Presynaptic transporter-mediated release of glutamate evoked by the protonophore FCCP increases under altered gravity conditions

High-affinity Na⁺-dependent glutamate transporters of the plasma membrane mediate the glutamate uptake into neurons, and thus maintain low levels of extracellular glutamate in the synaptic cleft. The study focused on the release of glutamate by reversal of Na⁺-dependent glutamate transporters from rat brain nerve terminals (synaptosomes) under conditions of centrifuge-induced hypergravity. Flow cytometric analysis revealed similarity in the size and cytoplasmic granularity between synaptosomal preparations obtained from control and G-loaded animals (10 G, 1 h). The release of cytosolic l-[¹⁴C]glutamate from synaptosomes was evaluated using the protonophore FCCP, which dissipated synaptic vesicle proton gradient, thus synaptic vesicles were not able to keep glutamate inside and the latter enriched cytosol. FCCP per se induced the greater release of l-[¹⁴C]glutamate in hypergravity as compared to control (4.8 ± 1.0% and 8.0 ± 1.0% of total label). Exocytotic release of l-[¹⁴C]glutamate evoked by depolarization was reduced down to zero after FCCP application under both conditions studied. Depolarization stimulated release of cytosolic l-[¹⁴C]glutamate from synaptosomes preliminary treated with FCCP was considerably increased from 27.0 ± 2.2% of total label in control to 35.0 ± 2.3% in hypergravity. Non-transportable inhibitor of glutamate transporter dl-threo-β-benzyloxyaspartate was found to significantly inhibit high-KCl and FCCP-stimulated release of l-[¹⁴C]glutamate, confirming the release by reversal of glutamate transporters. The enhancement of transporter-mediated release of glutamate in hypergravity was found to result at least partially from the inhibition of the activity of Na/K-ATPase in the plasma membrane of synaptosomes. We suggested that hypergravity-induced alteration in transporter-mediated release of glutamate indicated hypoxic injury of neurons.     

基于能力的工作流任务组织化

为解决一般工作流模型中"活动-成员"的紧耦合链,改进任务分配的柔性和适应性,提出了工作流活动和成员的能力概念.描述了能力本体模型和基于能力的任务组织化原则,建立了"活动-能力-成员"三层结构的过程元模型,给出了一系列能力匹配策略的形式化描述.上述概念和方法在开放边界工作流系统ABCflow中得到应用和验证.      

Simulation study of motion of charged particles trapped in Earth’s magnetosphere

This article aims to understand the motion of the charged particles trapped in the Earth’s inner magnetosphere. The emphasis is on identifying the numerical scheme, which is appropriate to characterize the trajectories of the charged particles of different energies that enter the Earth’s magnetosphere and get trap along the magnetic field lines. These particles perform three different periodic motions, namely: gyration, bounce, and azimuthal drift. However, often, the gyration of the particle is ignored, and only the guiding center of the particle is traced to reduce the computational time. It is because the simulation of all three motions (gyro, bounce, and drift) together needed a robust numerical scheme, which has less numerical dissipation. We have developed a three-dimensional test particle simulation model in which the relativistic equation of motion is solved numerically using the fourth and sixth-order Runge-Kutta methods. The stability of the simulation model is verified by checking the conservation of total kinetic energy and adiabatic invariants linked with each type of motion. We found that the sixth-order Runge-Kutta method is suitable to trace the complete trajectories of both proton and electron of a wide energy range, 5 keV to 250 MeV for L = 2 – 6. We have estimated the bounce and drift periods from the simulations, and they are found to be in good agreement with the theory. The study implies that a simulation model with sixth-order Runge-Kutta method can be applied to the time-vary, non-analytical form of magnetic configuration in future studies to understand the dynamics of charged particles trapped in Earth’s magnetosphere.     

高精度测量燃气轮机叶片前缘的三维轮廓

为了解决高精度测量燃气轮机叶片前缘三维轮廓的难题,提出了一种基于球阵列标定检验方法,直接对金属表面的叶片前缘三维轮廓进行高精度测量的相位轮廓测量系统.通过多角度数据融合算法和非线性最小二乘的递归算法,最后高精度测量出叶片前缘三维轮廓,对叶片前缘16个剖面进行拟合,得出了叶片前缘半径和前缘圆心.结果显示:叶片前缘测量系统、方法和算法的综合误差为±0.03mm.此实验装置和方法测量效率高、精度高,将叶片测量和模型化技术推进了一步.      

"神舟三号"大气成分探测器探测结果--2002年4月磁暴期间大气成分的异常变化

"神州三号"(SZ-3)大气成分探测器搭载在SZ-3留轨舱上于2002年3月26日发射入轨,正遇2002年4月发生的连续两次地磁扰动事件,SZ-3大气成分探测器测得了轨道舱运行高度上(330-350 km附近)大气成分的响应变化和异常现象.探测数据表明,在地磁扰动期间,不仅发生了大气中主要成分O和N2的数密度值增变的响应变化,而且在进入地磁扰动峰期开始后6h左右在较高纬度处出现了N2的异常增变和O的异常降变.4-5h后,这种异常增变峰和降变谷由纬度42°N左右逐渐推移向纬度较低地区,直至消失.     

