以分析法比较流体的换热性能

基于换热过程中的损失率能定量地反映该过程中流体的传热与流动的综合性能这一特性，借助换热过程的损失率方程，分析比较了几种流体工质在不同换热方式下的综合特性。比较结果表明，液体（如水）有远优于气体（如空气）的流动与传热的综合性能，且随着流体温度的升高其优势更为明显。同时表明分析法在定量评价换热工质性能的突出特点及工程上的应用价值。     

The genome sequence of the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe grisea

Magnaporthe grisea is the most destructive pathogen of rice worldwide and the principal model organism for elucidating the molecular basis of fungal disease of plants. Here, we report the draft sequence of the M. grisea genome. Analysis of the gene set provides an insight into the adaptations required by a fungus to cause disease. The genome encodes a large and diverse set of secreted proteins, including those defined by unusual carbohydrate-binding domains. This fungus also possesses an expanded family of G-protein-coupled receptors, several new virulence-associated genes and large suites of enzymes involved in secondary metabolism. Consistent with a role in fungal pathogenesis, the expression of several of these genes is upregulated during the early stages of infection-related development. The M. grisea genome has been subject to invasion and proliferation of active transposable elements, reflecting the clonal nature of this fungus imposed by widespread rice cultivation.     

RNAi-mediated gene silencing in non-human primates

The opportunity to harness the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway to silence disease-causing genes holds great promise for the development of therapeutics directed against targets that are otherwise not addressable with current medicines. Although there are numerous examples of in vivo silencing of target genes after local delivery of small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), there remain only a few reports of RNAi-mediated silencing in response to systemic delivery of siRNA, and there are no reports of systemic efficacy in non-rodent species. Here we show that siRNAs, when delivered systemically in a liposomal formulation, can silence the disease target apolipoprotein B (ApoB) in non-human primates. APOB-specific siRNAs were encapsulated in stable nucleic acid lipid particles (SNALP) and administered by intravenous injection to cynomolgus monkeys at doses of 1 or 2.5 mg kg(-1). A single siRNA injection resulted in dose-dependent silencing of APOB messenger RNA expression in the liver 48 h after administration, with maximal silencing of >90%. This silencing effect occurred as a result of APOB mRNA cleavage at precisely the site predicted for the RNAi mechanism. Significant reductions in ApoB protein, serum cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein levels were observed as early as 24 h after treatment and lasted for 11 days at the highest siRNA dose, thus demonstrating an immediate, potent and lasting biological effect of siRNA treatment. Our findings show clinically relevant RNAi-mediated gene silencing in non-human primates, supporting RNAi therapeutics as a potential new class of drugs.     

低频Alfven波与等离子体的非共振相互作用

采用单粒子模型,对两支左旋极化低频Alfven波与等离子体的非共振相互作用进行粒子模拟,讨论了三种不同波幅时垂直与平行方向的加热效果,在非共振加热阶段,加热效果与波幅有关,波幅越大效果越好;而经过随机加热后,粒子动力学温度的最大值仅由外加磁场的能量密度与等离子体密度的比值决定与Alfven波幅无关．加热过程中,离子被加速最终获得一个相当于Alfven波相速度大小的流速．     

高速公路交通安全风险评价与敏感性分析

为预防并减少交通事故发生,将"事后惩治"转变为"事前预防",构建了包括转向性能、交通条件等16个影响因素的高速公路交通安全风险评价指标体系,提出了AHP-TOPSIS-RSR法的高速公路交通安全风险评价方法,该方法基于系统分析及嫁接的思想,利用AHP法建立评价矩阵,通过引入熵权的TOPSIS法计算出交通安全风险综合评价指标值与理想值相对接近度值,结合RSR法,根据风险等级的分档标准,对相对接近度值进行分档。基于正交试验法提出高速公路交通安全敏感性分析模型,并计算各因素敏感度值,根据其排序确定主要敏感风险指标,并以福建永武(永安-武平)高速公路为例对该方法进行验证。研究结果表明:永武高速公路交通安全风险等级为Ⅰ级-巨警,风险等级高;疲劳/无证驾驶、车辆超速、线形条件、交通条件、不良天气、救援机制的风险指标敏感度分别达到:0.472 1、0.508 8、0.759 8、0.814 2、0.529 6、0.468 5,属于安全敏感风险指标,基本反映了永武高速公路的交通安全实际状况。     

