Mass Collaboration in Earthquake Risk Management

The mechanism of mass collaboration in risk management was studied during the Sichuan earthquake under a Web-based “PeopleFinder” project, where information is contributed and shared among mass contributors. The case study is provided by a great earthquake that happened in Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province, of southwestern China at 2:28 p.m. on May 12, 2008. We witnessed and experienced the rescue and relief efforts for the great earthquake. In this article, two fundamental frameworks are developed to study the mechanism of mass collaboration. Mass collaboration is proven to be effective in a big public crisis such as the Sichuan earthquake.     

High Altitude Frogs (Rana kukonoris) Adopt a Diversified Bethedging Strategy in the Face of Environmental Unpredictability

Environmental unpredictability can influence strategies of maternal investment among eggs within a clutch. Models predict that breeding females should adopt a diversified bet-hedging strategy in unpredictable environments, but empirical field evidence from Asia is scarce. Here we tested this hypothesis by exploring spatial patterns in egg size along an altitudinal gradient in a frog species(Rana kukunoris) inhabiting the Tibetan Plateau. Within-clutch variability in egg size increased as the environment became variable(e.g., lower mean monthly temperature and mean monthly rainfall at higher altitudes), and populations in environments with more unpredictable rainfall produced eggs that were smaller and more variable in size. We provide support for a diversified bet-hedging strategy in high-altitude environments, which experience dynamic weather patterns and therefore are of unpredictable environmental quality. This strategy may be an adaptive response to lower environmental quality and higher unpredictable environmental variance. Such a strategy should increase the likelihood of breeding success and maximize maternal lifetime fitness by producing offspring that are adapted to current environmental conditions. We speculate that in high-altitude environments prone to physical disturbance, breeding females are unable to consistently produce the optimal egg size due to physiological constraints imposed by environmental conditions(e.g., duration of the active season, food availability). Species and populations whose breeding strategies are adapted to cope with uncertain environmental conditions by adjusting offspring size and therefore quality show a remarkable degree of ability to cope with future climatic changes.     

Effect of T-activin on the production of immune interferon

A study was made of the effect of T-activin on the biosynthesis of immune gamma-interferon. It was shown that in 27% of patients with chronic nonspecific pulmonary diseases, production of gamma-interferon by lymphocytes was substantially reduced during exacerbation of inflammatory process in the lungs. It was discovered that T-activin was not an interferon inductor but enhanced its synthesis in patients with a low capacity of producing immune interferon even at small doses of interferon inductor. The preparation does not produce any effect on this process in normal subjects and in patients showing the normal level of gamma-interferon. Thus T-activin can be used for stimulation of interferonogenesis.     

Competitive lipase-catalyzed ester hydrolysis and ammoniolysis in organic solvents; equilibrium model of a solid-liquid-vapor system.

Enzymatic ester hydrolysis and ammoniolysis were performed as competitive reactions in methyl isobutyl ketone without a separate aqueous phase. The reaction system contained solid ammonium bicarbonate, which dissolved as water, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. During the reaction an organic liquid phase, a vapor phase, and at least one solid phase are present. The overall equilibrium composition of this multiphase system is a complex function of the reaction equilibria and several phase equilibria. To gain a quantitative understanding of this system a mathematical model was developed and evaluated. The model is based on the mass balances for a closed batch system and straightforward relations for the reaction equilibria and the solubility equilibria of ammonium bicarbonate, the fatty acid ammonium salt, water, ammonia, and carbon dioxide. For butyl butyrate as a model ester and Candida antarctica lipase B as the biocatalyst this equilibrium model describes the experiments satisfactorily. The model predicts that high equilibrium yields of butyric acid can be achieved only in the absence of ammoniolysis or in the presence of a separate water phase. However, high yields of butyramide should be possible if the water concentration is fixed at a low level and a more suited source of ammonia is applied.