再生医疗重塑人生

干细胞的研究将有可能使科学家在实验室内批量"制造"出健康的、年轻的"人体零件"--各种组织和器官,替换下患者出现"故障"的"零件",使患者获得新生。     

Ionic Conductivity and Dielectric Properties of the PAN-Ion Conducting Polymers

1 Results In this work, the ion conducting films of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) containing lithium triflate (LiCF3SO3) and sodium triflate (NaCF3SO3) were prepared by the solution casting technique. The ionic conductivity measurements were carried out using impedance spectroscopy. The room temperature conductivity for pure polyacrylonitrile film is 1.51×10-11 S·cm-1. The room temperature conductivity for the highest conducting film in the PAN-LiCF3SO3 and PAN-NaCF3SO3 systems is 1.51×10-5 and 7.99×10-6 S·cm-1, respectively. The conductivity-temperature studies were performed in the temperature range between 303 and 373 K. The results for the variation of the conductivity with temperature obeys the VTF law. The increase and decrease in the number of ions can be implied from the plots of dielectric constant, εr-frequency and dielectric loss, εi-frequency.     

混沌的神经网络

现在研究神经网络的人很多,但主要是人工神经网络。最近,有几个实验室分析了健康人的脑电图,发现其中存在混沌的证据;混沌也会是神经系统的正常特征。其实,尤其在一个单独的生物神经元中,可以在实验上观察到混沌性态,而这是一般人工神经元所没有的。本文介绍一种单独神经元的模型,它能够定性地描写实验观察到的混沌响应。一、神经元的非线性动力学模拟生物神经元动态的历史要追溯到早期的一些著名模型,例如MoCulloch-Pitts神经元(1943)和     

ROLE OF α-PSEUDO-UNIVEX FUNCTIONS IN VECTOR VARIATIONAL-LIKE INEQUALITY PROBLEMS

In this paper, we introduce a new class of generalized convex function, namely, a-pseudounivex function, by combining the concepts of pseudo-univex and α-invex functions. Further, we establish some relationships between vector variational-like inequality problems and vector optimization problems under the assumptions of α-pseudo-univex functions. Results obtained in this paper present a refinement and improvement of previously known results.     

The life span of the biosphere revisited

A decade ago, Lovelock and Whitfield raised the question of how much longer the biosphere can survive on Earth. They pointed out that, despite the current fossil-fuel induced increase in the atmospheric CO2 concentration, the long-term trend should be in the opposite direction: as increased solar luminosity warms the Earth, silicate rocks should weather more readily, causing atmospheric CO2 to decrease. In their model, atmospheric CO2 falls below the critical level for C3 photosynthesis, 150 parts per million (p.p.m.), in only 100 Myr, and this is assumed to mark the demise of the biosphere as a whole. Here, we re-examine this problem using a more elaborate model that includes a more accurate treatment of the greenhouse effect of CO2, a biologically mediated weathering parameterization, and the realization that C4 photosynthesis can persist to much lower concentrations of atmospheric CO2(<10 p.p.m.). We find that a C4-plant-based biosphere could survive for at least another 0.9 Gyr to 1.5 Gyr after the present time, depending respectively on whether CO2 or temperature is the limiting factor. Within an additional 1 Gyr, Earth may lose its water to space, thereby following the path of its sister planet, Venus.     

Secular variation in carbon isotope ratios from Upper Proterozoic successions of Svalbard and East Greenland

Analyses of stratigraphically continuous suites of samples from Upper Proterozoic sedimentary successions of East Greenland, Spitsbergen and Nordaustlandet (Svalbard) provide an approximation to the secular variation in carbon isotope ratios during a geologically and biologically important period of change from around 900 million years ago to the beginning of the Cambrian period. Late Riphean carbonates and organic material show a stratigraphically useful pattern of enrichment in 13C relative to Phanerozoic or earlier Proterozoic samples. Isotopic compositions of isolated samples from other localities are consistent with a worldwide extended interval of enhanced organic burial and consequent net survival of oxidized material, probably O2, just before the initial radiation of metazoans.     

Organically preserved microbial endoliths from the late Proterozoic of East Greenland

Diverse microorganisms ranging from cyanobacteria to eukaryotic algae and fungi live endolithically within ooids, hardgrounds and invertebrate shells on the present-day sea floor. These organisms are involved in the mechanical destruction of carbonates, and are useful ecological indicators of water depth and pollution. The Phanerozoic history of microbial endoliths has been elucidated through the study of microborings (the trace fossils of endolithic microorganisms) and rare cellularly preserved individuals, but nothing was known of the possible Precambrian evolution of comparable microorganisms until Campbell documented the occurrence of microborings in late Proterozoic ooids from central East Greenland. We now report the discovery of large populations of organically preserved endolithic microorganisms in silicified pisolites from 700-800-Myr-old Limestone-Dolomite Series of East Greenland. This fossil assemblage is significant for three reasons: (1) It confirms the prediction that oolites, pisolites and hardgrounds--the substrates for pre-Phanerozoic endoliths--provide a hitherto poorly explored but rewarding set of environments into which the search for early microfossils must be broadened; (2) the assemblage is diverse, containing about 12 taxa of morphologically distinct and previously unknown endolithic cyanobacteria, plus associated epilithic and interstitial populations; and (3) at least six of the fossil populations are indistinguishable in morphology, pattern of development, reproductive biology and inferred ecology from distinctive cyanobacterial species that bore ooids today in the Bahama Banks.     

Seed germination in response to diurnal fluctuations of temperature

Diurnal fluctuations in temperature may initiate or accelerate germination in certain flowering plants, and the effectiveness of the stimulus varies according to the amplitude of fluctuation and the presence or absence of light. Attempts to assess the adaptive significance of the phenomenon, however, have been limited by the scarcity of data for species of contrasted ecology. We report here an investigation of germination responses to fluctuating temperatures, conducted on seeds of herbaceous species collected from native populations near Sheffield. The results suggest that requirements for diurnal fluctuations in temperature are characteristic of the germination of species from particular types of habitat and provide mechanisms which cause seeds to germinate at times and in places favourable for seedling establishment.     

泰国木薯淀粉特性研究

木薯是热带地区碳水化合物的主要来源.木薯根的化学组成,淀粉含量,淀粉质量和淀粉性质常常决定木薯作为食品和工业用的价值.对广泛种植在泰国的2个木薯品种Kasetsart50(KU50)和Rayong5(R5)块根的化学组成、淀粉质量和淀粉性质分析结果表明:KU50比R5品种具有高的淀粉含量,高的氢氰酸含量和高的灰分含量.2个品种淀粉粒大小和直链淀粉含量并没有显著的差异.在85℃下KU50比R5具有高的膨润度.差示扫描量热仪测定的热力学特征为:KU50具有高的糊化起始温度、糊化结束温度、糊化峰值温度和热函.2个品种的淀粉粘度曲线差异较小.由此得出:从提取淀粉效率来说,KU50优于R5;作为饲料加工业,R5的饲料品质优于KU50;对于淀粉深加工业,因KU50和R5具有不同的热力学性质和粘度性质,因而根据加工产品的不同而具有不同的优缺点.