对耗散结构中熵的探讨

经典耗散结构对其有序的分析虽然误用了热力学第二定律和无序度的熵,但这掩盖不了耗散结构本身的价值。耗散结构的有序是耗散结构在形成过程中各因子之间形成的相互联系,它是一个宏观整体的概念,反映了系统内部的联系程度,与无序度熵有着本质的区别。对于系统内的桌一粒子、要素、子系统来说是并无有序的概念可言。耗散结构中熵的实质是宏观有序和能量转换,体现的是热力学第一定律。热力学第二定律的使用前提是孤立系统,耗散结构中并不存在孤立的内部系统,无序度熵的引入,严重误导了对熵的本质理解。不能用封闭的、静态的、机械的、线性的观点看待开放的、动态的、有机的、非线性的物理过程。探讨熵的实质。对科学研究的方法和思维有重要意义。     

外延晶体硅薄膜太阳电池的量子效率和特性研究

为了澄清限制所制备的颗粒硅带上的晶体硅薄膜太阳电池效率的主要因素,对制备在颗粒硅带、经区熔(ZMR)后的颗粒硅带和单晶硅衬底上的外延晶体硅薄膜太阳电池进行了QE和Suns-Voc研究.结果表明,颗粒硅带上沉积的外延层的表面有一定的粗糙度,它不但增加了电池表面的漫反射,也使氮化硅减反射膜的结构变得疏松,最终影响了减反射膜的陷光效果;沉积在颗粒硅带上的硅活性层的晶体质量也较差,较重的晶界复合限制了少子扩散长度,使得制备在颗粒硅带上的硅薄膜太阳电池在长波方向上的光谱响应明显变坏.所制备的晶体硅薄膜太阳电池的暗特性参数值均不理想,电池性能尤其受到过高的暗饱和电流I02值和过低的并联电阻Rsh值的严重影响.高的I02值是由于结区硅活性层较差的晶体质量所导致的严重的晶界复合造成的,低的Rsh值被归结为电池经激光切割后未经钝化的裸露的PN结及电池边缘的漏电造成的.     

球状晶体的演化和形态稳定性

建立了在过冷熔体中包括表面能、界面动力学和远场来流的球状晶体生长模型, 研究了在小的远场来流引起的熔体对流对球状晶体界面的演化和形态稳定性的影响, 导出了受远场来流作用的界面表达式和扰动振幅的变化率满足的色散关系. 结果表明: 远场来流导致的对流使得正在生长的球状晶体的界面在迎风方向加速生长, 在背风方向减缓生长; 正在衰减的球状晶体的界面在迎风方向加速衰减, 在背风方向减缓衰减. 迎面来流的方向球状晶体的生长和背向来流的方向球状晶体的萎缩使得球状晶体倾向于演变为卵形. 理论结果证实了熔体的对流促进球状晶体的生长和衰减; 界面的稳定性取决于球状晶体半径的某个值, 使得当球状晶体的半径超过临界值Rc时, 球状晶体的生长是不稳定的; 当半径低于临界值Rc时, 球状晶体的生长是稳定的; 表面能和界面动力学系数对于球状晶体的生长有强烈的稳定作用. 同时当界面生长时, 界面动力学系数是界面的稳定性因素; 当界面衰减时, 它是界面的不稳定性因素.     

NP问题的常数轮知识的零知识证明系统

文中研究在标准复杂性假设下NP问题的常数轮知识的零知识证明系统的存在性问题.利用一种特殊的交互证明模式,在因子分解的困难性假设下,给出了NP问题的一个3轮的知识的零知识证明系统.文中给出的证明系统不仅肯定了NP问题的常数轮知识的零知识证明系统的存在性,同时也是对(NP问题的)3轮零知识证明系统的存在性这一公开问题的一个肯定性答复.     

分形空间中力学规律的适应性原理与标度不变性原理

本文应重整化群的参数空间变换和标度空间变换的方法证明了分形空间的力学规律的适应性原理和标度不变性原理。从空间变换的角度讲．从分形空间的物理规律到欧式空间的物理规律变换就是标度不变性的变换,从欧氏空间的物理规律到分形空间的物理规律变换就是一个适应性变换。其推论是分形空间的能量守恒定律、力的合成及其位移的合成在分形空间上保持形式不变。同时,Carpinteri的分形空间的空间维数关系利用重整化方法获得证明,即分形空间的体积的维数溢出量等于分形空间的截线和截面的维数溢出量之和。     

新药研究的思路与策略

新药研究是一门新型的多学科交叉的边缘性学科。特别是创新药物的研究具有重大的社会效益和经济效益,分为发现和开发两个阶段,其中发现阶段的研究核心就是要发现先导化合物的分子结构并加以优化。同时,创新药物的研究涉及一系列重大的科学前沿问题,其中心就是药物作用的靶标生物大分子的结构、功能及其与药物的相互作用。这方面的研究必然会对生命科学的发展产生重大的影响。     

