Transformation of a star into a planet in a millisecond pulsar binary

Millisecond pulsars are thought to be neutron stars that have been spun-up by accretion of matter from a binary companion. Although most are in binary systems, some 30% are solitary, and their origin is therefore mysterious. PSR J1719-1438, a 5.7-millisecond pulsar, was detected in a recent survey with the Parkes 64-meter radio telescope. We show that this pulsar is in a binary system with an orbital period of 2.2 hours. The mass of its companion is near that of Jupiter, but its minimum density of 23 grams per cubic centimeter suggests that it may be an ultralow-mass carbon white dwarf. This system may thus have once been an ultracompact low-mass x-ray binary, where the companion narrowly avoided complete destruction.     

Methanol as a gasoline extender: a critique

The tests conducted with the three vehicles at different emission control levels suggest that, in the area of fuel economy and emissions, potential benefits with methanol blends are related to carburetion and are only significant in the case of the rich-operating cars built before emission control standards were imposed. Theoretical considerations related to methanol's leaning effect on carburetion support this conclusion. Potential advantages for methanol in these areas are therefore continuously diminishing as the older cars leave the roads. At present, these older cars use only about one-fourth of the totalc motor gasoline consumed and, before methanol could be used on a large scale, this fraction would be much smaller. The use of methanol in gasoline would almost certainly create severe product quality problems. Water contamination could lead to phase separation in the distribution system and possibly in the car tank as well, and this would require additional investment in fuel handling and blending equipment. Excess fuel volatility in hot weather may also have adverse effects on car performance if the methanol blends include typical concentrations of butanes and pentanes. Removal of these light hydrocarbon components would detract from methanol's role as a gasoline extender and if current fuel volatility specifications were maintained, its use could lead to a net loss in the total available energy for use in motor fuels. Car performance problems associated with excessively lean operation would also be expected in the case of a significant proportion of late-model cars which are adjusted to operate on lean fuel-air mixtures. If methanol does become available in large quantities, these factors suggest that it would be more practical to use it for purposes other than those related to the extending of motor gasoline, such as for gas turbines used for electric power generation. In this case, the "pure" methanol would act as a cleanburning fuel, having none of the potentially severe product quality problems associated with its use in motor gasoline, while the fuel oil or natural gas cLirrently burned in these tuLrbines CotLild be diverted to other ulses.     

Action at a distance along a DNA

A number of ways are known by which an event at one location on a DNA molecule can affect an event at a distant location on the same molecule. Three classes of mechanisms are described for such distal actions: tracking or translocation of a protein along a DNA, the association of two proteins bound at separate sites to form a DNA loop in between, and distal interactions that are affected by the topology of the DNA. The basic characteristics of each type of mechanism are discussed in terms of the known physicochemical properties of DNA. The various modes of action at a distance are often interrelated. Examples include the formation of positively and negatively supercoiled DNA loops by tracking and the strong effects of DNA topology on looping.     

Conversion of a peroxiredoxin into a disulfide reductase by a triplet repeat expansion

Pathways for the reduction of protein disulfide bonds are found in all organisms and are required for the reductive recycling of certain enzymes including the essential protein ribonucleotide reductase. An Escherichia coli strain that lacks both thioredoxin reductase and glutathione reductase grows extremely poorly. Here, we show that a mutation occurring at high frequencies in the gene ahpC, encoding a peroxiredoxin, restores normal growth to this strain. This mutation is the result of a reversible expansion of a triplet nucleotide repeat sequence, leading to the addition of one amino acid that converts the AhpC protein from a peroxidase to a disulfide reductase. The ready mutational interconversion between the two activities could provide an evolutionary advantage to E. coli.     

Solid-state chemistry: a a rediscovered chemical frontier

Chemical bonding in solids is not completely understood, mainly because of the wide variation in the chemical properties of the elements. Many difficult challenges remain in predicting the composition, structure, and the properties of new materials. Consequently, the synthesis of novel solids is as much an art as a science. Discoveries of new compounds and structure types highlight the versatility that nature has allowed with the relatively small number of elements. This article explores the long-term challenges in solid-state chemistry and then focuses on efforts at Cornell to prepare new solids.     

Development of a receptor on a foreign nerve fiber in a Pacinian corpuscle

When the sensory fiber of a Pacinian corpuscle (in cat mesentery) is transected (at the inferior mesenteric nerve) transduction fails within 30 hours: the nerve ending produces no generator potentials in response to mechanical stimulation. Electrically elicited nerve impulse conduction continues for at least another 18 hours. A transducer mechanism develops on a regenerating nerve fiber when this fiber enters the denervated corpuscle. Such transducer development takes place on myelinated fibers from the inferior mesenteric nerve, which normally supplies corpuscles, as well as on myelinated hypogastric nerve fibers, which normally do not go to corpuscles, including fibers larger than the original corpuscle afferents.     

