[Use of the Nitrogen/Carbon Ratio (N/C) and Two End-Member Sources Mixing Model to Identify the Origins of Dissolved Organic Matter from Soils in the Water-Level Fluctuation Zones of the Three Gorges Reservoir].

Soil dissolved organic matter (soil DOM) plays a crucial role in the environmental fate of pollutants because of its exceptional biogeochemical reactivity. Therefore, tracing the sources and understanding the properties of DOM through chemical characterization is important for clarifying the "structure-reactivity" of DOM in the environment. In this study, traditional elementary analysis methods including nitrogen/carbon ratio (N/C) determinations and derived two end-member source-loads mixing models were applied to soil DOM extracted from the water-level fluctuation zones of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) area.

Metacaspases versus caspases in development and cell fate regulation.

Initially found to be critically involved in inflammation and apoptosis, caspases have since then been implicated in the regulation of various signaling pathways in animals. How caspases and caspase-mediated processes evolved is a topic of great interest and hot debate. In fact, caspases are just the tip of the iceberg, representing a relatively small group of mostly animal-specific enzymes within a broad family of structurally related cysteine proteases (family C14 of CD clan) found in all kingdoms of life.