Newtonianism and the enthusiasm of Enlightenment

The career of John Jackson (1686-1763), Arian theologian and controversialist, provides a key to unlocking the early reception and quick collapse of a Newtonian natural apologetic originally developed by Samuel Clarke. The importance of friendship and discipleship in eighteenth-century intellectual enquiry is emphasised, and the links between Newton and his followers are traced alongside those of a group of Cambridge Lockeans, led by Jackson’s direct contemporary Daniel Waterland, who proved instrumental in the initial dismantling of Clarke’s brand of Newtonian apologetic. The controversial context of this engagement is shown to have been largely provided by the religiously compromising rise of freethinking, and Tindal’s Christianity as old as the creation (1731) signalled the dangers to proponents of natural religion as an adjunct of Christian apologetic in such a heated atmosphere. Religious division of the sort that resulted paradoxically played into the hands of the freethinkers in the anticlerical atmosphere of the 1730s, and accusations were exchanged between Newtonians and Lockeans accordingly. The dynamic of England’s Enlightenment experience is, then, a complicated one, and, as the career and writings of Jackson and William Whiston demonstrate, it was one which absorbed as well as repudiated ‘enthusiasm’.     

Isotopic homogeneity of iron in the early solar nebula.

The chemical and isotopic homogeneity of the early solar nebula, and the processes producing fractionation during its evolution, are central issues of cosmochemistry. Studies of the relative abundance variations of three or more isotopes of an element can in principle determine if the initial reservoir of material was a homogeneous mixture or if it contained several distinct sources of precursor material. For example, widespread anomalies observed in the oxygen isotopes of meteorites have been interpreted as resulting from the mixing of a solid phase that was enriched in 16O with a gas phase in which 16O was depleted, or as an isotopic 'memory' of Galactic evolution. In either case, these anomalies are regarded as strong evidence that the early solar nebula was not initially homogeneous. Here we present measurements of the relative abundances of three iron isotopes in meteoritic and terrestrial samples. We show that significant variations of iron isotopes exist in both terrestrial and extraterrestrial materials. But when plotted in a three-isotope diagram, all of the data for these Solar System materials fall on a single mass-fractionation line, showing that homogenization of iron isotopes occurred in the solar nebula before both planetesimal accretion and chondrule formation.     

A dynamic early East Antarctic Ice Sheet suggested by ice-covered fjord landscapes

The first Cenozoic ice sheets initiated in Antarctica from the Gamburtsev Subglacial Mountains and other highlands as a result of rapid global cooling ～34 million years ago. In the subsequent 20 million years, at a time of declining atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and an evolving Antarctic circumpolar current, sedimentary sequence interpretation and numerical modelling suggest that cyclical periods of ice-sheet expansion to the continental margin, followed by retreat to the subglacial highlands, occurred up to thirty times. These fluctuations were paced by orbital changes and were a major influence on global sea levels. Ice-sheet models show that the nature of such oscillations is critically dependent on the pattern and extent of Antarctic topographic lowlands. Here we show that the basal topography of the Aurora Subglacial Basin of East Antarctica, at present overlain by 2-4.5?km of ice, is characterized by a series of well-defined topographic channels within a mountain block landscape. The identification of this fjord landscape, based on new data from ice-penetrating radar, provides an improved understanding of the topography of the Aurora Subglacial Basin and its surroundings, and reveals a complex surface sculpted by a succession of ice-sheet configurations substantially different from today's. At different stages during its fluctuations, the edge of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet lay pinned along the margins of the Aurora Subglacial Basin, the upland boundaries of which are currently above sea level and the deepest parts of which are more than 1?km below sea level. Although the timing of the channel incision remains uncertain, our results suggest that the fjord landscape was carved by at least two iceflow regimes of different scales and directions, each of which would have over-deepened existing topographic depressions, reversing valley floor slopes.     

Structural mechanism for sterol sensing and transport by OSBP-related proteins

The oxysterol-binding-protein (OSBP)-related proteins (ORPs) are conserved from yeast to humans, and are implicated in the regulation of sterol homeostasis and in signal transduction pathways. Here we report the structure of the full-length yeast ORP Osh4 (also known as Kes1) at 1.5-1.9 A resolution in complexes with ergosterol, cholesterol, and 7-, 20- and 25-hydroxycholesterol. We find that a single sterol molecule binds within a hydrophobic tunnel in a manner consistent with a transport function for ORPs. The entrance is blocked by a flexible amino-terminal lid and surrounded by basic residues that are critical for Osh4 function. The structure of the open state of a lid-truncated form of Osh4 was determined at 2.5 A resolution. Structural analysis and limited proteolysis show that sterol binding closes the lid and stabilizes a conformation favouring transport across aqueous barriers and signal transmission. The structure of Osh4 in the absence of ligand exposes potential phospholipid-binding sites that are positioned for membrane docking and sterol exchange. On the basis of these observations, we propose a model in which sterol and membrane binding promote reciprocal conformational changes that facilitate a sterol transfer and signalling cycle.     

