Changes in nutrient structure of river-dominated coastal waters: stoichiometric nutrient balance and its consequences

We present an analysis of extensive nutrient data sets from two river-dominated coastal ecosystems, the northern Adriatic Sea and the northern Gulf of Mexico, demonstrating significant changes in surface nutrient ratios over a period of 30 years. The silicon:nitrogen ratios have decreased, indicating increased potential for silicon limitation. The nitrogen:phosphorus and the silicon:phosphorus ratios have also changed substantially, and the coastal nutrient structures have become more balanced and potentially less limiting for phytoplankton growth. It is likely that net phytoplankton productivity increased under these conditions and was accompanied by increasing bottom water hypoxia and major changes in community species composition. These findings support the hypothesis that increasing coastal eutrophication to date may be associated with stoichiometric nutrient balance, due to increasing potential for silicon limitation and decreasing potential for nitrogen and phosphorus limitation. On a worldwide basis, coastal ecosystems adjacent to rivers influenced by anthropogenic nutrient loads may experience similar alterations.

Energetic basis of molecular recognition in a DNA aptamer

The thermal stability and ligand binding properties of the L-argininamide-binding DNA aptamer (5'-GATCGAAACGTAGCGCCTTCGATC3') were studied by spectroscopic and calorimetric methods. Differential calorimetric studies showed that the uncomplexed aptamer melted in a two-state reaction with a melting temperature T-m = 50.2 +/- 0.2 degrees C and a folding enthalpy Delta H degrees(fold) = -49.0 +/- 2.1 kcal mol(-1). These values agree with values of T-m = 49.6 degrees C and Delta H degrees(fold) = -51.2 kcal mol(-1) predicted for a simple hairpin structure. Melting of the uncomplexed aptamer was dependent upon salt concentration, but independent of strand concentration. The T of aptamer melting was found to increase as L-argininamide concentrations increased. Analysis of circular dichroism titration data using a single-site binding model resulted in the determination of a binding free energy Delta G degrees(bind) = -5.1 kcal mol(-1). Isothermal titration calorimetry studies revealed an exothermic binding reaction with Delta H degrees(bind) = -8.7 kcal mol(-1). Combination of enthalpy and free energy produce ail unfavorable entropy of -T Delta S degrees = +3.6 kcal mol(-1). A molar heat capacity change of -116 cal mol(-1) K-1 was determined from calorimetric measurements at four temperatures over the range of 15-40 degrees C. Molecular dynamics simulations were used to explore the structures of the unligated and ligated aptamer structures.

Theoretical estimation of thermodynamic properties of the system PS/PPO on the basis of modified combining rule of Sanchez-Lacombe lattice fluid model

The three scaling parameters described in Sanchez-Lacombe lattice fluid theory (SLLFT), T*, P* and rho* of pure polystyrene (PS), pure poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO) and their mixtures are obtained by fitting corresponding experimental pressure volume-temperature data with equation-of-state of SLLFT. A modified combining rule in SLLFT used to match the volume per mer, v* of the PS/PPO mixtures was advanced and the enthalpy of mixing and Flory-Huggins (FH) interaction parameter were calculated using the new rule. It is found that the difference between the new rule and the old one presented by Sanchez and Lacombe is quite small in the calculation of the enthalpy of mixing and FH interaction parameter and the effect of volume-combining rule on the calculation of thermodynamic properties is much smaller than that of energy-combining rule. But the relative value of interaction parameter changes much due to the new volume-based combining rule. This effect can affect the position of phase diagram very much, which is reported elsewhere [Macromolecules 34 (2001) 6291]

A new solid-supported iterative divergent/convergent strategy for the synthesis of dendrimers

A rapid and convenient solid-supported iterative divergent/converpent approach was developed to prepare rigid phenylacetylene dendrimers. The generation number grows very rapidly and the purification at each step is very simple. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Probabilistic distribution of one-phase structure seminvariants for an isomorphous pair of structures: Theoretical basis and initial applications

Given a special type of triplet of reciprocal-lattice vectors in the monoclinic and orthorhombic systems, there exist eight three-phase structure seminvariants (3PSSs) for a pair of isomorphous structures. The first neighborhood of each of these 3PSSs is defined by the six magnitudes and the joint probability distribution of the corresponding six structure factors is derived according to Hauptman's neighborhood principle. This distribution leads to the conditional probability distribution of each of the 3PSSs, assuming as known the six magnitudes in its first neighborhood. The conditional probability distributions can be directly used to yield the reliable estimates (0 or pi) of the one-phase structure seminvariants (1PSSs) in the favorable case that the variances of the distributions happen to be small [Hauptman (1975). Acta Cryst. A31, 680-687]. The relevant parameters in the formulas for the monoclinic and orthorhombic systems are given in a tabular form. The applications suggest that the method is efficient for estimating the 1PSSs with values of 0 or pi.

