再生数R0的计算及其控制策略

在传染病数学模型中,一般有一个传染病消除平衡点和至少一个地方病平衡点,这些平衡点的稳定性由再生数R_0决定,当R_0<1,疾病消除平衡点稳定,此传染病可以消除;当R_0>1,疾病消除平衡点不稳定,此传染病将蔓延,所以再生数R_0是传染病数学模型中最重要的参数.本文针对乙型肝炎病毒的传播方式以及各种状态间的转化模式建立了乙型肝炎数学模型,并利用马尔可夫链的方法计算乙型肝炎数学模型中的再生数R_0,提出了通过采取降低R_0的方法对乙型肝炎数学模型施加有效控制的策略.     

病毒衣壳结构亚单位的种类数与三角形剖分数关系的研究和探讨

本文报道了在正廿面体病毒衣壳中,当蛋白结构亚单位以“三聚体”的形式聚集在单位三角形(?)时,其亚单位的种类数应等于该病毒的三角形剖分数值。     

detectIR: A Novel Program for Detecting Perfect and Imperfect Inverted Repeats Using Complex Numbers and Vector Calculation

Inverted repeats are present in abundance in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic genomes and can form DNA secondary structures – hairpins and cruciforms that are involved in many important biological processes. Bioinformatics tools for efficient and accurate detection of inverted repeats are desirable, because existing tools are often less accurate and time consuming, sometimes incapable of dealing with genome-scale input data. Here, we present a MATLAB-based program called detectIR for the perfect and imperfect inverted repeat detection that utilizes complex numbers and vector calculation and allows genome-scale data inputs. A novel algorithm is adopted in detectIR to convert the conventional sequence string comparison in inverted repeat detection into vector calculation of complex numbers, allowing non-complementary pairs (mismatches) in the pairing stem and a non-palindromic spacer (loop or gaps) in the middle of inverted repeats. Compared with existing popular tools, our program performs with significantly higher accuracy and efficiency. Using genome sequence data from HIV-1, Arabidopsis thaliana, Homo sapiens and Zea mays for comparison, detectIR can find lots of inverted repeats missed by existing tools whose outputs often contain many invalid cases. detectIR is open source and its source code is freely available at: https://sourceforge.net/projects/detectir.     

Reproductive strategy and carry-over effects for species with complex life histories

We investigated the influences of natal-pool and metamorph characteristics on juvenile survival, age-specific breeding probabilities, and dispersal of wood frogs (Lithobates sylvatica) and used this information to infer how life history strategies of short-lived species may offset risks associated with breeding in highly variable habitats. We used multistate mark-recapture data from eight wood frog populations in Maryland, USA, to investigate the influences of natal-pond and metamorph characteristics on post-metamorphic demographics. We found that post-metamorphic juvenile survival was highly variable and negatively influenced by abiotic conditions experienced during development but showed little relationship to larval density or size at metamorphosis. Estimates of recruitment and dispersal probabilities indicated that males mature earlier than females, and a small percentage of each sex disperse to non-natal pools. Survival probabilities for adults during the non-breeding season were less variable than juvenile rates, lower for females, and negatively related to mean monthly precipitation. Survival of adults during the breeding season was generally very high. We provide the first robust estimates of post-metamorphic vital rates of wood frogs that allow for variation in capture probabilities. We found little evidence for an effect of metamorph traits on juvenile survival, suggesting that wood frogs may be able to overcome initial disadvantages to have similar post-metamorphic performance. Our study suggests that variation in the age of maturity for wood frogs may mitigate risks associated with breeding in a highly variable habitat to maximize lifetime fitness without increasing lifespan, and this strategy is minimally affected by carry-over effects from the larval stage.     

小型哺乳动物的繁殖投入与繁殖成功率

动物的繁殖活动关系到整个种群的生存与灭绝, 繁殖投入和繁殖成功率是繁殖生态学研究的重要内容。从繁殖投入的划分入手, 综述了小型哺乳动物的繁殖投入和繁殖成功率之间的关系及其影响因素、分子生物学技术在繁殖生态学中的应用等, 阐述了小型哺乳动物能够根据自身的状态调整每次繁殖活动中的时间投入和能量分配, 采取不同的繁殖对策。这些繁殖对策是长期自然选择的结果, 其目的都是为了最大限度地提高自身的适合度。并且指出分子生物学技术在繁殖生态学中的应用将大大加快这一研究领域的快速发展。     

Asymptotic Distributions of Coalescence Times and Ancestral Lineage Numbers for Populations with Temporally Varying Size

