宇宙生命化:一个真实的人类未来图景

近几年来，人类在所有科学领域取得成果的速率在惊人地加快。当我们拓展对地球的控制时，同时也在准备重塑和改造地球上的景观，为自己到地球外居住作准备。几个世纪以来，我们已经花大力改造了地球，现在，我们正准备把宇宙转变成一个充满生命的有生气的实体。我们将通过把我们的意识、技能、智力以及我们自身扩展到其他行星上来实现这个目标。我们把人类改变和改善地球环境（最终是宇宙本身）的努力总称为“生命化”。生命化是调节人类行为的一种力量，赋予地球并最终赋予整个宇宙以意识和智慧，是全部人类生产活动背后的原动力。然而，为…     

用于测量氡浓度的径迹蚀刻探测装置

文章描述了NRPB用于测量居室和工作场所氡浓度的径迹蚀刻剂量学体系,并考虑了适用于大规模评价吸入室内空气中氡的衰变子体所致危险度的理想氡剂量学体系所应该满足的原则.NRPB现用的径迹蚀刻剂量学体系满足这样理想体系的要求.对筛选测量的原则进行了简要描述.例如,为了弄清某一房间是否存在氡子体的危险水平,而又不需要给出它的长期真实平均值的测量.     

最优控制理论中的变分法

本文介绍了变分法的建立,并说明该变分法适用于自由终端时间最优控制问题的二阶变分的推导。首先,证明了如果给控制(独立变量)一个变化,那么,状态(相关变量)变化包括控制变化的所有阶次。因此,状态变化是整体变化,这意味着相关变化的变分存在。其次,要导出时间固定和时间自由变分之间的关系,并给出求积分的变分公式。这些结果被用于推导下述三种不同方法的二阶变分:在完成部分积分后求一阶变分的变分;在完成部分积分前求一阶变分的变分;用泰勒级数法求二阶变分。为了得到相同的结果,要求状态的整体变分存在或状态变分的变分存在。最后,如果给定轨线不是一条极值曲线,那么,在二阶变分中该方法产生附加项。     

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATION BETWEEN COTTON FIBRE PROPERTIES AND YARN QUALITY BY USING HIGH VOLUME INSTRUMENT(HVI)SYSTEM

The objective of this paper is to establish reliable prediction equations relating cotton fibreproperties measured by HVI system and yarn quality,A useful statistical method is adopted for de-veloping a multiple regression model interpreting the relation between the data of Spinlab HVIfibre properties and quality parameters of yarn STQ (Strength Tex Quotient).The percent relativecontribution of a fibre property with respect of STQ is also assessed.The results show that the totalcontribution of the HVI measured fibre properties can account for 77.4% of known variation ofyarn STQ.The main feature of the approach is its flexibility in accommodating all fibre properties.The examination of regression equation showed that it could be well applied to predict STQ ofyarns spun from the same spinning system,but,for different spinning systems and also for yarns ofdifferent linear density,modification of the equation would be needed.     

Sympatric speciation by sexual selection

There is increasing evidence for the process of sympatric speciation, in which reproductive isolation of species occurs without physical isolation. Theoretical models have focused on disruptive natural selection as the crucial pressure for splitting a species. Here we report the theoretical finding that sympatric speciation may be caused by sexual selection even without disruptive natural selection. Specifically, we show that variation in a male secondary sexual character with two conspicuous extremes and the corresponding variance in female mating preference around no preference may jointly evolve into bimodal distributions with increasing modal divergence of the male and female traits, pulling a population apart into two prezygotically isolated populations. This mode of speciation, driven by two runaway processes in different directions, is promoted by an increase in the efficiency of females in discriminating among males or a decrease in the cost of male conspicuousness, indicating that sympatric speciation may occur more readily if barrier-free or predator-free conditions arise. Although even a slight cost of female preference would cancel the runaway process of sexual selection, it would not cancel the divergent runaway processes of sympatric speciation.     

Stable propagation of synchronous spiking in cortical neural networks

The classical view of neural coding has emphasized the importance of information carried by the rate at which neurons discharge action potentials. More recent proposals that information may be carried by precise spike timing have been challenged by the assumption that these neurons operate in a noisy fashion--presumably reflecting fluctuations in synaptic input and, thus, incapable of transmitting signals with millisecond fidelity. Here we show that precisely synchronized action potentials can propagate within a model of cortical network activity that recapitulates many of the features of biological systems. An attractor, yielding a stable spiking precision in the (sub)millisecond range, governs the dynamics of synchronization. Our results indicate that a combinatorial neural code, based on rapid associations of groups of neurons co-ordinating their activity at the single spike level, is possible within a cortical-like network.