Resolving the Conflicts Between Biodiversity Conservation and Socioeconomic Development in China: Fuzzy Clustering Approach

Resolving the conflicts between biodiversity conservation and socioeconomic development is a global pursuit for the long-run prospects of the human species. Based on Wenchuan County, a typical county in southwestern China, a group of 20 indicators quantifying regional biodiversity and socioeconomic development was established to classify and evaluate the county area spatially. A fuzzy c-means clustering (FCM) algorithm was used as the classification method. Three indices including BD, DL and DR characterizing the value of biodiversity, the level and rate of socioeconomic development of the delineated regions were formulated. The results indicated that Wenchuan County was optimally classified into 4 types of regions (region I to IV). The area percentages of the regions vary widely from 4.3 to 65.7%. The sequences of the regions on biodiversity, socioeconomic development level, and socioeconomic development rate were, respectively, IV > II > III > I, I > III > II > IV and III >I >II >IV. The spatial strategy on coordinating biodiversity conservation and regional development is to develop mainly from the east(I, II, III) and to conserve mainly in the west(IV). Eco-industry, such as eco-tourism and eco-agriculture, need to be emphasized in the process of regional development. The quantitative methods used here may have a wide applicability.     

1-Alkyl-3-amino-5-aryl-1H-[1,2,4]triazoles: novel synthesis via cyclization of N-acyl-S-methylisothioureas with alkylhydrazines and their potent corticotropin-releasing factor-1 (CRF(1)) receptor antagonist activities.

Cyclizations of alkylhydrazines with N-acyl-S-methylisothioureas, readily synthesized from acyl chlorides, sodium thioisocyanate, dialkylamines then methyl iodide in a one-pot reaction, gave 1-alkyl-3-dialkylamino-5-phenyltriazoles 7 as major products. The regioisomers were assigned through the use of NOE NMR experiments. While bearing a N-bis(cyclopropyl)methyl-N-propylamino group, this series of compounds shows very good binding affinity on the human CRF₁ receptor. Among them, 1-methyl-3-[N-bis(cyclopropyl)methyl-N-propylamino]-5-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-1H-[1,2,4]triazole 7a had the best binding affinity for the CRF₁ receptor (K_i=9 nM).     

Protein folding pathways of adenylate kinase from E. coli: hydrostatic pressure and stopped-flow studies.

Adenylate kinase (AKe) from E. coli is a small, single-chain, monomeric enzyme with no tryptophan and a single cysteine residue. We have constructed six single-Trp mutants of AKe to facilitate optical studies of these proteins and to specifically examine the interrelationship between their structure, function, dynamics, and folding reactions. In this study, the effects of hydrostatic pressure on the folding reactions of AKe were studied. The native structure of AKe was transformed to a non-native, yet pressure stable, conformation by hydrostatic pressure of about 300 MPa. This pressure lability of AKe is rather low for a monomeric protein and presumably may be attributed to substantial conformational flexibility and a correspondingly large volume change. The refolding of AKe after pressure-induced denaturation was reversible under ambient conditions. At low temperature (near 0 degrees C), the refolding process of pressure-exposed AKe mutants displayed a significant hysteresis. The observation of a slow refolding rate in the 193 region and a faster folding rate around the active site (86, 41, 73 regions) leads us to suggest that in the folding process, priority is afforded to functional regions. The slow structural return of the 193 region apparently does not hinder the more rapid return of enzymatic activity of AKe. Circular dichroism studies on the pressure-denatured Y193W mutant show that the secondary structure (calculated from far-UV spectra) returned at a rapid rate, but the tertiary structure alignment (calculated from near-UV spectra) around the 193 region occurred more slowly at rates comparable to those detected by fluorescence intensity. Denaturation of AKe mutants by guanidine hydrochloride and subsequent refolding experiments were also consistent with a much slower refolding process around the 193 region than near the active site. Fast refolding kinetic traces were observed in F86W, S41W, and A73W mutants using a fluorescence detection stopped-flow rapid mixing device, while only a slow kinetic trace was observed for Y193W. The results suggest that the differences in regional folding rates of AKe are not derived from the specific denaturation methods, but rather are inherent in the structural organization of the protein.     

SOME REMARKS ON CHENJIAWO FAUNA──On the First Appearance of Peking Man Fauna

I.CORRELATIONBETWEENL0ESSSECTI0NAND0XYGENIS0TOPESTAGESIntheYuanloessarea,manyscientiststhinkthatthesedimentsarecontinuousandtheclimaticrecordsareperfect.Thisdoesnotappeartobeaccurate.Sedimentationwasdiscontinuousinmanysections.Forexample,manyscientistsarguethatS2corresp0ndstooxygenisot0peStage7(Liu,l985,KuklaandAn,l989;Dingetal.,l990).lnfact,S2includesthreelayersfS2SSl,S2LLlandS2SS2.Dingetal.(l990)reportedthatthereisathickunitofloessbetweenS2SSlandS2SS2intheBaicao…     

Modulation by polyelectrolytes of canine cardiac microsomal calcium uptake and the possible relationship to phospholamban

Calcium uptake and (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase activity in canine cardiac microsomes were found to be stimulated by heparin and various other polyanions. Prior treatment of the microsomes with the ionophores alamethicin or A23187 produced no change in the extent of stimulation of the ATPase activity by heparin yet eliminated net calcium uptake. This finding and a lack of change in the stoichiometric ratio of mol of calcium transported/mol of ATP hydrolyzed (calcium:ATP) suggest that the effect of heparin is on the calcium pump rather than on a parallel calcium efflux pathway. Certain polycationic compounds including poly-L-arginine and histone inhibited both cardiac and fast skeletal muscle microsomal calcium uptake and also produced no change in the stoichiometric ratio of calcium to ATP. Several lines of evidence indicate that the polyanionic compounds tested stimulate calcium uptake by interacting with phospholamban, the putative phosphorylatable regulator of the cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum calcium pump, whereas polycationic compounds appear to interact with the pump. (i) Heparin stimulated calcium uptake to the same extent as protein kinase A or trypsin, whereas prior phosphorylation or tryptic cleavage of phospholamban from the membrane abolished the stimulatory effect of heparin. (ii) Calcium uptake and (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase activity in fast skeletal muscle microsomes, which lack phospholamban, were unaffected by heparin. (iii) Purified cardiac (Ca2+ + Mg2+)-ATPase activity was no longer stimulated by heparin yet was still inhibited by polycationic compounds. The heparin-induced stimulation of calcium uptake was dependent on the pH and ionic strength of the heparin-containing preincubation medium, hence electrostatic interactions appear to play a significant role in heparin's stimulatory action. The data are consistent with an inhibitory role of the positively charged cytoplasmic domain of phospholamban with respect to calcium pump activity and the relief of the inhibition upon reduction in phospholamban's positive charge by phosphorylation or binding of polyanions.     

Isolation and characterization of eight compound microsatellite markers in a mangrove tree Kandelia candel (L.) Druce

Kandelia candel is an important mangrove tree species of family Rhizophoraceae. Here we isolated eight codominant compound microsatellite simple sequence repeat (SSR) loci from K. candel. Our isolated loci provided compound SSR markers with polymorphism of three to 11 alleles per locus. The expected and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.230 to 0.887 and from 0.083 to 1.00, respectively. These markers would be the useful tools for analysing questions concerning population genetic structure and mating system of K. candel.