Sedimentation Process of Saturated Sand under Impact Loading

The initial small inhomogeneity of saturated sand could be amplified during the sedimentation process after liquefaction, and cracks could be observed in the sand column. Layers of fine sand could also be found at the exact place where cracks developed and disappeared. The phenomena and the whole process were experimentally shown by X-rays images. To account for the phenomena, a linearized stability analysis of the sedimentation of saturated sand was conducted; however, it did not produce a satisfactory result. A three-phase flow model describing the transportation of fine sand is presented in this paper. It is shown that such a kind of erosion/deposition model was qualitatively in good agreement with the experimental observation.

Preliminary Analysis on the May 1st Landslide at Wulong

分析了边坡工程地质条件和地质成因机制；根据现场调查数据建立了滑坡地质剖面,反演了滑坡发生时滑动面的抗剪强度参数；分析了原坡形及降雨所引起孔隙水压力对其稳定性的影响,并以反演获得的强度参数结合类似边坡岩体结构面强度试验统计结果,对原边坡进行了可靠度分析,获得了原边坡的潜在破坏概率,从而又在定量角度上获得了滑坡发生的原因。

Numerical study on heavy rigid particle motion in a plane wake flow by spectral element method

Experimental particle dispersion patterns in a plane wake flow at a high Reynolds number have been predicted numerically by discrete vortex method (Phys. Fluids A 1992; 4:2244-2251; Int. J. Multiphase Flow 2000; 26:1583-1607). To address the particle motion at a moderate Reynolds number, spectral element method is employed to provide an instantaneous wake flow field for particle dynamics equations, which are solved to make a detail classification of the patterns in relation to the Stokes and Froude numbers. It is found that particle motion features only depend on the Stokes number at a high Froude number and depend on both numbers at a low Froude number. A ratio of the Stokes number to squared Froude number is introduced and threshold values of this parameter are evaluated that delineate the different regions of particle behavior. The parameter describes approximately the gravitational settling velocity divided by the characteristic velocity of wake flow. In order to present effects of particle density but preserve rigid sphere, hollow sphere particle dynamics in the plane wake flow is investigated. The evolution of hollow particle motion patterns for the increase of equivalent particle density corresponds to that of solid particle motion patterns for the decrease of particle size. Although the thresholds change a little, the parameter can still make a good qualitative classification of particle motion patterns as the inner diameter changes.

铃兰族的系统学研究

铃兰族隶属广义的百合科，辖白穗花、吉祥草、铃兰、夏须草、万年青、开口箭和蜘蛛抱蛋七属．除开口箭属和蜘蛛抱蛋属外．其余5属皆为单型属。属间界限明确，但系统关系模糊．本文针对上述特点及存在问题，开展了下述工作： 一、形态： 根据大量的栽培植株观察和标本研究，对族内各属形态特征进行了详细研究，并报道了开口箭属的一个新种，对一些性状在系统发育研究中的重要性作了评估。 二、解剖： 本文对族内各属花维管束、根部和茎部的管状分子、叶片维管束和叶表皮特征等资料进行了综合，为系统发育研究积累资料。 三、花粉： 本文对铃兰族，特别是蜘蛛抱蛋亚族25种植物的花粉形态进行了电镜扫描，将蜘蛛抱蛋亚族的花粉划分为椭圆形具单槽、球形具单槽、球形无萌发孔沟三个类型，花粉形态的演化趋势为单槽，无萌发孔沟，椭圆形，球形。花粉形态与花结构和核型特征密切相关。 四、染色体： 本文对蜘蛛抱蛋属13种植物进行了核型报道，对各属染色体资料进行了详尽的总结分析．除夏须草属染色体数目为2n＝40外，铃兰族其余各属染色体数目为2n ＝38 (36)，核型分为单型性和二型性两大类，染色体数目、核型类型和花部式样密切相关．x＝19为族内染色体原始基数，x＝18为派生基数．核型演化趋势由对称→不对称演化，单型→二型性演化，此外，对核型进化的机制也进行了讨论。 根据上述研究结果，运用系统学原理，本文对铃兰族内系统发育关系进行了探讨，结论如下： 1、夏须草属为族内异质类群，建议将其从族内移出。其余各属构成一单系类群。 2、开口箭属和蜘蛛抱蛋属下皆可分为两大类群，且各具相关性状。 3、开口箭属内两大类群表现为复系关系。具单型性核型并具远极单槽花粉的开口箭种类与万年青属单系发生，而具二型性核型、无萌发沟孔花粉的开口箭种类则与蜘蛛抱蛋属成单系关系。 4、铃兰族与沿阶草族系统位置接近，与黄精族则稍远。 5、无可靠证据支持Hutchinson (1934)认为天南星科起源于铃兰族内蜘蛛抱蛋亚族的观点。 此外，本文选用21种限制性内切酶，对族内各属叶绿体DNA中rbcL基因片段的PCR产物进行酶切处理，计确定76个酶切位点，包括19个突变位点，并对RFLP结果进行聚类分析。结果与形态、染色体和孢粉学证据基本吻合。

