Far-infrared Absorption Spectra and Properties of SnO2 Nanorods

Nanostructured materials have drawn considerable attention because they are promising candidates for nextgeneration electronic and photonic devices with low power consumption[1-5]. A number of methods, such as laser ablation[6], template-induced growth[7], arc discharge [8], vapor transport [9], and molecular-beam epitaxy[10] have been developed to synthesize Si, Ge, MgO,SnO2, GaN, and Ga2O3 nanowires or nanorods[11-15].……     

Comparison of human genetic and sequence-based physical maps

Recombination is the exchange of information between two homologous chromosomes during meiosis. The rate of recombination per nucleotide, which profoundly affects the evolution of chromosomal segments, is calculated by comparing genetic and physical maps. Human physical maps have been constructed using cytogenetics, overlapping DNA clones and radiation hybrids; but the ultimate and by far the most accurate physical map is the actual nucleotide sequence. The completion of the draft human genomic sequence provides us with the best opportunity yet to compare the genetic and physical maps. Here we describe our estimates of female, male and sex-average recombination rates for about 60% of the genome. Recombination rates varied greatly along each chromosome, from 0 to at least 9 centiMorgans per megabase (cM Mb(-1)). Among several sequence and marker parameters tested, only relative marker position along the metacentric chromosomes in males correlated strongly with recombination rate. We identified several chromosomal regions up to 6 Mb in length with particularly low (deserts) or high (jungles) recombination rates. Linkage disequilibrium was much more common and extended for greater distances in the deserts than in the jungles.     

The Novel Semiconductor Nanowire Heterostructures

1 Results If one-dimensional heterostructures with a well-defined compositional profile along the wire radial or axial direction can be realized within semiconductor nanowires, new nano-electronic devices,such as nano-waveguide and nano-capcipator, might be obtained. Here,we report the novel semiconducting nanowire heterostructures:(1) Si/ZnS side-to-side biaxial nanowires and ZnS/Si/ZnS sandwich-like triaxial nanowires[1],(2) Ga-Mg3N2 and Ga-ZnS metal-semiconductor nanowire heterojunctions[2-3]and (3) ...     

双奇核182Au高自旋态能级结构及旋称反转

利用¹⁵²Sm(³⁵Cl, 5nγ)¹⁸²Au核反应产生并研究了双奇核¹⁸²Au的高自旋态, 首次建立了双奇核¹⁸²Au基于πh_9/2 Äνi_13/2和πi_13/2 Äνi_13/2准粒子组态上的转动带能级纲图, 发现在低自旋区, 两个转动带能级均出现旋称反转. 用推转壳模型对¹⁸²Au的转动带能级进行了理论研究, 发现当采用形变和对力自洽计算后, 从理论上可以定性地解释¹⁸²Au核中两个转动带出现的旋称反转现象.     

应用SWR技术研究垂柳茎体含水率

应用驻波率(SWR)技术对垂柳茎体含水率进行了较长期的监测,验证了SWR技术可以用来定量监测乔木茎体的含水率.实验结果如下:①对垂柳茎体含水率的日变化观测结果表明,在晴天茎体含水率呈下降趋势,下降范围为7%-4%,下午又基本恢复到起始状态;阴雨天茎体含水率的日变化范围较小,为4%-2%;②茎体含水率季节性变化观测结果表明,垂柳茎体含水率具有周期性变化的规律,变化范围为18%-10%;③受根部土壤水分和叶片蒸腾耗水的均衡作用,垂柳茎体含水率基本保持在一定的范围内变化;④不同深度的土壤水分变化情况不同,深度为35 cm的土壤传感器水分变化最剧烈,受降水、根系吸水和近地面空气层影响也最大,而离地表越深,土壤水分变化越小.     

Quenching quorum-sensing-dependent bacterial infection by an N-acyl homoserine lactonase.

