The outbreak pattern of the SARS cases in Asia

The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) caused tremendous damage to many Asia countries, especially China. The transmission process and outbreak pattern of SARS is still not well understood. This study aims to find a simple model to describe the outbreak pattern of SARS cases by using SARS case data commonly released by governments. The outbreak pattern of cumulative SARS cases is expected to be a logistic type because the infection will be slowed down due to the increasing control effort by people and/or due to depletion of susceptible individuals. The increase rate of SARS cases is expected to decrease with the cumulative SARS cases, as described by the traditional logistical model, which is widely used in population dynamic studies. The instantaneous rate of increases were significantly and negatively correlated with the cumulative SARS cases in mainland of China (including Beijing, Hebei, Tianjin, Shanxi,the Autonomous Region of Inner Mongolia) and Singapore. The basic reproduction number R0 in Asia ranged from 2.0 to 5.6 (except for Taiwan, China). The R0 of Hebei and Tianjin were much higher than that of Singapore, Hongkong, Beijing, Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, indicating SARS virus might have originated differently or new mutations occurred during transmission. We demonstrated that the outbreaks of SARS in many regions of Asia were wall described by the logistic model, and the control measures implemented by governments are effective. The maximum instantaneous rate of increase, basic reproductive number, and maximum cumulative SARS cases were also calculated by using the logistic model.     

Possible developmental mechanisms underlying the origin of the crown lineages of arthropods

The extraordinarily preserved, diverse arthropod fauna from the Lower Cambrian Maotianshan shale, central Yunnan (southwest China), represents different evolutionary stages stepping from stem lineages towards crown arthropods (also called euarthropods), which makes this fauna extremely significant for discussion of the origin and early diversification of the arthropods. Anatomical analyses of the Maotianshan shale arthropods strongly indicate that     

Coupled isomorphic substitution and exsolution of pyroxene,rutile, apatite and quartz in supersilicic garnet

Dissolution of pyroxene in garnet at ultrahigh pressures produces supersilicie garnet with the coupled substitutions of Si^Ⅵ M^Ⅵ= A^Ⅵ A^Ⅵ and Si^Ⅵ Na^Ⅷ=A^Ⅵ M^Ⅷ,which are enhanced by rising pressure. The supersilicic garnet and exsolution of pyroxene, rutile, apatite and quartz in garnet during decompression were found in natural rocks,pointing to the importance in studying mantle-derived rocks and ultrahigh pressure metamorphism related to plate deep subduction. Ti, P, K and H2O enters garnet via the substitutions of Ti = Si, P^Ⅵ Na^Ⅷ = Si^Ⅵ CaⅧ, Si^Ⅵ K^Ⅷ = AI^Ⅵ M^Ⅷ, and [(OH)4]^4- = [SiO4]^4- or [4H]^4 = Si^4 respectively. The possible entering of Eskola pyroxene component M0.5AlSi2O6 in clinopyroxene, together with the common pyroxene component M2Si2O6, into garnet can lead to the presence of the substitution of Si^Ⅵ 0.5□^Ⅷ= A^Ⅵ 0.5M^Ⅷ in garnet structure, which plays a key role in the exsolution of rntile, apatite and quartz in garnet. Two new breakdown reactions are thus proposed on the basis of the new coupled substitution, which can be regarded as a theoretical model for the exsolntion of the 3 minerals in garnet. The real exsolution may be a combination of several breakdown reactions.     

Persistent organic pollutants PCNs and PBDEs in sediments from coastal waters of Qingdao,Shandong Peninsula

Thirty-one congeners of polychlorinated naphthalenes (PCNs) and 21 congeners of polybrominated diphenylethers(PBDEs)in surface sediments at 5 stations and one mussel sample from Qingdao coastal waters were analyzed. The maximum contents occur at the station near the Haibo River mouth. The total PCNs contents are in the range of 212-1209 pg/g dw, dominated by tri-Cl CN. The total PBDEs contents are in the range of 117-5510 pg/g dw,dominated by tri- to hexa-BrBDEs. The local sources of PCNs are likely from combustion processes such as incinerations and coal burnings. The sources of PBDEs are molecular diffusion from the materials containing them. Except for the area near the river mouth where is affected by the sewage sludges, an important source of PCNs and PBDEs in this area is believed to be the atmospheric deposition. Mussels enrich PCNs and PBDEs relative to the sediments. The total TEQs of PCNs in mussels are lower than the total TEQs of PCBs.     

Cyclotrimerization of nitriles catalyzed by Li<Subscript>3</Subscript>N

Nitriles were unexpectedly trimerized into s-triazines or amino-pyrimidines in high yields in the presence of catalytic amount of Li3N, resulting in a simple, solvent-free and easy-to-scale-up one-pot way to synthesize s-triazines and 4-amino-pyrimidines with high yield.     

