The Phylogeny and Expression Pattern of APETALA2-like Genes in Rice

The multigene families undergo birth-and-death evolution and thus contribute to biological innovations. The APETALA2-1ike genes belong to the euAP2 group of the AP2 gene family. These genes are characterized by several distinct motifs and exist in ferns, gymnosperms, and angiosperms. The phylogenetic analysis indicated that these genes have undergone the birth-and-death evolution. The five APETALA2-1ike genes in rice （Oryza sativa L.） display redundant but distinct expression patterns as demonstrated by RT-PCR and in situ hybridization. The potential functions of these genes were discussed on the basis of phylogenetic and expression pattern.

Quality control of ultrasonic measurement of carotid artery intima-media thickness

Background To report quality control methods and baseline reproducibility data of the ultrasound measurements of carotid artery intima-media thickness in the project of Establishment of an Integrated System for Coronary Heart Disease Prevention and Treatment. Methods Standard ultrasound scanning and measuring protocols were established by the study group. All sonographers and readers were trained by the carotid ultrasound core lab and all digital ultrasound images were centrally read. Ten subjects were scanned twice （with 1 week interval） by 2 sonographers independently and images were read by a single reader to evaluate the sonographer variability. Twenty subjects＇ images were read twice （with 1 week interval） by a single reader to assess the reader variability and the reproducibility of IMT measured at different carotid segments. Results The intraclass correlation （ICC） of intra- and inter-sonographer and intra- reader for mean IMT measurements was 0.99, 0.98 and 0.97 respectively; while for max IMT, it was 0.97, 0.99 and 0.95 respectively. Among different carotid segments and sites, ICC for mean 1MT measurements of common carotid （CCA）, carotid artery bulb （Bulb）, internal carotid artery （ICA）, overall near wall and overall far wall was 0.97, 0.99, 0.89, 0.93 and 0.98 respectively. Conclusion The reproducibility of IMT measurements according to our protocol is acceptable, although better reproducibility is found when measuring the mean IMT than max IMT, CCA and Bulb IMT than ICA IMT, and far wall IMT than near wall IMT.

Corresponding Factors Influencing Crude Oils Assay Using Low-field Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

In this study, the main factors influencing the measurements by means of the off-line low-field 1H NMR in the lab were discussed base on a robust calibration model established by the PLS algorithm using 255 crude oil samples. The preheating temperature had a great influence on the viscosity of oil samples and the resolution of spectral analysis. The repeatability of spectral measurements was impacted by the metal and wax content of the oil samples. For the case of high wax content oils, the wax species began to crystallize in the course of determination that could affect the repeatability of spectral measurements. These factors have evidenced why the preheating devices and filter unit are necessary when low field NMR system is used in the online analysis process. The investigation is very important for the on-line application of the low field NMR.

^(13)C-methacetin breath test reproducibility study reveals persistent CYP1A2 stimulation on repeat examinations

AIM: To find the most reproducible quantitative parameter of a standard 13C-methacetin breath test (13C-MBT). METHODS: Twenty healthy volunteers (10 female, 10 male) underwent the 13C-MBT after intake of 75 mg 13C-methacetin p.o. on three occasions. Short-and medium-term reproducibility was assessed with paired examinations taken at an interval of 2 and 18 d (medians), respectively. RESULTS: The reproducibility of the 1-h cumulative 13C recovery (AUC0-60), characterized by a coefficient of variation of 10%, appeared to be considerably better than the reproducibility of the maximum momentary 13C recovery or the time of reaching it. Remarkably, as opposed to the short gap between consecutive examinations, the capacity of the liver to handle 13C-methacetin increased slightly but statistically significantly when a repeat dose was administered after two to three weeks.Regarding the AUC0-60, the magnitude of this fixed bias amounted to 7.5%. Neither the time gap between the repeat examinations nor the gender of the subjects affected the 13C-MBT reproducibility. CONCLUSION: 13C-MBT is most reproducibly quantified by the cumulative 13C recovery, but the exactitude thereof may be modestly affected by persistent stimulation of CYP1A2 on repeat examinations.

Potential Applications of HS-SPME/GC in Oxidized Vegetable Oils

Headspace solid phase microextraction chromatography （HS-SPME/GC） was evaluated as a tool in determining the rate of oxidation in oxidized soybean oil samples by measuring the production of hexanal as a secondary major volatile breakdown product of linoleic acid. Samples of the headspace taken from sealed 20 mL vials, incubated 30 min at 50 ~C followed by 5 min adsorption, were injected into a gas chromatograph with 2 min thermal desorption. In applying SPME, different analytical conditions were evaluated. The linearity of response of the volatiles for the HS-SPME/GC procedure using a carboxen-polydimethylsiloxane fiber was determined from 3 g of mineral oil spiked with a hexanal standard solution at different levels. Using the optimized extraction conditions, an R value close to unity （R = 0.999） was found, and the repeatability （n = 1 l） was 6.31%. The results indicated that hexanal is linearly related to peroxide value （PV） only intermediate PV ranges （10-18 meq/kg）. The study also showed that HS-SPME/GC procedure was a simple and reproducible method for the analysis of hexanal in the HS of commercial soybean oil samples, and is useful as a quality control and research tool for the evaluation of flavor quality and shelf life of vegetable oils.

