The central nervous system stabilizes unstable dynamics by learning optimal impedance.

To manipulate objects or to use tools we must compensate for any forces arising from interaction with the physical environment. Recent studies indicate that this compensation is achieved by learning an internal model of the dynamics, that is, a neural representation of the relation between motor command and movement. In these studies interaction with the physical environment was stable, but many common tasks are intrinsically unstable. For example, keeping a screwdriver in the slot of a screw is unstable because excessive force parallel to the slot can cause the screwdriver to slip and because misdirected force can cause loss of contact between the screwdriver and the screw. Stability may be dependent on the control of mechanical impedance in the human arm because mechanical impedance can generate forces which resist destabilizing motion. Here we examined arm movements in an unstable dynamic environment created by a robotic interface. Our results show that humans learn to stabilize unstable dynamics using the skillful and energy-efficient strategy of selective control of impedance geometry.     

Regulation of lifespan by sensory perception in Caenorhabditis elegans

Caenorhabditis elegans senses environmental signals through ciliated sensory neurons located primarily in sensory organs in the head and tail. Cilia function as sensory receptors, and mutants with defective sensory cilia have impaired sensory perception. Cilia are membrane-bound microtubule-based structures and in C. elegans are only found at the dendritic endings of sensory neurons. Here we show that mutations that cause defects in sensory cilia or their support cells, or in sensory signal transduction, extend lifespan. Our findings imply that sensory perception regulates the lifespan of this animal, and suggest that in nature, its lifespan may be regulated by environmental cues.     

淡水鱼内脏中粗鱼油的酶法提取工艺研究

以淡水鱼的内脏为原料,对中性蛋白酶提取鱼油的工艺条件进行了研究,确定了最佳提取工艺为酶解温度48℃,酶解时间2.5 h,酶用量1 200 u/g,料液比1∶0.5.并对提取出的鱼油进行感官评价和理化指标的测定,结果鱼油的酸价为14.73,碘值132.76,过氧化值16.59 mmol/kg,皂化值180.54,不皂化值0.58,感官和理化等级均为二级.     

Horizontal and vertical components of head movement are controlled by distinct neural circuits in the barn owl

To generate behaviour, the brain must transform sensory information into signals that are appropriate to control movement. Sensory and motor coordinate frames are fundamentally different, however: sensory coordinates are based on the spatiotemporal patterns of activity arising from the various sense organs, whereas motor coordinates are based on the pulling directions of muscles or groups of muscles. Results from psychophysical experiments suggest that in the process of transforming sensory information into motor control signals, the brain encodes movements in abstract or extrinsic coordinate frames, that is ones not closely related to the geometry of the sensory apparatus or of the skeletomusculature. Here we show that an abstract code underlies movements of the head by the barn owl. Specifically, the data show that subsequent to the retinotopic code for space in the optic tectum yet before the motor neuron code for muscle tensions there exists a code for head movement in which upward, downward, leftward and rightward components of movement are controlled by four functionally distinct neural circuits. Such independent coding of orthogonal components of movement may be a common intermediate step in the transformation of sensation into behaviour.     

基于力、能量、动量和作用量框架的物理学基础理论结构统一性探讨

研究表明:如果把作用量视为一个与力、能量和动量平权的物理量，那么经典牛顿力学、量子力学、相对论和狄拉克的相对论电子理论有了统一的数学基础. 由此推测“反物质”本质上是超光速物质的亚光速表象，并预言它们在引力场中是受到引力场的排斥的. 本文进一步讨论基于芬斯勒时空结构中的相对论的物理特征，特别指出爱因斯坦相对论中的“光锥”作为突变临界面的特殊性质，构成了以光速为相互作用传递速度的“作用力”的“吸引”和“排斥”表象间的相互转换.      

鸣禽鸣啭学习研究进展

禽的鸣啭表现出一种复杂的学习过程，鸣禽学习鸣啭的过程可以分为两个阶段．在感觉学习期，幼鸟必须听到成鸟的鸣啭，并形成鸣啭模板记忆；在感觉运动学习期，鸣禽通过听觉反馈与模板匹配逐步建立稳定的鸣啭．对近年来鸣禽鸣啭学习过程的研究进展进行综述．     

砂土边坡地震动力响应离心模型试验

为研究砂土边坡的地震响应规律,采用El Centro波作为地震输入,在50倍重力加速度条件下进行边坡的动力离心模型试验。试验在土工离心机及专用振动台上实施,利用加速度传感器记录模型不同位置地震响应的加速度时程并进行频谱分析。结果表明:最大响应发生于坡顶,该处地震波反应谱放大系数最大值为4.78。地震波反应谱不同频率成分放大效果不同,与5.7~6.7 Hz的频率成分相应的反应谱放大最大。边坡自下而上存在地震响应放大现象,边坡上部响应大于底部,靠近边坡斜面的响应大于内部。     

