Behavior of argon gas release from manganese oxide minerals as revealed by <Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar/<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar laser incremental heating analysis

Manganese oxides in association with paleo- weathering may provide significant insights into the multiple factors affecting the formation and evolution of weathering profiles, such as temperature, precipitation, and biodiversity. Laser probe step-heating analysis of supergene hollandite and cryptomelane samples collected from central Queensland, Australia, yield well-defined plateaus andconsistent isochron ages, confirming the feasibility dating very-fined supergene manganese oxides by 40Ar/39Ar technique. Two distinct structural sites hostingAr isotopes can be identified in light of their degassing behaviors obtained byincremental heating analyses. The first site, releasing its gas fraction at thelaser power 0.2-0.4 W, yields primarily 40Aratm, 38Aratm, and 36Aratm (atmospheric Ar isotopes). The second sites yield predominantly 40Ar* (radiogenic 40Ar),39ArK, and 38ArK (nucleogenic components), at ～0.5-1.0 W. There is no significant Ar gas released at the laser power higher than 1.0 W, indicating the breakdown of the tunnel sites hosting the radiogenic and nucleogenic components. The excellent match between the degassing behaviors of 40Ar*, 39ArK, and 38ArK suggests that these isotopes occupy the same crystallographic sites and that 39ArK lossfrom the tunnel site by recoil during neutron irradiation and/or bake-out procedure preceding isotopic analysis does not occur. Present investigation supports that neither the overwhelming atmospheric 40Ar nor the very-fined nature of the supergene manganese oxides poses problems in extracting meaningful weathering geochronological information by analyzing supergene manganese oxides minerals.     

半导体热电材料Bi1-xSbx薄膜的电化学制备

B I1-XSBX半导体合金是性能优异的热电和磁电功能材料,为制备固态电制冷器件、温差发电器件和磁电器件的重要材料。电化学沉积薄膜技术工艺设备简单成本低,在半导体薄膜制备方面有很好的应用前景。系统研究了高浓度盐酸(2.4 MOL/L)的B I和SB盐酸溶液,成份从纯铋逐步变化到纯锑的B I1-XSBX合金半导体薄膜电化学沉积特性。测试了沉积过程I-V循环曲线和和沉积电荷效率等电化学参数。结果表明在所有成份范围内都可以得到典型的B I1-XSBX固溶体结构的高质量薄膜。薄膜生长为典型的溶液扩散控制过程,具有高的沉积电荷效率。薄膜沉积和溶解之间的电位差随溶液中SB(Ⅲ)离子浓度增加而增大,生长的薄膜越来越稳定。在30%SB浓度附近,电化学过程、薄膜结构和性能发生明显的突变。应用X射线衍射和电子显微镜研究薄膜结构,发现薄膜具有明显的(012)择优取向,薄膜晶粒尺寸也随SB浓度的增加而变化。     

多重上市股价异常效应的影响因素——来自中国A、B股证券市场的证据

实证检验了多重上市的股价异常效应及其影响因素。结果表明,多重上市的股价异常效应并非市场过度反应的结果,而与A、B股的市场分割、发行价格与原股票价格的差异、上市前后流动性的变化紧密联系。另外,A股市场多重上市的股价异常效应主要表现在招股公告前,B股市场多重上市的股价异常效应则主要表现在招股公告后。从股东构成、时间因素、散户投资者的损失厌恶心理方面探讨了以上不对称反应模式的原因。     

Microbial starch-binding domains are superior to granule-bound starch synthase I for anchoring luciferase to potato starch granules

Microbial starch-binding domains (SBD) and granule-bound starch synthase I (GBSSI) are proteins which are accumulated in potato starch granules. The efficiency of SBD and GBSSI for targeting active luciferase reporter proteins to granules during starch biosynthesis was compared. GBSSI or SBD sequences were fused to the N- or C-terminus of the luciferase (LUC) gene, via an artificial Pro-Thr encoding linker sequence. The genes were introduced into an amylose-free (amf) potato mutant. It appeared that SBD was superior to GBSSI as a targeting sequence, mainly because the luciferase retained higher activity in the SBD-containing fusion proteins than in the GBSSI-containing ones.     

Mutations in genes encoding melanosomal proteins cause pigmentary glaucoma in DBA/2J mice.

Pigmentary glaucoma is a significant cause of human blindness. Abnormally liberated iris pigment and cell debris enter the ocular drainage structures, leading to increased intraocular pressure (IOP) and glaucoma. DBA/2J (D2) mice develop a form of pigmentary glaucoma involving iris pigment dispersion (IPD) and iris stromal atrophy (ISA). Using high-resolution mapping techniques, sequencing and functional genetic tests, we show that IPD and ISA result from mutations in related genes encoding melanosomal proteins. IPD is caused by a premature stop codon mutation in the Gpnmb (GpnmbR150X) gene, as proved by the occurrence of IPD only in D2 mice that are homozygous with respect to GpnmbR150X; otherwise, similar D2 mice that are not homozygous for GpnmbR150X do not develop IPD. ISA is caused by the recessive Tyrp1b mutant allele and rescued by the transgenic introduction of wildtype Tyrp1. We hypothesize that IPD and ISA alter melanosomes, allowing toxic intermediates of pigment production to leak from melanosomes, causing iris disease and subsequent pigmentary glaucoma. This is supported by the rescue of IPD and ISA in D2 eyes with substantially decreased pigment production. These data indicate that pigment production and mutant melanosomal protein genes may contribute to human pigmentary glaucoma. The fact that hypopigmentation profoundly alleviates the D2 disease indicates that therapeutic strategies designed to decrease pigment production may be beneficial in human pigmentary glaucoma.     

