Regulation of microtubule dynamics by reaction cascades around chromosomes

During spindle assembly, chromosomes generate gradients of microtubule stabilization through a reaction-diffusion process, but how this is achieved is not well understood. We measured the spatial distribution of microtubule aster asymmetry around chromosomes by incubating centrosomes and micropatterned chromatin patches in frog egg extracts. We then screened for microtubule stabilization gradient shapes that would generate such spatial distributions with the use of computer simulations. Only a long-range, sharply decaying microtubule stabilization gradient could generate aster asymmetries fitting the experimental data. We propose a reaction-diffusion model that combines the chromosome generated Ran-guanosine triphosphate-Importin reaction network to a secondary phosphorylation network as a potential mechanism for the generation of such gradients.     

Modeling of turing structures in the chlorite--iodide--malonic Acid--starch reaction system

Recent experiments on the chlorite-iodide-malonic acid-starch reaction in a gel reactor give the first evidence of the existence of the symmetry breaking, reaction-diffusion structures predicted by Turing in 1952. A five-variable model that describes the temporal behavior of the system is reduced to a two-variable model, and its spatial behavior is analyzed. Structures have been found with wavelengths that are in good agreement with those observed experimentally. The gel plays a key role by binding key iodine species, thereby creating the necessary difference in the effective diffusion coefficients of the activator and inhibitor species, iodide and chlorite ions, respectively.     

Two-dimensional imaging of potential waves in electrochemical systems by surface plasmon microscopy

The potential dependence of resonance conditions for the excitation of surface plasmons was exploited to obtain two-dimensional images of the potential distribution of an electrode with high temporal resolution. This method allows the study of spatiotemporal patterns in electrochemical systems. Potential waves traveling across the electrode with a speed on the order of meters per second were observed in the bistable regime of an oscillatory electrochemical reaction. This velocity is close to that of excitation waves in nerve fibers and is far greater than the velocity of reaction-diffusion waves observed in other chemical systems.     

Major compositional units of the moon: lunar prospector thermal and fast neutrons

Global maps of thermal and fast neutron fluxes from the moon suggest three end-member compositional units. A high thermal and low fast neutron flux unit correlates with the lunar highlands and is consistent with feldspathic rocks. The South Pole-Aitken basin and a strip that surrounds the nearside maria have intermediate thermal and fast neutron flux levels, consistent with more mafic rocks. There appears to be a smooth transition between the most mafic and feldspathic compositions, which correspond to low and high surface altitudes, respectively. The maria show low thermal and high fast neutron fluxes, consistent with basaltic rocks.     

The temperature gradient in the solar nebula

The available compositional data on planets and satellites can be used to place stringent limits on the thermal environment in the solar nebula. The densities of the terrestrial planets, Ceres and Vesta, the Galilean satellites, and Titan; the atmospheric compositions of several of these bodies; and geochemical and geophysical data on the earth combine to define a strong dependence of formation temperature on heliocentric distance. The pressure and temperature dependences of the condensation process are separable in the sense that the variation of the deduced formation temperatures with heliocentric distance is insensitive to even very diverse assumptions regarding the pressure profile in the nebula. It is impossible to reconcile the available compositional data with any model in which the formation temperatures of these bodies are determined by radiative equilibrium with the sun, regardless of the sun's luminosity. Rather, the data support Cameron's hypothesis of a dense, convective solar nebula, opaque to solar radiation, with an adiabatic temperature-pressure profile.     

Imaging of transient structures using nanosecond in situ TEM

The microstructure and properties of a material depend on dynamic processes such as defect motion, nucleation and growth, and phase transitions. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) can spatially resolve these nanoscale phenomena but lacks the time resolution for direct observation. We used a photoemitted electron pulse to probe dynamic events with "snapshot" diffraction and imaging at 15-nanosecond resolution inside of a dynamic TEM. With the use of this capability, the moving reaction front of reactive nanolaminates is observed in situ. Time-resolved images and diffraction show a transient cellular morphology in a dynamically mixing, self-propagating reaction front, revealing brief phase separation during cooling, and thus provide insights into the mechanisms driving the self-propagating high-temperature synthesis.     

