Sperm metabolism is altered during storage by female insects: evidence from two-photon autofluorescence lifetime measurements in bedbugs

We explore the possibility of characterizing sperm cells without the need to stain them using spectral and fluorescence lifetime analyses after multi-photon excitation in an insect model. The autofluorescence emission spectrum of sperm of the common bedbug, Cimex lectularius, was consistent with the presence of flavins and NAD(P)H. The mean fluorescence lifetimes showed smaller variation in sperm extracted from the male (tau m, τ_m = 1.54–1.84 ns) than in that extracted from the female sperm storage organ (tau m, τ_m = 1.26–2.00 ns). The fluorescence lifetime histograms revealed four peaks. These peaks (0.18, 0.92, 2.50 and 3.80 ns) suggest the presence of NAD(P)H and flavins and show that sperm metabolism can be characterized using fluorescence lifetime imaging. The difference in fluorescence lifetime variation between the sexes is consistent with the notion that female animals alter the metabolism of sperm cells during storage. It is not consistent, however, with the idea that sperm metabolism represents a sexually selected character that provides females with information about the male genotype.     

Characterization of sea water ageing effects on mechanical properties of carbon/epoxy composites for tidal turbine blades

In recent years, many tidal turbine projects have been developed using composites blades. Tidal turbine blades are subject to ocean forces and sea water aggressions, and the reliability of these components is crucial to the profitability of ocean energy recovery systems. The majority of tidal turbine developers have preferred carbon/epoxy blades, so there is a need to understand how prolonged immersion in the ocean affects these composites. In this study the long term behaviour of different carbon/epoxy composites has been studied using accelerated ageing tests. A significant reduction of composite strengths has been observed after saturation of water in the material. For longer immersions only small further changes in these properties occur. No significant changes have been observed for moduli nor for composite toughness. The effect of sea water ageing on damage thresholds and kinetics has been studied and modelled. After saturation, the damage threshold is modified while kinetics of damage development remain the same.     

一种可替代漂珠的低密度材料

漂珠低密度水泥浆由于密度低、强度高、体系稳定而在油田低压易漏层及低压油气层长封固段固井作业中获得了广泛的应用。但近年来,由于漂珠的产量越来越少,油田低成本要求急需开发代替漂珠的新型减轻材料,以满足配制低密度水泥浆的需求。开发了BCL-10S低密度混合减轻材料,其物化性能与漂珠相当,用它作减轻剂配制的低密度水泥浆性能与用漂珠作减轻剂配制的低密度水泥浆性能相媲美,并已经在长庆油田获得了应用。     

人工神经网络预测煤的发热量

应用人工神经网络处理部分广东地区煤质分析数据,建立网络模型,预测出煤的发热量,经实测值与预测值比较,在一定的煤种范围内预测值与实测值比较接近。     

人工智能的原理及应用

介绍了人工智能的发展，并对改进的神经网络专家系统的优越性做了介绍，指出了神经网络专家系统广阔的应用前景及实现。     

Range of the Applicability of the Wilkins Method to the Investigation of the Dynamic Stress-Strain State of Anisotropic Elastic Axisymmetric Shells

The exactness and stability of the Wilkins method in the investigation of the stress-strain state of axisymmetric anisotropic elastic shells, including thick-walled ones, have been studied for different values of artificial viscosity, pulse load rise and fall time, and different deformation process durations. A comparison of numerical calculations, performed by means of an application software package developed by V. A. Romashchenko on the basis of the Wilkins method, with experimental results, known numerical data, and with calculations using the computation kernel LS-DYNA 3D has been carried out.     

Ageing studies on some titania gels

Hydrous titania gels, precipitated from titanous chloride and aged in different aqueous media have different textural, thermal and structural properties as demonstrated by nitrogen adsorption, differential thermal analysis, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy studies. Ageing in ammonia leads to the development of microporosity, whereas ageing in water causes an extension of the pore system in the primary particles with little change in the surface texture. Heat-treatment of the precipitated gels prior to ageing seems to afford a certain stability to the primary particle by allowing hydroxo and oxo bridges to be formed, thus leading to the formation of a more rigid structure. The nature of the ageing medium and its effect on the inner coordination sphere of the titanium ions are important parameters affecting the textural and thermal behaviours of the titania gels.     

Influence of accelerated ageing on methacrylate‐based denture resins heterogeneity as viewed by ESR‐spin‐probe method

The electron‐spin‐resonance (ESR) spin‐probe method, was used to study the heterogeneity of denture resins based on poly(methyl methacrylate). Results for three resins processed by microwave energy, conventional curing and cold curing (depending on the curing procedure and exposed to ageing in various environmental conditions) were compared. All three cured resins were stored over the same time (1200 h) in distilled water at ambient temperature and in artificial saliva at 348 K. The temperature‐dependent ESR spectra of a spin probe dispersed in the denture resins are analyzed in terms of line‐shapes and line‐widths. The appearance of two spectral components was taken as an indication of resin heterogeneity. The results reveal that the cold‐cured resin has a lower local density in comparison with microwave and conventionally cured resin. The amount of residual monomer also contributes to the local motion of polymer segments. The change of denture resins exposed to ageing is influenced both by the structure of the original resin and the ageing conditions. Restricted motion of a spin probe incorporated into the acrylic resins exposed to accelerated ageing suggests additional crosslinking of polymer chains. The differences are observed for all the investigated resins, but the highest change is observed with the cold‐cured resin. The ESR results are accompanied by T_g and T_m measurements. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Integration framework for intelligent manufacturing processes

In this article, we describe a new approach to applying distributed artificial intelligence techniques to manufacturing processes. The construction of intelligent systems is one of the most important techniques among artificial intelligence research. Our goal is to develop an integrated intelligent system for real time manufacturing processes. An integrated intelligent system is a large knowledge integration environment that consists of several symbolic reasoning systems (expert systems) and numerical computation packages. These software programs are controlled by a meta-system which manages the selection, operation and communication of these programs. A meta-system can be implemented in different language environments and applied to many disciplines. This new architecture can serve as a universal configuration to develop high performance intelligent systems for many complicated industrial applications in real world domains.To whom all correspondence should be addressed.     

海上油气田的废弃处置

废弃处置是油气田开发的最终环节 ,海上油气田的废弃处置在国内外都是一个新的领域。在对国内外相关文献分析的基础上 ,结合开发工程方面的经验 ,介绍海上油气田废弃处置的标准 ,相关的领域以及废弃处置的过程和方法