传统学术研究方法的近代转型--兼及严复对传统学术研究方法近代转型的贡献

19～20世纪之交,中国传统学术研究方法面临着极大挑战;当时的思想家表现出了较积极的态度：吸纳西学方法并推动了中国学术研究方法的近代转型;传统学术研究方法的近代转型主要表现在：研究内容由“虚”到“实”的转变、研究程序由臆测到实证的转变、研究品格由依附到独立的转变等。严复在这一重大学术事件中扮演了重要角色。     

Activation of proteinkinase ERK mediates induction of macrophage MMP-12 by OxLDL

The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of oxidized low density lipoprotein (oxLDL) on the expression of maerophage matrix metalloproteinase-12 (MMP-12), and the possible mechanisms. Activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) was detected by Western blot analysis.Enzymatic activity of MMP-12 was determined by β-casein zymography. RT-PCR analysis was used to measure the mRNA expression level of MMP-12. OxLDL-stimulated macrophages produced increased casein-degrading activities and oxLDL also significantly increased the mRNA level of MMP-12 in a dose-dependent manner.OxLDL stimulated the phosphorylation of ERK1/2 in macrophages. The use of the specific inhibitor indicated that the ERK1/2 signaling pathway was required for the induction of MMP-12.These data demonstrated that oxLDL induced MMP-12 expression in macrophages through an ERK1/2-dependent pathway.     

A flower image retrieval method based on ROI feature

Flower image retrieval is a very important step for computer-aided plant species recognition. In this paper, we propose an efficient segmentation method based on color clustering and domain knowledge to extract flower regions from flower images. For flower retrieval, we use the color histogram of a flower region to characterize the color features of flower and two shape-based features sets, Centroid-Contour Distance (CCD) and Angle Code Histogram (ACH), to characterize the shape features of a flower contour. Experimental results showed that our flower region extraction method based on color clustering and domain knowledge can produce accurate flower regions. Flower retrieval results on a database of 885 flower images collected from 14 plant species showed that our Region-of-Interest (ROI) based retrieval approach using both color and shape features can perform better than a method based on the global color histogram proposed by Swain and Ballard (1991) and a method based on domain knowledge-driven segmentation and color names proposed by Das et al.(1999).     

团簇Y_3O,Y_3Oˉ和Y_3O~+的几何和电子结构

采用密度泛函理论(DFT)中的B3LYP方法,在LANL2DZ基组下,对团簇Y3O、Y3O-、Y3O+的几何结构进行优化。结果表明,Y3O团簇的平衡构型都是四面体结构,具有CS对称性。Y3O的基态是两重态2A′,Y3O-的基态是三重态3A′′,Y3O+的基态是单一态1A′。计算得到的电子亲和能和电离能都与实验吻合。电荷分布和自旋密度分析表明团簇Y3O的性质主要取决于"碎块"Y3。     

The origin of the anomalous superconducting properties of MgB(2)

Magnesium diboride differs from ordinary metallic superconductors in several important ways, including the failure of conventional models to predict accurately its unusually high transition temperature, the effects of isotope substitution on the critical transition temperature, and its anomalous specific heat. A detailed examination of the energy associated with the formation of charge-carrying pairs, referred to as the 'superconducting energy gap', should clarify why MgB(2) is different. Some early experimental studies have indicated that MgB(2) has multiple gaps, but past theoretical studies have not explained from first principles the origin of these gaps and their effects. Here we report an ab initio calculation of the superconducting gaps in MgB(2) and their effects on measurable quantities. An important feature is that the electronic states dominated by orbitals in the boron plane couple strongly to specific phonon modes, making pair formation favourable. This explains the high transition temperature, the anomalous structure in the specific heat, and the existence of multiple gaps in this material. Our analysis suggests comparable or higher transition temperatures may result in layered materials based on B, C and N with partially filled planar orbitals.     

