Temperature variation through 2000 years in China: An uncertainty analysis of reconstruction and regional difference

Chinese Academy of Sciences [KZCX2-YW-315, KZCX2-YW-Q1-01]; National Natural Science Foundation of China [40625002, 90502009, 200905006]; Office of Science (BER), U. S. Department of Energy ; EU/FP7 [212250]

GIUSAXS and AFM Studies on Surface Reconstruction of Latex Thin Films during Thermal Treatment

The structural evolution of a single-layer latex film during annealing was studied via grazing incidence ultrasmall-angle X-ray scattering (GIUSAXS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The latex particles were composed of a low-T-g (-54 degrees C) core (n-butylacrylate, 30 wt %) and a high-T-g (41 degrees C) shell (t-butylacrylate, 70 wt %) and had an overall diameter of about 500 nm. GIUSAXS data indicate that the q(y) scan at q(z) = 0.27 nm(-1) (out-of-plane scan) contains information about both the structure factor and the form factor. The GIUSAXS data on latex films annealed at various temperatures ranging from room temperature to 140 degrees C indicate that the structure of the latex thin film beneath the surface changed significantly. The evolution of the out-of-plane scan plot reveals the surface reconstruction of the film. Furthermore, we also followed the time-dependent behavior of structural evolution when the latex film was annealed at a relatively low temperature (60 degrees C) where restructuring within the film can be followed that cannot be detected by AFM, which detects only surface morphology.

Reconstruction of vertical thermal structure from several subsurface temperatures in the China Seas and adjacent waters

Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis is used in this study to generate main eigenvector fields of historical temperature for the China Seas (here referring to Chinese marine territories) and adjacent waters from 1930 to 2002 (510 143 profiles). A good temperature profile is reconstructed based on several subsurface in situ temperature observations and the thermocline was estimated using the model. The results show that: 1) For the study area, the former four principal components can explain 95% of the overall variance, and the vertical distribution of temperature is most stable using the in situ temperature observations near the surface. 2) The model verifications based on the observed CTD data from the East China Sea (ECS), South China Sea (SCS) and the areas around Taiwan Island show that the reconstructed profiles have high correlation with the observed ones with the confidence level > 95%, especially to describe the characteristics of the thermocline well. The average errors between the reconstructed and observed profiles in these three areas are 0.69A degrees C, 0.52A degrees C and 1.18A degrees C respectively. It also shows the model RMS error is less than or close to the climatological error. The statistical model can be used to well estimate the temperature profile vertical structure. 3) Comparing the thermocline characteristics between the reconstructed and observed profiles, the results in the ECS show that the average absolute errors are 1.5m, 1.4 m and 0.17A degrees C/m, and the average relative errors are 24.7%, 8.9% and 22.6% for the upper, lower thermocline boundaries and the gradient, respectively. Although the relative errors are obvious, the absolute error is small. In the SCS, the average absolute errors are 4.1 m, 27.7 m and 0.007A degrees C/m, and the average relative errors are 16.1%, 16.8% and 9.5% for the upper, lower thermocline boundaries and the gradient, respectively. The average relative errors are all < 20%. Although the average absolute error of the lower thermocline boundary is considerable, but contrast to the spatial scale of average depth of the lower thermocline boundary (165 m), the average relative error is small (16.8%). Therefore the model can be used to well estimate the thermocline.

Effectiveness and safety of cryotherapy after arthroscopic anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction. A systematic review of the literature

Cryotherapy is widely used in rehabilitation; however, its effectiveness after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction remains uncertain. To investigate the effectiveness and safety of cryotherapy following ACL reconstruction through a systematic review, randomized and quasi-randomized clinical trials were searched in the databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CENTRAL PEDro, SportDiscus, CINAHL, LILACS (June 2013). the primary outcomes measures were pain, edema and adverse events; the secondary outcomes were knee function, analgesic medication use, range of motion, blood loss, hospital stay, quality of life and patient satisfaction. the methodological quality of studies was evaluated using the Cochrane Collaboration risk-of-bias tool. Ten trials (a total of 573 patients) were included. Results of meta-analysis showed that the use of cold compression devices produced a significant reduction in pain scores 48 h after surgery (p < 0.00001), compared to no cryotherapy. the risk for adverse events did not differ between patients receiving cryotherapy versus no treatment (p = 1.00). the limited evidence currently available is insufficient to draw definitive conclusions on the effectiveness of cryotherapy for other outcomes. There is a need for well designed, good quality randomized trials to answer other questions related to this intervention and increase the precision of future systematic reviews. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The local and global dimensions of metalliferous pollution derived from a reconstruction of an eight thousand year record of copper smelting and mining at a desert-mountain frontier in southern Jordan