New use of BCG for recombinant vaccines

BCG, a live attenuated tubercle bacillus, is the most widely used vaccine in the world and is also a useful vaccine vehicle for delivering protective antigens of multiple pathogens. Extrachromosomal and integrative expression vectors carrying the regulatory sequences for major BCG heat-shock proteins have been developed to allow expression of foreign antigens in BCG. These recombinant BCG strains can elicit long-lasting humoral and cellular immune responses to foreign antigens in mice.     

韩国国立古宫博物馆世宗朝自击漏复原(英文)

自动时报漏刻(自击宫漏)是宫中都工匠护军蒋英实奉世宗大王(李祹,1397—1450年;1418—1450年在位)之命于1433年制造的。从1434年7月1日开始它成为国家的标准计时仪器。对民众报时的午正、人定和罢漏就是根据这套计时仪器报的。它安装在景福宫的报漏阁里,因此后称报漏阁漏.景福宫是国家天文台"简仪台"所在地。它能够通过操控声音和视觉信号发生系统依朝鲜时代的二元化时制——即十二时辰和五更点法——自动报时。系统自动发出报时声同时显示指示,报出十二时、百刻,以及五更时刻。世宗大王创制的报漏阁自击漏成为模型在朝鲜(1392—1910年)经历过3次复制或修复——1433年的初创,1536年的再创以及1618年的重创。初创之后574年,2004年为了纪念韩国国立古宫博物馆在首尔开馆,文化财厅,博物馆与建国大学校和自击漏硏究会签订了自击漏复原计划,到2007年11月展示了复原的自击漏。复原计划是按照《世宗实录.报漏阁记》中的记载以及原器物的一些残余部分——包括1536年和1618年仪器的现存部分——进行的。用了一年半的时间复制漏器和自击装置。文章从机械学和功能方面的细节系统地描述了复原的过程,包括根据当时的教范《漏筹通义》的记载刻制十一支箭.《漏筹通义》是根据授时历和经过汉阳(当时朝鲜首都)地方时校正的《七政算内篇》编纂的。自击漏包括4个主要部分:(1)漏器部,通过安排三级播水壶,用于两个受水壶递水的计时壶来计时;(2)方木机构,通过在相应的时间落下相应的小铜丸将水平面转换到以数字显示的二元报时时刻标示信号;(3)铁丸放出机构,由复杂的杠杆系统操纵的机构放大动力报时机来操作。(4)视听觉报时部,由两个次一级结构组成。一个是十二时辰报时机部,包括一个钟和木制的小雕像系统,以不同次数的敲钟声和相应的木制的十二支神小雕像举出的时辰牌来报时。另一个是更点机,包括一面鼓、一面锣、以及小雕像,小雕像在不同的更点敲击出相应次数的锣鼓声以报更点。我们对已经失传几个世纪的铁丸作动人形机构的详细复制表明,蒋英实受到了阿拉伯铁丸利用报时法的启发,发明了丸落下时刻标时法(通过落丸来标示时刻的机械装置),并通过改进13世纪阿拉伯时计师al-Jazari的仪器来实现将动力传到对人形机构的推动中。另一方面,苏颂的《新仪象法要》,《元史》中描述的郭守敬的大明殿灯漏以及顺帝的宫漏可能影响了世宗朝的宫廷学者。总的来说,这次复原源于对当时的文献记载和遗物的重建,中国-阿拉伯钟表技术对我们也很有帮助。全部系统现在运行良好。我们的复原将有助于重建古代东亚、甚至阿拉伯的机械水钟。     

Biogenically driven organic contribution to marine aerosol

Marine aerosol contributes significantly to the global aerosol load and consequently has an important impact on both the Earth's albedo and climate. So far, much of the focus on marine aerosol has centred on the production of aerosol from sea-salt and non-sea-salt sulphates. Recent field experiments, however, have shown that known aerosol production processes for inorganic species cannot account for the entire aerosol mass that occurs in submicrometre sizes. Several experimental studies have pointed to the presence of significant concentrations of organic matter in marine aerosol. There is some information available about the composition of organic matter, but the contribution of organic matter to marine aerosol, as a function of aerosol size, as well as its characterization as hydrophilic or hydrophobic, has been lacking. Here we measure the physical and chemical characteristics of submicrometre marine aerosol over the North Atlantic Ocean during plankton blooms progressing from spring through to autumn. We find that during bloom periods, the organic fraction dominates and contributes 63% to the submicrometre aerosol mass (about 45% is water-insoluble and about 18% water-soluble). In winter, when biological activity is at its lowest, the organic fraction decreases to 15%. Our model simulations indicate that organic matter can enhance the cloud droplet concentration by 15% to more than 100% and is therefore an important component of the aerosol-cloud-climate feedback system involving marine biota.