Characterization and preliminary crystallographic data on the VL-related fragment of the human kI Bence Jones protein Wat

A “naturally occurring” human κI V_L dimer, designated Wat, has been isolated and crystallized. Protein Wat consists of two non-covalently bound monomers, each having a molecular weight of ~ 11,500. The monomer subunit is composed of an entire variable region light chain (V_L) domain closely homologous to that of the κI Bence Jones protein Roy (Hilschmann &; Craig, 1965) as evidenced from amino acid composition, tryptic peptide map, and sequence analysis. Immunochemical studies substantiated that protein Wat is of the κ chain subgroup κI and lacks the isotypic and allotypic antigenic determinants associated with the κ constant region light chain domain. Two types of crystals of V_L dimer Wat were obtained from ammonium sulfate or polyethylene glycol solutions. The type I crystals have unit cell dimensions of $\text{a = b = 82.6}\text{A}\text{?}\text{, c = 60.3}\text{A}\text{?}$, and the space group is hexagonal P6₂ or P6₄. The asymmetric unit consists of one V_L dimer; the fractional volume of unit cell occupied by solvent is 0.51. The unit cell dimensions of the type II crystals are $\text{a = b = 1,08.3}\text{A}\text{?}\text{, c = 108.8}\text{A}\text{?}$; the space group is hexagonal P6₁22 or P6₅22. Three variable domains constitute the asymmetric unit of the type II crystals; the fractional value of the solvent (0.52) is compatible with the value obtained for the type I crystals.     

Notes on compositional diversity

This paper tries to show some ways and means of simple (binary) modelling, whereby diversity can be interconnected with other attributes of a community. A new type of scaling (called characteristic scaling) is introduced for further use.     

Construction and Comparison of Two Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves Derived from the Same Samples

Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves are used to describe the performance of diagnostic procedures. This paper proposes a simple method for the statistical comparison of two ROC curves derived from the same set of patients and the same set of healthy subjects. Generalization to studies involving more than two screening factors is straightforward. This method does not require the calculation of variances of the areas or difference of areas under the curves.     

Spectrum structures and biological functions of 8-mers in the human genome

The spectra of k-mer frequencies can reveal the structures and evolution of genome sequences. We confirmed that the trimodal spectrum of 8-mers in human genome sequences is distinguished only by CG2, CG1 and CG0 8-mer sets, containing 2,1 or 0 CpG, respectively. This phenomenon is called independent selection law. The three types of CG 8-mers were considered as different functional elements. We conjectured that (1) nucleosome binding motifs are mainly characterized by CG1 8-mers and (2) the core structural units of CpG island sequences are predominantly characterized by CG2 8-mers. To validate our conjectures, nucleosome occupied sequences and CGI sequences were extracted, then the sequence parameters were constructed through the information of the three CG 8-mer sets respectively. ROC analysis showed that CG1 8-mers are more preference in nucleosome occupied segments (AUC > 0.7) and CG2 8-mers are more preference in CGI sequences (AUC > 0.99). This validates our conjecture in principle.     

棘冠海星暴发及其对珊瑚礁的生态影响研究进展

棘冠海星的反复暴发是导致印度-太平洋区域珊瑚礁生态系统退化的最主要原因之一。然而，我国对棘冠海星的研究非常有限。本文综述了国内外关于棘冠海星及其暴发的生态影响和应对策略的研究进展，得出以下主要结论：1）雌性棘冠海星个体每年产卵数量高达50万-2亿个，环境因素变化只要导致幼虫和幼体存活率的轻微提高，成体就将得到大量补充；2）棘冠海星暴发的阈值为1000-1500个/km²，暴发周期为10-27 a，每次暴发持续1-10 a，最终可能以"种群集体感染疾病而崩溃"结束；3）棘冠海星暴发对印度洋及太平洋东部和北部珊瑚礁的破坏性非常小，却直接导致太平洋的西部和南部珊瑚礁90%以上的珊瑚死亡，并通过改变珊瑚群落组成、减少珊瑚和鱼类多样性而对珊瑚礁产生间接影响；4）关于棘冠海星暴发原因的假说中"陆地营养物质输入假说"和"捕食者过度捕捞假说"得到了最普遍的认可，但都不能解释所有的暴发事件；5）应对棘冠海星暴发的主要策略有改善水质、设立保护区、投放天敌和人工清理等，其中人工清理是最直接有效的策略，但迄今并没有发现可长期抑制棘冠海星暴发的方法。因此，急需加强对棘冠海星的深入研究，探查其暴发的根本原因和对策。     

