对于甘草属的新分类系统评论

1.世界29种甘草数字是不可靠的;2.新疆17种甘草是由于对于老种的错误鉴定和"新种"爆炸造成的;2.对三叶甘草(G. triphylla)、白花甘草(G. bucharica)、黄花甘草(G. flavescens)的新组合是错误的;4.新建的组(Sect.)、系(Ser.)拉丁名,是中文式的拼凑,难为人所接受;5.文中的检索表和分类系统是脱节的,前者是世界的,后者是中国的;均未指明模式产地和保存地及引证原始和近期出版的文献。因而不符合一般分类学文章规范;6.文章内容尤其"参考文献"中的笔误太多,令人惊奇! 7. "新分类系统"是不可取的。     

代谢途径的进化

生物的新陈代谢是通过一系列的代谢途径来实现的.这些调节精妙、相瓦协作的代谢途径是如何进化形成的一直是一个引人入胜的重要问题.自1945年有关该问题的第一个假说--"逆向进化假说"提出以来,迄今已发展出七种假说,包括"逆向进化假说"、"半酶理论"、"向前发展模型"、"酶的招募假说"、"多功能酶特化假说"、"整个代谢途径的复制假说"和"从头创造假说".其中最受关注的是"逆向进化假说"和"酶的招募假说",而最近提出的"多功能酶特化假说"由于有较好的理论基础和实验证据支持,也逐渐引起人们的关注.本文对这些假说逐一作了概述,并结合作者的相关研究工作,对该领域的研究现状和发展趋势进行了分析讨论和展望.     

胰岛β细胞"质"、"量"的辩证关系——"质"的三要素

高血糖是糖尿病典型的病理特征,血糖的波动是决定糖尿病患者是否出现并发症的重要因素,而由胰岛β细胞合成分泌的胰岛素,是体内唯一可以降低血糖的多肽类激素.胰岛β细胞"质"与"量"决定着体内胰岛素分泌情况和血糖的调控.围绕"促进β细胞损伤修复,提升胰岛β细胞质量是治疗糖尿病的核心"之理念,提出构成胰岛β细胞"质"的三要素:细胞结构、"真""假"胰岛素和胰岛素调节型分泌.旨在为β细胞质量评价和糖尿病机制研究提供一定的理论参考.     

关于开设"基因组学"课程的探讨

"基因组学"是伴随人类基因组计划而形成的一门新兴学科.系统整体和动态量化是基因组学研究的重要特点."基因组学"课程的开设可以替代分子遗传学,同时还需要正确处理与现代遗传学、分子生物学和生物信息学等课程之间的关系.现阶段"基因组学"课程的内容主要包括结构基因组学、功能基因组学和进化基因组学,还可以根据生命科学不同专业的特点选择药物基因组学和表观基因组学等分支内容.     

基于生态容量的广东省资源环境基尼系数计算与分析——与张音波等商榷

张音波等认为:资源环境基尼系数是用来反映在"经济贡献率"相同的情况下,资源消耗、污染物排放公平程度的一个指标,并用"绿色贡献系数"来判断资源消耗与污染物排放的不公平因子.这种基于GDP来计算的"资源环境基尼系数"会产生一种"经济越发达的地区就可以多污染"的误解,且这种"越富裕越有排污权消耗权"的理论与生态学的生态容量理论是相背离的.正确的分析方法应该是"基于'环境或生态容量'的资源环境基尼系数",从生态容量的角度,重新定义资源环境基尼系数,并确立基于生态容量的"绿色负担系数"来评价其不公平性.选取广东省2005年各城市SO2排放、工业固废产生、废水排放和能源消耗为评价指标,选取在统计资料上统计的便于分析对照的"森林面积"和"耕地面积"指标为"生态容量"的表征指标,计算其资源环境基尼系数和绿色负担系数.结果表明,2005年广东省上述4项指标的资源环境基尼系数分别为0.65、0.58、0.60、0.57,均明显高于0.4的"警戒线",说明广东省资源环境容量分配差异较大.从绿色负担系数来看,研究结果与张音波等的结果恰恰相反:在广东21个城市中,深圳、佛山、东莞、中山、广州等经济发达城市是主要的不公平因子,是需要转变经济发展模式的城市,更须注重经济与环境的协调发展.     