Bacterial cells sense their population density through a sophisticated cell-cell communication system and trigger expression of particular genes when the density reaches a threshold. This type of gene regulation, which controls diverse biological functions including virulence, is known as quorum sensing. Quorum-sensing signals, such as acyl-homoserine lactones (AHLs), are the essential components of the communication system. AHLs regulate virulence gene expression in a range of plant and animal (including human) bacterial pathogens. AHL-producing tobacco restored the pathogenicity of an AHL-negative mutant of Erwinia carotovora. Different bacterial species may produce different AHLs, which vary in the length and substitution of the acyl chain but contain the same homoserine lactone moiety. Here we show that the acyl-homoserine lactonase (AHL-lactonase), a new enzyme from Bacillus sp., inactivates AHL activity by hydrolysing the lactone bond of AHLs. Plants expressing AHL-lactonase quenched pathogen quorum-sensing signalling and showed significantly enhanced resistance to E. carotovora infection. Our results highlight a promising potential to use quorum-sensing signals as molecular targets for disease control, thereby broadening current approaches for prevention of bacterial infections.     

Effects of the tumour promoter okadaic acid on intracellular protein phosphorylation and metabolism

Okadaic acid is a polyether derivative of 38-carbon fatty acid, and is implicated as the causative agent of diarrhetic shellfish poisoning. It is a potent tumour promoter that is not an activator of protein kinase C, but is a powerful inhibitor of protein phosphatases-1 and -2A (PP1 and PP2A) in vitro. We report here that okadaic acid rapidly stimulates protein phosphorylation in intact cells, and behaves like a specific protein phosphatase inhibitor in a variety of metabolic processes. Our results indicate that PP1 and PP2A are the dominant protein phosphatases acting on a wide range of phosphoproteins in vivo. We also find that okadaic acid mimics the effect of insulin on glucose transport in adipocytes, which suggests that this process is stimulated by a serine/threonine phosphorylation event.     

Cloning and expression of human and rat D1 dopamine receptors

The importance of the dopaminergic system in brain function has been emphasized by its association with neurological and psychiatric disorders such as Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia. On the basis of their biochemical and pharmacological characteristics, dopamine receptors are classified into D1 and D2 subtypes. As the most abundant dopamine receptor in the central nervous system, D1 receptors seem to mediate some behavioural responses, modulate activity of D2 dopamine receptors, and regulate neuron growth and differentiation. The D dopamine receptor has been cloned by low-stringency screening. We report here the cloning of human and rat D1 dopamine receptors by applying an approach based on the polymerase chain reaction. The cloned human D1 dopamine receptor has been characterized on the basis of four criteria: the deduced amino-acid sequence, which reveals that it is a G protein-coupled receptor; the tissue distribution of its messenger RNA, which is compatible with that of the D1 dopamine receptor; its pharmacological profile when transfected into COS-7 cells; and its ability to stimulate the accumulation of cyclic AMP in human 293 cells.     

Purification and reconstitution of the calcium release channel from skeletal muscle

The calcium release channel from rabbit muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) has been purified and reconstituted as a functional unit in lipid bilayers. Electron microscopy reveals the four-leaf clover structure previously described for the 'feet' that span the transverse tubule (T)-SR junction. Ca2+ release from the SR induced by T-system depolarization during excitation-contraction coupling in muscle may thus be effected through a direct association of the T-system with SR Ca2+-release channels.     

扬子崆岭高级变质地体古元古代基性岩脉的发现及其意义

基性岩脉是区域伸展作用的标志, 具有明确的构造指示意义. 扬子板块崆岭高级变质地体内部发育有大量的基性岩脉, 这些基性岩脉对于认识扬子板块早期的构造演化具有重要意义; 但是, 目前还没有关于其形成年龄的报道. 对侵入崆岭变质地体内部的一个辉绿岩脉样品进行了LA-(MC)ICP-MS锆石U-Pb定年和Hf同位素分析, 得到近似谐和或谐和年龄, 它们的²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb年龄加权平均结果为(1852 ± 11) Ma (MSWD = 0.37), 代表了该基性岩脉的形成年龄; 该基性岩脉中锆石的εHf (t)为−6.3～0.5, 加权平均值为(−3.06 ± 0.88) (MSWD = 1.01), 显示其岩浆源区可能为受到交代作用影响的岩石圈地幔. 这一发现表明, 在约1850 Ma扬子板块处于碰撞后板内伸展构造环境中, 同时该时期扬子板块已经具备足够的刚性, 以致能产生大规模的脆性破裂以及可能引发地幔对流作用, 因此我们推测在约1.85 Ga扬子板块已经具有克拉通的性质.