利用声场双耳互相关函数和声源自相关函数计算音乐信号与脉冲响应卷积信号的IACC

双耳脉冲响应（BIRs）是用以表征音乐厅和歌剧院声场特征的参量．由于BIRs是表征声场的转移函数，因此，在消声室中录制的声源信号与BIRs卷积，就代表在实际声场中听到的信号．为了探究原信号的声学特征，一种有效的方法是计算其自相关函数（ACF），因为从ACF中导出的参量能与听者的主观优选良好相关．因此可以说，卷积与相关是室内声学中最重要的计算方法．文中通过将BIRs导出的双耳互相关函数（IACF）和将干信号与BIRs卷积后的IACF作比较，探讨了声源信号与声场之间的关系．在特定备件下，卷积与相关是等同的，此时，干信号与BIRs卷积后的IACC可直接由BIRs导出的IACC与干信号的ACF的有效时间τe来表示。     

Ancient co-speciation of simian foamy viruses and primates

Although parasite-host co-speciation is a long-held hypothesis, convincing evidence for long-term co-speciation remains elusive, largely because of small numbers of hosts and parasites studied and uncertainty over rates of evolutionary change. Co-speciation is especially rare in RNA viruses, in which cross-species transfer is the dominant mode of evolution. Simian foamy viruses (SFVs) are ubiquitous, non-pathogenic retroviruses that infect all primates. Here we test the co-speciation hypothesis in SFVs and their primate hosts by comparing the phylogenies of SFV polymerase and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit II from African and Asian monkeys and apes. The phylogenetic trees were remarkably congruent in both branching order and divergence times, strongly supporting co-speciation. Molecular clock calibrations revealed an extremely low rate of SFV evolution, 1.7 x 10(-8) substitutions per site per year, making it the slowest-evolving RNA virus documented so far. These results indicate that SFVs might have co-speciated with Old World primates for at least 30 million years, making them the oldest known vertebrate RNA viruses.     

Role of nucleophosmin in embryonic development and tumorigenesis

Nucleophosmin (also known as NPM, B23, NO38) is a nucleolar protein directly implicated in cancer pathogenesis, as the NPM1 gene is found mutated and rearranged in a number of haematological disorders. Furthermore, the region of chromosome 5 to which NPM1 maps is deleted in a proportion of de novo human myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), and loss of chromosome 5 is extremely frequent in therapy-related MDS. NPM is a multifunctional protein, and its role in oncogenesis is controversial as NPM has been attributed with both oncogenic and tumour suppressive functions. To study the function of Npm in vivo, we generated a hypomorphic Npm1 mutant series (Npm1+/- < Npm1(hy/hy) < Npm1-/-) in mouse. Here we report that Npm is essential for embryonic development and the maintenance of genomic stability. Npm1-/- and Npm1(hy/hy) mutants have aberrant organogenesis and die between embryonic day E11.5 and E16.5 owing to severe anaemia resulting from defects in primitive haematopoiesis. We show that Npm1 inactivation leads to unrestricted centrosome duplication and genomic instability. We demonstrate that Npm is haploinsufficient in the control of genetic stability and that Npm1 heterozygosity accelerates oncogenesis both in vitro and in vivo. Notably, Npm1+/- mice develop a haematological syndrome with features of human MDS. Our findings uncover an essential developmental role for Npm and implicate its functional loss in tumorigenesis and MDS pathogenesis.     

Neurosphere-derived multipotent precursors promote neuroprotection by an immunomodulatory mechanism

In degenerative disorders of the central nervous system (CNS), transplantation of neural multipotent (stem) precursor cells (NPCs) is aimed at replacing damaged neural cells. Here we show that in CNS inflammation, NPCs are able to promote neuroprotection by maintaining undifferentiated features and exerting unexpected immune-like functions. In a mouse model of chronic CNS inflammation, systemically injected adult syngeneic NPCs use constitutively activated integrins and functional chemokine receptors to selectively enter the inflamed CNS. These undifferentiated cells survive repeated episodes of CNS inflammation by accumulating within perivascular areas where reactive astrocytes, inflamed endothelial cells and encephalitogenic T cells produce neurogenic and gliogenic regulators. In perivascular CNS areas, surviving adult NPCs induce apoptosis of blood-borne CNS-infiltrating encephalitogenic T cells, thus protecting against chronic neural tissue loss as well as disease-related disability. These results indicate that undifferentiated adult NPCs have relevant therapeutic potential in chronic inflammatory CNS disorders because they display immune-like functions that promote long-lasting neuroprotection.     

