Regulation of cellulose synthesis in Acetobacter xylinum by cyclic diguanylic acid

Cellulose is the most abundant renewable carbon resource on earth and is an indispensable raw material for the wood, paper, and textile industries. A model system to study the mechanism of cellulose biogenesis is the bacterium Acetobacter xylinum which produces pure cellulose as an extracellular product. It was from this organism that in vitro preparations which possessed high levels of cellulose synthase activity were first obtained in both membranous and soluble forms. We recently demonstrated that this activity is subject to a complex multi-component regulatory system, in which the synthase is directly affected by an unusual cyclic nucleotide activator enzymatically formed from GTP, and indirectly by a Ca (2+) -sensitive phosphodiesterase which degrades the activator. The cellulose synthase activator (CSA) has now been identified as bis-(3' 5')-cyclic diguanylic acid (5'G3'p5'G3'p) on the basis of mass spectroscopic data, nuclear magnetic resonance analysis and comparison with chemically synthesized material. We also report here on intermediary steps in the synthesis and degradation of this novel circular dinucleotide, which have been integrated into a model for the regulation of cellulose synthesis.     

补偿线路分布电容电流的柔性直流配电网电流差动保护方法

针对系统接线方式和线路分布电容影响导致柔性直流配电网故障辨识困难的问题,在对传统电流差动保护在柔性直流配电网中的适用性分析基础上,利用线路贝瑞隆模型推得故障点电流与直流线路两端差电流之间的关系.进一步地,提出具有线路分布电容电流补偿的新型电流差动保护方案,解决对称单极接线方式下故障特征微弱、分布电容电流影响大带来的故障辨识难题.最后,基于PSCAD/EMTDC仿真平台,建立柔性直流配电网模型,通过仿真分析验证所提出的电流差动保护方案的可行性和适用性.     

竖向荷载作用下悬索桥纵向变位特征与机理

为揭示竖向荷载作用下悬索桥纵向变位特征与机理,以主缆变形理论为基础研究了其竖向荷载下的变位特征,并得出了其竖向及纵向位移解析解;在此基础上,分析了竖向荷载作用下传统悬索桥和设有中央扣悬索桥的纵向变位特征及加劲梁纵向位移,揭示了中央扣纵向约束机制,并分别推导了加劲梁在竖向荷载下的纵向位移计算公式;最后,通过算例分析验证所提位移计算公式计算精度. 结果表明：由于主缆的几何非线性特征,竖向位移与纵向位移相互耦合,在非对称竖向荷载作用下,主缆发生非同步纵向位移,而加劲梁主要以类似“摆锤体”发生刚体的纵向位移;跨中处主缆、加劲梁及中央扣因中央扣的存在形成一个“刚域”区,从而导致加劲梁纵向位移减小;所提计算方法与有限元数值解法在不同竖向荷载工况下吻合良好.     

A massive phytoplankton bloom induced by an ecosystem-scale iron fertilization experiment in the equatorial Pacific Ocean

The seeding of an expanse of surface waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean with low concentrations of dissolved iron triggered a massive phytoplankton bloom which consumed large quantities of carbon dioxide and nitrate that these microscopic plants cannot fully utilize under natural conditions. These and other observations provide unequivocal support for the hypothesis that phytoplankton growth in this oceanic region is limited by iron bioavailability.