A Note on the Nicaragua v. Colombia Case

The 2012 Nicaragua v. Colombia Case is the second instance where the International Court of Justice has employed the standard method in maritime delimitation since the 2009 Black Sea Case. The “standard method” involves three stages with the construction of a provisional equidistance line as the core of the methodology. There is no legal basis under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea or customary law for the a priori position given to an equidistance line. Moreover, questions can be raised about the Court's operation at the second stage, which should consist of an adjustment or shifting of the provisional line rather than replacing it. Finally, the use of the disproportionality test as the touchstone for equity of the delimitation line is doubtful.     

A Note on Maritime Delimitation in a Multizonal Context: The Case of the Mediterranean

This article points out some of the issues that may arise during the delimitation of maritime boundary in a sea area where coastal states have proclaimed various maritime zones. Issues considered include delimitation in the presence of overlapping or coincident zones, the role of existing boundaries, use of all-purpose maritime boundaries, and the delimitation of future zones. Special reference is made to the Mediterranean Sea where coastal states have advanced various claims consisting of zones sometimes different from the ones provided for in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.     

Prevention of Vessel-Source Marine Pollution: A Note on the Challenges and Prospects for Chinese Practice Under International Law

This article examines China's domestic legal regime for the prevention of vessel source pollution. It pays special attention to the recently adopted Regulation on Prevention and Control of Marine Pollution from Vessels. Potential challenges and emerging issues that China has to confront are addressed, including: application of the legislation to disputed sea areas between China and its neighbors, freedom of navigation in the exclusive economic zone, reduction of emission from ships, and prevention of invasive species from ballast water.     

China and Japan Maritime Disputes in the East China Sea: A Note on Recent Developments

This article examines recent developments in the East China Sea maritime disputes, focusing primarily on the Principled Consensus agreed on by China and Japan for the joint development of energy resources. The article also provides a perspective on the East China Sea maritime disputes between the two countries within the context of international relations.     

Functional Analysis of Tpr: Identification of Nuclear Pore Complex Association and Nuclear Localization Domains and a Role in mRNA Export

Tpr is a 270-kD coiled-coil protein localized to intranuclear filaments of the nuclear pore complex (NPC). The mechanism by which Tpr contributes to the structure and function of the nuclear pore is currently unknown. To gain insight into Tpr function, we expressed the full-length protein and several subdomains in mammalian cell lines and examined their effects on nuclear pore function. Through this analysis, we identified an NH₂-terminal domain that was sufficient for association with the nucleoplasmic aspect of the NPC. In addition, we unexpectedly found that the acidic COOH terminus was efficiently transported into the nuclear interior, an event that was apparently mediated by a putative nuclear localization sequence. Ectopic expression of the full-length Tpr caused a dramatic accumulation of poly(A)⁺ RNA within the nucleus. Similar results were observed with domains that localized to the NPC and the nuclear interior. In contrast, expression of these proteins did not appear to affect nuclear import. These data are consistent with a model in which Tpr is tethered to intranuclear filaments of the NPC by its coiled coil domain leaving the acidic COOH terminus free to interact with soluble transport factors and mediate export of macromolecules from the nucleus.     

A Note on China's Legal and Operational Responses to International Piracy

This article reviews China's responses to international piracy from the legal perspective by looking at China's treaty practices with regard to piracy suppression, China's enhanced overseas naval escort operations, China's domestic antipiracy law in both substantive and procedural aspects, and piracy prosecution under Chinese law. Notwithstanding its contribution to the suppression of piracy, China has a need to improve its domestic laws for more efficient and effective piracy suppression.     

短途运输应激对Wistar大鼠的影响

目的研究短途运输应激对Wistar大鼠的影响,建立评价啮齿类实验动物短途运输应激的技术指标体系。方法采用Wistar大鼠进行短途运输实验,测定其在运输中及运输后各阶段的代谢、神经内分泌和免疫功能主要指标,与未经历运输的对照组比较,分析短途运输应激的影响。结果Wistar大鼠血糖（GLU）在运输0.5 h和1 h时均升高,而在运输1.5 h时降低,运输结束后24 h时GLU再次升高;血清皮质酮（CORT）亦在运输0.5 h和1h时升高而运输1.5 h时降低,但运输结束24 h起即恢复正常;血清β-内啡肽（-βEP）从运输起至运输结束24 h时均降低,至48 h恢复正常。外周白细胞总数（WBC）自运输起急剧减少,于结束运输后的72 h恢复;免疫球蛋白G（IgG）、白介素2（IL-2）、γ干扰素（IFN-γ）及白介素1（IL-1）的血清水平在运输中及运输结束的即刻均没有显著变化,但在结束运输后的48 h内均不同程度降低,至72 h恢复至正常水平。肝脏hsp72 mRNA的表达随着运输时间的延长而极显著上调,运输结束后逐渐恢复,至72 h恢复至正常水平。结论短途运输应激对Wistar大鼠的代谢、神经内分泌和免疫功能均有不利影响,其经历常规短途运输（1.5 h以内）到达目的地后的健康适应期至少应为72 h;外周血中白细胞总数（WBC）、血糖（GLU）、皮质酮（CORT）、β-内啡肽（-βEP）、白介素2（IL-2）的水平可用于系统评价短途运输应激。     

