Endangered species and the law.

Taxonomy does not deserve its reputation as an arcane science. As the following examples from ungulate taxonomy show, classification has important implications for conservation legislation.     

Cloning of a representative genomic library of the human X chromosome after sorting by flow cytometry

A library of 50,000 recombinants representative of the human X chromosome has been constructed. Human X chromosomes were physically separated using a fluorescence-activated cell sorter. The DNA was purified from the chromosomes, digested to completion with the restriction enzyme EcoRI and cloned into the phage lambda gtWES.lambda B. The X-derived nature of the recombinants was confirmed by hybridization to rodent/human cell line DNA containing only the human X chromosome. Such libraries will be particularly useful for the investigation of genetic diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, where the basic defect has not been elucidated, and of neoplasia, where several specific chromosomal anomalies, particularly for the leukaemias, have been identified.     

锌精馏铅塔燃烧室热工问题诊断

针对韶关冶炼厂锌精馏过程中1号铅塔燃烧室内存在上、下空间温差较大,第2层空气助燃作用很小,第3层空气基本上失去助燃作用等问题,对铅塔燃烧室进行了热工测试.发现铅塔燃烧室内水平方向的温度并非均匀,而且其温差比上、下方向的温差更大.通过对铅塔燃烧室热工诊断及研究,得出导致铅塔燃烧室内烟气与塔盘外壁在水平和上、下方向温差大的原因是燃烧室内煤气、空气以及烟气在各喷口的分布,燃烧室和换热室间隔墙具有保温作用,燃烧室内烟气扰动,直升烟道对第2层煤气和第2,3层空气加热.其中,直升烟道对第2,3层空气的加热作用以及它们较大的沿程阻力导致第2层空气助燃作用小,第3层空气基本上失去助燃作用.这种诊断结果有利于铅塔燃烧室的正常运行和维护.     

Simulated and reconstructed winter temperature in the eastern China during the last millennium

Since the 1990s, under the auspicious impetus of two international research programs, the “Past Global Changes” (PAGES) and the “Climate Variability and Pre- dictability” (CLIVAR), massive research work has been carried out on climate and environment changes over the past 2000 years[1-3]. But majority of the studies has been centered on obtaining various kinds of climatic proxy data (such as historical documents, tree rings, ice cores, lake cores) and focused on the reconstruction of…     

The genome sequence of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea

Magnaporthe grisea is the most destructive pathogen of rice worldwide and the principal model organism for elucidating the molecular basis of fungal disease of plants. Here, we report the draft sequence of the M. grisea genome. Analysis of the gene set provides an insight into the adaptations required by a fungus to cause disease. The genome encodes a large and diverse set of secreted proteins, including those defined by unusual carbohydrate-binding domains. This fungus also possesses an expanded family of G-protein-coupled receptors, several new virulence-associated genes and large suites of enzymes involved in secondary metabolism. Consistent with a role in fungal pathogenesis, the expression of several of these genes is upregulated during the early stages of infection-related development. The M. grisea genome has been subject to invasion and proliferation of active transposable elements, reflecting the clonal nature of this fungus imposed by widespread rice cultivation.     

RNAi-mediated gene silencing in non-human primates

The opportunity to harness the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway to silence disease-causing genes holds great promise for the development of therapeutics directed against targets that are otherwise not addressable with current medicines. Although there are numerous examples of in vivo silencing of target genes after local delivery of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), there remain only a few reports of RNAi-mediated silencing in response to systemic delivery of siRNA, and there are no reports of systemic efficacy in non-rodent species. Here we show that siRNAs, when delivered systemically in a liposomal formulation, can silence the disease target apolipoprotein B (ApoB) in non-human primates. APOB-specific siRNAs were encapsulated in stable nucleic acid lipid particles (SNALP) and administered by intravenous injection to cynomolgus monkeys at doses of 1 or 2.5 mg kg(-1). A single siRNA injection resulted in dose-dependent silencing of APOB messenger RNA expression in the liver 48 h after administration, with maximal silencing of >90%. This silencing effect occurred as a result of APOB mRNA cleavage at precisely the site predicted for the RNAi mechanism. Significant reductions in ApoB protein, serum cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein levels were observed as early as 24 h after treatment and lasted for 11 days at the highest siRNA dose, thus demonstrating an immediate, potent and lasting biological effect of siRNA treatment. Our findings show clinically relevant RNAi-mediated gene silencing in non-human primates, supporting RNAi therapeutics as a potential new class of drugs.     

基于改进粒子群算法优化的自抗扰控制器（ADRC）及其应用

针对自抗扰控制器参数多,不利于整定的问题,提出了一种基于改进的粒子群算法（PSO）的自抗扰控制器参数整定方法。该方法引入了PSO中各个粒子的惯性权值的自适应调整机制,以此来维持粒子的多样性和加速粒子群算法的收敛性。利用改进粒子群算法优化的二阶自抗扰控制器控制主气温控制系统,仿真结果验证了算法的可行性和有效性。     

Partial deficiency of erythrocyte spectrin in hereditary spherocytosis

Hereditary spherocytosis (HS) is a common, clinically heterogeneous haemolytic anaemia in which the primary erythrocyte defect is believed to be some abnormality in the spectrin-actin membrane skeleton, leading to loss of surface membrane. Recessively inherited spectrin deficiency with extreme erythrocyte fragility and spherocytosis has been identified in certain mutant mice and two severely anaemic humans. Although suspected, deficiency of spectrin has not been demonstrated in less severe forms of human HS. We not report the quantitation of erythrocytes spectrin by radioimmunoassay. We found that normal erythrocytes contained 240,000 copies of spectrin heterodimer, whereas erythrocytes from 14 patients with a variety of types of HS were all partially deficient in spectrin (range 74,000-200,000 copies), the magnitude of the deficiency correlating with the severity of the disease. Spectrin deficiency of varying degrees is common in HS and probably represents the principal structural defect leading to loss of surface membrane.     

基于关系积的属性约简算法

粗糙集的属性约简是一个NP难问题,目前尚无高效的算法.基于集合理论,提出了关系积概念和基于关系积的属性约简算法,把决策表的属性约简过程转化为关系积的运算,减小了对决策表的扫描次数,提高了属性约简的效率;算法采用自底向上和宽度优先的搜索策略,可确保找到最小属性约简集.结合实例,给出了算法的具体实现.