分子级光储热材料的研究进展

太阳能的开发和应用是目前解决能源危机的最具前景的方向.分子级光储热作为一种新型的太阳能存储与转化技术,在太阳能存储领域具有大规模应用的发展潜力.这种技术以有机分子的光致异构化为核心,在光照的条件下实现分子由低能量的稳态结构转变为高能量的亚稳态结构,并通过不同结构间固有的能极差达到将光能存储在分子的化学键中,在合适的条件下以热量的形式释放出来的目的.本文介绍了分子级光储热材料的储能机理,关键性能指标,常见光储热分子以及新型纳米结构的光储热材料,为研究和开发新型的高能长效的太阳能储热材料提供一定的理论基础.     

生物入侵生态学:成就与挑战

全球化不仅带来了世界政治和经济格局的变化，而且也改变了生物分布的空间格局－－导致生物种群的重新分布，由此而产生的生物入侵入已成为各国政府，国际社会和学术界所共同关心的全球变化问题，也是当前最辣手的三大环境问题之一；生物入侵的生态学因此成为了当代生态学的一个新的分支和研究热点。概述了近年来的主要研究热点及其进展，包括生物入侵的定义，生物入侵与全球变化的关系，生物入侵的特征，入侵的扩散，生物入侵的进化后果等，我国已于去年正式加入WTO，生物入侵无疑将成为我国入世后愈来愈突出的环境问题之一，结合国际上的研究前沿和我国的实际情况，提出了今后的优先研究领域和应该注意的问题。     

我国教育质量奖模型实证研究

高等教育的快速发展要求必须解决教育质量的评价标准和实行教育质量评价的方法途径，以确保高教事业发展的质、量统一。目前，美国和欧洲都建立了自己的教育质量奖评价准则。为了提高我国的教育质量，加快我国教育国际化的进程，本文提出了我国的教育质量奖评价标准的构建模型，并通过实证分析确定了模型中各参数的权重结构，为我国的教育评估机制的完善提供了必要的参考。     

电路划分问题的Laplace谱分析和生成树法

讨论Laplace谱的理论在电路划分问题中的应用, 对电路划分的标准作了改进, 对带权图给出了划分的分割率的上下界. 介绍了用Laplace特征向量得到划分的方法, 分析其存在的问题, 提出利用图的生成树得到图的划分的算法, 更好地考虑图的结构和满足划分的一般要求.     

Nanocarriers’ entry into the cell: relevance to drug delivery

Nanocarriers offer unique possibilities to overcome cellular barriers in order to improve the delivery of various drugs and drug candidates, including the promising therapeutic biomacromolecules (i.e., nucleic acids, proteins). There are various mechanisms of nanocarrier cell internalization that are dramatically influenced by nanoparticles’ physicochemical properties. Depending on the cellular uptake and intracellular trafficking, different pharmacological applications may be considered. This review will discuss these opportunities, starting with the phagocytosis pathway, which, being increasingly well characterized and understood, has allowed several successes in the treatment of certain cancers and infectious diseases. On the other hand, the non-phagocytic pathways encompass various complicated mechanisms, such as clathrin-mediated endocytosis, caveolae-mediated endocytosis and macropinocytosis, which are more challenging to control for pharmaceutical drug delivery applications. Nevertheless, various strategies are being actively investigated in order to tailor nanocarriers able to deliver anticancer agents, nucleic acids, proteins and peptides for therapeutic applications by these non-phagocytic routes.     

Francesco Patrizi’s two books on space: geometry, mathematics, and dialectic beyond Aristotelian science

Francesco Patrizi was a competent Greek scholar, a mathematician, and a Neoplatonic thinker, well known for his sharp critique of Aristotle and the Aristotelian tradition. In this article I shall present, in the first part, the importance of the concept of a three-dimensional space which is regarded as a body, as opposed to the Aristotelian two-dimensional space or interval, in Patrizi’s discussion of physical space. This point, I shall argue, is an essential part of Patrizi’s overall critique of Aristotelian science, in which Epicurean, Stoic, and mainly Neoplatonic elements were brought together, in what seems like an original theory of space and a radical revision of Aristotelian physics. Moreover, I shall try to show Patrizi’s dialectical method of definition, his geometrical argumentation, and trace some of the ideas and terms used by him back to Proclus’ Commentary on Euclid. This text of Proclus, as will be shown in the second part of the article, was also important for Patrizi’s discussion of mathematical space, where Patrizi deals with the status of mathematics and redefines some mathematical concepts such as the point and the line according to his new theory of space.     

