Is amino-acid homochirality due to asymmetric photolysis in space?

It is well known that the amino acids occurring in proteins (natural amino acids) are, with rare exceptions, exclusively of the L-configuration. Among the many scenarios put forward to explain the origin of this chiral homogeneity (i.e., homochirality), one involves the asymmetric photolysis of amino acids present in space, triggered by circularly polarized UV radiation. The recent observation of circularly polarized light (CPL) in the Orion OMC-1 star-forming region has been presented as providing a strong, or even definitive, validation of this scenario. The present paper reviews the situation and shows that it is far more complicated than usually apprehended in the astronomical literature. It is stressed for example that one important condition for the asymmetric photolysis by CPL to be at the origin of the terrestrial homochirality of natural amino acids is generally overlooked, namely, the asymmetric photolysis should favour the L-enantiomer for all the primordial amino acids involved in the genesis of life (i.e., biogenic amino acids). Although this condition is probably satisfied for aliphatic amino acids, some non-aliphatic amino acids like tryptophan and proline may violate the condition and thus invalidate the asymmetric photolysis scenario, assuming they were among the primordial amino acids. Alternatively, if CPL photolysis in space is indeed the source of homochirality of amino acids, then tryptophan and proline may be crossed out from the list of biogenic amino acids. Laboratory experiments suggested in this paper could shed further light on the composition of the set of amino acids that were required for development of the homochirality of first life.     

An Approach to Searching for Life on Mars, Europa, and Enceladus

Near-term missions may be able to access samples of organic material from Mars, Europa, and Enceladus. The challenge for astrobiology will be to determine if this material is the remains of dead microorganisms or merely abiotic organic material. The remains of life that shares a common origin with life on Earth will be straightforward to detect using sophisticated methods such as DNA amplification. These methods are extremely sensitive but specific to Earth-like life. Detecting the remains of alien life—that does not have a genetic or biochemical commonality with Earth life—will be much more difficult. There is a general property of life that can be used to determine if organic material is of biological origin. This general property is the repeated use of a few specific organic molecules for the construction of biopolymers. For example, Earth-like life uses 20 amino acids to construct proteins, 5 nucleotide bases to construct DNA and RNA, and a few sugars to construct polysaccharides. This selectivity will result in a statistically anomalous distribution of organic molecules distinct from organic material of non-biological origin. Such a distinctive pattern, different from the pattern of Earth-like life, will be persuasive evidence for a second genesis of life.     

Protein Microarrays-Based Strategies for Life Detection in Astrobiology

The detection of organic molecules of unambiguous biological origin is fundamental for the confirmation of present or past life. Planetary exploration requires the development of miniaturized apparatus for in situ life detection. Analytical techniques based on mass spectrometry have been traditionally used in space science. Following the Viking landers, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) for organic detection has gained general acceptance and has been used successfully in the Cassini–Huygens mission to Titan. Microfluidics allows the development of miniaturized capillary electrophoresis devices for the detection of important molecules for life, like amino acids or nucleobases. Recently, a new approach is gaining acceptance in the space science community: the application of the well-known, highly specific, antibody–antigen affinity interaction for the detection and identification of organics and biochemical compounds. Antibodies can specifically bind a plethora of structurally different compounds of a broad range of molecular sizes, from amino acids level to whole cells. Antibody microarray technology allows us to look for the presence of thousands of different compounds in a single assay and in just one square centimeter. Herein, we discuss several important issues—most of which are common with other instruments dealing with life signature detection in the solar system—that must be addressed in order to use antibody microarrays for life detection and planetary exploration. These issues include (1) preservation of biomarkers, (2) the extraction techniques for biomarkers, (3) terrestrial analogues, (4) the antibody stability under space environments, (5) the selection of unequivocal biomarkers for the antibody production, or (6) the instrument design and implementation.     

察言观色看透小“心机”

察颜观色,通过对方一个不经意的小表情、小动作破解其深藏的内心奥秘,是行走于百态人问人们的一个普遍心愿。世界太复杂,准不想拥有一双火眼金睛,探知动作、表情背后潜藏的危机呢?美国电视剧《Lie to Me》(别对我说谎)的热播,更是点燃了人们破解微动作、微表情的热情火药。一时间各路"神仙"纷纷著书立说,鱼龙混杂,那么究竟人们的表情、动作能否透露内心深藏的秘密?中国"应激心理微反应"学科带头人姜振宇,在《姜振宇教你察言观色》一书中破除了诸多不靠谱的"读心"神话,带领读者从科学的角度出发,一步步破解人类的丛林基因密码,帮助读者分析     

Planetary Atmospheric Electricity

“Life” is an empirical concept whose various definitions and phenomenological characterizations depend on historical frameworks. Although analysis of existing literature suggests that attempts to define life will remain, at best, a work in progress, the history of biology shows that some efforts have been more fruitful than others. There is a major distinction between natural selection—which is clearly a defining trait of biology—and the changes that result from purely physical chemical evolution, which can be observed in nonbiological complex systems. Accordingly, it can be concluded that life cannot be understood without considering the presence of genetic material and Darwinian evolution. This shows the usefulness of the suggestion that life can be considered as a self-sustaining chemical system (i.e., one that turns environmental resources into its own building blocks) that is capable of undergoing natural selection.     

