Analysis of medaka cytochrome P450 3A homotropic and heterotropic cooperativity

We have previously demonstrated that medaka CYP3A is associated with metabolism of several endobiotics including steroids and bile acids. In this study, we demonstrate that medaka CYP3A catalysis exhibits unusual kinetic behaviors consistent with allosteric interaction which cannot be described by hyperbolic kinetic models. Using 7-benzyloxy-4-(trifluoromethyl)-coumarin (BFC) and nonylphenol as CYP3A substrates, we describe both homotropic and heterotropic cooperative interactions. Given the role of CYP3A in maintaining the homeostatic balance for numerous endobiotics, enzymatic activation/inhibition by endocrine disruptors (EDCs) represents a putative (non-genomic) mechanism for endocrine disruption.     

Histopathological biomarkers in estuarine fish species for the assessment of biological effects of contaminants

The increasing emphasis on the assessment and monitoring of estuarine ecosystems has highlighted the need to deploy appropriate biological indices for these locations. Fish diseases and histopathology, with a broad range of causes, are increasingly being used as indicators of environmental stress since they provide a definite biological end-point of historical exposure. This study reports on the histopathological alterations observed in selected organs and tissues of three species of estuarine fish (Platichthys flesus, Pomatoschistus minutus and Zoarces viviparus), captured from four British estuaries (the Tyne, Tees, Mersey and Alde), differently impacted by contaminants, including PAHs. A biannual sampling regime was used to identify the important seasonal variations that occur in terms of the observed biological effects. Inflammatory lesions and hepatocellular fibrillar inclusions attained their highest prevalence in P. flesus captured from the Tyne, Tees and Mersey. The presence of pre-neoplastic and neoplastic toxicopathic lesions was highest in P. flesus captured from these sites, when compared to fish from the Aide reference site. In particular, the prevalence of hepatic foci of cellular alteration (up to 43.3%) and hepatocellular adenoma (up to 10%) were highest in P. flesus captured from the Mersey estuary. Intersex (ovotestis) was only recorded in male P.flesus captured from the Mersey estuary (up to 8.3%) and from male Z. viviparous captured from the Tyne estuary (25%). Pathologies associated with the gill and the kidney were also most prevalent in fish captured from the Tyne, Tees and Mersey estuaries. This study has successfully applied histopathology to an estuarine monitoring program, both for the recording of toxicopathic lesions in the liver and other organs, and for the detection of the endpoint of endocrine disruption, intersex. As such, it provides a powerful integrative tool for the assessment of biological effects of contaminants in these environments.     

Abrupt climate change and transient climates during the Paleogene: a marine perspective

Detailed investigations of high latitude sequences recently collected by the Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) indicate that periods of rapid climate change often culminated in brief transient climates, with more extreme conditions than subsequent long term climates. Two examples of such events have been identified in the Paleogene; the first in latest Paleocene time in the middle of a warming trend that began several million years earlier: the second in earliest Oligocene time near the end of a Middle Eocene to Late Oligocene global cooling trend. Superimposed on the earlier event was a sudden and extreme warming of both high latitude sea surface and deep ocean waters. Imbedded in the latter transition was an abrupt decline in high latitude temperatures and the brief appearance of a full size continental ice-sheet on Antarctica. In both cases the climate extremes were not stable, lasting for less than a few hundred thousand years, indicating a temporary or transient climate state. Geochemical and sedimentological evidence suggest that both Paleogene climate events were accompanied by reorganizations in ocean circulation, and major perturbations in marine productivity and the global carbon cycle. The Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum was marked by reduced oceanic turnover and decreases in global delta 13C and in marine productivity, while the Early Oligocene glacial maximum was accompanied by intensification of deep ocean circulation and elevated delta 13C and productivity. It has been suggested that sudden changes in climate and/or ocean circulation might occur as a result of gradual forcing as certain physical thresholds are exceeded. We investigate the possibility that sudden reorganizations in ocean and/or atmosphere circulation during these abrupt transitions generated short-term positive feedbacks that briefly sustained these transient climatic states.     

