STENOPORIDAE FROM UPPER PALAEOZOIC OF CHINA

Introduction The specimens dealt with here were sent by the geological parties in 1956 to the writer forstudy. They were collected from the Carboniferous and Permian of eight provinces: Szechuan,Hupeh, Hunan, Kiangsi, Kwangsi, Sinkiang, Kansu and Inner Mongolia. Eleven species in fivegenera are described and studied; they are Scenodiscus undulatus(sp. nov.), S. granularis(sp.     

NEW FOSSIL CROCODILES FROM CHINA

Since the publication of my paper on fossil crocodiles in 1948,our knowledge con-cerning this group is considerably increased and many new forms have been described byYoung and Chow(1953),Bohlin,(1953),Sun(1958),Yeh(1958),Young(1961)and Liu(1961).Recently,some tolerably well preserved crocodiles with rich remains of copro-lites have been discovered from Nanhsiung in N.Kwangtung.This is particularly in-teresting because it is most probably of paleocene in age,according to the mammalianremains found from the same horizon.In addition a fragment of skull was found bythe Bureau of Geology of Inner Mongolia from Otok S.W.of this territory,of lowerCretaceous,according to field observation.They are described in the present notes.     

NEWS FROM IVPP

Since the beginning of this year,parallelthewith extensive field explorations,deseription andpublieation of the collections of various verte-brate groups accumulated in the past ten yearsare well under way and being accelerated.The first number of Vertebrata PalAsiatica(vol.11,no.1)came out early this year,the onepreceeding to this being no.2 of the 10thvolume published in May,1966.Only two num-bers will be published for this volune,but from1974 onward at least four numbers will bepublished for each volume.The Memoirs of the Institute,which are forlonger papers or for a series of short papersedited under a common title,have resumed pub-lication since 1972.Three numbers have beenissued and about a dozen are either in press orin the final stage of preparation.No.8 is theone on“Mamenchisaurus”by Young and Chao;and No.9 on Triassic marine reptiles by Youngand Dong.No.10,entitled“Permian andTriassic Vertebrates of Turfan”by Liu,Young,Sun and Ma,is the first one of the series ofreports of the Expeditions(1963—1966)toSinkiang.The others which treat of the otherMesozoic reptiles and Tertiary mammals will befollowed soon.Though nearly all the paperspublished so far are in Chinese only,longerEnglish summaries or abstracts will be includedfor most of the future publications.     

Nutritional regulation of gene expression

Summary The human genome has now been mapped with a complete sequence to follow shortly. The race is on to apply the vast amount of information contained in the billions of base-pairs. Concurrently, there is an increased demand from the public for perceived natural products. The nutritional supplement and pharmaceutical industries are broadening their product lines to meet this ever-increasing demand. As the genetic basis of disease becomes more evident, it is clear that the two industries will be forced to turn their attention to nutrients affecting gene expression. Such nutritional regulators of gene expression, or genomeceuticals (Brudnak, 2001), have enormous potential for therapeutic and prophylactic applications in both industries by affecting the integrity and expression of genes. However, there are caveats to this application, which if unheeded, may have disastrous results. This paper explores the idea behind the burgeoning area of genomeceuticals as well as some potential pit-falls that this novel area harbors. Representative examples are presented with a subsequent discussion focusing on the specifics of the application. Calculations based on: mw of GlcNAc · HCl=215.64, mw GlcNAc=179.18. Given: an infusion rate of 15 μM/Kg/min, 15 μM of GlcNAc=2.68 mg, and GHCl (glucosamine hydrochloride) is 83% GlcNAc.     

Special Issue on ‘‘Computational Cardiology”

<正>We are pleased to announce a special issue on‘‘Computational Cardiology’’of the journal Genomics,ProteomicsBioinformatics(GPB),aiming to provide a platform for high-quality papers focusing on the topic and we invite submissions for this special issue(to be published in the Spring of 2016).Dr.Benjamin Meder(University of Heidelberg and German Center for Cardiovascular Research–DZHK,Germany)and Dr.Andreas Keller(Saarland University,Germany)are Guest Editors of this issue.     

Special Issue on ‘‘Computational Cardiology'

<正>We are pleased to announce a special issue on‘‘Computational Cardiology’’of the journal Genomics,ProteomicsBioinformatics(GPB),aiming to provide a platform for high-quality papers focusing on the topic and we invite submissions for this special issue(to be published in the Spring of 2016).Dr.Benjamin Meder(University of Heidelberg and German Center for Cardiovascular Research–DZHK,Germany)and Dr.Andreas Keller(Saarland University,Germany)are Guest Editors of this issue.     

