Inner ear of the coelacanth fish Latimeria has tetrapod affinities

Auditory reception in elasmobranchs, teleosts and amphibians may be mediated by various inner-ear sensory epithelia 1–3, including the basilar papilla, which seems to be the precursor of the cochlea in mammals. The origin of the basilar papilla remains a major unsolved problem for understanding the evolution of hearing in terrestrial vertebrates4–6. Study of living species indicates that the basilar papilla is a unique feature of tetrapods 6,7, but palaeonto-logical data indicate that this epithelium as well as a middle ear, is already present in crossopterygian fish 8–10. However, no basilar papilla has been found in the only living crossopterygian species, the coelacanth Latimeria chalumnae 11. I have re-examined the inner ear of adult and embryonic Latimeria and find a membranous specialization which resembles in structure, position and innerva-tion pattern the basilar papilla of tetrapods, in particular amniotes. No epithelium comparable to the basilar papilla was found in lungfish. I suggest that the basilar papillae of Latimeria and tetrapods are homologous and evolved only once in their common ancestor.     

用爆炸波起爆癸烷云雾的两种模式

用垂直激波管研究了400μm癸烷液滴与空气混合物的爆炸波起爆。每种混合物有两个极限起爆能值,即高值Ecu,和低值Ecl。当起爆能的值高于Ecu时,观察到100%发生爆轰;而当其低于Ecl时,就不会发生爆轰。有趣的是,当起爆能水平在Ecu和Ecl之间时观察到对应于不同的起爆能水平有不同的起爆行为。如实验结果所表明的,爆轰的激发不仅是由于直接起爆,而且也由于“爆燃”到爆轰的转变。     

适用的哲学与认识的工具

一、适用的哲学最近几十年来,科学信息空前爆炸,以致就具体而积极地研究认识方法来说,"自然哲学"变得太广泛了.对此,物理学家、生物学家、心理学家以及其他在本学科领域进行创造性工作的专家,都应该加以研究;或者自己研究,或者和相应的科学史专家合作研究.严肃的科学著作不能没有哲学,但哲学应该是"具     

非光滑方程信赖域算法的全局收敛性

给出一个解非光滑方程的信赖域算法,提出弱正则ＳＰＮ分解和弱正则条件数的定义。在弱正则条件下,证明此算法的全局收敛性。     

美东地区罗德河流域地下水中铝形态分布的化学平衡模式计算

美东地区的罗德河流域遭受着严重的酸沉降侵蚀．在酸性条件下,铝从土壤中大量溶解并迁移到水环境中．地表水中升高的铝浓度对鱼类产生毒害,监测地表水和土壤水中的铝形态及浓度变化已成为问题的关键．本文报导了用化学平衡模式计算法分析美东地区罗德河流域地下水中的铝形态分布,获得了有价值的结论     

Symmetry perception in an insect

Symmetrical visual patterns have a salient status in human perception, as evinced by their prevalent occurrence in art, and also in animal perception, where they may be an indicator of phenotypic and genotypic quality. Symmetry perception has been demonstrated in humans, birds, dolphins and apes. Here we show that bees trained to discriminate bilaterally symmetrical from non-symmetrical patterns learn the task and transfer it appropriately to novel stimuli, thus demonstrating a capacity to detect and generalize symmetry or asymmetry. We conclude that bees, and possibly flower-visiting insects in general, can acquire a generalized preference towards symmetrical or, alternatively, asymmetrical patterns depending on experience, and that symmetry detection is preformed or can be learned as perceptual category by insects, because it can be extracted as an independent visual pattern feature. Bees show a predisposition for learning and generalized symmetry because, if trained to it, they choose it more frequently, come closer to and hover longer in front of the novel symmetrical stimuli than the bees trained for asymmetry do for the novel asymmetrical stimuli. Thus, even organisms with comparatively small nervous systems can generalize about symmetry, and favour symmetrical over asymmetrical patterns.     

环路热管启动特性的实验研究

通过大量的实验研究了蒸发器内气液分布、反重力工作高度、启动热载荷的大小、热沉温度等因素对启动的影响, 描述并分析了4种不同蒸发器内气液分布情况下的启动现象, 给出了系统温度变化曲线图, 分析了启动的难易程度. 根据实验数据得出结论: (ⅰ) 对于液体干道内充满液体的启动情况, 储液器温度上升的主要原因并不是漏热, 而是回路压力升高所致. (ⅱ) 热载荷大有利于启动. (ⅲ) 未完全绝热时小热载荷下热沉温度不影响启动. (ⅳ) 环路热管在反重力情况下启动时, 当蒸汽槽道存在蒸汽时, 所需启动时间、启动温升增大; 而蒸汽槽道充满液体时, 所需时间、过热度和启动温升都减少. 实验还观察到了反重力启动时呈现两种启动方式的特别现象.     

基于选区的彩色图像抽取和融合算法研究

给出了一种利用图像中定义的选择区域（选区），从复杂背景中尽可能保持原样地提取出所关心图像的图像抽取方法；同时还介绍了如何对抽出的图像进行融合设置，进行看似自然的、无缝的融合；另外对算法的应用过程进行了适当的描述，作出算法的实际使用情况说明．