Evaluation of Blast-Resistant Performance Predicted by Damaged Plasticity Model for Concrete

in order to evaluate the capacity of reinforced concrete （RC） structures subjected to blast Ioadings, the damaged plasticity model for concrete was used in the analysis of the dynamic responses of blast-loaded RC structures, and all three failure modes were numerically simulated by the finite element software ABAQUS. Simulation results agree with the experimental observations. It is demonstrated that the damaged plasticity model for concrete in the finite element software ABAQUS can predict dynamic responses and typical flexure, flexure-shear and direct shear failure modes of the blast-loaded RC structures.

Generation of low jitter and discrete tunable dual-wavelength optical pulses at arbitrary repetition rates

A novel and simple method to generate low timing jitter and discrete tunable dual-wavelength optical pulses at arbitrary repetition rates is demonstrated in this paper.Two multiple quantum wells distributed feedback laser diodes,were used as the external seeding sources to inject the external photons into a gain-switched Fabry-Perot laser diode.The output wavelengths can be tuned discretely to coincide with any two lasing modes in the gain spectra range of the Fabry-Perot Laser diode,and the output side mode suppression ratio was better than 25 dB.Moreover,the timing jitter of optical pulses was reduced from 1.89 ps to 0.83 ps.It was empirically found that the lowest timing jitter operation occurred when the injected light wavelength is 0.2-0.3 nm shorter than the locked mode of the Fabry-Perot laser diode.To our knowledge,this is the first report of using two DFB laser diodes as a seeding source to reduce pulses jitter and select lasing dual-wavelength simultaneously.

Evaluation of the test-retest repeatability of the Injury Severity Perception score in patients with acute whiplash-associated disorder

Objective： To determine the test retest repeatability of the Injttry Severity Perception （ISP） score in participants with acute whiplash-associated disorders （WADs）. Methods： Consecutive patients with WAD, presenting in the acute stage to a primary care center, were asked to complete the 1SP score. ISP was measured with a numerical rating scale that ranged from 0 to 10, on which subjects were asked to rate how severe （in terms of damage） they thought their injury was. The anchors were labeled ＂no damage＂ （0） and ＂severe, and maybe permanent damage＂ （10）. The ISP questionnaire was administered to the participants at the time of recruitment and again 7 days later. Repeatability was evaluated by calculating percentage agreement and Cohen kappa statistic between the two time points of measurement. Results： A total of 94 subjects （34 males, 60 females, mean age 40.6 ± 10.0 years, range 19-60 years） were included. The mean 1SP score was 4.9 ± 1.7 （range 2-9 out of 10） at the time of recruitment and 5.1 ± 2.1 （range 2-9 out of 10） 7 days later. The percentage agreement between the two repeat measures of the ISP was 86% and the kappa coefficient was 0.79. Conclusion： This study suggests that the test-retest repeatability for the ISP is high and that it is thus likely to have a low risk of classification bias in prognostic studies. The ISP likely has adequate reliability for use in epidemiological research of WADs.

Genome-wide mining, characterization, and development of microsatellite markers in Marsupenaeus japonicus by genome survey sequencing

The kuruma prawn, Marsupenaeus japonicus, is one of the most cultivated and consumed species of shrimp. However, very few molecular genetic/genomic resources are publically available for it. Thus, the characterization and distribution of simple sequence repeats(SSRs) remains ambiguous and the use of SSR markers in genomic studies and marker-assisted selection is limited. The goal of this study is to characterize and develop genome-wide SSR markers in M. japonicus by genome survey sequencing for application in comparative genomics and breeding. A total of 326 945 perfect SSRs were identified, among which dinucleotide repeats were the most frequent class(44.08%), followed by mononucleotides(29.67%), trinucleotides(18.96%), tetranucleotides(5.66%), hexanucleotides(1.07%), and pentanucleotides(0.56%). In total, 151 541 SSR loci primers were successfully designed. A subset of 30 SSR primer pairs were synthesized and tested in 42 individuals from a wild population, of which 27 loci(90.0%) were successfully amplified with specific products and 24(80.0%) were polymorphic. For the amplified polymorphic loci, the alleles ranged from 5 to 17(with an average of 9.63), and the average PIC value was 0.796. A total of 58 256 SSR-containing sequences had significant Gene Ontology annotation; these are good functional molecular marker candidates for association studies and comparative genomic analysis. The newly identified SSRs significantly contribute to the M. japonicus genomic resources and will facilitate a number of genetic and genomic studies, including high density linkage mapping, genome-wide association analysis, marker-aided selection, comparative genomics analysis, population genetics, and evolution.