Shear-dependence of endothelial functions

Endothelial cells are subjected to shear forces which influence important cell functions. Shear stress induces cell elongation and formation of stress fibers, increases permeability, pinocytosis and lipoprotein internalization, is involved in the formation of atherosclerotic lesions, increases the production of tissue plasminogen activator, and enhances von Willebrand factor release and hence platelet aggregation. It decreases adherence of erythrocytes and leukocytes, and increases the release of prostacyclin, endothelium derived relaxing factor, histamine and other compounds, but decreases erythropoietin secretion. The mechanism of signal transduction to the endothelial cell is not known exactly; shear-sensitive ion channels seem to be involved. It is concluded that a better understanding of shear-dependent endothelial functions will influence pathophysiologic concepts and therapeutic interventions.     

Repertoires: A post-Kuhnian perspective on scientific change and collaborative research

We propose a framework to describe, analyze, and explain the conditions under which scientific communities organize themselves to do research, particularly within large-scale, multidisciplinary projects. The framework centers on the notion of a research repertoire, which encompasses well-aligned assemblages of the skills, behaviors, and material, social, and epistemic components that a group may use to practice certain kinds of science, and whose enactment affects the methods and results of research. This account provides an alternative to the idea of Kuhnian paradigms for understanding scientific change in the following ways: (1) it does not frame change as primarily generated and shaped by theoretical developments, but rather takes account of administrative, material, technological, and institutional innovations that contribute to change and explicitly questions whether and how such innovations accompany, underpin, and/or undercut theoretical shifts; (2) it thus allows for tracking of the organization, continuity, and coherence in research practices which Kuhn characterized as ‘normal science’ without relying on the occurrence of paradigmatic shifts and revolutions to be able to identify relevant components; and (3) it requires particular attention be paid to the performative aspects of science, whose study Kuhn pioneered but which he did not extensively conceptualize. We provide a detailed characterization of repertoires and discuss their relationship with communities, disciplines, and other forms of collaborative activities within science, building on an analysis of historical episodes and contemporary developments in the life sciences, as well as cases drawn from social and historical studies of physics, psychology, and medicine.     

Leibniz on the requisites of an exact arithmetical quadrature

In this paper we will try to explain how Leibniz justified the idea of an exact arithmetical quadrature. We will do this by comparing Leibniz's exposition with that of John Wallis. In short, we will show that the idea of exactitude in matters of quadratures relies on two fundamental requisites that, according to Leibniz, the infinite series have, namely, that of regularity and that of completeness. In the first part of this paper, we will go deeper into three main features of Leibniz's method, that is: it is an infinitesimal method, it looks for an arithmetical quadrature and it proposes a result that is not approximate, but exact. After that, we will deal with the requisite of the regularity of the series, pointing out that, unlike the inductive method proposed by Wallis, Leibniz propounded some sort of intellectual recognition of what is invariant in the series. Finally, we will consider the requisite of completeness of the series. We will see that, although both Wallis and Leibniz introduced the supposition of completeness, the German thinker went beyond the English mathematician, since he recognized that it is not necessary to look for a number for the quadrature of the circle, given that we have a series that is equal to the area of that curvilinear figure.     

Differential diurnal variations of anandamide and 2-arachidonoyl-glycerol levels in rat brain

The endogenous ligands of cannabinoid receptors, also known as endocannabinoids, have been implicated in many physiological and pathological processes of the central nervous system. Here we show that the levels of the two major endocannabinoids, anandamide and 2-arachidonoyl-glycerol (2-AG), in four areas of the rat brain, change dramatically between the light and dark phases of the day. While anandamide levels in the nucleus accumbens, pre-frontal cortex, striatum and hippocampus were significantly higher in the dark phase, the opposite was observed with 2-AG, whose levels were significantly higher during the light phase in all four regions. We found that the activity of the fatty acid amide hydrolase, which catalyzes the metabolism of anandamide, was significantly lower during the dark phase, thus providing a possible explaination for the increase in anandamide levels. However, the activities of monoacylglycerol lipase and diacylglycerol lipase, two of the possible enzymes catalyzing the degradation and biosynthesis of 2-AG, respectively, changed significantly only in the striatum. These data suggest that the levels of the two major endocannabinoids might be under the control of endogenous factors known to undergo diurnal variations, and underscore the different roles, suggested by previous studies, of anandamide and 2-AG in neurophysiological processes.Received 9 December 2003; received after revision 15 January 2004; accepted 20 January 2004     

Histidine-induced injury to cultured liver cells,effects of histidine derivatives and of iron chelators

