Isolation and characterization of C-reactive protein (CRP) cDNA and genomic DNA from Xenopus laevis. A species representing an intermediate stage in CRP evolution

C-reactive protein (CRP) is a prototypic acute phase protein in human and rabbit. Although it is structurally and functionally conserved from invertebrate to human, there are species-specific differences in patterns of expression and putative function. To further investigate the biological significance, regulation, and evolution of CRP, we isolated Xenopus CRP and subsequently derived and sequenced corresponding cDNA and the genomic clones. The structure and expression of Xenopus CRP were also compared to those of the other CRPs. Analyses of the amino acid sequence and the nucleotide sequence reveal that the mature Xenopus CRP is a 222-amino acid protein preceded by a 16-residue signal peptide. During development, Xenopus CRP is expressed, only when the liver appears, and therefore is not likely to play a role in early embryonic development. Compared to other species, Xenopus CRP is present at an intermediate low level of < 1 microgram/ml in the normal serum. Unlike human and rabbit CRP, Xenopus CRP is not induced by turpentine or heatshock treatment. The heatshock consensus sequence (Woo, P., Korenberg, J. R., and Whitehead, A. S. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 4136-4142) are not present in the Xenopus CRP gene. It is suggested that Xenopus CRP represents a transitional period in CRP evolution when host defenses switched from primitive innate immunity to a much more complex immune system. The constitutive functions of CRP gradually became less essential as the result of the development of a complex immune system.     

Determination of complements in serum and middle ear effusion of the patients with secretory otitis media

Complements in serum and middle ear effusion were determined in 20 patients with secretory otitis media, and compared with those in the normal controls. The C5 and C1-INH in serum of the patients were significantly higher. On the contrary, C9 and B factor (Bf) were significantly lower, and the circulatory immunocomplex was also higher. In patients with secretory otitis media, the middle ear effusion levels of C3, C4 and C5 were significantly lower, and Bf and immunocomplex were significantly higher than those in serum. The results suggest that the ability of complements in clearing immunocomplex is low. Therefore, the immunocomplex may deposit in the mucosa of the middle ear. Thus the permeability of capillary will be increased, and the middle ear effusion occurs.     

Unified analytical expressions for calculating resonantfrequencies, transimpedances, and equivalent input noise currentdensities of tuned receiver front ends

Unified analytical expressions have been derived for calculating the resonant frequencies, transimpedance and equivalent input noise current densities of the four most widely used tuned optical receiver front ends built with FETs and p-i-n diodes. A more accurate FET model has been used to improve the accuracy of the analysis. The Miller capacitance has been taken into account, and its impact on the performances of the tuned front ends has been demonstrated. The accuracy of the expressions has been verified by Touchstone simulations. The agreement between the calculated and simulated performances of the front ends is very good. The expressions can be used to investigate the performances of different tuned front ends in a very simple way and provide a good starting point for further computer optimizations of the front ends     

紫杉醇母核全合成的初步思想实验

紫杉醇的全合成困难，许多工作还只能停留在实验室的模型化合物上。作者以思想实验方法提出了：先以Ｄ－Ａ反应形成Ａ环和Ｃ环，然后用两步形成Ｂ环，最后形成Ｄ环，以此完成紫杉醇母核的全合成。     

Study of the Mössbauer effect on rare-earth borided surface layers on pure iron

Journal of Materials Science Letters -     

A new method for calculating loss coefficients [of power systems]

A method is proposed which avoids many limitations associated with traditional B-coefficient loss coefficient calculation. The proposed method, unlike the traditional B-coefficient method, is very fast and can handle line outages. The method utilizes network sensitivity factors which are established from DC load flow solutions, Line outage distribution factors (ODFs) are formulated using changes in network power generations to simulate the outaged line from the network. The method avoids the use of complicated reference frame transformations based upon Kron's tenser analysis. The necessity of data normalization used in least squares and the evaluation of the slope of &thetas;_j versus PG_n is not necessary with the proposed method. Using IEEE standard 14-bus and 30-bus systems, the method's results are compared against results obtained from an AC load flow program (LFED). The method's solution speed is compared to that of the LFED method, the base case database method and the conventional B-coefficient method based on A_jn-factor. The proposed method is easy to implement and, when compared to other methods, has exhibited good accuracy and rapid execution times. The method is well suited to online dispatch applications