The sources of sodium escaping from Io revealed by spectral high definition imaging

On Jupiter's moon Io, volcanic plumes and evaporating lava flows provide hot gases to form an atmosphere that is subsequently ionized. Some of Io's plasma is captured by the planet's strong magnetic field to form a co-rotating torus at Io's distance; the remaining ions and electrons form Io's ionosphere. The torus and ionosphere are also depleted by three time-variable processes that produce a banana-shaped cloud orbiting with Io, a giant nebula extending out to about 500 Jupiter radii, and a jet close to Io. No spatial constraints exist for the sources of the first two; they have been inferred only from modelling the patterns seen in the trace gas sodium observed far from Io. Here we report observations that reveal a spatially confined stream that ejects sodium only from the wake of the Io-torus interaction, together with a visually distinct, spherically symmetrical outflow region arising from atmospheric sputtering. The spatial extent of the ionospheric wake that feeds the stream is more than twice that observed by the Galileo spacecraft and modelled successfully. This implies considerable variability, and therefore the need for additional modelling of volcanically-driven, episodic states of the great jovian nebula.     

Polo inhibits progenitor self-renewal and regulates Numb asymmetry by phosphorylating Pon

Self-renewal and differentiation are cardinal features of stem cells. Asymmetric cell division provides one fundamental mechanism by which stem cell self-renewal and differentiation are balanced. A failure of this balance could lead to diseases such as cancer. During asymmetric division of stem cells, factors controlling their self-renewal and differentiation are unequally segregated between daughter cells. Numb is one such factor that is segregated to the differentiating daughter cell during the stem-cell-like neuroblast divisions in Drosophila melanogaster, where it inhibits self-renewal. The localization and function of Numb is cell-cycle-dependent. Here we show that Polo (ref. 13), a key cell cycle regulator, the mammalian counterparts of which have been implicated as oncogenes as well as tumour suppressors, acts as a tumour suppressor in the larval brain. Supernumerary neuroblasts are produced at the expense of neurons in polo mutants. Polo directly phosphorylates Partner of Numb (Pon, ref. 16), an adaptor protein for Numb, and this phosphorylation event is important for Pon to localize Numb. In polo mutants, the asymmetric localization of Pon, Numb and atypical protein kinase C are disrupted, whereas other polarity markers are largely unaffected. Overexpression of Numb suppresses neuroblast overproliferation caused by polo mutations, suggesting that Numb has a major role in mediating this effect of Polo. Our results reveal a biochemical link between the cell cycle and the asymmetric protein localization machinery, and indicate that Polo can inhibit progenitor self-renewal by regulating the localization and function of Numb.     

A link between large mantle melting events and continent growth seen in osmium isotopes

Although Earth's continental crust is thought to have been derived from the mantle, the timing and mode of crust formation have proven to be elusive issues. The area of preserved crust diminishes markedly with age, and this can be interpreted as being the result of either the progressive accumulation of new crust or the tectonic recycling of old crust. However, there is a disproportionate amount of crust of certain ages, with the main peaks being 1.2, 1.9, 2.7 and 3.3 billion years old; this has led to a third model in which the crust has grown through time in pulses, although peaks in continental crust ages could also record preferential preservation. The 187Re-187Os decay system is unique in its ability to track melt depletion events within the mantle and could therefore potentially link the crust and mantle differentiation records. Here we employ a laser ablation technique to analyse large numbers of osmium alloy grains to quantify the distribution of depletion ages in the Earth's upper mantle. Statistical analysis of these data, combined with other samples of the upper mantle, show that depletion ages are not evenly distributed but cluster in distinct periods, around 1.2, 1.9 and 2.7 billion years. These mantle depletion events coincide with peaks in the generation of continental crust and so provide evidence of coupled, global and pulsed mantle-crust differentiation, lending strong support to pulsed models of continental growth by means of large-scale mantle melting events.     

供热设计方案综合评价与优选研究

多目标综合效果测度法是一种非常有效的系统优化评价方法。从方案的经济性、技术性及对环境的影响等角度,对5种供热方案进行分析,运用多目标综合效果测度法对备选方案进行评价,确定污水源热泵系统为最佳方案。     

电磁阻尼器性能参数试验研究

电磁阻尼器性能与多种因素有关,在电磁阻尼器基本性能试验研究基础上,制作了一个电磁阻尼器模型,进行了涡流板厚度参数影响的试验研究:做了3种厚度涡流板在不同频率、不同位移情况下的试验,得到了涡流板厚度对阻尼器性能影响的定性结论。     

粘土基防渗浆材的实验研究

针对目前常用浆材的局限性和工程应用的需要,采用正交优化的实验方法研究一种以粘土为主的粘土基防渗浆材,浆材具有良好的稳定性和可灌性,其结石体具有低渗透性和较低强度,适用于非加固型的防渗注浆工程。     

QY25起重机行星变速箱优化设计

根据产品要求,对起重机起升机构中的行星变速箱进行优化设计,主要对变速箱中的齿轮进行高度变位计算,从而达到减轻整机的重量和体积,合理地确定已有参数,以期达到最佳设计的目的。     

一种包边模边界缩进控制方法

 将确定性优化方法用于板料包边设计.汽车板料包边仿真中变形区域小导致有限元模型在变形区域的网格很小,模型计算时间太长.本文针对影响板料包边后边界缩进较大的3个参数,建立目标函数的径向基函数近似模型,并用确定性优化方法对近似模型进行优化,近似模型计算效率高,提高了优化方法计算效率,使板料包边的优化设计成为可能,并为生产中的汽车板料控制包边后的边界缩进提供了一种新的思路.     

某类重特大火灾数值模拟研究

某酒吧火灾、深圳舞王俱乐部火灾和福建长乐拉丁酒吧火灾的发生场所和火灾原因类似,且短时间就造成大量人员伤亡,研究这类火灾防控措施有较好的意义。本文利用FDS软件构造某酒吧的火灾模型,合理分析场所的人员情况设定疏散模拟参数,根据火场情况设定合适的火灾场景,分析热辐射、烟气温度、烟气毒性、烟气能见度等参数的变化过程,并得到可用疏散时间。结合CFE软件进行人员疏散过程模拟,模拟的预期火灾人员伤亡与实际情况较好相符;并对不同的可燃物类型、消防设施状况和待疏散人数进行火灾后果分析,可燃物分析结果说明装修用聚氨酯泡沫吸音棉是造成火灾极速蔓延的直接原因,这类材料产生大量的有毒浓烟,很快就造成人员伤亡;不同消防设施模拟分析的结果体现了自动消防设施的重要作用,公共娱乐场所的自动喷水灭火系统应推广快速响应喷头,未按国家标准安装自动消防设施是造成重大火灾人员伤亡的成灾原因;对酒吧不同待疏散人数的火灾预期伤亡数定量分析证明了公共娱乐场所定员管理的重要意义;模拟分析的结果可用于此类火灾成因分析和火灾防控措施研究。