A dipole mode in the tropical Indian Ocean

For the tropical Pacific and Atlantic oceans, internal modes of variability that lead to climatic oscillations have been recognized, but in the Indian Ocean region a similar ocean-atmosphere interaction causing interannual climate variability has not yet been found. Here we report an analysis of observational data over the past 40 years, showing a dipole mode in the Indian Ocean: a pattern of internal variability with anomalously low sea surface temperatures off Sumatra and high sea surface temperatures in the western Indian Ocean, with accompanying wind and precipitation anomalies. The spatio-temporal links between sea surface temperatures and winds reveal a strong coupling through the precipitation field and ocean dynamics. This air-sea interaction process is unique and inherent in the Indian Ocean, and is shown to be independent of the El Ni?o/Southern Oscillation. The discovery of this dipole mode that accounts for about 12% of the sea surface temperature variability in the Indian Ocean--and, in its active years, also causes severe rainfall in eastern Africa and droughts in Indonesia--brightens the prospects for a long-term forecast of rainfall anomalies in the affected countries.     

块状纳米材料的设计理论研究

在二元共晶Spinodal系统中 ,Spinodal波长的大小随过冷度的增加而减少 ,并存在一个最小的波长 ,此时合金的生长速度最快 .提出当过冷度足够大时 ,液态Spinodal的波长进入到纳米尺度 ,形成块状纳米材料 .由于液态的扩散较易发生 ,当波长为纳米量级时 ,Spinodal的转变时间为微秒量级 .由于液体表面张力等的影响 ,液态Spinodal的组织由网状变成微粒形态 .     

Human gamma-chain genes are rearranged in leukaemic T cells and map to the short arm of chromosome 7

Three gene families that rearrange during the somatic development of T cells have been identified in the murine genome. Two of these gene families (alpha and beta) encode subunits of the antigen-specific T-cell receptor and are also present in the human genome. The third gene family, designated here as the gamma-chain gene family, is rearranged in murine cytolytic T cells but not in most helper T cells. Here we present evidence that the human genome also contains gamma-chain genes that undergo somatic rearrangement in leukaemia-derived T cells. Murine gamma-chain genes appear to be encoded in gene segments that are analogous to the immunoglobulin gene variable, constant and joining segments. There are two closely related constant-region gene segments in the human genome. One of the constant-region genes is deleted in all three T-cell leukaemias that we have studied. The two constant-region gamma-chain genes reside on the short arm of chromosome 7 (7p15); this region is involved in chromosomal rearrangements identified in T cells from individuals with the immunodeficiency syndrome ataxia telangiectasia and observed only rarely in routine cytogenetic analyses of normal individuals. This region is also a secondary site of beta-chain gene hybridization.     

基于免疫网络理论的TCSC与PSS协调控制

电力系统稳定器(PSS)和可控串联补偿器(TCSC)被广泛用于电力系统的稳定控制,多个控制器之间的交互作用会影响彼此的控制效果.本文介绍了生物免疫系统中不同类型的抗体协调合作,共同清除抗原的协调机理.提出了基于免疫网络理论的协调控制方法,用于在线协调控制多个阻尼控制器,抑制电力系统的功率振荡.以装有多个PSS和TCSC的系统为例,对多个控制器进行在线协调阻尼控制.仿真结果表明该方法能够缩短抑制振荡所需的时间,具有有效性和鲁棒性.     

Bone marrow cells regenerate infarcted myocardium

Myocardial infarction leads to loss of tissue and impairment of cardiac performance. The remaining myocytes are unable to reconstitute the necrotic tissue, and the post-infarcted heart deteriorates with time. Injury to a target organ is sensed by distant stem cells, which migrate to the site of damage and undergo alternate stem cell differentiation; these events promote structural and functional repair. This high degree of stem cell plasticity prompted us to test whether dead myocardium could be restored by transplanting bone marrow cells in infarcted mice. We sorted lineage-negative (Lin-) bone marrow cells from transgenic mice expressing enhanced green fluorescent protein by fluorescence-activated cell sorting on the basis of c-kit expression. Shortly after coronary ligation, Lin- c-kitPOS cells were injected in the contracting wall bordering the infarct. Here we report that newly formed myocardium occupied 68% of the infarcted portion of the ventricle 9 days after transplanting the bone marrow cells. The developing tissue comprised proliferating myocytes and vascular structures. Our studies indicate that locally delivered bone marrow cells can generate de novo myocardium, ameliorating the outcome of coronary artery disease.     

