Microring-Assisted Coupling Between Dissimilar Waveguides

The use of microring resonators to assist in the evanescent field coupling between dissimilar waveguides is proposed and analyzed. Theoretical analysis based on the coupled mode theory and nu-merical example show that complete cross power transfers can be obtained near the microring resonances. Applications of the device include power dividers, low-power thermo-optic or electro-optic switches, and modulators.     

Reproductive biology, hybridization and flower visitors of rare Sclerocactus taxa in Utah's Uintah Basin

We studied the mating system and flower visitors of 2 threatened species of Sclerocactus (Cactaceae) in the Uintah Basin of eastern Utah—an area undergoing rapid energy development. We found that both S. wetlandicus and S. brevispinus are predominantly outcrossed and are essentially self-incompatible. A third presumptive taxon (undescribed; here called S. wetlandicus -var1) is fully self-compatible but cannot produce seeds unless the flowers are visited by pollinators. We found tentative evidence for pollinator limitation of fruit set in S. brevispinus but not in the other taxa. Pollinators are largely species of native ground-nesting bees in the subfamily Halictinae. These bees are indiscriminate collectors of pollen and nectar from Sclerocactus flowers and other plant species. The well-being of Sclerocactus populations requires that land managers ensure the preservation of halictid bee habitat, which includes both nesting sites and a diversity of floral resources. These bees are also undoubtedly the pollen vectors responsible for the production of hybrids in areas where S. wetlandicus and S. brevispinus meet. We experimentally confirmed that reciprocal crosses between S. wetlandicus and S. brevispinus are indistinguishable from each other or from pure crosses in fruits/flower, seeds/fruit and seed weights. We suggest that hybridization preceded energy development, that it attests to the ongoing process of evolution in the Sclerocactus group, and that it should not be suppressed by anthropogenic activity.     

彩色多普勒超声在腹壁下动脉穿支选择中的应用

验证彩色多普勒超声对腹壁下动脉穿支血管术前探查的有效性,寻找腹壁下动脉穿支术前优势穿支的选择标准。利用彩色多普勒超声探查腹壁下动脉穿支皮瓣行乳房再造患者52例,重点记录穿支血管穿腹直肌前鞘点的体表投影、口径、血流信息,并通过分析比较以上信息,选择优势穿支。结果52例患者腹壁下动脉穿支穿腹直肌前鞘点于超声下均可显示,平均每侧下腹部3支,距脐平均(5.7±2.09)cm,其中条件适用于显微外科的穿支平均口径(0.95±0.32)cm,血流峰速平均约16.4 cm/s,阻力指数平均0.7。术中优势穿支采用率92.31%。说明高频彩色多普勒超声适用于腹壁下动脉穿支皮瓣术前血管探查,可精确指导穿支的术前选择,辅助手术方案制定以及皮瓣设计。     

Increased urinary excretion of a basement membrane like glycoprotein in acute uranium nephropathy

Résués Les effets de l'uranium sur l'excrétion de la glycoprotéine urinaire principale du rat out été étudiés chez 10 animaux. La principale glycoprotéine urinaire augmente de 50% dans les 24 h qui suivent l'administration de l'uranium.

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From the Department of Pediatrcs, College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University.     

The montane bee fauna of north central Washington, USA, with floral associations

The mountains of north central Washington contain a variety of habitat types, from shrubsteppe to high alpine meadows. While native bee surveys of some surrounding areas like the Columbia Basin are fairly complete, little work has been done in the mountains of north central Washington to document the diversity of bees found therein. We conducted a survey of native bees in the Tonasket Ranger District of the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest during summer 2004. Collections yielded a diverse bee fauna (140 species in 24 genera) visiting diverse floral elements (57 plant species in 18 families). These preliminary data suggest that a rich bee fauna exists in the Okanogan Basin and surrounding mountains.     