The distributions of coalescence times and ancestral lineage numbers play an essential role in coalescent modeling and ancestral inference. Both exact distributions of coalescence times and ancestral lineage numbers are expressed as the sum of alternating series, and the terms in the series become numerically intractable for large samples. More computationally attractive are their asymptotic distributions, which were derived in Griffiths (1984) for populations with constant size. In this article, we derive the asymptotic distributions of coalescence times and ancestral lineage numbers for populations with temporally varying size. For a sample of size n, denote by T_m the mth coalescent time, when m + 1 lineages coalesce into m lineages, and A_n(t) the number of ancestral lineages at time t back from the current generation. Similar to the results in Griffiths (1984), the number of ancestral lineages, A_n(t), and the coalescence times, T_m, are asymptotically normal, with the mean and variance of these distributions depending on the population size function, N(t). At the very early stage of the coalescent, when t → 0, the number of coalesced lineages n − A_n(t) follows a Poisson distribution, and as m → n, n(n ? 1)T_m/2N(0) follows a gamma distribution. We demonstrate the accuracy of the asymptotic approximations by comparing to both exact distributions and coalescent simulations. Several applications of the theoretical results are also shown: deriving statistics related to the properties of gene genealogies, such as the time to the most recent common ancestor (TMRCA) and the total branch length (TBL) of the genealogy, and deriving the allele frequency spectrum for large genealogies. With the advent of genomic-level sequencing data for large samples, the asymptotic distributions are expected to have wide applications in theoretical and methodological development for population genetic inference.     

Analytic formulas for discrete stochastic models of cell populations with both differentiation and de-differentiation

Cell differentiation often appears to be a stochastic process particularly in the hemopoietic system. One of the earliest stochastic models for the growth of stem cell populations was proposed by Till et al. in 1964. In this model there are just two cell types: stem cells and specialized cells. At each time step there is a fixed probability that a stem cell differentiates into a specialized cell and a fixed probability that it undergoes mitosis to produce two stem cells. Even though this model is conceptually simple the myriad of possible outcomes has made it difficult to analyse. We present original closed-form expressions for the probability functions and a fast algorithm for computing them. Renewed interest in stem cells has raised questions about the effect de-differentiation has on stem cell populations. We have extended the stochastic model to include de-differentiation and show that even a small amount of de-differentiation can have a large effect on stem cell population growth.     

Mixing of perfluorinated carboxylic acids with dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine

Perfluorinated acids are emerging as an important class of persistent environmental pollutant, thus raising human health concerns. To understand the behavior of these compounds in biological systems, the mixing behavior of two perfluorinated acids, perfluorododecanoic and perfluorotetradecanoic acid, with dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) was studied in monolayers at the air-water interface and in fully hydrated DPPC bilayers. The mixing behavior of both acids was indicative of an attractive interaction and partial miscibility with DPPC at the air-water interface. In the bilayer studies, the fluorinated acids cause peak broadening and elimination of the pretransition of DPPC. The onset temperature of the main phase transition remains constant in the presence of the fluorinated acids suggesting immiscibilities in the gel phase. Below X(DPPC) = 0.97 significant peak broadening of the main phase transition can be observed. These results suggest strong interaction between the respective acid and DPPC, and that both acids are able to partition into the lipid bilayer. However, their mixing behavior is far from ideal, thus suggesting the presence of domains or lipid aggregates with high acid concentrations which may (adversely) impact the function of biological mono- and bilayers.     

Mixing of Isaria fumosorosea with enhanced diatomaceous earth and bitterbarkomycin for control of Rhyzopertha dominica

The virulence of Isaria fumosorosea alone and integrated with an enhanced formulation of diatomaceous earth (diatomaceous earth + bitterbarkomycin, DEBBM) was tested against the lesser grain borer Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) (Coleoptera: Bostrychidae) under laboratory conditions on stored wheat. The fungus was applied to wheat grains at various concentrations of 3.60 × 10⁶, 3.60 × 10⁸, and 3.60 × 10¹⁰ conidia/kg alone, or in combination with 15 and 30 ppm of DEBBM. R. dominica was held at 20, 25 and 30°C and two RH regimes (56 and 75%) and mortality was registered after 5, 10 and 15 d. Generally, I. fumosorosea was most effective at 25°C caused the highest mortality of R. dominica at 56% RH. The increase of temperature, concentration and exposure interval increased the insecticidal effect of DEBBM at low RH level. The DE alone suppressed the progeny emergence at higher dose rate as compared I. fumosorosea alone, but their simultaneous use further reduced the progeny production of R. dominica. The integrated use of both tested bio control agents synergized the effect of each other and caused the highest mortality at 25°C and 56% RH. The results clearly demonstrated that I. fumosorosea and new enhanced DEBBM can be integrated to be an effective control measure for R. dominica in stored wheat.     

共生有生殖器官的Anomozamites的新发现

摘要：海房沟异羽叶的新联合(Anomozamites haifanggouensis(Kimura et al.)comb．nov．)是辽西和内蒙古东部中侏罗统海房沟组一种特有的本内苏铁类植物。仅发现一块标本(正、反面印痕)。标本上保存3枚营养羽叶,它们同几个苞片状的小叶和一些小孢子叶联合在一起,但球果的雌蕊群部分未被保存。标本被收集于内蒙古东部的宁城县山头乡道虎村附近,产于中侏罗统海房沟组。以往在辽西葫芦岛市的南票和白马石乡上三角城等地的同一层位中也曾发现过很多分散保存的苞片状小叶和相似的小孢子叶。它们最初被潘广(1983)认为是一种双子叶的半被子植物(Cycadicotis),并将小孢子叶视为“具皱纹的雌性种囊”。后来,又经KJlnura等(1994)详细研究,因未找到任何与被子植物有关的证据,将它们归入一个分类位置不明的形态属Panlatangia,并被描述在P．haifanggouensis种名之下。研究结果表明,本文中被研究的标本是同本内苏铁类的Anomozamites异羽叶相连,从而为这些分散保存的生殖器官的确切分类位置的确定提供了有力的证据。     

