Genetic Structure of Mongolian Wheatgrass (\u3cem\u3eAgroypron Mongolicum\u3c/em\u3e Keng) In Inner Mongolia of China

Mongolia wheatgrass (Agroypron mongolicum) is a cross-pollinated, long-lived, cool-season and drought-resistant perennial bunchgrass, which plays an important role in arid and semi-arid grasslands of Inner Mongolia. Collections of A. mongolicum from different areas of Inner Mongolia are valuable sources of useful genes for its breeding. The genetic diversity of 8 accessions of A. mongolicum were examined in this study. A dendrogram was constructed to obtain information on the relationship between cultivated and wild A. mongolicum genotypes, which is basic information to explore the possibility of its use in intra- and inter-specific breeding programs

Genetic Engineering for Breeding for Drought Resistance and Salt Tolerance in Agropyron Spp. (Wheatgrass)

Genetic engineering for breeding for drought resistance and salt tolerance in wheatgrass, lucerne and tall fescue is one of the main projects in a major national programs as part of the10th’five-year national plan: “Research of gene transfer in plants and its industrialisation”. It is a large project that has financial support for work on forage crops in China and many research institutes and universities take part in it. The Inner Mongolia Agricultural University is in charge of the project on wheatgrass. The research was started in Nov. 2002. The general situation and the primary results are introduced and summarised in this paper

Genetic Structure of Mongolian Wheatgrass (\u3cem\u3eAgroypron Mongolicum\u3c/em\u3e Keng) In Inner Mongolia of China

Mongolia wheatgrass (Agroypron mongolicum) is a cross-pollinated, long-lived, cool-season and drought-resistant perennial bunchgrass, which plays an important role in arid and semi-arid grasslands of Inner Mongolia. Collections of A. mongolicum from different areas of Inner Mongolia are valuable sources of useful genes for its breeding. The genetic diversity of 8 accessions of A. mongolicum were examined in this study. A dendrogram was constructed to obtain information on the relationship between cultivated and wild A. mongolicum genotypes, which is basic information to explore the possibility of its use in intra- and inter-specific breeding programs

Electric Flux Tube in Magnetic Plasma

In this paper we study a methodical problem related to the magnetic scenario recently suggested and initiated by the authors \cite{Liao_ES_mono} to understand the strongly coupled quark-gluon plasma (sQGP): the electric flux tube in monopole plasma. A macroscopic approach, interpolating between Bose condensed (dual superconductor) and classical gas medium is developed first. Then we work out a microscopic approach based on detailed quantum mechanical calculation of the monopole scattering on electric flux tube, evaluating induced currents for all partial waves. As expected, the flux tube looses its stability when particles can penetrate it: we make this condition precise by calculating the critical value for the product of the flux tube size times the particle momentum, above which the flux tube dissolves. Lattice static potentials indicate that flux tubes seem to dissolve at $T>T_{dissolution} \approx 1.3 T_c$. Using our criterion one gets an estimate of the magnetic density $n\approx 4.4 \sim 6.6 fm^{-3}$ at this temperature.Comment: New version with new referecences added and minor changes. 15 pages, 8 figure

Effect of Light Fermions on the Confinement Transition in QCD-like Theories

Dependence of the confinement transition parameters on the fermion content provides information on the mechanism of confinement. Recent progress in lattice gauge theories has allowed to study it for light flavor number $N_f\sim O(10)$ and found this transition to shift toward significantly stronger coupling. We propose an explanation for that: light fermions can occupy the chromo-magnetic monopoles, via zero modes, making them "distinguishable" and unsuitable for Bose-Einstein Condensation. Such dilution of unoccuplied monopoles is compensated by stronger coupling that makes them lighter and more numerous. We also suggest that flavor-carrying quark-monopole objects account for the density beyond quark Fermi sphere seen in cold dense phase of $N_c=2$ lattice QCD.Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure; few references added; close to the final published versio

A Simple Spatial Dependence Test Robust to Local and Distributional Misspecifications

It is well known that the standard Lagrange multiplier (LM) test loses its local optimality when the true non-null model is not correctly specified. In this paper, we derive a score test robust to local and distributional misspecifications for spatial error autocorrelation and spatial lag dependence. The proposed test is general enough to include several popular tests for the spatial dependence as special cases. In our framework, we find that Burridge (1980) and Anselin, Bera, Florax and Yoon (1996)’s tests are automatically robust to distributional misspecification in some special cases. The size and power performances of our proposed score tests are investigated by a Monte-Carlo simulation. JEL code: C12; C21; R10

