纤维对PEI改性环氧树脂单向复合材料形态的影响

人们改善环氧树脂基复合材料的脆性通常只改善环氧树脂基体和增强纤维间的界面，提高环氧树脂韧性的另一种常用方法是添加初始相容性良好的热塑性树脂如聚醚酰亚胺，在某一转化率（取决于体系的组成和反应温度）时体系发生相转变，体系最终的形态由相转变速率和环氧树脂反应速度所控制。本文作者研究了两种增强纤维（玻璃纤维和碳纤维）对不同环氧树脂／聚醚酰亚爱体系形态形成的影响，结果发现体系中纤维的存在不会影响基体相分离过程，但会改变体系的最终形态；形态的变化与纤维的品种关系不大；基体中不同组分的粘度是影响复合材料形态形成的关键因素。     

SLAC1 is required for plant guard cell S-type anion channel function in stomatal signalling

Stomatal pores, formed by two surrounding guard cells in the epidermis of plant leaves, allow influx of atmospheric carbon dioxide in exchange for transpirational water loss. Stomata also restrict the entry of ozone--an important air pollutant that has an increasingly negative impact on crop yields, and thus global carbon fixation and climate change. The aperture of stomatal pores is regulated by the transport of osmotically active ions and metabolites across guard cell membranes. Despite the vital role of guard cells in controlling plant water loss, ozone sensitivity and CO2 supply, the genes encoding some of the main regulators of stomatal movements remain unknown. It has been proposed that guard cell anion channels function as important regulators of stomatal closure and are essential in mediating stomatal responses to physiological and stress stimuli. However, the genes encoding membrane proteins that mediate guard cell anion efflux have not yet been identified. Here we report the mapping and characterization of an ozone-sensitive Arabidopsis thaliana mutant, slac1. We show that SLAC1 (SLOW ANION CHANNEL-ASSOCIATED 1) is preferentially expressed in guard cells and encodes a distant homologue of fungal and bacterial dicarboxylate/malic acid transport proteins. The plasma membrane protein SLAC1 is essential for stomatal closure in response to CO2, abscisic acid, ozone, light/dark transitions, humidity change, calcium ions, hydrogen peroxide and nitric oxide. Mutations in SLAC1 impair slow (S-type) anion channel currents that are activated by cytosolic Ca2+ and abscisic acid, but do not affect rapid (R-type) anion channel currents or Ca2+ channel function. A low homology of SLAC1 to bacterial and fungal organic acid transport proteins, and the permeability of S-type anion channels to malate suggest a vital role for SLAC1 in the function of S-type anion channels.     

A ribonucleotide reductase gene involved in a p53-dependent cell-cycle checkpoint for DNA damage

The p53 gene is frequently inactivated in human cancers. Here we have isolated a p53-inducible gene, p53R2, by using differential display to examine messenger RNAs in a cancer-derived human cell line carrying a highly regulated wild-type p53 expression system. p53R2 contains a p53-binding sequence in intron 1 and encodes a 351-amino-acid peptide with striking similarity to the ribonucleotide reductase small subunit (R2), which is important in DNA synthesis during cell division. Expression of p53R2, but not R2, was induced by ultraviolet and gamma-irradiation and adriamycin treatment in a wild-type p53-dependent manner. Induction of p53R2 in p53-deficient cells caused G2/M arrest and prevented cells from death in response to adriamycin. Inhibition of endogenous p53R2 expression in cells that have an intact p53-dependent DNA damage checkpoint reduced ribonucleotide reductase activity, DNA repair and cell survival after exposure to various genotoxins. Our results indicate that p53R2 encodes a ribonucleotide reductase that is directly involved in the p53 checkpoint for repair of damaged DNA. The discovery of p53R2 clarifies a relationship between a ribonucleotide reductase activity involved in repair of damaged DNA and tumour suppression by p53.     

部分压扁槽道热管实验研究

针对11种不同压扁形式的小型轴向槽道热管进行实验研究, 分析了压扁形式、压扁厚度和工作温度对轴向温度分布、热阻、极限传输功率以及蒸发段和冷凝段的相变换热系数的影响. 实验研究表明, 各种形式的槽道热管在正常工况下, 均可以保持良好的等温性. 热管的几何结构对极限传输功率的影响较明显. 对于蒸发段2 mm厚的热管, 冷凝段厚度从2 mm增加到3 mm, 极限传输功率增加81%; 而对于蒸发段厚度为3 mm的热管, 冷凝段厚度从2 mm增加到3 mm, 极限传输功率增加134%. 对于冷凝段4 mm厚的热管, 蒸发段厚度从2 mm增加到3 mm, 极限传输功率增加26%. 蒸发段厚度每增加1 mm, 极限传输功率增加9%~26%, 而冷凝段厚度每增加1 mm, 极限传输功率增加20%~86%. 冷凝段厚度对热管传热性能的影响要比蒸发段厚度大. 本文的研究内容对了解槽道热管传热性能及电子热设计过程将会有所帮助.     

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 .     

Prion-like behaviour and tau-dependent cytotoxicity of pyroglutamylated amyloid-β

Extracellular plaques of amyloid-β and intraneuronal neurofibrillary tangles made from tau are the histopathological signatures of Alzheimer's disease. Plaques comprise amyloid-β fibrils that assemble from monomeric and oligomeric intermediates, and are prognostic indicators of Alzheimer's disease. Despite the importance of plaques to Alzheimer's disease, oligomers are considered to be the principal toxic forms of amyloid-β. Interestingly, many adverse responses to amyloid-β, such as cytotoxicity, microtubule loss, impaired memory and learning, and neuritic degeneration, are greatly amplified by tau expression. Amino-terminally truncated, pyroglutamylated (pE) forms of amyloid-β are strongly associated with Alzheimer's disease, are more toxic than amyloid-β, residues 1-42 (Aβ(1-42)) and Aβ(1-40), and have been proposed as initiators of Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis. Here we report a mechanism by which pE-Aβ may trigger Alzheimer's disease. Aβ(3(pE)-42) co-oligomerizes with excess Aβ(1-42) to form metastable low-n oligomers (LNOs) that are structurally distinct and far more cytotoxic to cultured neurons than comparable LNOs made from Aβ(1-42) alone. Tau is required for cytotoxicity, and LNOs comprising 5% Aβ(3(pE)-42) plus 95% Aβ(1-42) (5% pE-Aβ) seed new cytotoxic LNOs through multiple serial dilutions into Aβ(1-42) monomers in the absence of additional Aβ(3(pE)-42). LNOs isolated from human Alzheimer's disease brain contained Aβ(3(pE)-42), and enhanced Aβ(3(pE)-42) formation in mice triggered neuron loss and gliosis at 3 months, but not in a tau-null background. We conclude that Aβ(3(pE)-42) confers tau-dependent neuronal death and causes template-induced misfolding of Aβ(1-42) into structurally distinct LNOs that propagate by a prion-like mechanism. Our results raise the possibility that Aβ(3(pE)-42) acts similarly at a primary step in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis.     

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.