Convergence rates of Markov chain approximation methods for controlled diffusions with stopping

<正> This work is concerned with rates of convergence of numerical methods using Markov chainapproximation for controlled diffusions with stopping (the first exit time from a bounded region).In lieuof considering the associated finite difference schemes for Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equations,a purely probabilistic approach is used.There is an added difficulty due to the boundary condition,which requires the continuity of the first exit time with respect to the discrete parameter.To prove theconvergence of the algorithm by Markov chain approximation method,a tangency problem might arise.A common approach uses certain conditions to avoid the tangency problem.Here,by modifying thevalue function,it is demonstrated that the tangency problem will not arise in the sense of convergencein probability and in L~1.In addition,controlled diffusions with a discount factor is also treated.     

Why fishing magnifies fluctuations in fish abundance

It is now clear that fished populations can fluctuate more than unharvested stocks. However, it is not clear why. Here we distinguish among three major competing mechanisms for this phenomenon, by using the 50-year California Cooperative Oceanic Fisheries Investigations (CalCOFI) larval fish record. First, variable fishing pressure directly increases variability in exploited populations. Second, commercial fishing can decrease the average body size and age of a stock, causing the truncated population to track environmental fluctuations directly. Third, age-truncated or juvenescent populations have increasingly unstable population dynamics because of changing demographic parameters such as intrinsic growth rates. We find no evidence for the first hypothesis, limited evidence for the second and strong evidence for the third. Therefore, in California Current fisheries, increased temporal variability in the population does not arise from variable exploitation, nor does it reflect direct environmental tracking. More fundamentally, it arises from increased instability in dynamics. This finding has implications for resource management as an empirical example of how selective harvesting can alter the basic dynamics of exploited populations, and lead to unstable booms and busts that can precede systematic declines in stock levels.     

The complete genome of an individual by massively parallel DNA sequencing

The association of genetic variation with disease and drug response, and improvements in nucleic acid technologies, have given great optimism for the impact of 'genomic medicine'. However, the formidable size of the diploid human genome, approximately 6 gigabases, has prevented the routine application of sequencing methods to deciphering complete individual human genomes. To realize the full potential of genomics for human health, this limitation must be overcome. Here we report the DNA sequence of a diploid genome of a single individual, James D. Watson, sequenced to 7.4-fold redundancy in two months using massively parallel sequencing in picolitre-size reaction vessels. This sequence was completed in two months at approximately one-hundredth of the cost of traditional capillary electrophoresis methods. Comparison of the sequence to the reference genome led to the identification of 3.3 million single nucleotide polymorphisms, of which 10,654 cause amino-acid substitution within the coding sequence. In addition, we accurately identified small-scale (2-40,000 base pair (bp)) insertion and deletion polymorphism as well as copy number variation resulting in the large-scale gain and loss of chromosomal segments ranging from 26,000 to 1.5 million base pairs. Overall, these results agree well with recent results of sequencing of a single individual by traditional methods. However, in addition to being faster and significantly less expensive, this sequencing technology avoids the arbitrary loss of genomic sequences inherent in random shotgun sequencing by bacterial cloning because it amplifies DNA in a cell-free system. As a result, we further demonstrate the acquisition of novel human sequence, including novel genes not previously identified by traditional genomic sequencing. This is the first genome sequenced by next-generation technologies. Therefore it is a pilot for the future challenges of 'personalized genome sequencing'.     

Scaling of the BMP activation gradient in Xenopus embryos

In groundbreaking experiments, Hans Spemann demonstrated that the dorsal part of the amphibian embryo can generate a well-proportioned tadpole, and that a small group of dorsal cells, the 'organizer', can induce a complete and well-proportioned twinned axis when transplanted into a host embryo. Key to organizer function is the localized secretion of inhibitors of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), which defines a graded BMP activation profile. Although the central proteins involved in shaping this gradient are well characterized, their integrated function, and in particular how pattern scales with size, is not understood. Here we present evidence that in Xenopus, the BMP activity gradient is defined by a 'shuttling-based' mechanism, whereby the BMP ligands are translocated ventrally through their association with the BMP inhibitor Chordin. This shuttling, with feedback repression of the BMP ligand Admp, offers a quantitative explanation to Spemann's observations, and accounts naturally for the scaling of embryo pattern with its size.     

Inner-core shear-wave anisotropy and texture from an observation of PKJKP waves

Since the discovery of the Earth's core a century ago, and the subsequent discovery of a solid inner core (postulated to have formed by the freezing of iron) seismologists have striven to understand this most remote part of the deep Earth. The most direct evidence for a solid inner core would be the observation of shear-mode body waves that traverse it, but these phases are extremely difficult to observe. Two reported observations in short-period data have proved controversial. Arguably more successful have been studies of longer-period data, but such averaging limits the usefulness of the observations to reported sightings. We present two observations of an inner-core shear-wave phase at higher frequencies in stacked data from the Japanese High-Sensitivity Array, Hi-Net. From an analysis of timing, amplitude and waveform of the 'PKJKP' phase we derive constraints on inner-core compressional-wave velocity and shear attenuation at about 0.3 Hz which differ from standard isotropic core models. We can explain waveform features and can partially reconcile the otherwise large differences between core wavespeed and attenuation models that our observations apparently suggest if we invoke shear-wave anisotropy in the inner core. A simple model of an inner core composed of hexagonal close-packed iron with its c axis aligned perpendicular to the rotation axis yields anisotropy that is compatible with both the shear-wave anisotropy that we observe and the well-established 3 per cent compressional-wave anisotropy.     

鸡β_2-微球蛋白及其硒代衍生物的制备和晶体学研究

禽流感的暴发使得禽类免疫系统的研究显得愈加迫切.而以其他种属的同源β2-微球蛋白作为模板进行结构解析,不能解析鸡β2-微球蛋白(Chβ2m)的晶体结构.为了利用硒原子的反常散射获取Chβ2m晶体X射线衍射的相位信息.本研究以pET21a为表达载体,E coli BL21(DE3)为宿主菌,在含有硒代甲硫氨酸的M9培养基中,用IPTG诱导表达硒代甲硫氨酸Chβ2m.包涵体经提取和稀释复性法复性之后,通过分子筛层析和Resource Q阴离子交换层析进行纯化,产物经SDS-PAGE检验纯度达98%以上.利用悬滴气相扩散法采用与Chβ2m蛋白晶体生长相同的条件.获得了衍生物可供衍射的晶体.通过北京同步辐射装置收集数据,最高分辨率至1.9 A.     

水体中盐酸环丙沙星的风险等级分析

分析了抗生素类药物盐酸环丙沙星对水中不同食物链水生生物包括小球藻、发光菌、大型蚤、孔雀鱼的影响,其急性毒性EC₅₀或者LC₅₀数值分别为20.61,63.27,135.15,365.00 mg·L^-1。毒性作用规律结果显示,随着生物链等级的升高,生物对环丙沙星的耐受程度升高。将综合评价因子(PEC/PNEC)作为环境风险表征参数,对大连开发区污水处理厂排水及大连湾沿海养殖区中存在的盐酸环丙沙星进行风险分析,发现盐酸环丙沙星在沿海养殖区水域中的环境风险高于污水处理厂排水。小球藻的综合评价因子数值范围最大,可作为评价水体中盐酸环丙沙星残留风险等级的生物标志物。