Hypothalamic K(ATP) channels control hepatic glucose production

Obesity is the driving force behind the worldwide increase in the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Hyperglycaemia is a hallmark of diabetes and is largely due to increased hepatic gluconeogenesis. The medial hypothalamus is a major integrator of nutritional and hormonal signals, which play pivotal roles not only in the regulation of energy balance but also in the modulation of liver glucose output. Bidirectional changes in hypothalamic insulin signalling therefore result in parallel changes in both energy balance and glucose metabolism. Here we show that activation of ATP-sensitive potassium (K(ATP)) channels in the mediobasal hypothalamus is sufficient to lower blood glucose levels through inhibition of hepatic gluconeogenesis. Finally, the infusion of a K(ATP) blocker within the mediobasal hypothalamus, or the surgical resection of the hepatic branch of the vagus nerve, negates the effects of central insulin and halves the effects of systemic insulin on hepatic glucose production. Consistent with these results, mice lacking the SUR1 subunit of the K(ATP) channel are resistant to the inhibitory action of insulin on gluconeogenesis. These findings suggest that activation of hypothalamic K(ATP) channels normally restrains hepatic gluconeogenesis, and that any alteration within this central nervous system/liver circuit can contribute to diabetic hyperglycaemia.     

Deafness and renal tubular acidosis in mice lacking the K-Cl co-transporter Kcc4

Hearing depends on a high K(+) concentration bathing the apical membranes of sensory hair cells. K(+) that has entered hair cells through apical mechanosensitive channels is transported to the stria vascularis for re-secretion into the scala media(). K(+) probably exits outer hair cells by KCNQ4 K(+) channels(), and is then transported by means of a gap junction system connecting supporting Deiters' cells and fibrocytes() back to the stria vascularis. We show here that mice lacking the K(+)/Cl(-) (K-Cl) co-transporter Kcc4 (coded for by Slc12a7) are deaf because their hair cells degenerate rapidly after the beginning of hearing. In the mature organ of Corti, Kcc4 is restricted to supporting cells of outer and inner hair cells. Our data suggest that Kcc4 is important for K(+) recycling() by siphoning K(+) ions after their exit from outer hair cells into supporting Deiters' cells, where K(+) enters the gap junction pathway. Similar to some human genetic syndromes(), deafness in Kcc4-deficient mice is associated with renal tubular acidosis. It probably results from an impairment of Cl(-) recycling across the basolateral membrane of acid-secreting alpha-intercalated cells of the distal nephron.     

A low mass for Mars from Jupiter's early gas-driven migration

Jupiter and Saturn formed in a few million years (ref. 1) from a gas-dominated protoplanetary disk, and were susceptible to gas-driven migration of their orbits on timescales of only ～100,000 years (ref. 2). Hydrodynamic simulations show that these giant planets can undergo a two-stage, inward-then-outward, migration. The terrestrial planets finished accreting much later, and their characteristics, including Mars' small mass, are best reproduced by starting from a planetesimal disk with an outer edge at about one astronomical unit from the Sun (1 au is the Earth-Sun distance). Here we report simulations of the early Solar System that show how the inward migration of Jupiter to 1.5 au, and its subsequent outward migration, lead to a planetesimal disk truncated at 1 au; the terrestrial planets then form from this disk over the next 30-50 million years, with an Earth/Mars mass ratio consistent with observations. Scattering by Jupiter initially empties but then repopulates the asteroid belt, with inner-belt bodies originating between 1 and 3 au and outer-belt bodies originating between and beyond the giant planets. This explains the significant compositional differences across the asteroid belt. The key aspect missing from previous models of terrestrial planet formation is the substantial radial migration of the giant planets, which suggests that their behaviour is more similar to that inferred for extrasolar planets than previously thought.     

Transmembrane semaphorin signalling controls laminar stratification in the mammalian retina

In the vertebrate retina, establishment of precise synaptic connections among distinct retinal neuron cell types is critical for processing visual information and for accurate visual perception. Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), amacrine cells and bipolar cells establish stereotypic neurite arborization patterns to form functional neural circuits in the inner plexiform layer (IPL), a laminar region that is conventionally divided into five major parallel sublaminae. However, the molecular mechanisms governing distinct retinal subtype targeting to specific sublaminae within the IPL remain to be elucidated. Here we show that the transmembrane semaphorin Sema6A signals through its receptor PlexinA4 (PlexA4) to control lamina-specific neuronal stratification in the mouse retina. Expression analyses demonstrate that Sema6A and PlexA4 proteins are expressed in a complementary fashion in the developing retina: Sema6A in most ON sublaminae and PlexA4 in OFF sublaminae of the IPL. Mice with null mutations in PlexA4 or Sema6A exhibit severe defects in stereotypic lamina-specific neurite arborization of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-expressing dopaminergic amacrine cells, intrinsically photosensitive RGCs (ipRGCs) and calbindin-positive cells in the IPL. Sema6A and PlexA4 genetically interact in vivo for the regulation of dopaminergic amacrine cell laminar targeting. Therefore, neuronal targeting to subdivisions of the IPL in the mammalian retina is directed by repulsive transmembrane guidance cues present on neuronal processes.