New window on Proterozoic life

This article briefly discusses the the new fossil assemblage found in the 600-650-million-year-old shales of the Pertatataka formation in central Australia. It includes about two dozen taxa of spinose, process-bearing or otherwise ornamented acritarchs, many of them extremely large relative to comparably ornamented fossils in younger rocks. These acritarchs reveal a glimpse of early evolution and Proterozoic life.     

钢丝绳断丝定量检测中径向随机晃动误差的补尝

本文论述了钢丝绳断丝定量检测中径向随机晃动误差存在的必然性及该误差对定量检测的影响,基于模拟实验结果,给出了适用于多种类型钢丝绳的V_H-S数学关系式;提出了波形因素的概念与形式,并用软件实现了钢丝绳断丝定量检测中径向随机晃动误差的补偿。     

用焓法有限元解相变问题的离散化方法

为了消除应用焓法进行含有相变的有限元传热计算结果呈台阶形的现象,本文作者提出“焓计算单元”和“固相分数”的概念,并将几种一维有限元实施方案的计算结果与精确解对比,说明采用所提出的概念,可以使有限元计算得出更为合理的结果。     

Antidiuretic effects of oxytocin in the Brattleboro rat

Summary The antidiuretic activity of oxytocin (OT) was measured in Brattleboro rats with congenital diabetes insipidus. A dose dependent antidiuretic response was found in animals receiving chronic infusions of 0.1 g/h, 1.0 g/h, and 5 g/h of OT. OT infused at the rate of 5 g/h over a 7-day period completely reversed the symptoms of diabetes insipidus. The results support the concept that OT serves as a weak agonist of vasopressin at the level of the kidney and at pharmacological levels exhibits antidiuretic activity.     

AnAnolis skin melanophore assay suitable for photoaffinity labeling studies with α-MSH

Summary Visual determination of MSH-induced pigment migration in melanophores of small pieces ofAnolis carolinensis skin is standardized by first measuring photoelectrometrically the change in reflection/transmission of the whole dorsal skin in response to different hormone concentrations. This method allows the rapid and precise recording of time-response curves after photoaffinity labeling of MSH receptors or of dose-response curves of large series of synthetic compounds.Acknowledgments. We wish to thank Ms V. Jäggin, Ms C. Schulthess and Ms G. van Hees for excellent technical assistance, Dr. R. Andreatta, Ciba-Geigy AG, Basel, for his generous gift of -MSH and Prof. A Pletscher for his continuous interest. This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.     

Bicuculline and picrotoxin block γ-aminobutryic acid-gated Cl− conductance by different mechanisms

Summary Using isolated, internally perfused bullfrog dorsal root ganglion cells we have studied the dose-response curves for -aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the presence of internally or externally applied GABA antagonists. With external application of antagonists the inhibition of the GABA current by bicuculline was competitive and that by picrotoxin was noncompetitive. Picrotoxin but not bicuculline blocked when internally perfused.To whom reprint requests should be addressed.Acknowledgments. We thank Drs S. Minakami and S. Yasui for helpful discussions and comments.     

Discovery of Jupiter's 'gossamer' ring

Jupiter's ring system has previously been described as being composed of a 'bright' narrow ring and an interior, vertically-extended halo. The one image which reveals this morphology most clearly is Voyager 2's parting shot of the Jupiter system, a wide-angle (WA) view of the ring ansa in forward-scattered light (FDS 20693.02). The bright ring is plainly visible, and the halo appears after slight contrast enhancement. By further enhancement of this image we have discovered an additional ring, which is far fainter than either of the (already faint) components previously identified, extending to a radius of 210,000 km.     

Differential effects of prostaglandins and isoproterenol on cAMP content and Na,K pump activity in rat submandibular acini

Summary The -adrenergic agonist isoproterenol and prostaglandins E₁ and E₂ (but not F₂) increased the cAMP content of rat submandibular acini in vitro, but only isoproterenol enhanced ouabain-sensitive⁸⁶Rb (K) uptake. These findings suggest that cAMP is not involved in the activation of the Na, K pump in salivary cells.     

An enzyme immunoassay for mouse epidermal growth factor utilizing a liquid phase double-antibody system

Summary An enzyme immunoassay for mouse epidermal growth factor (EGF) involving a liquid phase double-antibody system was developed. The EGF--galactosidase conjugate prepared was stable for at least 8 months. By this method, EGF was detectable at a concentration as low as 20 pg per tube. The concentrations of EGF in various tissues of mice are also presented.This work was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Japan.     

贵州省不同类型自然保护地空间分异及其影响因素

受自然与社会因素的影响,不同类型自然保护地的空间分异存在较大的差异.研究针对贵州省内的自然保护区、森林公园、湿地公园和风景名胜区等4类自然保护地,综合运用最邻近点指数、地理集中指数、核密度和地理探测器模型对其空间分异特征进行分析,并探讨其影响因素.结果表明：自然保护区与其余3种自然保护地在数量的空间分异特征上具有明显差异,但4种自然保护地在面积的空间分异特征上均表现出离散化分布的特征,具有较高的相似性.相同影响因素的解释力在不同类型的自然保护地上差异较大,在数量上主要影响因素呈现出趋异性,而面积上主要影响因素则呈现出趋同性.任意2个影响因素交互后其解释力均增强,交互的特征呈多维度复合影响的态势.不同类型自然保护地功能定位的差别是其主要影响因素呈现出趋异性和趋同性的主要原因.