几何法证明科氏加速度

不少理论力学教材对科氏加速度的几何法证明不够详细,本文将对牵连运动为定轴转动的特例用几何法推证点的加速度合成定理,读者能更加形象地理解定理中各项的物理意义。     

A neural representation of depth from motion parallax in macaque visual cortex

Perception of depth is a fundamental challenge for the visual system, particularly for observers moving through their environment. The brain makes use of multiple visual cues to reconstruct the three-dimensional structure of a scene. One potent cue, motion parallax, frequently arises during translation of the observer because the images of objects at different distances move across the retina with different velocities. Human psychophysical studies have demonstrated that motion parallax can be a powerful depth cue, and motion parallax seems to be heavily exploited by animal species that lack highly developed binocular vision. However, little is known about the neural mechanisms that underlie this capacity. Here we show, by using a virtual-reality system to translate macaque monkeys (Macaca mulatta) while they viewed motion parallax displays that simulated objects at different depths, that many neurons in the middle temporal area (area MT) signal the sign of depth (near versus far) from motion parallax in the absence of other depth cues. To achieve this, neurons must combine visual motion with extra-retinal (non-visual) signals related to the animal's movement. Our findings suggest a new neural substrate for depth perception and demonstrate a robust interaction of visual and non-visual cues in area MT. Combined with previous studies that implicate area MT in depth perception based on binocular disparities, our results suggest that area MT contains a more general representation of three-dimensional space that makes use of multiple cues.     

Experience-dependent representation of visual categories in parietal cortex

Categorization is a process by which the brain assigns meaning to sensory stimuli. Through experience, we learn to group stimuli into categories, such as 'chair', 'table' and 'vehicle', which are critical for rapidly and appropriately selecting behavioural responses. Although much is known about the neural representation of simple visual stimulus features (for example, orientation, direction and colour), relatively little is known about how the brain learns and encodes the meaning of stimuli. We trained monkeys to classify 360 degrees of visual motion directions into two discrete categories, and compared neuronal activity in the lateral intraparietal (LIP) and middle temporal (MT) areas, two interconnected brain regions known to be involved in visual motion processing. Here we show that neurons in LIP--an area known to be centrally involved in visuo-spatial attention, motor planning and decision-making-robustly reflect the category of motion direction as a result of learning. The activity of LIP neurons encoded directions of motion according to their category membership, and that encoding shifted after the monkeys were retrained to group the same stimuli into two new categories. In contrast, neurons in area MT were strongly direction selective but carried little, if any, explicit category information. This indicates that LIP might be an important nexus for the transformation of visual direction selectivity to more abstract representations that encode the behavioural relevance, or meaning, of stimuli.     

On-line, voluntary control of human temporal lobe neurons

Daily life continually confronts us with an exuberance of external, sensory stimuli competing with a rich stream of internal deliberations, plans and ruminations. The brain must select one or more of these for further processing. How this competition is resolved across multiple sensory and cognitive regions is not known; nor is it clear how internal thoughts and attention regulate this competition. Recording from single neurons in patients implanted with intracranial electrodes for clinical reasons, here we demonstrate that humans can regulate the activity of their neurons in the medial temporal lobe (MTL) to alter the outcome of the contest between external images and their internal representation. Subjects looked at a hybrid superposition of two images representing familiar individuals, landmarks, objects or animals and had to enhance one image at the expense of the other, competing one. Simultaneously, the spiking activity of their MTL neurons in different subregions and hemispheres was decoded in real time to control the content of the hybrid. Subjects reliably regulated, often on the first trial, the firing rate of their neurons, increasing the rate of some while simultaneously decreasing the rate of others. They did so by focusing onto one image, which gradually became clearer on the computer screen in front of their eyes, and thereby overriding sensory input. On the basis of the firing of these MTL neurons, the dynamics of the competition between visual images in the subject's mind was visualized on an external display.     

Primary structure and expression of a product from cut, a locus involved in specifying sensory organ identity in Drosophila

In the absence of cut gene activity in Drosophila, external sensory organs are transformed into chordotonal organs. Here we show that the cut locus encodes a large protein containing a homoeodomain and is expressed in nuclei of cells in external sensory organs but not in cells within chordotonal organs.     

