COBioSIFTER – A CORBA-Based Distributed Multi-Agent Biological Information Management System

In this paper, we describe the COBioSIFTER project that aims at constructing a framework for managing information from the biological domain. It uses a distributed multi-agent approach based on the CORBA middleware and contains an architecture made up of functionally heterogeneous agents. A series of experiments has been carried out with a prototype of COBioSIFTER to illustrate its advantages such as high performance, scalability, heterogeneity, and fault tolerance. The results of these experiments demonstrate the effectiveness of such an agent-based biological information framework.     

The MOSIX Direct File System Access Method for Supporting Scalable Cluster File Systems

MOSIX is a cluster management system that supports preemptive process migration. This paper presents the MOSIX Direct File System Access (DFSA), a provision that can improve the performance of cluster file systems by allowing a migrated process to directly access files in its current location. This capability, when combined with an appropriate file system, could substantially increase the I/O performance and reduce the network congestion by migrating an I/O intensive process to a file server rather than the traditional way of bringing the file's data to the process. DFSA is suitable for clusters that manage a pool of shared disks among multiple machines. With DFSA, it is possible to migrate parallel processes from a client node to file servers for parallel access to different files. Any consistent file system can be adjusted to work with DFSA. To test its performance, we developed the MOSIX File-System (MFS) which allows consistent parallel operations on different files. The paper describes DFSA and presents the performance of MFS with and without DFSA.     

浅谈传粉生物学中几个术语的含义及其中文译名

准确理解外来的专业术语并给予合适的中文译名,不仅有助于推动学科的发展,而且有利于同行之间的交流。传粉生物学是近年来在我国迅速发展的一个生态学与进化生物学的分支领域。本文讨论了该学科中的几个重要术语的含义和它们的中文译名,建议将pollen discounting和seed discounting译为“花粉折损”和“种子折损”,herkogamy译为 “雌雄异位”,trade-off译为“权衡”。     

Evolutionary synthesis from a cosmopolitan point of view: a commentary on the ideas of Reif, Junker and Hossfeld

Summary The analysis of the Evolutionary Synthesis by Reif, Junker and Hossfeld (2000, Theory in Biosciences 119: 41–91) draws attention to language barriers that however important are far from impenetrable. The Synthesis is better viewed as a restoration than a revolution, and as something that occurred gradually, with no particular goal.     

基于质粒DNA匹配问题的分子算法

给定无向图,图的最小极大匹配问题是寻找每条边都不相邻的最大集中的最小者,这个问题是著名的NP-完全问题.1994年Adleman博士首次提出用DNA计算解决NP-完全问题,以编码的DNA序列为运算对象,通过分子生物学的运算操作解决复杂的数学难题,使得NP-完全问题的求解可能得到解决.提出了基于质粒DNA的无向图的最大匹配问题的DNA分子生物算法,通过限制性内切酶的酶切和凝胶电泳完成解的产生和最终接的分离,依据分子生物学的实验手段,算法是有效并且可行的.     

杂草科学管理——理论基础与实施途径

Scientific management of weeds is theoretically based on ecology.The implementation methods incladeIntensifying the weed biology and ecology research, especially those of the heavy weeds;Intensifying the research of developing competition between the crop and the weed;Utilizing a allelopathy the gene engineering and breeding against the weeds;Utilizing allelopathy between the crop and the weed, and utilizing biological and agricultural measurements to control the weeds.     

A Gradualist Theory of Discovery in Ecology

The distinction between the context ofdiscovery and the context of justificationrestricts philosophy of science to the rationalreconstruction of theories, and characterizesscientific discovery as rare, theoreticalupheavals that defy rational reconstruction. Kuhnian challenges to the two contextsdistinction show that non-rational elementspersist in the justification of theories, butgo no further to provide a positive account ofdiscovery. A gradualist theory of discoverydeveloped in this paper shows, with supportfrom ecological cases, that discoveries areroutinely made in ecology by extending modelsto new domains, or by making additions toearlier models. The logic of discovery isphilosophically accessible once it isappreciated that model truth is presumed, evenif counterfactually, in ecologists' applicationof models. A gradualist view shows thatmodels' heuristic power routinely leads todiscoveries.     

Process-oriented ecological modeling approach and scientific workflow system

A scientific workflow system is designed specifically to organize, manage and execute a series of research steps, or a workflow, in a given runtime environment. The vision for scientific workflow systems is that the scientists around the world can collaborate on designing global-scaled experiments, sharing the data sets, experimental processes, and results on an easy-to-use platform. Each scientist can create and execute their own workflows and view results in real-time, and then subsequently share and reuse workflows among other scientists. Two case studies, using the Kepler system and BioVeL, are introduced in this paper. Ecological niche modeling process, which is a specialized form of scientific workflow system included in both Kepler system and BioVeL, was used to describe and discuss the features, developmental trends, and problems of scientific workflows.     

Evolutionary Ethics: An Irresistible Temptation: Some Reflections on Paul Farber‘s The Temptation of Evolutionary Ethics

In his recent The Temptation of Evolutionary Ethics, Paul Farber has given a negative assessment of the last one hundred years of attempts in Anglo-American philosophy, beginning with Darwin, to develop an evolutionary ethics. Farber identifies some version of the naturalistic fallacy as one of the central sources for the failures of evolutionary ethics. For this reason, and others, Farber urges that though it has its attraction, evolutionary ethics is a temptation to be resisted. In this discussion I identify three major, historically relevant forms of the naturalistic fallacy, the (1) the deductive, (2) genetic, and (3) open question forms and argue that none of them pose an intrinsic problem for evolutionary ethics. I conclude that on this score at least there is no reason to resist temptation.     

Stem cell research in Asia: A critical view

Stem cell research stands as a high‐priority field in many countries across the Asia‐Pacific region, and the past decade has seen remarkable investment into facilities and programs intended to increase competitiveness in the drive to find clinical applications. In the years roughly framed by Korean cloner Woo‐Suk Hwang's meteoric ascent and fall, speculation was rampant that Asia was poised to overtake the West in this field of science. But that potential remains unfulfilled. In this article, I will look at some of the deficits in infrastructure and governance that underlie the East–West stem cell gap, and suggest a number of measures that might be taken to remedy them. J. Cell. Biochem. 107: 853–856, 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.