Evidence that Hensen's node is a site of retinoic acid synthesis.

Hensen's node of amniotes, like the Spemann organizer of amphibians, can induce a second body axis when grafted into a host embryo. The avian node, as well as several midline structures originating from it (notochord, floor plate), can also induce digit pattern duplications when grafted into the chick wing bud. We report here that the equivalent of Hensen's node from mouse is an effective inducer of digits in the chick wing bud. Tissues anterior and posterior to the node also evoke pattern duplications, but with a significantly lower efficiency. The finding that the murine node operates in an avian wing bud suggests that the same inducing agent(s) function in both primary and secondary embryonic fields and have been conserved during vertebrate evolution. Digit pattern duplications are also evoked by local administration of all-trans-retinoic acid. This similarity raises the possibility that Hensen's node is a source of retinoic acid. The mouse node is capable of synthesizing retinoic acid from its biosynthetic precursor all-trans-retinol at a substantially higher rate than either anterior or posterior tissues.     

A nearly completely articulated rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur with exceptionally well-preserved wing membranes and “hairs” from Inner Mongolia, northeast China

We report a new and nearly completely articulated rhamphorhynchoid pterosaur, Jeholopterus ningchengensis gen. et sp. nov., with excellently preserved fibres in the wing membrane and "hairs" in the neck, body and tail regions. Many of its characteristics such as a short neck, short metacarpals and distinctively long fifth pedal digit are characteristic of rhamphorhynchoids. The new species can be further referred to the 'strange' short-tailed rhamphorhynchoid family Anurognathidae. It is much more complete than the other known members of the family, namely, Anurognathus from Solnhofen, Germany, Batrachognathus from Karatau, Kazakhstan, and Dendrorhynchoides from Beipiao, Liaoning Province, China. The new pterosaur also shows that the wing membrane is attached to the ankle of the hind limb. The pedal digits are webbed. Furthermore, the "hair" of Jeholopterus bears some resemblance to the hair-like integumental structures of the feathered dinosaur Sinosauropteryx although there is yet no direct evidence to argue for or against their homology.     

扬子鳄附肢的形态发生

本文在３１例扬子鳄胚胎中观察了附肢的形态发生过程，并与密河鳄附肢的形态发生过程进行和讨论，孵化每天 ，前、后肢芽形成处的组织略隆起；第８天时，前、后肢芽突出呈乳状。前、后肢芽分别在１６、２０天出现近轴部与远轴部结构的区分。前肢掌面和后肢 反在第１６－２４天中形成，第２４－３２天中指间裂逐渐形成。     

Ultrabithorax is required for membranous wing identity in the beetle Tribolium castaneum

The two pairs of wings that are characteristic of ancestral pterygotes (winged insects) have often undergone evolutionary modification. In the fruitfly, Drosophila melanogaster, differences between the membranous forewings and the modified hindwings (halteres) depend on the Hox gene Ultrabithorax (Ubx). The Drosophila forewings develop without Hox input, while Ubx represses genes that are important for wing development, promoting haltere identity. However, the idea that Hox input is important to the morphologically specialized wing derivatives such as halteres, and not the more ancestral wings, requires examination in other insect orders. In beetles, such as Tribolium castaneum, it is the forewings that are modified (to form elytra), while the hindwings retain a morphologically more ancestral identity. Here we show that in this beetle Ubx 'de-specializes' the hindwings, which are transformed to elytra when the gene is knocked down. We also show evidence that elytra result from a Hox-free state, despite their diverged morphology. Ubx function in the hindwing seems necessary for a change in the expression of spalt, iroquois and achaete-scute homologues from elytron-like to more typical wing-like patterns. This counteracting effect of Ubx in beetle hindwings represents a previously unknown mode of wing diversification in insects.     

