The moon-test in Newton's Principia: Accuracy of inverse-square law of universal gravitation

Communicated by J. D. North     

A New Translation of and Guide to Newton's Principia

This paper discusses the emergence of new medical experimental specialties at the Medical School of Surgery (Escola Médico-Cirúrgica) and the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon University (Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa) between 1897 and 1946, as a result of the activities of Marck Athias's (1875–1946) histophysiology research school. In 1897, Marck Athias, a Portuguese physician who had graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in Paris, founded a research school in Lisbon along the lines of Michael Foster's physiology research school in England and Franz Hofmeister's physiological chemistry school in Germany. His research programme was highly innovative in Portugal. Not only did it bring together many disciples and co-workers, but it branched out and created new medical specialties within Portuguese medical science. These new disciplinary areas grew out of the study of the histology of the nervous system but eventually expanded into normal and pathological histophysiology, physiological chemistry and experimental endocrinology. The esprit de corps that existed between research school members ensured the school's success and influence in various fields social and political as well as scientific. Athias's school was strongly influenced by positivist ideals and promoted a teaching and research style that sought inspiration in Humboldt's university model, thus helping to bring about a change in the dominant scientific ethos and to modernize scientific research in Portugal during the first half of the twentieth century.     

The Absolute and Its Measurement: William Thomson on Temperature

In this paper we give a full account of the work of William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) on absolute temperature, which to this day provides the theoretical underpinnings for the most rigorous measurements of temperature. When Thomson fashioned his concepts of ‘absolute’ temperature, his main concern was to make the definition of temperature independent of the properties of particular thermometric substances (rather than to count temperature from an absolute zero). He tried out a succession of definitions based on the thermodynamics of ideal heat engines; most notably, in 1854 he gave the ratio of two temperatures as the ratio of quantities of heat taken in and given out at those temperatures in a Carnot cycle. But there were difficulties with using such definitions for experimental work, since it was not possible even to approximate an ideal Carnot engine in reality. More generally, it is not trivial to connect an abstract concept with concrete operations in order to make physical measurements possible. In the end, Thomson argued that an ideal gas thermometer would indicate his absolute temperature, and that the deviation of actual gas thermometers from the ideal could be estimated by means of the Joule‐Thomson effect. However, the measurement of the Joule‐Thomson effect itself required measurements of temperature, so there was a problem of circularity.     

The perirenal venous arch of the rat: Its functional significance

Summary A functional and morphological study of the perirenal venous arch of the rat has been carried out. The various drainage possibilities of this arch through its multiple collaterals are demonstrated. Venous renal blood can reach the adrenal gland via the perirenal arch. The endocrine interactions between these organs are discussed.     

项目管理软件的发展状况及其应用分析

本文从项目管理的基础理论研究出发,结合计算机软件发展趋势,明确指出了我国项目管理及其管理思想的载体——项目管理软件在实际应用中的瓶颈,多角度分析了现有问题的症结所在,并联系项目管理发展趋势从宏观角度提供了解决问题的方法和途径。     

中国农业生态安全及相关研究进展

我国正处于经济快速发展时期，经济发展所带来的环境与生态问题十分严重；同时我国又是人口大国，农业生产始终是党和政府、社会各界以及国际社会关注的焦点问题，农业生态安全、粮食安全等是影响国家安全的重要方面。本文试对生态安全以及农业生态安全的概念、特点、评价与预警，粮食安全，农业景观结构调整与发展生态安全型农业，土地资源持续利用，农业生物多样性与转基因生物等的研究现状及进展做一初步分析。     

淀粉的改性及其在可降解塑料和橡胶中的应用研究

淀粉作为一种天然高分子,由于其价格低,可再生,生物降解性好等优点,在材料制备与改性方面得到了人们的青睐.同时由于淀粉所固有的亲水性,难于加工性以及和石化材料间较差的相容性等也大大限制了其在非食品工业中的应用范围.本文介绍了国内外淀粉改性的最新进展及其尝试其在可降解塑料和橡胶方面的应用研究,并就目前该领域存在的一些问题作了初步探讨.     

反向疫苗学及其筛选保护性抗原应用进展

近年发展起来的反向疫苗学,是现代疫苗学研究的一种新策略,使疫苗学研究进入了一个新时期。这种以“序列-结构-功能”思想为依据,以免疫信息学、计算机预测设计以及高通量的各种组学（包括基因组学、转录本组学、蛋白质组学等）综合集成技术为核心的策略,能为各种病原体保护性抗原候选分子的发现提供一条新途径,可以提高疫苗筛选效率。     

硒矿资源研究现状

硒系分散元素之一,在自然界通常极难形成工业富集,甚至硒的独立矿物也很少,其主要来源于综合性含硒矿床。目前硒巳广泛应用于各个领域,国际市场对硒的需求量逐年增长。世界硒矿资源严重短缺,且其分布不均匀,供求矛盾比较突出。在我国加强硒矿资源的勘查和开发利用巳刻不容缓。     

青藏高原开发、保护与特色经济发展

青藏高原面临的最突出的问题是生态环境恶化和牧民贫困,它放大了生态不安全、社会不安全之间的累积效应,制约着西部及国家的可持续发展。本课题的研究不论从生态安全或社会安全而言,它的意义均超出了青藏高原本身,具有全国性的重要而深远的意义。青藏高原通过实现生态系统的脆弱性和恢复能力相协调,依据自身资源优势,发展特色经济,培育新的经济增长点,从而实现区域经济的可持续发展。     

生物能量在生命体中传递的新理论及实验证实

我们从蛋白质的分子结构和ATP水解所放出能量的特征出发,提出了一个新的生物能量传递理论。并用新的哈密顿函数和波函数代替了原来旧的函数,用解析的方法求出了传递生物能量的孤子在其生理温度和它的寿命时间内能够传递过上千个氨基酸分子,于是它可能是传递生物能量的真正载流子。用解析和数值模拟的方法研究了这种传递生物能量孤子的特性和在生理温度300K时的热力学稳定性,证明了这种孤子在生理温度时是十分稳定的,它的寿命能达到300ps,可能是生物能量的传递者。再通过实验测定了在胶原蛋白和牛血清蛋白等(-螺旋蛋白的光谱特性及其在27-95℃范围内其谱线分布和谱线强度随温度的变化,把所检测的三个结果与能量传递的理论预示的结果相比较,发现它们完全一致,从而从实验上证明了在蛋白质分子中建立的生物能量传递理论是正确的。而理论预示的孤子是蛋白质当中生物能量传递的真正载流子。     

Seasonality in the reproductive phenology ofFicus: Its evolution and consequences

Summary Ficus can only reproduce if they are pollinated by mutualistic wasps that breed within the figs. Pollen-loaded wasps enter the figs when the female flowers are receptive. Several weeks later, their offspring load pollen within the fig and then emerge. As individual trees typically produce crops of synchronous figs at long intervals, the shortlived wasps have to move to another, receptive, tree. The wasp population can only survive, and hence the fig population reproduce, if there are trees fruiting all over the year. When only few trees are present within a population gaps in the flowering sequence may lead to the extinction of the local pollinator population. Two models are presented. One investigates the number of trees necessary in order to sustain a local pollinator population when the tree population has a seasonal pattern of fruiting. The second model investigates how such a seasonal pattern may evolve within a fig population as a result of individual selection on the trees. It is shown that pollinator populations are fragilized under seasonal conditions. Hence, the breeding system ofFicus limits their expansion into highly seasonal habitats. Seasonal habitats may also lead to seasonal adjustment of male versus female investments and to the evolution of dioecy.