Transient expression of chicken alpha interferon gene in lettuce

We investigated the possibility of producing chicken alpha interferon (ChIFN-α) in transgenic plants.The cDNA encoding ChIFN-a was introduced into lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) plants by using an agro-infiltration transient expression system.The ChIFN-α gene was correctly transcribed and translated in the lettuce plants according to RT-PCR and ELISA assays.Re-combinant protein exhibited antiviral activity in vitro by inhibition of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) replication on chicken embryonic fibroblast (CEF).The results demonstrate that biologically active avian cytokine with potential pharmaceutical ap-plications could be expressed in transgenic lettuce plants and that it is possible to generate interferon protein in forage plants for preventing infectious diseases of poultry.     

Science Letters:Assignment of CCR7 gene to chicken chromosome 27 by radiation hybrid panel mapping

The protein encoded by CC chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) is a member of the G protein-coupled receptor family. This receptor was identified as a gene induced by the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and is thought to be a mediator of EBV effects on B lymphocytes. This receptor is expressed in various lymphoid tissues and activates B and T lymphocytes. It has been shown to control the migration of memory T cells to inflamed tissues, as well as stimulate dendritic cell maturation. To map the CCR7 gene in chicken chromosome, a 6 000 rads chicken-hamster radiation hybrid panel (ChickRH6) was used. PCR of samples from ChickRH6 revealed that the location of CCR7 gene is linked to the maker SEQ0347 (6 cR away) with LOD score of 16.6 and that the marker SEQ0347 is located on chromosome 27 at 27 cR of RH (radiation hydrid) map. We compared the corresponding human mRNA sequence with the predicted coding sequence of chicken CCR7 gene, and found that the assembled contig shared a high percentage of similarity with that of the human gene.     

Science Letters:Construction of a eukaryotic expression plasmid of Humanin

Objective:To construct a eukaryotic expression plasmid pcDNA3.1(-)-Humanin.Methods:The recombinant plasmidpGEMEX-1-Humanin was digested with restriction endonucleases BamH Ⅰ and Hind Ⅲ and the Humanin gene fragments,about100 bp length,were obtained.Then the Humanin gene fragments were inserted into eukaryotic expression vector pcDNA3.1(-)andthe recombinant plasmids pcDNA3.1(-)-Humanin were identified by sequencing.Results:Recombinant plasmid DNA success-fully produced a band which had the same size as that of the thimauin positive control.The sequence of recombinant plasmidsaccorded with the Humnain gene sequence.Conclusions:A eukaryotic expression plasmid of Humanin was successfully con-structed.     

Science Letters:Preparation of high-permeability NiCuZn ferrite

Appropriate addition of CuO/V2O5 and the reduction of the granularity of the raw materials particle decrease the sintering temperature ofNiZn ferrite from 1200 ℃ to 930 ℃. Furthermore, the magnetic properties of the NiZn ferrite prepared at low temperature of 930 ℃ is superior to that of the NiZn ferrite prepared by sintering at high temperature of 1200 ℃ because the microstructure of the NiZn ferrite sintered at 930 ℃ is more uniform and compact than that of the NiZn ferrite sintered at 1200 ℃.The high permeability of 1700 and relative loss coefficient tanδ//μi of 9.0×10-6 at 100 kHz was achieved in the (Ni0.17Zn0.63Cu0.20)Fe1.915O4 ferrite.     

Science Letters:Nutritional composition of Pakistani wheat varieties

Pakistani wheat varieties are grown over a wide agro-climatic range and as such are anticipated to exhibit yield and quality differences. It is therefore necessary to investigate the nutritional status of wheat varieties in terms of biochemical and physiochemical characteristics available for food and nutritional purposes in Pakistan. The result shows that wheat grains of different varieties contain a net protein level of 9.15%～10.27%, 2.15%～2.55% total fats, 1.72%～1.85% dietary fibers, 77.65×10-6～84.25×10-6 of potassium and 7.70×10-6～35.90×10-6 of sodium ions concentration, 0.24×10-6～0.84×10-6 of phosphorus, 1.44%～2.10% ash, 31.108～43.602 g of thousand grain mass (TGM) and 8.38%～9.67% moisture contents. This study is significant in providing an opportunity to explore the available wheat varieties and to further improve their nutritional excellence and also essential for setting nutritional regulations for domestic and export purposes.     

