Differentiation of the Agonists and Antagonists of the α7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor

The α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors(nAChRs) are widely expressed in the central and peripheral nervous systems and are important drug targets for the treatment of neurological diseases. However, differentiation of the agonists and antagonists of the nAChR is difficult. In this study we aimed to develop a reliable and efficient computational approach for differentiation of the agonists from the antagonists of the nAChR based on a systematical analysis of 123 ligands(87 agonists, 12 partial agonists, and 24 antagonists) binding with the extracellular domain of the α7 n AChR chimera. Our results suggest that the ligand size and ligand binding affinity cannot differentiate the agonists from the antagonists of the nAChR. The ligand efficiency that considers both ligand binding affinity and size for the agonists is overall more left shifted in comparison to the antagonists, but the values of the ligand efficiency still cannot differentiate the agonists from the antagonists unless the values are either relatively high(more than-0.3 kcal mol-1) or relatively low(less than-0.45 kcal mol-1). Our results suggest that accurate prediction of the agonist or antagonist of the nAChR is challenging and the ligand innate configuration has to be considered as an extra for differentiation of the agonists from the antagonists of the nAChR.     

Mechanistic Study and Kinetic Determination of Cu(Ⅱ) by the Catalytic Kinetic Spectrophotometric Method

A highly sensitive and selective catalytic kinetic spectrophotometric method for the determination of Cu(Ⅱ) is proposed. It is based on the catalytic effect of Cu(Ⅱ) on the oxidation of glutathione(GSH) by potassium hexacyanoferrate(Ⅲ) in acidic medium at 25.0℃. The reaction is monitored spectrophotometrically by measuring the decrease in absorbance of oxidant at 420 nm using the fix-time method. Under the optimum conditions, the proposed method allows the determination of Cu(Ⅱ) in a range of 0-35.0 ng m L^-1 with good precision and accuracy and the limit of detection is down to 0.04 ng m L^-1. The relative standard deviation(RSD) is 1.02%. The reaction orders with respect to each reagent are found to be 1, 1/2, and 1/2 for potassium hexacyanoferrate(Ⅲ), glutathione and Cu(Ⅱ) respectively. On the basis of these values, the rate equation is obtained and the possible mechanism is established. Moreover, few anions and cations can interfere with the determination of Cu(Ⅱ). The new proposed method can be successfully used to the determination of Cu(Ⅱ) in fresh water samples and seawater samples. It is found that the proposed method has fairly good selectivity, high sensitivity, good repeatability, simplicity and rapidity.     

SPATIAL STRUCTURE EVOLUTION OF SYSTEM OF RECREATION BUSINESS DISTRICT ——A Case of Suzhou City

The growing attention on urban tourism was very widespread. There are two angles to study urban tourism: supply-side and demand-side. And the supply-side of the tourism remains very important. The RBD (Recreation Business District) is a useful framework to understand the components of urban tourism and how they fit together. The paper begins with a review on the RBD and the spatial structure of tourism in urban areas and then attempts to develop a more general understanding of the spatial structure evolution of RBDs in a tourist-historic city—Suzhou. The spatial structures and functions of the RBDs in Suzhou are examined, based on field observations, interviews with city officials and industry leaders, and a review of available documents. The urban tourism of Suzhou has developed in a range of contexts, that various types of RBDs have emerged as a result of different urban development strategies. The spatial structure has evolved from the past “Single-cored Structure“ to “Double-cored Structure“ at present, and then to “Chain Structure“ in the future. The spatial form and evolution of RBD in Suzhou are closely relative with its urban spatial expansion. Urban area dispersal is the prerequisite of the emergence of the RBD. Planning and constructing the RBD becomes a new impetus to urban growth or renewal. Finally, a number of strategies for planning and developing the RBD in Suzhou are suggested. The different RBDs should adopt different strategies.Intensification can be the possible strategy for the RBDs in the ancient city. Accreting with the urban theme park or engrafting on the Jinji Lake is suggested respectively for the RBD in the Suzhou New District and the Suzhou Indus-trial Park.     

EMPIRICAL ORTHOGONAL MODES IN THE WESTERN PACIFIC

The method of empirical orthogonal modes has been widely used since the 1970's in physical oceanography to study and rebuild vertical structures of ocean dynamic factors. Because of the dominance of the low modes, the dynamic profile data can be largely reduced.Up to now, all expressions of empirical orthogonal modes are numerical. In this study, an analytic expression for empirical orthogonal ocean modes is constructed for convenient use whereby any numerical expressions can be repeated.The features of the normal modes decomposed from the buoyance frequency profiles obtained in October of 1986,1987 and 1988 by the R/V Science 1 in the western Pacific are quantitatively examined in this study.     