星用490 N发动机偏工况工作特性试验

准确掌握液体火箭发动机不同参数下的工作特性及裕度对其使用可靠性至关重要。对第二代490 N发动机开展偏工况高空模拟和地面热试车,研究了推力和混合比变化对发动机工作特性的影响。结果表明:高空模拟环境下发动机能在混合比1.54～1.80及真空推力372～584 N的较宽包络范围内正常工作。随着推力的增加,真空比冲和喉部温度均提高,燃烧室效率依次呈增大、平稳、下降的趋势,喷管效率小幅增大。随着混合比的增大,真空比冲和喉部温度也提高,燃烧室效率未发生明显变化,喷管效率微降低。额定混合比下,室压在0.61～1.56 MPa区间内波动平稳,具备真空推力345～900 N工作能力,但在0.51 MPa时产生与输送系统耦合的中低频（207 Hz）燃烧振荡。高工况引起喉部热流冲刷加剧以及温度升高会加速涂层的损失,使得发动机长程工作寿命下降,但在一定的偏离范围及单次点火时长内仍能满足卫星25000 s鉴定级寿命要求。      

Future Space Missions to Search for Terrestrial Planets

Since the first exoplanet was discovered more than 10 years ago, this field has developed rapidly. Currently we know of more than 200 external systems of stars and planets, apart from our own, but what has become the ‘holy grail’ of exoplanetary research is still eluding us. Here we are, of course, referring to solar systems like our own, containing a number of terrestrial or ‘rocky’ planets orbiting within the so-called ‘habitable zone’, and with giant planets such as Jupiter and Saturn—which mostly or totally consist of elements as H or He—at distance much further out from the central star. No such system have to date been discovered around anything resembling our Sun, albeit because of observational biases. Nevertheless, in order to develop the emerging science discipline of Comparative Planetology, we will have to utilize new techniques that will enable us to search for, and then study in detail such systems in an un-biased fashion. This paper describes the emerging techniques and space missions that will allow, finally, the investigation of planets capable of hosting life as we know it.     

论漂泊生涯中杜甫的人生追求

杜甫一生创作了大量诗歌,今存一千四百余首。仅漂泊西南十一年间所创作的诗篇即占其作品总数的百分之七十以上。其西南诗不仅数量多,而且所表现出的深邃思想内涵和炉火纯青的艺术技巧,为我们展现了一位老而弥坚、不断追求的＂诗圣＂形象。在杜甫研究的领域内,本文第一次较为全面、深入地探讨了西南漂泊生涯与客寓意识对杜甫人生追求的影响,推动其后期乡国君民诗登上一个新的高度。     

SUMER Observations of Coronal-Hole Temperatures

Observations of emission lines in the vacuum-ultraviolet spectral range with calibrated instrumentation provide crucial information on the prevailing plasma temperatures in the solar atmosphere. Coronal-hole temperatures measured by the SUMER spectrometer on SOHO will be presented in this contribution. Electron temperatures can be estimated from the formation temperatures of the observed emission lines. Line-ratio and emission-measure analyses, however, offer higher accuracies. Typical electron temperatures at altitudes of H<200?Mm in coronal holes are below 1?MK in bright structures—the coronal plumes—with higher values in darker areas—the inter-plume regions. Line-width measurements yield effective ion temperatures, which are much higher than the electron temperatures. Observations of line profiles emitted from species with different masses allow a separation of the effective temperatures into ion temperatures and unresolved non-thermal motions along the line of sight.     

The Contributions of Comets to Planets, Atmospheres, and Life: Insights from Cassini-Huygens, Galileo, Giotto, and Inner Planet Missions

Comets belong to a group of small bodies generally known as icy planetesimals. Today the most primitive icy planetesimals are the Kuiper Belt objects (KBOs) occupying a roughly planar domain beyond Neptune. KBOs may be scattered inward, allowing them to collide with planets. Others may move outward, some all the way into the Oort cloud. This is a spherical distribution of comet nuclei at a mean distance of ～50,000 AU. These nuclei are occasionally perturbed into orbits that intersect the paths of the planets, again allowing collisions. The composition of the atmosphere of Jupiter—and thus possibly all outer planets—shows the effects of massive early contributions from extremely primitive icy bodies that must have been close relatives of the KBOs. Titan may itself have a composition similar to that of Oort cloud comets. The origin and early evolution of its atmosphere invites comparison with that of the early Earth. Impacts of comets must have brought water and other volatile compounds to the Earth and the other inner planets, contributing to the reservoir of key ingredients for the origin of life. The magnitude of these contributions remains unknown but should be accessible to measurements by instruments on spacecraft.     