Thermohaline fine structure in an oceanographic front from seismic reflection profiling

We present acoustic images of oceanic thermohaline structure created from marine seismic reflection profiles across the major oceanographic front between the Labrador Current and the North Atlantic Current. The images show that distinct water masses can be mapped, and their internal structure imaged, using low-frequency acoustic reflections from sound speed contrasts at interfaces across which temperature changes. The warm/cold front is characterized by east-dipping reflections generated by thermohaline intrusions in the uppermost 1000 meters of the ocean. Our results imply that marine seismic reflection techniques can provide excellent spatial resolution of important oceanic phenomena, including thermohaline intrusions, internal waves, and eddies.     

Profiling the thermoelectric power of semiconductor junctions with nanometer resolution

We have probed the local thermoelectric power of semiconductor nanostructures with the use of ultrahigh-vacuum scanning thermoelectric microscopy. When applied to a p-n junction, this method reveals that the thermoelectric power changes its sign abruptly within 2 nanometers across the junction. Because thermoelectric power correlates with electronic structure, we can profile with nanometer spatial resolution the thermoelectric power, band structures, and carrier concentrations of semiconductor junctions that constitute the building blocks of thermoelectric, electronic, and optoelectronic devices.     

基于MISR数据大兴安岭地区叶面积指数反演及尺度转换验证研究

叶面积指数(LAI)是气候研究和生态研究中重要的植被冠层结构参数,遥感技术为快速获取大面积叶面积指数提供了有效途径。大兴安岭地区是我国重要的生态功能区,本文以大兴安岭为研究区域,根据森林林分特征,采用基于物理过程的4-Scale几何光学模型,利用多角度MISR遥感数据反演该区域叶面积指数数据。几何光学模型特点在于参数具有物理意义,考虑地面反射的热点效应,模型反演过程不依赖于样本数据适用于大区域反演研究,MISR数据提供同一区域多角度遥感数据,有效解决了单一观测角度植被指数和叶面积指数函数关系饱和点低的问题。由于地面验证数据空间尺度无法满足MISR数据的空间分辨率,本文采用TM数据对样地实测叶面积指数数据进行尺度转换,针对不用坡向叶面积指数空间异质性进行分析,讨论不同空间分辨率验证数据的合理性,研究表明大兴安岭区域使用600m空间分辨率验证数据对MISR数据反演结果检验最优,该分辨率下叶面积指数变化随空间尺度变化趋于稳定,并较好地避免了2种遥感数据几何配准带来的误差。结果表明:4-Scale几何光学模型适用于我国大兴安岭地区森林叶面积指数反演,实验中MISR数据反演叶面积指数的平均绝对误差为25.6%、均方根误差为0.622。本研究为大兴安岭地区叶面积指数大区域快速定量反演提供了研究基础。      

Tertiary structure is a principal determinant to protein deamidation

The protein deamidation process involves the conversion of the amide side-chain moieties of asparagine and glutamine residues to carboxyl groups. This conversion is an unusual form of protein modification in that it requires catalysis by an intramolecular reaction where both the substrate (asparagine and glutamine side chains) and "catalytic site" (the peptide nitrogen of the succeeding residue) are constituents of several consecutive residues along the polypeptide chain. The stereochemical factors governing this process were studied with a data base derived from the neutron crystallographic structure of trypsin from which amide groups and oxygen can be unambiguously differentiated because of their different neutron scattering properties. The neutron structure allowed for the direct determination of those residues that were deamidated; 3 of 13 asparagine residues were found to be modified. These modified residues were clearly distinguished by a distinct local conformation and hydrogen-bonding structure in contrast to those observed for the other asparagine residues. No correlation was found between preference to deamidate and the chemical character of residues flanking the site, as had been proposed from previous peptide studies.     

Protein dynamics control the kinetics of initial electron transfer in photosynthesis

The initial electron transfer dynamics during photosynthesis have been studied in Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centers from wild type and 14 mutants in which the driving force and the kinetics of charge separation vary over a broad range. Surprisingly, the protein relaxation kinetics, as measured by tryptophan absorbance changes, are invariant in these mutants. By applying a reaction-diffusion model, we can fit the complex electron transfer kinetics of each mutant quantitatively, varying only the driving force. These results indicate that initial photosynthetic charge separation is limited by protein dynamics rather than by a static electron transfer barrier.     