生态干扰度:一种评价植被天然性程度的方法

地球上现存的植物或森林群落都是植被与其环境长期适应及人类长期干扰影响的结果 ,因此 ,现实的植被反映着历史上人类对它们不同程度的影响。‘生态干扰’的概念常常被用来描述历史上人类对植被或森林影响的大小 ,即‘生态干扰度’;或用来表示现实植被离开它的‘天然植被’的距离 ,即现实植被的‘天然性程度’。如此的‘天然植被’可以是 :( 1 )历史上从未受过人类任何干扰的‘原始植被’;( 2 )基于当前立地的‘潜在的自然植被’。然而 ,成百上千年以来人类对自然的利用干扰 ,致使真正的‘原始植被’现在几乎无处可寻。因此 ,‘潜在的自然植被’被用来作为生态干扰度估计或植被天然性程度评价的参照系。作为一种很实用的生态分析手段 ,生态干扰度的方法已被广泛地应用在农、林、水、景观、城市及自然保护等诸多领域的生态评价上。为此 ,本文论述了生态干扰度的概念、原理、方法和应用实例。     

繁峙—太仆寺旗地震测深剖面壳-幔过渡带复杂性特征

<正> 1992—1994年中国地震局地球物理勘探中心在北纬39°～41°,东经114°～117°的首都圈地区完成了几条人工地震测深(DDS)剖面。这些剖面均已进行过常规的资料处理,利用走时数据得到了沿剖面的二维速度结构。近年来随着地震资料处理技术的发展,我们将利用一些新方法对这些资料做进一步的处理以获得地壳深部更多参数的信息。本文对其中的繁峙—怀安—太仆寺旗剖面Moho反射P_m波形进     

平流层-对流层交换研究进展

平流层与对流层之间的物质输送和混合（STE）是控制自然和人为排放的化学痕量物质对大气成分影响的一个重要过程。STE可以影响温室气体在上对流层和下平流层中的垂直分布，进而影响气候。要预报全球气候变化就必须了解平流层与对流层之间动力、化学及辐射的耦合。从 STE研究的尺度问题，热带和中纬度地区STE研究以及我国STE研究现状进行了评述。STE具有多种尺度和形式，热带外平流层由波强迫驱动的全球尺度环流，可以诊断长时间尺度的STE，它不能充分描述短时间尺度过程。热带外低平流层环流不能简单地描述为纬向平均，要正确描述痕量气体的分布必须包含纬向非对称的天气尺度过程。热带地区的滴漏管理论提供了一个新的诊断 STE框架。目前对中纬度地区对流层顶折叠和切断低压的研究是比较充分的。     

洪家渡水电站左坝肩高边坡稳定及加固措施研究

贵州洪家渡水电站左坝肩高边坡开挖高度310 m,采用弹塑性有限元数值模拟方法对左坝肩高边坡施工期岩体应力应变状态进行分析研究,并结合现场变形观测资料对计算结果进行验证,从而对左坝肩高边坡的稳定性进行评价并提出相应的加固措施。     

昌马水库右岸山体稳定性研究

昌马水库导流排砂洞塌方导致右岸山体发生松动 ,本文在大量地质资料的基础上 ,对右岸岩体裂隙网络进行模拟 ,同时 ,采用极限分析能量法和有限元数值模拟方法等对右岸山体的稳定性进行分析研究 ,并提出相应的加固方案。     

吉林台水电站厂房高边坡稳定性及加固措施研究

吉林台水电站厂房后边坡开挖形成140～340m的高边坡,保证其长期运行稳定性至关重要。在结合地质资料对边坡的失稳模式进行初步判断的基础上,采用极限平衡分析方法对正常蓄水、暴雨影响、地震荷载等工况条件下边坡的整体抗滑稳定性进行分析,得出暴雨对边坡稳定影响较大的结论,据此提出以排水结合预应力锚索为主的边坡加固增稳措施,实践证明该措施是有效的。