含有分布导数的微分方程解的存在唯一性定理

利用广义常微分方程的性质和方法证明了含有分布导数的微分方程x′=f(x,t)解的存在性和唯一性定理.     

Functional coordination of intraflagellar transport motors

Cilia have diverse roles in motility and sensory reception, and defects in cilia function contribute to ciliary diseases such as Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS). Intraflagellar transport (IFT) motors assemble and maintain cilia by transporting ciliary precursors, bound to protein complexes called IFT particles, from the base of the cilium to their site of incorporation at the distal tip. In Caenorhabditis elegans, this is accomplished by two IFT motors, kinesin-II and osmotic avoidance defective (OSM)-3 kinesin, which cooperate to form two sequential anterograde IFT pathways that build distinct parts of cilia. By observing the movement of fluorescent IFT motors and IFT particles along the cilia of numerous ciliary mutants, we identified three genes whose protein products mediate the functional coordination of these motors. The BBS proteins BBS-7 and BBS-8 are required to stabilize complexes of IFT particles containing both of the IFT motors, because IFT particles in bbs-7 and bbs-8 mutants break down into two subcomplexes, IFT-A and IFT-B, which are moved separately by kinesin-II and OSM-3 kinesin, respectively. A conserved ciliary protein, DYF-1, is specifically required for OSM-3 kinesin to dock onto and move IFT particles, because OSM-3 kinesin is inactive and intact IFT particles are moved by kinesin-II alone in dyf-1 mutants. These findings implicate BBS ciliary disease proteins and an OSM-3 kinesin activator in the formation of two IFT pathways that build functional cilia.     

利用Mahalanobis距离进行人脸表情的识别

提出了利用Mahalanobis距离进行人脸表情识别的方法.首先将待分类的图像样本集进行坐标变换,使得变换以后类间离散度尽可能大而类内离散度尽可能小,即使变换以后的Fisher准则函数取得极大值,在新的坐标下求每个待分类样本到各类均值向量的Mahalanobis距离,从而将待分类的样本归到Mahalanobis距离最小的类中去,通过实验得到了平均80.25%的识别率.     

不同贮藏条件下鳗骨油氧化特性的研究

研究了室温下（15℃）鳗骨油在空气中的自氧化速度,以及温度和贮藏条件对鳗骨油氧化速度的影响。实验所设的温度梯度分别为6℃、15℃、35℃,贮藏条件分别是敞口,密封（蜡封）和用N2驱除氧气后密封保存。实验结果显示,室温下鳗骨油在空气中的自氧化速度,敞口存放4天,过氧化值就已超过0.15;温度和贮藏条件对鳗骨油的氧化速度有显著影响,驱除氧气低温贮藏可以有效地防止鳗骨油的氧化。     

RNA-dependent RNA polymerase encoded by hepatitis C virus: biomedical applications

The hepatitis C viruses (HCVs) are a group of small enveloped RNA viruses that have been viewed as a leading cause of chronic hepatitis in humans. Infections by HCV represent a serious global health problem, because millions of people worldwide are infected and no efficient treatment is available at the present time. Since HCV was identified in 1989, considerable effort has been devoted to the discovery and development of novel molecules to treat HCV-related diseases. One of the approaches is the development of novel inhibitors that interrupt the normal functions of HCV NS5B, an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase essential to HCV replication. This review summarizes recent advances in the biochemical and structural understanding of HCV NS5B polymerase as well as in the development of antiviral agents targeting this important enzyme. Received 19 March 2002; received after revision 23 April 2002; accepted 23 April 2002     

Potassium conductances in hippocampal neurons blocked by excitatory amino-acid transmitters

Excitatory amino acids mediate fast synaptic transmission in the central nervous system through the activation of at least three distinct ionotropic receptors: N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA), the alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-isoxasole-4-propionate (AMPA)/quisqualate (QUIS) and the kainate subtypes (for reviews, see refs 1, 2). They also activate the additional QUIS 'metabotropic' receptor (sensitive to trans-1-amino-cyclopentyl-1,3-dicarboxylate, ACPD) linked to inositol phospholipid metabolism. We have used hippocampal slice cultures to study the electrophysiological consequences of the metabotropic response. We find that activation of an ACPD-sensitive QUIS receptor produces a 'slow' excitation of CA3 pyramidal cells, resulting from depression of a Ca2(+)-dependent K+ current and a voltage-gated K+ current. Combined voltage-clamp and microfluorometric recordings show that, although these receptors can trigger an increase in intracellular Ca2+ concentration, suppression of K+ currents is independent of changes in intracellular Ca2+. These effects closely resemble those induced by activating muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in the same neurons and suggest that excitatory amino acids not only act as fast ionotropic transmitters but also as slow neuromodulatory transmitters.     

Preferential DNA secondary structure mutagenesis in the lagging strand of replication in E. coli

When present in single-stranded DNA, palindromic or quasi-palindromic sequences have the potential to form complex secondary structures, including hairpins, which may facilitate interstrand misalignment of direct repeats and be responsible for diverse types of replication-based mutations, including deletions, additions, frameshifts and duplications. In regions of palindromic symmetry, specific deletion events may involve the formation of a hairpin or other DNA secondary structures which can stabilize the misalignment of direct repeats. One model suggests that these deletions occur during DNA replication by slippage of the template strand and misalignment with the progeny strand. The concurrent DNA replication model, involving an asymmetric dimeric DNA polymerase III complex which replicates the leading and lagging strands, has significant implications for mutagenesis. The intermittent looping of the lagging strand template, and the fact that the lagging strand template may contain a region of single-stranded DNA the length of an Okazaki fragment, provides an opportunity for DNA secondary-structure formation and misalignment. Here we report our design of a palindromic fragment to create an 'asymmetric palindromic insert' in the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene of plasmid pBR325. The frequency with which the insert was deleted in Escherichia coli depends on the orientation of the gene in the plasmid. Our results suggest that replication-dependent deletion between direct repeats may occur preferentially in the lagging strand.