Posterior-to-anterior transformation in engrailed wing imaginal disks of Drosophila

Segments in the Drosophila adult are divided into clonally distinct anterior and posterior compartments. Mutations at the engrailed locus can affect the pattern of cuticular structures in the posterior compartments of segments, but have no obvious effect on anterior structures; for example, bristles that are normally seen only on the anterior wing margin in wild-type flies can be found on the posterior margin of engrailed wings. These and clonal analysis data led to the hypothesis that engrailed causes a transformation of posterior to anterior identity in the wing cells. Despite some striking examples of this transformation, a common engrailed phenotype is the disruption or elimination of posterior pattern elements, without a clear replacement by anterior structures; this, together with indications that localized cell death can mimic some of the observed posterior-to-anterior transformations, has led some investigators to question the original engrailed hypothesis. Recently, monoclonal antibodies displaying region-specific binding patterns on the wing imaginal disk have been described, and one of these antibodies in particular provides a novel probe for the engrailed phenotype in the larval precursors of the adult wing. Here I compare the antibody binding patterns on engrailed and wild-type wing disks. The results strongly support the notion that engrailed mutations cause a posterior-to-anterior transformation in these cells.     

非特定人普通话孤立数字音识别系统

通过分析汉语语音及非特定人语音特点，选择过零率、能量、基音周期和前两个共振峰作为语音特征，用音素分类的方法构造判决树，在此基础上，给出了一个非特定人普通话孤立数字音（０～９）识别系统，识别率大约为９６．６％。     

手写数字识别实验系统的研究

以无限制手写数字的机器自动识别系统的研究对象，旨在达到对书写人员、笔墨、纸张、字体大小、取向、位置不作限制，对常见书写风格均能识别。     

用于自动导引车辆的数字工位实时识别系统设计

开发了用于自动导引车辆的数字工位视觉识别系统.根据路面区域、导航线区域和数字工位区域的不同颜色特征,以彩色图像中的R分量(红色分量)为处理对象,利用红色分量在每一副采集图片的像素分布中寻找字符可能出现的区域;根据HIS颜色空间特征参数饱和度S和色调H,提取数字工位;快速校正后,利用字符的整体结构特征进行数字初步分类,优化字符特征区域的确定及统计办法,在改进的特征统计基础上进行数字的再辨识.现场实验表明,该系统可获得较好的识别效果(正确率达到98%),字符提取耗时16 ms,校正、识别总耗时47 ms,满足车辆数字工位识别实时性、准确性、鲁棒性的要求.     

基于数字结构的中长跑比赛自动计圈技术研究

为了识别号码布图像中的三个数字,基于数字结构特征建立了数字0～9的Fisher线性判别模型.基于图像处理从号码布图像中提取数字二值图像.用直线切割数字区域获取切割区域特征和切割线特征简单、稳定、不重复,可以代表数字的基本形状,对数字的区分度较好.Bayes判别分析结果表明:所建模型经内部验证对数字0～9的识别率达100%.基于数字的结构识别运动员号码是可行的,为研制中长跑自动计圈系统提供了方法.     

基于关键数字和HMM的数字串说话人身份确认系统

为了建立一个数字串说话人身份确认系统 ,采用了基于数字HMM的与文本有关的身份确认方式 ;使用限定在数字范围内的任意数字串为语音文本 ,并内嵌能较好反映说话人特征的关键数字来提高确认性能 ;最终对多个关键数字的确认子系统进行综合判决 ,以提高HMM识别性能鲁棒性 .文中重点研究了基于关键数字HMM的身份确认 ,提出了以模型间的距离测度为准则来选择说话人的关键数字 ,并通过对比实验表明了用计算KLD上限的方法进行模型间距离测度的有效性 .     

Isolation of 3,4-didehydroretinoic acid, a novel morphogenetic signal in the chick wing bud

There is increasing evidence that retinoic acid is a morphogen involved in vertebrate development. This evidence comes in part from studies of the chick wing bud, in which local application of all-trans-retinoic acid results in a duplication of the digit pattern along the anteroposterior axis. Retinoic acid may be only one of several morphogenetic signalling compounds required for limb pattern formation. To identify novel morphogenetically active compounds, fractionated extracts of whole chick embryos were tested for their ability to induce digit pattern duplications. We describe here the isolation of a new activity present in the limb bud, which we have identified as all-trans-3,4-didehydroretinoic acid. The 3,4-didehydroretinoic acid is generated in situ from retinol through a 3,4-didehydroretinol intermediate. We show that 3,4-didehydroretinoic acid and retinoic acid are equipotent in evoking digit duplications. These findings suggest that there are at least two endogenous retinoids with morphogenetic properties in the chick limb.     

