Chirality and life

The crucial role of homochirality and chiral homogeneity in the self-replication of contemporary biopolymers is emphasized, and the experimentally demonstrated advantages of these chirality attributes in simpler polymeric systems are summarized. The implausibility of life without chirality and hence of a biogenic scenario for the origin of chiral molecules is stressed, and chance and determinate abiotic mechanisms for the origin of chirality are reviewed briefly in the context of their potential viability on the primitive Earth. It is concluded that all such mechanisms would be non-viable, and that the turbulent prebiotic environment would require an ongoing extraterrestrial source for the accumulation of chiral molecules on the primitive Earth. A scenario is described wherein the circularly polarized ultraviolet synchrotron radiation from the neutron star remnants of supernovae engenders asymmetric photolysis of the racemic constituents in the organic mantles on interstellar dust grains, whereupon these chiral constituents are transported repetitively to the primative Earth by direct accretion of the interstellar dust or through impacts of comets and asteroids.     

Artificial life and living systems: Insight into artificial life and its implications in life science research

Advanced technology has made it possible to build machines and systems like robots, which are capable of making intelligent decisions. Robots capable of self-replication and perform human functions are also available. The current challenge is to design evolutionary systems with high complexity comparable to that of biological networks. This is proposed to be achieved by ALife (Artificial Life). Here, we describe the promises provided by ALife for life sciences.     

常见寿命数据类型及生命表的编制方法

生命表是描述种群死亡过程的有用工具,介绍了4种常见的寿命数据类型;寿终数据,右删失数据,左删失数据和区间型数据特征及其相应的数据分析处理方法即生命表法,乘积限估计和Turbull估计法,对生命表法和乘积限估计法应用上的特点进行了比较,同时还对特殊的寿命数据类型－－截断数据做了简要介绍。     

Famine-related mortality in early life and accelerated life histories in nineteenth-century Belgium

Density-dependent and extrinsic mortality are predicted to accelerate reproductive maturation. The first 5 years of life is a proposed sensitive period for life-history regulation. This study examines the ways in which local mortality during this sensitive period was related to subsequent marriage timing in nineteenth-century Belgium (n women = 11 892; n men = 14 140). Local mortality during the sensitive period was inversely associated with age at first marriage for men and women controlling for literacy, occupational status, population growth and migration. Cox regression indicated decreased time to marriage for women (HR = 1.661, 95% CI: 1.542–1.789) and men (HR = 1.327, 95% CI: 1.238–1.422) from high mortality municipalities. Rising population growth rates were associated with earlier marriage for men and women. Migration in general was associated with later marriage for men and women. Consistent with life-history predictions, harsh ecological conditions during early life such as famine coincided with earlier marriage.