实验测得的C2-C6二元羧酸溶液的冻结温度:冰核核化过程中的重要指标

由于大气气溶胶影响着地球辐射总量的平衡与能量的估算, 有机化合物作为气溶胶和云凝结核(cloud condensation nuclei, CCN)的重要组成成分, 其重要性已经越来越引起科学家们的重视. 而低分子量二元羧酸(low molecular weight dicarboxylic acids, LMWDCA)作为大气(包括云和雾)中气溶胶的重要成分,其在大气中的传输与转化过程中的作用尤其是对冰核(ice nuclei, IN)核化过程的影响已经成为当前的一个重要的前沿科学研究领域. 本研究利用麦吉尔大学的冻结核记数仪分别测量了不同pH的水溶液(超纯净水与自来水)中单纯态的与混合态的低分子量二元羧酸(C2-C6)液滴的冻结温度. 结果显示, 低分子量二元羧酸(C2-C6)自来水溶液的冻结温度明显的高于其相应的超纯净水溶液. 不同混合态的二元羧酸(C2-C6)的纯净水和自来水溶液液滴的平均冻结温度范围分别是: (-24.1±2.8)~(-21.3±3.9)℃和(-10.2±2.2)~(-9.5±2.2)℃, 而所测对照水(超纯净水与自来水)溶液液滴的平均冻结温度则分别是(-22.6±3.5)和(-11.2±2.4)℃. C2-C6二元羧酸的加入对于水溶液液滴的冻结温度增高的促进作用并不显著.     

影响林木种子贮藏的因素

为了每年提供造林新需的具有生活力的种子及长期保存种质资源,贮藏种子是必要的手段。种子寿命具有遗传性,且因树种而异。种子的贮藏特性可以分成5类:正常型、亚正常型、温带顽拗型、热带顽拗型和中间型。种子含水量和贮藏温度是影响种子贮藏是否成功的两个最重要因素。但因树种及其贮藏特性不同,种子含水量和贮藏温度的最适值也不同。为了保持正常型和亚正常型种子的生活力,这类种子必须密封贮藏;但对顽拗型种子,因其需要保持种子的代谢活性及要进行有氧呼吸,则需要气体交换。     

Late Cretaceous-Cenozoic exhumation history of Tiantangzhai region of Dabieshan Orogen： Constraints from （U-Th）／He and fission track analysis

Integrated fission track and (U-Th)/He analysis is carried out on 6 apatite and 6 zircon samples from a near vertical section in The Tiantangzhai region at the core of the present Dabieshan orogen. The result shows that the region experienced cooling/exhumation during the Late Cretaceousand Early Tertiary period. Age-elevation relationships for different dating systems and different minerals suggest a pulse of rapid exhumation at ～110 Ma before present, preserved in the structurally highest samples. At lower elevations, ages begin to decrease with decreasing elevation, suggesting lower exhumation rates since 90 Ma. Two periods of different exhumation rates are identified since 90 Ma. The average apparent exhumation rate for the period of 43.4—22.5 is 0.062 km/Ma, whereas that for the period of 76.4—47.4 Ma is 0.039 km/Ma.     

Minimum information about a microarray experiment (MIAME)-toward standards for microarray data.

Microarray analysis has become a widely used tool for the generation of gene expression data on a genomic scale. Although many significant results have been derived from microarray studies, one limitation has been the lack of standards for presenting and exchanging such data. Here we present a proposal, the Minimum Information About a Microarray Experiment (MIAME), that describes the minimum information required to ensure that microarray data can be easily interpreted and that results derived from its analysis can be independently verified. The ultimate goal of this work is to establish a standard for recording and reporting microarray-based gene expression data, which will in turn facilitate the establishment of databases and public repositories and enable the development of data analysis tools. With respect to MIAME, we concentrate on defining the content and structure of the necessary information rather than the technical format for capturing it.     

Purification and cloning of amyloid precursor protein beta-secretase from human brain

Proteolytic processing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) generates amyloid beta (Abeta) peptide, which is thought to be causal for the pathology and subsequent cognitive decline in Alzheimer's disease. Cleavage by beta-secretase at the amino terminus of the Abeta peptide sequence, between residues 671 and 672 of APP, leads to the generation and extracellular release of beta-cleaved soluble APP, and a corresponding cell-associated carboxy-terminal fragment. Cleavage of the C-terminal fragment by gamma-secretase(s) leads to the formation of Abeta. The pathogenic mutation K670M671-->N670L671 at the beta-secretase cleavage site in APP, which was discovered in a Swedish family with familial Alzheimer's disease, leads to increased beta-secretase cleavage of the mutant substrate. Here we describe a membrane-bound enzyme activity that cleaves full-length APP at the beta-secretase cleavage site, and find it to be the predominant beta-cleavage activity in human brain. We have purified this enzyme activity to homogeneity from human brain using a new substrate analogue inhibitor of the enzyme activity, and show that the purified enzyme has all the properties predicted for beta-secretase. Cloning and expression of the enzyme reveals that human brain beta-secretase is a new membrane-bound aspartic proteinase.