日本东北大地震——大自然给人类上的又一课

作者介绍了2011年3月11日日本东北地区太平洋沿岸近海的M9.0特大地震的震后研究情况,日本列岛M8.0以上大地震发生的地球动力学背景、地理环境,大地震在东北太平洋沿岸地区、关东地区、东海道地区的活动历史以及对下一次东海地震发生时间的最新研究进展。最后总结了地震中长期预测的现状及相关基础研究应努力的方向,提出了在工程应用研究中应该避免的错误工作思路。     

2010年河北省SCI论文的文献计量分析

本文以SCI网络版（SCIE）为数据源,运用文献计量学的方法,以河北和2010年为关键词,对2010年河北省作者发表的论文被SCI收录的情况进行了统计,并按文献类型、学科分布、论文作者、机构和被引用情况做了较为详细的分析研究。     

Structure of a nanobody-stabilized active state of the β(2) adrenoceptor

G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) exhibit a spectrum of functional behaviours in response to natural and synthetic ligands. Recent crystal structures provide insights into inactive states of several GPCRs. Efforts to obtain an agonist-bound active-state GPCR structure have proven difficult due to the inherent instability of this state in the absence of a G protein. We generated a camelid antibody fragment (nanobody) to the human β(2) adrenergic receptor (β(2)AR) that exhibits G protein-like behaviour, and obtained an agonist-bound, active-state crystal structure of the receptor-nanobody complex. Comparison with the inactive β(2)AR structure reveals subtle changes in the binding pocket; however, these small changes are associated with an 11?? outward movement of the cytoplasmic end of transmembrane segment 6, and rearrangements of transmembrane segments 5 and 7 that are remarkably similar to those observed in opsin, an active form of rhodopsin. This structure provides insights into the process of agonist binding and activation.     

Crystal structure of the β2 adrenergic receptor-Gs protein complex

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are responsible for the majority of cellular responses to hormones and neurotransmitters as well as the senses of sight, olfaction and taste. The paradigm of GPCR signalling is the activation of a heterotrimeric GTP binding protein (G protein) by an agonist-occupied receptor. The β(2) adrenergic receptor (β(2)AR) activation of Gs, the stimulatory G protein for adenylyl cyclase, has long been a model system for GPCR signalling. Here we present the crystal structure of the active state ternary complex composed of agonist-occupied monomeric β(2)AR and nucleotide-free Gs heterotrimer. The principal interactions between the β(2)AR and Gs involve the amino- and carboxy-terminal α-helices of Gs, with conformational changes propagating to the nucleotide-binding pocket. The largest conformational changes in the β(2)AR include a 14 ? outward movement at the cytoplasmic end of transmembrane segment 6 (TM6) and an α-helical extension of the cytoplasmic end of TM5. The most surprising observation is a major displacement of the α-helical domain of Gαs relative to the Ras-like GTPase domain. This crystal structure represents the first high-resolution view of transmembrane signalling by a GPCR.     

ATP-induced helicase slippage reveals highly coordinated subunits

Helicases are vital enzymes that carry out strand separation of duplex nucleic acids during replication, repair and recombination. Bacteriophage T7 gene product 4 is a model hexameric helicase that has been observed to use dTTP, but not ATP, to unwind double-stranded (ds)DNA as it translocates from 5' to 3' along single-stranded (ss)DNA. Whether and how different subunits of the helicase coordinate their chemo-mechanical activities and DNA binding during translocation is still under debate. Here we address this question using a single-molecule approach to monitor helicase unwinding. We found that T7 helicase does in fact unwind dsDNA in the presence of ATP and that the unwinding rate is even faster than that with dTTP. However, unwinding traces showed a remarkable sawtooth pattern where processive unwinding was repeatedly interrupted by sudden slippage events, ultimately preventing unwinding over a substantial distance. This behaviour was not observed with dTTP alone and was greatly reduced when ATP solution was supplemented with a small amount of dTTP. These findings presented an opportunity to use nucleotide mixtures to investigate helicase subunit coordination. We found that T7 helicase binds and hydrolyses ATP and dTTP by competitive kinetics such that the unwinding rate is dictated simply by their respective maximum rates V(max), Michaelis constants K(M) and concentrations. In contrast, processivity does not follow a simple competitive behaviour and shows a cooperative dependence on nucleotide concentrations. This does not agree with an uncoordinated mechanism where each subunit functions independently, but supports a model where nearly all subunits coordinate their chemo-mechanical activities and DNA binding. Our data indicate that only one subunit at a time can accept a nucleotide while other subunits are nucleotide-ligated and thus they interact with the DNA to ensure processivity. Such subunit coordination may be general to many ring-shaped helicases and reveals a potential mechanism for regulation of DNA unwinding during replication.     

Mixed aromatic-aliphatic organic nanoparticles as carriers of unidentified infrared emission features

Unidentified infrared emission bands at wavelengths of 3-20 micrometres are widely observed in a range of environments in our Galaxy and in others. Some features have been identified as the stretching and bending modes of aromatic compounds, and are commonly attributed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecules. The central argument supporting this attribution is that single-photon excitation of the molecule can account for the unidentified infrared emission features observed in 'cirrus' clouds in the diffuse interstellar medium. Of the more than 160 molecules identified in the circumstellar and interstellar environments, however, not one is a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon molecule. The detections of discrete and broad aliphatic spectral features suggest that the carrier of the unidentified infrared emission features cannot be a pure aromatic compound. Here we report an analysis of archival spectroscopic observations and demonstrate that the data are most consistent with the carriers being amorphous organic solids with a mixed aromatic-aliphatic structure. This structure is similar to that of the organic materials found in meteorites, as would be expected if the Solar System had inherited these organic materials from interstellar sources.     

马铃薯交联-羧甲基淀粉的结构与性能

以马铃薯淀粉为原料,环氧氯丙烷为交联剂,制备交联-羧甲基淀粉(CCMS).对比了CCMS与马铃薯原淀粉、交联淀粉(CS)、羧甲基淀粉(CMS)和羧甲基纤维素(CMC)的性质,结果表明CCMS糊液具有良好的抗老化能力、热稳定性、酸碱稳定性及抗剪切稳定性.采用傅里叶变换红外光谱(FT-IR)、环境扫描电镜(ESEM)和X射...     

Role of Tip60 tumor suppressor in DNA repair pathway

To prevent the damage caused by DNA strand breaks, eukaryotic cells have evolved a series of highly conserved DNA repair mechanisms. The ubiquitously expressed acetyltransferase, Tip60, plays a central role in ATM (ataxia-telangiectasia mutated) activation which is involved in DNA repair. Recent work uncovered a new mechanism of ATM activation mediated by Tip60 and demonstrated that histone methylation, specifically, trimethylation of histone H3, is a key factor in the process. Here, we review the current understanding of how Tip60 is activated and how it activates ATM in response to DNA damage.     

基于不完备信息系统的文本分类研究与应用

在文本分类中,文本特征向量通常高达几千甚至上万维,给整个分类过程带来了相当庞大的计算量,因此进行有效的降维处理是非常重要的。在不完备信息系统理论的基础上,结合文本分类的特点,提出了一种量化容差关系和启发式的属性约简算法。实验证明该属性约简算法不仅能有效地降低文本特征向量的维度,同时能保证分类的正确率。