Sponge roads: the permeable asphalt pavement structures based on rainfall characteristics in central plains urban agglomeration of China.

Permeable asphalt pavement should be selected according to the rainfall characteristics of the project site, so as to improve the permeable performance and ensure the bearing capacity of the pavement structure. Therefore, taking a city in the central plains urban agglomeration of China as an example, the characteristics of the rainstorm intensity distribution and cumulative rainfall are analyzed, and a combination scheme of drainage surface layer asphalt pavement suitable for rainfall characteristics in this area is proposed. Then, the pavement structure design is systematically carried out based on the permeable capacity and bearing capacity. The results show that under the rainfall conditions in this area, there is no surface runoff on the permeable asphalt pavement with 120 mm drainage surface layer, which is suitable for the medium traffic grade of urban roads with cumulative equivalent axle loads of 10 million to 12 million times.

Harnessing the hidden genetic diversity for improving multiple abiotic stress tolerance in rice (Oryza sativa L.).

To develop superior rice varieties with improved yield in most rainfed areas of Asia/Africa, we started an introgression-breeding program for simultaneously improving yield and tolerances of multiple abiotic stresses. Using eight BC1 populations derived from a widely adaptable recipient and eight donors plus three rounds of phenotypic selection, we developed 496 introgression lines (ILs) with significantly higher yield under drought, salt and/or non-stress conditions in 5 years. Six new varieties were released in the Philippines and Pakistan and many more are being evaluated in multi-location yield trials for releasing in several countries. Marker-facilitated genetic characterization revealed three interesting aspects of the breeding procedure: (1) the donor introgression pattern in specific BC populations was characteristic; (2) introgression frequency in different genomic regions varied considerably, resulting primarily from strong selection for the target traits; and (3) significantly lower heterozygosity was observed in BC progenies selected for drought and salinity tolerance. Applying strong phenotypic selection under abiotic stresses in early segregating generations has major advantages for not only improving multiple abiotic stress tolerance but also achieving quicker homozygosity in early generations. This breeding procedure can be easily adopted by small breeding programs in developing countries to develop high-yielding varieties tolerant of abiotic stresses. The large set of trait-specific ILs can be used for genetic mapping of genes/QTL that affect target and non-target traits and for efficient varietal development by designed QTL pyramiding and genomics-based recurrent selection in our Green Super Rice breeding technology.

Landscape of protein-protein interactions in Drosophila immune deficiency signaling during bacterial challenge.

The Drosophila defense against pathogens largely relies on the activation of two signaling pathways: immune deficiency (IMD) and Toll. The IMD pathway is triggered mainly by Gram-negative bacteria, whereas the Toll pathway responds predominantly to Gram-positive bacteria and fungi. The activation of these pathways leads to the rapid induction of numerous NF-κB-induced immune response genes, including antimicrobial peptide genes. The IMD pathway shows significant similarities with the TNF receptor pathway. Recent evidence indicates that the IMD pathway is also activated in response to various noninfectious stimuli (i.e., inflammatory-like reactions). To gain a better understanding of the molecular machinery underlying the pleiotropic functions of this pathway, we first performed a comprehensive proteomics analysis to identify the proteins interacting with the 11 canonical members of the pathway initially identified by genetic studies. We identified 369 interacting proteins (corresponding to 291 genes) in heat-killed Escherichia coli-stimulated Drosophila S2 cells, 92% of which have human orthologs. A comparative analysis of gene ontology from fly or human gene annotation databases points to four significant common categories: (i) the NuA4, nucleosome acetyltransferase of H4, histone acetyltransferase complex, (ii) the switching defective/sucrose nonfermenting-type chromatin remodeling complex, (iii) transcription coactivator activity, and (iv) translation factor activity. Here we demonstrate that sumoylation of the IκB kinase homolog immune response-deficient 5 plays an important role in the induction of antimicrobial peptide genes through a highly conserved sumoylation consensus site during bacterial challenge. Taken together, the proteomics data presented here provide a unique avenue for a comparative functional analysis of proteins involved in innate immune reactions in flies and mammals.

Drosophila EYA regulates the immune response against DNA through an evolutionarily conserved threonine phosphatase motif.

