随机有限元及其进展──Ⅰ．随机场的离散和反应矩的计算

本文讨论了随机有限元方法近二十年的进展。全文分为独立的两篇，本文为第一篇，其中讨论了随机场的离散，改进的模拟法，随机有限元方程的建立及随机反应各阶矩的计算．     

一种改进的气动弹性时域推进方法

针对气动弹性控制方程,结构项采用标准龙格库塔方法推进,广义气动力项采用时间上的插值技术,发展了一种在每一时间步内只用计算一次非定常气动力的近似四阶龙格库塔推进方法。通过计算非线性Bernoulli方程和某一超音速翼面的气动弹性响应,证明该方法的时间准确度远高于采用气动力冻结技术的四阶龙格库塔方法。其准确度与标准龙格库塔方法相差不大,而其调用非定常气动力求解器的次数仅为其四分之一,大大提高了气动弹性数值模拟的效率。对于一般的气动弹性响应而言,该时间推进方法只用保证每个周期内的时间步在20～30个左右就能满足较高的准确度要求。     

基于薄板屈曲理论的纸塑复合袋最大皮带正压力研究

目的 通过分析纸塑复合袋成型工艺,针对纸塑复合袋生产中存在位置偏移和倾斜的缺陷,明确复合袋生产中需要纠偏的需求.方法 建立复合袋的有限元模型,以薄板屈曲理论为基础,运用Ansys Workbench中的屈曲分析工具对各种姿态下的纸塑复合袋进行仿真,求解皮带最大屈曲载荷,最后根据最大屈曲载荷等于复合袋所受的摩擦力这一条件,得到皮带所受的最大正压力.结果 当皮带间距为50 cm时,最大皮带正压力最大,即纸塑复合袋能够承受的摩擦力最大,纠偏时的轨迹与理论轨迹误差更小.结论 该计算结果准确,数据充足,满足纠偏中正压力的控制需求.     

Numerical Simulation of Microstructure and Microsegregation in Ni-Cu Alloy under Isothermal Condition

Phase-field method can be used to describe the complicated morphologies of dendrite growth without explicitly tracking the complex phase boundaries. The influences of initial temperature and initial concentration on dendrite growth are investigated by using the phase-field model coupling concentration field equations. The calculated results indicate that the supersaturation, which is larger in lower initial temperature and lower concentration under isothermal condition, plays a very important role in microsegregation. It is found that the larger supersaturation causes higher degree microsegregation and faster dendrite growth, and the more serious side-branchs occur. The simulated results agree well with the solidification theory.     

Pan-Lysyl Oxidase Inhibitor PXS-5505 Ameliorates Multiple-Organ Fibrosis by Inhibiting Collagen Crosslinks in Rodent Models of Systemic Sclerosis

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is characterised by progressive multiple organ fibrosis leading to morbidity and mortality. Lysyl oxidases play a vital role in the cross-linking of collagens and subsequent build-up of fibrosis in the extracellular matrix. As such, their inhibition provides a novel treatment paradigm for SSc. A novel small molecule pan-lysyl oxidase inhibitor, PXS-5505, currently in clinical development for myelofibrosis treatment was evaluated using in vivo rodent models resembling the fibrotic conditions in SSc. Both lysyl oxidase and lysyl oxidase-like 2 (LOXL2) expression were elevated in the skin and lung of SSc patients. The oral application of PXS-5505 inhibited lysyl oxidase activity in the skin and LOXL2 activity in the lung. PXS-5505 exhibited anti-fibrotic effects in the SSc skin mouse model, reducing dermal thickness and α-smooth muscle actin. Similarly, in the bleomycin-induced mouse lung model, PXS-5505 reduced pulmonary fibrosis toward normal levels, mediated by its ability to normalise collagen/elastin crosslink formation. PXS-5505 also reduced fibrotic extent in models of the ischaemia-reperfusion heart, the unilateral ureteral obstruction kidney, and the CCl4-induced fibrotic liver. PXS-5505 consistently demonstrates potent anti-fibrotic efficacy in multiple models of organ fibrosis relevant to the pathogenesis of SSc, suggesting that it may be efficacious as a novel approach for treating SSc.     

Order vs. Disorder: Cholesterol and Omega-3 Phospholipids Determine Biomembrane Organization

Lipid structural diversity strongly affects biomembrane chemico-physical and structural properties in addition to membrane-associated events. At high concentrations, cholesterol increases membrane order and rigidity, while polyunsaturated lipids are reported to increase disorder and flexibility. How these different tendencies balance in composite bilayers is still controversial. In this study, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, small angle neutron scattering, and neutron reflectivity were used to investigate the structural properties of cholesterol-containing lipid bilayers in the fluid state with increasing amounts of polyunsaturated omega-3 lipids. Either the hybrid 1-stearoyl-2-docosahexaenoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine or the symmetric 1,2-docosahexaenoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine were added to the mixture of the naturally abundant 1-palmitoyl-2-oleyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and cholesterol. Our results indicate that the hybrid and the symmetric omega-3 phospholipids affect the microscopic organization of lipid bilayers differently. Cholesterol does not segregate from polyunsaturated phospholipids and, through interactions with them, is able to suppress the formation of non-lamellar structures induced by the symmetric polyunsaturated lipid. However, this order/disorder balance leads to a bilayer whose structural organization cannot be ascribed to either a liquid ordered or to a canonical liquid disordered phase, in that it displays a very loose packing of the intermediate segments of lipid chains.     

