Development of Diamond-like Carbon Fibre Wheel

Introduction Diamond likecarbon(DLC)coatingshavebeen increasinglyappliedtomechanicalcomponentsandpartsduetotheirveryattractivemechanical,chemical, physical,electricalandopticalpropertiessuchashighdegreeofhardness,extremelylowfrictionalcoefficient, highwear resistance,highthermalconductivity,highmodulus,chemicalinertnessandlowdeposition temperature[1].AsshowninFig.1,DLCismadeofcarbon andhydrogenanditsstructureisamorphousorquasi amorphous,whereasdiamondandgraphitearemadeof carbonbuttheirstru…     

The genome sequence and structure of rice chromosome 1

The rice species Oryza sativa is considered to be a model plant because of its small genome size, extensive genetic map, relative ease of transformation and synteny with other cereal crops. Here we report the essentially complete sequence of chromosome 1, the longest chromosome in the rice genome. We summarize characteristics of the chromosome structure and the biological insight gained from the sequence. The analysis of 43.3 megabases (Mb) of non-overlapping sequence reveals 6,756 protein coding genes, of which 3,161 show homology to proteins of Arabidopsis thaliana, another model plant. About 30% (2,073) of the genes have been functionally categorized. Rice chromosome 1 is (G + C)-rich, especially in its coding regions, and is characterized by several gene families that are dispersed or arranged in tandem repeats. Comparison with a draft sequence indicates the importance of a high-quality finished sequence.     

A neural correlate of response bias in monkey caudate nucleus

Primates are equipped with neural circuits in the prefrontal cortex, the parietal cortex and the basal ganglia that predict the availability of reward during the performance of behavioural tasks. It is not known, however, how reward value is incorporated in the control of action. Here we identify neurons in the monkey caudate nucleus that create a spatially selective response bias depending on the expected gain. In behavioural tasks, the monkey had to make a visually guided eye movement in every trial, but was rewarded for a correct response in only half of the trials. Reward availability was predictable on the basis of the spatial position of the visual target. We found that caudate neurons change their discharge rate systematically, even before the appearance of the visual target, and usually fire more when the contralateral position is associated with reward. Strong anticipatory activity of neurons with a contralateral preference is associated with decreased latency for eye movements in the contralateral direction. We conclude that this neuronal mechanism creates an advance bias that favours a spatial response when it is associated with a high reward value.     

Grinding Characteristics Of Directionally Aligned SiC Whisker Wheel - Comparison With A12O3 Fiber Wheel

A unique SiC whisker wheel was invented, in which the whiskers were aligned normally to the grinding wheel surface. In this paper, grindabilities of the SiC whisker wheel are investigated and compared with those of other wheels of SiC grains, Al2O3 grains, as well as Al2O3 long and short fibres which were also aligned normally to the grinding wheel surface, respectively. The main research contents concern grinding characteristics of a directionally aligned SiC whisker wheel such as material-removal volume, wheel-wear rates, integrity of the ground surfaces, grinding ratios and grinding efficiency. Furthermore, grinding wheels of whiskers and fibres have a common disadvantage: they tend to load easily. The authors have proposed a simple method of loading-free grinding to overcome this propensity and investigate some related grinding characteristics under loading-free grinding conditions.     

Oceanic biology: spawning of eels near a seamount

Discoveries of the larvae of the European and American eels, Anguilla anguilla and A. rostrata, in the Sargasso Sea and of the Japanese eel, A. japonica, in the Philippine Sea indicate that these freshwater eels migrate thousands of kilometres into the open ocean to spawn. Here we pinpoint a spawning location for Japanese eels after genetically identifying newly hatched larvae that we collected from the site. The restricted size of this spawning area ensures that the eel larvae enter a particular current that transports them to the freshwater areas in east Asia where they mature, and it also prevents them from being carried southwards away from their species range by a different local current.     

Structure of the bacterial flagellar hook and implication for the molecular universal joint mechanism

The bacterial flagellum is a motile organelle, and the flagellar hook is a short, highly curved tubular structure that connects the flagellar motor to the long filament acting as a helical propeller. The hook is made of about 120 copies of a single protein, FlgE, and its function as a nano-sized universal joint is essential for dynamic and efficient bacterial motility and taxis. It transmits the motor torque to the helical propeller over a wide range of its orientation for swimming and tumbling. Here we report a partial atomic model of the hook obtained by X-ray crystallography of FlgE31, a major proteolytic fragment of FlgE lacking unfolded terminal regions, and by electron cryomicroscopy and three-dimensional helical image reconstruction of the hook. The model reveals the intricate molecular interactions and a plausible switching mechanism for the hook to be flexible in bending but rigid against twisting for its universal joint function.     

Structure of the bacterial flagellar protofilament and implications for a switch for supercoiling

The bacterial flagellar filament is a helical propeller constructed from 11 protofilaments of a single protein, flagellin. The filament switches between left- and right-handed supercoiled forms when bacteria switch their swimming mode between running and tumbling. Supercoiling is produced by two different packing interactions of flagellin called L and R. In switching from L to R, the intersubunit distance ( approximately 52 A) along the protofilament decreases by 0.8 A. Changes in the number of L and R protofilaments govern supercoiling of the filament. Here we report the 2.0 A resolution crystal structure of a Salmonella flagellin fragment of relative molecular mass 41,300. The crystal contains pairs of antiparallel straight protofilaments with the R-type repeat. By simulated extension of the protofilament model, we have identified possible switch regions responsible for the bi-stable mechanical switch that generates the 0.8 A difference in repeat distance.