Science Letters:Two ancient rounds of polyploidy in rice genome

An ancient genome duplication (PPP1) that predates divergence of the cereals has recently been recognized. We report here another potentially older large-scale duplication (PPP2) event that predates monocot-dicot divergence in     

Science Letters:On the critical radius in generalized Ostwald ripening

INTRODUCTION A polydisperse precipitate produced by nuclea-tion in a metastable supersaturated solution is far from thermodynamic equilibrium, i.e. a state of minimal free energy. A decrease of free energy is accom-plished by a coarsening of the precipitate which es-sentially reduces the surface free energy with respect to the surrounding solution. The process is called Ostwald ripening and is a direct consequence of the Kelvin effect (Adamson and Gast, 1997), that is the higher solubi…     

Science Letters: A robust polysilicon-assisted SCR in ESD protection application

A novel polysilicon-assisted silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR) is presented and analyzed in this paper, which is fabricated in HHNEC's 0.18 μm EEPROM process. The polysilicon-assisted SCRs take advantage of polysilicon layer to help bypass electro-static discharge (ESD) current without occupying extra layout area. TLP current-voltage (Ⅰ-Ⅴ) measurement results show that given the same layout areas, robustness performance of polysilicon-assisted SCRs can be improved to 3 times of conventional MLSCR's. Moreover, one-finger such polysilicon-assisted SCRs, which occupy only 947 μm2 layout area, can undergo 7-kV HBM ESD stress. Results further demonstrate that the S-type Ⅰ-Ⅴcharacteristics of polysilicon-assisted SCRs are adjustable to different operating conditions by changingthe device dimensions. Compared with traditional SCRs, this new SCR can bypass more ESD currents and consumes smaller IC area.     

Science Letters:Detection of Catabacter hongkongensis in polluted European water samples

The Catabacteriaceae is a new bacterial family with a unique member: Catabacter hongkongensis is a strictly anaerobic, non-sporulating, Gram-positive coccobacillus that is phylogenetically related to some clostridial clusters. Little is known of its epidemiology and environmental distribution, but the inclusion of its 16S rRNA gene sequence in GenBank has allowed it to be detected qualitatively. As a first approach for prospective surveys, a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) procedure to identify C. hongkongensis has been developed. The presence of Catabacteriaceae in 29 water bodies subjected to possible human or animal impact has been investigated. Four of them were positive. The results confirm that highly polluted water can contain C. hongkongensis.     

Science Letters: On numerical calculation in symplectic approach for elasticity problems

The symplectic approach proposed and developed by Zhong et al. in 1990s for elasticity problems is a rational analytical method, in which ample experience is not needed as in the conventional semi-inverse method. In the symplectic space, elasticity problems can be solved using the method of separation of variables along with the eigenfunction expansion technique, as in traditional Fourier analysis. The eigensolutions include those corresponding to zero and nonzero eigenvalues. The latter group can be further divided into α-and β-sets. This paper reformulates the form of β-set eigensolutions to achieve the stability of numerical calculation, which is very important to obtain accurate results within the symplectic frame. An example is finally given and numerical results are compared and discussed.     

Science Letters: Lattice type transmission line of negative refractive index

In this letter, we introduce a novel passive transmission line of negative refractive index (i.e., left-handedness) based on identical symmetrical lattice type structures [thus called "lattice type transmission line" (LT-TL)]. The dispersion characteristic and the transmission response of the proposed LT-TL are analyzed. While all the other left-handed passive transmission lines are of high pass, the present passive left-handed transmission line is of low pass. Compared with a conventional transmission line, the LT-TL has a phase shift of 180° in the entire wide pass-band.     