Activity and reproduction in Megalobulimus paranaguensis (Gastropoda,Eupulmonata): implications for conservation in captivity for a South American land snail

ABSTRACT

In South America, Megalobulimus includes a number of threatened species, as well the largest land snails on the continent. The activity patterns and reproductive aspects of this group have not been documented. This work describes the daily and seasonal activity patterns and reproduction of M. paranaguensis. We maintained specimens in the laboratory for one year, and we quantified their behaviour for one hour at four different times of the day (0 h, 6 h, 12 h and 18 h) during three days in four months (August, September, April and May). The number of postures, hatching rate, time of hatching since oviposition and mortality rate among juveniles for each month were also quantified. Megalobulimus paranaguensis was more active in August, and had a egg laying peak one month after. Fifty-one eggs were laid by 12 captive individuals throughout the year, with a mean value of 4.25 eggs per individual. The hatching rate was 80.39%, and the time of hatching since oviposition was 56.7 ± 4.3 days. In two eggs, we observed the presence of twins. The mortality rate among juveniles was low (9.30%) indicating that rearing land snails in captivity has the potential to be an important and viable tool for the management and conservation of these organisms.     

Demography of the Yarrow's spiny lizard, Sceloporus jarrovii , from the central Chihuahuan Desert

The demography of a population of Yarrow's spiny lizard, Sceloporus jarrovii , was examined from 2004 to 2006 in the canyon Las Piedras Encimadas, located in Gomez Palacio, Durango, México. Lizards were studied using a mark-recapture technique. Reproduction in females occurred between November and May, coinciding with dry conditions. Reproductive activity was highest (percent of females with vitellogenic follicles or embryos) in the middle of the dry season (November and December). Thirteen percent of females reached sexual maturity at an average age of 8.5 months. The population structure was similar in spring and fall, but not in summer. A notable feature of summer, coinciding with the wet season, was the greater number of hatchlings and juveniles. The overall sex ratio did not differ from 1:1. The density of adults varied from 12 to 62 animals ? 0.5 ha –1 . Temperate and arid-adapted populations of S. jarrovii exhibited broad similarity in timing of the reproductive season, whereas factors such as density, growth, age at sexual maturity, and survivorship differed.     

Simulated and reconstructed winter temperature in the eastern China during the last millennium

Since the 1990s, under the auspicious impetus of two international research programs, the “Past Global Changes” (PAGES) and the “Climate Variability and Pre- dictability” (CLIVAR), massive research work has been carried out on climate and environment changes over the past 2000 years[1-3]. But majority of the studies has been centered on obtaining various kinds of climatic proxy data (such as historical documents, tree rings, ice cores, lake cores) and focused on the reconstruction of…     

Extraction of a weak climatic signal by an ecosystem

The complexity of ecosystems can cause subtle and chaotic responses to changes in external forcing. Although ecosystems may not normally behave chaotically, sensitivity to external influences associated with nonlinearity can lead to amplification of climatic signals. Strong correlations between an El Ni?o index and rainfall and maize yield in Zimbabwe have been demonstrated; the correlation with maize yield was stronger than that with rainfall. A second example is the 100,000-year ice-age cycle, which may arise from a weak cycle in radiation through its influence on the concentration of atmospheric CO2 (ref. 5). Such integration of a weak climatic signal has yet to be demonstrated in a realistic theoretical system. Here we use a particular climatic phenomenon-the observed association between plankton populations around the UK and the position of the Gulf Stream-as a probe to demonstrate how a detailed marine ecosystem model extracts a weak signal that is spread across different meteorological variables. Biological systems may therefore respond to climatic signals other than those that dominate the driving variables.