New Packing Law to Affect Plastics Industry

The 'Solid Wastes Polluting EnvironmentProtection & Rectification Law of China'passed by the National People's Con-gress will take effect officially on April 1this year.The law clearly stipulates thatthe design and manufacturing of prod-ucts and its packaging materials shouldobserve the relevant state provisions re-garding clean production so as to pre-vent excessive packing from polluting     

What is the Sugar Code?

A code is defined by the nature of the symbols, which are used to generate information-storing combinations (e. g. oligo- and polymers). Like nucleic acids and proteins, oligo- and polysaccharides are ubiquitous, and they are a biochemical platform for establishing molecular messages. Of note, the letters of the sugar code system (third alphabet of life) excel in coding capacity by making an unsurpassed versatility for isomer (code word) formation possible by variability in anomery and linkage position of the glycosidic bond, ring size and branching. The enzymatic machinery for glycan biosynthesis (writers) realizes this enormous potential for building a large vocabulary. It includes possibilities for dynamic editing/erasing as known from nucleic acids and proteins. Matching the glycome diversity, a large panel of sugar receptors (lectins) has developed based on more than a dozen folds. Lectins ‘read’ the glycan-encoded information. Hydrogen/coordination bonding and ionic pairing together with stacking and C−H/π-interactions as well as modes of spatial glycan presentation underlie the selectivity and specificity of glycan-lectin recognition. Modular design of lectins together with glycan display and the nature of the cognate glycoconjugate account for the large number of post-binding events. They give an entry to the glycan vocabulary its functional, often context-dependent meaning(s), hereby building the dictionary of the sugar code.     

Adenovirus Structure: What Is New?

Adenoviruses are large (~950 Å) and complex non-enveloped, dsDNA icosahedral viruses. They have a pseudo-T = 25 triangulation number with at least 12 different proteins composing the virion. These include the major and minor capsid proteins, core proteins, maturation protease, terminal protein, and packaging machinery. Although adenoviruses have been studied for more than 60 years, deciphering their architecture has presented a challenge for structural biology techniques. An outstanding event was the first near-atomic resolution structure of human adenovirus type 5 (HAdV-C5), solved by cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) in 2010. Discovery of new adenovirus types, together with methodological advances in structural biology techniques, in particular cryo-EM, has lately produced a considerable amount of new, high-resolution data on the organization of adenoviruses belonging to different species. In spite of these advances, the organization of the non-icosahedral core is still a great unknown. Nevertheless, alternative techniques such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) are providing interesting glimpses on the role of the core proteins in genome condensation and virion stability. Here we summarize the current knowledge on adenovirus structure, with an emphasis on high-resolution structures obtained since 2010.     

What is inside carbon nanohorn aggregates?

Carbon nanohorn (CNH) aggregates are spherical with a diameter of ∼80 nm. There are thousands of protruding nanohorns at the periphery of each CNH aggregate. However, the interior structure of CNH aggregates remains a question. In this work, we used focused ion beam (FIB) to cut CNH aggregates followed by electron microscopy observations. It was revealed that the interior consists of disordered single-layered graphene sheets with a lateral size of up to 10 nm and an interlayer distance of approximately 4–5 Å. The growth mechanism of CNH aggregates was discussed on the basis of this new finding.     

Production and Sales in Yiyang Rubber ＆ Plastics Machinery Group Got a New Record

On 30th June 2007, more than 10 rubber machine products in Yiyang Rubber ＆ Plastics Machinery Group Co., Ltd. were delivered. Thus, the total industrial output value and sales value accomplished by this company on the first half year were both broken through 300 million Yuan, the production and sales had gotton a new record again. The rate of production and sales increased 75% and 76% respectively compared with the same period of last year and the production value of the new products was up to 61%.     

What is burning in coal mines: Methane or coal dust?

Possible scenarios of ignition and explosion development in coal mines are discussed. A principal possibility of complete quenching of detonation and combustion with the use of a sheet consisting of inert particles is experimentally demonstrated. As the detonation quenching process is rather complicated, it is recommended to focus the attention at the initial stage of ignition of the methane–air mixture, when it is possible to ensure effective quenching of the ignition site by using methods of advanced automatic monitoring and control with clear satisfaction of space and time requirements.     

Evaluation and Management of Neurogenic Bladder: What Is New in China?

Neurogenic bladder (NB) or neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (NLUTD), a dysfunction of the urinary bladder and urethra due to disease of the central nervous system or peripheral nerves, is a major global medical and social problem. Numerous nervous system abnormalities, such as: stroke, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, traumatic spinal cord injury, spinal cord tumors, congenital spina bifida, and diabetes, can cause NB/NLUTD. There are two major types of bladder control problems associated with NB/NLUTD: the bladder becomes either overactive or underactive depending on the nature, level, and extent of nerve damage. This review specifically focuses on the diagnosis and management of NB/NLUTD in China as well as on recent efforts to treat this disease.