脉冲激光照射下生物质材料的传热特性

采用快速瞬态温度检测系统测定高能脉冲激光作用下生物质材料的温度动态变化,研究生物质材料瞬态传热特性以及激光脉冲宽度、功率密度、材料厚度与初始含湿量对温度变化规律的影响.根据实验现象,尝试提出脉冲激光作用下生物质材料传热的数学模型,数值模拟分析表明,计算与实验结果基本吻合,能较好地反应脉冲激光作用下生物质材料的传热特性,为进一步深入研究和理论分析积累了有价值的实验资料,提供了可供参考的经验.     

广西产眼镜王蛇毒α-神经毒素基因的分子克隆及序列分析

为获得眼镜王蛇（Ophiophagus hannah，简称Oh）蛇毒α－神经毒素（α-NT）的基因序列，依据眼镜蛇科不同毒蛇种类来源的α－NT基因有较高的同源性，设计1对上下游引物，为克服引物带来模糊扩增，在蛋白编码部分再设计1对上下游特异引物，用Nacleospin RNA Kit法从3条活眼镜王蛇毒腺中提取mRNA，以3′端引物合成的cDNA作为模板进行PCR扩增反应，测定产物的核苷酸序列，得到全长474bp的眼镜王蛇cDNA基因核苷酸序列。该核苷酸序列的信号肽与眼镜蛇树属Pseudonnaja textilis(Pt)、海蛇Laticauda semifasciata(Ls)100%同源，与眼镜蛇南洋亚种Naja sputatrix (Ns)、银环蛇（Bungarus multicinctus)(Bm)96.8%同源；蛋白密码部分有83．3％与Ns、79．2％与Pt、76．4％与Ls、74．1％与Bm同源。信号肽后紧接着的72个氨基酸有90．3％与已发现的眼镜王蛇毒长链α-NT Toxin a同源，大约有73．6％与Toxin b、69．7％与Oh-4、66．7％与Oh-5、56．9％与Oh-6A和6B同源，并与α－银环蛇毒素54．2％同源。说明新发现的眼镜王蛇cDNA是一条长链α-NT基因。     

Palaeolake and palaeoenvironment between 42 and 18 kaBP in tengger desert, NW China

Comprehensive field investigations and laboratory analyses show that palaeolakes, including fresh- mesohaline water Megalake Tengger and other semi-con- nected, isolated water bodies, during late Pleistocene covered an area of more than 20000 km², which is more than half of the Tengger Desert in NW China. Stratigraphic correlation and chronological evidence indicate that before ca. 42000 aBP the area was more arid. The palaeolakes started to develop around 40000 uncal. ¹⁴C aBP but until 37000 ¹⁴C aBP their scope was limited. High water levels established from 35000 ¹⁴C aBP lasted until 22000 ¹⁴CaBP. Lake levels regressed between 22000 and 20000 ¹⁴C aBP but transgressed from 20000 to 18600 ¹⁴C aBP. Subsequently, water level declined further and the Megalake Tengger finally desiccated at around 18000 ¹⁴C aBP. Megalake Tengger possessed a fresh-mesohaline water property, implying that the regional precipitation increased significantly. During the period of Megalake Tengger, the climate was warmer-humid than present. The annual rainfall was 250 to 350 mm more than that of today and the temperature was 1.5 to 3.0℃ higher.     

Superoxide activates mitochondrial uncoupling proteins.

Uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) diverts energy from ATP synthesis to thermogenesis in the mitochondria of brown adipose tissue by catalysing a regulated leak of protons across the inner membrane. The functions of its homologues, UCP2 and UCP3, in other tissues are debated. UCP2 and UCP3 are present at much lower abundance than UCP1, and the uncoupling with which they are associated is not significantly thermogenic. Mild uncoupling would, however, decrease the mitochondrial production of reactive oxygen species, which are important mediators of oxidative damage. Here we show that superoxide increases mitochondrial proton conductance through effects on UCP1, UCP2 and UCP3. Superoxide-induced uncoupling requires fatty acids and is inhibited by purine nucleotides. It correlates with the tissue expression of UCPs, appears in mitochondria from yeast expressing UCP1, and is absent in skeletal muscle mitochondria from UCP3 knockout mice. Our findings indicate that the interaction of superoxide with UCPs may be a mechanism for decreasing the concentrations of reactive oxygen species inside mitochondria.     

Sox9 induces testis development in XX transgenic mice.

Mutations in SOX9 are associated with male-to-female sex reversal in humans. To analyze Sox9 function during sex determination, we ectopically expressed this gene in XX gonads. Here, we show that Sox9 is sufficient to induce testis formation in mice, indicating that it can substitute for the sex-determining gene Sry.