水资源投入产出方法研究进展

从扩展建模技术、系数调整2条线索回顾国内外的水资源投入产出研究进展, 并讨论水资源的投入产出研究的不足和发展趋势。因为水资源投入产出表反映的是水资源与经济结构的关系,如果研究人员自己编制一张水资源投入产出表是不容易的事情。通常情况下都是以研究地域的投入产出表为基础,与其他模型相结合来研究水资源投入产出,但是水资源投入产出建模技术因为数据的限制而只能建立年度模型,具有很强的前提假定,使得投入产出建模技术缺乏灵活性,因而在运用中有对模型改进的必要。水资源投入产出扩展建模技术在这些方面就分别形成了与地区投入产出表结合的投入产出建模技术、与水资源供给相结合的投入产出扩展建模技术、与延长表结合的投入产出扩展建模技术。时效性缺乏一直就成为影响IO模型研究的最主要的瓶颈之一,为此,对各种用于建立新的 IO 表技术的研究一直受到普遍的重视。目前, IO 表系数调整方法已从消耗系数不变的系数调整方法、以RAS为代表的比例法, 发展到多种手段相结合的优化法。算法的改进和求解非线性规划问题的大量计算机软件的出现使得非线性优化模型得到了广泛的应用。     

Structure of an engineered intein reveals thiazoline ring and provides mechanistic insight

We have engineered an intein which spontaneously and reversibly forms a thiazoline ring at the native N-terminal Lys-Cys splice junction. We identified conditions to stablize the thiazoline ring and provided the first crystallographic evidence, at 1.54 Å resolution, for its existence at an intein active site. The finding bolsters evidence for a tetrahedral oxythiazolidine splicing intermediate. In addition, the pivotal mutation maps to a highly conserved B-block threonine, which is now seen to play a causative role not only in ground-state destabilization of the scissile N-terminal peptide bond, but also in steering the tetrahedral intermediate toward thioester formation, giving new insight into the splicing mechanism. We demonstrated the stability of the thiazoline ring at neutral pH as well as sensitivity to hydrolytic ring opening under acidic conditions. A pH cycling strategy to control N-terminal cleavage is proposed, which may be of interest for biotechnological applications requiring a splicing activity switch, such as for protein recovery in bioprocessing.     

Nerve growth factor: Cellular localization and regulation of synthesis

1. The role of nerve growth factor (NGF) as a retrograde messenger between peripheral target tissues and innervating sympathetic and neural crest-derived sensory neurons is supported by the observations that (a) the interruption of retrograde axonal transport has the same effects as the neutralization of endogenous NGF by anti-NGF antibodies and (b) the close correlation between the density of innervation by fibers of NGF-responsive neurons and the levels of NGF and mRNANGF in their target organs. 2. In situ hybridization experiments have demonstrated that a great variety of cells in the projection field or NGF-responsive neurons is synthesizing NGF, among them epithelial cells, smooth muscle cells, fibroblasts, and Schwann cells. 3. The temporal correlation between the growth of trigeminal sensory fibers into the whisker pad of the mouse and the commencement of NGF synthesis initially suggested a causal relationship between these two events. However, in chick embryos rendered aneural by prior removal of the neural tube or the neural crest, it was shown that the onset of NGF synthesis in the periphery is independent of neurons, and is controlled by an endogenous "clock" whose regulatory mechanism remains to be established. 4. A comparison between NGF synthesis in the nonneuronal cells of the newborn rat sciatic nerve and that in the adult sciatic nerve after lesion provided evidence for the important regulatory role played by a secretory product of activated macrophages. The identity of this product is currently under investigation.     

