Soil boron and selenium removal by three plant species

High concentrations of boron (B) and selenium (Se) naturally found in the environment are detrimental to sustainable agriculture in the western USA. Greenhouse pot experiments were conducted to study B and Se uptake in three different plant species; Brassica juncea (L.) Czern (wild brown mustard), Festuca arundinacea Schreb. L. (tall fescue), and Brassica napus (canola) were grown in soil containing naturally occurring concentrations of 3.00 mg extractable B kg^–1 and 1.17 mg total Se kg^–1 soil. During the growing season, four intermediate harvests were performed on wild mustard and tall fescue. Final harvest I consisted of harvesting wild mustard, canola, and clipping tall fescue. Final harvest II consisted of harvesting wild mustard, which had been planted in soil in which wild mustard was previously grown, and harvesting previously clipped tall fescue. The greatest total amount of above ground biomass and below surface biomass was produced by tall fescue. Plants were separated into shoots and roots, weighted, and plant tissues were analyzed for total B and Se. The highest concentrations of tissue B were recovered in shoots of wild mustard and canola at final harvest I, while roots from tall fescue contained the highest concentrations of B irrespective of the harvest. Tissue Se concentrations were similar in all plants species. Soils were analyzed for residual B and Se. Extractable soil B concentrations at harvest times were lowered no less than 32% and total Se no less than 24% for all three species. The planting of wild mustard, canola, or tall fescue can reduce water-extractable B and total Se in the soil.     

Control of Brennandania lambi (Acari: Pygmephoroidea) by freezing: evaluation of its efficacy and effects on mushroom growth and yield

Laboratory and field studies were conducted to evaluate freezing as a control measure against Brennandania lambi (Krczal) which infests cultivated mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) in Shanghai primarily through contaminated spawn. Laboratory experiments showed that exposure of contaminated spawn at -10° C for 24 h killed all stages of B. lambi. These mites probably died due to the freezing of body tissues during sustained exposure at -10° C for 24 h. because the supercooling points for the egg, active larva, quiescent larva, non-gravid adult and gravid adult of B. lambi were respectively -11.34, -10.96, -11.43, -7.65 and -11.20° C, whereas the freezing points were respectively -6.68, -6.84. -6.56, -3.96 and -6.75 °C. Semi-field experiments showed that compost inoculated with B. lambi-infested spawn that had been exposed at -10 °C for 24 h had no mite infestation during spawn running and thus mycelium growth was normal. Laboratory and field experiments during 1989 to spring 1990 showed that freezing spawn had no effect on mushroom yield. Further field experiments in two farms during fall 1990 showed no effect of freezing spawn on yield in one farm and increased yield in the other farm. A field experiment during 1991 to 1992 also indicated that freezing spawn -10 °C for 24 h to 34 h had no effect on mushroom yield.     

How house officers cope with their mistakes.

We examined how house officers coped with serious medical mistakes to gain insight into how medical educators should handle these situations. An anonymous questionnaire was mailed to 254 house officers in internal medicine asking them to describe their most important mistake and their response to it; 45% (N = 114) reported a mistake and completed the questionnaire. House officers experienced considerable emotional distress in response to their mistakes and used a variety of strategies to cope. In multivariate analysis, those who coped by accepting responsibility were more likely to make constructive changes in practice, but to experience more emotional distress. House officers who coped by escape-avoidance were more likely to report defensive changes in practice. For house officers who have made a mistake, we suggest that medical educators provide specific advice about preventing a recurrence of the mistake, provide emotional support, and help them understand that distress is an expected concomitant of learning from the experience.     

Selection of antibiotic-resistant mutants with enhanced isoamylase activity in Pseudomonas amyloderamosa

Summary Isoamylase-hyperproducing strains of Pseudomonas amyloderamosa were bred by mutagenesis with UV light and N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (NTG). The selection criterion for such strains was based on the formation of large turbid zones around the bacterial colonies in agar medium containing antibiotics and 1% waxy corn starch. Mutant WN6410 was obtained by treating P. amyloderamosa JD210 with five cycles of 1 × 10⁴ J UV light and one cycle of NTG. P. amyloderamosa WN6410 had 22-fold increase in isoamylase activity when compared to wild-type strain SB15 and the maximal enzyme activity, 5,100 U/ml, could be achieved within 48 h in 2.5 L fed-batch fermentation.     

THE ROLE OF ECDYSTEROIDS IN THE REPRODUCTIVE DIAPAUSE OF DERMACENTOR NIVEUS NEUMANN

Abstract  The ecdysteroid levels in hemolymph, ovary, synganglion and whole body of diapausing female Dermacentor niveus were detected by HPLC, and compared with the results of nondiapausing female. It is revealed that the ecdysteroid levels in hemolymph and ovary of diapausing female are similar basically to that of nondiapausing female in the first few days after engorgement. From the 10th day after engorgement, the ecdysteroid levels of diapausing female decreased and even became distinctly lower than that of nondiapausing female. The paucity of ecdysteroids in these individuals would influence the normal development of oocytes. In order to explore the effect of ecdyateroids on the diapausing female, we injected 20-hydroxyecdysone with different dosages at different time into the ticks, and found that after just complete engorgement the injection with large dosages (10000 and 1375 ng/tick) caused death of the ticks. From 10th to 20th day after engorgement the ecdysteroid levels of diapausing female are lower than that of nondiapausing one before oviposition, the injection with certain dosages 50, 70 and 100 ng/tick> of 20E can accelerate vitellogenesis and terminate reproductive diapause, but the amount of eggs produced by them is less than that produced by nondiapausing female. The termination of diapause in female of ixcdid tick by exogenous ecdysteroids is reported for the first time.     