基于RNP的“北京——拉萨”航线分析

国航西南分公司于2011年12月15日开通了北京—拉萨往返直飞航线,该航线的成功运行结束了拉萨飞往祖国首都需经停成都或其他城市的历史。简要分析该航线的运行相关人员、航路、运行油量、备降机场和运行监控等几个部分,以期做好航班的运行保障工作。     

TC-11钛合金高低周复合疲劳及损伤累积研究

本文系统地研究了TC-11钛合金在室温和高温下高、低周复合疲劳行为,其中包括高低周循环应力比m、试验温度、缺口试样的预应力超载对复合疲劳寿命N_fL的影响。结果表明:复合疲劳寿命随m值的增加而明显降低,尤其是m=35时,其N_fL降低十多倍,并在m-lgN_fL曲线上,当m=10时出现一个拐点。在相同的m值和低周应力为900MPa时,当温度从室温升高到150℃时,其N_fL下降约1/3,当温度继续升高到300℃时,其N_fL接近零。此外,还提出了复合疲劳的损伤累积模型,1/N_fL=1/NL+n/N_h。      

紫外辐照下透明聚氨酯胶片老化机理

针对高端夹层玻璃的老化问题,选用荧光紫外灯,对其主要粘结材料——透明聚氨酯胶片分别进行0/200/300/500 h的照射,借助紫外/可见光分光光度计、傅里叶红外光谱仪、扫描电镜等设备,研究照射过程中材料颜色、结构、微观形貌的变化。扫描电镜显示照射时间延长到500 h,材料表面出现龟裂。实验发现胶片的老化起始于硬段及软段部位与N,O相连的α位置的碳原子,在紫外光及氧气的联合作用下产生氢过氧化物;该过氧化合物一部分继续氧化成CO,一部分通过β分裂,使C—N,C—O键断裂,致使材料龟裂。     

DZ22高温合金复杂应力疲劳强度研究

一、疲劳强度计算方法的建立　　定向凝固镍基高温合金 DZ2 2是一种正交各向异性材料 ,对于各向异性材料 ,由于偏轴向拉剪和剪拉耦合的存在 ,形状改变与体积变化无法分开 ,仅考虑剪切应变能不足以说明各向异性材料的失效 ,还需要考虑体积改变能。据此认为 Tsia- Wu理论 [1 ] 较 Hill理论 [2 ] 更能有效地反应各向异性材料的失效 ,并根据 Tsai- Wu理论导出一个疲劳强度的计算方法。Tsai- Wu假设各向异性材料在应力空间中的破坏表面可表示为一个高阶张量多项式 ,并提出了以二阶张量多项式为破坏准则的计算方法 ,即Fijσiσj+ Fiσi =1 ( …     

The Geology and Habitability of Terrestrial Planets: Fundamental Requirements for Life

The current approach to the study of the origin of life and to the search for life elsewhere is based on two assumptions. First, life is a purely physical phenomenon closely linked to specific environmental conditions. From this, we hypothesise that when these environmental conditions are met, life will arise and evolve. If these assumptions are valid, the search for life elsewhere should be a matter of mapping what we know about the range of environments in which life can exist, and then simply trying to find these environments elsewhere. Second, life can be clearly distinguished from the non-living world. While a single feature of a living organism left in the rock record is not always sufficient to determine unequivocally whether life was present, life often leaves multiple structural, mineralogical and chemical biomarkers that, in sum, support a conclusion that life was present. Our understanding of the habitats that can sustain or have sustained life has grown tremendously with the characterisation of extremophiles. In this chapter, we highlight the range of environments that are known to harbour life on Earth, describe the environments that existed during the period of time when life originated on Earth, and compare these habitats to the suitable environments that are found elsewhere in our solar system, where life could have arisen and evolved.     