高等动物细胞核膜和核纤层结构、功能及动态变化调控机制

细胞核是真核细胞中最大的细胞器．高等动物细胞核主要由双层核膜、核孔复合体、核纤层、染色质和核仁等组成．在细胞有丝分裂期,细胞核呈现去装配和再装配等动态变化．在细胞分裂间期,核膜、核孔复合体和核纤层构成细胞核的外周结构,为遗传物质在染色质和核仁中的代谢提供了一个相对稳定的环境,同时调控细胞核内外的物质转运,在细胞增殖、分化、个体发育和细胞衰老等许多方面发挥着重要作用．本文主要对高等动物细胞核膜和核纤层结构、功能及动态变化调控机制等方面的研究进展进行简要综述．     

Transportation and Storage of Cryosections in PBS-Dulbecco

Tissue pieces that cannot be fixed and embedded before immuno-staining must be cryosectioned and stained quickly. We describe an easy and reliable technique to keep cryosections with immune complexes and complement stored for several weeks until the final immiinostaining. The same technique was used for long distance transportation of cryosections and it was extensively tested for human kidney biopsies with excellent results.     

首例圈养大熊猫产后出血的治疗及初生幼仔长途运输初探

中国保护大熊猫研究中心雅安碧峰峡基地的一只雌性大熊猫分娩后发生产后出血,采取促进子宫收缩、减少出血、利用抗菌素药物防止感染的原则对母兽进行治疗,4d后恢复正常。治疗期间取出两只初生幼仔,利用自制人工保温箱将幼仔成功地从雅安长途运回卧龙进行人工育幼;并对母兽进行育幼行为培训以保持母性行为,母兽康复后主动接受幼仔成功哺育成活。     

The Inner Nuclear Membrane Protein Bqt4 in Fission Yeast Contains a DNA-Binding Domain Essential for Telomere Association with the Nuclear Envelope

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Nuclear interactions in a heterokaryon: insight from the model Neurospora tetrasperma

A heterokaryon is a tissue type composed of cells containing genetically different nuclei. Although heterokaryosis is commonly found in nature, an understanding of the evolutionary implications of this phenomenon is largely lacking. Here, we use the filamentous ascomycete Neurospora tetrasperma to study the interplay between nuclei in heterokaryons across vegetative and sexual developmental stages. This fungus harbours nuclei of two opposite mating types (mat A and mat a) in the same cell and is thereby self-fertile. We used pyrosequencing of mat-linked SNPs of three heterokaryons to demonstrate that the nuclear ratio is consistently biased for mat A-nuclei during mycelial growth (mean mat A/mat a ratio 87%), but evens out during sexual development (ratio ranging from 40 to 57%). Furthermore, we investigated the association between nuclear ratio and expression of alleles of mat-linked genes and found that expression is coregulated to obtain a tissue-specific bias in expression ratio: during mycelial extension, we found a strong bias in expression for mat A-linked genes, that was independent of nuclear ratio, whereas at the sexual stage we found an expression bias for genes of the mat a nuclei. Taken together, our data indicate that nuclei cooperate to optimize the fitness of the heterokaryon, via both altering their nuclear ratios and coregulation genes expressed in the different nuclei.     

哺乳动物体细胞克隆及在动物转基因中的应用

哺乳动物体细胞克隆及转基因技术,近些年发展迅速。尤其1997年‘多利’羊的诞生,对推动哺乳动物克隆及转基因技术的发展具有里程碑式的意义。本文介绍了哺乳动物体细胞克隆的方法,存在的问题和体细胞克隆的机理研究。对这些方法和研究理论进行了讨论,并探讨如何利用克隆技术进行转基因动物的制备。     

The Economics of International Cooperation in the Apprehension and Prosecution of Maritime Pirates

Article 100 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea requires parties to “cooperate” against maritime piracy, but how this cooperation is to be achieved is undefined. Enforcement is a public good—creating uncompensated benefits for others, thus suffering from free rider problems. The analysis in this article explains why more pirates captured are released than prosecuted, why the United Nations and the International Maritime Organization are seeking to reduce enforcement costs, why some in the shipping industry want to apply the 1988 Convention Against Terrorism at Sea, and why still others want to move prosecution of pirates from national courts to an international court.     

toca-1 Is in a Novel Pathway That Functions in Parallel with a SUN-KASH Nuclear Envelope Bridge to Move Nuclei in Caenorhabditis elegans

