新加坡中学生华语口语偏误分析 = AN ERROR ANALYSIS OF SINGAPORE SECONDARY STUDENTS' SPOKEN CHINESE

Master'sMASTER OF ART

The elasticity of tobacco demand in Australia

This paper examines the elasticity of demand of tobacco products in Australia from 2000 to 2011. The hypothesis is that the demand for cigarettes is inelastic. The alternate hypothesis is that the demand for cigarettes is elastic. The hypothesis implies that increasing tobacco tax decreases government tax revenue, while the opposite is true for a decrease in tobacco tax. This paper obtains data mainly from Australian Bureau of Statistics and Cancer Council Victoria. We find an increase in the excise rate and government revenue from tobacco products, therefore implying that the demand of tobacco products in Australia is inelastic. We find further support of this finding by examining factors such as the age and income structure of the population

Recent Developments and Applications of Hemicellulose From Wheat Straw: A Review

Hemicellulose is an important component of plant cell walls, which is mainly used in biofuels and bioproducts. The hemicellulose extracted from different plant sources and plant locations has different microstructure and molecule. Wheat straw is an important biomass raw material for the extraction of hemicellulose. The aims of this review are to summary the recent developments and various applications of hemicellulose from wheat straw. The microstructure and molecule of hemicellulose extracted by different methods are comparably discussed. The hemicellulose-based derivatives and composites are also reviewed. Special attention was paid to the applications of hemicellulose such as biofuel production, packaging field, and adsorbent. The problems and developing direction were given based on our knowledge. We expect that this review will put forward to the development and high-value applications of hemicellulose from wheat straw

Human Infection from Avian-like Influenza A (H1N1) Viruses in Pigs, China

In investigating influenza in an immunodeficient child in China, in December 2010, we found that the influenza virus showed high sequence identity to that of swine. Serologic evidence indicated that viral persistence in pigs was the source of infection. Continued surveillance of pigs and systemic analysis of swine influenza isolates are needed

Development of a generic Ehrlichia FRET-qPCR and investigation of ehrlichioses in domestic ruminants on five Caribbean islands

BACKGROUND : The Ehrlichia are obligate intracellular Gram-negative tick-borne bacteria that are important human and animal pathogens. There is a need for assays to rapidly and reliably detect and differentiate the five generally recognized species into groups in a single reaction: E. canis, E. chaffeensis, E. ewingii, E. muris and E. ruminantium. METHODS : We developed primers and probes against the 16S rRNA gene to enable us to reliably detect the five major Ehrlichia spp. in a single FRET-qPCR. We tested the Ehrlichia FRET-qPCR on reference strains and on DNA from the blood of domestic ruminants from five Caribbean islands. The Ehrlichia present were determined using melting point analysis and by sequencing the Ehrlichia FRET-qPCR products as well as those of a nested PCR against the citrate synthase gene (gltA). RESULTS : Our Ehrlichia FRET-qPCR was negative for the closely related Anaplasma marginale and A. phagocytophilum but gave positive reactions with reference strains of the most generally recognized species and with other less characterized Ehrlichia of domestic ruminants, mainly E. ovina, the Panola Mountain Ehrlichia, and Ehrlichia sp. BOV2010. Melting point analysis revealed 4 distinct groups: E. ruminantium (Tm ~55.8 °C); E. chaffeensis and E. ewingii (Tm ~57.7 °C); E. canis, E. muris, E. ovina and Ehrlichia sp. BOV 2010 (Tm ~62.0 °C); and the Panola Mountain Ehrlichia (Tm ~65.5 °C). The detection limit of the FRET-qPCR was ~ 5 gene copies in a reaction and the sequences of the FRET-qPCR products were as expected. With DNA from domestic ruminants from the Caribbean we found 12.2 % (134/1,101) positive: cattle (76/385; 19.7 %), sheep (45/340; 13.2 %) and goats (13/376; 3.5 %). Melting point analysis and sequencing of the FRET-qPCR and nested PCR gltA products showed the Ehrlichia we detected were E. canis or very closely related organisms. CONCLUSIONS : In a single reaction, our Ehrlichia FRET-qPCR can detect the Ehrlichia spp. we studied and differentiate them into four groups. Domestic ruminants in the Caribbean are not uncommonly exposed to Ehrlichia, possibly E. canis or very closely related organisms.Grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NO: 31272575), the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, P. R. China and the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine.http://www.parasitesandvectors.comam201