DNA Transfection of Bone Marrow Stromal Cells Using Microbubble-Mediated Ultrasound and Polyethylenimine: An In Vitro Study

Non-viral vector transfection efficiency is an issue affecting the clinical application of stem cell gene therapy. This study makes use of the synergistic effect of combining ultrasound (US) with microbubbles (MB) and polyethylenimine (PEI) to increase DNA transfection efficiency, which will enhance the efficiency of gene transfer to bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs). The optimal parameters for primary-cultured rat-BMSC DNA transfection were examined. The study was arranged based on uniform design. Using a construct containing hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) tagged with enhanced green fluorescent protein (pEGFP-HGF) as example, the mixture of BMSCs, MB, and PEI:DNA complex were exposed to US with frequency of 1 MHz and 10 % duty cycle pulses. Other factors such as acoustic intensity (Q), MB dosage, and total treatment time (T) were also tested. The results were analyzed by regression analysis. Using the best match of parameters, Q = 0.6 W/cm², MB = 10⁶/ml, T = 30 s, different groups were compared. The cooperativity of MB-mediated US and PEI enhanced the gene transfection efficiency by nearly 38-times compared to the DNA without US group. Furthermore, the expression of HGF protein was confirmed by Western blot. The eGFP could be not only seen mainly at the cytoplasm, but also seen in the nucleus in a small proportion of the cells (<10 %) for up to 7 observed days. The transfected BMSCs maintained their capability of multi-directional differentiation and reproductive activity. Our results provide useful information in establishing a novel non-viral transfection method, which may be applied to clinical application in stem cell gene therapy.     

Nanometric design of extraordinary hydrophobic-induced pKa shifts for aspartic acid: Relevance to protein mechanisms

Commonly a key element enabling proteins to function is an amino acid residue or residues with functional side chains having shifted pKa values. This article reports the results on a set of protein-based polymers (model proteins) that exhibit hydrophobic folding and assembly transitions, and that have been designed for the purpose of achieving large hydrophobic-induced pKa shifts by selectively replacing Val residues by Phe residues. The high molecular weight polypentapeptides, actually poly (tricosapeptides) with six varied pentamers in fixed sequence, were designed and synthesized to have the same amino acid compositions but different proximities between a single aspartic acid residue and 5 Phe residues per 30 residues. With the 5 Phe residues distal from the Asp residue, the observed pKa shift was 2.9 when compared to the Val-containing reference. With the 5 Phe residues within 1 nm of the Asp residue, the pKa shift was 6.2. This represents a free energy of interaction of 8 kcal/moles. To our knowledge, this is the largest pKa shift documented for an Asp residue in a polypeptide– or protein–water system. Data are reviewed that do not support the usual electrostatic arguments for pKa shifts of charge–charge repulsion and/or unfavorable ion self-energies arising from displacement of water by hydrophobic moieties, but rather the data are interpreted to indicate the presence of an apolar–polar repulsive free energy of hydration, which results from a potentially highly cooperative competition between apolar and polar species for hydration. © 1994 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

茶树CsIDI1和CsIDI2基因的克隆及其表达分析

该研究在茶树转录组测序基础上,以铁观音品种茶树为材料,采用RT-PCR技术,克隆了茶树异戊烯基焦磷酸异构酶(IDI)的2个编码基因(CsIDI1和CsIDI2)的cDNA全长序列。CsIDI1的全长为1 378bp,其开放阅读框(ORF)长度894bp,编码297个氨基酸,亚细胞定位预测位于叶绿体上,其氨基酸序列与葡萄IDI的相似性达95%;CsIDI2的全长为1 216bp,其ORF长度为717bp,编码238个氨基酸,亚细胞定位预测位于细胞质上,其氨基酸序列与芝麻IDI相似性达96%。CsIDI1和CsIDI2均含有典型的NUDIX水解酶域。荧光定量PCR结果表明,CsIDI1和CsIDI2基因在茶树地上部不同组织都有表达,但CsIDI2的表达量相对较高;品种间表达量分析显示,它们在父本黄旦品种及杂交后代高香型乌龙茶品种中的表达量显著高于母本铁观音品种,表现出香气上的杂种优势;在乌龙茶做青过程中,随着摇青的进行,CsIDI2的表达被显著诱导,表明CsIDIs在茶叶萜类香气物质形成中发挥重要功能。     