黑芝的本草考证

对古代文献记载的"黑芝"在名称、地理分布、形态特性和药用功效等方面做了本草考证。根据历代本草对"黑芝"的记载,与紫芝(Ganoderma sinense J.D. Zhao,L.W. HsuX.Q. Zhang)的地理分布、形态特征和药用功效等方面进行对照。初步认为古代记载的"黑芝"和"紫芝"是同一种真菌,即灵芝科真菌紫芝子实体的不同生长发育阶段。     

需求导向,基础领先,技术取胜

实施中国脑计划的重要性和迫切性不言而喻.大脑是人类文明的开始.自古以来,人类就试图以各种手段和方法来理解、保护和控制大脑.脑科学被认为是人类最后的科学尖端,被视为科研领域"皇冠上的明珠".无论是1990年启动的美国"脑的十年"研究计划,还是近几年欧洲联盟的"蓝脑计划"、"人类脑计划",以及美国于2013年启动的"推进创新神经技术脑研究计划",无不重复地演绎着人类追求"认识脑、保护脑、创造脑"的美好梦想.     

沉浸在文化中的香

"香文化"跟"酒文化"和"茶文化"一样,是世界传统文化的一个分支,具有悠久的历史和文化底蕴.人们对香的认识,既是物质的形和味,又包含文化的内涵和精神感悟,以香修心、以香修为,以求获得心灵的洗礼、精神的升华和人生的领悟.中国古代名香"沉檀龙麝",指的是"沉香、檀香、龙涎香、麝香",它们是古代只有皇族贵胄才能享用的专属用品...     

高产小麦品种茎秆的解剖和化学特性

小麦(Triticum aestivum L.)新品种"小偃81",是由抗病虫害小麦品种"小偃54"和高产小麦品种"8602"杂交筛选出的具有优良特性的后代.作者运用多种实验手段,研究了新品种茎秆组织结构以及木质素含量和分布的变化规律.结果表明:与母本"小偃54"和父本"8602"相比,"小偃81"的茎秆直径变小、横切面上维管束数目减少,而茎秆直径与壁厚比、横切面上机械组织比例却显著增大,单位面积上维管束数目增多.Klason法测定木质素结果显示:"小偃81"茎秆中木质素含量高于"小偃54"和"8602".经Maule和Wiesner的木质素显色反应,"小偃81"茎秆横切面染色明显加深.用H2O2/Hac弃除酚酸以后,新品种小麦的木质素自发荧光明显强于亲本.FTIR分析结果表明:"小偃8l"中所含的紫丁香基、愈创木酚基等木质素特征基团的吸收峰值也显著高于亲本.由此推断,新品种"小偃8l"的茎秆具有优良的组织结构和化学组成.     

国家公园的内涵与基本特征

国家公园建设已成为当前我国推进生态文明、建设"美丽中国"的重要内容和有力抓手.国家公园的理论研究和实践探索是近年全国上下主抓的重点工作之一.在调查分析和研读文献的基础上,对国家公园的内涵与基本特征进行了探讨,认为:(1)国内学术界最早提出"国家公园"一词,是在1980年;国外(美国)提出"国家公园"概念是在1832年....     

"I" becomes "L": modification of vertical mammaplasty

The problems of the vertical mammaplasty by Lejour (i.e., gathering the skin envelope in one vertical suture, frequent secondary healing problems, and later sagging of the inferior glandular part in the case of large and very large breasts) are well known. A simple modification of the Lejour technique, that is, adding a lateral inframammary scar to shorten the vertical scar length, is presented. The modified L technique was used in 45 patients (90 breasts) between October of 1999 and August of 2001. With an average follow-up of 13 months, the jugular notch-to-nipple distance was 21 cm, the vertical scar length was 8.4 cm, the lateral inframammary scar length was 11 cm, and the average resection weight was 625 g per breast (range, 200 g to 2080 g). Even among patients who had very large glandular bases and resection weights it was possible to achieve a breast base reduction, modeling the glandular corpus to a harmonic, well-projecting, and youthful shape. Slight wound-healing problems with spontaneous cicatrization within 2 weeks occurred in six patients. In two patients who exhibited gigantomastia up to 2080 g per breast, partial mamilla necrosis occurred on one side. Ninety-one percent of the patients reported being "very satisfied" with the outcome, and 9 percent reporting being "satisfied." The authors' modification of the vertical mammaplasty to an L-shaped scar technique enables the surgeon to apply the principles of the Lejour technique for higher resection weights and diminishes wound-healing problems, and it is still a scar-minimizing technique that results in a scar-free cleavage. It is easy to learn and an ideal standard technique for a teaching hospital.     

