Characterization of rabbit DNA microsatellites extracted from the EMBL nucleotide sequence database

Microsatellite polymorphisms are invaluable for mapping vertebrate genomes. In order to estimate the occurrence of microsatellites in the rabbit genome and to assess their feasibility as markers in rabbit genetics, a survey on the presence of all types of mononucleotide, dinucleotide, trinucleotide and tetranucleotide repeats, with a length of about 20 bp or more, was conducted by searching the published rabbit DNA sequences in the EMBL nucleotide database (version 323). A total of 181 rabbit microsatellites could be extracted from the present database. The estimated frequency of microsatellites in the rabbit genome was one microsatellite for every 2-3 kb of DNA. Dinucleotide repeats constituted the prevailing class of microsatellites, followed by trinucleotide, mononucleotide and tetranucleotide repeats, respectively. The average length of the microsatellites, as found in the database, was 26, 23, 23 and 22 bp for mono-, di-, tri- and tetranucleotide repeats, respectively. The most common repeat motif was AG, followed by A, AC, AGG and CCG. This group comprised about 70% of all extracted rabbit microsatellites. About 61% of the microsatellites were found in non-coding regions of genes, whereas 15% resided in (protein) coding regions. A significant fraction of rabbit microsatellites (about 22%) was found within interspersed repetitive DNA sequences.     

A metallurgical-thermophysical database system

Using FoxPro and C as programming languages, the framework for developing a computerized metallurgical-thermophysical database system, Thermophysdata, has been completed at USTB, Beijing, China. Thermophysdata is a user-friendly system consisting of two major packages, PHYSDBMS, PHYSDPRE. At present, the system can serve users’ data retrievals for a number of physical properties in molten metallic as well as ionic systems. Supported by PHYSDPRE, model optimized physical property values with a satisfactory accuracy are available for a certain amount of molten systems. Based on Chapman-Enskog's theory, the transport property data for low density gaseous systems could also be predicted.     

A general procedure for locating and analyzing protein-binding sequence motifs in nucleic acids

In the last decade, two tools, one drawn from information theory and the other from artificial neural networks, have proven particularly useful in many different areas of sequence analysis. The work presented herein indicates that these two approaches can be joined in a general fashion to produce a very powerful search engine that is capable of locating members of a given nucleic acid sequence family in either local or global sequence searches. This program can, in turn, be queried for its definition of the motif under investigation, ranking each base in context for its contribution to membership in the motif family. In principle, the method used can be applied to any binding motif, including both DNA and RNA sequence families, given sufficient family size.     

A multivariate logistic model (MLM) for analyzing binary family data

We consider modeling the familial correlation between 2 related individuals using a multiple logistic regressive model. It is shown that there is a discrepancy in the marginal probability of the second individual. We investigate the conditions under which this discrepancy can be minimized and show how it can have a direct effect on handling missing values and ascertainment. We derive a functional relationship between the parameters in the model that eliminates this discrepancy, hence solving the problems that can arise in the handling of missing values and ascertainment. Because this methodology fails when there are more than 2 related individuals, we present a new model based on a multivariate logistic distribution. Residual familial correlations can be directly related to the parameters of this model. The likelihood for family data under this model is independent of the order in which the family members enter the calculation. The marginal probabilities can be easily computed.     

Strategies for analyzing ecological momentary assessment data.

Studies incorporating repeated observations of momentary phenomena are becoming more common in behavioral and medical science. Analysis of such data requires the use of statistical techniques that are unfamiliar to many investigators. Some common ways of analyzing momentary data are reviewed—aggregation strategies, repeated measures analysis of variance, pooled within-person regression, and two-stage estimation procedures for multilevel models—and are found to be usually suboptimal, possible leading to incorrect inferences. A broad class of statistical models for multilevel data that can address many research questions typically asked of momentary data are then described. Analytic issues that merit careful consideration include the scaling of momentary variables, allowance for serial autocorrelation of residuals, and the treatment of coefficients that vary across individuals as fixed versus random effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A computerised kinetic database system for metallurgy and materials processing