Molecular genetic basis for the rhino mouse from Chinese KM subcolony

Both the rhino mouse and hairless mouse resulted from hairless gene mutation, but they show different phenotypes of skin physiology. The rhino mouse has more similar histological characters to human papular alopecia.Therefore rhino mouse is a good experimental animal model for human papular alopecia. This study reports a hairless mouse named rhino KIZ, arose from KM colony in Kunming Institue of Zoology, by systematic studies on morphology,skin histopathology, gene sequence, pedigree and protein domain analysis. The results demonstrate that a C-to-T transition in exon 11 of hr gene (The mutant gene has been applied for a Chinese patent (patent No. 03135280)) results in the rhino KIZ. The rhino KIZ with clear genetic mechanism will be a useful animal model.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">In situ</Emphasis> synthesis of TiC reinforced Cu<Subscript>47</Subscript>Ti<Subscript>34</Subscript>Zr<Subscript>11</Subscript>Ni<Subscript>8</Subscript> bulk metallic glass composites

In situ synthesized TiC particles and β-Ti dendrites reinforced Cu47Ti34Zr11Ni8 bulk metallic glass (BMG) composite ingots were prepared by the suction casting method.The ingots with diameters from 1 up to 4mm were successfully obtained. It was shown that introducing TiC micro-sized particles into the amorphous matrix did not disturb the glass forming ability (GFA) of the matrix,while the yield strength and ductility could be well improved.The phase constitution, microstructure and elements distribution in the composites were studied by OM, XRD, SEM and EDS.It was shown that the in situ synthesized TiC particles acting as heterogeneous nucleation sites promoted the precipitation of β-Ti dendrites, resulting in the formation of the TiC particles and β-Ti dendrites co-reinforced BMG composites. The compressive tests were employed to probe the yield strength and ductility of BMG composites.     

Nonlinearity degree of short-term heart rate variability signal

A nonlinear autoregressive (NAR) model is built to model the heartbeat interval time series and the optimum model degree is proposed to be taken to evaluate the nonlinearity degree of heart rate variability (HRV). A group of healthy persons are studied and the results indicate that this method can effectively get nonlinear information from short (6—7 min) heartbeat series and consequently reflect the degree of heart rate variability, which supplies convenience in clinical application. Finally, a comparison with the traditional time domain method shows that the NAR model method can reflect the complexity of the whole signal and lessen the influence of noise and instability, in the signal.     

Expression of lysine-rich protein gene and analysis of lysine content in transgenic wheat

Expression vector pBPC102, which carries winged bean lysine-rich protein (wblrp) gene and dihydropicolinate synthase (DHDPS) gene, was transferred into hexaploid winter wheat cv. Jinghua No.l, Jing411, You899 and Yangnongl5 explants of immature inflorescence and immature embryos by particle bombardment. More than 100 transgenic plants were obtained under the selection of s-(2-aminoethyl)-L-cysteine (AEC). Confirmed transgenic plants of To and TI generation by PCR and PCR-Southern blotting analyses showed successful integration of wblrp gene into wheat genome. Analysis of transgenic plant lines of T2 by Northern dot-blotting showed good expression of wblrp gene in offspring seed. The content of free lysine in leaves, contents of bound lysine and total proteins in seeds of T2 transgenie wheat lines were determined and analyzed. Among 34 tested transgenic lines, levels of free lysine content in leaves of 9 transgenic lines are 2~3times higher than un-trans-formed wild-type cultivars. Among 17 analyzed transgenic lines, bound lysine content of 4 transgenic lines is more than 10% higher than that of wild-type cultivars. Our research suggests that introducing wblrp gene into wheat is an effective way to improve its nutrition quality.     

An early cretaceous<Emphasis Type="Italic">Ginkgo</Emphasis> ovule-bearing organ fossil from Liaoning,Northeast China and its evolutionary implications

Ginkgo is a very important gymnospermous genus that has only one surviving species, Ginkgo biloba L. As a so-called “living fossil“, wild Ginkgo was found only in China, but it once flourished well and had a world-wide distribution in the Mesozoic. The earliest Ginkgo has been known from the Middle Jurassic, based on ovule-bearin gorgans. In the Jurassic and Early Cretaceous, Ginkgo was one of the dominant gymnosperms in floras and possibly one of the coal-forming plants in North China. During the Early Tertiary, it reduced to a circumpolar distribution in the North Hemisphere; only a few reported from the South Hemisphere. From the Pliocene onwards, the Ginkgoales has been represented by the extant monotypic “living fossil“ Ginkgo biloba.