First record of Bystrowianid Chroniosuchians (Amphibia: Anthracosauromorpha) from the Middle Permian of China

Chroniosuchians are basal tetrapods owing to Anthracosauromorpha and the oldest species of chroniosuchians have been recorded in the Late Permian of Russia so far. In this study, we present evidence for their existence in the Middle Permian of China, based on well preserved diagnostic vertebrae with associated osteoderms from the Dashankou fanua in northwestern China. The finds clearly show interosteoderm articulation pattern between the adjacent scutes in bystrowianids. The features observed in Yumenerpeton yangi may warrant the close proximity or phyletic succession of the chroniosuchid and bystrowianid types of the osteoderm design.     

Geochronologic Constraints on the Magmatic Underplating of the Gangdisê Belt in the India-Eurasia Collision: Evidence of SHRIMP II Zircon U-Pb Dating

1 Introduction Mo et al. (2005) determined that magma mixing and mingling took place extensively in the Gangdisê magmatic belt around 50 Ma, and argued that magma mixing was genetically related to underplating of mantle-derived magmas beneath that belt. Underplating, as one of the major mechanisms for crustal growth, can occur in the environments of convergent plate boundaries, subduction and collision zones, and in intra-plate settings such as continental flood basalt provinces (Wilson, 19…     

Increased toxicity of benzo(a)pyrene-7,8-dihydrodiol in the presence of polychlorobiphenylols

Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) often co-exist in contaminated environments. Polychlorobiphenylols (OH-PCBs), formed by CYP-dependent monooxygenation of PCBs, are potent inhibitors of the glucuronidation of hydroxylated BaP metabolites. We hypothesized that OH-PCBs could drive the biotransformation of (-)BaP-7,8-dihydrodiol (BaP-7, 8-D) away from detoxication and towards formation of the reactive metabolite. A mixture of five OH-PCBs with 4-6 Cl atoms was infused into isolated, perfused, biliary intact livers (n=3 fish) removed from 3-methylcholanthrene-induced channel catfish. Controls (n=3) were infused with vehicle. Subsequently, [3H]-BaP-7, 8-D was infused into each liver and bile was collected for 1 h. The livers were taken for analysis of metabolites and DNA adducts. Induction status was confirmed by EROD assay. Bile was analyzed for metabolites. It was found that preinfusion of the mixture of OH-PCBs reduced the extent of glucuronidation of BaP-7, 8-D and increased the formation of DNA adducts 5-fold over controls. GSH conjugates, tetrols and triols were increased in the OH-PCB-infused fish, providing further support for our hypothesis that if the glucuronidation were inhibited, CYP-dependent activation would increase. These studies suggest a mechanism for synergy of toxicity of PAH and PCBs.     

Travel Behaviours of Sharing Bicycles in the Central Urban Area Based on Geographically Weighted Regression: The Case of Guangzhou,China

Mobile information and communication technologies(MICTs) have fully penetrated everyday life in smart societies;this has greatly compressed time, space, and distance, and consequently, reshaped residents’ travel behaviour patterns. As a new mode of shared mobility, the sharing bicycle offers a variety of options for the daily travel of urban residents. Extant studies have mainly examined the travel characteristics and influencing factors of public bicycles with piles, while the travel patterns for sharing bicycles and their driving mechanisms have been largely ignored. Using one week’s travel data for Mobike, this study investigated the spatial and temporal distribution patterns of sharing bicycle travel behaviours in the central urban area of Guangzhou, China;furthermore, it identified the influences of built environment density factors on sharing bicycle travel behaviours based on the geographically weighted regression method. Obvious morning and evening peaks were observed in the sharing bicycle travel patterns for both weekdays and weekends. The old urban area, which had a high degree of mixed function, dense road networks, and cycling-friendly built environments, was the main travel area that attracted sharing bicycles on both weekdays and weekends. Furthermore, factors including the point of interest(POI) for the density of public transport stations, the functional mixing degree, and the density of residential POIs significantly affected residents’ travel behaviours. These findings could enrich discourse regarding shared mobility with a Chinese case characterised by rapidly developing MICTs and also provide references to local authorities for improving slow traffic environments.     

Perturbed solution of sea-air oscillator for the El Niño/La Niña-Southern Oscillation mechanism

A class of coupled system of the El Niño/La Niña-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) mechanism is studied. Using the perturbed theory, the asymptotic expansions of the solution for ENSO model are obtained and the asymptotic behavior of solution for corresponding problem is considered.     

Cloning a new cytochrome P450 isoform (CYP356A1) from oyster Crassostrea gigas

We have cloned the full-length cDNA of the first member of a new cytochrome P450 (CYP) family from the Pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas. This new CYP gene was obtained based on an initial 331bp fragment previously identified among the list of the differentially expressed genes in oysters exposed to untreated domestic sewage. The full-length CYP has an open reading frame of 1500bp and based on its deduced amino acid sequence was classified as a member of a new subfamily, CYP356A1. A phylogenetic analysis showed that CYP356A1 is closely related to members of the CYP17 and CYP1 subfamilies. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR was performed to analyze the CYP356A1 expression in different tissues of the oyster (digestive gland, gill, mantle and adductor muscle). Results showed slightly higher CYP356A1 expression in digestive gland and mantle, than the other tissues, indicating a possible role of the CYP356A1 in xenobiotic biotransformation and/or steroid metabolism.     

Differential gene expression in oyster exposed to sewage

In order to investigate the influence of domestic sewage on the gene expression of Pacific oysters Crassostrea gigas, suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) method was employed. Oysters were sampled at a farming area and, after 10 days of acclimation in the laboratory, were exposed to untreated domestic sewage diluted 33% for 48 h. Gills of male oysters were excised for total RNA extraction. mRNA was purified and the differential gene expression was analyzed by SSH. We obtained 61 cDNA sequences but only 15 were identified, which includes fatty acid binding protein, multidrug resistance protein, omega glutathione S-transferase, cytochrome P450 isoform CYP356A1, among others. The identified genes are associated with different metabolic functions like biotransformation, membrane transport, aerobic metabolism and translational machinery, evidencing the potential toxic effects elicited by these effluents.