Exogenous dsRNA Induces RNA Interference of a Chalcone Synthase Gene in Arabidopsis thaliana

Recent investigations have shown the possibility of artificial induction of RNA interference (RNAi) via plant foliar treatments with naked double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) to silence essential genes in plant fungal pathogens or to target viral RNAs. Furthermore, several studies have documented the downregulation of plant endogenous genes via external application of naked gene-specific dsRNAs and siRNAs to the plant surfaces. However, there are limited studies on the dsRNA processing and gene silencing mechanisms after external dsRNA application. Such studies would assist in the development of innovative tools for crop improvement and plant functional studies. In this study, we used exogenous gene-specific dsRNA to downregulate the gene of chalcone synthase (CHS), the key enzyme in the flavonoid/anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway, in Arabidopsis. The nonspecific NPTII-dsRNA encoding the nonrelated neomycin phosphotransferase II bacterial gene was used to treat plants in order to verify that any observed effects and processing of AtCHS mRNA were sequence specific. Using high-throughput small RNA (sRNA) sequencing, we obtained six sRNA-seq libraries for plants treated with water, AtCHS-dsRNA, or NPTII-dsRNA. After plant foliar treatments, we detected the emergence of a large number of AtCHS- and NPTII-encoding sRNAs, while there were no such sRNAs after control water treatment. Thus, the exogenous AtCHS-dsRNAs were processed into siRNAs and induced RNAi-mediated AtCHS gene silencing. The analysis showed that gene-specific sRNAs mapped to the AtCHS and NPTII genes unevenly with peak read counts at particular positions, involving primarily the sense strand, and documented a gradual decrease in read counts from 17-nt to 30-nt sRNAs. Results of the present study highlight a significant potential of exogenous dsRNAs as a promising strategy to induce RNAi-based downregulation of plant gene targets for plant management and gene functional studies.     

新一代载人飞船卫生区功能性空间优化设计研究

目的 开展中国新一代载人飞船卫生区的空间优化研究,探索功能性空间优化设计方法,提高载人飞船空间利用效率,同时提升航天员的舒适性体验。方法 以中国空间站卫生区的功能和结构为依据,探讨中国新一代载人飞船卫生区功能组件的构成;依据航天员在微重力状态下使用卫生区的动作与姿态,建立卫生区空间布置的初步概念;根据卫生区的舱壁布局、微重力下航天员视野区域及最佳操作空间分析,开展相关功能组件建模,基于卫生区的人机交互节点,利用JACK软件进行仿真分析与评估,结合评估结果改进设计方案,并通过追踪航天员活动轨迹产生的包络体完成卫生区的空间优化。结论 通过对比中国新一代载人飞船卫生区优化前后设计方案的舒适性、可操作性和空间尺寸,验证了功能性空间优化设计方法的有效性和可靠性,为载人航天器舒适性与集成化设计提供了参考。     

Trans-Reduction of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Proteins by Notch-Derived EGF-like Sequences

Cysteine oxidation states of extracellular proteins participate in functional regulation and in disease pathophysiology. In the most common inherited dementia, cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL), mutations in NOTCH3 that alter extracellular cysteine number have implicated NOTCH3 cysteine states as potential triggers of cerebral vascular smooth muscle cytopathology. In this report, we describe a novel property of the second EGF-like domain of NOTCH3: its capacity to alter the cysteine redox state of the NOTCH3 ectodomain. Synthetic peptides corresponding to this sequence (NOTCH3 N-terminal fragment 2, NTF2) readily reduce NOTCH3 N-terminal ectodomain polypeptides in a dose- and time-dependent fashion. Furthermore, NTF2 preferentially reduces regional domains of NOTCH3 with the highest intensity against EGF-like domains 12–15. This process requires cysteine residues of NTF2 and is also capable of targeting selected extracellular proteins that include TSP2 and CTSH. CADASIL mutations in NOTCH3 increase susceptibility to NTF2-facilitated reduction and to trans-reduction by NOTCH3 produced in cells. Moreover, NTF2 forms complexes with the NOTCH3 ectodomain, and cleaved NOTCH3 co-localizes with the NOTCH3 ectodomain in cerebral arteries of CADASIL patients. The potential for NTF2 to reduce vascular proteins and the enhanced preference for it to trans-reduce mutant NOTCH3 implicate a role for protein trans-reduction in cerebrovascular pathological states such as CADASIL.     

棋牌游戏与事件对策

博弈的原意便是下棋,博弈论的概念也源于棋类游戏．而博弈论的现有成果还难以描述和处理棋牌游戏这一类复杂的动态过程．为此．在分析棋牌游戏特点的基础上．指出它们属于离散事件的动态过程;在阐述离散事件动态系统（DEDS）特点与方法的基础上,应用DEDS的有关理论为象棋博弈过程建模,并提出了事件对策的概念与形式框架．探讨了事件对策理论在战争模拟中的应用,为迅速发展的机器博弈研究创造了良好的理论条件．