Sensitive and rapid detection of two toxic microalgae Alexandrium by loop-mediated isothermal amplification

A loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay was designed and evaluated for rapid detection of the toxic microalgae Alexandrium catenella and A. minutum, which can produce paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP). Two sets of four specific primers targeting these two species were derived from the sequence of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of ribosomal DNA. The method worked well in less than an hour under isothermal conditions of 65℃. LAMP specificity was validated in closely related algae as a comparison, suggesting the strict specificity of the LAMP primers. Two visual inspection approaches were feasible to interpret the positive or negative results. The detection limits of A. catenella and A. minutum samples using the LAMP assay were found to be 5.6 and 4.5 pg DNA, respectively. The sensitivity of this LAMP assay was 10 or 100-fold higher than Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) method in detecting the two microalgae. These characteristics of species specificity, sensitivity, and rapidity suggest that this method has the potentiality in the monitoring of red tide caused by A. catenella and A. minutum.     

A study of design spectra based on attenuation relationship of ground motion

In recent years, more and more studies are focused on the performance in seismic design instead of the strength of structures. People have realized that the structure deformation (displacement) can describe the damage more properly and directly than the strength (force). The displacement design spectra need to be constructed within more wide range of the period and the damping for the displacement-based seismic design.     

Seismic vulnerability of Kuwait and other Arabian Gulf countries: information base and research needs

This paper points to the need for seismic risk and vulnerability assessment of infrastructure systems, most notably tall structures and coastal facilities, in Kuwait and other Arabian Gulf countries. Building codes in the region currently lack seismic provisions, despite evidence of a potential threat from large-magnitude earthquakes originating from the southern part of the Zagros fold belt. The historical record of Iranian earthquakes that may have caused significant ground motion in the Gulf region is examined, as are reports of coastal damage from tsunamis. Various specific tasks, expected to constitute research priorities of a Joint Center for Risk Research, a cooperative research program involving Princeton and Kuwait Universities, are outlined.     

Seismic interaction in linearly connected electrical substation equipment

An electrical substation consists of a complex set of equipment items that are interconnected through conductor buses or cables. If the connections are not sufficiently flexible, significant dynamic interaction may occur between the connected equipment items during a seismic excitation. This interaction is believed to be responsible for some of the observed substation equipment damage in recent earthquakes. This paper investigates the interaction between two equipment items connected by a linear spring‐dashpot or spring‐dashpot‐mass element representing a conductor bus. It is found that the interaction between the two equipment items may significantly amplify the response of the higher‐frequency equipment item. The influences of various key parameters on the interaction effect are quantified. Means for reducing the adverse interaction effect are described. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SOURCE RADIATION AND RESPONSES OF WAVE PROPAGATION

Recordings of seismic waves propagating from earthquake source to a station at the earth's surface are a system response function.The convolution operator in time domain can be simplified as a multiplication operator in frequency domain.We discuss in frequency domain the separation of source,path and site effects for global scaling of earthquake source radiation.Also discussed are source scaling model,faulting mechanism,and the H/V inversion problems with crustal and near surface structures.Gross features of apparent source spectra appear to be not much region-dependent although there may be difference between tectonic styles within a region of tectonic mixture for which we need further study as data accumulate.Vertical spectra may be a better approach to approximate source radiation,as it has less crustal amplification effects than horizontal spectra.The H/V ratio is evidently a comprehensive indicator of amplification effects from near surface to deep structure.This gives it potential as an inversion tool to deduce site crustal structure.     

Remarkable response amplification of building frames due to resonance with the surface ground

Seismic response of a building structure is influenced greatly by soil-structure interaction. This fact has been demonstrated in the past earthquakes. It is shown that tuning of the natural period of a building structure with that of a surface ground causes remarkable response amplification of the building structure. Introduction of an overall system as a building-pile-soil system is inevitable to investigate such a tuning effect. It is demonstrated to be essential to define a design earthquake at a bedrock level in order to guarantee the structural safety of building structures under seismic disturbances. Comparison of the response due to input of double the upward-propagating wave (an outcropping motion) into the bedrock without any viscous boundary with that due to input of an within motion into the bedrock without any viscous boundary is also shown in order to investigate the effect of input motions on the response of the superstructure.     

