Linkage of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol concentrations to a locus on chromosome 9p in Mexican Americans.

High-density lipoproteins (HDLs) are anti-atherogenic lipoproteins that have a major role in transporting cholesterol from peripheral tissues to the liver, where it is removed. Epidemiologic studies have shown that low levels of high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) are associated with an increased incidence of coronary heart disease and an increased mortality rate, indicating a protective role of high concentrations of HDL-C against atherogenesis and the development of coronary heart disease. HDL-C level is influenced by several genetic and nongenetic factors. Nongenetic factors include smoking, which has been shown to decrease the HDL-C level. Exercise and alcohol have been shown to increase HDL-C levels. Decreased HDL-C is often associated with other coronary heart disease risk factors such as obesity, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance, hypertriglyceridemia and hypertension. Although several genes have been identified for rare forms of dyslipidemia, the genes accounting for major variation in HDL-C levels have yet to be identified. Using a multipoint variance components linkage approach, we found strong evidence of linkage (lod score=3.4; P=0.00004) of a quantitative trait locus (QTL) for HDL-C level to a genetic location between markers D9S925 and D9S741 on chromosome 9p in Mexican Americans. A replication study in an independent set of Mexican American families confirmed the existence of a QTL on chromosome 9p.     

火灾中不同材料对钢筋混凝土构件受力性能的影响

从材料性能的角度分析，不同材料对钢筋混凝土结构构件的影响机理与影响程度是不同的。钢材的影响主要与力学性能有关；混凝土的影响既与力学性能有关，也与热工性能有关；不可燃的面层主要与热工性能有关，而可燃面层可以加大火灾的危险性，不可燃面层是一层阻隔层，火灾时可以阻止热量向混凝土内部传播，因此混凝土构件火灾时的安全可靠性可以得到改善和提高。对于可以燃烧的装饰层而言，则会产生热荷载，结构构件在火灾时的损伤或破坏会加重。本利用欧洲规范采用的火灾时室内的温度－时间曲线、高温作用下混凝土和钢筋的本构关系，以及钢筋混凝土结构非线性分析方法，研究和分析了火灾时钢筋混凝土构件载面的温度分布和承载能力，并根据分析计算结果讨论了影响混凝土结构火灾安全性的因素。     

RB代数中谱定理

定义了随机Banach代数和谱，并证明了随机Banach代数中一些基本的谱定理。     

扬子鳄种群的线粒体DNA控制区序列变异性及其对物种保护的启示

测定了来自4个不同地点(包括安徽宣城野生和饲养种群、浙江长兴的饲养种群及在美国的饲养种群)的64个扬子鳄线粒体DNA控制区部分序列.结果共检测出4个单倍型共3个变异位点,与龟类、鸟类、哺乳类及其它鳄类相比较,反央出扬子鳄线粒体区的序列变异性很低.在此基础上,对扬子鳄遗传保护提出了有关建议.     

Role of paternal and maternal genomes in mouse development

There has been much speculation on whether mammalian eggs with two male pronuclei can develop normally. Eggs with two female pronuclei can sometimes develop as far as the 25-somite stage but with only very meagre extraembryonic tissues. We suggested that the genome undergoes specific imprinting during gametogenesis and that some paternal genes may be necessary for normal development of the extraembryonic tissues, in which only the maternal X chromosome remains active. However, the need for the maternal genome for development to term is not yet unequivocally established. The detailed study described here demonstrates that while between 40 and 50% of heterozygous reconstituted eggs with a male and a female pronucleus develop to term, none of the eggs with two male pronuclei does so. Furthermore, embryos in the latter case are very retarded, even though the trophoblast develops relatively well compared with embryos having two female pronuclei. Our combined results indicate that while the paternal genome is essential for the normal development of extraembryonic tissues, the maternal genome may be essential for some stages of embryogenesis.     

Microorganisms seen by scanning and transmission electron microscopy in Legionnaires' disease from human lung

Summary In addition to several anomalous structures, other general forms of definitely rod-shaped microorganisms have been found by scanning and transmission electron microscopy in the lung tissue taken at autopsy from a patient who succumbed to confirmed Legionnaires' disease with extensive necrotizing lobar pneumonia. The microorganisms were greatly varied in size and shape. They were micrographed in the act of fission. These forms have been found to some extent throughout the tissue. No nickel was demonstrated, either in the lung tissue or in the microorganisms.This work has been supported in part by a Henry Ford Hospital institutional grant from the Ford Foundation and in part by the Veterans Administration Medical Center Research Funds.     

Becoming a Darwinian: the micro-politics of Sir Francis Galton's scientific career 1859-65

In 1865 Francis Galton (1822-1911) published 'Hereditary Talent and Character', an elaborate attempt to prove the heritability of intelligence on the basis of pedigree data. It was the start of Galton's lifelong commitment to investigating the statistical patterns and physiological mechanisms of hereditary transmission. Most existing attempts to explain Galton's fascination for heredity have argued that he was driven by a commitment to conservative political ideologies to seek means of naturalizing human inequality. However, this paper shows that another factor of at least equal importance has been overlooked by Galton scholars: his determination during the 1860s to be accepted among the ranks of the Darwinian inner circle. By hitching his career to the fortunes of what looked likely to emerge as a new scientific elite, Galton felt that he could bypass the typically slow and uncertain route to achieving scientific distinction. For this essentially strategic reason, between 1860 and 1865 he drifted away from a set of existing scientific concerns that were failing to deliver the approbation that he desired. Earnestly seeking to ingratiate himself with the Darwinian lobby, he then toyed with a variety of potential research projects relevant to Darwinian evolution. Yet Galton consistently failed to stimulate the enthusiasm of the Darwinians. Finally, however, after several months of ruminating, in 1864 he settled on a study of eminent pedigrees as a subject that was both germane and highly useful to the Darwinian enterprise. Galton's willingness to shift the direction of his scientific career during the 1860s underscores the importance of examining the micro-politics of scientific careers in addition to their broader social and political context. This account also emphasizes the limitations of class-based explanations even when considering scientists whose work seems so manifestly indicative of ideological motivation.