Ecdysteroids: possible candidates for the hormone which triggers salivary gland degeneration in the ixodid tickAmblyomma hebraeum

Summary Following engorgement, female ixodid ticks secrete a tick salivary gland degeneration factor (TSGDF) into the hemolymph. Here we show that the arthropod ecdysteroid hormones, ecdysome and 20-hydroxyecdysone, induce degeneration of tick salivary glands maintained in organ culture. The effective dose range in vitro is 30–300 ng/ml, a range reported to be physiological for this species following repletion. In addition, infusion of 20-hydroxyecdysome in vivo induces salivary gland degeneration. We therefore propose that TSGDF may be an ecdysteroid.Acknowledgments. Some of the data reported here were presented to the annual meeting of the Canadian Society of Zoologists, 15–18 May 1983; Program of abstracts, page 53. Financial support of the Canadian National Sportsmen's Fund and NSERC Canada to W.R.K. is gratefully acknowledged.     

Adrenocortical metabolism and plasma corticosterone in soman intoxicated rabbits

Summary The organophosphate neurotoxin soman produced impairments in adrenocortical RNA and protein metabolism. Fasciculate and reticular cell RNA and protein contents were supporessed with sublethal to acutely lethal dosages (20, 30 and 40 g/kg, s.c.) during the acute excitatory phase of intoxication and at 6–8 h post injection. All three dosages produced ca 90% inactivation of plasma cholinesterase. A transient elevation of plasma corticosterone occurred with 20 g/kg soman whereas there was a protracted increase with 30 g/kg. Corticosterone was not significantly elevated with 40 g/kg, but death occurred at 13±4 min. Thus, the magnitude and/or nature of soman-induced metabolic impairments does not appear to prevent adrenal activation.Supported by US Army Medical Research and Development Command Contract DAMD 17-81-C-1202.     

Perennial N2 supersaturation in an Antarctic lake

The dry valleys of southern Victoria Land in Antarctica contain several closed basins in which perennially ice-covered lakes are found. One of the most unusual features of these lakes is the occurrence of high O2 concentrations in the water column; values ranging from slightly more than saturation to more than four times saturation have been reported. Recently, we considered a bulk O2 budget for Lake Hoare, Antarctica, which led us to suggest that biological processes alone were not sufficient to explain the observed elevated oxygen levels. Consequently, there must be a non-biological source of O2. We suggested that this source results from the exclusion of O2 during the freezing of aerated meltstream water at the bottom of the ice cover, and predicted that this physical mechanism should also enhance the other atmospheric gases. Here we report the results of a study which, for the first time, documents the supersaturation of N2 in a lake. Dissolved N2 levels of 145% and 163% were determined from samples taken just below the ice cover and at a depth of 12 m, respectively. The relatively importance of biological and abiological sources is reflected in the ratio of N2 concentration to O2 concentration. In Lake Hoare this ratio was 1.20 at ice/water interface and 1.05 at 12 m; considerably different from the ratio in equilibrium with air (approximately 1.8). Based on these results, we have determined that about half of the net O2 production in the lake is the result of biological processes.     

The Young-Householder algorithm and the least squares multidimensional scaling of squared distances

It is shown that replacement of the zero diagonal elements of the symmetric data matrix of approximate squared distances by certain other quantities in the Young-Householder algorithm will yield a least squares fit to squared distances instead of to scalar products. Iterative algorithms for obtaining these replacement diagonal elements are described and relationships with the ELEGANT algorithm (de Leeuw 1975; Takane 1977) are discussed. In large residual situations a penalty function approach, motivated by the ELEGANT algorithm, is adopted. Empirical comparisons of the algorithms are given.An early version of this paper was presented at the Multidimensional Data Analysis Workshop, Pembroke College, Cambridge, July 1985. I want to thank Jan de Leeuw and Yoshio Takane for bringing the ELEGANT algorithm to my attention and for clarifying its rationale and notation. My thanks go also to Stephen du Toit for help with the ALSCAL computations reported in Section 7.     

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。     

Regulation of cellulose synthesis in Acetobacter xylinum by cyclic diguanylic acid

Cellulose is the most abundant renewable carbon resource on earth and is an indispensable raw material for the wood, paper, and textile industries. A model system to study the mechanism of cellulose biogenesis is the bacterium Acetobacter xylinum which produces pure cellulose as an extracellular product. It was from this organism that in vitro preparations which possessed high levels of cellulose synthase activity were first obtained in both membranous and soluble forms. We recently demonstrated that this activity is subject to a complex multi-component regulatory system, in which the synthase is directly affected by an unusual cyclic nucleotide activator enzymatically formed from GTP, and indirectly by a Ca (2+) -sensitive phosphodiesterase which degrades the activator. The cellulose synthase activator (CSA) has now been identified as bis-(3' 5')-cyclic diguanylic acid (5'G3'p5'G3'p) on the basis of mass spectroscopic data, nuclear magnetic resonance analysis and comparison with chemically synthesized material. We also report here on intermediary steps in the synthesis and degradation of this novel circular dinucleotide, which have been integrated into a model for the regulation of cellulose synthesis.     

砂卵石地层盾构隧道掌子面稳定性理论分析

盾构隧道穿越砂卵石地层掘进施工时,由于砂卵石的地层特性及施工扰动,隧道掌子面容易失稳而引发事故。为研究砂卵石地层盾构隧道掌子面稳定所需的最小支护力,结合砂卵石地层的掌子面失稳模式,在三维Murayama模型的基础上,将掌子面前方土体的滑动面形式假设为对数螺旋滑移线,结合上部松动区域的破坏机制,引入椭球体放矿理论,对传统的棱柱体筒仓模型进行改进,进一步通过极限平衡法推导出砂卵石地层的掌子面极限支护力求解公式;最后通过离散元数值模拟验证所推公式,两者的误差为3.1%。结果表明所得公式可对砂卵石地层的掌子面极限支护力进行较为精确的求解。研究成果以期为砂卵石地层掌子面极限支护力计算理论提供依据。     

数据驱动下交通异常行为的双层识别模型

为实现对车辆异常行为的准确识别,提高车辆行驶的安全性,提出了一种基于支持向量机(support vector machine, SVM)、监督学习与长短期记忆(long short term memory, LSTM)深度学习的交通异常驾驶行为双层识别模型。首先,对车辆轨迹数据筛除和滤波,构建异常行为数据集;其次,从异常行为轨迹特征中提取出特定异常行为的特征标签,并人为标定在训练集中;再次,构建SVM模型对训练集进行粗识别,基于SVM的二分法原理,从测试集中筛选出异常行为;最后,通过LSTM时间序列模型构建具体种类的异常行为模型,并通过深度学习的方法,从异常行为数据中细分为蛇形驾驶、急速变向、侧滑、大半径转弯、快速U型转弯、急刹车等具体的异常驾驶行为。本次实验选用下一代仿真(next generation simulation, NGSIM)数据中US-101高速公路和peachtree城市道路的数据集的轨迹数据验证SVM和LSTM双层识别模型的性能,包括均方根误差、识别准确率等。结果表明,构建的双层识别模型在第一层有98%的识别准确率,第二层有超过80%的识别准确率,可以较为准确地识...