Seasonality in human sleep.

The timing of sleep and sleep EEG parameters in 10 healthy male subjects were investigated in four seasons under controlled conditions. The phase of nocturnal sleep was delayed about one and a half hours in winter as compared to that in summer. The duration of stage 4 sleep decreased and REM sleep increased significantly in winter compared with summer. The seasonality in the timing of sleep can be explained by photoperiodic time cues, but the changes in sleep EEG parameters are difficult to explain in terms of photoperiod.     

DNA fingerprinting transforms the art of cell authentication.

The increasing diversity of new cell cultures is seriously stretching the capabilities of traditional methods of identification. DNA fingerprinting is set to play an important role in increasing confidence in the authenticity of cultures in research and industry.     

The failing heart.

Cardiomyopathies are disorders affecting heart muscle that usually result in inadequate pumping of the heart. They are the most common cause of heart failure and each year kill more than 10,000 people in the United States. In recent years, there have been breakthroughs in understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in this group of conditions, with knowledge of the genetic basis for cardiomyopathies perhaps seeing the largest advance, enabling clinicians to devise improved diagnostic strategies and preparing the stage for new therapies.     

Microbial degradation of bitumen

Summary A blown bitumen Mexphalte R 90/40 with a high content of saturated hydrocarbons was degraded by several microorganisms to the same extent. In batch cultures ofSaccharomycopsis lipolytica, maximal biodegradation was estimated to be about 9% w/w, 3.2·10^–3 g/cm² and 3.1·10^–3 cm of degraded bitumen. The Mexphalte R 90/40 degradation rate was closely coupled to biofilm formation. The microbial activity concerned predominantly the oxidation of saturated hydrocarbons. A direct distillation bitumen 80/100 with a low content of saturated hydrocarbons and a high content of aromatic hydrocarbons and resins was more resistant to biodegradation.     

Chromosomal effects of adeno-associated virus vector integration.

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors are currently being used in several clinical gene-therapy trials (see the NIH OBA Human Gene Transfer Clinical Trials Database); however, little is known about the chromosomal effects of vector integration. Here we report that integrated vector proviruses are associated with chromosomal deletions and other rearrangements and are frequently located on chromosome 19 (although not at the wildtype AAV integration site).     

Energetic landscape of alpha-lytic protease optimizes longevity through kinetic stability.

During the evolution of proteins the pressure to optimize biological activity is moderated by a need for efficient folding. For most proteins, this is accomplished through spontaneous folding to a thermodynamically stable and active native state. However, in the extracellular bacterial alpha-lytic protease (alphaLP) these two processes have become decoupled. The native state of alphaLP is thermodynamically unstable, and when denatured, requires millennia (t1/2 approximately 1,800 years) to refold. Folding is made possible by an attached folding catalyst, the pro-region, which is degraded on completion of folding, leaving alphaLP trapped in its native state by a large kinetic unfolding barrier (t1/2 approximately 1.2 years). alphaLP faces two very different folding landscapes: one in the presence of the pro-region controlling folding, and one in its absence restricting unfolding. Here we demonstrate that this separation of folding and unfolding pathways has removed constraints placed on the folding of thermodynamically stable proteins, and allowed the evolution of a native state having markedly reduced dynamic fluctuations. This, in turn, has led to a significant extension of the functional lifetime of alphaLP by the optimal suppression of proteolytic sensitivity.     

新世纪图书馆员社会角色转换研究综述

就近几年图书馆界关于新世纪馆员意识转换及社会角色转换等方面的研究进行了综述，指出新时期的馆员要实现自我社会角色的转换，首先是要明确转换的必要性，然后采取有效的策略逐步地、系统地推进转换，才能取得较好的效果。     

Structure of the detoxification catalyst mercuric ion reductase from Bacillus sp. strain RC607

Several hundred million tons of toxic mercurials are dispersed in the biosphere. Microbes can detoxify organo-mercurials and mercury salts through sequential action of two enzymes, organomercury lyase and mercuric ion reductase (MerA). The latter, a homodimer with homology to the FAD-dependent disulphide oxidoreductases, catalyses the reaction NADPH + Hg(II)----NADP+ + H+ + Hg(0), one of the very rare enzymic reactions with metal substrates. Human glutathione reductase serves as a reference molecule for FAD-dependent disulphide reductases and between its primary structure and that of MerA from Tn501 (Pseudomonas), Tn21 (Shigella), p1258 (Staphylococcus) and Bacillus, 25-30% of the residues have been conserved. All MerAs have a C-terminal extension about 15 residues long but have very varied N termini. Although the enzyme from Streptomyces lividans has no addition, from Pseudomonas aeruginosa Tn501 and Bacillus sp. strain RC607 it has one and two copies respectively of a domain of 80-85 residues, highly homologous to MerP, the periplasmic component of proteins encoded by the mer operon. These domains can be proteolytically cleaved off without changing the catalytic efficiency. We report here the crystal structure of MerA from the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus sp. strain RC607. Analysis of its complexes with nicotinamide dinucleotide substrates and the inhibitor Cd(II) reveals how limited structural changes enable an enzyme to accept as substrate what used to be a dangerous inhibitor. Knowledge of the mode of mercury ligation is a prerequisite for understanding this unique detoxification mechanism.