The amino acid histidine is an excellent buffer and is therefore included in several organ preservation solutions used in transplantation medicine. However, when used at concentrations as in these solutions, histidine has a marked injurious potential. Therefore, we here assessed the mechanism of histidine-induced cell injury and searched for ways to use the buffering power of histidine but avoid histidine toxicity. When cultured hepatocytes were incubated in HTK solution or in modified Krebs-Henseleit buffer containing 198 mM L-histidine at 37°C, most cells lost viability within 3 h (LDH release 86 ± 7% and 89 ± 5%, respectively). This injury was accompanied by marked lipid peroxidation, and was strongly inhibited by hypoxia, by the antioxidants trolox, butylated hydroxytoluene and N-acetylcysteine and by the membrane-permeable iron chelators 2,2′-dipyridyl, 1,10-phenanthroline, LK 614, LK 616 and deferoxamine. Thus, histidine-induced cell injury appears to be mediated by an iron-dependent formation of reactive oxygen species. D-Histidine, imidazol and L-histidine methyl ester also elicited marked injury, while the N-substituted derivatives Nα-acetyl-L-histidine and tert-butyl-oxycarbonylhistidine and histidine-containing dipeptides showed almost no toxicity. Histidine toxicity, its iron dependence and the superiority of Nα-acetyl-L-histidine were also evident during/after cold (4°C) incubations. Therefore, we suggest the addition of iron chelators to histidine-containing solutions, and/or replacing histidine with Nα-acetyl-L-histidine in organ preservation solutions. Received 23 October 2006; accepted 21 November 2006     

Biochemical and environmental perspectives on nitrogen metabolism in fishes

Catabolism of nitrogen-containing substances makes a major contribution to the oxidative metabolism in teleostean fishes. In this review, we focus on aspects of the formation, transport, detoxification and excretion of the two most important nitrogenous products of fishes: ammonia (NH₃ plus NH ₄ ⁺ ) and urea. While NH ₄ ⁺ makes up the bulk of nitrogenous waste, it is in equilibrium with the highly toxic NH₃. Ammonia is generated in the liver and excreted through branchial, surface and renal routes. Innocuous urea is derived through hepatic uricolysis or argininolysis and voided through kidney, gill, skin or faeces. Under conditions hampering the release of ammonia, such as exposure to exogenous ammonia, water limitation, or alkaline conditions, some teleosts detoxify ammonia through synthesis of urea by the ornithine-urea cycle in liver. Ammonia and possibly alanine are the prevalent vehicles of internal nitrogen transport. Glutamine is immaterial to interorgan nitrogen transport in fishes, but plays a transient role in the detoxification of ammonia by brain glutamine synthetase.     

Crustal layering, simplicity, and the oil industry: The alteration of an epistemic paradigm by a commercial environment

This paper proposes that the gradual alteration of the predominant epistemic paradigm in crustal seismology in the interwar period—namely, simplicity—came about because of the strong influence of a particular commercial environment, i.e. the oil industry. I begin by demonstrating the interwar predominance of Jeffreys’ ‘simplicity postulate’ and his probabilistic epistemology, highlighting the espousal by several seismologists (Bullen, Stoneley, Byerly), whose crustal models drew on mathematical idealisations. Next, I demonstrate that the renunciation of simplicity in the 1930s came about too quickly, and, above all, too heterodoxically to have been the result of new geological evidence. Rather, I argue, the paradigm shift among seismologists was a result of the significant rise in seismic exploration generated by the oil industry. Driven by market demands, American petroleum companies pioneered new technologies, organised research initiatives, and trained young geophysicists who, through the fusion of experimentalism and field experience, brought about fundamental progress in earthquake seismology. Remarkably, historians of science have almost entirely failed to recognise the interwar primacy of the simplicity paradigm as well as its subsequent renunciation. More importantly, they have failed to acknowledge the role the oil industry played in contributing to this renunciation and to the development of new paradigms in seismology.     

Microbial dissolution and stabilization of toxic metals and radionuclides in mixed wastes

Summary Microbial activity in mixed wastes can have an appreciable effect on the dissolution or precipitation of toxic metals and radionuclides. Fundamental information on microbial dissolution and stabilization (immobilization) of toxic metals and radionuclides, in particular actinides and fission products, in nuclear wastes under various microbial process conditions, e.g., aerobic, denitrifying, iron-reducing, fermentative, sulfate-reducing, and methanogenic conditions is very limited. Microbial transformations of typical waste components such as metal oxides, metal coprecipitates, naturally occurring minerals, and metal organic complexes are reviewed. Such information can be useful in the development of 1) predictive models on the fate and long-term transport of toxic metals and radionuclides from waste disposal sites, and 2) biotechnological applications of waste treatment leading to volume reduction and stabilization as wall as recovery and recycling of radionuclides and toxic metals.