Special Issue on "Genome Stability"

正We are very pleased to announce a special issue,to be published in June,2016,on‘‘Genome Stability’’in the journal Genomics,ProteomicsBioinformatics(GPB).This special issue aims to provide a platform for specialists or experts in the field to report their results and share their opinions on the topic.We are inviting you to submit high-quality papers to this special issue.The guest editors for this special issue are Dr.Zhao-Qi Wang(The Leibniz Institute on Aging–Fritz Lipmann Institute(FLI),Germany),Dr.Xingzhi Xu(Capital Normal University,China),and Dr.Daochun Kong(Peking University,China).     

PERMIAN OSTRACODS FROM THE CHIHSIA LIMESTONE OF LUNGTAN, NANKING

The specimens described in this paper were collected in the spring of 1955 by the writer andher friends from the Lower Permian Chihsia limestone at Kwanshan, Lungtan, about 20 kmsoutheast of Nanking. The ostracods described and illustrated here comprise 37 species in 11genera, of which 29 species are new. The majority of the specimens were found in the middlepart (ca. 138 m. in thickness) of the Chihsia formation. The specimens are more or less     

Propulsion Modeling and Analysis of a Biomimetic Swimmer

<正> We have studied a biomimetic swimmer based on the motion of bacteria such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) theoretically andexperimentally. The swimmer has an ellipsoidal cell body propelled by a helical filament. The performance of this swimmer wasestimated by modeling the dynamics of a swimmer in viscous fluid. We applied the Resistive Force Theory (RFT) on this modelto calculate the linear swimming speed and the efficiency of the model. A parametric study on linear velocity and efficiency tooptimize the design of this swimmer was demonstrated. In order to validate the theoretical results, a biomimetic swimmer wasfabricated and an experiment setup was prepared to measure the swimming speed and thrust force in silicone oil. The experimentalresults agree well with the theoretical values predicted by RFT. In addition, we studied the flow patterns surrounding thefilament with a finite element simulation with different Reynolds number (Re) to understand the mechanism of propulsion. Thesimulation results provide information on the nature of flow patterns generated by swimming filament. Furthermore, the thrustforces from the simulation were compared with the thrust forces from theory. The simulation results are in good agreement withthe theoretical results.     

New species of the isolated Psaroniaceous rachis from the Early Permian in China

A new kind of marattialean raches are reported from the coal balls in Coal Seam No.7 in the upper part of the Taiyuan Formation （early Early Permian） from Taiyuan, Shanxi, China and are assigned to the genus Stipitopteris Grand＇Eury （Psaroniaceae）. The present specimens are different from all six reported species of the genus, and are therefore proposed as a new species： Stipitopteris shanxiensis. The raches of the new species are generally dorsi-ventrally flattened. The main raches usually exhibit scales of different forms on their surface. Beneath the epidermis is a zone of parenchymatous cells, some of which contain tannin-like contents. Inside this is a zone of small sclerenchymatous cells. Inward are the ground tissue and vascular bundles. The vascular bundles are continuous and are in two circles： the outer circle assumes a transversely elliptical shape with the gap and pinna trace, and the inner circle assumes a shallow C.shape with inrolled ends. The ground tissue located at the inner side of the vascular bundle is composed of thicker-walled parenchymatous cells. The cells of the ground tissue are vertically elongated in longitudinal sections. Subordered raches are smaller and have simpler structures than the main raches. The parenchyma zone beneath the epidermis is thinner, usually one to two cells wide and the sclerenchyma zone is usually absent. The scales are poorly developed and there is only one C-shaped vascular bundle. The new species is comparable to the crosiers of Psaroniaceae of the Euramerican Flora in some aspects, for example, it has a dorsi-ventrally flattened rachis and scales on the surface of the rachis. However, the other features and the preservative conditions of the present specimens indicate that they are not crosiers, but fully developed or mature raches. The new species is the first well-studied anatomically-preserved rachis of Psaroniaceae from the Cathaysian Flora and bears significance not only in understanding the anatomy and taxonomy of Psaroniaceae in the Cathaysian Flora, but also in the relationship between the Euramerican Flora and the Cathaysian Flora.     

