Physical Characteristics of Knitted Polyester Vascular Prostheses： Can the Wall Be Considered as a Scaffold for Tissue Regeneration？

Recent developments in endovascular surgery (EVAR) have opened new avenues to successfully treat aneurysms with percutaneous deployment of stent-grafts.Manufacturers have preferred to use woven fabrics or micro-porous tubes which are supported by metallic frames or stents.Woven fabrics are much thinner than knits and this permits the use of a smaller delivery catheter.However,since woven constructions are stiffer and have little porosity,the tissue ingrowth is poor or absent.On the other hand,knitted constructions can be considered as a scaffold for tissue ingrowth,and hence they represent an attractive alternative because of their open structure and better conformability in the case of balloon deployment.The present study was undertaken to analyze the properties of two knitted and crimped polyester arterial prototype prostheses,one with and the other without a gelatin coating as sealant.Two commercial controls were also included in the study,namely the uncoated knitted polyester vascular prosthesis VP1200K,and its sealed version,the gelatin coated polyester knitted Gelsoft device,manufactured by Vascutek Ltd.,Scotland,UK.In vitro testing consisted of analyzing the geometry and morphology of the yarn and fabric structures,and measuring the physical and mechanical properties of the grafts,including the water permeability,the longitudinal and radial compliance,and the suture retention strength.In order to compare the different properties of the four samples,tests were also performed on the gelatin coated or sealed devices before and after gelatin removal.The results provided a useful comparison between the prototypes and the commercial control devices.The latter used ten times the amount of gelatin which had been applied as a coating in order to achieve the same low level of impermeability to water.The different amounts of gelatin also explained the different mechanical performance,such as compliance,for these prototype and control prostheses.     

先秦诸子对环境美学的影响

先秦诸子提出的人格美学范畴，对环境美学也产生了深远的影响，奠定了中国古典环境艺术（建筑、园林）的基本趣味。如非礼弗履、阴阳和谐、有无相生、道法自然等等。从这些美学趣味中，可以看出中国环境艺术的一个根本特点：环境与人相通。从而为我们理解中国古典园林、建筑找到了一个重要的视角：把环境美与人格美联系起来理解。     

外资进入中国风险资本市场浅析

文章对外资进入我国风险资本市场进行了简要分析。首先分析了外资进入中国资本市场的走势,然后论述了外资投资中国风险资本市场的特点,在此基础上分析了外资选择中国风险资本市场的原因和我国吸引外资风险资本尚存的不足。     

Endangered plants persist under phosphorus limitation

Nitrogen enrichment is widely thought to be responsible for the loss of plant species from temperate terrestrial ecosystems. This view is based on field surveys and controlled experiments showing that species richness correlates negatively with high productivity and nitrogen enrichment. However, as the type of nutrient limitation has never been examined on a large geographical scale the causality of these relationships is uncertain. We investigated species richness in herbaceous terrestrial ecosystems, sampled along a transect through temperate Eurasia that represented a gradient of declining levels of atmospheric nitrogen deposition--from approximately 50 kg ha(-1) yr(-1) in western Europe to natural background values of less than 5 kg ha(-1) yr(-1) in Siberia. Here we show that many more endangered plant species persist under phosphorus-limited than under nitrogen-limited conditions, and we conclude that enhanced phosphorus is more likely to be the cause of species loss than nitrogen enrichment. Our results highlight the need for a better understanding of the mechanisms of phosphorus enrichment, and for a stronger focus on conservation management to reduce phosphorus availability.     

Protein kinase C switches the Raf kinase inhibitor from Raf-1 to GRK-2

Feedback inhibition is a fundamental principle in signal transduction allowing rapid adaptation to different stimuli. In mammalian cells, the major feedback inhibitor for G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) is G-protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK-2), which phosphorylates activated receptors, uncouples them from G proteins and initiates their internalization. The functions of GRK-2 are indispensable and need to be tightly controlled. Dysregulation promotes disorders such as hypertension or heart failure. In our search for a control mechanism for this vital kinase, here we show that the Raf kinase inhibitor protein (RKIP) is a physiological inhibitor of GRK-2. After stimulation of GPCR, RKIP dissociates from its known target, Raf-1 (refs 6-8), to associate with GRK-2 and block its activity. This switch is triggered by protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent phosphorylation of the RKIP on serine 153. The data delineate a new principle in signal transduction: by activating PKC, the incoming receptor signal is enhanced both by removing an inhibitor from Raf-1 and by blocking receptor internalization. A physiological role for this mechanism is shown in cardiomyocytes in which the downregulation of RKIP restrains beta-adrenergic signalling and contractile activity.     

A light carbon reservoir recorded in zircon-hosted diamond from the Jack Hills

The recent discovery of diamond-graphite inclusions in the Earth's oldest zircon grains (formed up to 4,252 Myr ago) from the Jack Hills metasediments in Western Australia provides a unique opportunity to investigate Earth's earliest known carbon reservoir. Here we report ion microprobe analyses of the carbon isotope composition of these diamond-graphite inclusions. The observed delta(13)C(PDB) values (expressed using the PeeDee Belemnite standard) range between -5 per mil and -58 per mil with a median of -31 per mil. This extends beyond typical mantle values of around -6 per mil to values observed in metamorphic and some eclogitic diamonds that are interpreted to reflect deep subduction of low-delta(13)C(PDB) biogenic surface carbon. Low delta(13)C(PDB) values may also be produced by inorganic chemical reactions, and therefore are not unambiguous evidence for life on Earth as early as 4,250 Myr ago. Regardless, our results suggest that a low-delta(13)C(PDB) reservoir may have existed on the early Earth.     

Magnetoreception and its trigeminal mediation in the homing pigeon

Two conflicting hypotheses compete to explain how a homing pigeon can return to its loft over great distances. One proposes the use of atmospheric odours and the other the Earth's magnetic field in the 'map' step of the 'map and compass' hypothesis of pigeon homing. Although magnetic effects on pigeon orientation provide indirect evidence for a magnetic 'map', numerous conditioning experiments have failed to demonstrate reproducible responses to magnetic fields by pigeons. This has led to suggestions that homing pigeons and other birds have no useful sensitivity to the Earth's magnetic field. Here we demonstrate that homing pigeons (Columba livia) can discriminate between the presence and absence of a magnetic anomaly in a conditioned choice experiment. This discrimination is impaired by attachment of a magnet to the cere, local anaesthesia of the upper beak area, and bilateral section of the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve, but not of the olfactory nerve. These results suggest that magnetoreception (probably magnetite-based) occurs in the upper beak area of the pigeon. Traditional methods of rendering pigeons anosmic might therefore cause simultaneous impairment of magnetoreception so that future orientation experiments will require independent evaluation of the pigeon's magnetic and olfactory systems.     

结晶紫共振光散射法测定水样中痕量过氧化氢

在pH 5.2 Hac-NaAc缓冲溶液和PVA存在的条件下,H2O2 在Fe2+的催化作用下产生的羟自由基·OH,·OH氧化I-并生成的 I-3,而I-3又与带正电荷的结晶紫形成缔合物微粒,导致体系溶液共振光散射明显增强.在546.8 nm处,共振光强度的改变值ΔI溶液中H2O2的含量在0.017～0.714 μg/mL范围内呈良好的线性关系,据此建立了一种共振光散射法检测H2O2,方法检出限5.10×10-3 μg/mL H2O2,相对标准偏差为3.1%～3.5%,该方法用于水样的测定,加标回收率为96.1%～102%,结果满意.