Histamine as an extremely potent releaser of vasopressin in the rat

Summary Intraperitoneal and intraventricular injection of histamine induces a very fast and high elevation of vasopressin in rat plasma as determined by radioimmunoassay. The effects are dose and time related. The intraventricular injection is more effective with regard to time and dose than the intraperitoneal injection.     

“十五”期间中国股票市场扩容展望

中国股票市场的市值与 GDP的比例远远小于西方发达国家 ,这样的股市规模很不适应国民经济的发展 .针对因股市规模过小而衍生出的种种弊端 ,提出了股市扩容的必要性和紧迫性 ,并通过数理的方法预测十五期间股市扩容的空间 ,最后对股市扩容过程中需要解决的问题提出了建议.     

Cdc25b phosphatase is required for resumption of meiosis during oocyte maturation

In a wide variety of animal species, oocyte maturation is arrested temporarily at prophase of meiosis I (ref. 1). Resumption of meiosis requires activation of cyclin-dependent kinase-1 (CDK1, p34cdc2), one component of maturation-promoting factor (MPF). The dual specificity phosphatases Cdc25a, Cdc25b and Cdc25c are activators of cyclin-dependent kinases; consequently, they are postulated to regulate cell-cycle progression in meiosis and mitosis as well as the DNA-damage response. We generated Cdc25b-deficient (Cdc25b-/-) mice and found that they are viable. As compared with wildtype cells, fibroblasts from Cdc25b-/- mice grew vigorously in culture and arrested normally in response to DNA damage. Female Cdc25b-/- mice were sterile, and Cdc25b-/- oocytes remained arrested at prophase with low MPF activity. Microinjection of wildtype Cdc25b mRNA into Cdc25b-/- oocytes caused activation of MPF and resumption of meiosis. Thus, Cdc25b-/- female mice are sterile because of permanent meiotic arrest resulting from the inability to activate MPF. Cdc25b is therefore essential for meiotic resumption in female mice. Mice lacking Cdc25b provide the first genetic model for studying the mechanisms regulating prophase arrest in vertebrates.     

新疆若羌县赤石山变质核杂岩研究

新疆北山裂谷带西缘若羌县赤石山地区存在大型变质核杂岩构造。其下拆离盘为古元古界结晶基底杂岩 ,上拆离盘为中元古界白湖群变质岩系 ,滑脱拆离带为已变形的大型韧性正断层。核杂岩南、北侧发育上叠盆地 ,北侧形成“年轻”正断层及同构造期岩浆岩。变质核杂岩的形成与晚古生代北山陆内裂谷区域伸展有直接联系。该区变质核杂岩的首次厘定 ,对深化北山裂谷的研究具有重要意义     

川东高陡构造成因地质模式与含气性分析

川东高陡构造位于四川盆地东部 ,由一系列 NE-NNE向的隔档式褶皱组成。其构造变形经历了由隔槽式褶皱到“两背一断”,最终形成隔挡式褶皱的演化过程。在“两背一断”先存构造研究基础上 ,按继承发展的观点 ,综合运用伸展构造、反转构造、断层相关褶皱等构造新理论 ,系统探讨了川东高陡构造形成演化的成因地质模式 ,结合志留系主力生烃层的生气高峰期 ,对地腹不同成因类型的构造圈闭含气性进行了分析。     

Arginase expression in peritoneal macrophages and increase in circulating polyamine levels in mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni

We investigated the nitric oxide (NO) synthase and arginase pathways in resident peritoneal macrophages of mice infected with the tropical parasite Schistosoma mansoni. The two enzymes may have opposite effects, insofar as NO may be involved in the killing of the parasite whereas arginase may stimulate parasite growth via polyamine synthesis. We determined the effects of the infection on the expression and activity of the two enzymes in macrophages, before and after cytokine activation. Cells from infected mice expressed the hepatic type I arginase, whereas in control cells, the enzyme was expressed only after cytokine activation, as were NO synthase II and type II arginase in both groups of cells. Moreover, we found that in infected mice, arginase expression in macrophages was associated with a ten fold increase in the concentration of circulating ornithine-derived polyamines. This may be of pathological importance, since parasitic helminths are though to be dependent on their hosts for the uptake and interconversion of polyamines. Received 13 March 2001; received after revision 4 May 2001; accepted 7 June 2001     

Caterpillar-induced nocturnal plant volatiles repel conspecific females

Plants respond to insect herbivory by synthesizing and releasing complex blends of volatile compounds, which provide important host-location cues for insects that are natural enemies of herbivores. The effects of these volatile blends on herbivore behaviour have been investigated to only a limited extent, in part because of the assumption that herbivore-induced volatile emissions occur mainly during the light phase of the photoperiod. Because many moths-whose larvae are some of the most important insect herbivores-are nocturnal, herbivore-induced plant volatiles have not hitherto been considered to be temporally available as host-location cues for ovipositing females. Here we present chemical and behavioural assays showing that tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum) release herbivore-induced volatiles during both night and day. Moreover, several volatile compounds are released exclusively at night and are highly repellent to female moths (Heliothis virescens). The demonstration that tobacco plants release temporally different volatile blends and that lepidopteran herbivores use induced plant signals released during the dark phase to choose sites for oviposition adds a new dimension to our understanding of the role of chemical cues in mediating tritrophic interactions.     

Carbon emissions. The economic benefits of the Kyoto Protocol

The third Conference of the Parties in Kyoto set the target of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions by an average of 5.3% with respect to 1990 values by 2008-2012. One of the main objections to the protocol's ratification is that compliance would pose an unbearable economic burden on the countries involved. But we show here that this is not the case if costs apart from the direct costs of energy production are also considered. Costs are also incurred in rectifying damage to human health, material goods, agriculture and the environment related to greenhouse-gas emissions.     

高温催化燃烧技术及其核催化剂的研制

高温催化燃烧技术作为一项环境友好的能源利用方式下得到世界各国的广泛重视,催化燃烧器设计与燃烧催华化剂研制领域不断取得新进展。本文通过考察负载型Pd催化剂和烧绿石型复氧化物催化剂的物化学特性与催化反应动力学特征,探讨了改良现有催化剂体系反应性能的有效途径。