Consciousness: An island of images.

Discusses consciousness as an island of images, which informs us incompletely and indirectly about the mental and the physical worlds. A dualistic worldview separates the perceptual world from the transcendental physical world. Both universes of discourse are empowered by dynamic forces and are related to each other by reflection, the one reflecting the other. The physical world is understood and operated through the intermediary of perception. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The reinforcement of mating preferences on an island

We develop a haploid model for the reinforcement of female mating preferences on an island that receives migrants from a continent. We find that preferences will evolve to favor island males under a broad range of conditions: when the average male display trait on the island and continent differ, when the preference acts on that difference, and when there is standing genetic variance for the preference. A difference between the mean display trait on the continent and on the island is sufficient to drive reinforcement of preferences. Additional postzygotic isolation, caused, for example, by either epistatic incompatibility or ecological selection against hybrids, will amplify reinforcement but is not necessary. Under some conditions, the degree of preference reinforcement is a simple function of quantities that can be estimated entirely from phenotypic data. We go on to study how postzygotic isolation caused by epistatic incompatibilities affects reinforcement of the preference. With only one pair of epistatic loci, reinforcement is enhanced by tighter linkage between the preference genes and the genes causing hybrid incompatibility. Reinforcement of the preference is also affected by the number of epistatically interacting genes involved in incompatibility, independent of the overall intensity of selection against hybrids.     

Pectoralis major muscle island flaps. Personal experiences

Fifty-six pectoralis major island flap procedures were carried out in 52 patients for the immediate reconstruction of defects after resection of head, neck or thoracic tumors. In 28 we used only a part of the muscle covered with meshgraft, in another 28 as a myocutaneous island flap. The complication rate was low: One partial flap necrosis, two bleedings postoperatively on the donor site, four fistulas (one required a second operation). One necrosis of ribs required the resection and covering with a latissimus dorsi flap. One patient died with mediastinitis. The functional aspects of the muscle donor site is stressed out.     

Identification of a pathogenicity island required for Salmonella enteropathogenicity

Salmonella spp. interact with ileal mucosa and disrupt normal intestinal function, which results in an acute inflammatory cell influx, fluid secretion and enteritis. We have recently characterized SopB, a novel secreted effector protein of Salmonella dublin, and presented evidence that SopB is translocated into eukaryotic cells via a sip-dependent pathway to promote fluid secretion and inflammatory responses. Here, we show that sopB is located on a large DNA fragment unique to the Salmonella chromosome. This locus is conserved in Salmonella and maps at approximately 20 centisome of the S. typhimurium chromosome. Sequence analysis revealed that this Salmonella-specific DNA fragment is flanked by DNA sequences with significant sequence similarity to the Escherichia coli K-12 genes, tRNA1ser (serT) on one side and copS/copR on the other. Thus, this Salmonella-specific DNA fragment has features characteristic of 'pathogenicity islands' and, therefore, it was denoted SPI-5 (Salmonella pathogenicity island-5). SPI-5 was sequenced and was found to contain five novel genes, pipA, pipB, pipC, pipD (pathogenicity island-encoded proteins) and orf, in addition to sopB. The effect of mutations in pipA, pipB and pipD on the induction of fluid secretion and an acute inflammatory cell influx was assessed in bovine ligated ileal loops. The effect of mutations in SPI-5-encoded genes on systemic salmonellosis was assessed in mice. The results of these experiments suggest that SPI-5-encoded genes contribute to enteric but not to systemic salmonellosis.     

岛礁工程MICP加固技术研究进展

近年来,微生物诱导碳酸钙沉积技术（MICP）成为岩土工程领域的热点方向,其中岛礁背景下的MICP加固技术更是具有广阔前景。本文系统总结了微生物矿化作用基本原理以及岛礁工程建设中的MICP技术最新进展,得出了以下结论:MICP反应产物是碳酸钙,与钙质砂成分相同,满足岛礁生态需求;岛礁温度、pH条件适宜MICP反应,仍需深入研究辐射、波流条件等岛礁特殊环境因素对MICP反应的影响;岛礁微生物技术能大幅提升钙质地层强度、刚度、桩基承载力、岸坡抗波流侵蚀能力,对于固岛强岛意义重大,需进一步通过现场原位加固试验验证该技术在岛礁环境下的适用性。目前,MICP数值模型研究尚处于起步阶段,主要通过单元试验、模型试验验证,需开发可考虑岛礁环境（温度、pH、波流等）的MICP多过程数值理论模型,基于现场原位尺度试验验证其准确性。研究工作可为岛礁环境下的MICP加固提供参考。