印刷体数字识别系统的 FPGA 实现

为提高处理速度,构建了一种基于现场可编程门阵列(field programmable gate array,FPGA)的印刷体数字识别系统.该系统采用基于投影特征的字符分割和基于统计特征的字符识别原理,在Nexys-3硬件平台上完成了OV7670摄像头数据采集、图像预处理、字符分割与识别和结果显示的功能.在设计中,采取仅存储二值化图像的方法来降低系统对存储资源的需求,并使用乒乓操作进行存储从而达到实时处理的目的.为更合理地使用FPGA器件的内部资源,调用了片内数字时钟管理单元(digital clock manager,DCM)、乘法器、双端口RAM以及先入先出队列(first input first output,FIFO)等IP核(intellectual property core).最后在Modelsim中进行时序仿真,验证各个子模块的功能,并将各模块集成在开发板上进行硬件实现.通过对实验结果分析可知,该系统使用了较少的逻辑资源,在摄像头的帧速率为30 f/s的情况下,可以成功实时识别印刷体数字并将识别结果输出.     

自然数等于它的各位数同次幂之和的解

本文首先证明,对于任一个大于0的整数m,自然数要等于它的各位m次幂之和,自然数的位数p与幂次m必须满足不等式: 1+[mlg2]≤p≤1+[mlg9+1g(m-1)] 才有可能,然后,在这基础上,再求出m=1,2,……,11的解,最后附FORTRAN77源程序一份,供上机计算时参考.     

Female visual displays affect the development of male song in the cowbird

The role of social stimulation in avian vocal learning is well documented. The separate contribution of social, as opposed to vocal, stimulation has been difficult to address, however, because in almost all cases both tutor and pupil sing. The opportunity to isolate such effects arose in cowbirds (Molothrus ater ater) after discovering that males housed with non-singing female cowbirds made vocal changes which related directly to the female preferences for native song. Here we report how females communicate with males about songs. We describe a visual display by females, a wing stroke, that is elicited by specific vocalizations. The songs that trigger wing strokes are in turn highly effective releasers of copulatory postures, and thus this previously unnoticed female display has biological significance. The data not only provide the first evidence of the tutorial role of male-female interactions during song ontogeny, they also clearly implicate visual stimulation in song learning, a process that has until now been assumed to be affected only by auditory information.     

Bird-like fossil footprints from the Late Triassic

The study of fossilized footprints and tracks of dinosaurs and other vertebrates has provided insight into the origin, evolution and extinction of several major groups and their behaviour; it has also been an important complement to their body fossil record. The known history of birds starts in the Late Jurassic epoch (around 150 Myr ago) with the record of Archaeopteryx, whereas the coelurosaurian ancestors of the birds date back to the Early Jurassic. The hind limbs of Late Triassic epoch theropods lack osteological evidence for an avian reversed hallux and also display other functional differences from birds. Previous references to suggested Late Triassic to Early Jurassic bird-like footprints have been reinterpreted as produced by non-avian dinosaurs having a high angle between digits II and IV and in all cases their avian affinities have been challenged. Here we describe well-preserved and abundant footprints with clearly avian characters from a Late Triassic redbed sequence of Argentina, at least 55 Myr before the first known skeletal record of birds. These footprints document the activities, in an environment interpreted as small ponds associated with ephemeral rivers, of an unknown group of Late Triassic theropods having some avian characters.     

A fundamental avian wing-stroke provides a new perspective on the evolution of flight

The evolution of avian flight remains one of biology's major controversies, with a long history of functional interpretations of fossil forms given as evidence for either an arboreal or cursorial origin of flight. Despite repeated emphasis on the 'wing-stroke' as a necessary avenue of investigation for addressing the evolution of flight, no empirical data exist on wing-stroke dynamics in an experimental evolutionary context. Here we present the first comparison of wing-stroke kinematics of the primary locomotor modes (descending flight and incline flap-running) that lead to level-flapping flight in juvenile ground birds throughout development. We offer results that are contrary both to popular perception and inferences from other studies. Starting shortly after hatching and continuing through adulthood, ground birds use a wing-stroke confined to a narrow range of less than 20 degrees , when referenced to gravity, that directs aerodynamic forces about 40 degrees above horizontal, permitting a 180 degrees range in the direction of travel. Based on our results, we put forth an ontogenetic-transitional wing hypothesis that posits that the incremental adaptive stages leading to the evolution of avian flight correspond behaviourally and morphologically to transitional stages observed in ontogenetic forms.