Innate immune responses against DNA are essential to counter both pathogen infections and tissue damages. Mammalian EYAs were recently shown to play a role in regulating the innate immune responses against DNA. Here, we demonstrate that the unique Drosophila eya gene is also involved in the response specific to DNA. Haploinsufficiency of eya in mutants deficient for lysosomal DNase activity (DNaseII) reduces antimicrobial peptide gene expression, a hallmark for immune responses in flies. Like the mammalian orthologues, Drosophila EYA features a N-terminal threonine and C-terminal tyrosine phosphatase domain. Through the generation of a series of mutant EYA fly strains, we show that the threonine phosphatase domain, but not the tyrosine phosphatase domain, is responsible for the innate immune response against DNA. A similar role for the threonine phosphatase domain in mammalian EYA4 had been surmised on the basis of in vitro studies. Furthermore EYA associates with IKKß and full-length RELISH, and the induction of the IMD pathway-dependent antimicrobial peptide gene is independent of SO. Our data provide the first in vivo demonstration for the immune function of EYA and point to their conserved immune function in response to endogenous DNA, throughout evolution.

Willingness of Chinese injection drug users to participate in HIV vaccine trials.

BACKGROUND: Chinese injection drug users (IDUs) may be a proper candidate population for HIV vaccine trials. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate willingness to participate (WTP) in HIV vaccine trials among Chinese IDUs. METHODS: Questionnaire interviews were completed among 401 IDUs in Urumqi City in northwestern China in 2005. RESULTS: Overall 74.3% of participants said that they would be definitely willing to participate in HIV vaccine trials, 17.7% were probably willing, 6.2% were probably not willing, and remaining 1.8% were definitely not willing to join. Multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated that WTP was positively associated with having ever had sex with a drug use partner (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 1.8; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.04, 3.2), sharing needle and syringe with a new drug use partner in the past 3 months (AOR: 3.8; 95% CI: 1.2, 11.7), perceived family support for participation (AOR: 7.4; 95% CI: 4.3, 12.7), and perceived vaccine protection against HIV infection (AOR: 16.1; 95% CI: 3.7, 70.8), and was negatively associated with perceived risk of social stigma and isolation for participation (AOR: 0.3; 95% CI: 0.2, 0.5). CONCLUSIONS: The stated WTP in hypothetical HIV vaccine trials was high among Chinese IDUs. Further studies are needed to evaluate actual enrollment into the trials.

[Factors associated with retention in a community-based methadone maintenance treatment among drug users in Urumqi, Xinjiang Uigur Autonomous Region].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the factors associated with retention in a community-based methadone maintenance treatment(MMT) among drug users in Urumqi. METHODS: With national MMT guideline( drift) for heroine addicted drug users, local heroine-dependent people were admitted to community-based MMT program affiliated to Xinjiang Uigur Autonomous Region Center for Mental Health. Data on outpatients' social-demo characteristics, baseline behaviors on drug use and daily stabilized dose of drugs were entered to MMT database. RESULTS: Up to 10, Feb. , 2006,353 persons withdrew MMT treatment among 709 heroin dependant drug users. Between 11, Aug., 2005 and 10, Feb., 2006, with median duration as 77 days, cumulative drop-out rate of 90 days and 180 days after first dose of MMT were 73.8% among 455 and 99.4% among 355 drug users, respectively. The incidence of drop-outs was 29.8 per 100 person-month. The median length of stay (days) in MMT was 68.0 (95% CI: 59.0- 78.0). Correlates of retention were found as: Being Uigur(HR = 1.35;95% CI :1.09-1.67), duration of drug use (HR =0.74; 95% CI:0.55-0.99) and stabilized dose(HR = 0.60;95% CI: 0.48-0.74) was found in multiple Cox proportional hazard regression model. CONCLUSION: Retention of MMT among drug users in Urumqi was low. Uigur people should be given individual counseling to help them increase the compliance rate. Within the ranges of clinic dosage, adjustment of the methadone dose on an individual base might serve as an appropriate approach to increase the effectiveness of the program.

Drought-resistance index in rice backcross lines after anthesis.

In this study, many indexes correlated with drought resistance including yield components, chlorophyll content, the content of proline, the content of malondiadehyde (MDA), the activity of superoxide dismatase (SOD), the content of peroxides (POD) and catalase (CAT) activity soluble protein content and leaf area in flag leaves were measured under water stress after flowering in five rice backcross combinations. The indexes for drought resistance were screened by the correlation and the gray relationship analysis, under water stress after flowering. The results indicated that after flowering, rate of seeds fertilization was significantly correlated with yield remarkably. And proline content, MDA content in flag leaf and leaf areas were significantly influenced with drought resistance in rice, which indicated that it is feasible to predict the drought resistance in rice after flowering. According to the gray relationship analysis, ability of drought resistance in five rice backcross combinations is the following, the combination 5 > combination 1 > combination 4 > combination 3 > combination 2. Results were generally consistent with the performance in field, which indicated that it is reasonable to predict the drought resistance in rice after flowering with the four indexes screened out in this study.