Genetically identified complete hydatidiform mole coexisting with a normal fetus following IVF-ET

A complete hydatidiform mole coexisting with a fetus following in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer (IVF-ET) is a rare event. The diagnosis is often not easy because of the morphological similarity to a partial mole, but important to the treatment. We present a recent case in which STR polymorphism analysis clearly revealed a different genetic origin for the fetal and molar parts. STR polymorphisms on 15 variable number tandem repeat loci and a gender-determination locus, which were detected by polymerase chain reaction, indicating that the cord/placenta and molar tissue were parental and androgenous, respectively. During follow-up, the patient developed persistent gestational trophoblastic tumor (GTT) which was successfully treated with chemotherapy. In this case, STR polymorphism analysis exactly diagnosed a twin pregnancy consisting of a complete hydatidiform mole and a fetus.

RELAY ASSISTED TRANSMISSSION WITH BIT-INTERLEAVED CODED MODULATION

We investigate an adaptive cooperative protocol in a Two-Hop-Relay (THR) wireless system that combines the following: (1) adaptive relaying based on repetition coding; (2) single or two transmit antennas and one receive antenna configurations for all nodes, each using high order constellation; (3) Bit-Interleaved Coded Modulation (BICM). We focus on a simple decoded relaying (i.e. no error correcting at a relay node) and simple signal quality thresholds for relaying. Then the impact of the two simple thresholds on the system performance is studied. Our results suggest that compared with the traditional scheme for direct transmission, the proposed scheme can increase average throughput in high spectral efficiency region with low implementa-tion-cost at the relay.

Catalytic activity of recyclable resorcinarene-protected antibacterial Pd nanoparticles in C-C coupling reactions

Novel tetra-methoxy resorcinarene tetra-hydrazide（TMRTH） has been synthesized and used as a reducing agent and a capping agent for the synthesis of water-dispersible stable palladium nanoparticles（PdNPs）.The TMRTH-PdNPs were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy,transmission electron microscopy,energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy,and powder X-ray diffraction.The synthesized nanoparticles are polydispersible with a size of 5 ± 2 nm and were found to be recyclable over five cycles maintaining a catalytic activity in the Suzuki-Miyuara cross-coupling reaction.The nanocatalyst was superior in catalytic performance to conventional palladium catalysts with respect to reaction time,catalyst loading and recyclability.TMRTH-PdNPs show promise for their use in biological applications as they exhibit good antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria.

Genotyping of White Spot Syndrome Virus in Chinese Cultured Shrimp during 1998-1999

Recent studies showed that white spot syndrome virus(WSSV) isolates from different geographic locations share a high genetic similarity except the variable regions in ORF23/24 and ORF14/15,and variable number of tandem repeats(VNTR) within ORF94.In this study,genotyping was performed according to these three variable regions among WSSV isolates collected during 1998/1999 from Southern China.These WSSV isolates contain a deletion of 1168,5657,5898,9316 and 11093 bp,respectively in the variable region ORF23/24 compared with WSSV-TW,and a deletion of 4749 or 5622 bp in the variable region ORF14/15 relative to TH-96-II.Four types of repeat units(RUs)(6,8,9 and 13 RUs) in ORF94 were detected in these isolates,with the shortest 6 RUs as the most prevalent type.Our results provide important information for a better understanding of the spatio-temporal transmission mode and the WSSV genetic evolution lineage.

Effects of Low-Intensity Ultrasound on Cell Proliferation and Reproductivity

Ultrasound has been widely used in clinics. Cellular responses to low-intensity ultrasound are parameter-dependent. Proper parameter setting is vital to its exact use. To get guidelines for parameter setting, lowintensity ultrasound stimulation on the proliferation and reproductivity of Hep G2 and 3T3 cells in vitro was examined with a 1.06 MHz-generator by changing the parameters(including intensity, pulse repetition frequency and duty cycle)in a wide range. Cell viability and reproductivity at different time after sonication were measured by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide(MTT)and colony formation assay to indicate timerelated proliferation. The results illustrate that ultrasound irradiation at 0.4—0.8 W/cm^2 and high pulse repetition frequency(100 Hz)can facilitate cell proliferation, while above 0.8 W/cm^2 would resist it. The extent of resistance closely correlated with duty cycle and pulse repetition frequency. Resistance effect at low pulse repetition frequency(1 Hz)is greater than that at high pulse repetition frequency(100 Hz)and not time-related. The influence of high pulse repetition frequency is time-accumulated, indicating cellular process involved. These findings would provide valuable guidelines for the application of low-intensity ultrasound in stem cell transformation and tissue engineering.