The role of social norms in climate adaptation: Mediating risk perception and flood insurance purchase

Flood insurance plays an important role in climate adaptation by recovering insured losses in the event of catastrophic flooding. Voluntary adoption of flood insurance has been seen as a function of risk perception that is shaped by social norms. This paper attempts to clarify the relationship between these factors. It is based on a household survey conducted in the eastern cities of Australia and involving a total of 501 randomly selected residents. Results of a path analysis show that the likelihood of having flood insurance cover was associated with perceived social norms, but not perceived flood risk. In addition, perceived norms and risk were statistically related to each other. It is concluded that social norms played a mediating role between insuring decision and risk perception. Risk perception might influence the insuring decision indirectly through shaping perception of social norms. This implies that adaptive behaviour is not necessarily a function of risk perception, but an outcome of its impacts upon the ways in which the individuals situate themselves in their social circles or the society. There is a feedback process in which individual perceptions of risk manifest as both a cause and effect, shaping and being shaped by the socio-cultural context.     

Preliminary Study on Applicability of Microsatellite DNA Primers from Parasite Protozoa Trypanosoma cruzi in Free-living Protozoa

1　Introduction　Generallyknownasacodominantgeneticmarker ,microsatellitehasbeenwidelyusedinstudiesonpopu lationgenetics,high resolutiongenotyping ,genemap ping ,evolution ,linkageanalysis ,conservationbiology ,behaviouralecology ,relationsbetweenparasite…     

中国对虾选育群体“黄海1号”和野生群体不同组织基因组DNA甲基化的MSAP分析

DNA甲基化在调节动物生长发育和组织分化中发挥了重要作用。本研究主要从酶切、预扩和选扩等方面优化了中国对虾DNA甲基化分析的MSAP技术,给出了适合中国对虾MSAP分析的最近反应程序和体系,并采用该技术分别对中国对虾选育群体"黄海1号"和野生群体的肌肉、鳃和血细胞三种组织基因组DNA的CCGG甲基化水平进行分析。研究结果表明,中国对虾野生群体肌肉、鳃和血细胞的DNA甲基化比例分别为23.1%、22.3%和19.7%,选育群体"黄海1号"肌肉、鳃和血液的甲基化比例分别为21.4%、19.6%和18.9%。鳃组织的DNA甲基化水平在两群体中差异极显著(P <0.01),肌肉间的甲基化水平差异显著(P <0.05),而血细胞中甲基化水平差异不显著(P >0.05)。中国对虾野生群体和"黄海1号"同一组织间的甲基化水平不同(P ≤ 0.05),而不同组织间的甲基化水平也各不相同(P ≤ 0.05)。DNA甲基化多态性分析表明,野生群体和选育群体"黄海1号"的鳃和血细胞组织的甲基化多态性比例变化明显,而肌肉组织甲基化水平较稳定,这些变化趋势与CCGG位点的甲基化和去甲基化有关。     

马氏珠母贝(Pinctada fucata)组织蛋白酶L基因的克隆与表达分析

根据已构建的溶藻弧菌(Vibro alginolyticus)诱导的马氏珠母贝(Pinctada fucata)血淋巴cDNA差减文库得到的ESTs序列, 应用cDNA末端快速扩增(RACE)技术成功克隆了其组织蛋白酶L基因(PFCatL), 并对其进行了生物信息学分析; 应用实时荧光定量PCR (Real-time PCR)技术, 研究了PFCatL基因在溶藻弧菌刺激前后马氏珠母贝足、外套膜、鳃、闭壳肌等8个组织中的表达变化。结果表明, PFCatL基因cDNA全长2004bp, 其中5′非编码区(5′-UTR)50bp, 3′非编码区(3′-UTR)865bp, 开放阅读框(ORF)1089bp, 编码362个氨基酸, 其分子量计算值(MW)为40.52kDa, 理论等电点(IP)为5.20; 生物信息学分析表明, PFCatL含有16个氨基酸残基组成的信号肽序列以及组织蛋白酶前体抑制功能域I29; Clustalw2多重比对发现PFCatL氨基酸序列在催化三联体Cys-His-Asn、底物结合位点以及二硫键形成相关的半胱氨酸残基位点高度保守; Real-time PCR研究发现, PFCatL在马氏珠母贝各组织中均有表达, 但各组织间的表达量存在差异, 其中以肾和闭壳肌中的表达量最高; 溶藻弧菌感染4h后, 外套膜、鳃以及血淋巴中PFCatL基因的表达较感染前显著上调。