VEGF regulates haematopoietic stem cell survival by an internal autocrine loop mechanism

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a principal regulator of blood vessel formation and haematopoiesis, but the mechanisms by which VEGF differentially regulates these processes have been elusive. Here we describe a regulatory loop by which VEGF controls survival of haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). We observed a reduction in survival, colony formation and in vivo repopulation rates of HSCs after ablation of the VEGF gene in mice. Intracellularly acting small-molecule inhibitors of VEGF receptor (VEGFR) tyrosine kinase dramatically reduced colony formation of HSCs, thus mimicking deletion of the VEGF gene. However, blocking VEGF by administering a soluble VEGFR-1, which acts extracellularly, induced only minor effects. These findings support the involvement in HSC survival of a VEGF-dependent internal autocrine loop mechanism (that is, the mechanism is resistant to inhibitors that fail to penetrate the intracellular compartment). Not only ligands selective for VEGF and VEGFR-2 but also VEGFR-1 agonists rescued survival and repopulation of VEGF-deficient HSCs, revealing a function for VEGFR-1 signalling during haematopoiesis.     

Rutile U-Pb age for the ultrahigh pressure eclogite from the Dabie Mountains,central China: Evidence for rapid cooling

The U-Pb isotope compositions of rutile, omphacite and garnet in the eclogite from the Jinheqiao area in the Southern Dabie ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic zone were analyzed. The consistent high precision U-Pb age (218 ± 1.2) Ma of rutile in eclogite from the Dabie Mountains was obtained by two ways of isochron and common Pb correction based on the composition of omphacite. This proves that the omphacite in eclogite has a U/Pb ratio (m = 2.8) low enough to be used for common Pb correction in the analyses of rutile. Under the rapid cooling condition (40℃/Ma) the closure temperature for U-Pb diffusion in rutile is about 470℃. Thus, this U-Pb age of rutile proves that 218 Ma should be the cooling age of eclogite at 470℃ instead of the peak metamorphic age.     

Low-penetrance susceptibility to breast cancer due to CHEK2(*)1100delC in noncarriers of BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations

Mutations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 confer a high risk of breast and ovarian cancer, but account for only a small fraction of breast cancer susceptibility. To find additional genes conferring susceptibility to breast cancer, we analyzed CHEK2 (also known as CHK2), which encodes a cell-cycle checkpoint kinase that is implicated in DNA repair processes involving BRCA1 and p53 (refs 3,4,5). We show that CHEK2(*)1100delC, a truncating variant that abrogates the kinase activity, has a frequency of 1.1% in healthy individuals. However, this variant is present in 5.1% of individuals with breast cancer from 718 families that do not carry mutations in BRCA1 or BRCA2 (P = 0.00000003), including 13.5% of individuals from families with male breast cancer (P = 0.00015). We estimate that the CHEK2(*)1100delC variant results in an approximately twofold increase of breast cancer risk in women and a tenfold increase of risk in men. By contrast, the variant confers no increased cancer risk in carriers of BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. This suggests that the biological mechanisms underlying the elevated risk of breast cancer in CHEK2 mutation carriers are already subverted in carriers of BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations, which is consistent with participation of the encoded proteins in the same pathway.     

基于多层前馈型神经元网络模型的摄像机定标算法

针对传统线性、非线性摄像机定标算法的鲁棒性,提出了基于多层前馈型神经元（MLFN）网络模型来替代传统精确的摄像机定标数学模型,MLFN网络模型作为层状网络可实现任意维复杂的输入／输出映射,对于无需计算摄像机构,外参数的应用场合,该模型提供了一种实用且有较好鲁棒性的摄像机定标算法,同时为了补偿摄影机非线性畸变,把图像按畸变程度分割成两个区域,分别建立各自基于MLFN网络的摄像机定标模型,实验表明,该方法有效补了畸变,并提高了模型精度,给出了基于MLFN网络模型摄像机定标算法实验,验证了该模型的有效性。