Thermal property of biological tissues characterized by piezoelectric photoacoustic technique

A photoacoustic piezoelectric method based on a simplified thermoelastic theory is employed to determine thermal diffusivities of biological tissues. The thermal diffusivities of porcine tissues with different preparation conditions, including fresh, dry and specially prepared conditions, are characterized. Comparing the experimental evaluated diffusivities of the tissues in three conditions with each other, it can be seen that the diffusivities of the fresh tissues are the biggest and the diffusivities of the specially prepared tissues are bigger than that of the dry ones generally. The results show that the piezoelectric photoacoustic method is especially effective for determining macro-effective (average)thermal diffusivities of biological materials with micro-inhomogeneity and easy to be performed, which can provide useful information for researching thermal characters of biological tissues.     

Re-evaluation of the phylogenetic position of the genus Dexiotrichides (Protozoa, Ciliophora, Scuticociliatida) inferred from stomatogenetic and molecular information for Dexiotrichides pangi

The divisional process and systematic position of the marine scuticociliate Dexiotrichides pangi are studied. Based on both stomatogenetic data and 18S rDNA gene sequences, the phylogeny and morphogenetic characteristics of this taxon, and of other related genera, are analyzed and discussed. Both the divisionary events and the molecular biological data indicate that this speciesgenus, together with certain other genera in the Dexiotricha-complex, occupies an intermediate position between the tetrahymenids and the “typical” scuticociliate, which suggests that the Dexiotricha-like taxa should be excluded from the “true” scuticociliates. As a further contribution, the process of stomatogenesis in D. pangi can be summarized as follows: (1) The oral primordia in the opisthe are formed only by the proliferation of basal bodies in the scutica field, which subsequently develop into three membranelles, while the new paroral membrane seems to be generated by the sub-anterior portion of somatic kinety 1 (the 1st postoral intercalary kinety). The latter character exhibits a mode similar to Tetrahymena. (2) In the proter the parental membranelles are retained and remain unchanged throughout the entire division process; only the old paroral membrane is disassembled and differentiated into the anlage, which then gives rise to the new paroral membrane and the scutica of the proter. The 18S rRNA gene sequence reported here is the first one for a ciliate in the Dexiotricha-complex.     

GMOs： The new hotspot in ecological research

Gene flow is an important ecological and genetic process, and the fitness conferred by the insertion of a foreiga gene could be important in ecology after it becomes introgressed into the wild genetic background of organisms,which is the determinative factor for the fate of GMOs or foreign genes in natural ecosystem and for the competition with native species. Trophic interrelation fulfilled by food chains is the most important correlation between species in ecosystem and could be affected by the modified genotypes after the introduction of GMOs. The technology enabling the precise manipulation of genotype is a great opportunity for the stndy of ecological genetics in an unknown way prior to the biotechnology era. Especially interesting is the impact of genes on ecosystem function when GMOs are released into environment. A variety of ecological terminology has been frequently used in assessment of ecological risks related to the release of GMOs in environment, e.g. gene flow, fitness,interspecific competition and food chain. The value of GMOs in ecological research is illustrated through several examples in biasafety assessment related to those terms here. It is proposed that ecolegists should pay attention to the study of gene function in ecosystem and take the opportunity to enrich ecological theory with the release of GMOs.     

Lamins and their genes

The nuclear lamina is an important nuclear structure. The studies on its peptides lamins and genes have made substantial progress in recent years. In this paper, the new achievements in studies of new lamin members and their functions, lamin genes and their origin and differentiation, are reviewed and discussed. Some research areas that deserve to be investigated further are put forward.     

Plausible cloth animation using dynamic bending model

Simulating the mechanical behavior of a cloth is a very challenging and important problem in computer animation. The models of bending in most existing cloth simulation approaches are taking the assumption that the cloth is little deformed from a plate shape. Therefore, based on the thin-plate theory, these bending models do not consider the condition that the current shape of the cloth under large deformations cannot be regarded as the approximation to that before deformation, which leads to an unreal static bending. [This paper introduces a dynamic bending model which is appropriate to describe large out-plane deformations such as cloth buckling and bending, and develops a compact implementation of the new model on spring-mass systems. Experimental results show that wrinkles and folds generated using this technique in cloth simulation, can appear and vanish in a more natural way than other approaches.]     

Progress in the stratigraphy and geochronology of the Shuidonggou site, Ningxia, North China

In the past years we carried out further stratigraphy division in field and it is found that rich stone artifacts can be found in fluvial-shallow lake-alluvial sediments on the terrace Ⅱ of Biangou River, inShuidonggou site, Ningxia and they are SDG1, 2 and 7. More luminescence and AMS ^14C dating in laboratory show that Paleolithic culture develops during the Upper Paleolithic period with ages of 35--20 ka. The Paleolithic culture of SDG 1 is a little earlier than that of SDG 2 similar to SDG 7. The sandy sediments on terrace Ⅱ of Biangou River deposits in the past 72--18 ka, corresponding to Last Glacial. SDG2 has a stable sedimentary environment, resulting in the continuous stratigraphy, thickest deposits and rich environment and culture information, which can be regarded as the important and classic paleoanthropological section of Late Pleistocene in this region.     

Four basic laws in design science

A point on the distinction between design and science is given and the connotanons of aeslgn science are discussed in the paper. Design should be understood as the first step of all human＇ s purposeful activity, which is a daily behavior for everyone. Four laws are summarized, which describe the basic patterns of design and are the constituents of design science. They are the law of design based on existed knowledge, law of in- completeness of design knowledge, law of design centered on new knowledge acquirement and law of competi- tiveness of design knowledge. The four basic laws show the knowledge essence of design. To enrich the existed knowledge, to make it convenient to be used, to teach designers with high intuition and inspiration in picking useful elements of existed knowledge and shaping competitive ideas and to have strong new knowledge acquire- ment facility are the basic conditions of good designs. Study of design science will promote the structure of tra- ditional engineering education. An important conclusion is derived that there will be no successful innovation without good design.     