The structure of Aquifex aeolicus sulfide:quinone oxidoreductase, a basis to understand sulfide detoxification and respiration

Sulfide: quinone oxidoreductase (SQR) is a flavoprotein with homologues in all domains of life except plants. It plays a physiological role both in sulfide detoxification and in energy transduction. We isolated the protein from native membranes of the hyperthermophilic bacterium Aquifex aeolicus, and we determined its X-ray structure in the "as-purified,'' substrate-bound, and inhibitor-bound forms at resolutions of 2.3, 2.0, and 2.9 angstrom, respectively. The structure is composed of 2 Rossmann domains and 1 attachment domain, with an overall monomeric architecture typical of disulfide oxidoreductase flavoproteins. A. aeolicus SQR is a surprisingly trimeric, periplasmic integral monotopic membrane protein that inserts about 12 angstrom into the lipidic bilayer through an amphipathic helix-turn-helix tripodal motif. The quinone is located in a channel that extends from the si side of the FAD to the membrane. The quinone ring is sandwiched between the conserved amino acids Phe-385 and Ile-346, and it is possibly protonated upon reduction via Glu-318 and/or neighboring water molecules. Sulfide polymerization occurs on the re side of FAD, where the invariant Cys-156 and Cys-347 appear to be covalently bound to polysulfur fragments. The structure suggests that FAD is covalently linked to the polypeptide in an unusual way, via a disulfide bridge between the 8-methyl group and Cys-124. The applicability of this disulfide bridge for transferring electrons from sulfide to FAD, 2 mechanisms for sulfide polymerization and channeling of the substrate, S2-, and of the product, S-n, in and out of the active site are discussed.

Ecological basis of Alpine meadow ecosystem management in Tibet: Haibei Alpine Meadow Ecosystem Research Station

Alpine meadow and shrub are the main pasture types on the Tibetan Plateau, and they cover about 35% of the total land area. In order to understand the structural and functional aspects of the alpine ecosystem and to promote a sustainable animal production system, the Haibei Alpine Meadow Research Station was established in 1976. A series of intensive studies on ecosystem structure and function, including the energy flow and nutrient cycling of the ecosystem, were the main tasks during the first 10 years. Meanwhile, studies with 5 different grazing intensities on both summer and winter pasture have been conducted. In the early years of the 1990s, the research station started to focus its research work on global warming, biodiversity and sustainable animal production systems in pastoral areas. Various methods for improving degraded pasturelands have been developed in the region.

拟人机器人交互作用力的研究

拟人机器人的动力学具有高度非线性、高度耦合的特点,分析清楚各组成部分之间的交互作用力是实施高级控制方法的基础。文章在以往分析移动机械手的基础上,从整体建模的角度入手,对拟人机器人的交互作用力提出了一个新的模型,即神经网络模型。利用该模型对一个特殊的单一手臂运动的例子进行了拟合,其结果是收敛的。这说明提出的模型是有效的,此后,我们将陆续给出研究成果。

监控式水下机械手及相关技术的研究

水下机械手作为水下机器人通用作业工具得到广泛地应用，目前水下机械手的主要操作方式为主从方式。虽然主从方式具有操作直观，灵活的特点，但难于完成需要精确定位，轨迹控制的水下作用，如海洋石油钻井平台导管架的检查作用。为了扩展水下机器人的作业能力，提高水下作业智能化程度，沈阳自动化所承担国家863课题“水下虚拟遥操作与监控机械手系统”关键技术的研究工作。作者参加了此课题的研究工作，以Schilling水下机械手为研究对象，深入研究机械手的作用功能，对机械手的逆运动学，焊缝空间轨迹规划作了深入的研究，形成本文阐述的主要内容。由于Schilling水下机械手各关节之间的连接参数中存在多个偏距，其运动学逆解不能简单由解析方式给出。机械手进行控制与轨迹规划等操作必须找到一种快速求解的方法。本篇文章得出一种基于信赖域法的机械手运动学逆解算法。由于该算法具有收敛速度快的特点，故可以被应用于在线求解机械手运动学逆解；由于没有直接求解二阶导数，故不存在奇异解的问题。经理论分析和实验证明该方法在解决水下监控机械手在线跟踪水下结构物空间轨迹的技术问题具有较好的效果。作为课题的实际应用背景的导管架焊缝曲面为一复杂的空间曲面。为了实现课题的研究目标，本课题不仅要求解焊缝的轨迹，而且要给出其法线方向。对于这样一个问题，用空间解析几何和微分几何方法是很难求解的，本文给出了一种基于B样条参数曲面及曲面求交的方法，具有速度快，通用性强的优点。