THE SKULL OF HAPALODECTES (?ACREODI, MAMMALIA), WITH NOTES ON SOME CHINESE PALEOCENE MESONYCHIDS

<正> Hapalodectes has long been considered as a small mesonychid specialized toward a carnivorous and piscivorous mode of life. Its rare fossil record was known from the early Eocene of North America and middle and upper Eocene of Asia. Knowledge of this genus is still restricted to two species based mainly on some fragmentary materials.A part of the right mandible of the type species, H. leptognathus, was first described by Osborn and Wortman (1892), but was referred by them to Dissacus, and renamed as Hapalodectes by Matthew (1909). Szalay and Gould (1966) erected a new subfamily, Hapalodectinae, and then all known material were restudied by the former author (Szalay, 1969). No additional material of the genus has been reported since then.The newly discovered specimens described in this paper are the first, and so far the only, cranial evidence of Hapalodectes. The fossils were collected from early Eocene (Ling-cha Formation), Hengdong, Hunan, during two field seasons of 1982-1983. The purpose of the present paper is to place on record the morphology of this well-preserved cranial material and to discuss briefly its significance, it is hoped that the information about the cranial morphology of Hapalodectes will increase our understanding of its relationship with Mesonychidae.We are indebted to Drs. Everett H. Lindsay and Chow Minchen for correcting English summary. We would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Malcolm C. McKenna for his valuable comments and correcting English summary and the facilitating the casts of the type species of Hapalodectes at the American Museum of Natural History. Ms. Ann Bleefield and Meng jin help us to get the casts, Zhai R. j. and Qi T. lend us unpublished material for the comparison, all the photographs are taken by Wang J. f. and figures are drawn by shen W. L., we thank all of them for their kind help.     

Grasshopper （Orthoptera： Acrididae） biodiversity and grassland ecosystems

Interesting results may arise by combining studies on the structure and function of ecosystems with that of biodiversity for certain species. Grasshopper biodiversity is the result of the evolution of grassland ecosystems; however, it also impacts on the structure and the function of those ecosystems. We consider there to be a close relationship between the health of grassland ecosystems and grasshopper biodiversity. The main problems involved in this relationship are likely to include： （i） grasshopper biodiversity and its spatial pattern; （ii） the effect of grasshopper biodiversity on the ecological processes of grassland ecosystems; （iii） the biodiversity threshold of grasshopper population explosions; （iv） the relationship between grasshopper biodiversity and the natural and human factors that affect grassland ecosystems; and （v） grasshopper biodiversity and the health of grassland ecosystems. The solutions to these problems may provide sound bases for controlling disasters caused by grasshoppers and managing grassland ecosystems in the west of China. In this paper, we introduced two concepts for grasshopper biodiversity, that is, ＂spatial pattern＂ and ＂biodiversity threshold＂. It is helpful to understand the action of the spatial pattern of grasshopper biodiversity on the ecological processes of grassland ecosystems and the effect of this spatial pattern on the health of those ecosystems, owing to the fact that, in the west of China, grasslands are vast and grasshoppers are widely distributed. Moreover, we inferred that the change in the level of component richness at each type of grasshopper biodiversity can make an impact on grassland ecosystems, and therefore, there is likely to be a threshold to grasshopper biodiversity for the stability and the sustainability of those ecosystems.     

Special Issue on "Computational Cardiology"

正We are pleased to announce a special issue on‘‘Computational Cardiology’’of the journal Genomics,ProteomicsBioinformatics(GPB),aiming to provide a platform for high-quality papers focusing on the topic and we invite submissions for this special issue(to be published in the Spring of 2016).Dr.Benjamin Meder(University of Heidelberg and German Center for Cardiovascular Research–DZHK,Germany)and Dr.Andreas Keller(Saarland University,Germany)are Guest Editors of this issue.     

Special Issue on ‘‘Computational Cardiology'

正We are pleased to announce a special issue on‘‘Computational Cardiology’’of the journal Genomics,ProteomicsBioinformatics(GPB),aiming to provide a platform for high-quality papers focusing on the topic and we invite submissions for this special issue(to be published in the Spring of 2016).Dr.Benjamin Meder(University of Heidelberg and German Center for Cardiovascular Research–DZHK,Germany)and Dr.Andreas Keller(Saarland University,Germany)are Guest Editors of this issue.     