An integrated and computerised kinetic database system, intellectualised database management system on kinetics of metallurgy (IDMSKM) is described in this report. IDMSKM has been designed using MS Windows and a Visual C⁺⁺ and Foxpro hybrid coding technique. It consists of two packages. The ThermoPhysData package has been established for physical property data retrieval and prediction, and presented in a previous publication in steel research. The emphasis in the present paper is placed on the KineticApp package. KineticApp involves G/S, S/S' and G/L' modules for the kinetic prediction, evaluation and analysis of gas/solid, solid/solid and gas/liquid reactions respectively. The key consideration in the module design is to establish the links of the kinetic model and parameters of a reaction system with the system characterisation. Assessed kinetic parameters stored in the database files in KineticApp include the activation energies for some reduction and decomposition reactions, as well as the diffusion in solid oxide systems. Those data are necessary while dealing with the reaction kinetic prediction problems. Several examples regarding the reduction of wustite pellet, the decomposition of CaCO₃ and the synthesis of SrTiO₃ are illustrated to show the features and functions of G/S and S/S modules.     

A manpower data system for psychology.

Discusses the need for a manpower data system with respect to its use in (a) increasing participation and effective utilization of psychologists in programs that seek to ameliorate social and mental health problems; (b) adjusting supply to demand in various specialty areas and work settings; and (c) improving the equalization of opportunity for all psychologists. Use of a 1972 questionnaire designed to collect data for the proposed manpower program (sent to 63,000 psychologists in the United States and Canada) is discussed. The initial planning, concomitant design, and development of the automated manpower data system is further described. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The complete nucleotide sequence of the human immunoglobulin heavy chain variable region locus

The complete nucleotide sequence of the 957-kb DNA of the human immunoglobulin heavy chain variable (VH) region locus was determined and 43 novel VH segments were identified. The region contains 123 VH segments classifiable into seven different families, of which 79 are pseudogenes. Of the 44 VH segments with an open reading frame, 39 are expressed as heavy chain proteins and 1 as mRNA, while the remaining 4 are not found in immunoglobulin cDNAs. Combinatorial diversity of VH region was calculated to be approximately 6,000. Conservation of the promoter and recombination signal sequences was observed to be higher in functional VH segments than in pseudogenes. Phylogenetic analysis of 114 VH segments clearly showed clustering of the VH segments of each family. However, an independent branch in the tree contained a single VH, V4-44.1P, sharing similar levels of homology to human VH families and to those of other vertebrates. Comparison between different copies of homologous units that appear repeatedly across the locus clearly demonstrates that dynamic DNA reorganization of the locus took place at least eight times between 133 and 10 million years ago. One nonimmunoglobulin gene of unknown function was identified in the intergenic region.     

Identification of likely genes on chromosome VI of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by correlating transcripts and nucleotide sequence data

In this study, experimental hypothyroidism was established and used to investigate possible alterations in the calcium, magnesium, and zinc homeostasis by assessing their concentration in plasma and erythrocytes. Hypothyroidism was induced by administration of methimazole an iodine blocker at a dose of 75 mg/100 g food for 3 wk. In the methimazole-induced hypothyroid state, the experimental animals showed a significant decrease in plasma zinc concentration, whereas a significant increase in plasma magnesium concentration occurred. No change was observed in plasma calcium concentration. The erythrocyte zinc and calcium concentrations were found to be increased, whereas magnesium concentration decreased. Erythrocyte magnesium concentration showed a significant positive correlation with T4 values. The study provides evidence for marked alterations in homeostatis of zinc, magnesium, and calcium.     

A strategy for database interoperation

To realize the full potential of biological databases (DBs) requires more than the interactive, hypertext flavor of database interoperation that is now so popular in the bioinformatics community. Interoperation based on declarative queries to multiple network-accessible databases will support analyses and investigations that are orders of magnitude faster and more powerful than what can be accomplished through interactive navigation. I present a vision of the capabilities that a query-based interoperation infrastructure should provide, and identify assumptions underlying, and requirements of, this vision. I then propose an architecture for query-based interoperation that includes a number of novel components of an information infrastructure for molecular biology. These components include a knowledge base that describes relationships among the conceptualizations used in different biological databases, a module that can determine the DBs that are relevant to a particular query, a module that can translate a query and its results from one conceptualization to another, a collection of DB drivers that provide uniform physical access to different database management systems, a suite of translators that can interconvert among different database schema languages, and a database that describes the network location and access methods for biological databases. A number of the components are translators that bridge the heterogeneities that exist between biological DBs at several different levels, including the conceptual level, the data model, the query language, and data formats.     

