A 6,000-year sedimentary molecular record of chemocline excursions in the Black Sea

The Black Sea is the world's largest anoxic basin; it is also a contemporary analogue of the environment in which carbonaceous shales and petroleum source beds formed. Recently, Repeta et al. reported that anoxygenic photosynthesis may be an important component of carbon cycling in the present Black Sea, owing to a shoaling of the chemocline and consequent penetration of the photic zone by anaerobic waters in the past few decades. It has been suggested that this was due to an anthropogenic decrease in freshwater input to the Black Sea, although natural causes were not ruled out. Here we report the distributions of sequestered photosynthetic pigments in eight core samples of sediments from the Black Sea ranging in age from zero to 6,200 years before the present. Our results show that photosynthetic green sulphur bacteria (Chlorobiaceae [correction of Clorobiaceae]) have been active in the Black Sea for substantial periods of time in the past. This finding indicates that the penetration of the photic zone by anaerobic waters is not a recent phenomenon, and suggests that natural causes for shoaling of the chemocline are more likely than anthropogenic ones.     

Transplantation of human cortex with Alzheimer's disease into rat occipital cortex; a model for the study of Alzheimer disease

Summary Senile dementia of the Alzheimer type (SDAT) is a major problem in the human senescent population. As this pathology cannot be reproduced in animals, research into its development is greatly impeded. The technique of implantation of the nervous tissue has been utilized in order to establish an animal model and to test the possible existence of a transmissible agent. When human temporal cortex with Alzheimer's disease is implanted in the occipital cortex of 7-week-old rats, human cerebral tissue containing abundant tangles induces in the receiver cortex a reactive fibrous gliosis. In the processes of the astrocytes, twisted filaments are evident among bundles of normal filaments. These alterations could be induced by the metabolising of abnormal filament subunits or by some infectious agent introduced by the implant.This study is supported by grant No. 2.4517.82 of Fonds de la Recherche Fondamentale Collective of Belgium.     

An assessment of the effect of hormone and neurotransmitters on adenine and gluanine derivatives simultaneously in rat brain cortical slices

Summary A 2-dimensional thin-layer method has been developed for the separation on cellulose of adenine and guanine derivatives. Using incubated rat cerebral cortex slices it was shown that noradrenaline and acetylcholine stirnulated cAMP and cGMP production respectively but glutamate and -aminobutyric acid stimulated production of both cyclic nucleotides.     

Furocaulerpin,a new acetylenic sesquiterpenoid from the green algaCaulerpa prolifera

Summary Furocaulerpin, an acetylenic sesquiterpenoid possessing a furan ring, has been isolated from the marine algaCaulerpa prolifera, and its stereostructure elucidated mainly on the basis of physico-chemical data.This work was carried out in the frame work of the Progetto Finalizzato per l'Oceanografia e i Fondi Marini, CNR, Rome. Thanks are due to the Centro di Metodologie Chimico-Fisiche of the University of Naples (Mr I. Giudicianni) for the determination of PMR-spectra.     

Proteolytic activity on endogeneous substrates in cell-free extracts ofTrypanosoma cruzi

Summary Cell-free extracts ofTrypanosoma cruzi contain proteolytic activity able to degrade endogenous substrates. The activity was maximal at pH 3 to 4, had an optimal temperature of 65°C, and was strongly inhibited by N--p-tosyl-L-lysine chloromethyl ketone.This investigation received financial support from the UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, the Fundación Julio Cherny, and the Ministerio de Salud Pública y Medio Ambiente de la República Argentina. The authors gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of Mr Esteban Bontempi.     

水解法制备高吸水腈纶正交实验

对腈纶纤维的水解工艺进行研究．正交实验结果表明，实验范围内，水解时间是影响腈纶纤维吸水率的关键因素，随着时间的延长，吸水率增加；水解温度80℃时吸水率较高；NaOH浓度对水解腈纶的吸水率也产生较大的影响．温度、时间和NaOH浓度都会对纤维白度产生影响．     

BP网络应用于黄河水质的预测研究

利用黄河兰州段水质指标浓度时间序列作为学习样本，选取了DO、COD、氨氮、重金属离子等l0项指标作为输出参数，运用人工神经网络BP模型中的Levenberg—Marguardt优化算法对学习样本优化建模，将优化好的网络的预测结果与实测结果进行了比较，表明BP网络可以很好地用于黄河水质指标值及水质类别的预测。     

非线性尘埃声波在含有2种不同温度离子的尘埃等离子体中的稳定性问题

在无磁场的尘埃等离子体中 ,由冷的尘埃颗粒和热的电子和离子组成的尘埃等离子体 ,对于有限的小振幅的非线性波的运动可以用KdV方程描述 .对由 2种不同温度离子的尘埃等离子体中的弱二维尘埃声波 ,得到了它所满足的KP方程 .并且发现 ,在横向扰动下 ,弱的非线性孤立波在尘埃等离子体中是稳定的 .在这个系统中既存在压缩孤立波又存在稀疏孤立波