A knowledge-driven agent-centred framework for data mining in EMG

In this paper, we present a multi-agent framework for data mining in electromyography. This application, based on a web interface, provides a set of functionalities allowing to manipulate 1000 medical cases and more than 25,000 neurological tests stored in a medical database. The aim is to extract medical information using data mining algorithms and to supply a knowledge base with pertinent information. The multi-agent platform gives the possibility to distribute the data management process between several autonomous entities. This framework provides a parallel and flexible data manipulation.     

农作物遗传多样性农家保护的现状及前景

农作物地方品种的有效保护是农业生物多样性的可持续利用的基础。由于现代农业的集约化生产方式使大量农作物地方品种被少数高产改良品种所取代,造成农作物基因库的严重“基因流失”（genetic erosion)。农家保护是在农业生态系统中进行的动态保护,被保护的生物多亲性可在其生境中继续进化而产生新的遗传变异,在而是农业生物多样性就地保护的重要途径。然而,尽管人们对作物品种资源农家保护的兴趣不断增长,也有大量有关农家的保护的研究和案例分析,但目前为止还没有比较成功的农家保护实例报道。因此,对农家保护的机制及科学问题进行深入的研究,并寻求一条新的途径来充分发挥农家保护应有的作用,显得格外重要。利用生物多样性布局的水稻混合间栽的生产模式,不仅解决了病害控制的问题,而且也保护了水稻地方品种的多样性。这种混合间栽的生物多样性布局和生产方式可能成为农保护的一条新途径。     

Challenges to Consensus in Preparing the Supplement to the Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health

Preparing the Supplement to the Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health proved controversial because the assignment, by its nature, challenged several forms of consensus that typically remain unexamined. They included disciplinary assumptions about theory and methods, sociopolitical assumptions about the relevance of history to contemporary circumstances of ethnic minority groups in America, the rigor and usefulness of cultural formulation, and whether the burden of proof rested with those who took for granted that sociocultural differences exist in theories of behavior, or those who took for granted the existence of universals. Preparation of the Supplement illustrates the uncertainty and tension that arise when unexamined boundaries and perspectives lose their capacity to serve as guides to scientific judgment and discourse.     

Beyond Ground Truth: GIS and the Environmental Knowledge of Herders, Professional Foresters, and Other Traditional Communities

As a result of increasingly apparent and problematic effects of global information system and remote sensing technologies, there has been increased emphasis on demonstrating and incorporating indigenous environmental knowledges in land use and cover analysis. Such approaches, though ethnographically revealing and politically efficacious, tend to reproduce a model of difference between local and scientific knowledges that is epistemologically untenable. This paper demonstrates an alternative use of geographic information system and remotely sensed imagery to both demonstrate the partiality of mapping technology and show possibilities for critical usage of the tool. Using a case from India, the research shows a method to elicit and explore competing environmental knowledges, including and especially those of scientific experts. The analysis concludes that, for both local producers and expert managers, the cultural meaning of landscapes is dependent on their roles in regional production and resource politics.     

Structure-based prediction of binding peptides to MHC class I molecules: application to a broad range of MHC alleles

Specific binding of antigenic peptides to major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecules is a prerequisite for their recognition by cytotoxic T-cells. Prediction of MHC-binding peptides must therefore be incorporated in any predictive algorithm attempting to identify immunodominant T-cell epitopes, based on the amino acid sequence of the protein antigen. Development of predictive algorithms based on experimental binding data requires experimental testing of a very large number of peptides. A complementary approach relies on the structural conservation observed in crystallographically solved peptide-MHC complexes. By this approach, the peptide structure in the MHC groove is used as a template upon which peptide candidates are threaded, and their compatibility to bind is evaluated by statistical pairwise potentials. Our original algorithm based on this approach used the pairwise potential table of Miyazawa and Jernigan (Miyazawa S, Jernigan RL, 1996, J Mol Biol 256:623-644) and succeeded to correctly identify good binders only for MHC molecules with hydrophobic binding pockets, probably because of the high emphasis of hydrophobic interactions in this table. A recently developed pairwise potential table by Betancourt and Thirumalai (Betancourt MR, Thirumalai D, 1999, Protein Sci 8:361-369) that is based on the Miyazawa and Jernigan table describes the hydrophilic interactions more appropriately. In this paper, we demonstrate how the use of this table, together with a new definition of MHC contact residues by which only residues that contribute exclusively to sequence specific binding are included, allows the development of an improved algorithm that can be applied to a wide range of MHC class I alleles.     

毒蛇咬伤的中西医结合用药分析

目的探讨毒蛇咬伤的临床中西医结合用药状况。方法随机抽取本院近年毒蛇咬伤病例１２０份进行统计与分析。结果在毒蛇咬伤的临床用药中,以清热解毒、利水消肿、益气养血的中药与抗蛇毒、抗炎、抗过敏、抗休克、利尿排毒和保护脏器功能的西药结合用率达１００％。结论中西医结合治疗蛇伤,有利于内外同治,标本兼治,提高临床治愈率。     

薄层扫描法测定保元肠疡胶囊中人参皂苷Rg_1的含量

本文报道了用双波长薄层扫描法测定中成药制剂保元肠疡胶囊中微量人参皂苷Ｒｇ１的含量．方法稳定、检测灵敏度高,变异系数小于５％．可作为该成药制剂的质量控制标准．     

青海热贡唐卡的生物文化初探

生物多样性的减少不仅意味着基因、物种和生态系统的损失, 还威胁到人类文化的多样性。唐卡被誉为藏族传统文化的“百科全书”,其内容涵盖了社会、历史、文化、宗教、医药等诸多方面。青海热贡唐卡作为唐卡的重要流派,因生动细腻的形象描绘和大量自然景观的刻画而广为流传。该文将文献分析、作品分析与民族生物学实地调查等方法相结合,从热贡止唐(绘画唐卡)绘制所用到的生物材料和热贡唐卡画面内容所反映的生物形象两方面对其生物文化进行了研究。该研究揭示了热贡止唐传统绘画工具和12种天然植物颜料的基源生物与制作工艺,探讨了热贡唐卡作品中常出现的生物形象本源、来源及其文化功能,阐释了热贡唐卡教诲图中传递的生态理念。总体而言,热贡唐卡取材于大自然,其内容亦反哺大自然。未来,应更加注重热贡唐卡的传统技艺及其生物多样性相关传统知识的保护与传承,进一步发掘其传统知识传播和自然教育的潜能。     

The problems of sustainable water use in the Mediterranean and research requirements for agriculture

This study addresses the sustainable use of water resources in the Mediterranean basin, particularly in the Southern and Eastern parts of the region, and the many problems generated by water scarcity and misuse. Water economy in the region is beset by two specific problems: high irrigation needs and changes in consumer demands (especially after population shifts from rural to urban areas and because of increasing tourism and industrialisation). The challenges presented by the water crisis are even greater because of growing populations and estimated future climatic changes in the region. The integrated management of limited water resources in the Southern and Eastern parts of the Mediterranean involves several areas of research. Those most directly related with agriculture concern improving water (and nutrient) use in agriculture through the management and breeding of irrigated and rain-fed crops. However, these fields of research address only one face of a multi-factorial equation that affects water sustainability in the region. Thus, other research fields include the design of comprehensive water policies and integrated planning, and technologies for advanced water treatment and re-use. Moreover, local problems and socio-economic aspects must be considered when addressing research issues.