Ecology: global warming and amphibian losses

Is global warming contributing to amphibian declines and extinctions by promoting outbreaks of the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis? Analysing patterns from the American tropics, Pounds et al. envisage a process in which a single warm year triggers die-offs in a particular area (for instance, 1987 in the case of Monteverde, Costa Rica). However, we show here that populations of two frog species in the Australian tropics experienced increasing developmental instability, which is evidence of stress, at least two years before they showed chytrid-related declines. Because the working model of Pounds et al. is incomplete, their test of the climate-linked epidemic hypothesis could be inconclusive.     

The development of a protoplanetary disk from its natal envelope

Class 0 protostars, the youngest type of young stellar objects, show many signs of rapid development from their initial, spheroidal configurations, and therefore are studied intensively for details of the formation of protoplanetary disks within protostellar envelopes. At millimetre wavelengths, kinematic signatures of collapse have been observed in several such protostars, through observations of molecular lines that probe their outer envelopes. It has been suggested that one or more components of the proto-multiple system NGC 1333-IRAS 4 (refs 1, 2) may display signs of an embedded region that is warmer and denser than the bulk of the envelope. Here we report observations that reveal details of the core on Solar System dimensions. We detect in NGC 1333-IRAS 4B a rich emission spectrum of H2O, at wavelengths 20-37 microm, which indicates an origin in extremely dense, warm gas. We can model the emission as infall from a protostellar envelope onto the surface of a deeply embedded, dense disk, and therefore see the development of a protoplanetary disk. This is the only example of mid-infrared water emission from a sample of 30 class 0 objects, perhaps arising from a favourable orientation; alternatively, this may be an early and short-lived stage in the evolution of a protoplanetary disk.     

The structural basis of yeast prion strain variants

Among the many surprises to arise from studies of prion biology, perhaps the most unexpected is the strain phenomenon whereby a single protein can misfold into structurally distinct, infectious states that cause distinguishable phenotypes. Similarly, proteins can adopt a spectrum of conformations in non-infectious diseases of protein folding; some are toxic and others are well tolerated. However, our understanding of the structural differences underlying prion strains and how these differences alter their physiological impact remains limited. Here we use a combination of solution NMR, amide hydrogen/deuterium (H/D) exchange and mutagenesis to study the structural differences between two strain conformations, termed Sc4 and Sc37 (ref. 5), of the yeast Sup35 prion. We find that these two strains have an overlapping amyloid core spanning most of the Gln/Asn-rich first 40 amino acids that is highly protected from H/D exchange and very sensitive to mutation. These features indicate that the cores are composed of tightly packed beta-sheets possibly resembling 'steric zipper' structures revealed by X-ray crystallography of Sup35-derived peptides. The stable structure is greatly expanded in the Sc37 conformation to encompass the first 70 amino acids, revealing why this strain shows increased fibre stability and decreased ability to undergo chaperone-mediated replication. Our findings establish that prion strains involve large-scale conformational differences and provide a structural basis for understanding a broad range of functional studies, including how conformational changes alter the physiological impact of prion strains.     

Epithelial-cell-intrinsic IKK-beta expression regulates intestinal immune homeostasis

Intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) provide a primary physical barrier against commensal and pathogenic microorganisms in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, but the influence of IECs on the development and regulation of immunity to infection is unknown. Here we show that IEC-intrinsic IkappaB kinase (IKK)-beta-dependent gene expression is a critical regulator of responses of dendritic cells and CD4+ T cells in the GI tract. Mice with an IEC-specific deletion of IKK-beta show a reduced expression of the epithelial-cell-restricted cytokine thymic stromal lymphopoietin in the intestine and, after infection with the gut-dwelling parasite Trichuris, fail to develop a pathogen-specific CD4+ T helper type 2 (T(H)2) response and are unable to eradicate infection. Further, these animals show exacerbated production of dendritic-cell-derived interleukin-12/23p40 and tumour necrosis factor-alpha, increased levels of CD4+ T-cell-derived interferon-gamma and interleukin-17, and develop severe intestinal inflammation. Blockade of proinflammatory cytokines during Trichuris infection ablates the requirement for IKK-beta in IECs to promote CD4+ T(H)2 cell-dependent immunity, identifying an essential function for IECs in tissue-specific conditioning of dendritic cells and limiting type 1 cytokine production in the GI tract. These results indicate that the balance of IKK-beta-dependent gene expression in the intestinal epithelium is crucial in intestinal immune homeostasis by promoting mucosal immunity and limiting chronic inflammation.     

