Lead content of rice collected from various areas in the world

Rice samples consumed by local populations were collected between 1990 and 1995 in 17 areas in the world, mostly from Asia (10 areas), but also from 7 areas outside of Asia. In total, 1528 samples were obtained (about one half from Japan) and were analyzed for lead (Pb) by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. When the Pb contents in rice samples were classified into 10 areas in Asia, the highest and the lowest geometric means (GMs) were for Indonesia (38 ng/g) and Australia (2 ng/g), respectively. Among 7 regions outside Asia, the GM was highest for Spain (58 ng/g) and the lowest for the USA. (3 ng/g). Moreover, inter-regional differences were significant, when more than 100 samples from one area were divided into 3-9 regions and GMs for regions were compared. There was a marked difference in Pb contents in rice by areas and regions in the world. Nevertheless, comparison by area of the present results with those reported in literature show that there has been no substantial reduction in Pb in rice in the past decade either in Japan or elsewhere in the world.     

Molecular forces between membranes displaying neutral glycosphingolipids: evidence for carbohydrate attraction

The surface force apparatus was used to determine the fundamental forces governing the adhesion between mixed bilayer membranes comprising lactosyl ceramide (LacCer) and di-tridecanoyl-phosphatidyl choline. Forces between membranes were quantified as a function of the glycolipid surface densities, which ranged from 0 to 30 mol %. Control measurements of the forces between pure phosphatidylcholine membranes and mixed bilayers of lactosyl ceramide with phosphocholine showed that the steric thickness of the carbohydrate headgroups increased from 19 to 25 A when the glycolipid density increased from 10 to 20 mol %. The layer compressibility also decreased with increasing carbohydrate coverage, but the corresponding adhesion between lactosyl ceramide-containing membranes increased with increasing amounts of glycosphingolipid in them. The nonspecific van der Waals forces accounted for the attraction measured in the control experiments and that between identical 10 mol % LacCer bilayers. However, the increase in the adhesion with increasing glycolipid density was 2-4 times greater than predicted by Lifschitz theory. Additionally, the forces measured during separation of membranes containing 20 and 30 mol % glycosphingolipid indicated that the headgroups bind and rearrange during bilayer detachment. The interactions between the carbohydrates are weak and apparently dynamic, and they generate an additional density-dependent intermembrane attraction that is on the order of the van der Waals force.     

双核GHz时代 主流平板、智能处理器逐个看

目前平板电脑、智能手机的应用越来越多,界面越来越华丽,对处理器性能的要求也越来越高,尽管平板电脑、智能手机处理器以ARM架构为主,随着性能的提升,双核和GHz级的处理器也越来越多,为平板电脑和智能手机提供更为出色的性能表现。     

融合大战新酷睿 新时代的本战争

AMD融合处理器APU的推出,并强势进入笔记本平台,能打破英特尔在笔记本平台一家独大的格局吗?采用英特尔Sandy Bridge处理器的笔记本,都融合了核心显卡,这两款处理器在笔记本平台上相遇,会给笔记本平台带来什么样的变化?     

闪存进攻主流固态硬盘及混合硬盘

闪存在存储领域的应用已经非常普及,从USB闪存到固态硬盘,再到性价比较高的混合硬盘,闪存的应用已经无处不在,并且闪存凭借快速的存取速度,已经成为存储领域提升速度的不二法宝,除了移动存储之外,闪存正进攻传统硬盘领域,为用户提供更高的磁盘性能。     

Heat shock activates c-Src tyrosine kinases and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase in NIH3T3 fibroblasts

There is increasing evidence that cellular responses to stress are in part regulated by protein kinases, although specific mechanisms are not well defined. The purpose of these experiments was to investigate potential upstream signaling events activated during heat shock in NIH3T3 fibroblasts. Experiments were designed to ask whether heat shock activates p60 c-Src tyrosine kinase or phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI 3-kinase). Using in vitro protein kinase activity assays, it was demonstrated that heat shock stimulates c-Src and PI 3-kinase activity in a time-dependent manner. Also, there was increased PI 3-kinase activity in anti-phosphotyrosine and anti-c-Src immunoprecipitated immunocomplexes from heated cells. Heat shock activated mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) and p70 S6 kinase (S6K) in these cells. The role of PI 3-kinase in regulating heat shock activation of MAPK and p70 S6K was investigated using wortmannin, a specific pharmacological inhibitor of PI 3-kinase. The results demonstrated that wortmannin inhibited heat shock activation of p70 S6K but only partially inhibited heat activation of MAPK. A dominant negative Raf mutant inhibited activation of MAPK by heat shock but did not inhibit heat shock stimulation of p70 S6K. Genistein, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, and suramin, a growth factor receptor inhibitor, both inhibited heat shock stimulation of MAPK activity and tyrosine phosphorylation of MAPK. Furthermore, a selective epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor, tryphostin AG1478, and a dominant negative EGFR mutant also inhibited heat shock activation of MAPK. Heat shock induced EGFR phosphorylation. These results suggest that early upstream signaling events in response to heat stress may involve activation of PI 3-kinase and tyrosine kinases, such as c-Src, and a growth factor receptor, such as EGFR; activation of important downstream pathways, such as MAPK and p70 S6K, occur by divergent signaling mechanisms similar to growth factor stimulation.