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.     

沃森博士谈人体基因解译计划与日本

詹姆斯·沃森(James D WAFSON)是人体基因解译计划负责人.他以1961年肯尼迪总统决定将人类送往月球那样的口气,就该计划的重要性作了如此叙述:"为了彻底搞清具有30亿碱基对的人体遗传基因序列,最终需花去相当于将美国人送抵月球的十分之一左右的费用.但是,基因解译计划对人类生活所     

Atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations before 2.2 billion years ago

The composition of the Earth's early atmosphere is a subject of continuing debate. In particular, it has been suggested that elevated concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide would have been necessary to maintain normal surface temperatures in the face of lower solar luminosity in early Earth history. Fossil weathering profiles, known as palaeosols, have provided semi-quantitative constraints on atmospheric oxygen partial pressure (pO2) before 2.2 Gyr ago. Here we use the same well studied palaeosols to constrain atmospheric pCO2 between 2.75 and 2.2 Gyr ago. The observation that iron lost from the tops of these profiles was reprecipitated lower down as iron silicate minerals, rather than as iron carbonate, indicates that atmospheric pCO2 must have been less than 10(-1.4) atm--about 100 times today's level of 360 p.p.m., and at least five times lower than that required in one-dimensional climate models to compensate for lower solar luminosity at 2.75 Gyr. Our results suggest that either the Earth's early climate was much more sensitive to increases in pCO2 than has been thought, or that one or more greenhouse gases other than CO2 contributed significantly to the atmosphere's radiative balance during the late Archaean and early Proterozoic eons.     

静电陀螺寻北仪的力学原理

静电陀螺仪是当今世界上精度最高的陀螺仪,研制静电陀螺寻北仪是为了寻求高精度的方位测量仪器。采用静电陀螺仪组成寻北仪可采用以下两种方式：力反馈方式和自由陀螺方式。前者水平方向包含两个力反馈回路,通过测量反馈回路电流得出方位角。后者陀螺自由转动数分钟,通过测量静电陀螺水平轴偏角得出方位角。该文讨论了力反馈方式和自由陀螺方式静电陀螺寻北仪力学原理,其中包括两种方式下坐标变换及获得方位角的算法推导,并得出结论。     

静电陀螺寻北仪中的磁干扰

电磁兼容性的问题尤其对采用静电陀螺作为核心元件的高精度寻北仪越来越显得重要。有关静电陀螺的文献对于静电干扰讨论较多,本文则侧重对静电陀螺寻北仪中的磁干扰进行讨论。磁干扰包括外部磁干扰和内部磁干扰,外部磁干扰可通过严格的电磁屏蔽加以排除,对于内部磁干扰本文推导了有关数学关系式,必要时可以加以补偿。     

超滤法分级和纯化蛋白质的现状和前景(英文)

超滤法具有高产率、低成本、容易放大等显著优点,但其低选择性一直限制其在生物蛋白制品的分级和纯化中的应用。本文总结和分析了超滤法用于蛋白质分级和纯化的近期研究成果,对其低选择性的原因进行了分析,提出并论证了提高超滤选择性的技术途径。     

Symmetry perception in an insect

Symmetrical visual patterns have a salient status in human perception, as evinced by their prevalent occurrence in art, and also in animal perception, where they may be an indicator of phenotypic and genotypic quality. Symmetry perception has been demonstrated in humans, birds, dolphins and apes. Here we show that bees trained to discriminate bilaterally symmetrical from non-symmetrical patterns learn the task and transfer it appropriately to novel stimuli, thus demonstrating a capacity to detect and generalize symmetry or asymmetry. We conclude that bees, and possibly flower-visiting insects in general, can acquire a generalized preference towards symmetrical or, alternatively, asymmetrical patterns depending on experience, and that symmetry detection is preformed or can be learned as perceptual category by insects, because it can be extracted as an independent visual pattern feature. Bees show a predisposition for learning and generalized symmetry because, if trained to it, they choose it more frequently, come closer to and hover longer in front of the novel symmetrical stimuli than the bees trained for asymmetry do for the novel asymmetrical stimuli. Thus, even organisms with comparatively small nervous systems can generalize about symmetry, and favour symmetrical over asymmetrical patterns.     

A massive phytoplankton bloom induced by an ecosystem-scale iron fertilization experiment in the equatorial Pacific Ocean

The seeding of an expanse of surface waters in the equatorial Pacific Ocean with low concentrations of dissolved iron triggered a massive phytoplankton bloom which consumed large quantities of carbon dioxide and nitrate that these microscopic plants cannot fully utilize under natural conditions. These and other observations provide unequivocal support for the hypothesis that phytoplankton growth in this oceanic region is limited by iron bioavailability.