High-resolution x-ray imaging of a globular cluster core: compact binaries in 47Tuc

We have obtained high-resolution (approximately 1") deep x-ray images of the globular cluster 47Tucanae (NGC 104) with the Chandra X-ray Observatory to study the population of compact binaries in the high stellar density core. A 70-kilosecond exposure of the cluster reveals a centrally concentrated population of faint (Lx approximately 10(30-33) ergs per second) x-ray sources, with at least 108 located within the central 2' x 2.5' and greater, similar half with Lx approximately 10(30.5) ergs per second. All 15 millisecond pulsars (MSPs) recently located precisely by radio observations are identified, though 2 are unresolved by Chandra. The x-ray spectral and temporal characteristics, as well as initial optical identifications with the Hubble Space Telescope, suggest that greater, similar50 percent are MSPs, about 30 percent are accreting white dwarfs, about 15 percent are main-sequence binaries in flare outbursts, and only two to three are quiescent low-mass x-ray binaries containing neutron stars, the conventional progenitors of MSPs. An upper limit of about 470 times the mass of the sun is derived for the mass of an accreting central black hole in the cluster. These observations provide the first x-ray "color-magnitude" diagram for a globular cluster and census of its compact object and binary population.     

Anatomy and dynamics of a supramolecular membrane protein cluster

Most plasmalemmal proteins organize in submicrometer-sized clusters whose architecture and dynamics are still enigmatic. With syntaxin 1 as an example, we applied a combination of far-field optical nanoscopy, biochemistry, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) analysis, and simulations to show that clustering can be explained by self-organization based on simple physical principles. On average, the syntaxin clusters exhibit a diameter of 50 to 60 nanometers and contain 75 densely crowded syntaxins that dynamically exchange with freely diffusing molecules. Self-association depends on weak homophilic protein-protein interactions. Simulations suggest that clustering immobilizes and conformationally constrains the molecules. Moreover, a balance between self-association and crowding-induced steric repulsions is sufficient to explain both the size and dynamics of syntaxin clusters and likely of many oligomerizing membrane proteins that form supramolecular structures.     

Probing the faintest stars in a globular star cluster

NGC 6397 is the second closest globular star cluster to the Sun. Using 5 days of time on the Hubble Space Telescope, we have constructed an ultradeep color-magnitude diagram for this cluster. We see a clear truncation in each of its two major stellar sequences. Faint red main-sequence stars run out well above our observational limit and near to the theoretical prediction for the lowest mass stars capable of stable hydrogen burning in their cores. We also see a truncation in the number counts of faint blue stars, namely white dwarfs. This reflects the limit to which the bulk of the white dwarfs can cool over the lifetime of the cluster. There is also a turn toward bluer colors in the least luminous of these objects. This was predicted for the very coolest white dwarfs with hydrogen-rich atmospheres as the formation of H(2) and the resultant collision-induced absorption cause their atmospheres to become largely opaque to infrared radiation.     

Particle acceleration on megaparsec scales in a merging galaxy cluster

Galaxy clusters form through a sequence of mergers of smaller galaxy clusters and groups. Models of diffusive shock acceleration suggest that in shocks that occur during cluster mergers, particles are accelerated to relativistic energies, similar to conditions within supernova remnants. In the presence of magnetic fields, these particles emit synchrotron radiation and may form so-called radio relics. We detected a radio relic that displays highly aligned magnetic fields, a strong spectral index gradient, and a narrow relic width, giving a measure of the magnetic field in an unexplored site of the universe. Our observations show that diffusive shock acceleration also operates on scales much larger than in supernova remnants and that shocks in galaxy clusters are capable of producing extremely energetic cosmic rays.     

链丝菌素生物合成基因簇的克隆及其异源表达

通过基因组粘粒文库的高通量接合转移、异源表达和生物活性测定,结合DNA序列测定,从刺孢吸水链霉菌AA97026中筛选具有广谱抗菌活性的小分子化合物及其生物合成基因簇,获得1个对革兰氏阳性细菌和红酵母均有抑制活性的阳性克隆1H5,其部分DNA序列与链丝菌素生物合成基因相似。含1H5的异源链霉菌宿主的发酵液均能检测到链丝菌素的不同组份,表明1H5含有完整的链丝菌素生物合成基因簇。     

The Desertron: Colliding Beams at 20 TeV

With today's technology, the center-of-mass energy of proton-proton and proton-antiproton collisions can be extended by an order of magnitude beyond that achievable with machines presently in operation or under construction. Such a facility would open a vast new energy region which has been suggested theoretically to contain new kinds of particles and interactions. Several accelerator options, their rate capabilities, and their costs are described.     

