The human genome project: past, present, and future

This article presents a short discussion of the development of the human genome program in the United States, a summary of the current status of the organization and administration of the National Institutes of Health component of the program, and some prospects for the future directions of the program and the applications of genome information.     

The past,present and future of bovine pluripotent stem cells: a brief overview

Although the pursuit of bovine embryonic stem cells started more than 26 years ago for the purpose of gene-targeting, true pluripotent stem cells in this economically important species are still elusive. With the rapid advances in genome-editing and cloning using homologously recombined somatic cells, the need for pluripotent stem cells for precise genetic modification in any species became questionable. With the pig being the better model for human regenerative biology, the identification of the commonalities and uniqueness of the pluripotency circuitry across mammalian species may be the main objective for studying pluripotent stem cells in the bovine.     

农业文化遗产：连接过去与未来的桥梁

为了应对农业生物多样性减少、传统农耕技术和乡村文化丧失、食物与生计安全等问题,联合国粮农组织（FAO）于2002年发起了“全球重要农业文化遗产（GIAHS）”保护倡议。在该倡议提出20周年之际,为了系统认识农业文化遗产的价值及其现实意义,科学分析农业文化遗产保护中的问题与发展前景,邀请了11位来自相关领域的知名专家和遗产保护实践者,进行了一对一的交流访谈,访谈内容包括：农业文化遗产与现代生态农业发展的关系;农业文化遗产的历史文化价值及现实意义;农业文化遗产与非物质文化遗产的关系;农业文化遗产对粮食安全保障的意义;农业文化遗产中农业生物多样性的特征与价值,农业文化遗产在乡村文化振兴中的作用与可持续旅游发展,农业文化遗产对国际公约履约与国际合作的支撑作用;中国典型农业文化遗产保护与发展实践经验等。访谈结果表明：以活态性、动态性、系统性为主要特征的农业文化遗产,蕴含着丰富的农业生物多样性、生态农业技术、传统农耕文化和结构合理的生态景观,对解决工业化和城镇化所带来的生态环境问题、促进农业可持续发展和乡村全面振兴具有重要意义。作为一种特殊的遗产类型,农业文化遗产保护需要建立全新的范式,在强调政府...     

Forests of the past: a window to future changes

The study of past forest change provides a necessary historical context for evaluating the outcome of human-induced climate change and biological invasions. Retrospective analyses based on fossil and genetic data greatly advance our understanding of tree colonization, adaptation, and extinction in response to past climatic change. For instance, these analyses reveal cryptic refugia near or north of continental ice sheets, leading to reevaluation of postglacial tree migration rates. Species extinctions appear to have occurred primarily during periods of high climatic variability. Transoceanic dispersal and colonization in the tropics were widespread at geological time scales, inconsistent with the idea that tropical forests are particularly resistant to biological invasions.     

Time and the quantum: erasing the past and impacting the future

The quantum eraser effect of Scully and Drühl dramatically underscores the difference between our classical conceptions of time and how quantum processes can unfold in time. Such eyebrow-raising features of time in quantum mechanics have been labeled "the fallacy of delayed choice and quantum eraser" on the one hand and described "as one of the most intriguing effects in quantum mechanics" on the other. In the present paper, we discuss how the availability or erasure of information generated in the past can affect how we interpret data in the present. The quantum eraser concept has been studied and extended in many different experiments and scenarios, for example, the entanglement quantum eraser, the kaon quantum eraser, and the use of quantum eraser entanglement to improve microscopic resolution.     

Latin American ethnopedology: A vision of its past, present, and future

Ethnopedology is the study of local knowledge of soil and land management in an ecological perspective. It is an emerging hybrid discipline that is a component of ethnoecology and stands to offer much for land-based studies. This paper reviews the field of ethnopedology in Latin America and compares some of the many case studies from that region. Various literature sources are considered, including the ethnographical, ethnohistorical, archaeological, geographical, agronomic, ethnoecological, and development studies. Our review invokes the theory of ethnoecology that focuses on the linkages between kosmos (beliefs and symbolic representations), corpus (environmental knowledge), and praxis (the set of practical operations through which the material appropriation of nature takes place) of local land-users. The main topics covered are the ethnohistorical and archaeological evidence of ethnopedology, local soil and land classification, local land management systems, local perceptions and beliefs of soil and land resources, and local soil fertility management. After analysing past and present research trends, recommendations are given on how ethnopedological studies can contribute to enhance sustainable land use and management in Latin America.     

山西玉米产业现状与发展思考

目的研究能快速准确测定玉米种子活力的技术方法。方法采用3个年份生产的杂交玉米种子,玉米种胚经四唑染色后,利用数码显微镜 (Smart Zoom 5) 拍照和获取四唑染色图像,测定种胚中胚根、胚轴、胚芽和子叶(盾片)结构的染色面积和染色深浅,并与田间出苗率做相关性分析。结果玉米种胚各结构全部染色且颜色深时,种子活力水平与田间出苗率具有显著相关性,其相关系数为1.000;若种胚全部未染色、全部染色浅和只有部分结构染色的种子则与田间出苗率呈显著负相关关系,其相关系数分别为−0.905、−0.921和−1.000。结论玉米种子经四唑染色后,只有种胚结构全部染色且颜色深的种子,在田间才能够出苗,可判定为有活力的种子;而种胚部分结构染色或者全部染色但颜色浅的种子,在田间不能出苗,即为无活力的种子。这一结论可为快速测定玉米种子活力提供新的技术方法和指标,为玉米种子质量检验提供了一种准确、实用、方便和廉价的测定方法,可供种子检验机构和种业公司采用。