Phylogenetic relationships of Drosophila melanogaster species group deduced from spacer regions of histone gene H2A-H2B

Nucleotide sequences of the spacer region of the histone gene H2A-H2B from 36 species of Drosophila melanogaster species group were determined. The phylogenetic trees were reconstructed with maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood, and Bayesian methods by u

A framework for analysing business performance, firm innovation and related contextual factors: Perceptions of managers and policy makers in two European regions

The aim of this paper is to propose a novel reference framework that can be used to study how different kinds of innovation can result in better business performance and how external factors can influence both the firm's capacity to innovate and innovation itself. The value of the framework is demonstrated as it is applied in an exploratory study of the perceptions of public policy makers and managers from two European regions - the Veneto Region in Italy and the East of England in the UK. Amongst other things, the data gathered suggest that managers are generally less convinced than public policy makers, that the innovativeness of a firm is affected by factors over which policy makers have some control. This finding poses the question "what, if any, role can public policy makers play in enhancing a company's competitiveness by enabling it to become more innovative?".

Secondary structural analysis of the mRNA regions encoding the hemagglutinin cleavage site basic amino acids of the avian influenza virus H5N1 subtype samples

Here we report the codon bias and the mRNA secondary structural features of the hemagglutinin (HA) cleavage site basic amino acid regions of avian influenza virus H5N1 subtypes. We have developed a dynamic extended folding strategy to predict RNA secondar

Culture potential of Amblypharyngodon mola with carps in polyculture in farmers' pond of northern regions of Bangladesh

To assess the culture potential of mola (Amblypharyngodon mola) along with carps in polyculture systems, an experiment consisted of three treatments each with five replications was conducted for 4 months in two villages of Parbatipur upazilla under Dinajpur district. In the first treatment (SS), catla, rohu, mrigal, grass carp, Thai punti, common carp and a higher density of silver carp (8 per 40m²) were stocked. In the second treatment (SM), stocking density of silver carp was reduced to half and mola was added at a stocking density of 12,500/ha with all other fishes used in SS. In the third treatment (MM), no silver carp was stocked and mola was added at a stocking density of 25,000/ha with all other fishes used in SS. All treatments were subjected to the same regime of feed and fertilizers. The yields of large carps were 2035 kg/ha, 1757 kg/ha and 1326 kg/ha for treatments SS, SM and MM, respectively. Catla, grass carp and carpio showed better growth and production performance in presence of mola at a higher density, while rohu, Thai punti and mrigal showed better performance when stocking density of mola was relatively low. Mola yield was almost two times higher (184 kg/ha) in absence of silver carp (MM) than (62 kg/ha) in presence of silver carp (SM). The result showed that there was a significantly (p<0.01) lower total fish production in treatment MM. But there were no significant difference in total production between treatment SS and SM.

Quantitative analysis of land mammal zoogeographical regions in China and adjacent regions

Quantitative analysis of land mammal zoogeographical regions in China and adjacent regions. Zoological Studies 43(1): 142-160. In this paper, our aim was to determine, by means of quantitative analysis, the distribution patterns of the land mammals in China and, adjacent regions using physiographical regions as operative geographical units (OGUs). Based, on the pre-sence or absence of 11 orders, 42 families, 197 genera, and 577 species of land mammals in their zoogeographical regions, which were used as OGUs, we studied the biotic boundary between the Oriental Region (OR) and the Palaearctic Region (PR), as well as subregion boundaries. The boundary's statistical significance was tested by G-test as described by McCoy et al. A significantly strong biotic boundary was found to separate the PR from the OR, and there is a weak biotic boundary in the PR, which divides it into 2 subregions. We concluded that the biotic boundary which separates the PR and OR is a strong boundary. We suggest that the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau should be regarded as a subregion of the PR, which can embody its characteristics of high elevations and a frigid climatic, which is called the Qing-Zang subregion of the PR (QZSP).

Differences between FRP bond behavior in cracked and uncracked regions

Based on an analysis of the experimental results of a proposed bond test method, significant differences are shown to exist between the local FRP bond stress-slip relationships in the uncracked anchorage regions and in the regions between cracks. The proposed method simulates the bond behavior between the flexural cracks and anchorage regions of a flexurally FRP-strengthened RC beam. The boundary conditions, including the presence of cracks and steel, are shown to have significant effects on the local bond stress-slip models. The results showed that, at the same force, the bond stresses in the regions between cracks were lower than in regions outside the cracks, so the debonding formed in the anchorage regions. The local bond stress-slip models in the anchorage regions can be obtained from the conventional bond test methods but these do not mimic the conditions between the cracks.

Stable RNA hairpins in 88 coding regions of human mRNA

RNA hairpins containing UNCG, GNRA, CUUG (N = A, U, C or G, R = G or A) loops are unusually thermodynamic stable and conserved structures. The structural features of these hairpin loops are very special, and they play very important roles in vivo. They are prevalent in rRNA, catalytic RNA and non-coding mRNA. However, the 5' C(UUCG)G 3' hairpin is not found in the folding structure of 88 human mRNA coding regions. It is also different from rRNA in that there is no preference for certain sequences among tetraloops in these 88 mRNA folding structures.

Geometry and interaction of structures in homogeneous isotropic turbulence

A strategy to extract turbulence structures from direct numerical simulation (DNS) data is described along with a systematic analysis of geometry and spatial distribution of the educed structures. A DNS dataset of decaying homogeneous isotropic turbulence at Reynolds number Reλ = 141 is considered. A bandpass filtering procedure is shown to be effective in extracting enstrophy and dissipation structures with their smallest scales matching the filter width, L. The geometry of these educed structures is characterized and classified through the use of two non-dimensional quantities, planarity' and filamentarity', obtained using the Minkowski functionals. The planarity increases gradually by a small amount as L is decreased, and its narrow variation suggests a nearly circular cross-section for the educed structures. The filamentarity increases significantly as L decreases demonstrating that the educed structures become progressively more tubular. An analysis of the preferential alignment between the filtered strain and vorticity fields reveals that vortical structures of a given scale L are most likely to align with the largest extensional strain at a scale 3-5 times larger than L. This is consistent with the classical energy cascade picture, in which vortices of a given scale are stretched by and absorb energy from structures of a somewhat larger scale. The spatial distribution of the educed structures shows that the enstrophy structures at the 5η scale (where η is the Kolmogorov scale) are more concentrated near the ones that are 3-5 times larger, which gives further support to the classical picture. Finally, it is shown by analysing the volume fraction of the educed enstrophy structures that there is a tendency for them to cluster around a larger structure or clusters of larger structures. Copyright © 2012 Cambridge University Press.

Homogeneous pinhole free 1 nm Al2O3 tunnel barriers on graphene

We report on the topographical and electrical characterisations of 1 nm thick Al2O3 dielectric films on graphene. The Al 2O3 is grown by sputtering a 0.6 nm Al layer on graphene and subsequentially oxidizing it in an O2 atmosphere. The Al 2O3 layer presents no pinholes and is homogeneous enough to act as a tunnel barrier. A resistance-area product in the mega-ohm micrometer-square range is found. Comparatively, the growth of Al 2O3 by evaporation does not lead to well-wetted films on graphene. Application of this high quality sputtered tunnel barrier to efficient spin injection in graphene is discussed. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.