Conservation status of threatened fishes in Warner Basin, Oregon

Two federally listed fishes, the Foskett speckled dace and Warner sucker, are endemic to Warner Basin in south central Oregon. The Foskett speckled dace is native only to a single spring in Coleman Valley. A nearby spring was stocked with dace in 1979 and 1980, and now provides a second population. The present numbers of dace probably are at their highest levels since settlement of the region. The Warner sucker historically occurred throughout much of the Warner Valley, but its distribution and abundance have been reduced by construction of reservoirs and irrigation dams and the introduction of predatory game fishes. Lentic habitats have become dominated by introduced fishes, particularly white crappie, black crappie, and brown bullhead. The largest remaining population of Warner suckers occurs in Hart Lake, where successful reproduction was documented but there is no evidence of recruitment to the adult population.     

Overwinter survival of ring-necked pheasants in Utah

The influence of winter weather on the survival of Utah's ring-necked pheasants was evaluated using correlation analysis. This method used published Utah State Division of Wildlife Resources population data and a calculated winter warmth index. Results show four different patterns of survival occurring in the 14 counties analyzed.     

Microstructure-based multiphysics modeling for semiconductor integration and packaging

Semiconductor technology and packaging is advancing rapidly toward system integration where the packaging is co-designed and co-manufactured along with the wafer fabrication. However, materials issues, in par- ticular the mesoscale microstructure, have to date been excluded from the integrated product design cycle of electronic packaging due to the myriad of materials used and the complex nature of the material phenomena that require a multiphysics approach to describe. In the context of the materials genome initiative, we present an overview of a series of studies that aim to establish the linkages between the material microstructure and its responses by considering the multiple perspectives of the various mul- tiphysics fields. The microstructure was predicted using thermodynamic calculations, sharp interface kinetic models, phase field, and phase field crystal modeling techniques. Based on the predicted mesoscale microstruc- ture, linear elastic mechanical analyses and electromigra- tion simulations on the ultrafine interconnects were performed. The microstructural index extracted by a method based on singular value decomposition exhibits a monotonous decrease with an increase in the interconnect size. An artificial neural network-based fitting revealed a nonlinear relationship between the microstructure index and the average yon Mises stress in the ultrafine interconnects. Future work to address the randomness of microstructure and the resulting scatter in the reliability is discussed in this study.     

大学非英语专业英语口语测试的研究和实践

以语言测试理论为依据,运用定量分析法,对东莞理工学院2006和2007级非英语专业学生进行了大规模英语口语测试及问卷调查,证明了英语口语测试的必要性和可行性,并探讨了中外教师携手合作进行英语口语测试的新模式及其产生的反拨作用,试图为大规模英语口语测试的改革提供一种新思路。     

GPR39: a Zn<Superscript>2+</Superscript>-activated G protein-coupled receptor that regulates pancreatic,gastrointestinal and neuronal functions

GPR39 is a vertebrate G protein-coupled receptor related to the ghrelin/neurotensin receptor subfamily. The receptor is expressed in a range of tissues including the pancreas, gut/gastrointestinal tract, liver, kidney and in some regions of the brain. GPR39 was initially thought to be the cognitive receptor for the peptide hormone, obestatin. However, subsequent in vitro studies have failed to demonstrate binding of this peptide to the receptor. Zn²⁺ has been shown to be a potent stimulator of GPR39 activity via the Gα_q, Gα_12/13 and Gα_s pathways. The potency and specificity of Zn²⁺ in activating GPR39 suggest it to be a physiologically important agonist. GPR39 is now emerging as an important transducer of autocrine and paracrine Zn²⁺ signals, impacting upon cellular processes such as insulin secretion, gastric emptying, neurotransmission and epithelial repair. This review focuses on the molecular, structural and biological properties of GPR39 and its various physiological functions.     

Eastern Pacific cooling and Atlantic overturning circulation during the last deglaciation

Surface ocean conditions in the equatorial Pacific Ocean could hold the clue to whether millennial-scale global climate change during glacial times was initiated through tropical ocean-atmosphere feedbacks or by changes in the Atlantic thermohaline circulation. North Atlantic cold periods during Heinrich events and millennial-scale cold events (stadials) have been linked with climatic changes in the tropical Atlantic Ocean and South America, as well as the Indian and East Asian monsoon systems, but not with tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures. Here we present a high-resolution record of sea surface temperatures in the eastern tropical Pacific derived from alkenone unsaturation measurements. Our data show a temperature drop of approximately 1 degrees C, synchronous (within dating uncertainties) with the shutdown of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during Heinrich event 1, and a smaller temperature drop of approximately 0.5 degrees C synchronous with the smaller reduction in the overturning circulation during the Younger Dryas event. Both cold events coincide with maxima in surface ocean productivity as inferred from 230Th-normalized carbon burial fluxes, suggesting increased upwelling at the time. From the concurrence of equatorial Pacific cooling with the two North Atlantic cold periods during deglaciation, we conclude that these millennial-scale climate changes were probably driven by a reorganization of the oceans' thermohaline circulation, although possibly amplified by tropical ocean-atmosphere interaction as suggested before.     

The DNA sequence, annotation and analysis of human chromosome 3

After the completion of a draft human genome sequence, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium has proceeded to finish and annotate each of the 24 chromosomes comprising the human genome. Here we describe the sequencing and analysis of human chromosome 3, one of the largest human chromosomes. Chromosome 3 comprises just four contigs, one of which currently represents the longest unbroken stretch of finished DNA sequence known so far. The chromosome is remarkable in having the lowest rate of segmental duplication in the genome. It also includes a chemokine receptor gene cluster as well as numerous loci involved in multiple human cancers such as the gene encoding FHIT, which contains the most common constitutive fragile site in the genome, FRA3B. Using genomic sequence from chimpanzee and rhesus macaque, we were able to characterize the breakpoints defining a large pericentric inversion that occurred some time after the split of Homininae from Ponginae, and propose an evolutionary history of the inversion.