Reproduction and demography of Townsendia aprica (Asteraceae), a rare endemic of the Southern Utah Plateau

Townsendia aprica (Asteraceae: Astereae), a rare pulvinate perennial of the Southern Utah Plateau, was listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act in 1985. Here we report on the reproductive biology and pollination of this little-known species and provide an estimate, for a single site-year, of size-specific reproductive effort. Last Chance townsendia appears a short-lived perennial that begins reproducing in its 2nd year (1.5-2.0 cm diameter). Maximum reproductive effort is attained with the 2.5-4.0 cm diameter size class: 38% of these plants produced 84% of the flower heads. Few plants survived past the 4-cm size class. The species is primarily self-incompatible: neither autogamous nor geitonogamous breeding system treatments produced a significant number of achenes. Unlike some populations of some congeners, the Ivie Creek population was not apomictic. Outcrossing is the primary means of reproduction and native solitary bees are the most important pollinators. Paramount are several species in the genus Osmia , and the ground-nesting species Synhalonia fulvitarsis , which nests among the T. aprica plants. Synhalonia fulvitarsis also visits a contemporaneous blooming phlox ( P. austromontana ), which may facilitate pollination of the rare townsendia. The Townsendia-Phlox-Synhalonia interaction may represent another example of why we must consider communities rather than individual species in our conservation efforts.     

Computationally driven deletion of broadly distributed T cell epitopes in a biotherapeutic candidate

Biotherapeutics are subject to immune surveillance within the body, and anti-biotherapeutic immune responses can compromise drug efficacy and patient safety. Initial development of targeted antidrug immune memory is coordinated by T cell recognition of immunogenic subsequences, termed “T cell epitopes.” Biotherapeutics may therefore be deimmunized by mutating key residues within cognate epitopes, but there exist complex trade-offs between immunogenicity, mutational load, and protein structure–function. Here, a protein deimmunization algorithm has been applied to P99 beta-lactamase, a component of antibody-directed enzyme prodrug therapies. The algorithm, integer programming for immunogenic proteins, seamlessly integrates computational prediction of T cell epitopes with both 1- and 2-body sequence potentials that assess protein tolerance to epitope-deleting mutations. Compared to previously deimmunized P99 variants, which bore only one or two mutations, the enzymes designed here contain 4–5 widely distributed substitutions. As a result, they exhibit broad reductions in major histocompatibility complex recognition. Despite their high mutational loads and markedly reduced immunoreactivity, all eight engineered variants possessed wild-type or better catalytic activity. Thus, the protein design algorithm is able to disrupt broadly distributed epitopes while maintaining protein function. As a result, this computational tool may prove useful in expanding the repertoire of next-generation biotherapeutics.     

Pollinator sharing by three sympatric milkvetches, including the endangered species Astragalus montii

Insects visiting flowers of the endangered Heliotrope milkvetch, Astragalus montii , were compared with those visiting two common sympatric congeners, A. kentrophyta and A. miser , on three sites on the Wasatch Plateau of central Utah for 2 yr. We recorded 27+ species of bees, most of which were uncommon, visiting the three species. All three species were primarily visited by native bees of the genera Osmia (15 species) and/or Bombus (4 species). Most Osmia species visited the three species of Astragalus indiscriminantly; bumblebees preferred A. miser and avoided A. montii . Our hypothesis that A. montii flowers would receive fewer total bee visits and be visited by fewer bee species than their common congeners was rejected: A. montii was intermediate to the two common species in its attractiveness to bees. Also rejected was our hypothesis that the greater similarity between A. montii and A. kentrophyta in flower size, flower morphology, and microhabitat would be associated with greater similarity of flower visitors than either had with A. miser . The data suggest that, rather than competing with each other for pollinators, the three species of Astragalus facilitate each other's visitation rates.     

Effective Approach to Elevate the Intelligence of Management Decision System

Based on the sticking point of the low intelligence of the existing management decision system, this paper puts forward the idea of enriching and refining the knowledge of the system and endowing it with the ability to learn by means of adopting three types of heterogeneous knowledge representation and knowledge management measures. At length, this paper outlines the basic framework of an intelligence system for the sake of management decision problem.