Sequential establishment of stripe patterns in an expanding cell population

Periodic stripe patterns are ubiquitous in living organisms, yet the underlying developmental processes are complex and difficult to disentangle. We describe a synthetic genetic circuit that couples cell density and motility. This system enabled programmed Escherichia coli cells to form periodic stripes of high and low cell densities sequentially and autonomously. Theoretical and experimental analyses reveal that the spatial structure arises from a recurrent aggregation process at the front of the continuously expanding cell population. The number of stripes formed could be tuned by modulating the basal expression of a single gene. The results establish motility control as a simple route to establishing recurrent structures without requiring an extrinsic pacemaker.     

Assessing the accuracy of mosaics from unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery for precision agriculture purposes in wheat

High spatial resolution images taken by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have been shown to have the potential for monitoring agronomic and environmental variables. However, it is necessary to capture a large number of overlapped images that must be mosaicked together to produce a single and accurate ortho-image (also called an ortho-mosaicked image) representing the entire area of work. Thus, ground control points (GCPs) must be acquired to ensure the accuracy of the mosaicking process. UAV ortho-mosaics are becoming an important tool for early site-specific weed management (ESSWM), as the discrimination of small plants (crop and weeds) at early growth stages is subject to serious limitations using other types of remote platforms with coarse spatial resolutions, such as satellite or conventional aerial platforms. Small changes in flight altitude are crucial for low-altitude image acquisition because these variations can cause important differences in the spatial resolution of the ortho-images. Furthermore, a decrease of flying altitude reduces the area covered by each single overlapped image, which implies an increase of both the sequence of images and the complexity of the image mosaicking procedure to obtain an ortho-image covering the whole study area. This study was carried out in two wheat fields naturally infested by broad-leaved and grass weeds at a very early phenological stage. The geometric accuracy differences and crop line alignment among ortho-mosaics created from UAV image series were investigated while taking into account three different flight altitudes (30, 60 and 100 m) and a number of GCPs (from 11 to 45). The results did not show relevant differences in geo-referencing accuracy on the interval of altitudes studied. Similarly, the increase of the number of GCPs did not imply a relevant increase of geo-referencing accuracy. Therefore, the most important parameter to consider when choosing the flying altitude is the ortho-image spatial resolution required rather than the geo-referencing accuracy. Regarding the crop mis-alignment, the results showed that the overall errors were less than twice the spatial resolution, which did not break the crop line continuity at the studied spatial resolutions (pixels from 7.4 to 24.7 mm for 30, 60 and 100 m flying altitudes respectively) on the studied crop (early wheat). The results lead to the conclusion that a UAV flying at a range of 30 to 100 m altitude and using a moderate number of GCPs is able to generate ultra-high spatial resolution ortho-imagesortho-images with the geo-referencing accuracy required to map small weeds in wheat at a very early phenological stage. This is an ambitious agronomic objective that is being studied in a wide research program whose global aim is to create broad-leaved and grass weed maps in wheat crops for an effective ESSWM.     

Lunar Fe and Ti abundances: comparison of lunar prospector and clementine data

The Lunar Prospector neutron spectrometer data correlate well with iron and titanium abundances obtained through analysis of Clementine spectral reflectance data. With the iron and titanium dependence removed, the neutron spectrometer data also reveal regions with enhanced amounts of gadolinium and samarium, incompatible rare earth elements that are enriched in the final phases of magma crystallization. These regions are found mainly around the ramparts of the Imbrium impact basin but not around the other basins, including the much larger and deeper South Pole-Aitken basin. This result confirms the compositional uniqueness of the surface and interior of the Imbrium region.     

Durability of the accretion disk of millisecond pulsars

Pulsars with pulsation periods in the millisecond range are thought to be neutron stars that have acquired an extraordinarily short spin period through the accretion of stellar material spiraling down onto the neutron star from a nearby companion. Nearly all the angular momentum and most of the mass of the companion star is transferred to the neutron star. During this process, wherein the neutron star consumes its companion, it is required that a disk of stellar material be formed around the neutron star. In conventional models it is supposed that the disk is somehow lost when the accretion phase is finished, so that only the rapidly spinning neutron star remains. However, it is possible that, after the accretion phase, a residual disk remains in stable orbit around the neutron star. The end result of such an accretion process is an object that looks much like a miniature (about 100 kilometers), heavy version of Saturn: a central object (the neutron star) surrounded by a durable disk.     