不同食性鱼类能量结构的比较研究

初步建立不同食性鱼类的能量结构模型。实验结果得出肉食性胡鲇尾肌的含水量、热量值、能量比及含能总量为最大，其各部在官的能量比是从尾部→躯干部→头部→内脏逐渐递减，而草食性的草鱼和杂食性的鲤鱼躯干肌含能最高，其各部分器官的能量从躯干部→尾部→头部→内脏逐渐递减。     

Influence of motion signals on the perceived position of spatial pattern

After adaptation of the visual system to motion of a pattern in a particular direction, a static pattern appears to move in the opposite direction-the motion aftereffect (MAE). It is thought that the MAE is not accompanied by a shift in perceived spatial position of the pattern being viewed, providing psychophysical evidence for a dissociation of the neural processing of motion and position that complements anatomical and physiological evidence of functional specialization in primate and human visual cortex. However, here we measure the perceived orientation of a static windmill pattern after adaptation to rotary motion and find a gradual shift in orientation in the direction of the illusory rotation, though at a rate much lower than the apparent rotation speed. The orientation shift, which started to decline within a few seconds, could persist longer than the MAE, and disappeared when the MAE was nulled by physical motion of the windmill pattern. Our results indicate that the representation of the position of spatial pattern is dynamically updated by neurons involved in the analysis of motion.     

Humans use internal models to estimate gravity and linear acceleration

Because sensory systems often provide ambiguous information, neural processes must exist to resolve these ambiguities. It is likely that similar neural processes are used by different sensory systems. For example, many tasks require neural processing to distinguish linear acceleration from gravity, but Einstein's equivalence principle states that all linear accelerometers must measure both linear acceleration and gravity. Here we investigate whether the brain uses internal models, defined as neural systems that mimic physical principles, to help estimate linear acceleration and gravity. Internal models may be used in motor contro, sensorimotor integration and sensory processing, but direct experimental evidence for such models is limited. To determine how humans process ambiguous gravity and linear acceleration cues, subjects were tilted after being rotated at a constant velocity about an Earth-vertical axis. We show that the eye movements evoked by this post-rotational tilt include a response component that compensates for the estimated linear acceleration even when no actual linear acceleration occurs. These measured responses are consistent with our internal model predictions that the nervous system can develop a non-zero estimate of linear acceleration even when no true linear acceleration is present.     

中国西部地区场地放大模型

为探讨场地对地震动的影响,选取汶川地震主震、余震记录及美国下一代地震动衰减关系（NGA）项目的强震记录,通过比较地震动观测值与基岩衰减关系预测值得到场地放大系数．分析得出以Vs30和参考地震动为变量的场地放大连续函数模型．模型考虑了场地的K30对地震动影响的差异,反映了汶川地区场地条件对地震动的影响．通过随机效应方法回归了模型系数．模型结果表明：当参考地震动小于45～55gal时,其对场地放大无影响;当参考地震动大于45～55gal时,相同场地上随其增大场地放大系数减小;而且参考地震动对软场地上短周期地震动的场地放大影响显著,对硬土场地影响不显著．     

针对立管重入井过程中等路径段加速度的改进型蚁群优化算法

在自由悬垂立管动力学分析的基础上，提出了一种针对等路径段内的加速度进行优化的改进型蚁群算法.通过该算法得出的立管顶端的优化运动策略，可以有效地减小立管底端在平移结束时同海底井口的距离，同时缩短重入井作业需要的时间，使得钻井立管重入井作业更加便捷.通过对比在优化后的运动策略下和在普通的运动策略下自由悬垂立管的不同动力学响应和型态变化，说明针对等路径段加速度进行优化的蚁群优化算法可以有效地优化立管重入井过程中的立管型态和运动，使重入井作业更加便捷.
     

砂土地基自由场离心机振动台模型试验

为了观察砂土地基自由场的地震响应情况和检验试验用叠环式模型箱的边界效应影响以及应用效果,在输入地震波(采用K obe波)、离心加速度为50 g的条件下,进行了砂土地基自由场动力离心试验。文中给出了加速度反应和位移反应量测结果,研究了砂土地基的地震反应情况。试验结果表明:叠环式模型箱可以较好地模拟自由场土层的剪切变形,边界效应影响较小;振动台的激振性能、数据量测仪器与采集系统的使用效果均良好,从而为后续有关试验奠定了基础。     

云斑天牛生殖系统的研究

研究了云斑天牛生殖系统的解剖形态、超微结构及内、外生殖器结构的功能和组织来源。     

The missing memristor found

Anyone who ever took an electronics laboratory class will be familiar with the fundamental passive circuit elements: the resistor, the capacitor and the inductor. However, in 1971 Leon Chua reasoned from symmetry arguments that there should be a fourth fundamental element, which he called a memristor (short for memory resistor). Although he showed that such an element has many interesting and valuable circuit properties, until now no one has presented either a useful physical model or an example of a memristor. Here we show, using a simple analytical example, that memristance arises naturally in nanoscale systems in which solid-state electronic and ionic transport are coupled under an external bias voltage. These results serve as the foundation for understanding a wide range of hysteretic current-voltage behaviour observed in many nanoscale electronic devices that involve the motion of charged atomic or molecular species, in particular certain titanium dioxide cross-point switches.