杂斑腹小鴞实为鬼鴞

Based on two specimens collected from Sichuan Province,Yang et al.(1989) described a new subspecies of the spotted little owl(Athene brama),the belly-mottled littlc owl(Athene brama poikila).This subspecies has been asknowledged by Cheng(2000),However,Cheng(2000)also mentioned that further work should be done on this subspotted little owl and the boreal owl(Aegolius funereus).The boreal owl is identifiable from its rather square facial disc,however,this character was destroyed during the facture for these two speciments of Athene brama poikila.That is the reason Yang et al.(1989) missed them with the genus Athene.The genus Aegolius is also identifiable from the genus Athene from the character on the toes,as the toes of the boreal owl are covered with thick feathers.whereas the toes of the little owl are bristled.The toes of these two specimens of Athene brama poikila are thickly feathred,corresponding to the identification of the genus Aegalius.The morphological characters and measurements of the two specimens also correspond to the boreal owl.The habitat of the two specimens was reported as conifer deciduous forest around 2200 m to 3100m,which fits the habitat of boreal owl.The distribution of the endemjic Gansu subspecies of the boreal owl(A.f.beickianus)was reported at Tiantangsi,Lianhuashan in Gansu,Guinan in Qinghai and Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan in China,It was also reported at Lahul in north India,Sun et al.(2001) suggested that it is probably the boreal owl is also distributed in the conifer forest of west Sichuan and east Tibet.the new distribution point in Baoxing and Yajiang in Sichuan corresponds to this conjecturc.As a conclusion,we believe that thest two spccimens should belong to the A.f.beickianus of the borcal owl.     

Autonomous Navigation for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Based on Chaotic Bionics Theory

In this paper a new reactive mechanism based on perception-action bionics for multi-sensory integration applied to Un-manned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) navigation is proposed.The strategy is inspired by the olfactory bulb neural activity observed inrabbits subject to external stimuli.The new UAV navigation technique exploits the use of a multiscroll chaotic system which isable to be controlled in real-time towards less complex orbits,like periodic orbits or equilibrium points,considered as perceptiveorbits.These are subject to real-time modifications on the basis of environment changes acquired through a Synthetic ApertureRadar (SAR) sensory system.The mathematical details of the approach are given including simulation results in a virtual en-vironment.The results demonstrate the capability of autonomous navigation for UAV based on chaotic bionics theory in com-plex spatial environments.     

杂斑腹小鸮实为鬼鸮

Based on two specimens collected from Sichuan Province, Yang et al. (1989) described a new subspecies of the spotted little owl (Athene brama), the belly-mottled little owl (Athene brama poikila). This subspecies has been acknowledged by Cheng (2000). However, Cheng (2000) also mentioned that further work should be done on this subspecies. In 2001, we checked the specimen of Athene brama poikila in Ya’an, Sichuan and comparing them with the spotted little owl and the boreal owl (Aegolius funereus). The boreal owl is identifiable from its rather square facial disc, however, this character was destroyed during the facture for these two specimens of Athene brama poikila. That is the reason Yang et al.(1989) missed them with the genus Athene. The genus Aegolius is also identifiable from the genus Athene from the character on the toes, as the toes of the boreal owl are covered with thick feathers, whereas the toes of the little owl are bristled. The toes of these two specimens of Athene brama poikila are thickly feathered, corresponding to the identification of the genus Aegolius. The morphological characters and measurements of the two specimens also correspond to the boreal owl. The habitat of the two specimens was reported as conifer deciduous forest around 2 200 m to 3 100 m, which fits the habitat of the boreal owl. The distribution of the endemic Gansu subspecies of the boreal owl (A. f. beickianus) was reported at Tiantangsi, Lianhuashan in Gansu, Guinan in Qinghai and Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan in China, it was also reported at Lahul in north India, Sun et al. (2001) suggested that it is probably the boreal owl is also distributed in the conifer forest of west Sichuan and east Tibet. The new distribution point in Baoxing and Yajiang in Sichuan corresponds to this conjecture. As a conclusion, we believe that these two specimens should belong to the A. f. beickianus of the boreal owl .     

Special Issue on“Computational Cardiology”

<正>We are pleased to announce a special issue on‘‘Computational Cardiology’’of the journal Genomics,ProteomicsBioinformatics(GPB),aiming to provide a platform for high-quality papers focusing on the topic and we invite submissions for this special issue(to be published in the Spring of 2016).Dr.Benjamin Meder(University of Heidelberg and German Center for     

Thoughts of a travelling ecologist 10. Will fighting exotics ever succeed?

正We live in the Age of Extinctions-the call for naming our time"Anthropocene"is no more than hubris and escapism from this colossal sin.Although the6thmass extinction has possibly already started(Barnosky et al.,2011),and it may prove the largest so far to be endured by life on Earth,efforts are needed not to turn this into the Age of Loneliness,when humans may find themselves Masters of the Earthbut alone(Wilson,2014).The reasons for the high