Comparison of methods for analyzing binary data arising from two-sample twin studies

The study of twins is widely used for research into genetic and environmental influences on human outcome measurements. For the study design in which independent samples of monozygotic and dizygotic twins are compared with respect to their similarity on a binary trait, several statistical methods have been proposed. Using a Monte Carlo simulation, we compare the five following procedures: 1) goodness-of-fit method based on the common correlation model, 2) normal approximation of the maximum likelihood estimators of the common correlation coefficients, 3) Ramakrishnan et al. [(1992) Genet Epidemiol 9:273-282] method of odds ratio comparison, 4) generalized estimating equations method of odds ratio estimation, and 5) tetrachoric correlation method. The results show that the goodness-of-fit approach has similar or better performance in both type-one error rates and power than the other methods in all parameter settings. Its advantage with respect to type-one error rates is particularly clear under conditions of small sample sizes, extreme prevalences, or high values of the intraclass correlation coefficients. Therefore, the goodness-of-fit method is recommended for the two-sample twin study design.     

基于B/S模式的生产调度数据图形分析系统的研究与开发

将矿山生产数据以图表的形式直观地表现出来,能够为上级管理部门的生产管理、调度提供及时、准确的信息。根据中国黄金集团公司的实际需求,经过系统功能结构设计和系统实现,开发了功能丰富的矿山生产调度数据图形分析系统。该系统基于B/S模式,利用最新的Chart控件生成动态图表,改善了显示效果,提高了开发效率。系统投入使用后取得了良好的应用效果。     

Genomic organization and complete nucleotide sequence of the human PWP2 gene on chromosome 21

The human PWP2 gene is the human homologue of the yeast periodic tryptophan protein 2 (PWP2) gene and is a member of the gene family that contains tryptophan-aspartate (WD) repeats. Genomic sequencing revealed that the human PWP2 gene consists of 21 exons spanning approximately 24 kb and locates just between the two genes EHOC-1 and KNP-I and distal to a NotI site of LJ104 (D21S1460) on chromosome 21q22.3. Analysis of the 5'-flanking DNA sequence revealed that the upstream region of the PWP2 gene is associated with a CpG island containing the NotI site of LJ104. Since PWP2 is considered to be a candidate for genetic disorders mapped in the 21q22.3 region, the information including nucleotide sequence and genomic organization of the PWP2 gene should be invaluable for the mutation analysis of the corresponding genetic disorders.     

热工数据库系统的设计与开发技术

针对热工数据类型多，多数数据非线性强．相关图表查阅不便且读数误差大的现状，本文提出利用计算机强大的数据存储处理能力建立热工数据库系统，实现热工数据的快速准确查询，并介绍了热工数据库管理系统的功能特点及设计开发技术。将数据插值、神经网络等函数逼近的方法应用于查询程序的定制，大大加强了系统的查询功能，使系统的查询范围不仅仅局限于数据库中已有的数据记录．本文以饱和水及饱和蒸汽热力性质数据库为例，说明了系统查询功能的实现方法与效果。应用结果表明，热工数据库管理系统查询热工数据．速度快、精度高，不受人为因素影响，具有较大的实用价值。     

基于数据挖掘技术的高炉分析与诊断专家系统

结合高炉工艺特点和生产实际,通过对引进高炉专家系统的分析比较,提出在数据挖掘的基础上,运用炼铁工艺计算模型和数据统计原理建立高炉在线分析与诊断专家系统的方法,同时开发了出铁管理等具有自身独特特点的炉况分析和监控模式。实践证明：系统能准确反映高炉生产操作与运行情况,提供有效的操作指导,推进高炉各项指标持续提升,为高炉的稳定顺行、低硅冶炼发挥了重要作用。     

非结构化数据库通用查询系统的实现

介绍在开发办公自动化系统中采用Lotus Notes/Domino平台实现非结构化数据库通用查询的实现方法,让界面控制权交给了用户,输出报表方便自如,可供不同的模块调用.