Reaction-diffusion model as a framework for understanding biological pattern formation

The Turing, or reaction-diffusion (RD), model is one of the best-known theoretical models used to explain self-regulated pattern formation in the developing animal embryo. Although its real-world relevance was long debated, a number of compelling examples have gradually alleviated much of the skepticism surrounding the model. The RD model can generate a wide variety of spatial patterns, and mathematical studies have revealed the kinds of interactions required for each, giving this model the potential for application as an experimental working hypothesis in a wide variety of morphological phenomena. In this review, we describe the essence of this theory for experimental biologists unfamiliar with the model, using examples from experimental studies in which the RD model is effectively incorporated.     

Navigating complex labyrinths: optimal paths from chemical waves

The properties of excitable media are exploited to find minimum-length paths in complex labyrinths. Optimal pathways are experimentally determined by the collection of time-lapse position information on chemical waves propagating through mazes prepared with the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction. The corresponding velocity fields provide maps of optimal paths from every point in an image grid to a particular target point. Collisions of waves that were temporarily separated by obstacles mark boundary lines between Significantly different paths with the same absolute distance. The pathfinding algorithm is tested in very complex mazes with a simple reaction-diffusion model.     

基于ANSYS Workbench的自走式农机底盘的优化设计

针对丘陵山区地块面积小、农机底盘作业转向难的问题,设计了转向灵活、转弯半径小的摆转转向底盘。底盘由转向装置、浮动装置、液压系统、发动机,前桥、后桥、控制系统、PTO输出等组成,采用水冷系统以及CVT无级变速的汽油发动机与液压系统结合,实现底盘的动力匹配;通过ANSYS Workbench构建摆转转向底盘前桥、后桥、整体机构的力学模型,分析各机构不同状态下的变形参数的变化趋势,并对底盘机构易于损坏的部位进行优化。结果表明：前桥转向机构附近的配件对前桥的变形影响较大,采用5 mm厚度方钢的前桥结构变形量为0.85 mm,优化后的前桥所安装的配件采用模块化分配,使用10 mm以上方钢加工制作,保证前桥变形量稳定控制在0.3~1.0 mm;优化后的底盘后桥最大等效应力为14 MPa,变形量为0.25 mm,分别较优化前降低了33.33%和28.57%,机架的结构稳定性得到改善。通过压力测试仪器对实物平台的测试,底盘在行驶过程中的压力变化曲线平稳,启动和停止阶段所受的压力在可控制的范围内;底盘的行驶直线度、偏驶率均低于1%,且不受底盘载重的影响。     

各类型草地生长过程及自然因子特征遥感研究-以甘肃省为例

以具有丰富草地类型的甘肃省为研究区,研究了中国6种主要类型草地各自植被生长过程特征并量化分析了影响各类型草地分布的自然因子特征.其中,6种草地类型是基于TM和MODlS两种遥感数据,综合运用自动分类及决策树分类方法划分而得,按照分布面积从大到小依次为典型草地、草甸草地、荒漠草地、高寒草甸、高寒草原、灌丛草地.引入了区域平均EVI值作为遥感因子,构建6种类型草地生长过程曲线,揭示各类型草地生长过程及相对生物量之间的差别,给出遥感划分草地类型的最佳时相.运用空间叠加分析手段,揭示了各种类型草地分布区的自然因子特征.分析发现水热的配比及海拔是影响草地类型的主导因子,坡度的影响相对较弱.     

Irreversible organic crystalline chemistry monitored in real time

Because multiple laser shots are typically required to monitor ultrafast photochemical reaction dynamics, sample depletion and product accumulation have greatly restricted the range of substrates and structural environments amenable to study. By implementing a two-dimensional spatial delay gradient across the profile of a femtosecond probe pulse, we can monitor in a single laser shot organic crystalline reaction dynamics despite the formation of permanent photoproducts that cannot be conveniently removed. We monitored the photolysis of the triiodide anion, I3-, and subsequent recombination or relaxation of its reaction products, in three very different pure organic molecular crystals. The experimental results and associated molecular dynamics simulations illustrate the intimate connection between lattice structure and reaction dynamics, highlighting the role of lattice constraints in directing phase-coherent geminate recombination of photofragments within a crystalline reaction cage.