The science of emotion as a multidisciplinary research paradigm

I discuss the emergence of a science of emotion and argue that research in this domain requires an appreciation of the organization of emotional processes at different levels as postulated by social neuroscience. Emotions cannot be understood without relying on a program of multidisciplinary research. Local multidisciplinarity cannot be achieved without a programmatic framework that takes three issues into account (1) the relationship of multiple levels of emotions and connected processes, (2) the mutually informative study of humans, animals, and artificial systems, and (3) the dynamic nature of emotions in a dynamic systems approach. Illustrations for my arguments are provided relating to facial expressions of humans.     

Combinatorial approaches as a component of high-throughput experimentation (HTE) in catalysis research.

We consider the application of high-throughput experimentation (HTE), including combinatorial methods, to catalyst discovery and early-phase optimization. While combinatorial- and parallel-testing methods have an already substantial history in catalysis, recent work by several groups promises significant efficiency gains. In molecular catalysis, progress is noted in library design, library synthesis by pooled, parallel, and discrete formats, catalyst testing and reaction optimization; the prime constraint for organometallic catalysts is the limited scope of synthesis procedures for non-peptide-based ligand libraries. Routes described for the synthesis of heterogeneous catalysts include hydrothermal synthesis, arraying of solution precursors, automated impregnation and precipitation, and arraying of solid precursors. The key challenge in applying HTE to heterogeneous catalysis is testing; we distinguish here between Stage 1, or "discovery" testing and Stage 2, optimization testing, and describe techniques with potential in each case. Recent examples from the literature and our own work are used to illustrate these principles and the prospects for HTE applied to catalysis.     

Stem cell research in Brazil: a difficult launch

It has been one year since Brazil passed a law enabling scientists to work with human embryonic stem cells and to derive new stem cell lines from human embryos. But several major hurdles have put human embryonic stem cell research on hold.     

Hyaluronan-chondroitin hybrid oligosaccharides as new life science research tools

Mitochondrial trifunctional protein (MTP), which consists of the MTPα and MTPβ subunits, catalyzes long-chain fatty acid β-oxidation. MTP deficiency in humans results in Reye-like syndrome. Here, we generated Drosophila models of MTP deficiency by targeting two genes encoding Drosophila homologs of human MTPα and MTPβ, respectively. Both Mtpα(KO) and Mtpβ(KO) flies were viable, but demonstrated reduced lifespan, defective locomotor activity, and reduced fecundity represented by the number of eggs laid by the females. The phenotypes of Mtpα(KO) flies were generally more striking than those of Mtpβ(KO) flies. Mtpα(KO) flies were hypersensitive to fasting, and retained lipid droplets in their fat body cells as in non-fasting conditions. The amount of triglyceride was also unchanged upon fasting in Mtpα(KO) flies, suggesting that lipid mobilization was disrupted. Finally, we showed that both Mtpα(KO) and Mtpβ(KO) flies accumulated acylcarnitine and hydroxyacylcarnitine, diagnostic markers of MTP deficiencies in humans. Our results indicated that both Mtpα(KO) and Mtpβ(KO) flies were impaired in long-chain fatty acid β-oxidation. These flies should be useful as a model system to investigate the molecular pathogenesis of MTP deficiency.     

小线虫,大发现:Caenorhabditis elegans在生命科学研究中的重要贡献

自20世纪60年代开始,秀丽线虫作为重要的模式生物在生命科学的发展过程中发挥着举足轻重的作用。线虫中的许多重大发现为人们理解复杂的细胞生命活动做出了极大的贡献。本文对秀丽线虫的研究历史、重要成果及研究前景作一简要综述。     

PROPHET, a national computing resource for life science research.

PROPHET is a national computing resource tailored to meet the data management and analysis needs of life scientists working in a wide variety of disciplines, ranging from pharmacology to molecular biology. The PROPHET system offers a fully integrated graphics-oriented environment designed to aid research scientists in the manipulation and analysis of scientific spreadsheets of data, graphs, molecular structures, biological simulation models, and protein and nucleic acid sequences, and it includes access to a range of molecular structure and sequence databases. This paper briefly describes the PROPHET system, some of its current capabilities, and plans for a new fully distributed version of the system now under development.     

Affinity as a tool in life science

The use of affinity-based tools has become invaluable as a platform for basic research and in the development of drugs and diagnostics. Applications include affinity chromatography and affinity tag fusions for efficient purification of proteins as well as methods to probe the protein network interactions on a whole-proteome level. A variety of selection systems has been described for in vitro evolution of affinity reagents using combinatorial libraries, which make it possible to create high-affinity reagents to virtually all biomolecules, as exemplified by generation of therapeutic antibodies and new protein scaffold binders. The strategies for high-throughput generation of affinity reagents have also opened up the possibility of generating specific protein probes on a whole-proteome level. Recently, such affinity proteomics have allowed the detailed analysis of human protein expression in a comprehensive manner both in normal and disease tissue using tissue microarrays and confocal microscopy.     

Astrobiology,the transcendent science: the promise of astrobiology as an integrative approach for science and engineering education and research

Astrobiology is rapidly gaining the worldwide attention of scientists, engineers and the public. Astrobiology's captivation is due to its inherently interesting focus on life, its origins and distribution in the Universe. Because of its remarkable breadth as a scientific field, astrobiology touches on virtually all disciplines in the physical, biological and social sciences as well as engineering. The multidisciplinary nature and the appeal of its subject matter make astrobiology ideal for integrating the teaching of science at all levels in educational curricula. The rationale for implementing novel educational programs in astrobiology is presented along with specific research and educational policy recommendations.     

Partial strategic tick control within a herd of European breed cattle in the state of Rio Grande do Sul,southern Brazil

A trial is described, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, as one of a series suggested to investigate the effects of strategic but selective acaricide treatments of cattle within herds against Boophilus microplus. They are aimed at considering the repercussions of farmer attempts at immediate reductions in acaricide costs and the potential for creation of ‘refugia’ of untreated ticks. Half (Group 1) of a small experimental herd of European breed heifers were treated strategically against ticks, three times during the late spring–early summer and twice during autumn (southern hemisphere), with an injectable avermectin endectocide, designed to act directly against the first and third generations of parasitic B. microplus per ‘cattle tick year’ at this site, respectively. The consequent levels of infestations on all of the member cattle in their common pasture were monitored. Group 1 showed low to zero tick counts during the 28-day treatment interval periods and up to ca. 14 days after the last of such a series. Treated cattle, however, became re-infested outside of these periods and to levels that would be considered as unacceptable by farmers in the state. The untreated cattle (Group 2) showed infestations at generally higher levels, than their contemporaries, within and outside of the treatment periods. There were thus ample sources of larvae in the pasture, derived principally from falling, untreated engorged female ticks, re-infesting both the treated and untreated cattle. Advantages of maintaining chemically untreated cattle ticks within a herd, compared to their disadvantages as contaminants to classical strategic control procedures, merit re-evaluation, especially in relation to the recent, world-wide resurgence of acaricide resistance in B. microplus. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

神经科学：脑研究的综合学科

目录一、神经科学对社会和科学发展的意义（一）神经科学对社会健康的意义（二）神经科学对社会发展的意义（三）神经科学发展的科学意义（四）国际社会和国际科技界对神经科学的重视二、神经科学前沿简介（一）脑的高级功能（二）脑和神经系统的疾病（三）脑发育的分子原...