The dynamics of chromosome evolution in birds and mammals

Comparative mapping, which compares the location of homologous genes in different species, is a powerful tool for studying genome evolution. Comparative maps suggest that rates of chromosomal change in mammals can vary from one to ten rearrangements per million years. On the basis of these rates we would expect 84 to 600 conserved segments in a chicken comparison with human or mouse. Here we build comparative maps between these species and estimate that numbers of conserved segments are in the lower part of this range. We conclude that the organization of the human genome is closer to that of the chicken than the mouse and by adding comparative mapping results from a range of vertebrates, we identify three possible phases of chromosome evolution. The relative stability of genomes such as those of the chicken and human will enable the reconstruction of maps of ancestral vertebrates.     

Fine structure of bone in dinosaurs, birds and mammals

After observation of detailed structural evidence for the origin of birds from dinosaurs, and in light of evidence that dinosaur bone tissue resembles the histology in mammals, the histology of bone has become one of the focal points in discussions of the physiology of dinosaurs and Mesozoic birds. Most of this microstructural information has focused on features related to the vascular organization and the amount of remodelled bone around vascular canals. However, the finer structures have received less attention, although differences in such structures have been observed among modern vertebrates. Here we present evidence that canaliculi--the submicrometre-sized channels that interconnect bone cells and vascular canals--and the collagen fibre bundles in bone are differently organized among certain dinosaur lineages. Ornithomimid dinosaurs are more like birds than mammals in these features. In canalicular structure, and to some extent in fibre bundle arrangement, ornithischian dinosaurs are more like mammals. These differences in both canalicular and lamellar structure are probably linked to differences in the process and rate of bone formation.     

框架结构地震损伤演化过程数值分析

为了更好地研究钢筋混凝土框架结构在地震作用下的损伤演化规律,采用理论分析的方法,改进了以往的基于变形及耗能的双参数损伤指数模型,应用按结构的重要程度所提出的"三水准"抗震设计地震损伤指标作为倒塌评定准则;采用非线性动力有限元法,模拟分析了某三层钢筋混凝土框架结构在地震作用下的倒塌破坏过程,计算了主要构件和整体结构的地震损伤指数,定量的描述了结构的整个倒塌破坏过程。结果表明:改进后的损伤指数计算模型既能够计算最大损伤指数,又能定量连续化计算结构损伤指数,描述结构的整个倒塌破坏过程。采用的单榀双跨结构为研究对象,不仅考虑了边柱而且考虑了中柱损伤,与实际结构破坏过程相符。     

Molecular insights into human brain evolution

Rapidly advancing knowledge of genome structure and sequence enables new means for the analysis of specific DNA changes associated with the differences between the human brain and that of other mammals. Recent studies implicate evolutionary changes in messenger RNA and protein expression levels, as well as DNA changes that alter amino acid sequences. We can anticipate having a systematic catalogue of DNA changes in the lineage leading to humans, but an ongoing challenge will be relating these changes to the anatomical and functional differences between our brain and that of our ancient and more recent ancestors.     

Energetics and the evolution of human brain size

The human brain stands out among mammals by being unusually large. The expensive-tissue hypothesis explains its evolution by proposing a trade-off between the size of the brain and that of the digestive tract, which is smaller than expected for a primate of our body size. Although this hypothesis is widely accepted, empirical support so far has been equivocal. Here we test it in a sample of 100 mammalian species, including 23 primates, by analysing brain size and organ mass data. We found that, controlling for fat-free body mass, brain size is not negatively correlated with the mass of the digestive tract or any other expensive organ, thus refuting the expensive-tissue hypothesis. Nonetheless, consistent with the existence of energy trade-offs with brain size, we find that the size of brains and adipose depots are negatively correlated in mammals, indicating that encephalization and fat storage are compensatory strategies to buffer against starvation. However, these two strategies can be combined if fat storage does not unduly hamper locomotor efficiency. We propose that human encephalization was made possible by a combination of stabilization of energy inputs and a redirection of energy from locomotion, growth and reproduction.     