Senescence and tumour clearance is triggered by p53 restoration in murine liver carcinomas

Although cancer arises from a combination of mutations in oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes, the extent to which tumour suppressor gene loss is required for maintaining established tumours is poorly understood. p53 is an important tumour suppressor that acts to restrict proliferation in response to DNA damage or deregulation of mitogenic oncogenes, by leading to the induction of various cell cycle checkpoints, apoptosis or cellular senescence. Consequently, p53 mutations increase cell proliferation and survival, and in some settings promote genomic instability and resistance to certain chemotherapies. To determine the consequences of reactivating the p53 pathway in tumours, we used RNA interference (RNAi) to conditionally regulate endogenous p53 expression in a mosaic mouse model of liver carcinoma. We show that even brief reactivation of endogenous p53 in p53-deficient tumours can produce complete tumour regressions. The primary response to p53 was not apoptosis, but instead involved the induction of a cellular senescence program that was associated with differentiation and the upregulation of inflammatory cytokines. This program, although producing only cell cycle arrest in vitro, also triggered an innate immune response that targeted the tumour cells in vivo, thereby contributing to tumour clearance. Our study indicates that p53 loss can be required for the maintenance of aggressive carcinomas, and illustrates how the cellular senescence program can act together with the innate immune system to potently limit tumour growth.     

Prion-like behaviour and tau-dependent cytotoxicity of pyroglutamylated amyloid-β

Extracellular plaques of amyloid-β and intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles made from tau are the histopathological signatures of Alzheimer's disease. Plaques comprise amyloid-β fibrils that assemble from monomeric and oligomeric intermediates, and are prognostic indicators of Alzheimer's disease. Despite the importance of plaques to Alzheimer's disease, oligomers are considered to be the principal toxic forms of amyloid-β. Interestingly, many adverse responses to amyloid-β, such as cytotoxicity, microtubule loss, impaired memory and learning, and neuritic degeneration, are greatly amplified by tau expression. Amino-terminally truncated, pyroglutamylated (pE) forms of amyloid-β are strongly associated with Alzheimer's disease, are more toxic than amyloid-β, residues 1-42 (Aβ(1-42)) and Aβ(1-40), and have been proposed as initiators of Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis. Here we report a mechanism by which pE-Aβ may trigger Alzheimer's disease. Aβ(3(pE)-42) co-oligomerizes with excess Aβ(1-42) to form metastable low-n oligomers (LNOs) that are structurally distinct and far more cytotoxic to cultured neurons than comparable LNOs made from Aβ(1-42) alone. Tau is required for cytotoxicity, and LNOs comprising 5% Aβ(3(pE)-42) plus 95% Aβ(1-42) (5% pE-Aβ) seed new cytotoxic LNOs through multiple serial dilutions into Aβ(1-42) monomers in the absence of additional Aβ(3(pE)-42). LNOs isolated from human Alzheimer's disease brain contained Aβ(3(pE)-42), and enhanced Aβ(3(pE)-42) formation in mice triggered neuron loss and gliosis at 3 months, but not in a tau-null background. We conclude that Aβ(3(pE)-42) confers tau-dependent neuronal death and causes template-induced misfolding of Aβ(1-42) into structurally distinct LNOs that propagate by a prion-like mechanism. Our results raise the possibility that Aβ(3(pE)-42) acts similarly at a primary step in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis.     

Genome sequencing in microfabricated high-density picolitre reactors

The proliferation of large-scale DNA-sequencing projects in recent years has driven a search for alternative methods to reduce time and cost. Here we describe a scalable, highly parallel sequencing system with raw throughput significantly greater than that of state-of-the-art capillary electrophoresis instruments. The apparatus uses a novel fibre-optic slide of individual wells and is able to sequence 25 million bases, at 99% or better accuracy, in one four-hour run. To achieve an approximately 100-fold increase in throughput over current Sanger sequencing technology, we have developed an emulsion method for DNA amplification and an instrument for sequencing by synthesis using a pyrosequencing protocol optimized for solid support and picolitre-scale volumes. Here we show the utility, throughput, accuracy and robustness of this system by shotgun sequencing and de novo assembly of the Mycoplasma genitalium genome with 96% coverage at 99.96% accuracy in one run of the machine.