Prediction of eukaryotic gene structures based on multilevel optimization

Computational gene structure prediction, which is valuable for finding new genes and understanding the composition of genomes, plays a very important role in various kinds of genome projects. For eukaryotic gene structures, however, the prediction accuracy of existing methods is still limited. This paper presents a method of predicting eukaryotic gene structures based on multilevel optimization. The complicated problem of predicting gene structure in eukaryotic DNA sequence containing multiple genes can be decomposed into a series of sub-problems at several levels with decreasing complexity, including the gene level (single-exon gene, multi-exon gene), the element level (exon, intron, etc.), and the feature level (functional site signals, codon usage preference, etc.). On the basis of this decomposition, a multilevel model for the prediction of complex gene structures is created by a multilevel optimization process, in which the models dealing with sub-problems at low complexity level are first optimized respectively, and then optimally combined together to form models for those sub-problems at higher complexity level. Based on the multilevel model, a dynamic programming algorithm is designed to search for optimal gene structures from DNA sequences, and a new program GeneKey (1.0) for the prediction of eukaryotic gene structures is developed. Testing results with widely used datasets demonstrate that the prediction accuracies of GeneKey (1.0) at the nucleotide level, exon level and gene level are all higher than that of the well known program GENSCAN. A web server of GeneKey(1.0) is available at http://infosci.hust.edu.cn     

Researches on the key technology and equipment for rapid construction of long tunnels with large section

Excavation and lining are two main and important tasks in tunnel construction. Conventional sequential operations may not be appropriate due to time limit for a project and the high cost of construction. The authors developed the new mode of tunnel construction that excavation and lining can be operated simultaneously. The new mode of tunnel construction was applied in Dahuofang Water Conveyance Project in Liaoning Province successfully. This paper makes a comparison of Main Beam TBMs and Double Shield TBMs, the type selection of TBM used in Dahuofang Water Conveyance Project, and the features of Full-ring Inner-through Lining Shutter Jumbo which solves the problem of interference between excavation and lining.     

Quality Management Model Embodying Circular Economy and Sustainable Manufacture——Quality Concept Models Based on a Chinese Traditional Cultural Principle

Based on circular economy and sustainable manufacture theories, the drawbacks in the existing quality management models are analyzed. The requests that satisfy the big system ＂environment-society-economy＂ are summarized to build up a model. A Chinese traditional cultural principle is applied and the relevant contents are sublimated as the platform to set up the model. The new quality management concept models are put forward： ＂T-D-R＂ three dimension structures and ＂ecological quality loop＂ model, from which the new quality concepts are formed. The paper elaborates the contents and the process of setting up the models. The big system quality problems can be handled by the new quality concept and model that are validated in practice.     

Noncoding RNAs: Different roles in tumorigenesis

A major portion of the mammalian genome is transcribed to produce large numbers of noncoding RNAs(ncRNAs).During the past decade,the discovery of small RNAs,including the microRNAs(miRNA) and small interfering RNAs(siRNA),has led to important advances in biology.The breadth of the ncRNA field of study has substantially expanded and many recent results have revealed a range of functions that can be attributed to the miRNAs and other ncRNAs.For example,H19 RNA,HOTAIR RNA,transcribed ultraconserved regions(T-UCRs),natural antisense RNA,transfer RNA and mitochondrial noncoding RNA have been suggested to play important roles in cancers and other diseases as well as in diverse cellular processes.In this review,we focus on the current status of several classes of ncRNAs associated with cancer with the emphasis on those that are not microRNAs.     

An Analysis of the Theme and the Characters in"The Destructors"

Graham Greene is one of the most important English writers in the 20th century.In Greene’s novels,readers easily find a literary world which is a dark land filled with violence,guilt,corruption and other forms of evil."The Destructors"also reflects this theme.Being interested in the story and the teenagers’growing-up,the author starts this paper-An Analysis of the theme and the characters in"The Destructors".First of all,this paper discusses the reasons that cause the gang to make destructions.The children are so violent;it has its intangible needs.It gives a new view to think about the children’s heart and makes us to recognize what the war left to people,especially to the children.And then,based on the analysis of the theme and characters,this paper discusses that the characters and their actions project the theme to a great extent,and that the teenagers’psychology and actions are greatly determined by their surroundings,which should be reconsidered by instructors.The moral and character education should gain a good deal of enlightenment from it.     

Testing of Cotton Fiber Length

To understand the influences of actual sampling conditions on cotton fiber length testing, this article presents a theoretic study on the distributions and fibrogram of the sample taken out by sampler from ideal sliver at a certain angle. From the distributions expression it can be found that the size of the sampler and the sampling angle are important factors which affect sampling, but if the sampling width is narrow enough, the influence of the sampling angle on the distributions and fibrogram is small enough to be omitted. This is an important conclusion for sampling, in light of this, some suggestions for designing new type sampler are put forward.     

New feature extraction in gene expression data for tumor classification

Using gene expression data to discriminate tumor from the normal ones is a powerful method. However, it is sometimes difficult because the gene expression data are in high dimension and the object number of the data sets is very small. The key technique is to find a new gene expression profiling that can provide understanding and insight into tumor related cellular processes. In this paper, we propose a new feature extraction method based on variance to the center of the class and employ the support vector machine to recognize the gene data either normal or tumor. Two tumor data sets are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of our methods. The results show that the performance has been significantly improved.