Determination of Trace Vanadium (Ⅴ) in Seawater and Fresh Water by the Catalytic Kinetic Spectrophotometric Method

A new kinetic spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of vanadium (Ⅴ).The method is based on the catalytic effect of vanadium (Ⅴ) on the oxidation of weak acid brilliant blue dye (RAWL) by KBrO3 using the citric acid as activation reagent.The obtained optimum conditions are:c (RAWL)=1×10-4 molL-1, c (KBrO3)=3×10-2 molL-1, c (citric acid)= 9×10-3 molL-1, pH=2.50, the reaction time being 7.0 min and the temperature being 25.0℃.Under the optimum conditions, the pro-posed method allows the determination of vanadium (Ⅴ) in the range of 0?70.0 ng mL-1 and the detection limit is down to 0.407 ng mL-1.For standard vanadium (Ⅴ) solution determination, the recovery efficiency is in the range of 98.5%?102% and the RSD ranges from 0.76%?1.25%.Moreover, it is demonstrated that most cations and anions do not interfere with the determination of vanadium (Ⅴ) under the analytical condition.The new method was successfully applied in the determination of vanadium (Ⅴ) in fresh water and seawater samples with satisfactory results.Vanadium (Ⅴ) in the seawater samples from Qingdao offshore was determined using the method and the distribution of vanadium (Ⅴ) was mapped.Compared with other instrumental analytical methods, the proposed method shows good selectivity, sensitivity, simplicity, lower cost and rapidity.It can be employed on shipboard easily.     

Dynamic Response of a Riser Under Excitation of Internal Waves

In this paper, the dynamic response of a marine riser under excitation of internal waves is studied. With the linear approximation, the governing equation of internal waves is given. Based on the rigid-lid boundary condition assumption, the equation is solved by Thompson-Haskell method. Thus the velocity field of internal waves is obtained by the continuity equation. Combined with the modified Morison formula, using finite element method, the motion equation of riser is solved in time domain with Newmark-β method. The computation programs are compiled to solve the differential equations in time domain. Then we get the numerical results, including riser displacement and transfiguration. It is observed that the internal wave will result in circular shear flow, and the first two modes have a dominant effect on dynamic response of the marine riser. In the high mode, the response diminishes rapidly. In different modes of internal waves, the deformation of riser has different shapes, and the location of maximum displacement shifts. Studies on wave parameters indicate that the wave amplitude plays a considerable role in response displacement of riser, while the wave frequency contributes little. Nevertheless, the internal waves of high wave frequency will lead to a high-frequency oscillation of riser; it possibly gives rise to fatigue crack extension and partial fatigue failure.     

Spatial Structure and Location of Multi-national Corporations in China—-A Case Study of Samsung

The investment of Samsung Electronics in China is divided into three types： production companies, sales companies and R＆D institutions. Based on an analysis of the spatial structure of Samsung＇s three types of investment and parent company, it is put forward that regional bias exists during the operation of a multi-national corporation （MNC） in China, i.e., regional biases of technology, price, sales as well as decision-making. Front office and back ofrice, two terms related closely with the location of modern MNCs, are defined and locational principles of each are studied. It is pointed out that production companies and R＆D institutions belong to back office, while sales company falls into the type of front office. Based on a summarization on the spatial distribution of production companies, sales companies and R＆D institutions, the locational principles of front office and back office are then applied in explaining the location of Samsung＇s operating entities in China. By analyzing the spatial structure and locational principles of Samsung, a typical MNC in China, this paper aims to understand the internal operating mechanism of modern MNCs and then bring assistance to related policies to cope with those problems about MNCs that have attracted growing attention in recent years.     

A new method in determining potential region of precipitation enhancement above coastal land

To ensure the effectiveness of the operation of artificial precipitation enhancement, a potential region for the operation should be determined in advance.As cloud microphysical measurements needed for the determination of the potential region of cloud seeding are not available before the operation of routine precipitation enhancement, a new method based on the growth process of ice crystal is put forward for determining the potential region using the numerical weather prediction model output.The ice supersaturation, accumulated water vapor within minus temperature layer (≥9 mm), and upward water vapor transportation are adopted as criteria to determine the potential time, height and region of cloud seeding, and the real-time radar images are applied to make decisions on the seeding commanding.The criteria and Doppler radar images are studied in a case of precipitation enhancement characterized by significant water vapor supply from the north part of a tropical cyclone in the northwest Pacific, which shows that the ocean plays a crucial role in the advection transportation of water vapor to the potential region of the coastal area.The study presents a new method to determine the potential region of precipitation enhancement using macro-physical quantities under ice crystal growth environment.The method possesses a clear physical significance and can be readily applied with the required and easily predicted parameters.     

