Scophthalmus maximus cystatin B enhances head kidney macrophage-mediated bacterial killing

Cystatins form a large family of cysteine protease inhibitors found in a wide arrange of organisms. Studies have indicated that mammalian cystatins play important roles under both physiological and pathological conditions. However, much less is known about fish cystatins. In this report, we described the identification and analysis of a cystatin B homologue, SmCytB, from turbot Scophthalmus maximus. The open reading frame of SmCytB is 300 bp, which encodes a 99-residue protein that shares high levels of sequence identities with the cystatin B of a number of fish species and contains the conserved cysteine protease inhibitor motif of cystatin B. Constitutive expression of SmCytB is high in muscle, brain, heart and liver, and low in spleen. blood, gill and kidney. Bacterial infection upregulates SmCytB expression in kidney, spleen, liver and brain but not in muscle or heart. Functional analysis showed that recombinant SmCytB purified from Escherichia colt exhibits apparent cysteine protease inhibitor activity. Transient overexpression of SmCytB in head kidney macrophages enhances macrophage bactericidal activity probably through a nitric oxide-independent mechanism. These results indicate that SmCytB is involved in the immune defense of turbot against bacterial infection. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Origin, development and evolutionary model of shelf desertization environment in late stage of Upper Pleistocene

Based on the study of palaeo-environmental evolution in the shelves of the Eastern China Seas, the concept of ''shelf desertization'' in the late stage of Upper Pleistocene is defined; the environmental background and evolutionary process of shelf desertization are analysed. Study on the records of subbottom profiling and the data of core samples from shelf areas revealed that during low sea-level stages, the sedimentary environment in the exposed shelf plains was dominated by aeolian depositional process under cold and dry climatic conditions, i.e. under the action of strong winter-monsoon winds. Parts of the exposed marine strata were disintegrated, and aeolian sand dunes were formed on the disintegrated marine deposits, from which the finer sediment grains were blown away by wind and deposited in the downwind areas to form the derivative loess deposits. Thus a desertization environmental system was formed in the exposed shelf plains of the Eastern China Seas.

The variation of upper ocean structure and paleoproductivity in the Kuroshio source region during the last 200 kyr

A core from the source region of the Kuroshio warm current (east of the Luzon Island) was analyzed using several proxies in order to study the variability of the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP) during the last two glacial-interglacial cycles. Primary productivity (PP) variations were deduced from variations in the coccolith flora. Primary productivity was higher during glacial periods (the end of Marine Isotope Stage [MIS] 3, some periods in MIS 2 and 6), and decreased during interglacial periods (MIS 7, MIS Se and probably MIS 5c-5d), with the lowest PP in MIS 5e. variations in the delta C-13 difference in benthic and bulk carbonate, thus in the vertical gradient of delta C-13 in dissolved inorganic carbon (Delta delta C-13(c). (wuellerstorfi-N. dutertrei) and Delta delta C-13(c.) (wuellerstorfi-coccolith)) Coincided With the PP Changes, showing that export productivity was low during interglacial periods (MIS 7, MIS 5e and Holocene) and high during glacial periods (MIS 6, probably MIS 5c-5d, late MIS 4 and late MIS 3). Comparison of foraminiferal carbonate dissolution indicators and PP changes reveals that nannofossil assemblage in core Ph05-5 is not sensitive to carbonate dissolution intensity. The depth of the thermocline (DOT) was estimated from planktonic forminiferal assemblages, and was relatively greater during interglacial periods (MIS 7, MIS 5e, probably MIS 5c and Holocene) than during glacials (middle MIS 6, probably MIS 5b and 5d, some periods in MIS 4, MIS 3 and MIS 2). Good coherence between the paleoproductivity records and the DOT suggests that the DOT changes could be the primary control factor in changes of paleoproductivity, and the glacial high productivity in the Kuroshio source region could be associated with a global increase of nutrient concentration in the intermediate waters that upwelled into the photic zone. The low CO2 values derived for intervals of high productivity and a relatively shallow DOT suggest that the changes in biological productivity and DOT in the equatorial Pacific could have modified atmospheric CO2 concentrations. High Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) during the warm MIS 5e in combination with intensified monsoonal rain fall could have resulted in a more intense stratification of the upper waters, resulting in low nutrient supply to the surface waters and a resulting decrease in productivity. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effect of low-frequency Rossby wave on thermal structure of the upper southwestern tropical Indian Ocean

