Assessment of the uncertainties in temperature change in China during the last century

We have used the China Homogenized Historic Temperature dataset and some long-term station series of the neighbor countries from CRUTEM3, a 5°×5° gridded dataset of monthly mean temperature since 1900, to provide a 107-year record of surface tem-perature trends and variability. We derived a comprehensive set of uncertainty estimates to accompany the data: measurement and sampling errors, uncertainties in temperature bias estimates, and uncertainties arising from limited observational coverage on large-scale averages have all been estimated. We reanalysed the temperature changes during the period of record. The best estimates of trends for 1900–2006 with uncertainties at 95% confidence range are about 0.09±0.017°C/decade for the year as a whole, and 0.14±0.021°C/decade, 0.11±0.021°C/decade, 0.04±0.017°C/decade, and 0.07±0.017°C/decade for winter, spring, summer and autumn respectively. For 1954–2006, the trends for annual, winter, spring, summer and autumn are: 0.26±0.032°C/decade, 0.35±0.046°C/decade, 0.25±0.051°C/decade, 0.16±0.037°C/decade and 0.22±0.055°C/decade. Winter saw the most significant warming trend in both 1900–2006 and 1954–2006, while during the most recent period (the satellite era, 1979–2006), all the seasons show similar warming trends: 0.45±0.13°C/decade, 0.51±0.11°C/decade, 0.52±0.16°C/decade, 0.37±0.10°C/decade and 0.50±0.16°C/decade for annual, winter, spring, summer and autumn. Trends arising from urbanization have been evaluated as less than 5% of the total warming trend for 1951–2001, so this bias was not removed.     

Fluctuating stripes at the onset of the pseudogap in the high-T(c) superconductor Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+x)

Doped Mott insulators have a strong propensity to form patterns of holes and spins often referred to as stripes. In copper oxides, doping also gives rise to the pseudogap state, which can be transformed into a high-temperature superconducting state with sufficient doping or by reducing the temperature. A long-standing issue has been the interplay between the pseudogap, which is generic to all hole-doped copper oxide superconductors, and stripes, whose static form occurs in only one family of copper oxides over a narrow range of the phase diagram. Here we report observations of the spatial reorganization of electronic states with the onset of the pseudogap state in the high-temperature superconductor Bi(2)Sr(2)CaCu(2)O(8+x), using spectroscopic mapping with a scanning tunnelling microscope. We find that the onset of the pseudogap phase coincides with the appearance of electronic patterns that have the predicted characteristics of fluctuating stripes. As expected, the stripe patterns are strongest when the hole concentration in the CuO(2) planes is close to 1/8 (per copper atom). Although they demonstrate that the fluctuating stripes emerge with the onset of the pseudogap state and occur over a large part of the phase diagram, our experiments indicate that the stripes are a consequence of pseudogap behaviour rather than its cause.     

The CRAC channel consists of a tetramer formed by Stim-induced dimerization of Orai dimers

Ca(2+)-release-activated Ca(2+) (CRAC) channels underlie sustained Ca(2+) signalling in lymphocytes and numerous other cells after Ca(2+) liberation from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). RNA interference screening approaches identified two proteins, Stim and Orai, that together form the molecular basis for CRAC channel activity. Stim senses depletion of the ER Ca(2+) store and physically relays this information by translocating from the ER to junctions adjacent to the plasma membrane, and Orai embodies the pore of the plasma membrane calcium channel. A close interaction between Stim and Orai, identified by co-immunoprecipitation and by F?rster resonance energy transfer, is involved in the opening of the Ca(2+) channel formed by Orai subunits. Most ion channels are multimers of pore-forming subunits surrounding a central channel, which are preassembled in the ER and transported in their final stoichiometry to the plasma membrane. Here we show, by biochemical analysis after cross-linking in cell lysates and intact cells and by using non-denaturing gel electrophoresis without cross-linking, that Orai is predominantly a dimer in the plasma membrane under resting conditions. Moreover, single-molecule imaging of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged Orai expressed in Xenopus oocytes showed predominantly two-step photobleaching, again consistent with a dimeric basal state. In contrast, co-expression of GFP-tagged Orai with the carboxy terminus of Stim as a cytosolic protein to activate the Orai channel without inducing Ca(2+) store depletion or clustering of Orai into punctae yielded mostly four-step photobleaching, consistent with a tetrameric stoichiometry of the active Orai channel. Interaction with the C terminus of Stim thus induces Orai dimers to dimerize, forming tetramers that constitute the Ca(2+)-selective pore. This represents a new mechanism in which assembly and activation of the functional ion channel are mediated by the same triggering molecule.     

Natural variation at Strubbelig Receptor Kinase 3 drives immune-triggered incompatibilities between Arabidopsis thaliana accessions

Accumulation of genetic incompatibilities within species can lead to reproductive isolation and, potentially, speciation. In this study, we show that allelic variation at SRF3 (Strubbelig Receptor Family 3), encoding a receptor-like kinase, conditions the occurrence of incompatibility between Arabidopsis thaliana accessions. The geographical distribution of SRF3 alleles reveals that allelic forms causing epistatic incompatibility with a Landsberg erecta allele at the RPP1 resistance locus are present in A. thaliana accessions in central Asia. Incompatible SRF3 alleles condition for an enhanced early immune response to pathogens as compared to the resistance-dampening effect of compatible SRF3 forms in isogenic backgrounds. Variation in disease susceptibility suggests a basis for the molecular patterns of a recent selective sweep detected at the SRF3 locus in central Asian populations.     

Somatic histone H3 alterations in pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas and non-brainstem glioblastomas

To identify somatic mutations in pediatric diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), we performed whole-genome sequencing of DNA from seven DIPGs and matched germline tissue and targeted sequencing of an additional 43 DIPGs and 36 non-brainstem pediatric glioblastomas (non-BS-PGs). We found that 78% of DIPGs and 22% of non-BS-PGs contained a mutation in H3F3A, encoding histone H3.3, or in the related HIST1H3B, encoding histone H3.1, that caused a p.Lys27Met amino acid substitution in each protein. An additional 14% of non-BS-PGs had somatic mutations in H3F3A causing a p.Gly34Arg alteration.     

Structure of the membrane-pore-forming fragment of colicin A

Colicins are antibiotic proteins produced by and active against sensitive Escherichia coli and closely related bacteria. They can adsorb to specific receptors located at the external surface of the outer membrane of sensitive cells, and are then translocated to their specific targets within these cells. The largest group of colicins comprises those which can form voltage-dependent channels in membranes, thereby destroying the cell's energy potential. Colicin molecules are organized in structural domains, each domain carrying one function associated with the toxin's lethal activity. The pore-forming activity seems to be located at the carboxyl terminus. A thermolytic fragment comprising amino acids 389-592 from colicin A has pore-forming properties very similar to those of the entire molecule. This fragment is soluble in aqueous medium and spontaneously inserts into lipid bilayers. We have determined the structure of the pore-forming fragment of colicin A by X-ray crystallography and refinement at 2.5 A resolution. The protein consists of ten alpha-helices organized in a three-layer structure. Two of the helices are completely buried within the structure and form a hydrophobic hairpin loop similar to that proposed for signal sequences which function in translocation. We present a model for insertion of the protein into lipid bilayers the features of which may be applicable in other biological systems involving protein insertion or translocation across membranes.     

Globin gene expression in MSV-transformed fibroblasts.

The activation of globin gene expression on viral transformation of 3T3 cells was investigated. Globin mRNA was determined using a radioactive complementary DNA probe. No difference was found between 3T3 and transformed 3T3 cells. There does not therefore appear to be a random activation of extensive regions of the cellular genome.