Meteoritic dust from the atmospheric disintegration of a large meteoroid

Much of the mass of most meteoroids entering the Earth's atmosphere is consumed in the process of ablation. Larger meteoroids (> 10 cm), which in some cases reach the ground as meteorites, typically have survival fractions near 1-25 per cent of their initial mass. The fate of the remaining ablated material is unclear, but theory suggests that much of it should recondense through coagulation as nanometre-sized particles. No direct measurements of such meteoric 'smoke' have hitherto been made. Here we report the disintegration of one of the largest meteoroids to have entered the Earth's atmosphere during the past decade, and show that the dominant contribution to the mass of the residual atmospheric aerosol was in the form of micrometre-sized particles. This result is contrary to the usual view that most of the material in large meteoroids is efficiently converted to particles of much smaller size through ablation. Assuming that our observations are of a typical event, we suggest that large meteoroids provide the dominant source of micrometre-sized meteoritic dust at the Earth's surface over long timescales.     

Biomechanics: rubber bands reduce the cost of carrying loads

Vertical movement of the hip during locomotion causes a loaded backpack to be accelerated with each step, which imposes large peak forces on the wearer. Here we show that using bungee cords to suspend the load from a backpack frame reduces not only its vertical movement, and hence its vertical force on the carrier, but also the energetic cost of walking with the pack. This permits larger loads to be carried while moving rapidly, and at the same time reduces the risk of orthopaedic and muscular injury.     

Room-temperature electronic phase transitions in the continuous phase diagrams of perovskite manganites

Highly correlated electronic systems--such as transition-metal oxides that are doped Mott insulators--are complex systems which exhibit puzzling phenomena, including high-temperature superconductivity and colossal magnetoresistivity. Recent studies suggest that in such systems collective electronic phenomena are important, arising from long-range Coulomb interactions and magnetic effects. The qualitative behaviour of these systems is strongly dependent on charge filling (the level of doping) and the lattice constant. Here we report a time-efficient and systematic experimental approach for studying the phase diagrams of condensed-matter systems. It involves the continuous mapping of the physical properties of epitaxial thin films of perovskite manganites (a class of doped Mott insulator) as their composition is varied. We discover evidence that suggests the presence of phase boundaries of electronic origin at room temperature.     

Synthesis,characterization and electrocatalytic studies of palladium–manganese oxyhydroxide nanocomposite towards direct ethylene glycol fuel cell

The palladium nanoparticle grafted manganese oxyhydroxide nanorod （MON） electrocatalyst has been synthesized and tested for the electrooxidation of ethylene glycol （EG） in an alkaline medium. The MON was prepared using the hydrothermal method and the Pd nano- particles were coated on the MON using an in situ reduction method. The nanocatalyst thus prepared was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and electrochemical methods. The microscopic studies confirm the formation of MON and reveal that the Pd nanoparticles were grafted uniformly on the MON. In the voltammetric studies, the Pd/MON catalyst exhibited a six-fold improved peak current for ethylene glycol electrooxidation compared with the C/Pd. The EG electrooxidation reaction performances of the Pd/MON nanocatalyst in the alkaline solutions containing different quantities of EG were tested through cyclic voltammetry. The catalytic removal of the poisonous intermediates formed during electrooxidation of EG was explained. The present study shows that MON can act as an active support for the Pd nanocatalyst.     

Improved D-IDS using the federated peer-to-peer architecture

A number of IDSs have been proposed for a networked or distributed environment. A modified D-IDS using federated peer-to-peer architecture, MCR （Multicast Reflector） and modified shaker protocol were proposed. The suggested scheme can be implemented easily and performs the information sharing between low-level IDS agents. As all users within a group monitor each other＇s, the common control server can perform detect intrusions with less cost and support the detection of the inside intruders.     

Lyn is a redox sensor that mediates leukocyte wound attraction in vivo

Tissue wounding induces the rapid recruitment of leukocytes. Wounds and tumours--a type of 'unhealed wound'--generate hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) through an NADPH oxidase (NOX). This extracellular H(2)O(2) mediates recruitment of leukocytes, particularly the first responders of innate immunity, neutrophils, to injured tissue. However, the sensor that neutrophils use to detect the redox state at wounds is unknown. Here we identify the Src family kinase (SFK) Lyn as a redox sensor that mediates initial neutrophil recruitment to wounds in zebrafish larvae. Lyn activation in neutrophils is dependent on wound-derived H(2)O(2) after tissue injury, and inhibition of Lyn attenuates neutrophil wound recruitment. Inhibition of SFKs also disrupted H(2)O(2)-mediated chemotaxis of primary human neutrophils. In vitro analysis identified a single cysteine residue, C466, as being responsible for direct oxidation-mediated activation of Lyn. Furthermore, transgenic-tissue-specific reconstitution with wild-type Lyn and a cysteine mutant revealed that Lyn C466 is important for the neutrophil wound response and downstream signalling in vivo. This is the first identification, to our knowledge, of a physiological redox sensor that mediates leukocyte wound attraction in multicellular organisms.