Cryptic subarctic diversity: a new bumblebee species from the Yukon and Alaska (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

It is nearly 90 years since a bumblebee species has been described for the first time from Canada or the USA that was previously unrecognised by science. We describe and illustrate Bombus(Alpinobombus) kluanensis sp. nov. and begin to map its distribution. This species was discovered through analysis of Cytochrome c Oxidase subunit I barcodes and had been unsuspected on the basis of morphological and colour characteristics. So far, 247 female specimens considered to belong to this species are known from the subarctic mountains associated with the Denali Fault running from the Alaska Range (Alaska, USA) to Kluane in the Saint Elias Mountains (Yukon, Canada). A checklist of all species of the subgenus Alpinobombus worldwide is provided.

http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:78D524DD-FFBA-4BC4-8D39-3EF4F6BDD39E     

The Pendred syndrome gene encodes a chloride-iodide transport protein

Pendred syndrome is the most common form of syndromic deafness and characterized by congenital sensorineural hearing loss and goitre. This disorder was mapped to chromosome 7 and the gene causing Pendred syndrome (PDS) was subsequently identified by positional cloning. PDS encodes a putative transmembrane protein designated pendrin. Pendrin is closely related to a family of sulfate transport proteins that includes the rat sulfate-anion transporter (encoded by Sat-1; 29% amino acid sequence identity), the human diastrophic dysplasia sulfate transporter (encoded by DTD; 32%) and the human sulfate transporter 'downregulated in adenoma' (encoded by DRA; 45%). On the basis of this homology and the presence of a slightly modified sulfate-transporter signature sequence comprising its putative second transmembrane domain, pendrin has been proposed to function as a sulfate transporter. We were unable to detect evidence of sulfate transport following the expression of pendrin in Xenopus laevis oocytes by microinjection of PDS cRNA or in Sf9 cells following infection with PDS-recombinant baculovirus. The rates of transport for iodide and chloride were significantly increased following the expression of pendrin in both cell systems. Our results demonstrate that pendrin functions as a transporter of chloride and iodide, but not sulfate, and may provide insight into thyroid physiology and the pathophysiology of Pendred syndrome.     

Mutation of TRPM6 causes familial hypomagnesemia with secondary hypocalcemia

Familial hypomagnesemia with secondary hypocalcemia (OMIM 602014) is an autosomal recessive disease that results in electrolyte abnormalities shortly after birth. Affected individuals show severe hypomagnesemia and hypocalcemia, which lead to seizures and tetany. The disorder has been thought to be caused by a defect in the intestinal absorption of magnesium, rather than by abnormal renal loss of magnesium. Restoring the concentrations of serum magnesium to normal values by high-dose magnesium supplementation can overcome the apparent defect in magnesium absorption and in serum concentrations of calcium. Life-long magnesium supplementation is required to overcome the defect in magnesium handling by these individuals. We previously mapped the gene locus to chromosome 9q in three large inbred kindreds from Israel. Here we report that mutation of TRPM6 causes hypomagnesemia with secondary hypocalcemia and show that individuals carrying mutations in this gene have abnormal renal magnesium excretion.     

A single EFEMP1 mutation associated with both Malattia Leventinese and Doyne honeycomb retinal dystrophy.

Malattia Leventinese (ML) and Doyne honeycomb retinal dystrophy (DHRD) refer to two autosomal dominant diseases characterized by yellow-white deposits known as drusen that accumulate beneath the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Both loci were mapped to chromosome 2p16-21 (refs 5,6) and this genetic interval has been subsequently narrowed. The importance of these diseases is due in large part to their close phenotypic similarity to age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a disorder with a strong genetic component that accounts for approximately 50% of registered blindness in the Western world. Just as in ML and DHRD, the early hallmark of AMD is the presence of drusen. Here we use a combination of positional and candidate gene methods to identify a single non-conservative mutation (Arg345Trp) in the gene EFEMP1 (for EGF-containing fibrillin-like extracellular matrix protein 1) in all families studied. This change was not present in 477 control individuals or in 494 patients with age-related macular degeneration. Identification of this mutation may aid in the development of an animal model for drusen, as well as in the identification of other genes involved in human macular degeneration.     

数控机床补偿误差的激光干涉仪识别技术

提出了基于数控机床的空间误差模型,用激光干涉仪测量机床工作空间中的对角线位移误差来识别机床空间误差的方法,解决了机床垂直轴roll误差的测量难题。结果表明所提出的方法测量精度高,缩短了测量时间,减少了对光学器件的需求量。     

基于Web的虚拟数控系统的研究与开发

基于服务器／客户模式的的虚拟数控系统体系结构，讨论了虚拟数控系统的建模技术和基于VRML的实现方法，并指出虚拟数控机床的建模是虚拟数控加工过程仿真的实现关键．利用VRML语言、分布式对象技术和Java技术开发和建立了基于Web环境的虚拟数控系统原型。并对系统的开发平台进行了分析和介绍，同时给出了系统的运行实例．研究表明，所开发的系统是可行的和合理的．     

ANALYSIS AND COMPUTATIONAL ALGORITHM FOR QUEUES WITH STATE-DEPENDENT VACATIONS Ⅱ:M(n)/G/1/K

We study a single-server queueing system with state-dependent arrivals and general service-distribution.or simply M(n)/G/1/K.where the server follows an N policy and takes multiple vacationswhen the system is empty.We provide a recursive algorithm using the supplementary variable tech-nique to munerically compute the stationary queue length distribution of the system.The only inputrequirements are the Laplace-Stieltjes transforms of the service time distribution and the vacation timedistribution.and the state-dependent arrival rate.The computational complexity of the algorithm isO(K~3).     

基于主曲率匹配的五坐标刀位轨迹优化

为了克服传统五轴加工采用固定走刀方向和后跟角的加工方法的不足,提出了一种基于刀具扫描面与曲面主曲率匹配、以行距最大为目标的走刀方向和后跟角的优化算法,实践证明,这种方法能够优化刀位轨迹,提高加工效率。     

复杂曲面的无干涉刀位轨迹生成

提出了基于X－map思路的干涉处理方法，将干涉处理由空间三角片之间的距离判断简化为一维坐标轴上两点之间的位置比较，并构造了包括干涉检查、干涉消除及欠切区域处理等的完整干涉处理方法，此法可以提高干涉处理的效率及稳定性，简化欠切区域的单独处理，对三坐标加工的干涉处理具有很好的实用价值。