We investigate the influence of low-frequency Rossby waves on the thermal structure of the upper southwestern tropical Indian Ocean (SWTIO) using Argo profiles, satellite altimetric data, sea surface temperature, wind field data and the theory of linear vertical normal mode decomposition. Our results show that the SWTIO is generally dominated by the first baroclinic mode motion. As strong downwelling Rossby waves reach the SWTIO, the contribution of the second baroclinic mode motion in this region can be increased mainly because of the reduction in the vertical stratification of the upper layer above thermocline, and the enhancement in the vertical stratification of the lower layer under thermocline also contributes to it. The vertical displacement of each isothermal is enlarged and the thermal structure of the upper level is modulated, which is indicative of strong vertical mixing. However, the cold Rossby waves increase the vertical stratification of the upper level, restricting the variability related to the second baroclinic mode. On the other hand, during decaying phase of warm Rossby waves, Ekman upwelling and advection processes associated with the surface cyclonic wind circulation can restrain the downwelling processes, carrying the relatively colder water to the near-surface, which results in an out-of-phase phenomenon between sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) and sea surface height anomaly (SSHA) in the SWTIO.

Effect of Stokes drift on upper ocean mixing

Stokes drift is the main source of vertical vorticity in the ocean mixed layer. In the ways of Coriolis - Stokes forcing and Langmuir circulations, Stokes drift can substantially affect the whole mixed layer. A modified Mellor-Yamada 2.5 level turbulence closure model is used to parameterize its effect on upper ocean mixing conventionally. Results show that comparing surface heating with wave breaking, Stokes drift plays the most important role in the entire ocean mixed layer, especially in the subsurface layer. As expected, Stokes drift elevates both the dissipation rate and the turbulence energy in the upper ocean mixing. Also, influence of the surface heating, wave breaking and wind speed on Stokes drift is investigated respectively. Research shows that it is significant and important to assessing the Stokes drift into ocean mixed layer studying. The laboratory observations are supporting numerical experiments quantitatively.

GEO-ECOLOGICAL TRANSECT STUDIES IN NORTHEAST TIBET (QINGHAI, CHINA) REVEAL HUMAN-MADE MID-HOLOCENE ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES IN THE UPPER YELLOW RIVER CATCHMENT CHANGING FOREST TO GRASSLAND

Geo-ecological transect studies in the pastures of the upper catchment of the HuangHe (99 degrees 30'-100 degrees 00'E/35 degrees 30'-35 degrees 40'N'; 3,000-4,000 in a.s.l., Qinghai province, China) revealed evidence that pastures replace forests. Plot-based vegetation records and fenced grazing exclosure experiments enabled the identification of grazing indicator plants for the first time. The mapping of vegetation patterns of pastures with isolated juniper and Spruce forests raise questions as to the origin of the grasslands, which arc widely classified as "natural" at present. Soil investigations and charcoal fragments of Juniperus (8,153 +/- 63 uncal BP) and Picea (6,665 +/- 59 uncal BP) provide evidence of the wider presence of forests. As temperatures and rainfall records undoubtedly represent a forest climate, it is assumed that the present pastures have replaced forests. Circumstantial evidence arising from investigations into the environmental history of the Holocene effectively substantiates this theory.

仿人机器人控制系统的研究与实现

根据仿人机器人控制性能的要求,设计开发了关节控制器,并通过CAN总线把各个关节控制器、力传感器及上位机连接在一起,构成了分布式控制系统.利用无线局域网技术,实现了语音、视频等多媒体信息的传输,把监控台、头部、上身和移动平台连接在一起,构成了仿人机器人完整的控制系统.最后提出了一些设想以提高系统的性能.