Moving the nucleus to an intracellular location is critical to many fundamental cell and developmental processes, including cell migration, differentiation, fertilization, and establishment of cellular polarity. Bridges of SUN and KASH proteins span the nuclear envelope and mediate many nuclear positioning events, but other pathways function independently through poorly characterized mechanisms. To identify and characterize novel mechanisms of nuclear migration, we conducted a nonbiased forward genetic screen for mutations that enhanced the nuclear migration defect of unc-84, which encodes a SUN protein. In Caenorhabditis elegans larvae, failure of hypodermal P-cell nuclear migration results in uncoordinated and egg-laying–defective animals. The process of P-cell nuclear migration in unc-84 null animals is temperature sensitive; at 25° migration fails in unc-84 mutants, but at 15° the migration occurs normally. We hypothesized that an additional pathway functions in parallel to the unc-84 pathway to move P-cell nuclei at 15°. In support of our hypothesis, forward genetic screens isolated eight emu (enhancer of the nuclear migration defect of unc-84) mutations that disrupt nuclear migration only in a null unc-84 background. The yc20 mutant was determined to carry a mutation in the toca-1 gene. TOCA-1 functions to move P-cell nuclei in a cell-autonomous manner. TOCA-1 is conserved in humans, where it functions to nucleate and organize actin during endocytosis. Therefore, we have uncovered a player in a previously unknown, likely actin-dependent, pathway that functions to move nuclei in parallel to SUN-KASH bridges. The other emu mutations potentially represent other components of this novel pathway.     

Meiobenthos of the Former Nuclear Test Area and Nuclear Waste Disposal Grounds around the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago (Barents and Kara Seas)

The taxonomic composition and quantitative distribution of the meiobenthos were studied in materials collected from one of the former nuclear test sites by the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago in Chernaya Guba (Barents Sea) and from the grounds of nuclear waste disposal along the east coast of the Archipelago from Abrosimov Bay to Stepovoi Bay and the region of Novozemel'skaya Hollow (Kara Sea). Foraminifera and free living nematodes were the most numerous groups, and foraminifera prevailed in terms of biomass in the entire area studied. No correlation of the parameters of the meiobenthic communities with varying depth and type of ground was revealed. It was established that the taxonomic diversity increased and population density decreased with an increase in the concentration of ¹³⁷Cs. It was suggested that meiobenthic communities are able to respond quickly to the deterioration of environmental radioactivity, varying their taxonomic composition and parametrical indexes.     

A Conceptual Model for Analyzing the Risks Involved in the Transportation of Hazardous Goods: Implementation in a Geographic Information System

The transportation of hazardous goods by road implies a risk for both humans and the environment, in that an accident involving a vehicle transporting this kind of material may cause extensive material and environmental damage and might even endanger lives. For this reason, both public and private entities (e.g., insurance companies) have a growing interest in studies that assess the risks associated with hazardous goods transportation This article describes a method for calculating these risks. The risk is determined on the basis of a calculation of the probability of the occurrence of an accident and the gravity of the damage, which is in turn a function of the potential damage inherent in the goods being transported taken with the vulnerability of the environmental medium in which the accident takes place. The mathematical model proposed is easily implemented in a geographical information system that will produce risk maps delimiting the more potentially conflictive stretches of roadway.     

Development and Application of a Framework for Analyzing the Impacts of Urban Transportation

To adequately analyze the impacts associated with the rising use of automobiles, an assessment framework is needed that includes environment, health, economic, and sociocultural impacts. Such a framework was developed and applied to a proposed freeway-widening project in Edmonton, Canada. The assessment framework was developed using both Multi-Criteria Analysis and the Ecosystem Approach to Human Health (Ecohealth). Community participation was vital in the application of the assessment framework to this case study. Six stakeholder groups, including community members, City Councillors, and health, environment, and transportation experts, provided needed qualitative data for the assessment framework. Quantitative data were gathered from an ecological study design that associated traffic volumes with respiratory conditions in Edmonton. Community members perceptions about the impacts of the freeway widening differed from those of the expert groups in a number of areas. Environmental and health degradation was more of an issue to community members than to expert groups. Though respiratory conditions were not projected to increase by a significant amount because of the freeway widening, further analysis is necessary on other biophysical and socioeconomic impacts listed in the assessment framework. The divergence in opinion between community members and experts suggests that more communication is needed between these groups in relation to transportation planning. The Ecohealth approach ensures that community concerns are addressed in transportation planning.     

A Nuclear Localization Signal at the SAM-SAM Domain Interface of AIDA-1 Suggests a Requirement for Domain Uncoupling Prior to Nuclear Import

The neuronal scaffolding protein AIDA-1 is believed to act as a convener of signals arising at postsynaptic densities. Among the readily identifiable domains in AIDA-1, two closely juxtaposed sterile alpha motif (SAM) domains and a phosphotyrosine binding domain are located within the C-terminus of the longest splice variant and exclusively in four shorter splice variants. As a first step towards understanding the possible emergent properties arising from this assembly of ligand binding domains, we have used NMR methods to solve the first structure of a SAM domain tandem. Separated by a 15-aa linker, the two SAM domains are fused in a head-to-tail orientation that has been observed in other hetero- and homotypic SAM domain structures. The basic nuclear import signal for AIDA-1 is buried at the interface between the two SAM domains. An observed disparity between the thermal stabilities of the two SAM domains suggests a mechanism whereby the second SAM domain decouples from the first SAM domain to facilitate translocation of AIDA-1 to the nucleus.