Superradiance in a torus magnetosphere around a black hole

The coalescence of a neutron star and a black hole in a binary system is believed to form a torus around a Kerr black hole. A similarly shaped magnetosphere then results from the remnant magnetic field of the neutron star. In the strong-field case, it contains a cavity for plasma waves located between the barrier of the gravitational potential and the surrounding torus. This cavity may be unstable to superradiance of electromagnetic waves. Superradiant amplification of such waves, initially excited by turbulence in the torus, should inflate into a bubble in a time as short as approximately 0.75 (1 percent/&cjs3539;epsilon&cjs3539;2)(M/7M middle dot in circle) seconds approximately 0.15 to 1.5 seconds, assuming an efficiency &cjs3539;epsilon&cjs3539;2 = 0.5 to 5 percent and a mass M = 7M middle dot in circle. These bubbles may burst and repeat, of possible relevance to intermittency in cosmological gamma-ray bursts. The model predicts gamma-ray bursts to be anticorrelated with their gravitational wave emissions.     

Gelatin: a poor substrate for a mammalian collegenase

A rabbit tumor collagenase was purified more than 5000-fold. In this form it degrades native collagen in helical conformation at 37 degrees C, pH 7.6, into two fragments, but it had little capacity to cleave gelatin, an indication of the importance of higher-order structure of substrate for this enzyme in pure form. It is likely that, in vivo, enzymes other than collagenase degrade gelatin polypeptides produced by primary collagenolysis.     

离散型三维竞争系统中某群体竞争获胜的条件

研究了离散型三维竞争系统的模型结构与稳定性,得到了这类竞争系统中各类平衡点的坐标及其性质,获得了系统在某些边界上的平衡点渐近稳定的充分条件和不稳定的充分条件,并由此得到了系统中的某群体在竞争过程中竞争获胜淘汰所有对手的条件和参与竞争的各个群体永不和谐的充分条件.     

Identification of a juvenile hormone-like compound in a crustacean

Juvenile hormone (JH) has central roles in the regulation of insect development and reproduction but has not previously been identified in other arthropod classes. The hemolymph of a crustacean, Libinia emarginata (Leach), has now been analyzed for JH-like compounds. Samples contained 0.003 to 0.030 nanogram of JH III per milliliter and 10 to 50 nanograms of methyl farnesoate per milliliter; methyl farnesoate is a compound structurally related to JH III that has JH bioactivity. Several tissues were examined for synthesis and secretion of JH-like compounds. Of these tissues, only the mandibular organs produced and secreted JH III and methyl farnesoate. However, microchemical analysis revealed that this JH III was racemic, and thus likely an artifactual oxidation product of methyl farnesoate. Secretion of methyl farnesoate was related to reproduction in females, with the highest rates observed in Libinia near the end of the ovarian cycle when oocyte growth and vitellogenesis are greatest. These results indicate that JH-like compounds such as methyl farnesoate have regulatory roles in crustaceans.     

带杠杆千斤顶的设计

带杠杆千斤顶是基于地震、矿难、车祸等场合的救援或自救而自主研发的一种新型、简便、实用、高效的救援装置。由于其构造简单、携带方便,对于空间狭小且地表复杂的救援非常实用,亦可民用或作为工厂维修工具。本文对设计的原理方案、产品优点及使用进行了系统的说明。     

CCAAT-enhancer binding protein: a component of a differentiation switch

The CCAAT-enhancer binding protein (C/EBP) has now been found to promote the terminal differentiation of adipocytes. During the normal course of adipogenesis, C/EBP expression is restricted to a terminal phase wherein proliferative growth is arrested, and specialized cell phenotype is first manifested. A conditional form of C/EBP was developed, making it feasible to test its capacity to regulate the differentiation of cultured adipocytes. Premature expression of C/EBP in adipoblasts caused a direct cessation of mitotic growth. Moreover, when abetted by the effects of three adipogenic hormones, C/EBP promoted terminal cell differentiation. Since C/EBP is expressed in a variety of tissues, it may have a fundamental role in regulating the balance between cell growth and differentiation in higher animals.     

