原子核液-气相变的实验观察

1IntroductionPhase transition and critical phenomenon are extensively debatable subjects in the natural sciences.Re-cently,the same concept was introduced into the astronomical objects[1]as well as the microscopic systems,such as in atomic cluster[2]and n…     

Respiration as the main determinant of carbon balance in European forests

Carbon exchange between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere is one of the key processes that need to be assessed in the context of the Kyoto Protocol. Several studies suggest that the terrestrial biosphere is gaining carbon, but these estimates are obtained primarily by indirect methods, and the factors that control terrestrial carbon exchange, its magnitude and primary locations, are under debate. Here we present data of net ecosystem carbon exchange, collected between 1996 and 1998 from 15 European forests, which confirm that many European forest ecosystems act as carbon sinks. The annual carbon balances range from an uptake of 6.6 tonnes of carbon per hectare per year to a release of nearly 1 t C ha(-1) yr(-1), with a large variability between forests. The data show a significant increase of carbon uptake with decreasing latitude, whereas the gross primary production seems to be largely independent of latitude. Our observations indicate that, in general, ecosystem respiration determines net ecosystem carbon exchange. Also, for an accurate assessment of the carbon balance in a particular forest ecosystem, remote sensing of the normalized difference vegetation index or estimates based on forest inventories may not be sufficient.     

Functional cartography of complex metabolic networks

High-throughput techniques are leading to an explosive growth in the size of biological databases and creating the opportunity to revolutionize our understanding of life and disease. Interpretation of these data remains, however, a major scientific challenge. Here, we propose a methodology that enables us to extract and display information contained in complex networks. Specifically, we demonstrate that we can find functional modules in complex networks, and classify nodes into universal roles according to their pattern of intra- and inter-module connections. The method thus yields a 'cartographic representation' of complex networks. Metabolic networks are among the most challenging biological networks and, arguably, the ones with most potential for immediate applicability. We use our method to analyse the metabolic networks of twelve organisms from three different superkingdoms. We find that, typically, 80% of the nodes are only connected to other nodes within their respective modules, and that nodes with different roles are affected by different evolutionary constraints and pressures. Remarkably, we find that metabolites that participate in only a few reactions but that connect different modules are more conserved than hubs whose links are mostly within a single module.     

Optimization of the cellular import of functionally active SH2-domain-interacting phosphopeptides

Phosphopeptides interacting with src homology 2 (SH2) domains can activate essential signaling enzymes in vitro. When delivered to cells, they may disrupt protein-protein interactions, thereby influencing intracellular signaling. We showed earlier that phosphopeptides corresponding to the inhibitory motif of Fcγ receptor IIb and a motif of the Grb2-associated binder 1 adaptor protein activate SH2-containing tyrosine phosphatase 2 in vitro. To study the ex vivo effects of these peptides, we have now compared different methods for peptide delivery: (i) permeabilization of the target cells and (ii) the use of cell-permeable vectors, which are potentially able to transport biologically active compounds into B cells. We found octanoyl-Arg₈ to be an optimal carrier for the delivery of phosphopeptides to the cells. With this strategy, the function of cell-permeable SHP-2-binding phosphopeptides was analyzed. These peptides modulated the protein phosphorylation in B cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Received 27 July 2006; received after revision 4 September 2006; accepted 18 September 2006     

The DNA sequence and analysis of human chromosome 13

Chromosome 13 is the largest acrocentric human chromosome. It carries genes involved in cancer including the breast cancer type 2 (BRCA2) and retinoblastoma (RB1) genes, is frequently rearranged in B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, and contains the DAOA locus associated with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. We describe completion and analysis of 95.5 megabases (Mb) of sequence from chromosome 13, which contains 633 genes and 296 pseudogenes. We estimate that more than 95.4% of the protein-coding genes of this chromosome have been identified, on the basis of comparison with other vertebrate genome sequences. Additionally, 105 putative non-coding RNA genes were found. Chromosome 13 has one of the lowest gene densities (6.5 genes per Mb) among human chromosomes, and contains a central region of 38 Mb where the gene density drops to only 3.1 genes per Mb.     

Metagenomic and functional analysis of hindgut microbiota of a wood-feeding higher termite

From the standpoints of both basic research and biotechnology, there is considerable interest in reaching a clearer understanding of the diversity of biological mechanisms employed during lignocellulose degradation. Globally, termites are an extremely successful group of wood-degrading organisms and are therefore important both for their roles in carbon turnover in the environment and as potential sources of biochemical catalysts for efforts aimed at converting wood into biofuels. Only recently have data supported any direct role for the symbiotic bacteria in the gut of the termite in cellulose and xylan hydrolysis. Here we use a metagenomic analysis of the bacterial community resident in the hindgut paunch of a wood-feeding 'higher' Nasutitermes species (which do not contain cellulose-fermenting protozoa) to show the presence of a large, diverse set of bacterial genes for cellulose and xylan hydrolysis. Many of these genes were expressed in vivo or had cellulase activity in vitro, and further analyses implicate spirochete and fibrobacter species in gut lignocellulose degradation. New insights into other important symbiotic functions including H2 metabolism, CO2-reductive acetogenesis and N2 fixation are also provided by this first system-wide gene analysis of a microbial community specialized towards plant lignocellulose degradation. Our results underscore how complex even a 1-microl environment can be.     

Auroral substorm response to solar wind pressure shock

Two cases of auroral substorms have been studied with the Polar UVI data, which were associated with solar wind pressure shock arriving at the Earth. The global aurora activities started about 1–2 min after pressure shocks arrived at dayside magnetopause, then nightside auroras intensified rapidly 3–4 min later, with auroral substorm onset. The observations in synchronous orbit indicated that the compressing effects on magnetosphere were observed in their corresponding sites about 2 min after the pressure shocks impulse magnetopause. We propose that the auroral intensification and substorm onset possibly result from hydromagnetic wave produced by the pressure shock. The fast-mode wave propagates across the magnetotail lobes with higher local Alfven velocity, magnetotail was compressed rapidly and strong lobe field and cross-tail current were built in about 1–2 min, and furthermore the substorm was triggered due to an instability in current sheet.     

P systems with array objects and array rewriting rules

Array P systems were introduced by Paun Gh. which is linking the two areas of membrane computing and picture grammars. Puzzle grammars were introduced by us for generating connected picture arrays in the two-dimensional plane, motivated by the problem of tiling the plane. On the other hand, incorporating into arrays the developmental type of generation used in the well-known biologically motivated L systems, Siromoney and Siromoney proposed a very general rectangular array generating model, called extended controlled tabled L array system (ECTLAS). In this paper we introduce two variations of the array P system, called BPG array P system and parallel array P system. The former has in the regions array objects and basic puzzle grammar rules (BPG), which are a specific kind of puzzle grammar rules. In the latter, the regions have rectangular array objects and tables of context-free rules. We examine these two types of P systems for their array generative power.