甲（乙）基在甲（乙）苯亲电取代反应中的定位作用和定位能力讨论

在有机化学的亲电取代反应定位法则教学中,甲基代表烷基,作为芳烃亲电取代反应定位效应的典型例子,但甲基不同于乙基等烷基,具有不同的定位能力,烷基是如何影响芳环的结构从而影响取代基定位,教材和教学中描述较简单,不便于学生领会和比较。该文就此问题进行探讨,结果表明,烷基苯RAr（R—Me、Et）的R在空间的位置影响烷基苯的能量和原子电荷密度,从而影响烷苯的亲电取代反应。（1）烷苯的R—Ar键旋转形成不同构象,其中的最大与最小体系能量值之差△E,△E（Me）〈△E（Et）,{△E（Me）=0．0000084a．u,△E（Et）=0．0068029a．u},甲苯比乙苯的R—Ar单键更容易自由旋转。在EtAr,C8-C7-C1平面与苯环垂直时,体系能量[E（90）=-308．661166a．u．]最低,为较稳定的优势构象。（2）甲基和乙基均向苯环供电子,虽甲（乙）苯环的碳原子所带电荷之和都不及苯,但甲苯比乙苯的环碳上电子密度大,∑Q（Me,30）=-1．02794〈∑Q（Et,90）=-1．010487。（3）甲（乙）苯化合物中,均为邻、对位碳原子电子密度大于苯环碳{甲基：邻位qc2（30）=qc6（30）=-0．212118,对位-0．20724～-0．20728;乙基：邻位qc2（90）=qc6（90）=-0．209509,对位q（90）（-0．20695）},间位碳原子的电子密度小于苯环碳[甲基间位-0．19153～-0．19228;乙基间位q（90）=-0．192171],甲、乙苯的邻、对位有利于亲电取代反应,且甲基大于乙基的定位能力。（4）亲电试剂Me^＋与苯环反应形成邻、对位的碳正离子中间体比闯位碳正离子中间体稳定,有利于生成邻、对位取代产物,因此,甲、乙基均为邻、对位定位基。     

钢筋受压黏结滑移模型

为研究钢筋的受压黏结滑移关系,采用分辨率较高的激光位移计,对一批短锚长试件进行系列推出试验研究,得到精确度较高的黏结滑移值及完整的试验黏结滑移关系曲线,描述钢筋在混凝土中的受压黏结滑移破坏全过程:弹性阶段、局部滑移阶段、滑移上升段、滑移下降段和残余段.在对试验得到的较短锚长试件推出试验结果分析的基础上,经统计回归和分析,提出钢筋的受压黏结滑移曲线模型,并与试验结果进行对比.     

Male development of chromosomally female mice transgenic for Sry

The initiation of male development in mammals requires one or more genes on the Y chromosome. A recently isolated gene, termed SRY in humans and Sry in mouse, has many of the genetic and biological properties expected of a Y-located testis-determining gene. It is now shown that Sry on a 14-kilobase genomic DNA fragment is sufficient to induce testis differentiation and subsequent male development when introduced into chromosomally female mouse embryos.     

Segregation of a missense mutation in the amyloid precursor protein gene with familial Alzheimer's disease.

A locus segregating with familial Alzheimer's disease (AD) has been mapped to chromosome 21, close to the amyloid precursor protein (APP) gene. Recombinants between the APP gene and the AD locus have been reported which seemed to exclude it as the site of the mutation causing familial AD. But recent genetic analysis of a large number of AD families has demonstrated that the disease is heterogeneous. Families with late-onset AD do not show linkage to chromosome 21 markers. Some families with early-onset AD show linkage to chromosome 21 markers, but some do not. This has led to the suggestion that there is non-allelic genetic heterogeneity even within early onset familial AD. To avoid the problems that heterogeneity poses for genetic analysis, we have examined the cosegregation of AD and markers along the long arm of chromosome 21 in a single family with AD confirmed by autopsy. Here we demonstrate that in this kindred, which shows linkage to chromosome 21 markers, there is a point mutation in the APP gene. This mutation causes an amino-acid substitution (Val----Ile) close to the carboxy terminus of the beta-amyloid peptide. Screening other cases of familial AD revealed a second unrelated family in which this variant occurs. This suggests that some cases of AD could be caused by mutations in the APP gene.     

Observation of rare-earth segregation in silicon nitride ceramics at subnanometre dimensions

Silicon nitride (Si3N4) ceramics are used in numerous applications because of their superior mechanical properties. Their intrinsically brittle nature is a critical issue, but can be overcome by introducing whisker-like microstructural features. However, the formation of such anisotropic grains is very sensitive to the type of cations used as the sintering additives. Understanding the origin of dopant effects, central to the design of high-performance Si3N4 ceramics, has been sought for many years. Here we show direct images of dopant atoms (La) within the nanometre-scale intergranular amorphous films typically found at grain boundaries, using aberration corrected Z-contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy. It is clearly shown that the La atoms preferentially segregate to the amorphous/crystal interfaces. First-principles calculations confirm the strong preference of La for the crystalline surfaces, which is essential for forming elongated grains and a toughened microstructure. Whereas principles of micrometre-scale structural design are currently used to improve the mechanical properties of ceramics, this work represents a step towards the atomic-level structural engineering required for the next generation of ceramics.     

Chimaeric sounds reveal dichotomies in auditory perception

By Fourier's theorem, signals can be decomposed into a sum of sinusoids of different frequencies. This is especially relevant for hearing, because the inner ear performs a form of mechanical Fourier transform by mapping frequencies along the length of the cochlear partition. An alternative signal decomposition, originated by Hilbert, is to factor a signal into the product of a slowly varying envelope and a rapidly varying fine time structure. Neurons in the auditory brainstem sensitive to these features have been found in mammalian physiological studies. To investigate the relative perceptual importance of envelope and fine structure, we synthesized stimuli that we call 'auditory chimaeras', which have the envelope of one sound and the fine structure of another. Here we show that the envelope is most important for speech reception, and the fine structure is most important for pitch perception and sound localization. When the two features are in conflict, the sound of speech is heard at a location determined by the fine structure, but the words are identified according to the envelope. This finding reveals a possible acoustic basis for the hypothesized 'what' and 'where' pathways in the auditory cortex.     

Mechanisms of sperm-egg interactions emerging from gene-manipulated animals

Untangling the molecular nature of sperm-egg interactions is fundamental if we are to understand fertilization. These phenomena have been studied for many years using biochemical approaches such as antibodies and ligands that interact with sperm or with eggs and their vestments. However, when homologous genetic recombination techniques were applied, most of the phenotypic factors of the gene-manipulated animals believed “essential” for fertilization were found to be dispensable. Of course, all biological systems contain redundancies and compensatory mechanisms, but as a whole the old model of fertilization clearly requires significant modification. In this review, we use the results of gene manipulation experiments in animals to propose the basis for a new vision. Received 26 January 2007; received after revision 7 March 2007; accepted 17 April 2007