Endogenous oscillatory activity and TTX-sensitive spikes of the heart muscle in early juveniles of the isopod crustaceanLigia exotica

The heart beat of early juveniles of the littoral isopodLigia exotica occurred at a frequency of 250 to 350/min, associated with rhythmic activity of the heart muscle. Each burst was composed of a slow depolarizing potential with superimposed spike potentials. The spike potential was eliminated by perfusion with TTX-containing or Na⁺-free saline. In TTX-saline, the slow potential was unchanged in frequency and amplitude. By current injection into the heart muscle, the rhythm of the slow potential was phase-shifted and its frequency was changed in a membrane potential-dependent manner. These results show that the heart ofLigia early juveniles acts as an endogenous muscle oscillator generating oscillatory slow potentials and Na⁺-dependent spikes.     

MIMO阵元方向性对系统性能影响研究

在考虑空间衰落相关性(SFC)的同时引入天线单元方向性,研究基于统计信道模型的终端MIMO多天线模型及性能评估方法.在Kronecker的MIMO信道建模中应用终端波达信号方位角功率谱(APS)模型.利用此MIMO信道模型概念,分析在统计衰落信道中MIMO阵元方向性对系统性能影响,包括对空间衰落相关系数、MIMO多径信道容量和误码率(BER)的影响.仿真和优化结果表明:终端MIMO多天线模型中阵元方向性对系统性能影响显著,合理安排阵元波束方向可增加约10%多径信道容量并明显减小误码率.     

Isolation of an excision product of T-cell receptor alpha-chain gene rearrangements

The genes for the T-cell receptor, like the immunoglobulin genes, are rearranged as DNA. The mechanism of this rearrangement is not clear; unequal crossover between chromosomes and the looping-out and excision of the excess DNA have both been suggested. We isolated small polydisperse circular (spc) DNAs from mouse thymocytes and cloned them into a phage vector. Of the 56 clones we analysed, nine contained sequences homologous to T-cell receptor alpha-chain joining (J alpha) segments. We have characterized one of these clones; it contains one J alpha segment, and the product out of the recombination of a variable region of the alpha-chain gene (V alpha) with a J alpha gene segment. This is the first demonstration of the presence in extrachromosomal DNA of a reciprocal recombination product of any rearranging immunoglobulin or T-cell receptor gene. The finding verifies that V alpha-J alpha joining can occur by the looping-out and excision of chromosomal DNA.     

中国前近代知识分子围绕城市的话语——从日中比较的观点进行探讨

在比较中日近代化进程的时候,我们知道城市状况上的差异与两国近代化的快慢情况有着很大的关联。前近代的中国社会由拥有人口众多、文化设施完备的少数大城市与绝大多数的乡村组成,而由超过两百个封建领国组成的江户时期的日本,城市与乡村的差异远没有中国那么巨大。两个文明在城市形态上的差异,在知识分子的精神气质与意识形态上表现出微妙的差异。     

Northern Hemisphere forcing of climatic cycles in Antarctica over the past 360,000 years

The Milankovitch theory of climate change proposes that glacial-interglacial cycles are driven by changes in summer insolation at high northern latitudes. The timing of climate change in the Southern Hemisphere at glacial-interglacial transitions (which are known as terminations) relative to variations in summer insolation in the Northern Hemisphere is an important test of this hypothesis. So far, it has only been possible to apply this test to the most recent termination, because the dating uncertainty associated with older terminations is too large to allow phase relationships to be determined. Here we present a new chronology of Antarctic climate change over the past 360,000 years that is based on the ratio of oxygen to nitrogen molecules in air trapped in the Dome Fuji and Vostok ice cores. This ratio is a proxy for local summer insolation, and thus allows the chronology to be constructed by orbital tuning without the need to assume a lag between a climate record and an orbital parameter. The accuracy of the chronology allows us to examine the phase relationships between climate records from the ice cores and changes in insolation. Our results indicate that orbital-scale Antarctic climate change lags Northern Hemisphere insolation by a few millennia, and that the increases in Antarctic temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration during the last four terminations occurred within the rising phase of Northern Hemisphere summer insolation. These results support the Milankovitch theory that Northern Hemisphere summer insolation triggered the last four deglaciations.     

Heterochromatin links to centromeric protection by recruiting shugoshin

The centromere of a chromosome is composed mainly of two domains, a kinetochore assembling core centromere and peri-centromeric heterochromatin regions. The crucial role of centromeric heterochromatin is still unknown, because even in simpler unicellular organisms such as the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, the heterochromatin protein Swi6 (HP1 homologue) has several functions at centromeres, including silencing gene expression and recombination, enriching cohesin, promoting kinetochore assembly, and, ultimately, preventing erroneous microtubule attachment to the kinetochores. Here we show that the requirement of heterochromatin for mitotic chromosome segregation is largely replaced by forcibly enriching cohesin at centromeres in fission yeast. However, this enrichment of cohesin is not sufficient to replace the meiotic requirement for heterochromatin. We find that the heterochromatin protein Swi6 associates directly with meiosis-specific shugoshin Sgo1, a protector of cohesin at centromeres. A point mutation of Sgo1 (V242E), which abolishes the interaction with Swi6, impairs the centromeric localization and function of Sgo1. The forced centromeric localization of Sgo1 restores proper meiotic chromosome segregation in swi6 cells. We also show that the direct link between HP1 and shugoshin is conserved in human cells. Taken together, our findings suggest that the recruitment of shugoshin is the important primary role for centromeric heterochromatin in ensuring eukaryotic chromosome segregation.     

Absorption events associated with solar flares

During the upward period of solar cycle 23, the Imaging Riometer at Zhongshan, Antarctica (geomag. lat. 74.5 S) was used to study the solar proton events and the Xray solar flares which are associated with the absorption events. In our study, the relationship between the absorption intensity and X-ray flux is found in a power form which is consistent with the theoretical result. The imaging riometer absorption data at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard reconfirm the above relationship. We also argue that only M-class flares can generate a significant daytime absorption.     

一种多值编码遗传算法的缺失基因复现方法

与二值编码遗传算法相比,基因缺失问题对多值编码遗传算法的全局搜索性能影响比较大.提出一种缺失基因复现和存活的变异方法,即根据字符集中的字符在种群中的缺失作为预选变异基因集,然后对待变异个体集进行预变异;选择高适应度个体的对应变异基因和基因位,使其在原待变异个体集中扩散.将该方法应用到多重选择背包问题的遗传算法中,通过仿真实验验证了该方法的有效性.