ANNUAL CHANGES OF LEARNED BEHAVIOUR—VARIATION OF SONG PATTERN IN FREE-LIVING CHAFFINCHES,FRINGILLA COELEBS,DURING THE BREEDING SEASON

ABSTRACT

Seasonal changes of parameters of full song were studied in a free-living population of chaffinches Fringilla coelebs during one entire reproductive period. Approximately 7000 strophes sung by 14 male chaffinches were recorded and analysed by sonography and a particular oscillographic method. While the general pattern of song strophes, i.e. characteristics of elements, number and arrangement of phrases, and final flourish, remained constant throughout the reproductive period, full song varied with respect to the repetition rate of strophes, number of strophe types used, intensity of singing, duration of strophes, and percentage of incomplete strophes sung. These changes are discussed as results of learning processes, social interactions in the population, and endogenous mechanisms activating memorized information.     

人轮状病毒HRB-02株的分离鉴定

从哈尔滨医科大学第二临床医学院发生腹泻患儿粪便中取得标本 ,用MA10 4细胞传代培养 ,传至第4代时 ,细胞出现明显病变 ;电镜观察见到典型的轮状病毒颗粒 ;其RNA电泳型为 4∶2∶3∶2型 ,属A群轮状病毒。对其蚀斑特性和血凝特性进行了初步研究 ,把这株轮状病毒地方株命名为HRB 0 2株。为研究该株轮状病毒的分子生物学特性 ,从而研制诊断性抗原和疫苗奠定基础。     

光合细菌固定化及对养殖水净化的研究

采用海藻酸钠进行光合细菌固定化实验,比较了固定化菌和悬浮态菌的生长和生理特性,观察其在载体中的分布,并对其净化养殖水的能力进行初步研究。结果表明,固定化大大提高了光合细菌的生长速率;粒径为3.5mm,菌初始密度为0.12mg干菌泥/L为最佳固定化条件;在生长初期,菌在载体内的分布不均匀,后期趋于一致。在固定化菌净化养殖水的研究中发现,固定化光合细菌对养殖水的净化能力大大优于悬浮态菌。     

黄龙山林区封育油松种群动态研究

对不同封育年限油松种群的高度、径级、年龄结构进行分析,运用马尔可夫转移矩阵预测种群密度动态。结果表明,不同封育年限种群的生长发育明显不同。种群个体高度以2～4m和6～8。占优势,胸径以0～2cm的小径阶和〉20cm的大径阶占较大比重;在各封育系列中,种群的密度中、大级出现几率较大。在封育45年前,种群的年龄结构中大树所占比例最大;45年后,小树和幼苗则较多,但种群弱小个体大量死亡。本区天然林保护年限最短应确定为45年。     

杉木优良变异类型——罗田垂枝杉生物学特性研究

罗田垂枝杉是20世纪70年代中期在湖北省罗田县发现的杉木自然变异类型,在与黄枝杉比较的基础上,对罗田垂枝杉的形态变异特征和生物学特性进行了深入的调查研究,其形态特征与其它杉木类型的主要区别是：2～3年生的侧枝自然下垂,6～7年生的老枝自然脱落,树冠窄小,是具有遗传改良品质和较高利用价值的种质资源。