A Simple Device for Washing Large Numbers of Sections and Tissues

A simple, efficient, and inexpensive device which washes up to 480 slides simultaneously, is described. It consists essentially of a deeper lower tray to hold the slides or specimens and a shallower upper tray which distributes the water. Both are held in place by wooden frames. Both trays are perforated and the tapwater flow into the upper one is adjusted to keep the lower one nearly full. The correct number of holes needed in the bottom of each tray to maintain equilibrium of flow is ascertained easily by trial.     

共生有生殖器官的Anomozamites的新发现

海房沟异羽叶的新联合(Anomozamites haifanggouensis (Kimura et al.) comb. nov.)是辽西和内蒙古东部中侏罗统海房沟组一种特有的本内苏铁类植物.仅发现一块标本(正、反面印痕).标本上保存3枚营养羽叶,它们同几个苞片状的小叶和一些小孢子叶联合在一起,但球果的雌蕊群部分未被保存.标本被收集于内蒙古东部的宁城县山头乡道虎村附近,产于中侏罗统海房沟组.以往在辽西葫芦岛市的南票和白马石乡上三角城等地的同一层位中也曾发现过很多分散保存的苞片状小叶和相似的小孢子叶.它们最初被潘广(1983)认为是一种双子叶的半被子植物(Cycadicotis),并将小孢子叶视为"具皱纹的雌性种囊".后来,又经Kimura等(1994)详细研究,因未找到任何与被子植物有关的证据,将它们归入一个分类位置不明的形态属Pankuangia,并被描述在P. haifanggouensis种名之下.研究结果表明,本文中被研究的标本是同本内苏铁类的Anomozamites异羽叶相连,从而为这些分散保存的生殖器官的确切分类位置的确定提供了有力的证据.     

Tailored Implementation of Evidence-Based Practice for Patients with Chronic Diseases

Background

When designing interventions and policies to implement evidence based healthcare, tailoring strategies to the targeted individuals and organizations has been recommended. We aimed to gather insights into the ideas of a variety of people for implementing evidence-based practice for patients with chronic diseases, which were generated in five European countries.

Methods

A qualitative study in five countries (Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, United Kingdom) was done, involving overall 115 individuals. A purposeful sample of four categories of stakeholders (healthcare professionals, quality improvement officers, healthcare purchasers and authorities, and health researchers) was involved in group interviews in each of the countries to generate items for improving healthcare in different chronic conditions per country: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cardiovascular disease, depression in elderly people, multi-morbidity, obesity. A disease-specific standardized list of determinants of practice in these conditions provided the starting point for these groups. The content of the suggested items was categorized in a pre-defined framework of 7 domains and specific themes in the items were identified within each domain.

Results

The 115 individuals involved in the study generated 812 items, of which 586 addressed determinants of practice. These largely mapped onto three domains: individual health professional factors, patient factors, and professional interactions. Few items addressed guideline factors, incentives and resources, capacity of organizational change, or social, political and legal factors. The relative numbers of items in the different domains were largely similar across stakeholder categories within each of the countries. The analysis identified 29 specific themes in the suggested items across countries.

Conclusion

The type of suggestions for improving healthcare practice was largely similar across different stakeholder groups, mainly addressing healthcare professionals, patient factors and professional interactions. As this study is one of the first of its kind, it is important that more research is done on tailored implementation strategies.     

Optimal Reproductive Strategy of Plants, with Special Reference to the Modes of Reproductive Resource Allocation

Abstract A growth model for reproductive energy allocation pattern and schedule is proposed. Assumptions are as follows: (1) the assimilation rate for an individual is given by a logistic curve of vegetative dry weight; (2) size variability is expressed by the parameter W of the logistic curve (asymptotic value of vegetative dry weight); (3) a plant controls allocation of the assimilate to vegetative and reproductive structures so as to maximize the reproductive energy investment at the end of the growth period. The models were analyzed in comparison with field and experimental observations and gave reasonable explanations for the reproductive allocation pattern of individuals which reflects ecological preferences and life history characteristics, such as environmental conditions of habitats (stable or changing), length of life span (annual, biennial or perennial) and growth form (erectophile or planophile). Decreasing RA (reproductive allocation) with individual size and delayed switchover time from vegetative to reproductive growth were found in plants which occur in stable environments and have a more or less fixed growth period; in those which occur in changing environments where growth period depends on individual size, RAs that remain constant or increase with variations in individual size and early switchover time were detected. Most perennials conform to the former case, but annuals and biennials conform to the latter case. Under extremely overcrowded conditions, planophiles, which are much more subject to crowding effect than erectophiles, tend to have increasing RA with increasing size, while erectophiles tend to have almost constant RA irrespective of size. These trends are discussed in the light of the life history characteristics and ecological distribution of plant species studied.