Evidence from carbon isotope measurements for diverse origins of sedimentary hydrocarbons

The organic matter found in sedimentary rocks must derive from many sources; not only from ancient primary producers but also from consumers and secondary producers. In all of these organisms, isotope effects can affect the abundance and distribution of 13C in metabolites. Here, by using an improved form of a previously described technique in which the effluent of a gas chromatograph is continuously analysed isotopically, we report evidence of the diverse origins of sedimentary organic matter. The record of 13C abundances in sedimentary carbonate and total organic carbon can be interpreted in terms of variations in the global carbon cycle. Our results demonstrate, however, that isotope variations within sedimentary organic mixtures substantially exceed those observed between samples of total organic carbon. Resolution of isotope variations at the molecular level offers a new and convenient means of refining views both of localized palaeoenvironments and of control mechanisms within the global carbon cycle.     

美东地区罗德河流域地下水中铝形态分布的化学平衡模式计算

美东地区的罗德河流域遭受着严重的酸沉降侵蚀．在酸性条件下,铝从土壤中大量溶解并迁移到水环境中．地表水中升高的铝浓度对鱼类产生毒害,监测地表水和土壤水中的铝形态及浓度变化已成为问题的关键．本文报导了用化学平衡模式计算法分析美东地区罗德河流域地下水中的铝形态分布,获得了有价值的结论     

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.     

Illmensee inquiry: fraud charge unproven, researcher resumes duties

A summary is provided of the report of an international commission set up by the University of Geneva to investigate allegations of fraud against a leading embryologist, Professor Karl Illmensee. Illmensee is being allowed to resume his faculty duties because the report, while highly critical of the researcher's experimental records, found no compelling evidence that he fabricated his data.     

A new interstellar molecule: tricarbon monoxide

The cold dark interstellar Taurus Molecular Cloud One (TMC-1) is a rich source of acetylenic and polyacetylenic molecular species. As well as linear closed-shell molecules (H(C triple bond C)nCN) and symmetric rotors (CH3C triple bond CH, CH3C triple bond CCN), several radicals (C triple bond CH, C triple bond CCN, (C triple bond C2H) have also been identified, many of which had not been studied previously in the laboratory. Whether the observed abundances can be understood in terms of purely gas-phase ion-molecule chemical schemes, which produce reasonable agreement for the simplest polyatomic species, is unclear; alternative models involving the particulate interstellar grains as catalysts or sources have also been suggested. We now report the detection in TMC-1 of a new molecule, tricarbon monoxide (C3O), whose pure rotational spectrum has only very recently been studied in the laboratory. As C3O is the first known interstellar carbon chain molecule to contain oxygen, its existence places an important new constraint on chemical schemes for cold interstellar clouds. In fact, the observed abundance of tricarbon monoxide fits quite well into our model of galactochemistry.     

U.S. agrigenetics: suit filed against NIH

Three environmental groups have filed suit against the National Institutes of Health in an attempt to block an experiment approved in April by the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee. The experiment, designed by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, to enhance the frost resistance of crops, would release genetically engineered organisms into the general environment for the first time. The suit, filed in a federal court in the District of Columbia, claims that releasing frost-resistant bacteria into the environment could have damaging ecological consequences, that NIH should have issued an environmental impact assessment before approving any experiment involving the release of genetically engineered organisms, and that the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee lacks the expertise to assess environmental risks.     

环路热管启动特性的实验研究

通过大量的实验研究了蒸发器内气液分布、反重力工作高度、启动热载荷的大小、热沉温度等因素对启动的影响, 描述并分析了4种不同蒸发器内气液分布情况下的启动现象, 给出了系统温度变化曲线图, 分析了启动的难易程度. 根据实验数据得出结论: (ⅰ) 对于液体干道内充满液体的启动情况, 储液器温度上升的主要原因并不是漏热, 而是回路压力升高所致. (ⅱ) 热载荷大有利于启动. (ⅲ) 未完全绝热时小热载荷下热沉温度不影响启动. (ⅳ) 环路热管在反重力情况下启动时, 当蒸汽槽道存在蒸汽时, 所需启动时间、启动温升增大; 而蒸汽槽道充满液体时, 所需时间、过热度和启动温升都减少. 实验还观察到了反重力启动时呈现两种启动方式的特别现象.     

如何实现应变传感器的高精度检测

应变传感器的信号非常微弱,其幅度甚至小于干扰信号,因而必须通过精密检测电路抑制干扰。应变传感器信号具有其物理极限,利用载频技术实现了信号最大化。通过作为感应信号源的高精度感应分频器和自动校准的周期数可得到很高的增益稳定性。采用高精度检测单元和通用宽频带放大器系统可以高分辨率、高稳定性、有效地抑制和衰减干扰信号与不期望的动态信号,实现高精度检测。     

莠去津在填充土柱中的运移

用土柱实验模拟莠去津在土壤中的运移、实验结果表明相当浓度的莠去津被淋溶到土柱的底部，说明莠去津对地下水存在很大威胁、应用CXTFIT的平衡与非平衡模型模拟莠去津在土柱中的运移，模拟结果表明CXTFIT的非平衡模型能很好地模拟莠去津的穿透曲线．由CXTFIT率定得到的莠去津在土柱实验中的吸附和降解参数和从批次实验得到的吸附和降解参数有较好的一致性．