Study on Expressway Road-area Ecosystem

Ecological restoration and reconstruction refers to how to prevent the main factors and processes from further degrading the ecosystem, as well as how to regulate and optimize the exchanging process and the space-time cycling system of substance, energy and information through man force, in order to restore the structure, function and eco-potentiality back to the original level or even higher, with the help of certain biological, ecological and engineering techniques. Ecological restoration and reconstruction involves problems of different levels and different fields, with the focus on the ecosystem （species communities）, the landscape and certain areas. Problems in the process of road-area ecosystem construction are as follows： attention is paid to the conditions of the road itself and the short-term effects, not to the natural propagation of species within the whole road-area or the ecological safety area; the importance of biological diversity in ecological restoration is neglected; the property of heterogeneity necessary for a sound ecosystem is ignored; the ecological interaction among species doesn＇t earn enough attention; properties like localization and adaptability in different districts are not paid enough attention. Landscape ecology can guide the work of road-area ecosystem restoration, through the space pattern.

色谱仪大体积进样技术在全密度装置的应用

本文简介了西门子色谱仪在全密度聚乙烯装置中的应用,重点介绍了改造样品定量管,并提出了一种方法:增大进样体积以提高TCD检测器对极低浓度H2的准确检测,保证循环气控制系统的H2测量准确性。

RAPD and ISSR Markers of Fertility Restoring Gene for Aegilops kotschyi Cytoplasmic Male Sterility in Wheat

LK783 was found to be a good fertility restorer for K-type male sterility of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). RAPD and ISSR (inter-simple sequence repeat polymorphism) markers were employed to map the major restoring gene in LK783. Maintainer and restorer DNA pools were established using the extreme sterile and fertile plants among KJ5418A//911289/LK783 F 1 population, respectively. Four hundred and eighteen RAPD primers and 33 ISSR primers were used for screening polymorphisms between the two pools, and amplification bands using a RAPD primer of OPK18 and an ISSR primer of UBC-845 were found polymorphic between the two pools. Linkage analysis showed that OPK18 450 and UBC-845 800 were linked to the restoring gene in LK783. The distance between the restoring gene and OPK18 450 was (15.07±6.28) cM (centiMorgan), with the distance between the restoring gene and UBC-845 800 being (8.20±4.85) cM. The marker of UBC-845 800 was located on chromosome 1BS by amplifying nulli-tetrasomics and 1B ditelosomics of Chinese Spring with the primer of UBC-845, indicating that the restoring gene in LK783 was located on 1BS. The breeding for new fertility restorer lines of K-type cytoplasmic male sterility of wheat would be facilitated by using the two markers.

Foregut duplication cysts of the stomach with respiratory epithelium

Gastrointestinal duplication is a congenital rare disease entity. Gastric duplication cysts seem to appear even more rarely. Herein, two duplications cysts of the stomach in a 46 year-old female patient are presented. Abdominal computed tomography demonstrated a cystic lesion attached to the posterior aspect of the gastric fundus, while upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was negative. An exploratory laparotomy revealed a non-communicating cyst and a smaller similar cyst embedded in the gastrosplenic ligament. Excision of both cysts along with the spleen was performed and pathology reported two smooth muscle coated cysts with a pseudostratified ciliated epithelial lining (respiratory type).

Clinical applications of hepatocyte transplantation

The shortage of organ donors is a problem worldwide, with approximately 15% of adult patients with lifethreatening liver diseases dying while on the waiting list. The use of cell transplantation for liver disease is an attempt to correct metabolic defects, or to support liver function as a bridge to liver transplantation and, as such, has raised a number of expectations. Most of the available studies briefly reported here focus on adult hepatocyte transplantation (HT), and the results are neither reproducible nor comparable, because the means of infusion, amount of injected cells and clinical variability differ among the studies. To better understand the specif ic role of HT in the management of end-stage liver disease, it is important that controlled studies, designed on the principles of evidence-based medicine, be done in order to guarantee the reproducibility of results.

AN EFFICIENT APPROACH TO COMMENT SPAM IDENTIFICATION

This paper proposes a novel approach to comment spam identification based on content analysis. Three main features including the number of links, content repetitiveness, and text similarity are used for comment spam identification. In practice, content repetitiveness is determined by the length and frequency of the longest common substring. Furthermore, text similarity is calculated using vector space model. The precisions of preliminary experiments on comment spam identification conducted on Chinese and English are as high as 93% and 82% respectively. The results show the validity and language independency of this approach. Compared with conventional spam filtering approaches, our method requires no training, no rule sets and no link relationships. The proposed approach can also deal with new comments as well as existing comments.