"DRUMMING" BY SWIFTS

On 27 April 1958, while my wife and I were watching a party of 20–30 Mottled Swifts Apus aequatorialis over a dam ten miles west of Nairobi, Kenya, we repeatedly heard quite a loud "prrrpt-prrrpt-prrrpt". We discovered that the swifts were making this noise by spreading and slightly depressing their tails and moving them sideways so that the outer feather was almost parallel with the wing. The 'leading' feather thus projected into the slipstream was quite clearly seen to vibrate at the same time as the noise was heard. We watched this performance for about half an hour and noted that the tails were invariably turned to the right; we were both using binoculars. We saw that several birds were performing in this manner but it did not appear to be in connection with any display towards any other particular member of the party. The sexes of the Mottled Swift are indistinguishable in the field. The 'drumming' took place in the early part of the dive towards the surface of the dam from which the birds were drinking on the wing; it did not appear to cause any deflection of the flight path.     

"Ant" and "grasshopper" life-history strategies in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

From the evolutionary and ecological points of view, it is essential to distinguish between the genetic and environmental components of the variability of life-history traits and of their trade-offs. Among the factors affecting this variability, the resource uptake rate deserves particular attention, because it depends on both the environment and the genetic background of the individuals. In order to unravel the bases of the life-history strategies in yeast, we grew a collection of twelve strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae from different industrial and geographical origins in three culture media differing for their glucose content. Using a population dynamics model to fit the change of population size over time, we estimated the intrinsic growth rate (r), the carrying capacity (K), the mean cell size and the glucose consumption rate per cell. The life-history traits, as well as the glucose consumption rate, displayed large genetic and plastic variability and genetic-by-environment interactions. Within each medium, growth rate and carrying capacity were not correlated, but a marked trade-off between these traits was observed over the media, with high K and low r in the glucose rich medium and low K and high r in the other media. The cell size was tightly negatively correlated to carrying capacity in all conditions. The resource consumption rate appeared to be a clear-cut determinant of both the carrying capacity and the cell size in all media, since it accounted for 37% to 84% of the variation of those traits. In a given medium, the strains that consume glucose at high rate have large cell size and low carrying capacity, while the strains that consume glucose at low rate have small cell size but high carrying capacity. These two contrasted behaviors may be metaphorically defined as "ant" and "grasshopper" strategies of resource utilization. Interestingly, a strain may be "ant" in one medium and "grasshopper" in another. These life-history strategies are discussed with regards to yeast physiology, and in an evolutionary perspective.     

The use of multifolded pericranial flaps as "plugs" and "pads"

Pericranial flaps are thin and, hence, their volumes are small. Therefore, their use for soft-tissue augmentation has not been popular. In this article, the author introduces a new concept: the use of a multifolded pericranial flap as a "plug" or a "pad" for localized contour defects. Eight patients were included in the study. In all cases, an anteriorly based pericranial flap was used, and the flap was folded on itself several times to increase its bulk. The results were satisfactory in all patients. The literature on the topic is reviewed, and the blood supply of pericranial flaps is discussed.     