Xanthorhodopsin: a proton pump with a light-harvesting carotenoid antenna

Energy transfer from light-harvesting carotenoids to chlorophyll is common in photosynthesis, but such antenna pigments have not been observed in retinal-based ion pumps and photoreceptors. Here we describe xanthorhodopsin, a proton-pumping retinal protein/carotenoid complex in the eubacterium Salinibacter ruber. The wavelength dependence of the rate of pumping and difference absorption spectra measured under a variety of conditions indicate that this protein contains two chromophores, retinal and the carotenoid salinixanthin, in a molar ratio of about 1:1. The two chromophores interact strongly, and light energy absorbed by the carotenoid is transferred to the retinal with a quantum efficiency of approximately 40%. The antenna carotenoid extends the wavelength range of the collection of light for uphill transmembrane proton transport.     

公路建设对木麻黄生长及林下植被物种多样性的影响

 在福建省晋江市,采用样线法垂直晋江沿海大通道西侧布设3条相互平行的样线,对木麻黄Casuarina equisetifolia及其林下植被物种组成和多样性进行调查,并在样线上布设样点调查林内的光照强度、温湿度及土壤容重和土壤含水量,分析沿海公路建设对路域生态因子、木麻黄生长及其林下植被物种多样性的影响。结果表明：①随着距公路距离的增加,光照强度、温湿度、土壤容重和土壤含水量均呈现规律性的变化,距公路100 m处是光照强度从剧烈到缓和的转折点,距公路50 m处是温湿度、土壤容重和土壤含水量从剧烈到缓和的转折点。②栽植于路基附近的木麻黄的生长比未受路基建设干扰的木麻黄差,其中树高、胸径和冠幅在P＜0.01水平差异显著。③随着距公路距离的增加,木麻黄林下植被呈现从喜光植物到耐阴植物的变化,从林下植被以草本为主到灌木草本分布均匀的变化,50~100 m是优势种剧烈变化的范围。④随着距公路距离的增加,木麻黄林下植被的物种多样性总体上呈现逐渐增大并趋于稳定的趋势,其中距公路50~100 m的范围,物种周转速率最高。⑤从沿海大通道对木麻黄人工林林下植被的生物多样性影响的范围看,主要集中在路域100 m的范围之内,随着与公路距离的增加,影响程度降低。图3表3参31     

Palytoxin: a new marine toxin from a coelenterate

Palytoxin has been isolated from the zoanthids "limu-make-o-Hana" (Tentatively identified as Palythoa sp.) as a noncrystalline, chromatographically pure entity. Apart from polypeptide and protein toxins, it is the most highly toxic substance known, with a lethal dose (LD(59)) in mice of 0.15 microgram per kilogram by intravenous injection. Unlike the potent toxins batrachotoxin, saxitoxin, and tetrodotoxin which have molecular weights of 500 or less, palytoxin has an estimated molecular weight of 3300 and contains no repetitive amino acid or sugar units.     

Stokes drag on a sphere in a nematic liquid crystal

The Stokes-Einstein relation relates the diffusion coefficient of a spherical Brownian particle in a viscous fluid to its friction coefficient. For a particle suspended in anisotropic liquid, theory predicts that the drag coefficient should also be anisotropic. Using video microscopy coupled with particle tracking routines, the Brownian fluctuations of micrometer-sized particles were analyzed to yield a quantitative measurement of the diffusion coefficients parallel and perpendicular to the nematic director. The experimental values agree quite well with recent numerical calculations that take into account the distortions of the director field in the vicinity of the particles.     

Rotation of a single molecule within a supramolecular bearing

Experimental visualization and verification of a single-molecule rotor operating within a supramolecular bearing is reported. Using a scanning tunneling microscope, single molecules were observed to exist in one of two spatially defined states laterally separated by 0.26 nanometers. One was identified as a rotating state and the other as an immobilized state. Calculations of the energy barrier for rotation of these two states show that it is below the thermal energy at room temperature for the rotating state and above it for the immobilized state.     

复合微生态制剂在半封闭混养池塘中的应用

在半封闭池塘中混养红鳍东方鲀Fugu rubripes和日本对虾Penaeus japonicus,同时施用复合微生态制剂（每次换水后施用剂量为0.45 g/m3）,对池塘水体中的溶解氧、氨氮、亚硝酸盐氮和化学需氧量进行了监测,并对红鳍东方鲀和日本对虾的成活率和生长情况进行了观察。结果表明：与对照池相比,试验池的溶解氧浓度提高了14.6%,氨氮浓度降低了26.1%,亚硝酸盐氮降低了28.4%,化学需氧量浓度降低了19.8%;与对照池相比,试验池中红鳍东方鲀的体重和成活率分别提高14.3%、6.4%,日本对虾的体长、体重及成活率也分别提高10.3%、15.4%、5.6%。这说明该复合微生态制剂对改善混养池塘水质具有很好的效果,同时对提高红鳍东方鲀和日本对虾的成活率以及促进其生长方面都有很好的作用。