Large Cretaceous sphenodontian from Patagonia provides insight into lepidosaur evolution in Gondwana

Sphenodontian reptiles successfully radiated during Triassic and Jurassic times, but were driven almost to extinction during the Cretaceous period. The sparse Early Cretaceous record of sphenodontians has been interpreted as reflecting the decline of the group in favour of lizards, their suspected ecological successors. However, recent discoveries in Late Cretaceous beds in Patagonia partially modify this interpretation. Numerous skeletons of a new sphenodontian, Priosphenodon avelasi gen. et sp. nov., were collected from a single locality in the Cenomanian-Turonian Candeleros Formation, where it is more abundant than any other tetrapod group recorded in the quarry (for example, Crocodyliformes, Serpentes, Dinosauria and Mammalia). Adult specimens of Priosphenodon reached one metre in length, larger than any previously known terrestrial sphenodontian. Here we propose, using available evidence, that sphenodontians were not a minor component of the Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystems of South America, and that their ecological replacement by squamates was delayed until the early Tertiary. The new discovery helps to bridge the considerable gap in the fossil record (around 120 million years) that separates the Early Cretaceous sphenodontians from their living relatives (Sphenodon).     

Shank3 mutant mice display autistic-like behaviours and striatal dysfunction

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) comprise a range of disorders that share a core of neurobehavioural deficits characterized by widespread abnormalities in social interactions, deficits in communication as well as restricted interests and repetitive behaviours. The neurological basis and circuitry mechanisms underlying these abnormal behaviours are poorly understood. SHANK3 is a postsynaptic protein, whose disruption at the genetic level is thought to be responsible for the development of 22q13 deletion syndrome (Phelan-McDermid syndrome) and other non-syndromic ASDs. Here we show that mice with Shank3 gene deletions exhibit self-injurious repetitive grooming and deficits in social interaction. Cellular, electrophysiological and biochemical analyses uncovered defects at striatal synapses and cortico-striatal circuits in Shank3 mutant mice. Our findings demonstrate a critical role for SHANK3 in the normal development of neuronal connectivity and establish causality between a disruption in the Shank3 gene and the genesis of autistic-like behaviours in mice.     

Adaptive subwavelength control of nano-optical fields

Adaptive shaping of the phase and amplitude of femtosecond laser pulses has been developed into an efficient tool for the directed manipulation of interference phenomena, thus providing coherent control over various quantum-mechanical systems. Temporal resolution in the femtosecond or even attosecond range has been demonstrated, but spatial resolution is limited by diffraction to approximately half the wavelength of the light field (that is, several hundred nanometres). Theory has indicated that the spatial limitation to coherent control can be overcome with the illumination of nanostructures: the spatial near-field distribution was shown to depend on the linear chirp of an irradiating laser pulse. An extension of this idea to adaptive control, combining multiparameter pulse shaping with a learning algorithm, demonstrated the generation of user-specified optical near-field distributions in an optimal and flexible fashion. Shaping of the polarization of the laser pulse provides a particularly efficient and versatile nano-optical manipulation method. Here we demonstrate the feasibility of this concept experimentally, by tailoring the optical near field in the vicinity of silver nanostructures through adaptive polarization shaping of femtosecond laser pulses and then probing the lateral field distribution by two-photon photoemission electron microscopy. In this combination of adaptive control and nano-optics, we achieve subwavelength dynamic localization of electromagnetic intensity on the nanometre scale and thus overcome the spatial restrictions of conventional optics. This experimental realization of theoretical suggestions opens a number of perspectives in coherent control, nano-optics, nonlinear spectroscopy, and other research fields in which optical investigations are carried out with spatial or temporal resolution.     

Gravity modes as a way to distinguish between hydrogen- and helium-burning red giant stars

Red giants are evolved stars that have exhausted the supply of hydrogen in their cores and instead burn hydrogen in a surrounding shell. Once a red giant is sufficiently evolved, the helium in the core also undergoes fusion. Outstanding issues in our understanding of red giants include uncertainties in the amount of mass lost at the surface before helium ignition and the amount of internal mixing from rotation and other processes. Progress is hampered by our inability to distinguish between red giants burning helium in the core and those still only burning hydrogen in a shell. Asteroseismology offers a way forward, being a powerful tool for probing the internal structures of stars using their natural oscillation frequencies. Here we report observations of gravity-mode period spacings in red giants that permit a distinction between evolutionary stages to be made. We use high-precision photometry obtained by the Kepler spacecraft over more than a year to measure oscillations in several hundred red giants. We find many stars whose dipole modes show sequences with approximately regular period spacings. These stars fall into two clear groups, allowing us to distinguish unambiguously between hydrogen-shell-burning stars (period spacing mostly ～ 50 seconds) and those that are also burning helium (period spacing ～ 100 to 300 seconds).     