Coding "what" and "when" in the Archer fish retina

Traditionally, the information content of the neural response is quantified using statistics of the responses relative to stimulus onset time with the assumption that the brain uses onset time to infer stimulus identity. However, stimulus onset time must also be estimated by the brain, making the utility of such an approach questionable. How can stimulus onset be estimated from the neural responses with sufficient accuracy to ensure reliable stimulus identification? We address this question using the framework of colour coding by the archer fish retinal ganglion cell. We found that stimulus identity, “what”, can be estimated from the responses of best single cells with an accuracy comparable to that of the animal''s psychophysical estimation. However, to extract this information, an accurate estimation of stimulus onset is essential. We show that stimulus onset time, “when”, can be estimated using a linear-nonlinear readout mechanism that requires the response of a population of 100 cells. Thus, stimulus onset time can be estimated using a relatively simple readout. However, large nerve cell populations are required to achieve sufficient accuracy.

Authors Summary

In our interaction with the environment we are flooded with a stream of numerous objects and events. Our brain needs to understand the nature of these complex and rich stimuli in order to react. Research has shown ways in which a ‘what’ stimulus was presented can be encoded by the neural responses. However, to understand ‘what was the nature of the stimulus’ the brain needs to know ‘when’ the stimulus was presented. Here, we investigated how the onset of visual stimulus can be signalled by the retina to higher brain regions. We used archer fish as a framework to test the notion that the answer to the question of ‘when’ something has been presented lies within the larger cell population, whereas the answer to the question of ‘what’ has been presented may be found at the single-neuron level. The utility of the archer fish as model animal stems from its remarkable ability to shoot down insects settling on the foliage above the water level, and its ability to distinguish between artificial targets. Thus, the archer fish can provide the fish equivalent of a monkey or a human that can report psychophysical decisions.     

Temperature-dependent switching between "wild-type" and "mutant" forms of p53-Val135

The p53 gene is a suppressor of abnormal cell growth but is also subject to oncogenic activation by mutation. The mutant allele p53-Val135, has recently been discovered to be temperature-sensitive and functions as an oncogene at 37 degrees C and as a tumor suppressor at 32.5 degrees C. In order to investigate the molecular mechanism underlying the temperature sensitivity of p53-Val135 rabbit reticulocyte lysate was used to translate the p53 mRNAs in vitro at 37 degrees C and at 30 degrees C. The immunoreactivity and T antigen binding of wild-type protein p53-Ala135 were unaffected by temperature and were similar to wild-type p53 expressed in vivo. In contrast, the mutant p53-Val135 protein was markedly affected by temperature. At 37 degrees C p53-Val135 showed reduced T antigen binding and did not react with monoclonal antibodies PAb246 and PAb1620. At 30 degrees C, p53-Val135 behaved as the wild-type p53. Temperature also exerted a post-translational effect on p53-Val135 with complete conversion from wild-type to mutant phenotype within two minutes of temperature shift from 30 degrees C to 37 degrees C. There was incomplete conversion from mutant to wild-type phenotype when the temperature was shifted down from 37 degrees C to 30 degrees C. We propose that the temperature dependent forms of p53-Val135 represent conformational variants of the p53 protein with opposing functions in cell growth control.     

"Imposed" and "inherent" mucosal activity patterns. Their composite representation of olfactory stimuli

Both regional differences in mucosal sensitivity and a gas chromatography-like process along the mucosal sheet have been separately proposed in two sets of earlier studies to produce different odorant-dependent activity patterns across the olfactory mucosa. This investigation evaluated, in one study, whether and to what degree these two mechanisms contribute to the generation of these activity patterns. Summated multiunit discharges were simultaneously recorded from lateral (LN) and medial (MN) sites on the bullfrog's olfactory nerve to sample the mucosal activity occurring near the internal and external nares, respectively. Precisely controlled sniffs of four odorants (benzaldehyde, butanol, geraniol, and octane) were drawn through the frog's olfactory sac in both the forward (H1) and reverse (H2) hale directions. By combining the four resulting measurements, LNH1, LNH2, MNH1, and MNH2, in different mathematical expressions, indexes reflecting the relative effects of the chromatographic process, regional sensitivity, and hale direction could be calculated. Most importantly, the chromatographic process and the regional sensitivity differences both contributed significantly to the mucosal activity patterns. However, their relative roles varied markedly among the four odorants, ranging from complete dominance by either one to substantial contributions from each. In general, the more strongly an odorant was sorbed by the mucosa, the greater was the relative effect of the chromatographic process; the weaker the sorption, the greater the relative effect of regional sensitivity. Similarly, the greater an odorant's sorption, the greater was the effect of hale direction. Other stimulus variables (sniff volume, sniff duration, and the number of molecules within the sniff) had marked effects upon the overall size of the response. For strongly sorbed odorants, the effect of increasing volume was positive; for a weakly sorbed odorant, it was negative. The reverse may be true for duration. In contrast, the effect of increasing the number of molecules was uniformly positive for all four odorants. However, there was little evidence that these other stimulus variables had a major influence upon the effects of the chromatographic process and regional sensitivity differences in their generation of mucosal activity patterns.     