Positive effect of porphyrans on the lifespan and vitality of Drosophila melanogaster

The effects of degraded porphyran (P1) and natural porphyran (P) on the lifespan and vitality of Drosophila melanogaster are studied. The porphyrans, added daily to the food medium at 0.2% and 1% concentrations, can significantly increase the lifespan in average of 55.79 and 58.23 d in 0.2% P1 diet females and 1% P1 diet males, extending by 12.29% and 8.60% over the corresponding controls, respectively. The effects of porphyrans on D. melanogaster in heat-stress condition were also examined, and found a remarkable increase in survival time. The results which are consistently associated with the use of porphyrans are related to their free radical scavenger action. Considerable increase in vitality demonstrated that vitalities of middle-aged fly (assessed by measuring their mating capacity) was observed after porphyrans addition. Therefore, porphyrans are effective in reducing the rate of aging, and P1 in low molecular weight is better than natural P.     

Economic transformation capacities and developmental countermeasures of coal-resource-based counties of China

In China,the economic systems of many small-scale resource-based regions are confronted with realizing sustainable development through economic transformation. This paper,taking 37 coal-resource-based counties in China as objects,evaluates the economic transformation capacities of the counties by principal component analysis (PCA). Based on the comprehensive principal component values of 1,0–1 and 0,the economic transformation capacities of the counties are classified into strong,common and weak grades. Then,the paper proposes the developmental countermeasures according to different transformation capacities. For the counties with strong transformation capacities,it is crucial to make scientific positioning and rationally exploite resources in view of the developing characteristics and modes of those counties; as for the counties with common transformation capacities,the preparation and perfection of basic transformation conditions are still important aspects; as for the counties with weak transformation capacities,shifting from ″passive transfromation″ to ″active transformation″ in light of resources conditions is necessary.     

Vertical structure of the tidal currents on the continental shelf of the East China Sea

The available data on tidal currents spanning periods greater than six months for the continental shelf of the East China Sea (26°30.052′N, 122°35.998′E) were analyzed using several methods. Tidal Current Harmonic Analysis results demonstrated that semi-diurnal tides dominated the current movement. The tidal currents of the principal diurnal and semidiurnal rotated clockwise with depth, with the deflection of the major semi-axes to the right in the upper layer and to the left in the lower layer. The vertical structures of two principal semi-diurnal constituents-M2 and S2-were similar, which indicates that the tidal currents are mainly barotropic in this area. The main features of the variation of the four principal tidal constituents with depth demonstrate that the currents in this region are influenced by the upper and lower boundary layers. Therefore, the tidal constituents of the shallow water are similar. Different vertical modes were calculated based on the Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis of the Eastern and Northern components of the tidal currents, with a variance contribution for the zero-order model of at least 90%. The variance contribution of the baroclinic model is minimal, which further reveals a strong barotropic character for the tidal currents of this region.     

Nodes and Field of Tourist Origins to Ancient Village——A Case Study of Huangcheng Village in Shanxi Province of China

Based on Hagget's theory of spatial structure,researches on the nodes and field of tourist origins to Huang-cheng Village in Shanxi Province of China have been explored.Nodal hierarchy structure of tourist origins is analyzed with cluster analysis and the gravity model.And field of tourist origins is analyzed with attraction radius index(R)and geography concentration index(G).In the field analysis,R and G of Huangcheng Village are compared with Xidi Village that is a world heritage located in Huangshan City of Anhui Province in China.According to comparison of loca-tions of two areas,influential factors for field area of Huangcheng Village are identified.It is concluded that:1)cluster analysis and gravity model can be complementary methods to each other for nodal hierarchy structure analysis of tour-ist origins;and 2)as far as location is concerned,the weak intensity effect of tourism resources in the tourist region is a major cause for explaining why tourist origins to Huangcheng Village are mainly its neighboring areas.Moreover,it is suggested that the regional effect of tourist resources should be regarded as a component of destination attractiveness when applying gravity model.     

Comparative Analysis of Seismic Response Characteristics of Pile-Soil-Stnicture Interaction System

The study on the earthquake-resistant performance of a pile-soil-structure interaction system is a relatively complicated and primarily important issue in civil engineering practice. In this paper, a computational model and computation procedures for pile-supported structures, which can duly consider the pile-soil interaction effect, are established by the finite element method. Numerical implementation is made in the time domain. A simplified approximation for the seismic response analysis of pile-soil-structure systems is briefly presented. Then a comparative study is performed for an engineering example with numerical results computed respectively by the finite element method and the simplified method. Through comparative analysis, it is shown that the results obtained by the simplified method well agree with those achieved by the finite element method. The numerical results and findings will offer instructive guidelines for earthquake-resistant analysis and design of pile-supported structures.     

