Metallothionein as a biomarker for mercury in tissues of rat fed orally with cinnabar

Cinnabar, as one of the most widely used mineral drugs in traditional Chinese medicines, has been proven to have prominent curative effects in clinical use for more than 2000 years. But the safety and toxicity of the drug has been under constant debate in clinic usage. Metallothionein (MT) contains about 30% of cysteine in the molecule, and plays an important detoxification role against heavy metals. In this study, it was used as a biomarker to assess mercurial accumulation in rats fed orally with cinnabar. After feeding rats with cinnabar by gastric gavage at different dosages and at different times, the distribution of heavy metals (including mercury, copper and zinc) and MT was investigated among rat tissues, including liver, kidney, heart, brain, testis and blood. Metals and MT determinations were carried out using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP‐MS) and a modified mercury saturation assay technique respectively. The results indicated that mercury was easily accumulated in the tissues of rats exposed to cinnabar, especially in kidney. For example: at a feeding dosage of 5 g kg^?1 (bw) for 4 weeks, the mercury concentrations in kidney were 13, 8.7, 21.6 and 26 times those in liver, testis, brain and heart respectively; and at 2.5 g kg^?1 (bw) for 2 weeks, the mercury concentrations in kidney were 21, 2.1, 3 and 21 times those in liver, testis, brain and heart respectively. In addition, mercury in kidney and liver of all cinnabar groups was significantly higher than that of the control group (P < 0.01). A high positive correlation observed between MT concentrations and mercury levels in both liver and kidney (R² = 0.9299, P < 0.02 for liver; R² = 0.9923, P < 0.0008 for kidney) indicated that MT could be used as a biomarker for mercury in tissues. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Crystallographic report: Crystal structure of tetra(4‐methyl‐5‐imidazole‐carboxyaldehyde)zinc(II) diperchlorate

The central zinc(II) atom in the title complex is tetrahedrally coordinated by four nitrogen atoms derived from 4‐methyl‐5‐imidazolecarboxyaldehyde ligands with Zn? N in the range 2.007(3) to 2.026(4) Å. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Triterpenoid Constituents of Huperzia miyoshiana

Thirteen triterpenoids, including three new ones, miyoshianois A (1), B (2) and C (3), were isolated from Huperzia miyoshiana. The structures of these new compounds were established as 3-O-dihydroferuloyltohogenol (1), 16-oxo-3β,21β-dihydrox-y-serrat-14-en-24-ferulate (2) and 16-oxo-3a, 21β-dihydroxy-serrat-14-en-24-ferulate (3), respectively, on the basis of their spectroscopic analysis.     

Value of Optical Bypass in Packet Ring Networks

This paper firstly examines the value of optical bypass scheme in packet ring networks. An Integer Linear Program (ILP) formulation is presented and analytical results under different traffic patterns are given.     

Operating Parameters Optimization of Buffer Gas in Optically Pumped Submillimeter Wave Laser

Based on the basic theory of molecular vibration relaxation and semi-classical density matrix theory, operating parameters optimization of buffer gas in the process of miniature pulsed optically pumped submillimeter wave laser was systemically studied and the theoretical calculated result was tested by experiments. The result would do favor to develop and study high-power and wide-range tunable miniature and high-efficient pulsed optically pumped submillimeter wave laser and also had some instruction to its application.     

暗中空光束角动量与中性原子的相互作用及其应用

综述了暗中空光束自旋与轨道角动量的一些性质及其与中性原子之间的相互作用,并简单介绍了暗中空光束及其角动量在原子光学和玻色_爱因斯坦凝聚(BEC)以及各种原子光学器件研制方面的应用.     

35Cr25Ni12奥氏体耐热钢中碳化物的电子显微分析

应用扫描电镜（SEM）和透射电镜（TEM）研究了长期使用前后的35Cr25Ni12奥氏体耐热钢中的碳化物演变行为；该钢固溶时效后的组织由初晶奥氏体及M23C6共晶碳化物组成，奥氏体基体中析出了二次M23C6，二次碳化物总是与基体保持立方－立方取向关系；长期使用（3、5年）后，奥氏体中析出的二次碳化物量明显增加，部分M23C6已转变为M6C，M6C与奥氏体基体以及二次碳化物M23C6保持[001]M6C//[221]A//[221]M23C6孪晶取向关系。     

Stationary Intensity Distribution of Single-Mode Laser Driven by Additive and Multiplicative Colored Noises with Colored Cross-Correlation

Applying the approximate Fokker-Planck equation we derived, we obtain the analytic expression of thestationary laser intensity distribution Pst(Ⅰ) by studying the single-mode laser cubic model subject to colored cross-correlation additive and multiplicative noise, each of which is colored. Based on it, we discuss the effects on the stationarylaser intensity distribution Pst(Ⅰ) by cross-correlation between noises and “color“ of noises (non-Markovian effect) whenthe laser system is above the threshold. In detail, we analyze two cases: One is that the three correlation-times (i.e.the self-correlation and cross-correlation times of the additive and multiplicative noise) are chosen to be the same value(τ1 = τ2 = τ3 = τ). For this case, the effect of noise cross-correlation is investigated emphatically, and we detect thatonly when λ≠ 0 can the noise-induced transition occur in the Pst(Ⅰ) curve, and only when τ≠ 0 and λ≠ 0, can the“reentrant noise-induced transition“ occur. The other case is that the three correlation times are not the same value,τ1 ≠τ2 ≠τ3. For this case, we find that the noise-induced transition occurring in the Pst (Ⅰ) curve is entirely differentwhen the values of τ1, τ2, and τ3 are changed respectively. In particular, when τ2 (self-correlation time of additivenoise) is changing, the ratio of the two maximums of the Pst(Ⅰ) curve R exhibits an interesting phenomenon, “reentrantnoise-induced transition“, which demonstrates the effect of noise “color“ (non-Markovian effect).