Innate versus learned odour processing in the mouse olfactory bulb

The mammalian olfactory system mediates various responses, including aversive behaviours to spoiled foods and fear responses to predator odours. In the olfactory bulb, each glomerulus represents a single species of odorant receptor. Because a single odorant can interact with several different receptor species, the odour information received in the olfactory epithelium is converted to a topographical map of multiple glomeruli activated in distinct areas in the olfactory bulb. To study how the odour map is interpreted in the brain, we generated mutant mice in which olfactory sensory neurons in a specific area of the olfactory epithelium are ablated by targeted expression of the diphtheria toxin gene. Here we show that, in dorsal-zone-depleted mice, the dorsal domain of the olfactory bulb was devoid of glomerular structures, although second-order neurons were present in the vacant areas. The mutant mice lacked innate responses to aversive odorants, even though they were capable of detecting them and could be conditioned for aversion with the remaining glomeruli. These results indicate that, in mice, aversive information is received in the olfactory bulb by separate sets of glomeruli, those dedicated for innate and those for learned responses.     

Oncogene-induced senescence is part of the tumorigenesis barrier imposed by DNA damage checkpoints

Recent studies have indicated the existence of tumorigenesis barriers that slow or inhibit the progression of preneoplastic lesions to neoplasia. One such barrier involves DNA replication stress, which leads to activation of the DNA damage checkpoint and thereby to apoptosis or cell cycle arrest, whereas a second barrier is mediated by oncogene-induced senescence. The relationship between these two barriers, if any, has not been elucidated. Here we show that oncogene-induced senescence is associated with signs of DNA replication stress, including prematurely terminated DNA replication forks and DNA double-strand breaks. Inhibiting the DNA double-strand break response kinase ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) suppressed the induction of senescence and in a mouse model led to increased tumour size and invasiveness. Analysis of human precancerous lesions further indicated that DNA damage and senescence markers cosegregate closely. Thus, senescence in human preneoplastic lesions is a manifestation of oncogene-induced DNA replication stress and, together with apoptosis, provides a barrier to malignant progression.     

Noble-gas-rich chondrules in an enstatite meteorite

Chondrules are silicate spherules that are found in abundance in the most primitive class of meteorites, the chondrites. Chondrules are believed to have formed by rapid cooling of silicate melt early in the history of the Solar System, and their properties should reflect the composition of (and physical conditions in) the solar nebula at the time when the Sun and planets were forming. It is usually believed that chondrules lost all their noble gases at the time of melting. Here we report the discovery of significant amounts of trapped noble gases in chondrules in the enstatite chondrite Yamato-791790, which consists of highly reduced minerals. The elemental ratios 36Ar/132Xe and 84Kr/132Xe are similar to those of 'subsolar' gas, which has the highest 36Ar/132Xe ratio after that of solar-type noble gases. The most plausible explanation for the high noble-gas concentration and the characteristic elemental ratios is that solar gases were implanted into the chondrule precursor material, followed by incomplete loss of the implanted gases through diffusion over time.     

随机过程及对数学金融的应用

本书是2005年3月3—6日在日本Ritsumeikan大学举行的第5届“随机过程及对数学金融的应用”国际学术会议的论文集。该会议始于2001年，每年1次，本次会议邀集了一些国际著名学者及日本数学金融界的几个新秀就随机过程及随机分析在金融数学中的一些应用作了综合讲演，涉及一些中心问题和前沿课题。[第一段]     

超高压电子显微镜三维图像重构的方法与初步结果

建立了超高压电镜三维图像重构的方法与系统,首次在２ＭＶ加速电压下进行了从获得二维电镜像到三维重构尝试。通过图像校下在敢单轴放置试样夹中因试样高度变化引起的放大倍数和像转为动的问题;提出了利用投影像的镝像对称关系来确定倾斜轴方向以及计算倾斜角度上相邻两个投影像间的差来进行平移校直的方法,大肠杆菌试样重构的实验结果表明,超高压电镜三维图像重构技术能够有效地再现厚试样的内部构造,在生物学和材料科学等领域