Science Letters: Lattice type transmission line of negative refractive index

In this letter, we introduce a novel passive transmission line of negative refractive index （i.e., left-handedness） based on identical symmetrical lattice type structures [thus called ＂lattice type transmission line＂ （LT-TL）]. The dispersion characteristic and the transmission response of the proposed LT-TL are analyzed. While all the other left-handed passive transmission lines are of high pass, the present passive left-handed transmission line is of low pass. Compared with a conventional transmission line, the LT-TL has a phase shift of 180° in the entire wide pass-band.     

Science Letters:Dual structure of composite right/left-handed transmission line

INTRODUCTION An artificial dielectric medium that exhibits si- multaneously negative electric permittivity and magnetic permeability, also known as a left-handed (LH) material, was first envisaged by Veselago, who theoretically predicted that such a medium would exhibit a negative refractive index (NRI) (Veselago, 1968). An artificial NRI medium exhibiting back- ward-wave propagation characteristics (and therefore a negative refractive index) was first realized ex- perimentally in (She…     

Science Letters:Remediation of Cr(Ⅵ) in solution using vitamin C

The effectiveness of vitamin C in treating Cr(Ⅵ)-contaminated water is being evaluated. Cr(Ⅵ) is an identified pollutant of some soils and groundwater. Vitamin C, an important biological reductant in humans and animals, can be used to transform Cr(Ⅵ) to essentially nontoxic Cr(Ⅲ). The removal efficiency was 89% when the mass concentration of vitamin C was 80 mg/L in 60 min, and nearly 100% Cr(Ⅵ) was removed when the mass concentration was 100 mg/L. Our data demonstrated that the removal efficiency was affected by vitamin C concentration, the reaction temperature and the dissolved oxygen concentration.The reaction mechanism of Cr(Ⅵ) by vitamin C was presented. Our study opens the way to use vitamin C to remediate Cr(Ⅵ)-contaminated soils and groundwater.     

Science Letters:Gama-aminobiityric acid accumulation in Elsholtzia splendens in response to copper toxicity

A solution with different Cu supply levels was cultured to investigate gama-aminobutyric acid (GABA) accumulation in Elsholtzia splendens, a native Chinese Cu-tolerant and accumulating plant species. Increasing Cu from 0.25 to 500 μmol/L significantly enhanced levels of GABA and histidine (His), but     

Science Letters: Low-cost fault tolerance in evolvable multiprocessor systems: a graceful degradation approach

The evolvable multiprocessor (EvoMP), as a novel multiprocessor system-on-chip (MPSoC) machine with evolvable task decomposition and scheduling, claims a major feature of low-cost and efficient fault tolerance. Non-centralized control and adaptive distribution of the program among the available processors are two major capabilities of this platform, which remarkably help to achieve an efficient fault tolerance scheme. This letter presents the operational as well as architectural details of this fault tolerance scheme. In this method, when a processor becomes faulty, it will be eliminated of contribution in program execution in remaining run-time. This method also utilizes dynamic rescheduling capability of the system to achieve the maximum possible efficiency after processor reduction. The results confirm the efficiency and remarkable advantages of the proposed approach over common redundancy based techniques in similar systems.     

Science Letters: A current-differential-based method for improving dynamic characteristics of electromagnetic actuators

ontrol method is applied to a real gravure system which verifies the control performance.     

Science Letters:Proteomic analysis of differentially expressed proteins in mice with concanavalin A-induced hepatitis

Objective:To find new protein biomarkers for the detection and evaluation of liver injury and to analyze the relationship between such proteins and disease progression in concanavalin A (Con A)-induced hepatitis.Methods:Twenty-five mice were randomly divided into five groups:an untreated group,a control group injected with phosphate buffered saline (PBS),and groups with Con A-induced hepatitis evaluated at 1,3 and 6 h.Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and mass spectrometry (MS) were used to identif...