Grattan, J.P., Gilbertson, D.D., Hunt, C.O. (2007). The local and global dimensions of metaliferrous air pollution derived from a reconstruction of an 8 thousand year record of copper smelting and mining at a desert-mountain frontier in southern Jordan. Journal of Archaeological Science 34, 83-110

Culture and Security: Symbolic Power and the Politics of International Security : The Reconstruction of Security in the Post-Cold War Era

Williams, Mike, Culture and Security: Symbolic Power and the Politics of International Security (Oxon: Routledge, 2007), pp.xii+172 RAE2008

Nuclear dispositions of subtelomeric and pericentromeric chromosomal domains during meiosis in asynaptic mutants of rye (Secale cereale L.)

EI Mikhailova, SP Sosnikhina, GA Kirillova, OA Tikholiz, VG Smirnov, RN Jones and G Jenkins (2001). Nuclear dispositions of subtelomeric and pericentromeric chromosomal domains during meiosis in asynaptic mutants of rye (Secale cereale L.). Journal of Cell Science, 114 (10), 1875-1882. Sponsorship: Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grants 00-04-48522/ 99-04-48182) RAE2008

Type Reconstruction in the Presence of Polymorphic Recursion and the Recursive Types

We establish the equivalence of type reconstruction with polymorphic recursion and recursive types is equivalent to regular semi-unification which proves the undecidability of the corresponding type reconstruction problem. We also establish the equivalence of type reconstruction with polymorphic recursion and positive recursive types to a special case of regular semi-unification which we call positive regular semi-unification. The decidability of positive regular semi-unification is an open problem.

Surface Reconstruction from Multiple Views using Rational B-Splines and Knot Insertion

A method for reconstruction of 3D rational B-spline surfaces from multiple views is proposed. Given corresponding features in multiple views, though not necessarily visible in all views, the surface is reconstructed. First 2D B-spline patches are fitted to each view. The 3D B-splines and projection matricies can then be extracted from the 2D B-splines using factorization methods. The surface fit is then further refined via an iterative procedure. Finally, a hierarchal fitting scheme is proposed to allow modeling of complex surfaces by means of knot insertion. Experiments with real imagery demonstrate the efficacy of the approach.

Recursive directional ligation by plasmid reconstruction allows rapid and seamless cloning of oligomeric genes.

This paper reports a new strategy, recursive directional ligation by plasmid reconstruction (PRe-RDL), to rapidly clone highly repetitive polypeptides of any sequence and specified length over a large range of molecular weights. In a single cycle of PRe-RDL, two halves of a parent plasmid, each containing a copy of an oligomer, are ligated together, thereby dimerizing the oligomer and reconstituting a functional plasmid. This process is carried out recursively to assemble an oligomeric gene with the desired number of repeats. PRe-RDL has several unique features that stem from the use of type IIs restriction endonucleases: first, PRe-RDL is a seamless cloning method that leaves no extraneous nucleotides at the ligation junction. Because it uses type IIs endonucleases to ligate the two halves of the plasmid, PRe-RDL also addresses the major limitation of RDL in that it abolishes any restriction on the gene sequence that can be oligomerized. The reconstitution of a functional plasmid only upon successful ligation in PRe-RDL also addresses two other limitations of RDL: the significant background from self-ligation of the vector observed in RDL, and the decreased efficiency of ligation due to nonproductive circularization of the insert. PRe-RDL can also be used to assemble genes that encode different sequences in a predetermined order to encode block copolymers or append leader and trailer peptide sequences to the oligomerized gene.

A widespread chromosomal inversion polymorphism contributes to a major life-history transition, local adaptation, and reproductive isolation.