Development of Postgraduate Education in Chemical Engineering

1 Development of Postgraduate Education There were only 200 postgraduates were honored master degree from the year 1935 to 1949 in old China. While, after the establishment of new China, the postgraduate education has developed in a certain degree, there were 23,000 postgraduates were enrolled from 1950 to 1965, and there were no postgraduates during the period of 1966 to 1977 due to the "culture revolution".     

石油网格数据挖掘新技术研究

针对石油勘探开发中很多TB级和PB级的数据集在许多情况下分布在一个组织的不同地点或不同组织的多个数据源被集团内所有用户共享的特点,用网格数据挖掘数据集成技术和网格数据挖掘本体技术,作为石油勘探开发行业业务工作流程的信息处理基础设施,以满足石油工业对高性能计算技术的持续需求。提出了Web service与网格技术融合、网格与数据集成技术结合和本体与Web service合成,给出了基于Globus Toolkit 4、开放式网格服务体系结构和Web服务的技术实现方案。研究表明：网格计算中的任务管理、任务调度和资源管理等服务可以为分布式数据挖掘提供极大的便利。     

微气泡减阻的数值模拟方法及尺寸效应

分别采用混合物模型、欧拉双流体模型和相群平衡模型对底部通气的二维平板微气泡减阻效果进行了模拟分析,探讨了气泡直径、喷气速度对微气泡减阻率的影响,并对其尺度效应进行研究.结果表明:减小气泡直径可以增加微气泡减阻率;在一定的范围内,减阻率随着喷气速度的增加而增大,但喷气速度过小或过大都将影响减阻效果;相群平衡模型比其他2种模型的数值模拟结果更接近于试验结果;由于物体尺寸增加所致的雷诺数增大在一定程度上会降低微气泡减阻率.     

改进的引导式邻域搜索算法求解周期性车辆路径问题

在引导式邻域搜索算法静态惩罚策略的基础上,提出动态惩罚策略,设计改进的引导式邻域搜索算法,将其用于求解周期性车辆路径问题,采用标准算例进行数据实验,对动态与静态的惩罚策略进行对比.结果表明,采用改进的引导式邻域搜索算法求解周期性车辆路径问题可行有效.     

Genome sequence and analysis of the tuber crop potato

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is the world's most important non-grain food crop and is central to global food security. It is clonally propagated, highly heterozygous, autotetraploid, and suffers acute inbreeding depression. Here we use a homozygous doubled-monoploid potato clone to sequence and assemble 86% of the 844-megabase genome. We predict 39,031 protein-coding genes and present evidence for at least two genome duplication events indicative of a palaeopolyploid origin. As the first genome sequence of an asterid, the potato genome reveals 2,642 genes specific to this large angiosperm clade. We also sequenced a heterozygous diploid clone and show that gene presence/absence variants and other potentially deleterious mutations occur frequently and are a likely cause of inbreeding depression. Gene family expansion, tissue-specific expression and recruitment of genes to new pathways contributed to the evolution of tuber development. The potato genome sequence provides a platform for genetic improvement of this vital crop.     

Spin-orbit-coupled Bose-Einstein condensates

Spin-orbit (SO) coupling--the interaction between a quantum particle's spin and its momentum--is ubiquitous in physical systems. In condensed matter systems, SO coupling is crucial for the spin-Hall effect and topological insulators; it contributes to the electronic properties of materials such as GaAs, and is important for spintronic devices. Quantum many-body systems of ultracold atoms can be precisely controlled experimentally, and would therefore seem to provide an ideal platform on which to study SO coupling. Although an atom's intrinsic SO coupling affects its electronic structure, it does not lead to coupling between the spin and the centre-of-mass motion of the atom. Here, we engineer SO coupling (with equal Rashba and Dresselhaus strengths) in a neutral atomic Bose-Einstein condensate by dressing two atomic spin states with a pair of lasers. Such coupling has not been realized previously for ultracold atomic gases, or indeed any bosonic system. Furthermore, in the presence of the laser coupling, the interactions between the two dressed atomic spin states are modified, driving a quantum phase transition from a spatially spin-mixed state (lasers off) to a phase-separated state (above a critical laser intensity). We develop a many-body theory that provides quantitative agreement with the observed location of the transition. The engineered SO coupling--equally applicable for bosons and fermions--sets the stage for the realization of topological insulators in fermionic neutral atom systems.