A single mutation Asp229 --> Ser confers upon Gs alpha the ability to interact with regulators of G protein signaling

RGS proteins (regulators of G protein signaling) are GTPase activating proteins (GAPs) for Gi and Gq families of heterotrimeric G proteins but have not been found to interact with Gs alpha. The Gs alpha residue Asp229 has been suggested to be responsible for the inability of RGS proteins to interact with Gs alpha [Natochin, M., and Artemyev, N. O. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273, 4300-4303]. To test this hypothesis, we have investigated the possibility of generating an interaction between Gs alpha and RGS proteins by substituting Gs alpha Asp229 with Ser and replacing the potential Gs alpha Asp229 contact residues in RGS16, Glu129 and Asn131, by Ala and Ser, respectively. RGS16 and its mutants failed to interact with Gs alpha. A single mutation of Gs alpha, Asp229Ser, rendered the Gs alpha subunit with the ability to interact with RGS16 and RGS4. Like RGS protein binding to Gi and Gq alpha-subunits, RGS16 preferentially recognized the AlF4--bound conformation of Gs alpha Asp229Ser. In a single-turnover assay, RGS16 maximally stimulated GTPase activity of Gs alpha Asp229Ser by approximately 5-fold with an EC50 value of 7.5 microM. Our findings demonstrate that Asp229 of Gs alpha represents a major barrier for Gs alpha interaction with known RGS proteins.     

Natural ligands of the B cell adhesion molecule CD22 beta can be masked by 9-O-acetylation of sialic acids

CD22 beta is a B cell-restricted phosphoprotein expressed on the surface of mature resting B cells. It mediates interactions with other cells partly or exclusively via recognition of alpha 2-6-linked sialic acids on glycoconjugates. The sialylated N-linked oligosaccharides recognized best by CD22 beta are common to many glycoproteins, suggesting that additional regulatory mechanisms may exist. Since the exocyclic side chain of sialic acid is required for recognition, we explored the effects of a naturally occurring modification of the side chain, 9-O-acetylation. Semisynthetic N-linked oligosaccharides terminating with 9-O-acetylated, alpha 2-6-linked sialic acids showed markedly reduced binding to CD22 beta relative to their non-O-acetylated counterparts. Murine lymphoid cells were probed for natural CD22 beta ligands that might be O-acetylated using recombinant soluble forms of CD22 beta (CD22 beta Rg) and influenza C esterase (CHE-Fc, which specifically removes 9-O-acetyl esters from sialic acids). By flow cytometry analysis, CD22 beta Rg binding to splenic B cells and a subset of T cells was increased by pretreatment with CHE-Fc, indicating that some potential CD22 beta ligands are naturally "masked" by 9-O-acetylation. Unmasking of these CD22 beta ligands by removal of 9-O-acetyl esters from intact splenocytes substantially increases their CD22 beta-dependent adhesion in an in vitro adhesion assay. Probing of murine lymphoid tissue sections by CD22 beta Rg and CHE-Fc treatment demonstrates regionally restricted and differentially expressed patterns of distribution between masked and unmasked ligands. For example, lymph node-associated follicular B cells express high levels of CD22 beta ligands, none of which are masked by 9-O-acetylation. In contrast, the ligands on lymph node-associated dendritic cells are almost completely masked by 9-O-acetylation, suggesting that masking may regulate interactions between CD22 beta-positive B cells and dendritic cells. In the thymus, only medullary cells express CD22 beta ligands, and a significant portion of these are masked by 9-O-acetylation, particularly at the cortical-medullary junction. Thus, 9-O-acetylation of sialic acids on immune cells is in a position to negatively regulate CD22 beta adhesion events in a manner depending on both cell type and tissue localization.     

高等级住宅外墙外保温应用技术

为降低建筑采暖和空调制冷的能耗,贵都花园外墙采用外保温,介绍了墙体外保温用材、施工程序及操作工艺,竣工后通过热工性能检测,取得了明显的节能效果,并获安徽省“省级科技示范工程”称号。     

冶金企业实施CIMS总体方案的探讨——天津市轧三制钢有限公司CIM总体方案简介

对连续过程工业实施CIMS总体技术方案作了较为深入的探讨,并对天津市轧三制钢有限公司实施CIMS总体方案及技术路线进行了详细介绍。     

ILC for non-minimum phase system

In this paper we propose a design method of an iterative learning controller (ILC) for a non-minimum phase (NMP) system by model-matching theory. The ILC consists of two learning filters acting on both the previous input signal and the previous error signal. To design the learning filters, we convert the convergence condition of the ILC into the model-matching problem and get the stable and proper learning filter by solving the Nevanlinna's algorithm. To show the usefulness of the proposed algorithm, some design examples are included.     

Object-based automatic terrain shadow removal from SNPP/VIIRS flood maps

Terrain shadow is a big challenge to land products such as flood extent and snow cover from moderate-resolution optical satellite data. Because terrain shadows share similar spectral features with floodwaters, they can be easily detected as floodwaters by flood detection algorithms based on spectral features in visible, near-infrared, and short-wave infrared channels, which decreases the accuracy of flood detection substantially. However, because terrain shadows appear in mountainous areas with large surface roughness while floodwaters accumulate in low-lying areas with small surface roughness, analysis on surface roughness between terrain shadows and floodwaters can be very effective to distinguish one from the other. Root-mean-square height, internal height difference, and external height difference are used as principal quantitative surface roughness parameters in this study and calculated upon water objects that are clustered from a group of adjacent water pixels. This object-based method is applied in terrain shadow removal from SNPP/VIIRS (Suomi National Polar Orbit Partnership/Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite) near-real-time flood maps and shows promising results according to the tests with 10,000+ VIIRS granules across global areas. Quantitative evaluation in the northwest of the USA also indicates that more than 99% terrain shadow pixels could be removed from VIIRS flood maps by this method, which significantly improves the accuracy of near-real-time flood detection from SNPP/VIIRS imagery.     

Effects of Personality on Pair Programming

Personality tests in various guises are commonly used in recruitment and career counseling industries. Such tests have also been considered as instruments for predicting the job performance of software professionals both individually and in teams. However, research suggests that other human-related factors such as motivation, general mental ability, expertise, and task complexity also affect the performance in general. This paper reports on a study of the impact of the Big Five personality traits on the performance of pair programmers together with the impact of expertise and task complexity. The study involved 196 software professionals in three countries forming 98 pairs. The analysis consisted of a confirmatory part and an exploratory part. The results show that: 1) Our data do not confirm a meta-analysis-based model of the impact of certain personality traits on performance and 2) personality traits, in general, have modest predictive value on pair programming performance compared with expertise, task complexity, and country. We conclude that more effort should be spent on investigating other performance-related predictors such as expertise, and task complexity, as well as other promising predictors, such as programming skill and learning. We also conclude that effort should be spent on elaborating on the effects of personality on various measures of collaboration, which, in turn, may be used to predict and influence performance. Insights into such malleable, rather than static, factors may then be used to improve pair programming performance.     

海湾战争后防空系统及雷达电子设备的新发展

本文针对海湾战争后的新形势,介绍了战略防御的新构想、战术防空导弹系统及21世纪的防空概念,论述了AEW、AWACS、战场监视目标攻击雷达及其它雷达的最新发展情况,此外,还对国外的反隐身技术进展情况作了介绍。