黄河山陕峡谷保德-克虎段高阶地砾石层的初步研究

野外考察发现山西黑峪口地区存在七级阶地序列,其中上覆红粘土的T6、T7阶地为晚第三纪阶地.对该区阶地上砾石的岩性和粒径进行了研究,岩性对比表明,T6、T7阶地上砾石的岩性与黄河低阶地上砾石的岩性相似,而与东西向的蔚汾河阶地岩性差别较大;上下游之间对比发现,灰岩砾石岩性由保德地区占主导地位到克虎地区退居次要地位,灰岩砾石的粒径也从上游向下游变小,说明该区晚第三纪阶地并非东西向河流形成的,而是古黄河或古南北向水系的产物.T7阶地上覆盖厚度70m以上的粉、细砂层和晚第三纪红土层,磁性地层研究表明,该层的底部时代在6.8Ma左右,T6阶地上覆红粘土的底部年龄在3.3Ma左右,山陕峡谷由北向南流的古河流在6.8Ma之前已经形成,T6阶地的形成时代与青藏运动A幕相对应.青藏运动A幕以来河流在该区下切了160m,平均下切速率约为青藏运动A幕以前平均下切速率的5倍以上.     

消除7A05铝合金板材各向异性的热处理工艺

为提高7A05铝合金热轧板材的综合力学性能并减少各向异性,对7A05铝合金固溶、预时效、时效和形变处理等工艺对性能的影响进行了系统的研究. 比较了供货态、形变态、回归(RRA)态和采用预时效形变热处理的优化态热处理工艺对综合力学性能的影响. 结果表明:固溶的最佳温度为480 ℃,单级时效最佳工艺为120 ℃,24 h,双级时效中第一级时效最佳工艺为90 ℃,8 h,最佳形变为25%. 通过金相组织和力学性能测试结果表明:由于预时效析出促进形变热处理时亚晶等轴化,优化态强度高,进一步改善了合金性能,减少了轧制板材纵横向力学性能各向异性倾向.     

基于恒等变换的单摆振动解析逼近

应用修正的谐波平衡法构造了单摆大幅振动的解析逼近周期和周期解.通过引入三角变换或反三角变换将单摆振动方程恒等变形为关于新变量的Duffing方程或其他易于处理的非线性振动方程,利用牛顿谐波平衡法构造了单摆振动的解析逼近解.给出的解析逼近周期及周期解简单易用,几乎在振幅(初始摆角)的全部取值范围内,都有很高的逼近精度.     

基于多重分形谱的碳纤维复合材料表面评定方法

碳纤维复合材料（CFRP）表面的多重分形谱能表征其表面形貌特征.用TalyScan 150表面测量仪测量了CFRP的表面形貌,使用小波变换算法计算了其多重分形谱.结果表明,CFRP 3D表面的形貌与其多重分形谱密切相关,Lipschitz指数的范围可以表征表面的粗糙度,多重分形谱的数值可以表征表面的波峰和波谷的分布.同传统表面粗糙度分形维数表征方法相比,多重分形谱能表征加工表面形貌的局部特征.     

二氧化碳在转炉炼钢中的应用研究

对炼钢温度下CO2与熔池元素的反应机理进行了研究,并进行了相关热力学和动力学分析.利用30 t转炉进行顶底复吹CO2气体的炼钢工艺试验.试验结果表明:采用顶底复吹CO2试验炉次烟尘量减少了11.15%,烟尘TFe降低了12.98%,炉渣铁损降低了3.10%,试验终点钢液中[N]、[P]含量分别降低了50%和23.33%.转炉顶底复吹CO2气体炼钢工艺是完全可行的,为转炉炼钢节能降耗提供了新方法.