Fault lubrication during earthquakes

The determination of rock friction at seismic slip rates (about 1?m?s(-1)) is of paramount importance in earthquake mechanics, as fault friction controls the stress drop, the mechanical work and the frictional heat generated during slip. Given the difficulty in determining friction by seismological methods, elucidating constraints are derived from experimental studies. Here we review a large set of published and unpublished experiments (～300) performed in rotary shear apparatus at slip rates of 0.1-2.6?m?s(-1). The experiments indicate a significant decrease in friction (of up to one order of magnitude), which we term fault lubrication, both for cohesive (silicate-built, quartz-built and carbonate-built) rocks and non-cohesive rocks (clay-rich, anhydrite, gypsum and dolomite gouges) typical of crustal seismogenic sources. The available mechanical work and the associated temperature rise in the slipping zone trigger a number of physicochemical processes (gelification, decarbonation and dehydration reactions, melting and so on) whose products are responsible for fault lubrication. The similarity between (1) experimental and natural fault products and (2) mechanical work measures resulting from these laboratory experiments and seismological estimates suggests that it is reasonable to extrapolate experimental data to conditions typical of earthquake nucleation depths (7-15?km). It seems that faults are lubricated during earthquakes, irrespective of the fault rock composition and of the specific weakening mechanism involved.     

结构型E-V线性模型中参数估计的若干结果

由于E-V线性模型的复杂性,通常的最小二乘估计等在这种模型中一般不是相合的。本文在结构型简单线性模型中,利用矩方法与秩方法建立了若干估计量,并且论证了这些估计量的相合性与渐近正态性,报告了主要结果。     

Stormwater Management in Hong Kong

IntroductionStormwater management(SWM) in Hong Kong isthe responsibility of the drainage servicesdepartment (DSD) of the Governmentof the HongKong Special Administrative Region.Thedepartment is charged with the formulation ofpolicy and the design,construction,operation andmaintenance of all public stormwater drainagesystems,as well as approving private drainsthrough an administrative framework.　 The principal concern of SWM is the reductionof the risk and extent of flooding.Thus,thesuc…     

The S receptor kinase determines self-incompatibility in Brassica stigma

The self-incompatibility possessed by Brassica is an intraspecific reproductive barrier by which the stigma rejects self-pollen but accepts non-self-pollen for fertilization. The molecular/biochemical bases of recognition and rejection have been intensively studied. Self-incompatibility in Brassica is sporophytically controlled by the polymorphic S locus. Two tightly linked polymorphic genes at the S locus, S receptor kinase gene (SRK) and S locus glycoprotein gene (SLG), are specifically expressed in the papillar cells of the stigma, and analyses of self-compatible lines of Brassica have suggested that together they control stigma function in self-incompatibility interactions. Here we show, by transforming self-incompatible plants of Brassica rapa with an SRK28 and an SLG28 transgene separately, that expression of SRK28 alone, but not SLG28 alone, conferred the ability to reject self (S28)-pollen on the transgenic plants. We also show that the ability of SRK28 to reject S28 pollen was enhanced by SLG28. We conclude that SRK alone determines S haplotype specificity of the stigma, and that SLG acts to promote a full manifestation of the self-incompatibility response.     

A clonogenic common myeloid progenitor that gives rise to all myeloid lineages

Haematopoietic stem cells give rise to progeny that progressively lose self-renewal capacity and become restricted to one lineage. The points at which haematopoietic stem cell-derived progenitors commit to each of the various lineages remain mostly unknown. We have identified a clonogenic common lymphoid progenitor that can differentiate into T, B and natural killer cells but not myeloid cells. Here we report the prospective identification, purification and characterization, using cell-surface markers and flow cytometry, of a complementary clonogenic common myeloid progenitor that gives rise to all myeloid lineages. Common myeloid progenitors give rise to either megakaryocyte/erythrocyte or granulocyte/macrophage progenitors. Purified progenitors were used to provide a first-pass expression profile of various haematopoiesis-related genes. We propose that the common lymphoid progenitor and common myeloid progenitor populations reflect the earliest branch points between the lymphoid and myeloid lineages, and that the commitment of common myeloid progenitors to either the megakaryocyte/erythrocyte or the granulocyte/macrophage lineages are mutually exclusive events.     

Experience-dependent plasticity of dendritic spines in the developing rat barrel cortex in vivo

Do changes in neuronal structure underlie cortical plasticity? Here we used time-lapse two-photon microscopy of pyramidal neurons in layer 2/3 of developing rat barrel cortex to image the structural dynamics of dendritic spines and filopodia. We found that these protrusions were highly motile: spines and filopodia appeared, disappeared or changed shape over tens of minutes. To test whether sensory experience drives this motility we trimmed whiskers one to three days before imaging. Sensory deprivation markedly (approximately 40%) reduced protrusive motility in deprived regions of the barrel cortex during a critical period around postnatal days (P)11-13, but had no effect in younger (P8-10) or older (P14-16) animals. Unexpectedly, whisker trimming did not change the density, length or shape of spines and filopodia. However, sensory deprivation during the critical period degraded the tuning of layer 2/3 receptive fields. Thus sensory experience drives structural plasticity in dendrites, which may underlie the reorganization of neural circuits.     

Tat-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes select for SIV escape variants during resolution of primary viraemia

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) infections are characterized by early peaks of viraemia that decline as strong cellular immune responses develop. Although it has been shown that virus-specific CD8-positive cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) exert selective pressure during HIV and SIV infection, the data have been controversial. Here we show that Tat-specific CD8-positive T-lymphocyte responses select for new viral escape variants during the acute phase of infection. We sequenced the entire virus immediately after the acute phase, and found that amino-acid replacements accumulated primarily in Tat CTL epitopes. This implies that Tat-specific CTLs may be significantly involved in controlling wild-type virus replication, and suggests that responses against viral proteins that are expressed early during the viral life cycle might be attractive targets for HIV vaccine development.     

性类固醇激素诱导雌性日本鳗鲡性腺发育过程中钙和脂肪的动员

7次埋植雄烯二酮(ADSD)或甲基睾酮（MT）后雌鳗的性腺成熟系数（GSI）显著升高,分别达到（24.94±7.24）%和（18.67±7.56）%,其肝体系数（HSI）也显著高于对照组;雌鳗卵巢中钙和脂肪含量明显提高,水分含量显著降低,灰分含量没有明显变化;肝脏中钙和脂肪含量也明显提高,水分和灰分含量明显降低;红肌和白肌中脂肪和灰分的含量则明显降低,水分和钙含量无明显变化;骨骼中钙含量明显降低,水分含量显著增加,脂肪和灰分的含量没有明显变化.表明ADSD和MT促进了钙从骨骼中和脂肪从肌肉组织中的动员,从而为雌性日本鳗鲡(Anguillajaponica)的卵巢发育提供了物质基础.     

线双折射对高圆双折射光纤电流传感器输出信号的影响

对采用高圆双折射光纤的电流传感器中光纤特性的不完善,如光纤中存在的固有线双折射及弯曲引入的线双折射,传感器输出信号受到的影响进行了详细的理论分析及数值计算,获得了线双折射影响传感器输出信号的数据及曲线,并提出消除光纤中线双折射对传感器输出信号影响的方法。这些结果对分析传感器实际测量结果,提高传感器稳定性及性能以及传感用高圆双折射光纤的设计等都有很大的实用和参考价值。