巴基斯坦科技教育政策的历史和现状

 系统梳理巴基斯坦1947-2017年的全国性教育政策文本，发现巴基斯坦政府颁布的9份教育政策文件均涉及科技教育内容。结合政局和一般社会发展状况的分析发现，巴基斯坦科技教育政策及其实施经历了4个阶段的变化。1947-1971年，受国家整体知识发展水平限制，新生国家面临各种国内外政治经济等迫切问题，科技教育政策无法得到完全实施。1972-1998年，巴基斯坦国内外政治局势变换，教育政策未得到持续、稳定的有效实施，科技教育发展缓慢。1998年以来，政治环境得到改善，科技教育真正开始得到重视并快速发展。目前巴基斯坦科技教育尚处于精英教育和实用教育阶段，投入短缺和无专门管理机构，是掣肘其科技教育规划落实的两大因素。     

EYS, encoding an ortholog of Drosophila spacemaker, is mutated in autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa

Using a positional cloning approach supported by comparative genomics, we have identified a previously unreported gene, EYS, at the RP25 locus on chromosome 6q12 commonly mutated in autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa. Spanning over 2 Mb, this is the largest eye-specific gene identified so far. EYS is independently disrupted in four other mammalian lineages, including that of rodents, but is well conserved from Drosophila to man and is likely to have a role in the modeling of retinal architecture.     

Investigation of functional, physical, mechanical and thermal properties of TiO2 embedded polyester hybrid composites: A design of experiment (DoE) study

This paper presents a study on the Design of Experiments(Do E) approach to optimize the fabrication parameters of titania(TiO_2) embedded glass fiber reinforced polyester hybrid composites(HCs). HCs of unsaturated polyester resin(UPR) were fabricated using methyl ethyl ketone peroxide(MEKP) as the curing agent by hand lay-up process(HLUP) and compression molding technique(CMT). The fabrication parameters were optimized by Taguchi Do E(an orthogonal array of L25) using 3 control factors(concentration of TiO_2, concentration of MEKP and curing temperature) having 5 levels each. Statistical tools were employed to identify significant factors affecting tensile strengths and its reproducibility during HLUP. It was found that the concentration of TiO_2 in HCs significantly influenced the tensile strength(TS) followed by MEKP concentration and curing temperature. The highest value of TS was obtained at 3 wt% TiO_2, 2 wt% MEKP and 80 °C. Nevertheless, the sensitivity of TiO_2 concentration was basis for fabrication of polyester titania glass fiber hybrids(PTGFHs), which were further investigated for density and void fractions, linear shrinkage, flexural strength, impact strength, hardness and thermal behaviors. Moreover, cross-linking and hydrogen-bonding between polymeric chains, styrene, silica content of glass fiber and TiO_2 particles in PTGFHs were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.     

Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome is caused by mutations in HPS4, the human homolog of the mouse light-ear gene

Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS) is a disorder of organelle biogenesis in which oculocutaneous albinism, bleeding and pulmonary fibrosis result from defects of melanosomes, platelet dense granules and lysosomes. HPS is common in Puerto Rico, where it is caused by mutations in the genes HPS1 and, less often, HPS3 (ref. 8). In contrast, only half of non-Puerto Rican individuals with HPS have mutations in HPS1 (ref. 9), and very few in HPS3 (ref. 10). In the mouse, more than 15 loci manifest mutant phenotypes similar to human HPS, including pale ear (ep), the mouse homolog of HPS1 (refs 13,14). Mouse ep has a phenotype identical to another mutant, light ear (le), which suggests that the human homolog of le is a possible human HPS locus. We have identified and found mutations of the human le homolog, HPS4, in a number of non-Puerto Rican individuals with HPS, establishing HPS4 as an important HPS locus in humans. In addition to their identical phenotypes, le and ep mutant mice have identical abnormalities of melanosomes, and in transfected melanoma cells the HPS4 and HPS1 proteins partially co-localize in vesicles of the cell body. In addition, the HPS1 protein is absent in tissues of le mutant mice. These results suggest that the HPS4 and HPS1 proteins may function in the same pathway of organelle biogenesis.