Determination method of volcanics variable matrix parameters

The volcanics matrix parameters are variable in different areas and even in different intervals of a same well,due to its complicated mineral compositions and variable mineral contents. The determination of matrix parameters is significant because it has an effect on the porosity calculation accuracy. The authors proposed a simple but useful dual-component model to calculate porosity,and the results are compatible with the core porosity.     

Numerical modeling to investigate slopes and mass flow phenomena

An overview is given about up-to-date techniques for slope stability and deformation analysis as well as mass flow phenomena simulation.The paper concentrates on a few aspects in respect to the use of numerical modeling techniques,especially in relation to the shear strength reduction techniques,discontinuum modeling,probabilistic concepts,the combination of GIS and numerical modeling as well as sophisticated hydro-mechanical coupling with time-dependent material behavior.At present these topics are preferred topics of scientific and technical research.     

Correlation analysis of X-band sea clutter in complex domain

The correlation analysis of sea clutter data in a complex domain is conducted in this study. Specific to X-band sea clutter, the statistical characteristics of the complex correlation, particularly the phase characteristics which are closely related to the phase difference of the sea clutter and the Doppler properties, are analyzed in detail based on the experimental data, recorded by the Mc Master University IPIX radar in 1993. That the phase term of the complex correlation presents linear change means that there exists the linearity of phase differences between different time intervals in the X-band sea clutter. This investigation explores the regularities about the effect of wind on the complex correlation with similar patterns for different polarization modes. The regularities indicate that the wind direction can be inferred from the distribution pattern of the complex correlation. Moreover, a model describing the relationships between the statistics of the complex correlation and wind parameters is proposed. The application for target detection based on the differences of characteristics of complex correlations between the sea clutter and the target are also investigated and the proposed features have been confirmed. The principle of the method is fundamental for broader future applications.     

A Preliminary study on traditional level-trench method to prevent rill initiation in the Three Gorges region, China

The level-trench method is a traditional tillage operation to develop a drainage system on slope land in the Three Gorges region.Before crops are planted,farmers prepare the land with level trenches spaced 3-10 m apart,depending on the slope gradient:steeper slopes require shorter distances.Little scientific analysis has been done on the use of traditional level trenches for soil conservation.We conducted a field investigation and simulation experiments,and present a comparison between the spacing of level trenches and the slope length required for rill initiation.The results indicate that the spacing of level trenches in farmland is close to the slope length required for rill initiation in the experimental plots,and regression models of trench spacing with the gradient and the slope length required for rill initiation with the gradient have similar formats;the coefficients of determination (R2) for the two equations are 0.99 and 0.88,respectively.There were some differences between the field survey and experiments,but we conclude that the traditional level-trench method has an important role in preventing rill initiation.     

Fractal Character of China Bedrock Coastline

Fractal theory was applied to a preliminary discussion of the fractal character and formation mechanism of the coastline of the bedrock coast of China on the basis of GIS ( Geographical Information System). Some significant conclusions were drawn : ( 1 ) The fractal dimensions of the coastline and linear structures of Liaodong Peninsula are 1.0093 and 1.0246 respectively, those of Shandong Peninsula are 1.019 and 1.021 respectively, etc. (2) The fractal dimensions of coastlines of Liaodong Peninsula, Shandong Peninsula, Zhejiang and Fujian-Guangdong tend to increase with the spatial change from north to south. (3)The regional linear structures( including faults)control the basic trends and fractal dimensions of coastlines as a whole in the regions of the bedrock coast of China : the more the controlling effect of linear structures, the smaller the fractal dimensions of coastlines. (4)The substantial constituents of coast and biologic function both play an important role in affecting the fractal dimensions of coastlines of Liaodong Peninsula,Shandong Peninsula, Zhejiang, Fujian-Guangdong and Taiwan Island.     

Recent Advances in Study of Oceanic Vortex

In this paper, the recent advances in the study of oceanic vortex are outlined. Firstly, the previous studies on oceanic vortex are reviewed. Secondly, some prominent features of oceanic vortex in the Gulf Stream, the Kuroshio, the South China Sea and the Japan Sea regions are depicted based upon the observations and numerical modeling results. Generally, the lifetime of these oceanic vortices ranges from several weeks to several months, and their horizontal scales vary from tens of kilometers to hundreds of kilometers. Their vertical scales are on the order of thousands of meters. Finally, some theoretical studies, mainly on the splitting of a cyclonic vortex and the merging of anticyclonic vortices, are introduced.