徐州市域经济联系的网络结构及其演化

城市间经济联系的定量分析能揭示区域协调发展的状态．运用修正后的引力模型分别计算出徐州各县市区在2000,2005,2010年的城市经济联系值,并采用整体网络分析软件UCINET,对徐州市各县市区之间的经济联系的网络结构进行了进一步的测度．结果表明：徐州区域经济空间结构网络密度较低,但密度值增加较快,区域间经济联系渠道越来越多;经济发展模式为核心区域带动模式,主要的经济联系集中在市区与铜山县、邳州市等一些经济较发达的地区,各县市区之间的经济联系不对称性结构明显．     

中国海洋产业结构演进研究

海洋产业是海洋经济的基础,产业结构演进是经济结构演进的核心,海洋产业结构演进是海洋经济经量变到质变的发展过程。借助“三轴图”法,通过海洋三次产业的重心转移轨迹来研究中国海洋产业结构的动态演进过程。研究发现：自1986年至2012年,中国海洋产业结构以左旋模式向高级化阶段演进;中国海洋三次产业的比重由“一三二”经“三一二”演变为“三二一”的顺序,演进轨迹较曲折;2000年之前,海洋第一产业占主导地位,海洋第二产业比重最小;2001年,海洋产业结构发生了质的变化,海洋第三产业占主导地位,海洋第一产业比重逐步下降,第二产业比重逐步上升;2005年之后,海洋第二产业比重超越了第一产业,海洋三次产业呈现出“三二一”的格局,海洋产业结构逐渐向高级化与合理化方向发展。     

一族发展方程的无穷维Hamilton结构

通过构造研究一个新的两位势谱问题,利用屠格式,生成了一族有物理意义的ＫＤＶ发展方程组,并针对该族中的每一个发展方程,利用迹恒等式构造了该发展方程族的无穷维Ｈａｍｉｌｔｏｎ结构。     

家族企业所有权结构的演变分析

通过对影响家族企业所有权结构变化的因素分析,阐述了家族企业所有权结构的演变过程。说明家族企业也具有强大的生命力,企业也如生物体一样有着其生命周期和个性,并在每个时期都有发展特征和要求。     

Taxadiene synthase structure and evolution of modular architecture in terpene biosynthesis

With more than 55,000 members identified so far in all forms of life, the family of terpene or terpenoid natural products represents the epitome of molecular biodiversity. A well-known and important member of this family is the polycyclic diterpenoid Taxol (paclitaxel), which promotes tubulin polymerization and shows remarkable efficacy in cancer chemotherapy. The first committed step of Taxol biosynthesis in the Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia) is the cyclization of the linear isoprenoid substrate geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP) to form taxa-4(5),11(12)diene, which is catalysed by taxadiene synthase. The full-length form of this diterpene cyclase contains 862 residues, but a roughly 80-residue amino-terminal transit sequence is cleaved on maturation in plastids. We now report the X-ray crystal structure of a truncation variant lacking the transit sequence and an additional 27 residues at the N terminus, hereafter designated TXS. Specifically, we have determined structures of TXS complexed with 13-aza-13,14-dihydrocopalyl diphosphate (1.82?? resolution) and 2-fluorogeranylgeranyl diphosphate (2.25?? resolution). The TXS structure reveals a modular assembly of three α-helical domains. The carboxy-terminal catalytic domain is a class?I terpenoid cyclase, which binds and activates substrate GGPP with a three-metal ion cluster. The N-terminal domain and a third 'insertion' domain together adopt the fold of a vestigial class?II terpenoid cyclase. A class?II cyclase activates the isoprenoid substrate by protonation instead of ionization, and the TXS structure reveals a definitive connection between the two distinct cyclase classes in the evolution of terpenoid biosynthesis.     

Correlated evolution of morphology and vocal signal structure in Darwin's finches

Speciation in many animal taxa is catalysed by the evolutionary diversification of mating signals. According to classical theories of speciation, mating signals diversify, in part, as an incidental byproduct of adaptation by natural selection to divergent ecologies, although empirical evidence in support of this hypothesis has been limited. Here I show, in Darwin's finches of the Galápagos Islands, that diversification of beak morphology and body size has shaped patterns of vocal signal evolution, such that birds with large beaks and body sizes have evolved songs with comparatively low rates of syllable repetition and narrow frequency bandwidths. The converse is true for small birds. Patterns of correlated evolution among morphology and song are consistent with the hypothesis that beak morphology constrains vocal evolution, with different beak morphologies differentially limiting a bird's ability to modulate vocal tract configurations during song production. These data illustrate how morphological adaptation may drive signal evolution and reproductive isolation, and furthermore identify a possible cause for rapid speciation in Darwin's finches.     

