大熊猫毛发微量元素研究

用原子吸收分光光度法测定了四川野外203只大熊猫(其中包括岷山山系48只、邛崃山系67只)和三个人工饲养场的21只大熊猫毛发及三个饲养场大熊猫精饲料中的Cu、Zn、Mn、Fe、Ca、Mg、K等七种元素的含量,看出:野外健康大熊猫毛发中的这七种元素的含量呈现较好的正态分布;雌性和雄性大熊猫毛发中Mn、Ca、Mg三元素存在着显著性差异;野外大熊猫毛发中的七种元素的含量均高于人工饲养的大猫猫;三个饲养场的大熊猫毛发中的这七种元素含量与他们所食的精饲料有正相关的关系。因此,人工饲养条件下补充适当的微量元素是非常必要的。     

大熊猫主食竹种微量元素研究

用原子吸收分光光度法测定了卧龙自然保护区大熊猫主食竹种——冷箭竹(Bashania fangiana)、拐棍竹(Fargesia robusta)、华西箭竹(Fargesia nit—ida)、峨眉玉山竹(Yushania chungii)的叶、笋——幼竹、一年杆、二年杆共208例中的Cu、Zn、Mn、Fe、Ca、Mg、K等七种元素含量。找到了微量元素含量与竹类、竹龄、竹株部位、竹的生长环境(海拔高度、季节)以及与大熊猫食性等的关系。     

Coordination of the random asynchronous replication of autosomal loci

Random monoallelic expression and asynchronous replication define an unusual class of autosomal mammalian genes. We show that every cell has randomly chosen either the maternal or paternal copy of each given autosome pair, such that alleles of these genes scattered across the chosen chromosome replicate earlier than the alleles on the homologous chromosome. Thus, chromosome-pair non-equivalence, rather than being limited to X-chromosome inactivation, is a fundamental property of mouse chromosomes.     

Performance evaluation for selectivity of the flocculant on hematite in selective flocculation

Increased demand for iron ore necessitates the utilization of low-grade iron ore fines, slimes, and existing tailings. Selective flocculation can be an alternative physico-chemical process for utilizing these low-grade fines, slimes, and tailings. In selective flocculation, the most critical objective is the selection of proper reagents that will make floc of desired minerals. In present study, selective flocculation was applied to ultra-fine synthetic mixtures of hematite and kaolinite, and the Fe value was upgraded up to 65.78% with the reduction of Al₂O₃ and SiO₂ values to 2.65% and 3.66%, respectively. Here, degraded wheat starch was used as a flocculant.In this process, separation occurs on the basis of the selectivity of the flocculant. The selectivity of the flocculant can be quantified in terms of separation efficiency. Here, an attempt was also made to develop a correlation between separation efficiency and major operating parameters such as flocculent dose, pH value, and solid concentration to predict the separation performance.     

Functional interaction of phytochrome B and cryptochrome 2

Light is a crucial environmental signal that controls many photomorphogenic and circadian responses in plants. Perception and transduction of light is achieved by at least two principal groups of photoreceptors, phytochromes and cryptochromes. Phytochromes are red/far-red light-absorbing receptors encoded by a gene family of five members (phyA to phyE) in Arabidopsis. Cryptochrome 1 (cry1), cryptochrome 2 (cry2) and phototropin are the blue/ultraviolet-A light receptors that have been characterized in Arabidopsis. Previous studies showed that modulation of many physiological responses in plants is achieved by genetic interactions between different photoreceptors; however, little is known about the nature of these interactions and their roles in the signal transduction pathway. Here we show the genetic interaction that occurs between the Arabidopsis photoreceptors phyB and cry2 in the control of flowering time, hypocotyl elongation and circadian period by the clock. PhyB interacts directly with cry2 as observed in co-immunoprecipitation experiments with transgenic Arabidopsis plants overexpressing cry2. Using fluorescent resonance energy transfer microscopy, we show that phyB and cry2 interact in nuclear speckles that are formed in a light-dependent fashion.     

Role of a novel photopigment,melanopsin, in behavioral adaptation to light

Adaptation to changes in the ambient light is of critical importance to life. In mammals, three principal photoadaptation mechanisms depend on ocular photoreception and exhibit spectral sensitivity suggestive of the opsin class of photopigment(s). These include rapid adaptation of the visual system to the ambient light by pupil constriction, direct modulation of neuroendocrine function and entrainment of the circadian clock to the day:night cycle. Surprisingly, these processes can largely function independent of classical rod/cone photoreceptors, suggesting a novel opsin-based signaling mechanism. They appear to involve a recently discovered network of intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells that make direct or indirect axonal connections to brain centers regulating photoadaptive behaviors. The discovery of a novel opsin, melanopsin, in these cells has offered an exciting entry point to explore, at the molecular level, how mammals adapt to their light environment. There is now genetic proof of a principal role for melanopsin in all three major photoadaptation processes.     

Activation of the innate immune receptor Dectin-1 upon formation of a 'phagocytic synapse'

Innate immune cells must be able to distinguish between direct binding to microbes and detection of components shed from the surface of microbes located at a distance. Dectin-1 (also known as CLEC7A) is a pattern-recognition receptor expressed by myeloid phagocytes (macrophages, dendritic cells and neutrophils) that detects β-glucans in fungal cell walls and triggers direct cellular antimicrobial activity, including phagocytosis and production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In contrast to inflammatory responses stimulated upon detection of soluble ligands by other pattern-recognition receptors, such as Toll-like receptors (TLRs), these responses are only useful when a cell comes into direct contact with a microbe and must not be spuriously activated by soluble stimuli. In this study we show that, despite its ability to bind both soluble and particulate β-glucan polymers, Dectin-1 signalling is only activated by particulate β-glucans, which cluster the receptor in synapse-like structures from which regulatory tyrosine phosphatases CD45 and CD148 (also known as PTPRC and PTPRJ, respectively) are excluded (Supplementary Fig. 1). The 'phagocytic synapse' now provides a model mechanism by which innate immune receptors can distinguish direct microbial contact from detection of microbes at a distance, thereby initiating direct cellular antimicrobial responses only when they are required.     

Artificial neural network approach to assess selective flocculation on hematite and kaolinite

Because of the current depletion of high grade reserves, beneficiation of low grade ore, tailings produced and tailings stored in tailing ponds is needed to fulfill the market demand. Selective flocculation is one alternative process that could be used for the beneficiation of ultra-fine material. This process has not been extensively used commercially because of its complex dependency on process parameters. In this paper, a selective flocculation process, using synthetic mixtures of hematite and kaolinite in different ratios, was attempted, and the adsorption mechanism was investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. A three-layer artificial neural network (ANN) model (4-4-3) was used to predict the separation performance of the process in terms of grade, Fe recovery, and separation efficiency. The model values were in good agreement with experimental values.