Computing Upper and Lower Bounds on Likelihoods in Intractable Networks

We present techniques for computing upper and lower bounds on the likelihoods of partial instantiations of variables in sigmoid and noisy-OR networks. The bounds determine confidence intervals for the desired likelihoods and become useful when the size of the network (or clique size) precludes exact computations. We illustrate the tightness of the obtained bounds by numerical experiments.

Exploring Vision-Based Interfaces: How to Use Your Head in Dual Pointing Tasks

The utility of vision-based face tracking for dual pointing tasks is evaluated. We first describe a 3-D face tracking technique based on real-time parametric motion-stereo, which is non-invasive, robust, and self-initialized. The tracker provides a real-time estimate of a ?frontal face ray? whose intersection with the display surface plane is used as a second stream of input for scrolling or pointing, in paral-lel with hand input. We evaluated the performance of com-bined head/hand input on a box selection and coloring task: users selected boxes with one pointer and colors with a second pointer, or performed both tasks with a single pointer. We found that performance with head and one hand was intermediate between single hand performance and dual hand performance. Our results are consistent with previously reported dual hand conflict in symmetric pointing tasks, and suggest that a head-based input stream should be used for asymmetric control.

Orthodontic and orthopaedic treatment for anterior open bite in children

BackgroundAnterior open bite occurs when there is a lack of vertical overlap of the upper and lower incisors. the aetiology is multifactorial including: oral habits, unfavourable growth patterns, enlarged lymphatic tissue with mouth breathing. Several treatments have been proposed to correct this malocclusion, but interventions are not supported by strong scientific evidence.ObjectivesThe aim of this systematic review was to evaluate orthodontic and orthopaedic treatments to correct anterior open bite in children.Search methodsThe following databases were searched: the Cochrane Oral Health Group's Trials Register (to 14 February 2014); the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL)(The Cochrane Library 2014, Issue 1); MEDLINE via OVID (1946 to 14 February 2014); EMBASE via OVID (1980 to 14 February 2014); LILACS via BIREME Virtual Health Library (1982 to 14 February 2014); BBO via BIREME Virtual Health Library (1980 to 14 February 2014); and SciELO (1997 to 14 February 2014). We searched for ongoing trials via ClinicalTrials.gov (to 14 February 2014). Chinese journals were handsearched and the bibliographies of papers were retrieved.Selection criteriaAll randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trials of orthodontic or orthopaedic treatments or both to correct anterior open bite in children.Data collection and analysisTwo review authors independently assessed the eligibility of all reports identified.Risk ratios (RRs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for dichotomous data. the continuous data were expressed as described by the author.Main resultsThree randomised controlled trials were included comparing: effects of Frankel's function regulator-4 (FR-4) with lip-seal training versus no treatment; repelling-magnet splints versus bite-blocks; and palatal crib associated with high-pull chincup versus no treatment.The study comparing repelling-magnet splints versus bite-blocks could not be analysed because the authors interrupted the treatment earlier than planned due to side effects in four of ten patients.FR-4 associated with lip-seal training (RR = 0.02 (95% CI 0.00 to 0.38)) and removable palatal crib associated with high-pull chincup (RR = 0.23 (95% CI 0.11 to 0.48)) were able to correct anterior open bite.No study described: randomisation process, sample size calculation, there was not blinding in the cephalometric analysis and the two studies evaluated two interventions at the same time. These results should be therefore viewed with caution.Authors' conclusionsThere is weak evidence that the interventions FR-4 with lip-seal training and palatal crib associated with high-pull chincup are able to correct anterior open bite. Given that the trials included have potential bias, these results must be viewed with caution. Recommendations for clinical practice cannot be made based only on the results of these trials. More randomised controlled trials are needed to elucidate the interventions for treating anterior open bite.

Comparação quantitativa dos andares médio e inferiores da face na AGIHF

Projeto de Pós-Graduação/Dissertação apresentado à Universidade Fernando Pessoa como parte dos requisitos para obtenção do grau de Mestre em Medicina Dentária

{A }calm address to the inhabitants of England

PDF file

World-wide evangelization the urgent business of the church; addresses delivered before the fourth international convention of the Student volunteer movement for foreign missions, Toronto, Canada, February 26-March 2, 1902.

http://www.archive.org/details/worldwideevangel00unknuoft