舱外航天服热控系统仿真

针对人体穿着航天服处于过热状态下的散热问题，在分别建立人体热调节系统、金属氢化物冷源和液冷服数学模型的基础上，将3个模型进行结合，对舱外航天服热控系统在5．5h的时间轴上进行综合的仿真计算，求出人体各节段的温度分布情况，液冷服的入口及出口水温，金属氢化物冷源的出口水温等参数，分析航天员的热舒适性，对航天服热控系统的设计有一定的指导作用，并为今后进一步的研究打下了基础．     

空间机器人地面实验系统的一种鲁棒自适应控制方法

基于李亚普诺夫稳定性直接方法, 针对具有参数及模型不确定性的空间机器人地面实验系统, 提出了一种新的鲁棒自适应控制器。该控制器由三部分组成: 线性PD反馈项, 补偿动力学的自适应控制项, 补偿建模不确定性的鲁棒控制项。控制策略能有效地克服未建模的摩擦力和外部扰动以及吊丝配重系统未补偿掉的重力影响, 并且能保证全局最终一致有界。仿真表明了算法的可行性和有效性     

A possible flyby anomaly for Juno at Jupiter

In the last decades there have been an increasing interest in improving the accuracy of spacecraft navigation and trajectory data. In the course of this plan some anomalies have been found that cannot, in principle, be explained in the context of the most accurate orbital models including all known effects from classical dynamics and general relativity. Of particular interest for its puzzling nature, and the lack of any accepted explanation for the moment, is the flyby anomaly discovered in some spacecraft flybys of the Earth over the course of twenty years. This anomaly manifest itself as the impossibility of matching the pre and post-encounter Doppler tracking and ranging data within a single orbit but, on the contrary, a difference of a few mm/s in the asymptotic velocities is required to perform the fitting.Nevertheless, no dedicated missions have been carried out to elucidate the origin of this phenomenon with the objective either of revising our understanding of gravity or to improve the accuracy of spacecraft Doppler tracking by revealing a conventional origin.With the occasion of the Juno mission arrival at Jupiter and the close flybys of this planet, that are currently been performed, we have developed an orbital model suited to the time window close to the perijove. This model shows that an anomalous acceleration of a few mm/s² is also present in this case. The chance for overlooked conventional or possible unconventional explanations is discussed.     

Long-term changes in indices of geomagnetic activity at the auroral station Sodankylä

Here we compare the traditional analog measure of geomagnetic activity, Ak, with the more recent digital indices of IHV and Ah based on hourly mean data, and their derivatives at the auroral station Sodankylä. By this selection of indices we study the effects of (i) analog vs. digital technique, and (ii) full local-time vs. local night-time coverage on quantifying local geomagnetic activity. We find that all other indices are stronger than Ak during the low-activity cycles 15–16 suggesting an excess of very low scalings in Ak at this time. The full-day indices consistently depict stronger correlation with the interplanetary magnetic field strength, while the night-time indices have higher correlation with solar wind speed. The Ak index correlates better with the digital indices of full-day coverage than with any night-time index. However, Ak depicts somewhat higher activity levels than the digital full-day indices in the declining phase of the solar cycle, indicating that, due to their different sampling rates, the latter indices are less sensitive to high-frequency variations driven by the Alfvén waves in high-speed streams. On the other hand, the night-time indices have an even stronger response to solar wind speed than Ak. The results strongly indicate that at auroral latitudes, geomagnetic indices with different local time coverage reflect different current systems, which, by an appropriate choice of indices, allows studying the century-scale dynamics of these currents separately.     

A study on possible solar and geomagnetic effects on the precipitation over northwestern Argentina

The precipitation over Tucuman (26.8°S; 65.2°W), which is representative of the Northwestern region of Argentina, is analyzed in search of an association with solar and geomagnetic activity, with the purpose of contributing to the controversial issue on the connection between climate variation and anthropogenic vs. natural forcing. Monthly time series of precipitation, sunspot number (Rz), and aa index were used for the period 1884–2010. A wavelet analysis was performed first which, due to the time series length, shows significant results only for periodicities lower than 32 years. Due to the transient character and non-constant phase of the results, any sustained wavelet coherence between precipitation and either sunspots or aa could be noticed. Moving averages and correlations were also assessed. The 11 and 22-year running mean of precipitation is positively correlated to Rz and aa when the whole period of analysis is considered. However, a shift in the long-term behavior of precipitation is noticed around 1940, which implies different correlation values with Rz and aa when the period before or after this year are considered. The solar cycle length is also considered for this statistical study and partly confirms the results obtained with Rz and aa. We propose plausible physical explanations based on geomagnetic activity and total solar irradiance effects over atmospheric circulation that could support the statistical result. A deeper analysis and broader geographical coverage is needed in order to detect a connection between precipitation and solar variability discernible from greenhouse gases effects. We emphasize the idea of the importance of recognizing and quantifying the different forcing acting on precipitation (or any other climate parameter), which sometimes can be barely evident from a solely statistical analysis.