An efficient aerodynamic shape optimization of blended wing body UAV using multi-fidelity models

This paper presents a novel optimization technique for an efficient multi-fidelity model building approach to reduce computational costs for handling aerodynamic shape optimization based on high-fidelity simulation models. The wing aerodynamic shape optimization problem is solved by dividing optimization into three steps—modeling 3D(high-fidelity) and 2D(lowfidelity) models, building global meta-models from prominent instead of all variables, and determining robust optimizing shape associated with tuning local meta-models. The adaptive robust design optimization aims to modify the shape optimization process. The sufficient infilling strategy—known as adaptive uniform infilling strategy—determines search space dimensions based on the last optimization results or initial point. Following this, 3D model simulations are used to tune local meta-models. Finally, the global optimization gradient-based method—Adaptive Filter Sequential Quadratic Programing(AFSQP) is utilized to search the neighborhood for a probable optimum point. The effectiveness of the proposed method is investigated by applying it, along with conventional optimization approach-based meta-models, to a Blended Wing Body(BWB) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV). The drag coefficient is defined as the objective function, which is subjected to minimum lift coefficient bounds and stability constraints. The simulation results indicate improvement in meta-model accuracy and reduction in computational time of the method introduced in this paper.     

用复形方法建立统一的产品模型——关于下一代造型系统的研究

讨论了用复形方法建立统一的产品模型 ,给出非流形的一个严格的数学定义 ,将代数拓扑中的单纯复形的概念和方法引入到非流形中。给出一种新的非流形的 B- REP——粘合边结构 ,并且在其上建立了一些基本操作和高级操作 ,讨论的模型具有严格的数学基础、灵活、易扩充 ,能容纳悬边、悬点、悬面。此模型的这些优点 ,使工程中的各种约束 ,如参数化、优化方法、人工智能等能够加入到系统中 ,此模型可能成为下一代 CAD系统——智能 CAD系统 ( INTELLI-GENT CAD)的几何模型的核心     

Implications of Rotation, Orbital States, Energy Sources, and Heat Transport for Internal Processes in Icy Satellites

Internal processes in icy satellites, e.g. the exchange of material from the subsurface to the surface or processes leading to volcanism and resurfacing events, are a consequence of the amount of energy available in the satellites’ interiors. The latter is mainly determined shortly after accretion by the amount of radioactive isotopes incorporated in the silicates during the accretion process. However, for satellites—as opposed to single objects—important contributions to the energy budget on long time-scales can come from the interaction with other satellites (forcing of eccentricities of satellites in resonance) and consequently from the tidal interaction with the primary planet. Tidal evolution involves both changes of the rotation state—usually leading to the 1:1 spin orbit coupling—and long-term variations of the satellite orbits. Both processes are dissipative and thus connected with heat production in the interior. The way heat is transported from the interior to the surface (convection, conduction, (cryo-) volcanism) is a second main aspect that determines how internal processes in satellites work. In this chapter we will discuss the physics of heat production and heat transport as well as the rotational and orbital states of satellites. The relevance of the different heat sources for the moons in the outer solar system are compared and discussed.     

基于静强度分布的复合材料疲劳寿命分布的预测模型(英文)

The reasons of the static strength dispersion and the fatigue life dispersion of composite laminates are analyzed in this article. It is concluded that the inner original defects, which derived from the manufacturing process of composite laminates, are the common and major reason of causing the random distributions of the static strength and the fatigue life. And there is a correlative relation between the two distributions. With the study of statistical relationship between the fatigue loading and the fatigue life in the uniform confidence level and the same survival rate S-N curves of material, the relationship between the static strength distribution and the fatigue life distribution through a material S-N curve model has been obtained. And then the model which is used to describe the distributions of fatigue life of composites, based on their distributions of static strength, is set up. This model reasonably reflects the effects of the inner original defects on the static strength dispersion and on the fatigue life dispersion of composite laminates. The experimental data of three kinds of composite laminates are employed to verify this model, and the results show that this model can predict the random distributions of fatigue life for composites under any fatigue loads fairly well.     

The SOHO concept and its realisation

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) — a space observatory to be placed, in 1995, 1.5 Gm sunward from the Earth in a halo orbit around the L1 Lagrange point — will investigate:

the solar corona, its heating and expansion into the solar wind, by both studying the radiation emerging from the outer solar atmosphere and in-situ solar wind measurements near 1 AU, and

the structure and dynamics of the solar interior by the method of helioseismology.

The science policy evolution leading to this comprehensive observatory concept is described. SOHO's link to the space-plasma-physics mission CLUSTER — devoted to the three-dimensional study of small structures in the magnetosphere — within the Solar Terrestrial Science Programme (STSP) and the embedding of STSP in the much larger International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) Programme are cited as well. The scientific subjects to be addressed by SOHO are introduced, and their current status assessed. Subsequently, the measurements required to advance these subjects are stated quantitatively and the payload, which will actually perform these measurements, is presented. The mission design, comprising spacecraft, orbit, operations and the data and ground systems are described. The special efforts made to obtain a reliable radiometric calibration of the instruments observing the Sun in the extreme-ultraviolet and to achieve a stable sensitivity through extreme cleanliness of spacecraft and instruments are emphasized and substantiated.