Y chromosome haplotypes reveal prehistorical migrations to the Himalayas

By using 19 Y chromosome biallelic markers and 3 Y chromosome microsatellite markers, we analyzed the genetic structure of 31 indigenous Sino-Tibetan speaking populations (607 individuals) currently residing in East, Southeast, and South Asia. Our results showed that a T to C mutation at locus M122 is highly prevalent in almost all of the Sino-Tibetan populations, implying a strong genetic affinity among populations in the same language family. Furthermore, the extremely high frequency of H8, a haplotype derived from M122C, in the Sino-Tibetan speaking populations in the Himalayas including Tibet and northeast India indicated a strong bottleneck effect that occurred during a westward and then southward migration of the founding population of Tibeto-Burmans. We, therefore, postulate that the ancient people, who lived in the upper-middle Yellow River basin about 10,000 years ago and developed one of the earliest Neolithic cultures in East Asia, were the ancestors of modem Sino-Tibetan populations.

Molecular evolution of CXCR1, a G protein-coupled receptor involved in signal transduction of neutrophils

Human neutrophils are a type of white blood cell, which forms an early line of defense against bacterial infections. Neutrophils are highly responsive to the chemokine, interleukin-8 (IL-8) due to the abundant distribution of CXCR1, one of the IL-8 receptors on the neutrophil cell surface. As a member of the GPCR family, CXCR1 plays a crucial role in the IL-8 signal transduction pathway in neutrophils. We sequenced the complete coding region of the CXCR1 gene in worldwide human populations and five representative nonhuman primate species. Our results indicate accelerated protein evolution in the human lineage, which was likely caused by Darwinian positive selection. The sliding window analysis and the codon-based neutrality test identified signatures of positive selection at the N-terminal ligand/receptor recognition domain of human CXCR1.

Accelerated evolution of the pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide precursor gene during human origin

Pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide (PACAP) is a neuropeptide abundantly expressed in the central nervous system and involved in regulating neurogenesis and neuronal signal transduction. The amino acid sequence of PACAP is extremely conserved across vertebrate species, indicating a strong functional constraint during the course of evolution. However, through comparative sequence analysis, we demonstrated that the PACAP precursor gene underwent an accelerated evolution in the human lineage since the divergence from chimpanzees, and the amino acid substitution rate in humans is at least seven times faster than that in other mammal species resulting from strong Darwinian positive selection. Eleven human-specific amino acid changes were identified in the PACAP precursors, which are conserved from murine to African apes. Protein structural analysis suggested that a putative novel Deuropeptide might have originated during human evolution and functioned in the human brain. Our data suggested that the PACAP precursor gene underwent adaptive changes during human origin and may have contributed to the formation of human cognition.

Adaptive evolution of MRGX2, a human sensory neuron specific gene involved in nociception

MRGX2, a G-protein-coupled receptor, is specifically expressed in the sensory neurons of the human peripheral nervous system and involved in nociception. Here, we studied DNA polymorphism patterns and evolution of the MRGX2 gene in world-wide human populations and the representative nonhuman primate species. Our results demonstrated that MRGX2 had undergone adaptive changes in the path of human evolution, which were likely caused by Darwinian positive selection. The patterns of DNA sequence polymorphisms in human populations showed an excess of derived substitutions, which against the expectation of neutral evolution, implying that the adaptive evolution of MRGX2 in humans was a relatively recent event. The reconstructed secondary structure of the human MRGX2 revealed that three of the four human-specific amino acid substitutions were located in the extra-cellular domains. Such critical substitutions may alter the interactions between MRGX2 protein and its ligand, thus, potentially led to adaptive changes of the pain-perception-related nervous system during human evolution. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Rapid evolution, genetic variations, and functional association of the human spermatogenesis-related gene NYD-SP12

NYD-SP12 is a recently identified spermatogenesis-related gene with a pivotal role in human testis development. In this study, we analyzed between-species divergence and within-species variation of NYD-SP12 in seven representative primate species, four wo

Detecting positive darwinian selection in brain-expressed genes during human evolution

To understand the genetic basis that underlies the phenotypic divergence between human and non-human primates, we screened a total of 7176 protein-coding genes expressed in the human brain and compared them with the chimpanzee orthologs to identity genes