Minimum information about a microarray experiment (MIAME)-toward standards for microarray data.

Microarray analysis has become a widely used tool for the generation of gene expression data on a genomic scale. Although many significant results have been derived from microarray studies, one limitation has been the lack of standards for presenting and exchanging such data. Here we present a proposal, the Minimum Information About a Microarray Experiment (MIAME), that describes the minimum information required to ensure that microarray data can be easily interpreted and that results derived from its analysis can be independently verified. The ultimate goal of this work is to establish a standard for recording and reporting microarray-based gene expression data, which will in turn facilitate the establishment of databases and public repositories and enable the development of data analysis tools. With respect to MIAME, we concentrate on defining the content and structure of the necessary information rather than the technical format for capturing it.     

超冷的水

又发现了两种新水。要是没有水,我们原本不会来到这个世界。水的热容量在-45℃时应该变成无穷大。水的其它特性似乎也变得一团糟,就像水经历了某种灾变一样,为什么？如果想象在太平洋之下11公里处的马里亚那海沟中即在海洋最深之处的高压之下,人还能生活,便会看到这是一个寂静的、永远黑暗的世界,压力高达1000个大气压。那是一座相当于洋底每平方米承受1000吨压力的海水之增。在如此恶劣的条件下,生存必定不易。然而现在有些物理学家相信在这样高的压力下甚至水本身可能也难于保持不变。他们认为如果在以上压力下水若能保持不变即仍…     

Protective effect of Shigyaku-to,a traditional Chinese herbal medicine,on the infection of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) in mice

The antiviral activity of Shigyaku-to (TJS-109), a traditional Chinese herbal medicine, was investigated in mice infected with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). TJS-109 is a combination of the medicinal plant extracts fromZingiberis siccatum rhizoma,Aconiti tuber andGlycyrrhizae radix in a specific proportion. Mice infected with a 10 LD₅₀ dose of HSV-1 were treated with TJS-109 orally at doses of 1.25 to 20 mg/kg 2 days before, and 1 and 4 days after the infection. The treated groups had 80% (1.25 mg/kg), 40% (5 mg/kg) and 23% (20 mg/kg) mortality rates 25 days after the infection as compared with a 100% mortality rate in control mice treated with saline. When HSV-1 infected mice (recipients) received CD8⁺T cell fractions derived from spleens of mice treated with TJS-109 (donors), 70% of recipients survived, as compared with 0% survivors in the groups of mice treated with saline, B cell fractions, CD4⁺ T cell fractions or macrophage-enriched fractions prepared from the same donors. TJS-109 did not show any virucidal activities against HSV-1 or any virostatic activities on the growth of HSV-1 in Vero cells. These results suggest that TJS-109 protected mice exposed to lethal amounts of HSV-1 through the activation of CD8⁺ T cells.     

碳纳米管的革命

20世纪 90年代初 ,在日本NEC公司筑波实验室的一次偶然发现把世界带进了碳纳米管时代。今天 ,人们对碳纳米管的研究兴趣仍有增无减 ,本文作者就这 1 0年来的相关进展作一回顾——     

Immigration, emigration and the ageing of the overseas-born population in the United Kingdom

This article uses data from the 1971 and 2001 Censuses, the 1999-2003 Labour Force Survey and the 1977 to 2002 International Passenger Survey to investigate the migration processes contributing to the age structure and ageing of the UK's overseas-born population. Overall almost half of recent decades' immigrants to the UK emigrate again within five years of arrival, but with large variation by overseas country of birth. Between half and two thirds of the immigrants born in the continental European Union, North America and Oceania emigrate again within five years, while 15 per cent of those born in the Indian subcontinent do so. Significant cumulative emigration more than five years after arrival is seen among earlier immigrants from the Indian subcontinent, the Caribbean Commonwealth and Europe. Large country-of-origin variations in the ratio of pension-age population to working-age population primarily reflect the country composition of immigration streams 30 or more years before.