The size of motor units in laryngeal muscles of the rat

Summary The size of motor units in rat laryngeal muscles was determined by correlating the number of neurons labeled by i.m. injections of horseradish peroxidase with the number of motor end plates stained for acetylcholinesterase. The cricothyroid has a motor unit size of 8 muscle fibers per motor neuron and the posterior cricoarytenoid 4–5 muscle fibers per motor neuron.     

Insecticidal effect of trans-2-nonenal,a constituent of carrot root

Summary Vapour of trans-2-nonenal killed the carrot fly larva,Psila rosae, with an LC₅₀ of 2.17 mg/24h. The aldehyde was identified in the essential oil of carrot in concentrations of up to 40 g/root.Special thanks are due to The Agricultural Institute, Dublin, for funding a proposal from M.F.R.     

Transgenic strategies for combinatorial expression of fluorescent proteins in the nervous system

Detailed analysis of neuronal network architecture requires the development of new methods. Here we present strategies to visualize synaptic circuits by genetically labelling neurons with multiple, distinct colours. In Brainbow transgenes, Cre/lox recombination is used to create a stochastic choice of expression between three or more fluorescent proteins (XFPs). Integration of tandem Brainbow copies in transgenic mice yielded combinatorial XFP expression, and thus many colours, thereby providing a way to distinguish adjacent neurons and visualize other cellular interactions. As a demonstration, we reconstructed hundreds of neighbouring axons and multiple synaptic contacts in one small volume of a cerebellar lobe exhibiting approximately 90 colours. The expression in some lines also allowed us to map glial territories and follow glial cells and neurons over time in vivo. The ability of the Brainbow system to label uniquely many individual cells within a population may facilitate the analysis of neuronal circuitry on a large scale.     

Elaborating a Critical Realist Approach to Soft Systems Methodology

Systemic Practice and Action Research - This paper explores the implications of adopting a critical realist approach to soft systems methodology (SSM) both to address local problematic situations...     

Seepage,objectivity, and climate science

Based on the disproportionate amount of attention paid by climate scientists to the supposed global warming hiatus, it has recently been argued that contrarian discourse has “seeped into” climate science. While I agree that seepage has occurred, its effects remain unclear. This lack of clarity may give the impression that climate science has been compromised in a way that it hasn't—such a conclusion should be defended against. To do this I argue that the effects of seepage should be analyzed in terms of objectivity. I use seven meanings of objectivity to analyze contrarian discourse's impact on climate science. The resulting account supports the important point that climate science has not been compromised in a way that invalidates the conclusions its scientists have drawn, despite the reality of seepage having occurred.     

First dairying in green Saharan Africa in the fifth millennium BC

In the prehistoric green Sahara of Holocene North Africa-in contrast to the Neolithic of Europe and Eurasia-a reliance on cattle, sheep and goats emerged as a stable and widespread way of life, long before the first evidence for domesticated plants or settled village farming communities. The remarkable rock art found widely across the region depicts cattle herding among early Saharan pastoral groups, and includes rare scenes of milking; however, these images can rarely be reliably dated. Although the faunal evidence provides further confirmation of the importance of cattle and other domesticates, the scarcity of cattle bones makes it impossible to ascertain herd structures via kill-off patterns, thereby precluding interpretations of whether dairying was practiced. Because pottery production begins early in northern Africa the potential exists to investigate diet and subsistence practices using molecular and isotopic analyses of absorbed food residues. This approach has been successful in determining the chronology of dairying beginning in the 'Fertile Crescent' of the Near East and its spread across Europe. Here we report the first unequivocal chemical evidence, based on the δ(13)C and Δ(13)C values of the major alkanoic acids of milk fat, for the adoption of dairying practices by prehistoric Saharan African people in the fifth millennium bc. Interpretations are supported by a new database of modern ruminant animal fats collected from Africa. These findings confirm the importance of 'lifetime products', such as milk, in early Saharan pastoralism, and provide an evolutionary context for the emergence of lactase persistence in Africa.     

超薄高分子材料热管(英文)

热管具有远高于大多数金属的导热性能,已被广泛应用于电子元器件的散热方面.由于电子元器件正朝着微型化、薄型化、片式化和高功率等趋势发展,因此散热元件必须同时具备轻薄和高导热系数的特点.本文介绍了一种由高分子材料制造的超薄热管的设计和制造过程.其厚度为0.30 mm,大小为2 cm×6 cm,输入功率为9.54 W时,有效传热系数为541 W/(m K).管壳材料为kapton薄膜,吸液芯和蒸汽腔均由光阻SU8组成,光阻SU8柱子的大小和柱子之间的间隔差异为吸液芯提供了毛细血力;另外,通过原子层积电镀,SU8光阻和kapton薄膜都覆盖上一层极薄的Ti O2膜,改善了表面和吸液芯的亲水性能,同时实现了密封.