The role of chromosomal inversions in adaptation and speciation is controversial. Historically, inversions were thought to contribute to these processes either by directly causing hybrid sterility or by facilitating the maintenance of co-adapted gene complexes. Because inversions suppress recombination when heterozygous, a recently proposed local adaptation mechanism predicts that they will spread if they capture alleles at multiple loci involved in divergent adaptation to contrasting environments. Many empirical studies have found inversion polymorphisms linked to putatively adaptive phenotypes or distributed along environmental clines. However, direct involvement of an inversion in local adaptation and consequent ecological reproductive isolation has not to our knowledge been demonstrated in nature. In this study, we discovered that a chromosomal inversion polymorphism is geographically widespread, and we test the extent to which it contributes to adaptation and reproductive isolation under natural field conditions. Replicated crosses between the prezygotically reproductively isolated annual and perennial ecotypes of the yellow monkeyflower, Mimulus guttatus, revealed that alternative chromosomal inversion arrangements are associated with life-history divergence over thousands of kilometers across North America. The inversion polymorphism affected adaptive flowering time divergence and other morphological traits in all replicated crosses between four pairs of annual and perennial populations. To determine if the inversion contributes to adaptation and reproductive isolation in natural populations, we conducted a novel reciprocal transplant experiment involving outbred lines, where alternative arrangements of the inversion were reciprocally introgressed into the genetic backgrounds of each ecotype. Our results demonstrate for the first time in nature the contribution of an inversion to adaptation, an annual/perennial life-history shift, and multiple reproductive isolating barriers. These results are consistent with the local adaptation mechanism being responsible for the distribution of the two inversion arrangements across the geographic range of M. guttatus and that locally adaptive inversion effects contribute directly to reproductive isolation. Such a mechanism may be partially responsible for the observation that closely related species often differ by multiple chromosomal rearrangements.

cDNA for the human beta 2-adrenergic receptor: a protein with multiple membrane-spanning domains and encoded by a gene whose chromosomal location is shared with that of the receptor for platelet-derived growth factor.

We have isolated and sequenced a cDNA encoding the human beta 2-adrenergic receptor. The deduced amino acid sequence (413 residues) is that of a protein containing seven clusters of hydrophobic amino acids suggestive of membrane-spanning domains. While the protein is 87% identical overall with the previously cloned hamster beta 2-adrenergic receptor, the most highly conserved regions are the putative transmembrane helices (95% identical) and cytoplasmic loops (93% identical), suggesting that these regions of the molecule harbor important functional domains. Several of the transmembrane helices also share lesser degrees of identity with comparable regions of select members of the opsin family of visual pigments. We have localized the gene for the beta 2-adrenergic receptor to q31-q32 on chromosome 5. This is the same position recently determined for the gene encoding the receptor for platelet-derived growth factor and is adjacent to that for the FMS protooncogene, which encodes the receptor for the macrophage colony-stimulating factor.

Reconstruction of gross avian genome structure, organization and evolution suggests that the chicken lineage most closely resembles the dinosaur avian ancestor.

BACKGROUND: The availability of multiple avian genome sequence assemblies greatly improves our ability to define overall genome organization and reconstruct evolutionary changes. In birds, this has previously been impeded by a near intractable karyotype and relied almost exclusively on comparative molecular cytogenetics of only the largest chromosomes. Here, novel whole genome sequence information from 21 avian genome sequences (most newly assembled) made available on an interactive browser (Evolution Highway) was analyzed. RESULTS: Focusing on the six best-assembled genomes allowed us to assemble a putative karyotype of the dinosaur ancestor for each chromosome. Reconstructing evolutionary events that led to each species' genome organization, we determined that the fastest rate of change occurred in the zebra finch and budgerigar, consistent with rapid speciation events in the Passeriformes and Psittaciformes. Intra- and interchromosomal changes were explained most parsimoniously by a series of inversions and translocations respectively, with breakpoint reuse being commonplace. Analyzing chicken and zebra finch, we found little evidence to support the hypothesis of an association of evolutionary breakpoint regions with recombination hotspots but some evidence to support the hypothesis that microchromosomes largely represent conserved blocks of synteny in the majority of the 21 species analyzed. All but one species showed the expected number of microchromosomal rearrangements predicted by the haploid chromosome count. Ostrich, however, appeared to retain an overall karyotype structure of 2n=80 despite undergoing a large number (26) of hitherto un-described interchromosomal changes. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that mechanisms exist to preserve a static overall avian karyotype/genomic structure, including the microchromosomes, with widespread interchromosomal change occurring rarely (e.g., in ostrich and budgerigar lineages). Of the species analyzed, the chicken lineage appeared to have undergone the fewest changes compared to the dinosaur ancestor.