A cluster of metabolic defects caused by mutation in a mitochondrial tRNA

Hypertension and dyslipidemia are risk factors for atherosclerosis and occur together more often than expected by chance. Although this clustering suggests shared causation, unifying factors remain unknown. We describe a large kindred with a syndrome including hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and hypomagnesemia. Each phenotype is transmitted on the maternal lineage with a pattern indicating mitochondrial inheritance. Analysis of the mitochondrial genome of the maternal lineage identified a homoplasmic mutation substituting cytidine for uridine immediately 5' to the mitochondrial transfer RNA(Ile) anticodon. Uridine at this position is nearly invariate among transfer RNAs because of its role in stabilizing the anticodon loop. Given the known loss of mitochondrial function with aging, these findings may have implications for the common clustering of these metabolic disorders.     

一种新型抗菌肽基因决定簇的克隆与序列结构特征

侧孢短芽孢杆菌(Brevibacillus laterosporus)S62-9菌株产生的抗菌肽BBL属于非核糖体合成肽,其生物合成涉及到一系列相关基因。为了获得完整的抗菌肽BBL基因决定簇,本研究基于部分已知的NRPS-A结构域基因序列,以S62-9菌株质粒DNA为模板,采用TAIL-PCR技术对NRPS-A结构域的上游进行扩增,得到一个大小为2.74kb的序列,该序列包含NRPS-A的5′末端序列、pp-binding序列以及1个ABC转运蛋白基因。该序列进一步与已知序列进行序列拼接及软件分析比对,最终获得一个大小为22.2kb的基因簇,该基因簇包含13个Bbl功能结构域,根据功能该基因簇分为3类功能相关基因:一类是编码转运相关蛋白,BblE包含3个ABC转运蛋白,负责抗菌肽向胞外渗透运输;二是催化短肽合成基因,Bbl F包含了pp-binding结构域和NRPS-A结构域,与氨基酸的装载和缩合有关,负责短肽的合成;三是肽链修饰相关基因,Bbl D、Bbl E、Bbl M、Bbl K等基因负责肽的修饰。     

池塘80:20主养银鲫

80:20池塘养殖是指在高产鱼塘中经济价值高的主养鱼放养量占80%,20%为配养鱼.饲养管理好主养鱼,配养鱼的养殖主要是改善水质条件,充分利用池塘饵料生物.该养殖模式较传统混养模式具有效益高、水质污染少、病害少、饵料利用率高、管理方便等特点.1997年笔者在市高产养鱼基地城南养殖场进行了试养,1998、1999年在该场全面展开,取得了平均单产600千克、亩利润2800元的好成绩.     

Solution of a 20-variable 3-SAT problem on a DNA computer

A 20-variable instance of the NP-complete three-satisfiability (3-SAT) problem was solved on a simple DNA computer. The unique answer was found after an exhaustive search of more than 1 million (2(20)) possibilities. This computational problem may be the largest yet solved by nonelectronic means. Problems of this size appear to be beyond the normal range of unaided human computation.     

Pinwheels in the Quintuplet cluster

The five enigmatic cocoon stars, after which the Quintuplet cluster was christened, have puzzled astronomers since their discovery. Their extraordinary cool, featureless thermal spectra have been attributed to various stellar types from young to highly evolved, whereas their absolute luminosities place them among the supergiants. We present diffraction-limited images from the Keck 1 telescope that resolve this debate with the identification of rotating spiral plumes characteristic of colliding-wind binary "pinwheel" nebulae. Such elegant spiral structures, found around high-luminosity Wolf-Rayet stars, have recently been implicated in the behavior of supernovae light curves in the radio and optical.     

集群服务器应用

集群服务器作为一种服务器应用的新模式正在受到人们越来越多的重视。本文简要介绍集群服务器的概念、发展概况、和应用情况，并给出了一个简单的应用例子。     

Gas-phase ion chromatography: transition metal state selection and carbon cluster formation

Gas-phase ion chromatography can separate ions that have the same mass but differ in isomeric structure or electronic configuration. The main features of this technique are briefly outlined, and applications to a series of problems in transition metal chemistry and carbon cluster chemistry are described. Examples in transition metal chemistry include state-selective reactivity, excited state deactivation, and state-selective ligand binding energies. For clusters, ion chromatography was used to determine the structure of pure carbon cluster ions as a function of size from C(4) to C(84). The results indicate that carbon grows first in linear chains, transforms to monocyclic planar rings at about C(10), and forms new families of planar bi-, tri-, and tetracyclic rings at C(20), C(30), and C(40), respectively. Fullerenes, which mysteriously appear at C(30) and dominate by C(50), are generated by heating the planar ring systems above an isomerization barrier rather than by growth of graphite precursors.