenic mice

Human lysozyme is a 130-aa (amino acid) alkaline polypeptide, and has both anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties which make it an important component of human natural immunity system. As a first step toward the ultimate goal of improving the anti-bacterial properties of bovine and ovine milk, a transgenic mouse that contains the genomic DNA sequence of the human lysozme gene has been generated for the first time. From 83 mice generated by microinjection, a total of 6 positive transgenic mice were identified by PCR and Southern blot. F1 mice positive for transgene in lines were also detected by PCR. This shows that transgene could be transmitted from founder transgenic mice to their offspring. Recombinant human lysozyme (rHlys) was found in the whey of 3 female positive transgenic mice by Western blot. The highest concentration of rHlys for transgenic mice was 0.2mg/mL. The antibacterial activity of the whey for transgenic mice was highly enhanced up to 0.4 times as much as that of human, while that of non-transgenic mouse was very low. Although the lysozyme activity of transgenic mice is still lower than that of human, the rHlys exhibits the same specific activity as that of human lysozyme. It provides a strong basis for further studies into the possible application of rHlys express in mammary gland.     

Victorian naturalists in China: science and informal empire

This paper discusses the research of British naturalists in China during the period between the Opium War and the collapse of the Qing dynasty (1839-1911). China was defeated in the Opium War and forced to open treaty ports for trade with the Westerners. The foreign powers, particularly Britain, imposed upon the Qing government treaties, concession leases, favourable trade conditions, legal privileges and so on to reduce its political autonomy. In the shadow of the informal empire, not only did the British have more freedom to travel in China, first at the treaty ports and later in the interior, but they successively established diplomatic , commercial and missionary institutions in dozens of Chinese cities. The most important of them - the British Consular Service, the Chinese Maritime Customs and the Protestant missionary organizations - provided the talent and infrastructure for natural historical research and became networks for scientific information. The research into China's natural history epitomized the characteristics of British research on China in general: it engaged in collecting and circulating an ever-increasing amount of information and aimed at producing 'factual' and 'useful' knowledge about China. The paper modified current literature on scientific imperialism, which has dealt primarily with the colonial context, by examining the role of nineteenth-century British imperial science in the context of informal empire.     

Rapid prototyping of patterned functional nanostructures

Living systems exhibit form and function on multiple length scales and at multiple locations. In order to mimic such natural structures, it is necessary to develop efficient strategies for assembling hierarchical materials. Conventional photolithography, although ubiquitous in the fabrication of microelectronics and microelectromechanical systems, is impractical for defining feature sizes below 0.1 micrometres and poorly suited to pattern chemical functionality. Recently, so-called 'soft' lithographic approaches have been combined with surfactant and particulate templating procedures to create materials with multiple levels of structural order. But the materials thus formed have been limited primarily to oxides with no specific functionality, and the associated processing times have ranged from hours to days. Here, using a self-assembling 'ink' we combine silica-surfactant self-assembly with three rapid printing procedures--pen lithography, ink-jet printing, and dip-coating of patterned self-assembled monolayers--to form functional, hierarchically organized structures in seconds. The rapid-prototyping procedures we describe are simple, employ readily available equipment, and provide a link between computer-aided design and self-assembled nanostructures. We expect that the ability to form arbitrary functional designs on arbitrary surfaces will be of practical importance for directly writing sensor arrays and fluidic or photonic systems.