The structure of the protein universe and genome evolution

Despite the practically unlimited number of possible protein sequences, the number of basic shapes in which proteins fold seems not only to be finite, but also to be relatively small, with probably no more than 10,000 folds in existence. Moreover, the distribution of proteins among these folds is highly non-homogeneous -- some folds and superfamilies are extremely abundant, but most are rare. Protein folds and families encoded in diverse genomes show similar size distributions with notable mathematical properties, which also extend to the number of connections between domains in multidomain proteins. All these distributions follow asymptotic power laws, such as have been identified in a wide variety of biological and physical systems, and which are typically associated with scale-free networks. These findings suggest that genome evolution is driven by extremely general mechanisms based on the preferential attachment principle.     

桁架结构可靠性优化设计的微分演化算法

针对不确定性往往成为结构设计和可靠性分析的关键因素,并左右设计决策,在结构优化设计中考虑物理参数、几何尺寸和外荷载的不确定性,将其视为随机变数,提出了一种基于微分演化算法的求解不确定性问题的结构可靠性优化设计方法.以节点坐标和杆件截面面积为设计变量,结构重量极小化为目标函数,建立了基于可靠度约束的桁架形状优化数学模型,并对典型桁架进行形状优化,分析了不同可靠度指标和变异系数对优化结果的影响.结果表明:该分析方法能够充分发挥微分演化算法的优势,可以有效地进行基于可靠度的桁架结构形状优化设计.     

关于电塑性拔丝和其结构演变的讨论

简介了几种常用钢种电塑性拔丝的主要实验结果,综合分析钢丝电塑性变形不同层次结构的演变过程,对电塑性变形的机制问题进行了讨论。在微观结构层次上,电塑性效应基本上产生于强脉冲电流的电子对运动位错的激活作用,推动滑移变形的发展。在介观层次上,高密度的脉冲电流造成大量超弥散结构的伸长区,十分有利于向错的大量发射,实现变形的转动机制,导致大的变形甚至超塑性变形。这是电塑性变形最本质阶段。宏观层次上,强电流的脉冲刺激,主要在于减弱织构的发展,改善组织的形态,造成有利的应力应变状态。     

Evolution of homeothermy in mammals

We propose that mammalian homeothermy was was acquired in two steps. The first step enabled mammals to invade a nocturnal niche without an increase in resting metabolic rate. The second step enabled them to invade a diurnal niche and involved the acquisition of higher body temperatures and metabolic rates.     

向量小波在图像拼接中的应用

利用一种紧支撑的具有正交性同时又具有对称性的向量小波,对两幅图像进行了镶嵌和拼接,此种方法使得拼接后图像无明显的拼接缝且具有数据量小、拼接速度快等特点．     

Spatial structure often inhibits the evolution of cooperation in the snowdrift game

Understanding the emergence of cooperation is a fundamental problem in evolutionary biology. Evolutionary game theory has become a powerful framework with which to investigate this problem. Two simple games have attracted most attention in theoretical and experimental studies: the Prisoner's Dilemma and the snowdrift game (also known as the hawk-dove or chicken game). In the Prisoner's Dilemma, the non-cooperative state is evolutionarily stable, which has inspired numerous investigations of suitable extensions that enable cooperative behaviour to persist. In particular, on the basis of spatial extensions of the Prisoner's Dilemma, it is widely accepted that spatial structure promotes the evolution of cooperation. Here we show that no such general predictions can be made for the effects of spatial structure in the snowdrift game. In unstructured snowdrift games, intermediate levels of cooperation persist. Unexpectedly, spatial structure reduces the proportion of cooperators for a wide range of parameters. In particular, spatial structure eliminates cooperation if the cost-to-benefit ratio of cooperation is high. Our results caution against the common belief that spatial structure is necessarily beneficial for cooperative behaviour.