Inheritance of pollen-less anthers and "thrum" and "pin" flowers in periwinkle

Two mutants, 1 with small, pollen-less anthers (OR-EA) and another with "pin" flowers (EMS 13-2), in contrast to "thrum" flowers found in normal periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) plants, were isolated after induced mutagenesis in strain OR and cultivar, "Dhawal," respectively. Inheritance of these 2 traits, pollen-less anthers, and pin flowers was studied by crossing the mutants with their respective parental strains. Segregation ratios observed in F(2) and testcross generations of the cross OR-EA x OR suggested that the pollen-less anthers trait was determined by duplicate recessive genes. Data obtained from F(2) and F(3) generations of the cross involving mutant EMS 13-2 with pin flowers and its parental variety Dhawal, suggested that production of pin (mutant) and thrum (normal) flowers was under the control of inhibitory epistatic interaction between 2 independently inherited genes.     

Relative contributions of "pressure pump" and "peristaltic pump" to gastric emptying

The relative contributions to gastric emptying from common cavity antroduodenal pressure difference ("pressure pump") vs. propagating high-pressure waves in the distal antrum ("peristaltic pump") were analyzed in humans by high-resolution manometry concurrently with time-resolved three-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging during intraduodenal nutrient infusion at 2 kcal/min. Gastric volume, space-time pressure, and contraction wave histories in the antropyloroduodenal region were measured in seven healthy subjects. The subjects fell into two distinct groups with an order of magnitude difference in levels of antral pressure activity. However, there was no significant difference in average rate of gastric emptying between the two groups. Antral pressure history was separated into "propagating high-pressure events" (HPE), "nonpropagating HPEs," and "quiescent periods." Quiescent periods dominated, and average pressure during quiescent periods remained unchanged with decreasing gastric volume, suggesting that common cavity pressure levels were maintained by increasing wall muscle tone with decreasing volume. When propagating HPEs moved to within 2-3 cm of the pylorus, pyloric resistance was found statistically to increase with decreasing distance between peristaltic waves and the pylorus. We conclude that transpyloric flow tends to be blocked when antral contraction waves are within a "zone of influence" proximal to the pylorus, suggesting physiological coordination between pyloric and antral contractile activity. We further conclude that gastric emptying of nutrient liquids is primarily through the "pressure pump" mechanism controlled by pyloric opening during periods of relative quiescence in antral contractile wave activity.     

The distributions of "new" and "old" Alu sequences in the human genome: the solution of a "mystery"

The distribution in the human genome of the largest family of mobile elements, the Alu sequences, has been investigated for the past 30 years, and the vast majority of Alu sequences were shown to have the highest density in GC-rich isochores. Ten years ago, it was discovered, however, that the small "youngest" (most recently transposed) Alu families had a strikingly different distribution compared with the "old" families. This raised the question as to how this change took place in evolution. We solved what was considered to be a "mystery" by 1) revisiting our previous results on the integration and stability of retroviral sequences, and 2) assessing the densities of acceptor sites TTTT/AA in isochore families. We could conclude 1) that the open state of chromatin structure plays a crucial role in allowing not only the initial integration of retroviral sequences but also that of the youngest Alu sequences, and 2) that the distribution of old Alus can be explained as due to Alu sequences being unstable in the GC-poor isochores but stable in the compositionally matching GC-rich isochores, again in line with what happens in the case of retroviral sequences.