The incidence of liver injury in Uyghur patients treated for TB in Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region, China, and its association with hepatic enzyme polymorphisms nat2, cyp2e1, gstm1 and gstt1.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Of three first-line anti-tuberculosis (anti-TB) drugs, isoniazid is most commonly associated with hepatotoxicity. Differences in INH-induced toxicity have been attributed to genetic variability at several loci, NAT2, CYP2E1, GSTM1and GSTT1, that code for drug-metabolizing enzymes. This study evaluated whether the polymorphisms in these enzymes were associated with an increased risk of anti-TB drug-induced hepatitis in patients and could potentially be used to identify patients at risk of liver injury. METHODS AND DESIGN: In a cross-sectional study, 2244 tuberculosis patients were assessed two months after the start of treatment. Anti-TB drug-induced liver injury (ATLI) was defined as an ALT, AST or bilirubin value more than twice the upper limit of normal. NAT2, CYP2E1, GSTM1 and GSTT1 genotypes were determined using the PCR/ligase detection reaction assays. RESULTS: 2244 patients were evaluated, there were 89 cases of ATLI, a prevalence of 4% 9 patients (0.4%) had ALT levels more than 5 times the upper limit of normal. The prevalence of ATLI was greater among men than women, and there was a weak association with NAT2*5 genotypes, with ATLI more common among patients with the NAT2*5*CT genotype. The sensitivity of the CT genotype for identifying patients with ATLI was 42% and the positive predictive value 5.9%. CT ATLI was more common among slow acetylators (prevalence ratio 2.0 (95% CI 0.95,4.20) )compared to rapid acetylators. There was no evidence that ATLI was associated with CYP2E1 RsaIc1/c1genotype, CYP2E1 RsaIc1/c2 or c2/c2 genotypes, or GSTM1/GSTT1 null genotypes. CONCLUSIONS: In Xinjiang Uyghur TB patients, liver injury was associated with the genetic variant NAT2*5, however the genetic markers studied are unlikely to be useful for screening patients due to the low sensitivity and low positive predictive values for identifying persons at risk of liver injury

Analysis of the geographic distribution of HFRS in Liaoning Province between 2000 and 2005

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is endemic in Liaoning Province, China, and this province was the most serious area affected by HFRS during 2004 to 2005. In this study, we conducted a spatial analysis of HFRS cases with the objective to determine the distribution of HFRS cases and to identify key areas for future public health planning and resource allocation in Liaoning Province.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The annual average incidence at the county level was calculated using HFRS cases reported between 2000 and 2005 in Liaoning Province. GIS-based spatial analyses were conducted to detect spatial distribution and clustering of HFRS incidence at the county level, and the difference of relative humidity and forestation between the cluster areas and non-cluster areas was analyzed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Spatial distribution of HFRS cases in Liaoning Province from 2000 to 2005 was mapped at the county level to show crude incidence, excess hazard, and spatial smoothed incidence. Spatial cluster analysis suggested 16 and 41 counties were at increased risk for HFRS (p < 0.01) with the maximum spatial cluster sizes at ≤ 50% and ≤ 30% of the total population, respectively, and the analysis showed relative humidity and forestation in the cluster areas were significantly higher than in other areas.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Some clustering of HFRS cases in Liaoning Province may be etiologically linked. There was strong evidence some HFRS cases in Liaoning Province formed clusters, but the mechanism underlying it remains unknown. In this study we found the clustering was consistent with the relative humidity and amount of forestation, and showed data indicating there may be some significant relationships.</p

Determinants of the Incidence of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease in China Using Geographically Weighted Regression Models

Child population density and climate factors are potential determinants of the HFMD incidence in most areas in China. The strength and direction of association between these factors and the incidence of HFDM is spatially heterogeneous at the local geographic level, and child population density has a greater influence on the incidence of HFMD than the climate factors

Geographical Detector-Based Risk Assessment of the Under-Five Mortality in the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, China

On 12 May, 2008, a devastating earthquake registering 8.0 on the Richter scale occurred in Sichuan Province, China, taking tens of thousands of lives and destroying the homes of millions of people. Many of the deceased were children, particular children less than five years old who were more vulnerable to such a huge disaster than the adult. In order to obtain information specifically relevant to further researches and future preventive measures, potential risk factors associated with earthquake-related child mortality need to be identified. We used four geographical detectors (risk detector, factor detector, ecological detector, and interaction detector) based on spatial variation analysis of some potential factors to assess their effects on the under-five mortality. It was found that three factors are responsible for child mortality: earthquake intensity, collapsed house, and slope. The study, despite some limitations, has important implications for both researchers and policy makers