Applications——Influence of Biology on Engineering

Examples are presented showing the way in which biological systems produce a range of functions which can be implemented in engineering, such as feedback-control of stiffness （muscles and nervous system）, the design of fault-free structures （trees） and damage-tolerant materials （wood） and high performance insulation （penguin feathers） and shock absorbers （hedgehog spines）.     

The Best of Both Worlds——Building Gardens With a Sense of Place

The last decade in China has been a period of great growth and renewal. More and more public garden has been built, many those gardens are built with Western-influenced styles and lack of Chinese factor. A garden with a strong sense of place will clearly put the visitor in a specific locality by astute use of design to support a distinctive regional character. Here the author gives several examples of famous gardens about how to keep the sense of place and try to give some useful suggestion on Chinese garden build.     

Subtyping of haptoglobin — Presentation of a new method

Summary A method is described for large scale routine phenotyping of haptoglobin (Hp) which allows complete subtyping without prior purification of the Hp molecule. The procedure includes polyacrylamide gel isoelectric focusing of reduced, neuraminidase treated serum or plasma samples, and nitrocellulose blots developed with the immunoperoxidase technique. Different variables including sample treatment, electrofocusing, blotting procedures, and immunoperoxidase visualization are discussed.Characteristic -chain patterns allow identification of the common allotypes 2FS, 2SS, 2FF, IS, IF, and Johnson. Isoelectric variations in the -chain may also be recognized. For comparison, two-dimensional Hp-patterns are presented. The results from concurrent typing of 600 samples by ordinary starch gel electrophoresis and by the described isofocusing technique, are evaluated.     

The Best of Both Worlds——Building Gardens With a Sense of Place

The last decade in China has been a period of great growth and renewal. More and more public garden has been built, many those gardens are built with Western-influenced styles and lack of Chinese factor. A garden with a strong sense of place will clearly put the visitor in a specific locality by astute use of design to support a distinctive regional character. Here the author gives several examples of famous gardens about how to keep the sense of place and try to give some useful suggestion on Chinese garden build.