二硫苏糖醇对叶绿体H~＋－ATP酶复合体CF_0的修饰

ＤＴＴ（二流苏糖醇）可解除ＴＰＴ（氯化三苯锡）对叶绿体光合磷酸化的抑制、减弱ＴＰＴ对类囊体跨膜△ｐＨ的抑制和对类囊体腔内质子外流的促进。由于ＴＰＴ较专一作用于ＣＦ０,推测ＣＦ０受ＤＴＴ修饰。这从ＤＴＴ可消除ＴＰＴ对去除ＣＦ１的类囊体残缺膜△ｐＨ的重建和对残缺膜光下收缩的促进得到进一步的证明。ＤＴＴ的作用是还原二硫键成为游离的巯基,因而ＣＦ０可能含有二硫键。从光下ＤＴＴ或暗中ＤＴＴ处理残缺膜对ＴＰＴ作用的影响,可以看到ＤＴＴ对ＣＦ０的修饰是需光的,类囊体膜在光下发生的构象变化,使ＣＦ０的二硫键暴露而被ＤＴＴ修饰。ＣＦ０的二硫键较ＣＦ１γ的二硫键更快、更敏感地被ＤＴＴ所修饰。     

人结肠癌(CCA)单克隆抗体及其识别抗原的分析(简报)

正常细胞转化成癌细胞后,其表型发生了一系列不同于正常细胞的变化,成为肿瘤细胞的标志。Gold和Freeman(1965)用人结肠癌组织的抽提物免疫兔,发现有些用人正常结肠组织吸收后的抗血清能够与肿瘤组织和胚胎肠道抽提物起反应,但不与正常组织抽提物起反应,由于这种抗原最初被发现在胚胎组织,故名为癌胚抗原(embryonic carcinoma antigen,简称CEA)。用敏感的放射免疫或免疫酶标方     

Optimal door fitting with systematic fixture adjustment

A systematic approach is presented to obtain the best door gap quality through optimal door fitting in automobile body manufacturing. First, three indexes of gap quality are defined; they are: (1) door gap width deviation relative to design nominal; (2) door gap parallelism; and (3) car-to-car gap consistency. Then the door-fitting problem is formulated into a general constrained optimization problem. The effects of optimal door fitting on the three quality indexes are evaluated through computer simulation. These results provide a lower bound on the design of nominal door gap by considering process capability. Finally, a computer-aided fixture adjustment scheme is developed to orient a door in a body side opening to achieve the optimal fitting. The amount of adjustment, with the desired orientation obtained from optimization, is calculated based on parametrically modeled local surface features of the fixture and the door. The adequacy of door feature modeling is verified through a door-fitting experiment.     

天花粉蛋白与FMP复合物的晶体结构

用浸泡法得到了天花粉蛋白（ＴＣＳ）与ＦＭＰ复合物的晶体,在ＳＩＭＥＮＮＳＸ－２００Ｂ面探测器系统上收集了一套２．０分辨率的Ｘ射线衍射数据。用同晶差值傅立叶法解析了复合物的结构,经Ｘ—ＰＬＯＲ程序修正得到了ＴＣＳ—ＦＭＰ复合物的分子结构并找出了１９７个水分子,最后的Ｒ因子为０．１７２,键长和键角的ＲＭＳ偏差分别为０．０１５和２．９２２度。ＴＣＳ—ＦＭＰ复合物中,ＦＭＰ与天花粉蛋白分子有较好的结合,其结合位置正处于根据三维结构和突变体信息推测的Ｎ一糖苷酶活性口袋之中。它的类嘌呤环夹在Ｙ７０和Ｙ１１１两个侧链环之间,与Ｙ７０环近乎平行,其Ｎ７和Ｎ６分别与ＴＣＳ分子的Ｇ１０９４羰基氧和Ｉ７１的Ｎ成氢键,Ｎ３靠近Ｒ１６３的侧链,其磷酸根则伸向活性口袋的底部,与Ｅ１８９、Ｅ１６０和Ｒ１６３等残基作用。     

华虻小叶神经元运动敏感性的研究

用电生理细胞内记录的方法记录了１０个以上小叶神经元对闪光、运动光斑及运动光栅刺激的电生理反应特点,结果表明：（１）小叶神经元对闪光刺激具有特征性反应,细胞对给光和撤光刺激都会表现出不同程度的去极化和超极化,反应的波形不随闪光时间的改变而改变,两次去极化之间的时间间隔与闪光刺激的时间长度成线性关系;（２）小叶神经元对运动光斑的运动速度非常敏感,而对光斑的运动方向的改变却不敏感,尽管有的细胞存在一个能使反应的变化更快的优势方向,但并没有明显的运动方向选择性;（３）小叶神经元对运动光栅的响应频率受光栅的空间频率和运动速度的双重调制,与光栅的运动方向无关。