利用CASA模型模拟西南喀斯特植被净第一性生产力

基于SPOT NDVI遥感数据并结合数字高程模型、气象数据和植被参数,利用实测植被生产力计算和修正最大光能利用率,通过改进CASA过程模型,本文估算了中国西南喀斯特地区1999—2003年的植被净第一性生产力（NPP）。结果表明：1）改进后的CASA模型模拟的植被NPP与实测值相关性显著,可较好用于西南喀斯特植被的NPP估算;2）西南8省市区1999—2000年喀斯特和非喀斯特植被的NPP有轻度增加,但空间变化不显著,2001年低值区范围增加,2002年NPP高值区的范围明显扩大,随后在2003年又降低,但仍高于2001年;3）5年间西南喀斯特地区年NPP的变化范围是381.7—439.9 gC m-2 yr-1,平均值为402.34 gC m-2 yr-1,逐年NPP波动中呈现总体增长趋势,平均增加值为9.93 gC m-2 yr-1,5年总增加量为11TgC,但非喀斯特地区的年NPP平均值和增加值都大于喀斯特地区;4）5年间喀斯特地区的热带森林、亚热带森林、灌丛和草地的逐年NPP均小于非喀斯特地区,温带森林和农业植被则相反;这6种典型植被年NPP均呈增加趋势,热带森林的增加值最大,草地最小,非喀斯特地区植被NPP的增长趋势相似,但每种植被的年NPP增加值均大于喀斯特地区。西南喀斯特地区植被NPP的时空变化与气温、降水和太阳辐射的变化有关,而喀斯特植被NPP低于非喀斯特地区,则主要由喀斯特地区水分匮缺、土壤贫瘠等恶劣条件而抑制植物生长造成的。     

Low-salinity transitions drive abrupt microbial response to sea-level change

The salinisation of many coastal ecosystems is underway and is expected to continue into the future because of sea-level rise and storm intensification brought about by the changing climate. However, the response of soil microbes to increasing salinity conditions within coastal environments is poorly understood, despite their importance for nutrient cascading, carbon sequestration and wider ecosystem functioning. Here, we demonstrate deterioration in the productivity of a top-tier microbial group (testate amoebae) with increasing coastal salinity, which we show to be consistent across phylogenetic groups, salinity gradients, environment types and latitude. Our results show that microbial changes occur in the very early stages of marine inundation, presaging more radical changes in soil and ecosystem function and providing an early warning of coastal salinisation that could be used to improve coastal planning and adaptation.     

GNG2 acts as a tumor suppressor in breast cancer through stimulating MRAS signaling

G-protein gamma subunit 2 (GNG2) is involved in several cell signaling pathways, and is essential for cell proliferation and angiogenesis. However, the role of GNG2 in tumorigenesis and development remains unclear. In this study, 1321 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in breast cancer (BC) tissues were screened using the GEO and TCGA databases. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that most of the enriched genes were part of the PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. We identified GNG2 from the first five DEGs, its expression was markedly reduced in all BC subtype tissues. Cox regression analysis showed that GNG2 was independently associated with overall survival in patients with luminal A and triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC). GNG2 over-expression could significantly block the cell cycle, inhibit proliferation, and promote apoptosis in BC cells in vitro. In animal studies, GNG2 over-expression inhibited the growth of BC cells. Further, we found that GNG2 significantly inhibited the activity of ERK and Akt in an MRAS-dependent manner. Importantly, GNG2 and muscle RAS oncogene homolog (MRAS) were co-localized in the cell membrane, and the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) experiment revealed that they had direct interaction. In conclusion, the interaction between GNG2 and MRAS likely inhibits Akt and ERK activity, promoting apoptosis and suppressing proliferation in BC cells. Increasing GNG2 expression or disrupting the GNG2–MRAS interaction in vivo could therefore be a potential therapeutic strategy to treat BC.Subject terms: Breast cancer, Breast cancer